Party Time!!!

When i visited the lab here in February, i was told that everyone was very sociable and, thankfully, this has turned out to be the case. The social highlight of the calendar this week (nee month - July 4th, eat your heart out!) is a birthday party tonight in honour of Ashley (I've mentioned her before - one of the beer-loving Charleston gals!). Now I could say that tonight is going to be an interesting event for me as it gives me the opportunity to look at some of the differences between how the Brits and Americans celebrate their brithdays - but in all honestly, i just intend to go and have a good time - or at least show the Americans that we Brits can make just as big fools of ourselves than they can - even if they do elect an idiot for a leader (Bush quote of the week: "It's clearly a budget, it's got a lot of numbers in it"). I'm sure at some point next week, I'll get round to letting everyone know how it all went.

Nevertheless, i have some aims for the evening. The first is to get at least everyone American (if not everyone) to try some British beer - gotta keep the export trade going somehow! To this end, i'm armed with some Samuel Smiths India Ale and am told that there will be some Old Speckled Hen available too - that's good for starters. Aim number two is to teach everyone how to dance to "Tragedy" - they may remember the Bee Gees version, but we're talking Steps of course (I don't think they ever made it over here). Aim three is to prove that the British can handle their alcohol - this may get trickier as the night progresses, but i'm sure there'll be plenty of handy plant pots to pour drinks into if i feel that i'm fighting a losing battle (I hope it doesn't get to that point - i hate wasting good alcohol). And finally, aim four is to wake up tomorrow morning without a hangover. You'll have to wait and see how that pans out.