So my cold turns out to have been a flash in the pan, which is good because we had a weekend in Dunedin booked. We are down to visit the twins who are freshers in the infamous Selwyn hostel. Unbeknownst to us when we arranged to come down, it’s actually capping this weekend, so town is full of (other) middle aged parents and their beautifully turned out offspring in black gowns. It also means the restaurants are all fully booked – but on the plus side, the capping show is on. I never went when I was a student at any of the three universities I attended (long story), so tonight was my first ever. It was great fun. Lots of very talented people. And then there was the Selwyn ballet. I must say the standard of dancing was far lower than I expected – and there was also far more nudity*. I don’t go to the ballet much so maybe things are different these days. Simon chose to go to a pub and watch the rugby rather than go to the show. He said it was because he doesn’t like live shows (or the arts in general actually) but we think he’s still aggrieved at failing his audition for the ballet all those years ago when he was at Selwyn. Some wounds are too deep to ever truly heal. We don’t mention it now.
The capping show was R16 which didn’t really surprise me as there was a lot of swearing and 90% of it seemed to be about sex (the rest was about drinking until you are sick). I have learnt a new word from my daughters this weekend, actually. Well, it’s not a new word but an old one that has been repurposed. Getting smashed no longer means getting drunk. And it seems my daughter has had a smashing time down here in Dunedin. Nice that they have time for a bit of fun between lectures and labs and tutorials and things.
It’s been a great weekend but I’m looking forward to going home. I can hear the sounds of raucous behavior from our motel here on George St. Young people are terrifying in large numbers.
*my daughter has since informed me that they put many hours of work into the ballet and it is generally of a much higher standard – but sadly tonight everyone got drunk before the show, and hence it’s somewhat shambolic quality. She was also mortified on her friend’s behalf because his tutu inexplicably came off during the performance to reveal that he was only wearing a sock. And not on his foot. I would like to reassure him that I didn’t see anything untoward – my eyesight isn’t that good. Even though we were sitting in the front row.