I missed a bit about Australian Culture. When the program says “dinner from 7PM until midnight” – it is serious about the “until midnight” bit.
I just assumed we would eat and then go our separate ways – hence the logic of Karaoke at 9:30 PM.
That turns out *not* to be the case. We did have pre-dinner drinks, food, and a short speech and a magician for a while. All seemed to be pro-forma. I figured it was winding down in time to go for Karaoke.
But then the rock band showed up. Everybody – the CIOs – librarians – probably 150 people – *immediately* got up and started dancing. Crazy! In the US we would sit at the tables and complain about the loud noise and the go off somewhere else. The tables were empty and everyone was on the dance floor. And not like in the US – they stayed for every single song and only sat down when the band took a break.
It *did* go until midnight. Just like the program said. A few people including myself left right before the last set. I have never seen a group that liked to dance as a group more – except perhaps the Irish.
Live and learn – always an unexpected cultural experience – perhaps tonight will be Karaoke.