We had our office Christmas party last night, and the theme was "Matric Ball". Matric = Matriculation. It's basically a prom night for the graduating high school class, but with a distinctive Afrikaans vibe. Think Spice Girls, Tony Danza (circa "Who's the Boss"), Roxette and the like. i.e. Bad taste prom night. We even had a lesson in "Langarm" dancing last week. Loosely translated, this means "long arm", or a variation of ballroom dancing (coz you stick your arms out so they're long)... apparently the Afrikaaners langarm to every kind of music. Kind of like the Singaporeans and their frigging line dancing.
I thought I'd just put on a frock and be done with it, but earlier in the day, the girls in the TV department were talking about going to the salon to get their hair and pedicures done. And everyone left the office early to get ready. That's when I thought "Shite. They're going all out to look tacky and all I've got is a dress."
At the last minute, I rushed out to Accesorize to look for a gigantic plastic flower to put in my hair, but found something even better: a huge-ass feather & pearls hair clip. It looked like I had a bird on my head. Heh.
The dress was nothing to shout about. Wore the same thing I wore to my brother's wedding last year. It's a semi-hideous frock which I've fallen out of love with a year later. Actually, it's pretty hideous. Can't believe I wore it to Ben's wedding. Eek. I think I was desperate at the time and HAD to just get something, anything! ...at least it came in handy for the office party I guess.
Kelly, on the other hand, decided to be extremely rude and pulled out his dad's old "novelty" tie. Er... no, that's not novel at all.
It gave people a good laugh though. The boys seemed to like it more than the girls. Hmm...
(That's our big boss, the ECD, by the way)
(That's our other boss, the CD)
(Prabashan's still stuck with his Blue Steel)
My Matric Date:
Someone came as the pregnant teen (apparently there's at least one at every Matric):
And she's comparing sizes with the REAL pregnant lady, our Junior Producer:
And then someone else looked like she showed up to the wrong party: complete with rollers in hair and pink satin bathrobe. Like huh? The invite didn't say Pajama party!
People really went to town with this theme. We even held it at Camps Bay High School. In case you didn't already know, Camps Bay is a super posh neighbourhood which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, flanked by the 12 Apostles mountains on one side and Lion's Head on the other. This is the kind of view the students have:
So we rented their school hall, complete with 2 mad DJs (dressed in running shorts, with synchronized dance moves), and turned it into a proper school prom night.
Right before entering the hall, the events committee had plastered the wall with pictures of the Board members photoshopped onto posters of famous people. They were all either Springbok players or Afrikaans pop groups - I had no idea who they were, but it was funny nonetheless.
(The guy in the middle is the ECD of the below-the-line studio. All the other faces are allegedly famous pop stars. He fits right in!)
Dunno what was going on outside, but there seemed to be a partial "under the sea" theme going on too.
Some of the mad people who went all out with their outfits:
(That's Carol's actual Matric dress from more than 10 years ago. It still fits!)
(Pink feather boa's my Head of TV!)
Some came as teachers (yes, that's a cane in Tanja's hand!)
And this is part of the TV department (we're missing another senior producer who was on leave, and our editor who's got a baby at home)
(Dunno what I was doing, but I can't believe how BIG my arm looks.
L - R: me, Head of TV, Junior Producer, my Production Assistant)
(Lady in black's the Radio Producer, and booby chick in purple above is the Head of TV's Production Assistant)
Of course, what's a Christmas party without dancing?
And of course there was some "langarm" going on too.
And then it descended into ridiculousness.
That's when it was time to leave - before things got really UGLY!
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