The Surprise

Before we picked up Lisa and Parag, Lori and I informed them of a surprise we had planned. We refused to tell them anything except that they needed to dress warmly. We made our way down to the town of Hamilton where we found a Thai restaurant to dine in. All the while Lisa and Parag tried to guess what the surprise was. I have to admit they came up with some interesting guesses: whale watching, hunting, caving, all good guess, but not even close. Despite our best efforts, the Thai lady ruined our surprise. When Lori and I went across the street to ask for directions, the waitress asked Lisa and Parag if they were in town for the Big Game. That clued them in on the All Blacks rugby game that we had gotten tickets for.
However, they did do a good job of acting surprised while we walked the 8 blocks to the stadium (we had gotten some wrong directions), and the whole game experience turned out to be awesome. Canada tried to put up a good fight, but they were no match for the All Blacks. I think it might have had something to do with the Haka Dance performed before the game. It definitely sent chills down my spine when I heard it. I’m pretty sure everyone around us in the stands figured out we were Americans, partly because we had no clue what the rules were, and because we started booing the Canadians when they scored (their one and only touchdown, or whatever they call it in rubgy!) Apparently you clap for the opposing team here, or maybe they were just clapping out of pity. The All Blacks beat Canada 64 to 13.