Bonfire Night

Today was Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Day, or something like that. It wasn't a public holiday or anything, just a celebration of Guy Fawkes, this famous dude from England. So we went to Birmingham at night to go to this huge park and watch free fireworks. There was a gigantic bonfire in the middle of the field, tons and tons of people crowded around it, and a medium-sized carnival with lots of cheesy games, rides, and greasy food.

It was awesome, except for the fact that it was raining the entire time. The rain wasn't ridiculously heavy, but it was annoying, because we had to carry umbrellas and trudge through the mud everywhere. On the plus side, the bonfire had the biggest, coolest flames I've ever seen.

The fireworks went on for a few minutes, and it was so pretty.

When it stopped, everyone clapped and rushed off to the carnival to stuff their faces with burgers, donuts, chips, and cotton candy. The carnival was very '80s and cheesy - lots of loud, techno music, colorful (and at times crude) paintings on the rides, tiny slides, haunted houses, games with lame prizes, and bright lights blinding people left and right.

We ate cotton candy and donuts, and then sat on the spinning ride where you get lifted in the air and spun around like mad faster and faster until you still feel like the world's moving even when you get off. It was so much fun; I screamed my lungs out and my throat was a little sore afterwards. We went as a huge group, but we got split up in the crowd, and the group I was with was awesome. We had a good time making fun of everything and laughing. One friend commented with sarcasm, 'I love carnivals - people eat lots of greasy food and then get on cheesy rides and proceed to puke everything out.'

It was a good way to spend my first Bonfire Night in England.