Thriller in the Chiller

 'How often do I get to usher celebrity boxing matches in New Zealand?' I thought to myself. 'Ok, I'll do it.'

It was a tough decision for me – I was quite set on the happy hour sushi, but as Dottie reminded me, it's every day. I needed to sit for a minute, as I had just gotten the text message asking me to volunteer for the event as I was sitting down and meeting new friends, but after a moment I ran to the restroom of Old Man Rock, which is cold by the way, and checked to see if I could make my thermals look like black leggings tucked into my dark boots.

“I can make it work,” I said to Dottie, Viviana and Selena. I apologized for getting up and leaving abruptly and ran towards my car, which was just a few minutes over the thirty minute parking regulation. I grabbed a $5 salmon and salad sandwich from Night 'N Day and continued running to my car.

This is my life in Queenstown – it reminds me of the movie “Yes Man” starring Jim Carrey, about the theory of always saying yes to opportunities to better your life. The movie takes the concept to an absurd extreme, but the basic idea is a strong motivating factor for me in real life. Besides, I'm always open to a new adventure. If they're not fun, they at least build character.

I arrived at the Queenstown Event Center just after 6pm, only 40 minutes after I had received the text message, and a few hours after I had dragged my scruffy self home from snowboarding. I was really looking forward to washing my hair tonight, but that again will have to wait. After I put my coat and corduroy pants upstairs I took part in a briefing about the fire exits and emergency procedures and donned my fluorescent orange high-vis ' respect my authoritai' vest.

“Look at the person next to you. Make sure that if we have to evacuate that person is standing next to you in the field past the roundabout,” Mike told us.

“I was on the plane with you,” said the brown-haired girl next to me.

“It's funny that you recognized me,” I told her as our tour of the room moved around the room. “I never recognize anyone.”

Apparently she hadn't found a job either, but we agreed that volunteering for the festival was an exciting way to spend some time. Accepting positions as a last minute volunteer was definitely the only way I would have gotten to see Sugar Ray Leonard, that's for sure. He was the featured celebrity during the opening of the boxing match. The competitors were local Queenstown residents, owners of bars, or employees for popular venues or agencies. They had been training for weeks for this event, and some of them went all-out and gave an exciting show!

After the rush of people coming in right at 7:30pm, when we were supposed to start, I thought to myself how much I take after my mom, her ushering during the summers at SPAC and all. I actually quite enjoyed helping people find their tables and sections. Although the rush only lasted about 10 minutes or so I felt it was the most solid 10 minutes of work I had done since my second to last shift at the Blue Iguana on May 1^st.

The first half of the show was quite exciting; they featured two young girls, one 9 and one 11 years old, who performed an exhibition karate match. One of the girls was the recipient of an award fund set up for young athletes and her team had traveled all the way to Japan to compete. After the karate match they introduced Sugar Ray Leonard. They introduced him as a renowned athlete and philanthropist and later auctioned off some of his signed boxing gloves.

The first few rounds of the boxing match were a bit slow, but got better when the two girls, one from SkyCity Casino, and the other from AJ Hackett Bungy, were really going at it. It was certainly the best fight until the very last one of the night which actually ended in a KO; the women were always moving and were fierce and relentless. It was clear that the accountant from the casino was being tossed around but she still endured the whole three rounds.

I'm glad the crowd was well-behaved. I kept a pretty good eye on everything, but wasn't quite in the mood to break up rowdy drunk people. I'm always amused when people in pure white fur shawls and satin dresses and suits and ties with shoes that probably cost more than my skis cost, retail, order bottle after bottle and get totally pissed. They're just like everyone else who bought the $59 bleacher tickets who are dressed in jeans and collared shirts and warm coats, maybe even sneakers, drinking cans of pre-mix drinks and lagers.

Right after the intermission I finally recognized the woman whose face I knew I had seen somewhere. Again, trying to take every opportunity available to me I went up to her and asked, “Hi, are you Cat?”

“Yes,” she said, and after a moment recognized me as well and said, “Ant's friend, right?”

She had asked if I had found work yet, and explained how the hiring process had worked after their recruitment session, and that she had tried to send me through to the next round of interviews. I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere since I hadn't actually handed in my CV, but she suggested I drop it off to her office in case they needed anyone else. Excellent – so I've already seen Sugar Ray Leonard and have a second chance at being hired by the Good Bars company. 

The night drew on, and I became more and more tired. By this point I was sitting in one of the chairs in the back corner labeled “USHER” and wishing the event would end. As exciting as it was, I had been looking forward to sitting around this evening and doing nothing, and staying warm, even inside buildings, is a challenge in this town, especially when I'm worn out. I wonder if I will lose weight just by all the shivering I am doing, much like when I had my fever.

When everyone had left we were assigned to collecting and moving all the tables and chairs in the room. With the bright overhead lights and sounds of power tools it reminded me of the long nights we spent after performances striking the set. Just after 1am my adventure as a volunteer at the Thriller in the Chiller celebrity boxing match for Winter Festival in Queenstown had come to an end.

I must share one more thing with you, though I think I will be hated for it. While we were waiting for the general public to leave so we could clear out the room, the organizers had ordered Fergburger for us. I had been starving all day and through the event and was excited to try one, especially after trying their onion rings the night before. The onion rings were an example of perfection. The breading was crisp and light and not even slightly greasy, and the onions were neither soggy nor raw, cooked just perfectly within a crispy fried batter. It's saying quite a bit that I enjoyed them because I don't eat fried foods and I really don't care much for onions.

Anyway, the fries were decent, but I wasn't too terribly impressed by the burger. I enjoyed the salad on top, and the aioli on the bun was delicious, but the burger itself seemed a bit dry and tasteless. Now that I write this, I'm really missing the Buffalo Burgers at No Name Saloon. Sorry, Queenstown, but I just can't give it a good rating. I also tried the vegetarian patty, which was tasty, but also a bit dry and not nearly as flavorful as some other veggie patties I've tried, including the ones that Perisher's food areas sold. The Fergburger patty came with what looked like slices of avocado on top, and pickles, but the ones at Perisher had beetroot and salad and a whole lot of flavor.

All in all, a great night, exciting, and definitely a great story to add to my Queenstown biography. It is just after 2am now, and I am completely exhausted, a bit cold, ashamed that I am coming in so late as a houseguest, but at least not hungry. Goodnight!