Remember Remember...

....the 5th of November!

Catchy little rhyme, isn't it?

(Not to be confused with Earth, Wind, and Fire's "Do you remember the 21st night of September")

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Fireworks Night for this side of the pond.

Fireworks in our back garden

For me, I associate fireworks with July for obvious reasons. I think of hot weather, BBQs, and the smell of bug repellent being sprayed (which did nothing but delay the inevitable 87 bug bites).

But for the UK, they think Guy Fawkes Night, which means cold weather and lots of fireworks throughout the weekend.

Cold and no mosquitoes! Just the way I like it! 

I was pretty excited for my first Fireworks Night. Yes I know it has a history of being anti-Catholic, but I wasn't "celebrating" the night in that way. Just like I don't "celebrate" the 4th of July as our independence from the country I now call home. 

I like fireworks. Sue me. 

And sparklers. LOVE sparklers. I look like a wizard!

So being the incredibly open minded Expat that I am, I enjoyed Fireworks Night by setting off Fireworks in the back garden for the sake of liking fireworks. 

You will now have Katy Perry's song "Firework" stuck in your head. I'm sorry.

Houses all around us were also setting off fireworks of their own. We started with fountain type ones that aren't rockets, but then quickly wanted to set off these bad boys.....

They're called "Outrage" for a reason. We spent more time dodging the remnants of the explosion than we did actually admiring the fireworks. (I tried getting some pictures, but as I've explained before, my camera isn't the greatest. If you want pictures of you, or fish, or anything underwater, I'm your girl.) 

These were a lot less Outrageous, pun intended. Didn't have to dodge any raining debris from these!

I also learned about "the Guy". It took a good long while for me to understand what the Fiance was talking about with "the Guy". I was like, "who? What guy!? BE MORE SPECIFIC!" 

"The Guy" as in Guy Fawkes. Duh.

Apparently it's popular for kids for dress up a life sized scarecrow in old clothes and have it represent Guy Fawkes. They ask "penny for the Guy?" and they get pennies and other change to collect and spend on sparklers or sweets or whatever kids want these days. Then at the end of the night, they burn the Guy.

Like literally, burn their little scarecrow man aka Guy Fawkes.

I thought, "Well that's a bit violent!"

But hey, what are you gonna do?

I'll stick to my sparklers and pretending I'm a wizard.

Did you do anything for Fireworks Night?? Did you even know what Fireworks Night was?? (Because I didn't!) Have you ever celebrated a new holiday in a different country?