Party Time

At the end of the second term I went to quite a few parties. One took place in a club called Oceana and was Easter-bunny themed. Alice, whose birthday it was, invited us to come along and so we did! She is also my English language tandem partner who very successfully helped me with my CPE preparation (because I passed :).

bunny... ah buddy Matti, birthday bunny Alice and Spanish bunny Olga

same night, an hour later...

This party was on 31st March, but only two days later on the 2nd April I was invited to Pascal's house party in Aachen which was no less fun (for some people at least) as can be seen in the below picture.

Some parties, unfortunately, don't always have a happy ending, especially if people bump their heads against walls:

Kathy in the A&E department of Queen Elisabeth Hospital

This incident didn't have any long term consequences (as far as noted) and soon after we were in a drinking mood again:

beers!!

 

I have asked myself if it is just an Erasmus thing that inevitably damages your liver, or could there be another reason for excessive drinking and partying? Maybe it's due to the fact that it is England, too. Indeed there is a great pub culture (=drinking culture?) and an English man/woman can hardly be beaten in that discipline (trust me, I tried not only once!), as well as in pool, darts, table football, and playing on quiz machines.
I wondered if maybe the limited amount of time in their Erasmus year urges people's minds to keep telling them: "Make the most of it!, Seize the day!, Take as much as you can, ... and don't mind the consequences?" Are there consequences at all? Would they be rather positive or negative? I only know that if there's too much of something, it becomes less special, and therefore less valued or rather uninteresting. I had a point where I didn't want to go to parties anymore, because I was bored of them. Different parties blurred into each other and one was just as good (or bad) as the other.
I really think it is the people who make the difference. If you respect people, you don't treat them superficially - and this is probably what I have missed at many parties. Of course, I also had many real-deal experiences in the last couple of weeks and month with some serious talk and enjoyable chitchat which will stick in my mind for long (hopefully).
I really hope that you don't get the wrong idea of me being abroad - I also work hard and have a "real" life here (the notion of real is still open to discussion, of course), but, how can I best put this, it is different to studying in Aachen in terms of intensity. Your life is happening in a fast forward mode: Friends are made quicker and lost faster, routines are rare and become an important means of orientation rather than merely being dull. Decisions are made more conscious and you tend to opt for 'yes' more often than for 'no', because there might not be a second chance at all! That is certainly worth retaining for future decisions, I reckon. Ok, enough for today - back to my essay which is on the brink of its completion!