ECS Early Christmas Party

Christmas is coming which means holidays are around the corner. The heavy snow that fell a few days ago has triggered even more anticipation for this coming winter break. Nevertheless, the deadline for assignments is approaching as we are counting down for the holidays. This is definitely a very odd mixture of feelings.

When I woke up on Thursday morning and looked out of the window, instead of seeing the gloomy sky, the whole world outside was covered with thick white snow. It was truly a sight to behold for someone who has never seen any snow in real life before. It really struck me as I went to bed very early the night before without knowing it was snowing and the next thing I know when I got up is that everything has transformed into snowy white in just one night. The layer of snow is so thick that I can literally open up the window and instantly grab one handful of them. It’s so unbelievable considering the fact that for the record, there’s only one snowfall for the past 12 years in this place (if I’m not mistaken).

As the university was closed due to the weather condition, people were having fun with snowboarding and also snow fight around the campus. Then, as quick as it came, the snow was pretty much gone by the weekend and the temperature started to rise back again.

Over the weekend, the ECS Society had organized an early Christmas party in the Bridge Bar. The best thing is all undergraduates are given free entry ticket with a glass of free drinks. There were DJs, Wii, Blackjack and Texas Poker Tournament for everyone to have fun. One of our ecturers even turned up dressed in a Santa Claus costume!

Since my first week in the UK, I noticed that going for a party in clubs and pubs is part of the students’ life here. In the late evening, most of the shops and shopping mall are closed. Unlike in my home country, the streets here are normally calm and eerily quiet after 6. I guess that’s why most people like to hang out in bars or clubs. This is something quite new for me as well.

It would be misleading to say that there’s no clubs, bars or pubs in my country, but generally they are not the places students would normally hang out together and relax. Why? Probably it’s due to different cultural values and the general perceptions of society in my home country which tends to associate clubbing with negative values. Here, it’s like one of the most common activities for the students and I’ve been able to join a few of them and so far have enjoyed most of them. Most of my friends here are really living up to the quote “When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all”. This is actually easier said than done as it not only requires strong self-discipline, but you also need to be working smart and efficiently. They can have fun and also perform well in academics and I have to say, I’m simply impressed!