Good News!

Well, since it’s overdue, I’ll give a recap about what happened during the May Ball, but first, let’s give way to a much more exciting piece of announcement:

I got a FIRRRSSSTT!

Yep, that’s right. A First! A First! A First! First! First! First! FIRRRRSSSST!

My friends and I went swimming in the morning until noon. Then on our way back we decided to stop at the Senate House, where the results are posted, to check them. I was really nervous, for reasons that I’m sure I’ve explained before. I think my friend was, as well, since he dreamt the night before that he got a two-two. So we went there, approached the notice boards and looked at the results. I saw my name absent from the First list and my heart sank. But then it wasn’t on the 2-1 list either. ‘Well, that can’t be right. There’s no way in hell I can get a 2-2,’ I thought. Then I realised it was the year above’s results and ours were just below it. And there’s my name, in the midst of Firsts. I think I screamed out a bit, just like the one above. Ha ha ha.

Oh yeah, my friend got a first too. We were delighted!

The May Ball was awesome. I heard that last year a bulk of the people attending have to queue for like two or three hours to get in but this year I stayed in a friend’s room who lives inside one of the main courts so we got in earlier than the rest of the people. They have tents with different kinds of food inside and at the Neville Court’s cloisters they have champagnes on ice. Not that I tasted it so I don’t know how good they are but from comments I heard apparently they were like £80 per bottle, which is quite expensive as champagnes go, so they must be really good. Next, going out to the backs they have a tent for oysters, nice and fresh. In hindsight, I should have gone back for seconds, thirds and fourths (well, I did go back for seconds) since the oyster tent was only available for three hours until midnight.

There were also tents of Mexican foods, chocolate truffles and cookies, pizza, smoked salmon bagels, ice cream and chocolate fountains, available in milk or white, in which you can drench your strawberries in. They were really good. There were also swings, a giant slide and bumper car rides. Unfortunately, I didn’t take lots of pictures that night. The only ones I have were shots, or rather videos of the fireworks performance, which I must say, was probably far better than the Cambridge City Council’s on Guy Fawkes Night. So there you go.

Notice the river was packed with people. They’re not really attending the ball. They were just folks wanting to catch a glimpse of the fireworks up-close so they parked, or moored their punts on the Trinity part of the river. If somebody falls in, I doubt that person can resurface easily die to the sheer number of punts on the river.

They were also offering punt rides for the night, which sadly, I didn’t take advantage of, since my friends were more interested in the bands and music that were playing. Which reminds me, I’m not usually a fan of live music and bands (though I sometimes dance in my room, with the curtains drawn close) but there was one that was really good and I couldn’t help but join in. I think it was called the Go! Team, or something.

The Ball lasted from nine until six in the morning, but there were always things to do, so you won’t get bored, at least not until the last half hour, when things were winding down. They serve coffee and tea all night too to keep you awake. Personally, when I was tired of walking around I always nipped into the tent where they have stand-up comedians, most of which were really really good. One in particular reminded me of my Londoner ex-roommate, the way they talk is exactly similar. It was very enjoyable listening to the lot.

At the end of the ball they took the survivor’s photo, which is the photo of people who had lasted the whole ball. I was in there, though I’m not sure if I looked okay or if I looked shabby and exhausted with bloodshot eyes.

And yeah, my friends (yes, more than one, and on separate occasions) complimented me on my bowtie, which looked really good, especially for someone who had just learnt how to tie it that very afternoon. Yay, I felt elated!

So yeah, that’s the ball as I remember it. There were other finer details as well but telling each and every single thing here might be pushing it, he he he.

Yaz.