First off, sorry for the long winded title, I know it’s a mouthful of a sentence but there is a lot to say about the recent activities of ESN Plymouth that due to coursework and alcoholic restraints I have failed to write up, so brace yourself for a fairly lengthy post, although while in Spain I wrote bigger ones (like this one) , so suck it up and read on.
After our eventual return to the cold and windy city we call home (for now) from Edinburgh most of us went to bed thinking we would have some respite from the stresses and strains of Erasmus work and organising of parties and whatnot, but some were mistaken, myself included. The next ESN Plymouth event was just around the corner and already had a fair amount of interest from the rest of the society, so there was much to be done… But first, a nap.
As the title would suggest (for those who’ve seen the film it refers to- trailer here) we took a few of our esteemed members to Plymouth’s outdoor ice rink in the town centre to see how many people the barrier could hold before it collapsed under the weight of us all clinging on for dear life. (Ice Angels Rink) It turns out that one of our French members, unbeknownst to the rest of us, is an ice hockey player at the nearby Pavilions rink, so lorded it over the rest of us without even having the common decency to fall over and humiliate himself even once to restore the balance… Bloody show off… Some of us had done a little skating before, including the fantastic 4 from Finland who (along with the show off) tore up the ice in graceful fashion, blissfully unaware of the accidents waiting to happen behind them.
With everyone on the ice in skates that nearly fit, we shuffled our way into the traffic system of the rink for nearly an hour of precarious balance (or lack thereof) and a great deal of holding each other up. Without wanting to mention names, one particular member had never even worn ice skates before, and his début on the ice was remarkably worry free apart from one little slip where he may have got a wet bum and a wry smile from the Finns and show off French guy but that’s about it. I did quite alright if I may say so myself, and what with it being my blog, I think I may.
All joking aside the whole group seemed to enjoy themselves tearing up the ice while trying to avoid crashing into one another and going head over heels, there was in fact some pairs figure skating going on between two of our Finnish members who took the ‘blades of glory’ reference rather seriously, but looked bloody gracious doing so. Fair play girls, fair play. Once we had unlaced our skates and rubbed our swollen ankles we did what all Erasmus students do after any form of activity whether academic or otherwise, and we went to the pub.
A few short days later we all met once again to take our not-very-marketable skills to another of Plymouth’s leisure outlets and throw some balls around for a while. No, before you say it, just no, no innuendo or sexual references whatsoever, shame on you! I’m talking about bowling… dirty minded sods… Tenpin Bowling down on the Barbican is Plymouth’s premiere establishment for playing with balls for a small fee on a cold evening. Well, it is now that C103 closed down, but only people who’ve been to Plymouth will get that… (Sorry mum, couldn’t resist a sex joke, I’m only human!) However upon our arrival at the bowling alley we discovered that all the lanes were in fact occupied, and that our group was a bit too large to fit the lanes we had booked, so our group were offered a different booking a week later. While this was an inconvenience at the time, it turned the evening into an alcohol fuelled trip round bars nearby, so all was not lost!
At this point I should point out that as a result of the slip up (not an ice skating reference) with the bowling alley, our society Christmas dinner happened before the ice skating itself, rather than after as was the original plan. But for the sake of my ageing brain and inability to think of more than one topic at a time i’ll tell you about the actual bowling event now and pretend that it happened before dinner… no one will be any the wiser…
On our rearranged bowling date the heavens opened and rain fell in abundance as is often the way here in the sunny south west. This put somewhat of a dampener (see what I did there?) on our otherwise positive attitudes and meant a large proportion of our original bowling contingent were unable to make it to the alley. However all was not lost as soon enough a marvellous Mauritian (who is becoming somewhat part of the furniture these days) showed up and was quickly followed by a handful of other members. the 15 of us then set about throwing our balls (yes I know) down the alley and trying in vain to look gracious while doing so. I personally scored the first ‘strike’ of my soon to be long and fruitful bowling career, which was quickly followed by another cocky throw knocking down only one pin, but taking my pride and future down the gutter with it.
The drinks and conversation and trash talking flowed and we had fun by all accounts before making our way out of the alley to go our separate ways and rest out aching joints from so much exertion with a cheeky pint or 3, as is the custom of ESN students. (you should know that by now if you’ve been reading the past posts really…)
Now to the Christmas dinner, which came before the bowling, much like the chicken and the egg but clearly more serious because it involved a piano and alcohol. The venue for the ESN Plymouth Christmas shindig and send off was the Berkeley Bar and Grill, a restaurant near the hoe (not the ones whole patrol Union Street on a weekend, I mean the pretty one with grass and a lighthouse) famed for good food and wine at reasonable prices. A group of 35 ESNers’ made our way there for a few drinks and to share in a buffet while discussing the most pressing matters of the day, such as who was wearing the shortest skirt or who got the most drunk at a recent party that the committee members weren’t invited to. (Yes Alex, it still hurts us!) Once we had eaten our fill and chatted to our hearts content we had the customary awards ceremony that comes with any works or students do at a restaurant, complete with loud cheering from the girls and over enthusiastic clapping from the boys. I can’t remember all of the awards nor who they went to off the top of my head, but I remember one being Mr. Flirt (for the gentleman most likely to be seen leaning on a wall talking crap to an uncomfortable girl nearby) 
another was Party Animal, for the lady amongst us most often seen either with a bottle in her hand or, more often than not, lying beside her in a comatose state. (that’s an exaggeration, but i’ve gotta be dramatic you know?) and another being Mr and Ms Edinburgh, for the male and female member who best demonstrated the Erasmus spirit on our recent outing to the Scottish capital (read about it here).
The winners were then invited (without option of course) to take part in a game of charades that saw them degrading themselves in hilarious fashion trying to impersonate ideas ranging from Shrek, to Charizard and even Britney Spears (the latter two could easily be confused if the acting was crap) After embarrassing people in front of their friends for long enough we held a small raffle where the 3 lucky winners would get either a bottle of wine, box of chocolates or the cheapest bottle of champagne that the tight fisted Northern English git who bought it was prepared to pay for.
Upon our departure from the restaurant with the warm food eaten and the cheap drinks drunk we set off into the cold night to hit a nearby nightclub that stays open until 3 in the morning on Sundays for some reason. I took myself to bed though, the old age and the 4 Mojitos had taken their toll and I dozed peacefully on the sofa in the living room until beaten up the stairs with a pillow by my house-mate because my alcohol induced snoring was disturbing her binge-watching of some crap telly…
I can see it in your eyes already, the end is in sight surely? I hear you say… but no, I’m sorry to say there is in fact more to write today, as this is set to be the final post of this blog for 2014, and the events detailed above are the last that some of our members will spend with us this year. So it is time to say a fond farewell to them and wish them all the best for their studies back home.
As an organisation the Erasmus Student Network spans the EU and higher education institutions the region over welcome Erasmus students with open arms and open bars, and Plymouth is no exception. (apart from the open bars part, we’re too tight for that down here). This term we have had a huge number of students from as far afield as Lithuania and the Ukraine, and everywhere in between. We have members from Mauritius (I mentioned him previously, pay attention!) and the US, Australia and even Vietnam and they make our experiences the best we could ever hope for. While I did my Erasmus placement in Spain I met a fantastic number of people from an even greater range of nations and I owe them my thanks, for without them I would not have had the experience that encouraged me to get more involved with Erasmus and certainly not be a part of the ESN section in Plymouth. Likewise for those here now, they (for the most part) have had an amazing time in this cold and wet little corner of the UK and they owe it in large part to the friends they’ve made here that they otherwise would never have know even existed.
The Fantastic Finns, the Fabulous French, the Delectable Dane (yeah there’s only one of ’em) and the Incredible Italians to name but a few, have given their utmost to the society and made every effort to make the most of their time in Plymouth, for which they should all be extremely proud. It is with sadness we say farewell to a large number of our dear members and friends, with whom we have spent such good times and seen so much.
Come the new year there will be another intake of ESN students from anywhere one could think of, and the whole process will start again, but for those who are leaving us here, we will not forget you. Nor shall we forget that you damn Finns stole the mascot!!!!!!!!!
I am pleased to announce that this is the end of this post!!! so rest easy, the hard work is done. What follows are the remnants of the photos from our various events and goings on for you to peruse and enjoy, and you’ll be hearing from us in the new year. Merry Christmas one and all! x
The Rain in Spain... 