I was really excited about my first Homecoming in my life. I had a lot of expectations because I have just heard about it, but never really knew what it was. This semester I finally had the chance to make this wonderful as well as shocking experience and I am going to share it in the following.
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back former alumni of a university. The elections for the Homecoming queen and king took place a week before Homecoming even started. You would see a lot of creative and funny posters all over campus to make people vote for the Homecoming queen and king. You could also hear the marching band practicing. I never saw it but I could hear the music from across the river.
My Homecoming weekend started with the short but nice parade. We could see the marching band and also a couple of dancers, soldiers again and some students performing.
I could also see that there were a lot of house parties going on all over Eau Claire. Everywhere you could see fenced off areas around houses and people standing with the typical red cups and drinking alcohol. It was only 10 o’clock but the most shocking part was that the bars opened at 7 o’clock on this day and people already started having some drinks at the bars. People from everywhere participated in this event. Even people, who have never belonged to the university. Unfortunately this event is mostly used as an excuse to get drunk all day long.
Furthermore I noticed that everyone wore a t-shirt which either said: Homecoming 2010, UWEC or Blugolds. Almost everyone was wearing Blue and Gold clothing. I really liked this because it shows the strong cohesion of the Americans through events like the Homecoming.
Homecoming usually includes activities for students and alumni, such as sports. Like the football game we saw on Saturday. It was the first football game that I saw in my life and the experience was great, even though I was not able to really understand the game, but the feeling was unforgettable. The marching band and the cheerleaders were amazing. One just gets carried away by the mood and everything.
All in all I thought that Homecoming was a really great experience and I am sad that we do not have something like that in my home country.
Karin, you are usually very fast at getting things done! I am amazed! It is good that you knew this event before you even came here. I was quite surprised to see the bars opened so early that day. Now I know the reason. I didn't realize that a lot of people are wearing the blue and gold color shirt before you share here. thank you. Homecoming is a great experience to me too!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting for me to hear that you don't have anything quite like this in your country. Next time you watch a football game, you need to have someone who really loves it and knows the rules, etc. It is even more exciting when you know the rules!
ReplyDeleteLet's go together for a football game next time!
ReplyDeleteIn my country we do not have something like homecoming either :( I think it is great that alumni and students get together.
ReplyDelete