Survive Raisin Weekend

My university is simply the coolest. With a school that's 600 years old comes a lot of interesting, albeit sometimes bizarre, traditions. This weekend in particular was Raisin Weekend. In order for Raisin to make sense, I must first back track. My university also has a tradition of Academic Families. When coming to uni, a lot of people asked me if I would miss out on sororities, and honestly I wasn't sure how to answer the question. How do you know if you're going to miss something you've never experienced? Well, I'm still not quite sure what I'm missing in terms of sororities, but I can definitely say that Academic Families are awesome, and I'm sorry for those that don't have one. 3rd year students adopt you into a family, and pretty soon you have a huge network of family members- mums, dads, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, special friends, weird person you don't want to acknowledge that you're actually related to: you know how it goes. Anyway, throughout your first two years at uni, they are a support network, and when you become a third year, it is your turn to adopt. 

The main reason for families though? Raisin Weekend. My weekend started off on Sunday morning with my dad giving me a task to complete. I then went to my mum's for a "Tea Party" where we ate lunch before starting our scavenger hunt. Most scavenger hunts send you scrambling around the town trying to propose to people, sing in public, etc. (I may have had to propose to a few guys and scream a few random things in the streets) Although I will say the most strange encounter I had was when a student (he had had a bit too much to drink) tried to kiss me on the street, and my academic siblings assumed I knew him- so I was left to fight him off with no help. 

After the scavenger hunt I went back to my mum's for games. Later, I went to my dad's for a continued celebration. That dad is typically a little less sympathetic than the mum (in terms of... quite frankly, more drinking games). Daddy also sent us on another scavenger hunt. "Kiss a stranger" seems to be a common task. As the night continued, I eventually left my dad's because I needed pizza- obviously. 

Monday morning the kids wake up and go to their mum's to get into a costume. I was dressed as an m&m (though I know a few people that were stuck in mankinis). Next, you go to your dad so he can give you your "raisin receipt" (essentially something you have to carry all the way to town. For our family, we were tied together and had to carry eggs, a chair, and a mop into town... it was a very long walk. Once in town, there is a giant foam fight in the quad. Seriously, I don't know what it is about my hair- literally everyone wanted to touch it and add to my collection of foam. It was so much fun though. 

I'm definitely tired and dreading this paper that I'm currently taking a break from writing ;) but with a few peers now on crutches or in some embarrassing photos online, I know that the weekend could have gone a lot differently :)

Basically- Raisin was awesome. So fun.