I'm going to start my series of shinty-related stories with one of the most ridiculous and funny tales in my repertoire. It goes back a long time, having happened in November when I was a fresher - 5 long years ago. However, it was when I met a lot of shinty people who had come in from out of town and made some true friends for life.
In St Andrews, there's a tradition that in your first year you find some kindly third-years to take the role of academic mother and father for you. Shinty takes this particular tradition quite seriously, with many shinty boys and girls keeping it 'in the family' so to speak. So the Shinty boys treasurer (Biff) was my academic dad and the girls captain (Marjh) my mum. And our parents' main task occurs every year on Raisin weekend.
So this is how my Raisin Sunday began. At 7am myself and my other shinty brothers and sisters had piled on our clothes and were making our sleepy way to Biff's house. We'd had an early night, and made sure to buy our parents the traditional bottle of wine earlier in the week.
Upon entry at Biff's, where we were greeted by Biff and three other shinty-ers, we were handed a shot of olive oil to 'line our stomachs'. The 15 or so of us were then divided into 4 groups and sent off for our first game of the day. I was sent to the room where we were presented with a kid's game - you press a button and if the spinner lands on you, you get to have a shot of vodka. The game lasted 45 minutes, and the only reason I wasn't dead at the end was because we were allowed to top up the vodka with lemonade. It was, after all, only 8am.
Second game was a lot more fun. First of all, someone brought us much needed home-made nachos. Then we sat in the living room with a large bucket of beer. 'Easy', we thought. We were then presented with the drink of our choice. Since I was such a wise-ass, I figured vodka coke was the safest way to play this. Not mixing and all. That day I was introduced to a game that was to quickly become an old favourite. If you ever want to play it, let me know. I won't divulge all our secrets.
The third and fourth rooms were much less hardcore. One room gave us 45 minutes to drink a stein of beer and the other gave us the chance to try our hand at Mario Kart. Clearly the loser had to take a drink but still, much more easy going.
By the time we were finished with all this it was around 10.30 am and we were due at our mother's houses for the traditional academic tea party. Want to find out what happened there?? Did I make it to the end of the day or pass out trying?? I'll keep you updated...
In St Andrews, there's a tradition that in your first year you find some kindly third-years to take the role of academic mother and father for you. Shinty takes this particular tradition quite seriously, with many shinty boys and girls keeping it 'in the family' so to speak. So the Shinty boys treasurer (Biff) was my academic dad and the girls captain (Marjh) my mum. And our parents' main task occurs every year on Raisin weekend.
So this is how my Raisin Sunday began. At 7am myself and my other shinty brothers and sisters had piled on our clothes and were making our sleepy way to Biff's house. We'd had an early night, and made sure to buy our parents the traditional bottle of wine earlier in the week.
Upon entry at Biff's, where we were greeted by Biff and three other shinty-ers, we were handed a shot of olive oil to 'line our stomachs'. The 15 or so of us were then divided into 4 groups and sent off for our first game of the day. I was sent to the room where we were presented with a kid's game - you press a button and if the spinner lands on you, you get to have a shot of vodka. The game lasted 45 minutes, and the only reason I wasn't dead at the end was because we were allowed to top up the vodka with lemonade. It was, after all, only 8am.
Second game was a lot more fun. First of all, someone brought us much needed home-made nachos. Then we sat in the living room with a large bucket of beer. 'Easy', we thought. We were then presented with the drink of our choice. Since I was such a wise-ass, I figured vodka coke was the safest way to play this. Not mixing and all. That day I was introduced to a game that was to quickly become an old favourite. If you ever want to play it, let me know. I won't divulge all our secrets.
The third and fourth rooms were much less hardcore. One room gave us 45 minutes to drink a stein of beer and the other gave us the chance to try our hand at Mario Kart. Clearly the loser had to take a drink but still, much more easy going.
By the time we were finished with all this it was around 10.30 am and we were due at our mother's houses for the traditional academic tea party. Want to find out what happened there?? Did I make it to the end of the day or pass out trying?? I'll keep you updated...
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