Andrew Melville Ball

The University of St. Andrews has another interesting tradition, one that it seems to share with only Oxford and Cambridge-- each year is punctuated periodically with a remarkably high number of formal balls. One friend of mine, Alex, says he has gone to ten since the start of the year. In addition to large, school-wide balls, each residential hall has at least one a year, sometimes two, and almost every student society has a formal event for their members. The cost ranges from 45 pounds for the May Ball, the largest one which is occurring tonight, to free, like the Andrew Melville Christmas Ball which was held last term.

On Friday, we had the Andrew Melville May Ball, which cost two pounds for Melville residents and five pounds for guests. At such a low cost, I wasn't expecting too much. I decided to go anyway because it would be a fun chance to hang out with my friends from my hall, especially since I don't have too much time left with them all.

My low expectations were completely blown away. The ball was absolutely amazing. The theme for the night was "The Great Gatsby", and the organizers outdid themselves in setting up the venue. The ball took place in Younger Hall, the music building, which provided a perfect setting. The ceiling was draped in cloth banners and a full band was set up on the stage at one end. As you entered the ball, a greeter welcomed you at the door and handed each person a rose, an unexpected, but nice touch. Each person also got two free drinks from the bar, something my first year friends took almost immediate advantage of.

One of the highlights of the night for me, however, was the Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament that had been arranged as part of the ball. Set up around the edges of the dance floor, the tournament started with four different tables of eight people. As the number playing shrank, they consolidated to a single table. Now, as I did not make it that far, I have no idea who won, but I did managed to accomplish my goals for the evening. Not being the best at poker, I went into the game hoping to do two things-- 1- Win at least one hand and 2- Avoid being the first person eliminated at my table. I did managed to win a hand (yes, only one, unfortunately) on a nice set of three nines. On top of that, not only was I not the first person eliminated from the table, but I in fact beat out five of the eight of us, making it so far that I was moved to another table when enough people from my own were eliminated, thanks to a high-stakes hand where three people were all in (the fourth person, the only one who was not down to his last chip, won the hand, knocking out all three at once). I also stayed in the tournament longer than both Mark and Kelsey, something I might rub in for a little while longer.

I finished the tournament just in time to enjoy the last song from the band, which had spent the first two hours or so of the ball playing swing and foxtrot music, to which a surprising number of people knew how to dance. Lessons had been given earlier in the week at Melville, but as not many people attended, I wasn't expecting such a high number of people on the dance floor. Overall, if was a really fun atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music and the ball, and it was a nice way to end the last week of classes. Those two pounds were well spent!

Unfortunately, we are now in revision week, the week between the end of classes and the beginning of exams. I don't quite understand why a whole week is necessary. At home, we take almost twice as many classes a term and only get a single reading day at a time. Here, people can take a max of three courses a semester and yet require a whole week to review? It seems a little ridiculous. I don't even know what to do with myself with this much time.