For those of us stuck in London for the winter, we know how trying those darker months can be. It’s cold, it’s rainy, and the sun sets at 3:45. Everyone is either cosied up inside or outside, suffering through the rain. It’s rough. As someone from a sunny state in the US, I have no idea why people settled here. The English are tough and proud people for that. You just have to admire them. However, hope is not lost for us foreigners venturing around the city. Of course, there are pubs and Hyde Park and all sorts of things in the city. But there is one shining light in the dark, just for Richmond students—the Winter Ball.
It has been a Richmond tradition for a long time, and each year it seems to come at just the right time. Just as that winter depression sets in and you have to start thinking about finals, BOOM. There it is. I personally have no issue procrastinating, especially if it means a fun dance with my friends in a cool venue. I mean, last year it was in a historic pub on the docks by Tower Bridge. The year before, in a cool underground venue full of street art and food trucks. The year before that, a Gothic church. This year, it’s to be a river cruise down the Thames. For me, a booze cruise down the river is a perfect way to forget about finals and my dissertation for a little bit. It’s also pretty cool to sail the same route so many people have for thousands of years.
Now I know, black tie dances are not everyone’s thing. But to me, it’s more about the tradition of coming together when we collectively feel the sun and warmth have left us for too long. There’s something about people creating holidays and events in those cold winter months just so we don’t have to spend them alone. It’s special and ancient. I think it’s especially relevant for students, who are often far from home for the first time, and usually have no idea what’s going on (like me). It’s nice knowing we’re all doing the same thing together. Even if we don’t know quite what that is or why it will matter.
I think the point I’m making here is that maybe the Winter Ball is less relevant than what it represents. For study abroad and international students at Richmond, many of you are away from family for the first long period of time, so this is a good memory to celebrate a milestone. I mean, a party on a boat, down one of the most famous rivers and cities in history, all on your own? It’s new, it’s exciting, it’s London by yourself for gods sake! I mean, how many people can say they’ve done that at eighteen, nineteen, or twenty? You have to celebrate that somehow, acknowledge how cool and lucky you are. If you don’t celebrate it, who will?
So, for anyone reading, I guess the point is if you don’t have your own Winter Ball, make one. Make that shining light in those dark months that brings your people together and celebrates each other. Where you are, where you’re going. All of it. You just have to. Stop and smell the roses, or whatever they say. Winter and tough times can get the best of anyone; don’t let them get the best of you. Have a ball.