Every Thurday, Mercy’s student night is packed. Always. This truth is what ends up drawing a healthy drunk population to show up at this pit though their sober conscience knows otherwise. So there you are, a couple drinks deep, (most of them likely to be £2.50 jager bombs) thrust onto the dancefloor, mashed together with other drunk people, most likely getting groped. If not properly intoxicated, the unwanted thoughts and questions come back to you: ‘Oh god, whose hand is on my ass?’ and ‘I just hope whatever STD I am currently contracting can be cured with basic antibiotics.’ But, if you are drunk, you will chill out, have a drunk make-out session and, in the morning, when you have a mysterious new number in your phone, make the wise decision and do not call.
Ok, it’s not as bad as I make it out to be, but it comes bloody close. The DJ is perhaps one of THE biggest knobs in Norwich. The music he plays is the same every week, plus he changes it after 45 second EVERY goddamn time. There are some songs that cannot be ruined at a club, yet he finds a way through prematurely switching the music to the next song. Secondly, from time to time it is the basic duty of a club DJ to get on the mic and shout out some words to pump up the crowd, often being as simple as the occaisional, “Norwich make some noise!” However, the DJ at Mercy makes a botch-job of this task as well. Invariably, before each song is played, I hear: “Everyone get your arms in the air!” ‘Really?! Again? Fuck, I just had my hands up ... ok, fine!’ Or, the other even worse: “Who wants a free t-shirt?” ‘No, thank you. I’d prefer it if no one knew I came here, let alone would I advertise it.’
Ok, it’s not as bad as I make it out to be, but it comes bloody close. The DJ is perhaps one of THE biggest knobs in Norwich. The music he plays is the same every week, plus he changes the song after 45 seconds EVERY goddamn time. There are some songs where the only way to ruin them is to not play all of it, the DJ at Mercy is particularly adept at this task. Secondly, from time to time it is the duty of a club DJ to get on the mic and shout out some words to pump up the crowd. Often, this can be as simple as the occasional, “Norwich make some noise!” However, give the DJ at Mercy the mic and all you'll hear before every song is: “Alright, everyone get your arms in the air!” ‘Really?! Again? Fuck, I just had my hands up ... alright fine!’ Or, the other even worse: “Who wants a free t-shirt?” ‘No, thank you. I’d actually prefer it if no one knew I came here, let alone would I wear that t-shirt.’
This last Thursday, after a healthy (and perhaps not long enough) absence, I went to Mercy (Or, I say ‘went,’ but this is incorrect; for, Mercy is not a place that one ‘goes’ to, but rather a place that people ‘end up’). With the end of the academic semester in sight, and the (now) undeniable fact that the 35 pages I have due in a week will not write themselves, I figured that perhaps I should blow off a bit of steam before buckling down (for the first time all semester) and do some bloody work.
The night as a whole was one of the better Mercy experiences (no gropings) and soon I could tell the reason why: it's Christmas. With this upcoming week being the last week of classes for the term, this Thursday was a 'last hurrah' of sorts for students to let loose and get into the holiday spirit a bit. Christmas music was mixed into the evening's playlist, there was a mince-pie eating contest (yes a bit lame, but it wasn't too bad) and generally everyone was in a festive mood. It strikes me a bit odd that for a nation of such invariably secular religious beliefs is as enthusiastic as they are towards Christmas.
It is hard to put my finger on exactly what it is, but Christmas and Christmas time in England is a much bigger deal than in the states (my initial guess is a build-up of holiday sentiment resulting from the absence of Thanksgiving). In America, Christmas has become so private and commercialized, whereas, here there are some things that cannot be exploited for profit, traditions (even despite secularization) that prevail and define the holidays for this nation.
An example of this was Sunday night, where my flatmates and I cooked a tremendous Christmas roast, something I had never done before in uni. All the food was there, from beef to gammon to (my favourite) Yorkshire puddings, all staples of a Christmas that the English keep a healthy distance away from consumer markets and commercialism. It seems that these types of non-commercialized traditions take place at Thanksgiving in America, while Christmas then becomes a capitalist free-for-all.
This December, instead of flying home, I am staying in England for the holidays with family friends from when I lived in England as a young lad. I cannot wait for this holiday of all holidays in England, the experiences I will have and lessons it will teach me. More to come ... LW
