Glöggrundan Day #333

   For those of you who don't know, here students at universities have overalls (which has specific colors depending on what you study, for example mine is green and white) that are worn to informal occasions like parties for students, gatherings etc. It's a tradition to have one, and I think it's a good one. Each student personalizes their overalls by filling them with patched related to organisations close to their heart, or patches that are related to specific events the student has visited. Sewing these patches is however really hard, since the overalls are made of a rough material, resulting in some students using glue instead of needle and thread, but that's by many older students considered cheating. The general idea is that the more patches you have, the cooler you are, and the older of a student you probably are as well.
   Every year we have something called Glöggrundan here in Åbo, which makes a point of visiting as many bars as possible in a night, for which you recieve a patch. You can reach different levels, each one with different patches. You also need to have the first patch to get the second, the first and second patch to reach the third "level" and so on.
   Glöggrundan was held Thursday, and I participated for the first time, making me reach the first level, Kandidat (the patches associated with this year are viewed here on the right). I'm really happy about this, because it's kind of a prestige thing as well: the higher level you are, the better, and I  hope to reach Magister next year. I didn't manage to get a ticket last year, since they sell incredibly fast, for a lot of students residing in Åbo, Helsingfors and Vasa joins us for this little adventure.
   Note that the point of this isn't just to get drunk: you can earn your patch through ordering alcohol free drinks/food as well, making the entire idea more inclusive and avoids putting pressure on someone who'd like to participate but doesn't like to drink.
   This year I walked around with a group of people my boyfriend put together, most of which I had already met. As always when you start with a large group and partying is involved, the group's members changed during the night as we split up, reformed, met other friends and lost some of the original ones. However, everyone made it to where they were supposed to sleep all in one piece. I had a lot of fun, it was really great to see these people again, they're all so incredibly nice. During the night I also ran into a bunch of other acquaintances in different groups and places, most of them also trying to earn their patches.
   The snowglobe and the yellow, green and black patch were earned this week, and since I had a few patches left to sew, I spent a large portion of yesterday evening with choosing places for them and using my very limited skill with needle and thread to fasten them.
   I'mm already looking forward to Glöggrundan next year, and of course to the next time I get to wear my overalls! Thank you to all of those who made this year such a great one!