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Freshers' Week

It's that time of year when, after an exhausting week of lectures, the college population takes a relaxing week nearly-off. I don't get to skip lectures along with everyone else, partly because I'm supposed to be a responsible postgrad, but mostly because I only have two lectures a week.

I wandered around the societies' tent in the carpark of the student centre during lunch (which lasted a respectible Freshers' week-style two hours). I was somehow roped into joining netsoc for the sixth time. This is despite having my own server and access to two others in college, and a paid-for host for my website. And a laptop. So, yeah, I won't be using their amazing 2Gb of storage and Web hosting. But I got some Dan bars, so it was worth it. Apparently the netsoc table quiz will return this year, after a few years off.

Weird fact about the netsoc table quiz: It's the only quiz in which I managed to answer a question correctly before it was asked. They had a round where every "question" was a line from a song, and they wanted the next line. After they explained this, but before they gave the first line, I wrote "Caught in a landslide/No escape from reality" for question one. I was right.

I also joined the juggling society. No surprise there, I guess. Though it's perfectly possible to just show up at the hall without being a member, so really I just baught a rather mediocre shortbread cookie for €3. Damn. I think they've finally done something about the room-booking clash they had with the poker society last year, so we may actually have the use of the hall this year. Woot. Trinity is still where its at for juggling in Dublin though.

Comments:
Mon, 19th Sep 2005 (17:45)

Hey, another UCD student here. Glad to see another one venting their opinions in the safe zone that is the internet!

by Fergal
Tue, 20th Sep 2005 (15:53)

Seriously, when did juggling become such a hugely popular passtime? When I think of all those wasted afternoons playing video games when I could have been part of the "wave-of-the-future" that juggling has become … *sigh*

by Ronan Lowe
Tue, 20th Sep 2005 (17:27)

I wouldn't call juggling hugely popular; it's still a very niche activity. It did gain in popularity significantly in the mid to late 1980s and seems to have continued to gain popularity slowly since then. The Internet helped, as it helped with the popularity of many less-than-mainstream activities, just by allowing people who wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to meet like-minded (or like-hobbied) people.

The appearace of increasing popularity is probably enhanced by the fact that the most active juggling groups in this country (and in many others I presume) are based around University juggling clubs, so people our age (the people we see most often) are far more likely to juggle now than they were several years ago when they were only children.

by Rory
Thu, 22nd Sep 2005 (10:27)

I take it I have just been schooled on the sociological background and development of Juggling. You learn something new everyday I suppose.

by Ronan Lowe

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This piece was posted on Mon, 19th Sep 2005 at 17:26.

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