Trick eller Treat

Fact: Europeans are great at beer pong.

The thought of not celebrating Halloween made me tear up a little, so I took matters into my own hands and threw an apartment party! After watching a Parks and Recreation episode where Ann throws a Halloween party and it's super lame and she spends the night looking super sad and disappointed dressed up as Raggedy Ann (oh my god i JUST got that), which only made things sadder, because sad dolls are depressing, I was a little nervous that no one was going to show up or enjoy themselves, but it was a major success. Lots of people came, no one threw up on anything, and the most burdensome thing that happened was Thomas' screwdriver got knocked over.

I was also worried that no one would like beer pong, but it was a major hit. The best part about it was that most people had never played before, so they had no sense of rules, expectations, etc. Not to be super obnoxious, but they opened up an entirely new paradigm for partying. Thomas and I squared off against Tara and Katrijn first, who both had some fantastic outfits (Queen of Hearts and slutty pumpkin, respectively):

First, please note that the Belgians are playing beer pong with Stella and Leffe. LEFFE. These kids mean business. Secondly, with no prior experience, they started throwing the ball underhand, not overhand. And guess what? They ran the table. It's a brilliant technique. I explained that while it's not illegal to throw underhand, in the States you'd be mocked so vehemently that you might as well quit. This was Sweden, however, and new AU abroad insights must be forged.

I was also impressed with how civil the games were (minus Dusjan using one of his turns to throw the ping pong ball at Katrijn's face). No one even had to use the sign-up sheet. When the game was over, people would casually and cooly decide who would play next. No name-scratching of belly-aching, "IS IT MY TURN YET? WHY IS IT TAKING SO LOOOOONG?" It was for sure to refreshing to see people not take drinking games seriously. Or greet jello shots with hesitancy and skepticism. Want to see something funny? Offer a French person a jello shot. Maxime, Pauline, and Clara's expressions of disgust were priceless. Despite extreme wariness, they disappeared in a matter of minutes. Europeans. Acting like they don't like semi-solids.

Skål!