The Winter Ball

Last week on Tuesday night we had our Winter Ball. It was a formal event in which we all dressed in suits and ties to eat a three course meal. The ticket for said event cost £25. Was it worth it? I couldn't really say.

A lot of my friends and flat mates were going. I decided I should go as well. There was a slight problem of not owning a suit but I rectified that situation a few weeks before the ball by going out to Bullring (I went to Suits You) and purchasing a very nice Ted Baker single breasted three button suit with three shirts, three ties, a new belt, two pairs of cuff links and a new pair of black dress shoes. They made such a killing on me, and my God was it an arm and a leg and a thigh, that they threw in a travel bag at practically no extra charge. My rationale behind buying such a nice suit was because well, it will come in handy beyond just tonight. Why buy a cheap suit which will get destroyed when I could buy a nice one which I could get dry cleaned and have it on hand for future formal events as well as job interviews and anything of that nature.

Back to the event at hand. We all got dressed in suits and ties and then we went down to the Social. The ticket said "Free Drinks" at the social. What that "Free Drinks" actually entailed, vague though it may be, was one free drink which was a cheap champagne flavored drink mixed with orange juice. It was a terrible, bland disgusting, flavorless and soulless drink. I rectified that situation by going up to the bar and ordering a Rum and Coke just to wash the sickly flavor from my mouth.

We then went down to the coaches which were going to take us to the Aston Villa Football Grounds. We were to have our meal inside of one of the executive suites. It was like a ballroom. Wood floors. A bar at one end of the room and a jazz band at the other. The jazz band was too close to my friend's table. They said it was annoying. I didn't sit there not because I didn't want to but because it just worked out that way. I sat with Sachin (Magic Man) and his flat mates. Sachin is known as Magic Man because he's so good with magic drinks. He has a whole routine with a deck of cards which ends with the card turning into a glass deck. He's really good at sleight of hand. I always keep my wallet in a safe place around him. He's not going to do anything but... just in case he ever wants to pull any tricks. Nah, he's actually a really good guy.

There were five bottles of wine at the center of the table with streamers, party poppers and a "fun box" with party nick knacks. The five bottles though were cheap, disgusting wines which had more in common with vinegar than wine. Again, I had to rectify this situation by going up to the bar and ordering a double jack and coke on the rocks with a lemon wedge. That cost me an arm and a leg but frankly, I would rather pay out money to get a good drink at an event like this than to dress up and drink terrible wine. It also had the added effect of getting my pallet somewhat numbed so I could stomach the bad stuff. My dad once told me that you drink the good stuff first, then you drink the bad stuff.

The first course was a minestrone soup and a roll. The soup itself was actually pretty good. It was a good warm up round until we got to the main course. Turkey with gravy, stuffing in the center, potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. It wasn't the greatest piece of poultry I've ever had, but then again, this was a mass produced meal. I didn't expect much from it. It was better than I thought it was going to be. The final course was a really good cheese cake. It had a layer of chocolate at the bottom. It was lush.

Afterward they had some announcements from people who got elected into office for our living area. It's Residential Advisers. Entertainment office, treasury and things of that nature. Ho hum stuff.

Throughout the meal I was having a pretty good time. I talked with a girl who was a golf management major. Yes, the University of Birmingham offers that as a major. She wants to own a golf course. I thought that was pretty interesting because you don't really meet that everyday.

After the meal is when fun took a nose dive. We went to get photos as a flat and as friends. It didn't go so well. People bum rushed the photographer and people just got agitated, especially amongst my group that we decided to get out of there.

We went downstairs. There were nine of us. We ordered a taxi. They sent us two. the first took home four leaving five. The second arrived but it wouldn't be able to take us all. Mark got angry with the driver. For a second I thought a fight was going to break out. Thankfully, another group of taxis arrived and took us home.

We all broke up and went to bed.

All in all, I think I had a good time but it was jaded at best. Some people made absolute fools of themselves. One guy, the entertainments officer, Ash, showed up at the venue absolutely battered. He was just a fool with streamers encircling and entwining around him. Most people who were civilized were less than impressed. Rod remarked to me later that he has only ever seen Ash whilst he is drunk. I will say this, it was entertaining to watch however I don't think he should be the one in charge of it.

The emotional drama at the end of the night was... well, it was less than impressive. The jazz band they had wasn't the greatest and they were way too loud throughout most of the night. It should have been a function with quiet music in the background not anything more.

I suppose I could nitpick the hell out of it but that's just what I do. I nitpick the hell out of a lot of things. I enjoyed it but if I had a choice I probably would not want to go again. I don't think I'm going to make the summer ball to be perfectly frank.