5.18.2007

More high school hijinks.

Awhile ago I posted a little question to our Slovenian readers regarding their high school graduation celebrations, namely: does everyone in Slovenia go out a'drinkin' for their graduation party. Anyway, I'm still reeling from all this and trying to get my head around the phenomenon. So, this afternoon we headed into the center to watch hundreds of high school graduates take over Slovenska and simultaneously square dance with each other.

Apparently this is a Guinness World Record. Students from all over Slovenia will dance at the same time to the same music, making it the world's largest dance party. Afterwards, the routine was followed by a loud apocalyptic drum and fire-breathing ensemble playing on top of a roving bus that led the dancing students away.

Why is it that Canadian high school students only get a firm handshake when they graduate and Slovenian students have massive street parties and ten day drinking expeditions?

We later went out for drinks and pizza and hung out at the U.K. Club. They have great magazines! They do!

6 comments:

Iva said...

Well, I'm not so enthusiastic about this whole drinking thing. I mean, it has positive sides, but the more relevant are the negative ones, which demonstrate themselves in a jungle of drunken teens, stumbling across Ljubljana, throwing up in every bystanding bush, throwing litter recklessly ...

Jay said...

For sure, there are consequences. I mean, drunken adults can be annoying, but drunken adolescents can be worse.

Comparing how high schools function in Canada and Slovenia, I wonder if high school graduation celebrations in Slovenia are more difficult to regulate and police than in Canada.

Lisa said...

All I know is that by 2pm on Friday, I wanted to confiscate every whistle in the city of Ljubljana and then melt them in a large bonfire.

Jay said...

. . . then the melted plastic is poured into a giant mold and cooled. With a single tap from a ball-peen hammer, the mold cracks and crumbles apart, revealing the cyclopean form of the Dreaded Whistle of Adolescence, or That Which Should Not Be Blown Into.


May God have mercy on us all.

Iva said...

You guys crack me up :D Anyways, I dont think there's problem with the police. To me, it seems they just put up with their crap :) Take it for granted ...

Anonymous said...

I agree... but then again... I remember when I graduated from high school... We locked everyone inside the school, stole a plank from a nearby construction site, spray-painted "POLJANE" on it, and took a stroll downtown... It was all rather disorganized as we walked in the middle of the streets, stopping traffic and driving the cops crazy.

We then staged a mock protest in front of Ljubljana Court, shouting and demanding that "Marko be released" - nobody knew who this Marko was :))

Then we protested in front of TV Slovenia, demanding more porn (I think) and then we met with people from the rival Gimnazija Bežigrad, meeting in the middle of crossroads at Figovec in downtown Ljubljana and so on and so on...

My point... What you witnessed Friday last was civilised and organised compared to my graduation :)