Saturday, 3-23-96
2:30 AM London
Friday, 3-22-96
10:30 PM E-Town
Just got in from the “Purples Ball” @ the Park Lane Hotel w/ Canoe Club & it was fabulous!!!
I met Chelsea at S. Kensington Tube Station about 5 past 6 PM. We then went to the Imperial College Union’s pub — to sort of pre-party & meet up with the rest of the Canoe Club. We all had a drink & chatted till all who were meeting us there before the Ball (James, Pippa, Rita, Darren, Paul & his girlfriend, and Dennis), had arrived…
About 7 PM we took the tube to Marble Arch & were on to the Ball! When we arrive we went to the loo & then checked our coats! We also then met up w/ Maureen, Julie, Louise, Louise’s “on the side,” and Ellie’s sister.
We took lots of cheesy, but memorable, pictures: including ones of just the gals & just the blokes & then the whole club etc.! ☺︎ Fun, fun!!! ☺︎
We mingled a lot & checked the place out… the Park Lane is a gorgeous hotel & very elegant! There was even a string quartet playing as people drank wine & other cocktails & chatted before dinner!
When it was dinner time we went up to our tables in the balcony overlooking the dance floor & stage & other tables. Each table sat 12 & there were 16 of us… so James, Maureen, Dennis, & I sat w/ the Crew (Rowing) team at one table overlooking that was going on below (it was rectangular). The rest of the club had a round table near by & we often visited each other throughout the meal!
Maureen, James, & I split 2 bottles of dry white wine! Expensive (£10 each — £15 per bottle), but good, & made for a lasting buzz! ☺︎ The four course dinner was pretty good… the first course was scary looking & had mushrooms & I didn’t even try it! The 2nd was as soup & I sipped some of the broth! 3rd & main course was meat (Lamb I believe) & it was fairly tasty… But the 4th course (i.e. dessert) was the yummiest by far! It was some sort of Strawberry mousse/cake concoction that was scrumptious!
Finally, they served coffee, truffles, & choc. mints!
We all took lots of pics. during dinner & did not pay a whole lot of attention when they were announcing the “Purples” awards to outstanding athletes (primarily cuz no one in our club was getting one this yr.!)…
Paul had everyone sign his napkin & told me it was tradition & a nice souvenir… so I had everyone autograph mine as well! It will be a fun piece of memorabilia…
By the end of dinner we were all pretty buzzed & many were pissed (drunk)! We were being real silly & putting ice cubes down each others’ shirts & dresses!!!
Next we went to the room w/ American Gladiators games! I just watched, but it was so hilarious to see people box w/ huge gloves, ride a bull machine, & other such silly things!
Soon after we hit the dance floor & boogied pretty much for the rest of the evening! It was such fun gettin down w/ my canoe club buddies… everyone was in a great mood & laughing & singing & dancing & together!
There were really only 2 slow songs. One I danced w/ a random bloke who asked me to & happened to be on the ULU Golf team! It was fun to talk about golf as we danced! ☺︎
The 2nd slow song the whole canoe club got together in a circle (like we do back at school @ “Time Warp Tues.” when they play “Total Eclipse of the ❤︎”) & were arm and arm as we swayed & sang… It was a nice group slow dance, as opposed to us all pairing off! The band played a lot of Tina Turner songs… random! ☺︎
I feel I really got to be more myself w/ my canoe club friends here, more than ever before… it was great to hang out, chat, dance, & party w/ them! I can’t believe I really got to go to a real Ball here… how exciting! I will miss my canoe friends when I go, of all the Brits that I have met here (which are few…) I feel I got to know these groovy canoers the best! ☺︎ Hooray British experience! I hope we all, or at least some of us… keep in touch! ☺︎
We danced right up until the last song & then got our coats & hailed cabs home… I look forward to seeing them all, in a new light, @ practice on Wed.! We have even talked of going clubbing afterwards… Fun, fun! I must get to sleep now, it is late. Whatta evening! Yea for Canoe Club & the Purples Ball! ☺︎
CHEERS! ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: This was such a fun entry to revisit, as it was one of the highlights of my London Semester Abroad, getting to attend a real Ball! As I have shared in other posts, I had to work harder to have a “British Experience” in the UK, vs. an American one there, since I primarily lived and took classes with fellow Americans. If I had decided and applied to study abroad sooner, I might’ve had the opportunity to live and go to school with British students. However, I didn’t and thus I made the best of the circumstances I ended up with in London.
I am grateful for the friends I made that semester, both my American housemates/classmates and the British people and fellow international students that I met through the University of London Union’s (ULU) Canoe Club and at Newman House on campus in Bloomsbury. I didn’t end up keeping in touch with any of my Canoe Club friends, if I recall correctly, beyond maybe exchanging a few emails and we never did go clubbing or hang out beyond those Wednesday nights after practice at the ULU pub. I did save the cloth napkin many of them signed that night, as a fun souvenir. I hoped to share a picture of it in this post, however am not sure where it is right now. If and when I come across it, I may update this with a picture. While looking for the napkin, I found another souvenir that I saved to remind me of my fabulous experience at the Ball, this laminated bright purple promotional poster (that I hung on the wall of my room at Pembridge Gardens and brought home).
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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