I stopped explaining why I celebrate carnival
‘We’ in Bergen op Zoom are already off, as we call it in our group chat. I've already been out for two weekends and I've meticulously planned the next Friday night dinner, which we make on Thursday, so we can drive straight to le sud after work. Half past nine in the city is the goal, quarter to ten at the latest.
We immerse ourselves and indulge for two evenings in the Bergse Vastenavend and return home on Sunday, where our new neighbors must be wondering why we are dragging that suitcase every weekend. In two weeks, it's five days in a row and I can't wait. But I prefer not to talk about it anymore.
When I still lived in the city center of Bergen op Zoom, I went every free minute. On Friday, on Saturday, on Sunday afternoon, the Wednesday before. Every weekend was optimally used with dancing (that's what we call it) through the city. Now I wouldn't be able to function normally anymore, I'm over thirty, so we're skipping Sunday for now. Everyone understood it there because they participated, but now I see almost pure incomprehension when I really don't have time on the weekend because I'm celebrating Vastenavend.
You have roughly three reactions…
- The one where people let you drop from semi-intelligent to infantile in a second.
- The one where people immediately think you're making out with every stranger in the bar and drinking yourself blind.
- The one from the people who also celebrate it. These are fun.
And because I have zero need to keep explaining myself, I've stopped doing that. Which is a shame because it's actually one of my favorite parties. I celebrate it with friends, I celebrate it with family, I drink a bit, yes, I don't cheat and I don't have to dress up as Elsa from Frozen, just like I don't stand there belting out carnival hits, because the music in Bergen op Zoom is quite niche.
You know what I never wonder about? What people drink at parties and festivals. And whether they cheat there. And what they wear. And who they do it with. And what kind of music they play. And whether they really enjoy it…
