6 x things everyone did during the school party

Now that the clubs are finally reopening this coming weekend, I am once again experiencing that same ‘nervous’ feeling I used to have right before a school party. You were already thinking about it weeks in advance because you knew it was going to be a wonderful evening. How nice was it that we could look forward to it so much back then, and how much do we actually miss the school party? Can't we breathe new life into that as well? After the pandemic, I feel like I'm 64 years old, so I would love to relive my youth (which is still very much ongoing but still). I would give anything to experience the points below again. Pure enjoyment that was.

1. Preparation
The preparation was at least as fun as the school party itself. The date had been set for quite some time, so there was plenty of time to go over everything with your friends. How do we approach the pre-drinking? What do we wear? Is there a theme? Are we going to stay over? A lot of organizing for such a school party, wasn't that fantastic?

2. Getting Ready
Getting ready: I really need to dedicate a bit of space to this. Bags full of tops, straighteners, waffle irons, makeup boxes, and a few pairs of low shoes, because you didn't wear heels to a school party. Oh yes, I almost forgot the gigantic earrings, which also had to go in the bag. Then you got ready at the place of whoever was home alone, so you could take up all the space for your wardrobe and colorful eyeshadow palettes. It often went like this: someone was in charge of makeup, another for hair, and you took turns getting each other ready for the evening. With some music in the background and a Smirnoff Ice in hand. What beautiful times those were.

3. Outfits
About a week or two in advance, you went out for outfits. This was perhaps the most fun of all. The perfect stores for school parties were CoolCat or Wonder Woman. Two incredibly ordinary stores where my mother refused to step inside, but I found it a true paradise. I didn't go shopping for a school party with my mother, but with my best friend, because we liked to coordinate our outfits. Mainly tiger prints, shiny materials, lace edges, and bare shoulders. Guaranteed success, I can tell you.

4. Pre-drinking
This was the most exciting part of the preparation and also the most organized. Smirnoff, Bacardi, Breezers, and vodka for the shots, that was on the shopping list. For this, IDs had to be borrowed, or older brothers and sisters to get it, and then you had to hide the stash well from your parents. If all that worked out, then the pre-drinking began during the getting ready process. After the getting ready process, it was time for drinking games. Kings, buses, and boats, all great and life-threatening games. But you had to do something because you absolutely couldn't have alcohol at the school party. The goal was therefore to arrive completely drunk, so you were set for the rest of the evening. That often worked out since you gathered as early as five in the afternoon.

5. Projects
By this, I mean the boys, or rather the guys from the upper grades. Before a school party, you discussed extensively with your friends what the goal of the evening was, with whom you were going to dance (or grind in the wild upper-grade phase) and possibly kiss. You had to stick to that plan, but it wasn't a disaster if you strayed from it. Sometimes it just didn't happen.

6. Dances
There was no TikTok yet, but there were plenty of dances that we practiced ourselves for our school parties. Don't forget the Macarena, YMCA, and The Ketchup Song. There was a lot of dancing and having fun, but panic set in slightly when a romantic song suddenly played. Then the moment was there: you had to make your move because standing alone during such a song was not an option. You had to have a dance partner. Meanwhile, you checked all your friends to see if everyone was sticking to the plan. Once that was survived, you happily continued with a practiced Grease dance. What a golden period this was.