However, I did realize that my friends from home had a point, so when my York friends invited me to go to a club with them, I happily agreed to go. I rustled around my closet, scrounged together an outfit that both Louie and Meaghan approved of (via Skype, of course), got ready, and then had a moment of panic when I realized what I had agreed to do.
I'm an Ohio girl. I think there's a couple of clubs in Cleveland, but other than Bounce, I've never heard of any of them. I go to school in Wooster, where our idea of a fun Saturday night out is going to Walmart. Heck, until last night, this is the only club that I'd ever been to:
After I'd worked up the courage to leave the safety of my dorm room and hang out with my friends, I began to feel more comfortable. In fact, by the time the taxi came to pick us up at 11:20 PM, I was excited to go! I finally felt like I was doing something that "real" college students do.
When we got to the club, Club Salvation, I could not believe my eyes. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was a rather dark place with a bar to one side, a DJ on a platform, a couple of hundred people, a fog machine, and rainbow lights. The music was so loud that you literally had to shout in people's ears to communicate with them. On the dance floor, everyone was all close and bumping around. My friends and I went to the middle of the floor, which at first terrified me, but soon made me feel excited.
As I danced (well, like swayed in tempo while bouncing my kneecaps a bit...a dance that I've perfected from four years of high school dances), I couldn't help but feel like none of it was real. Here I was, some corn fed Ohio girl who's too afraid to order pizza over the phone, out on a Saturday night at a crowded and trendy night club in England. That doesn't happen! Heck, I didn't even know that clubs were ACTUALLY like that! I thought that was an urban legend that Hollywood invented, like kids making volcanoes for science fair and middle school hall monitors that never go to class because they're too busy patrolling the halls. It was all completely surreal and I could not comprehend the fact that it was all happening to me.
During the night, I somehow attracted a couple of young gentlemen, which was flattering at first, seeing as how I don't think I've attracted a young gentleman since high school, but quickly became annoying. My friends saw my panicked look and rescued me both times. I really realized that these people have my back, which makes it a LOT easier to breathe over here. It's nice to know that there are people who are going to be there for you...even if you'd only met them a couple of days ago.
After we'd left the club (at around 2:45 AM, which was apparently early for my friends, even though it's probably the latest I've ever been out), we went to some greasy fast food place called Salt and Pepper's until our taxi arrived. The best way that I can describe it to the Wooster people reading is that it's like Mom's Truck Stop. From what I could tell, it was near a lot of York's clubs, so everybody in there looked like they had obviously just come off of a night of clubbing. I ordered some chips and was happy to see that they had malt vinegar in the condiment section. Unlike my friends do at Wooster, no one judged me in the slightest for putting it all over my fries, er, chips.
Right now, it's 11:40 AM the next day. I'm sitting in my bed with achy legs, a club stamped hand, and a long list of poems by George Herbert that I should be reading, but I could not be happier. Last night wasn't real, and yet, it was. Maybe it's time to stop being so afraid of life. Maybe it's time to go out there and live it.
It sounds like you are trying new things every day (and night!)--way to experience life abroad, Ellen! :-)
ReplyDelete