Frost Week is the name unofficially given to the first week back at school after the winter holidays. The week is so called because it is meant to be a winter reenactment of Frosh Week, the first week of the school year. Frosh Week is a lot of fun because all my friends from school are back in the same place, and everyone is free because classes haven’t started yet. On top of that, the weather is still warm, so I can go where I want, wearing what I want. Frost Week has the reunion of friends in common, as everyone has returned from winter break. For many of us, however, Frost Week isn’t a reunion so much as an opportunity to pick up the stuff you left at your friend’s house on New Year’s Eve. Of course, I am always happy to see my friends — and to pick up everything left at their houses — so this is an element of Frosh Week I am happy to embrace in January.
Part of the reason why so many people want to go out during Frost Week is that everyone with half-year courses has little work to do. There are still classes, but at least labs haven’t started yet! This is all fine and good, unless you’re like me and have all full-year classes and no labs. Instead of a week with very little school work, for many Frost Week becomes the week that you realize you should have been reading Wuthering Heights as you sat on the beach in Mexico.
Then there’s the issue of the frost in Frost Week. Many Canadian cities are currently faced with wild snow storms and temperatures out of a Robert Munsch story. And yet we all seem to be under the impression that a fun night at a bar requires us to dress like it’s July. The scanty dress could be owing to the blasting heat in most of the bars I go to. Perhaps bar managers think that you can’t play “It’s Getting Hot in Here” unless it actually is getting hot in here. Anyway, there’s nothing pleasant about standing in a line in a skirt, in -15°C weather, and of course there will be a line, because everyone thinks they need to be at a bar because no one has any work to do.
With all of the above in mind, this Frost Week I propose wearing pants when you go out, and perhaps a Snuggie, if you are prepared for a bold look while you wait in line. No, I do not have a Snuggie, and I’m not really prepared to endorse you if you decide to wear one out of your house, but I will support everyone who decides to dress warmly before going anywhere. Also, I propose taking a night off, from partying or from studying. I also propose nights when everyone gets together, that way I don’t have to go out every night in the hopes of seeing everyone I want to. Also, those tend to be the best nights, the ones we continue to laugh about years later. London Hall goes to Tap House is still one of the funniest nights I’ve had. Finally, I propose making a ‘no man gets left behind’ rule, so no one ends up dead in a ditch, or in this weather, a snow bank. Text your friends and make sure everyone made it home. And whatever you do, don’t let anyone do what the person who left the footprints below did.
For those of you experiencing Frost Week for the first time, know that there will probably be someone who cries at some point during the week. The holidays can be stressful, getting back to school can be stressful, tequila shots can be stressful. Take it easy on yourself and your friends. And for those of us experiencing Frost Week for the last time, we should try to achieve the kind of life balance that allows us to spend time with our favourite people while still getting something done. We may not have many more opportunities to get together like this.
I wish you all good times with good people this week, even if you aren’t celebrating Frost Week, and I wish you love and enthusiasm for 2014. Also, wool socks and toques. We’ll need those these next few days.
Songs of the Day: Party Girl by Asher Roth ft. Meek Mill
Just in case you need help getting the party started on this cold January night.
