Blogs • Kate Kerse

Being a College that is not affiliated to the University, it seems fitting that Selwyn holds its own O Week. We run our own activities outside the OUSA program, and a lot of Selwyn's traditions are held during this full-on, fantastic and to many people totally foreign seven days. It was, you could say, a mega-week, so this may turn out to be a mega-blog.

O Week, I find, is like a particularly delicious sandwich. Parties, here called 'hops', are an absolute carnage of ingredients are bookended nicely by the more formal aspects of the week, the opening ceremony and this year's Orientation Ball. This year's hops had varying themes, ranging from your more traditional toga to barnyard to white out to fluoro to army to my personal favourite, the opposite sex hop. This provided for an explosion of creativity in the costume department- one of the many talents of the typical Selwynite is a definite appreciation for fancy dress and this was well represented this week, especially by some very effeminate boys on Friday night. There was at least one chicken fillet bra present, and it was not worn by a female.

A one line mention of the beginning and end of O Week hardly does the events involved justice- this year's ball was James Bond-themed, complete with a distinct casino vibe and, yes, a real Ferrari. Totally impressed with that, I'm not gona lie. Massive thanks go out to Hanafi our social rep and everyone who helped out for making Ori Ball and O Week in its entirety such a success. The formal opening ceremony also ran smoothly, Selwyn's haka and waiata being well performed by the exies and returners that made up Selwyn 2009, and was an apt welcome for the nervous frushas into what will be their home for a no doubt brilliant year.

A major ingredient and one that Selwyn is renowned for is the Leith Run. Having no idea what this was and not being a huge fan of physical activity I was more than a little bit daunted by this, but it was without doubt my favourite part of both my O Weeks, if only because the whole thing is so mind-blowingly strange. There's nothing quite like getting up in the morning, having a mud fight and then walking down the freezing river either following or carrying a stolen maroon and gold bathtub, all the while being pelted with unknown substances by ex-residents. Most people ended up looking a bit like a pancake: your regular flour and eggs this year accompanied by jelly, vinegar and (to my surprise), hay. Bizarre as it is it is one of the traditions, many of which are just as unexpected, that sets Selwyn apart from other colleges.

All in all it was a fantastic albeit exhausting week, and one which (while it may not be fully remembered) will I'm sure stand as one of the best weeks of the year for freshers and returners alike.