The Collegiate System and How to Survive Formals

In the Uk, Durham University is one of the few universities (alongside Oxford and Cambridge) which are based on so called colleges. At Durham University, there are 15 colleges for Undergraduates and each student belongs to a college. ERASMUS-students, however, do not get to chose a college and will be assigned to a college randomly. Being part of a college is like being part of a family. It is where you meet your friends, hang out, study and get support when you need it. Colleges in fact, the first questions that people ask each other when they meet someone from a different college is: "What do you study and which college are you at? " Unfortunately, Erasmus-students are not allowed to live in college unless they study at Durham University for only one term. The colleges are spread out with some being on the hill (hence hill colleges) and some on the bailey (bailey colleges) and some on other places. If you are lucky enough to get a place in a bailey college you will have lots of opportunities to take part in college life. If you live in Gilesgate, howerver, and get allocated to a hill college, then you probably find that it´s not worth the one hour walk up the hill. Durham University operates a night bus service for students who live far away so that they can still get home safely at night or after working late in the library. It is only one or two pounds per journey.

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Each college has its own unique character which is often reflected in its so called Formals. Formals are fantastic occasions to wear pretty clothes and have fun with your friends while having dinner in a formal or less formal setting. For special occasions, the whole dining hall is decorated with for example baloons. Sometimes formals are themed like the "Harry Potter formal" or the "James Bond formal" I loved going to formals, be aware, however, that each college has its own rules - official and unofficial - regarding formals. Some colleges require to wear gowns over your formal clothes (55 pounds but you can get a second-hand one), whereas at some (Aidan´s) fancy dress is custom. Whilst at some colleges, drinking games are practically unavoidable (Castle - and for some reason it is frowned upon if you don´t drink wine at a castle formal), at others, they are strictly prohibited (Hild Bede). Even the rules for the drinking games (mind, I never really participated in one but I have watched enough to tell you about them) differ from college to college. For example, at Trevelyan College (the one I was at), it´s all about dropping (or throwing) a two pence coin into the wine glass of one of your neighbours while they are still holding it. If you are successfull, the poor fellow has to down the whole glass in order to "save the queen" from drowning. But before mindlessly downing numerous bottles of wine you should also know that if you can´t keep it where it belongs after you have drunk it, you will get fined at many colleges. You will also get fined afterwards at the bar if you misbehave. At castle, it is encouraged to pour a glass of icy water onto the head of a misbehaving person.

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Also, we have the famous spoon banging towards the end of the formal. If you are interested in going to formals, but your college doesn´t offer any, then make sure that you make loads of friends with people from other colleges since they can invite you to one.

While you are at Durham, you will probably do a lot of bar crawls with your friends, even if you don´t drink. The college bars are like their colleges unique and very different from each other. Each college bar offers their very own college drink which is often colourful, sweet and undrinkable. While Castle bar is highly popular, you will seldomly find people hanging around at St. Mary´s bar (it is tiny although the rest of the college is just stunning) or Hild Bede bar (the bar itself is amazing, it´s just that except for the Hild Beders, no one ever goes to Hild Bede since it is so far away from the other colleges and the city centre).

I personally find the collegiate system a brilliant idea but the college membership doesn´t mean a whole lot to Erasmus students who don´t actually live there.

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