Foreign Eye

First up, ‘Polyparty’, the biggest student party in Zurich. With 5,000 guests spread over 15 floors in ETH’s huge main building, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd, as I indeed do. I wander the dark corridors, checking out the various concerts, chill-out lounges and bars I stumble across. This year the main floor’s theme is hip-hop – not really my thing. The poetry slam-dunk lounge is interesting. Poet-like looking poets wave their hands and shout confused German verses from the stage into a near empty hall. I boo the Chuck Norris critic and exit, leaving the poets even more confused. The rock floor is livelier, the band not too bad, most of the audience girls in their late teens. Someone happily breaks a window, the chill night air welcome relief, as sweat drips from the ceiling . this old lecture hall was obviously not designed to double as a rock club. With every new beer the party architecture gets more and more elaborate. Fortunately, my house is just five minutes walk away and I call it a night. Could it be that I’m getting too old for this? Nah, its just the sheer size of it that I don’t like.

(Photo/Caption: Michael Afanasyev, Aerospace Engineering, Israel/USSR)

Foreign Eye

The IDEA League ain’t just about academics. It’s about parties! So this TU student is on a mission to the IDEA League’s partner universities – ETH Zurich and RWTH Aachen – looking for the League’s best party. First up, ‘Polyparty’, the biggest student party in Zurich. With 5,000 guests spread over 15 floors in ETH’s huge main building, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd, as I indeed do. I wander the dark corridors, checking out the various concerts, chill-out lounges and bars I stumble across. This year the main floor’s theme is hip-hop – not really my thing. The poetry slam-dunk lounge is interesting. Poet-like looking poets wave their hands and shout confused German verses from the stage into a near empty hall. I boo the Chuck Norris critic and exit, leaving the poets even more confused. The rock floor is livelier, the band not too bad, most of the audience girls in their late teens. Someone happily breaks a window, the chill night air welcome relief, as sweat drips from the ceiling . this old lecture hall was obviously not designed to double as a rock club. With every new beer the party architecture gets more and more elaborate. Fortunately, my house is just five minutes walk away and I call it a night. Could it be that I’m getting too old for this? Nah, its just the sheer size of it that I don’t like.

(Photo/Caption: Michael Afanasyev, Aerospace Engineering, Israel/USSR)