The Return of the Ontgroening

For the past two weeks, the noise levels have increased, the amount of singing has grown exponentially, and the strange sights have multiplied. It can mean only one thing. The students are back in town.

They move through the streets in large packs in strange costumes. Viking helmets mix with togas mix with tiaras. Matching t-shirts in vivid colours and homemade designs are de rigeur.

Their late-night parties and early morning rituals have prevented or interrupted my sleep numerous nights over the past few weeks, making me long for the quiet of the summer holidays when the city empties of most of its students. Thank goodness for the young men in tails with a glass of tipple in hand, sometimes spotted on their bikes, trying to keep their tails out of the spokes in order to avoid an Isadora Duncan-style demise. They always make me smile.