No Boys. No Booze.

No Boys. No Booze.

A Micro-blog Story about an American Tradition 

RUSH. 

For most of the English, the word 'rush' reminds you of the mad dash to the bus or to the train/tube, or to lectures when you're running late, to that Ceilidh you forgot you were meant to be going to, that party, that coffee shop, that house. It may, if you say it too fast sound like slightly onomatopoeic, or just a little bit like thrush. It probably doesn't mean to spend ten days in increasingly nice outfits, visiting various houses, talking to more girls than you can recognise and spending a lot of it completely baffled. If you have any idea about what 'rush' is here, you probably don't think to consider the much loathed rules of 'no boys, no booze' in conjunction with this strange phenomena. Because this is Sorority Rush: the ultimate Southern American tradition in which girls desperately try to make other girls fall in love with them and invite them to join their Chapter (which is not a segment of a book either) and make the university experience a little less intimidating.

It's the Greek System - famous for it's parties, red cups, hazing, inter-house bitching and tall-leggy-blonds. But I can now give you a slightly different first glance. This is a slightly longer than normal entry that has been written in micro-blog form about Rush. I didn't want to publish anything as I went along (also hence the lack of updates recently) because I didn't want to offend anyone or influence anyone with something I said on here.  I hope that it's now ok that I do so. 

Firstly I think I probably need to give you some background on the UNC system (see here for some definitions). Rush consists of FOUR ROUNDS. These Rounds each have an individual role - as Round One is 'song round' and you spend 25minutes at every house. Round Two is 'skit round', you go to a maximum of seven houses and you spend about half-an-hour at those houses. Round Three is 'philanthropy and food', you go to a maximum of five houses, spending about 30 minutes there again, being offered a lot of delicious food and being shown what each Chapter does for the philanthropic element of sorority life. Round Four you go to a maximum of three houses and spend about 45minutes at each house, being given an insight into one of the rituals of the house and ending with Preference Night where you rank your options in order of preference (pretty obvious huh?). Bid Day, the day after Preference Night is where you stop being a PNM and 'pledge' to the house that offers you a Bid. 

So here we go, here's my journey into the strange and bemusing underbelly of Greek Life.


PRE-RUSH
Meet ONE - We had our first meeting today. In it we were introduced to our 'Ro-Kis' (Recruitment Counsellors) and our groups. There's apparently 750 girls Rushing for spaces in the houses this year and we're all split up into groups of about 20-odd girls. The Clef-Hangers, an all-male acapella group performed a selection of songs, including a HILARIOUS rendition of Party Rock - it had to be the whitest version of that song I've ever heard. Andrea, sitting on my left seemed to agree. There was a lot of 'this will happen', 'that will  happen', 'don't do this', 'do do this', 'wear this', 'don't wear this' etc. Not sure what else to say though, I'm not sure how I feel about it.


Meet TWO - We were given our T-Shirts this time that we have to wear for the first round (part of, I suppose, the $50 sign-up fee - bloody expensive t-shirt!!) and then were all settled on the floor of the Great Hall in the Student Union as we were before for a Q&A sort of thing. I'm still not feeling like I really want to do this. Everyone here seems very young, I don't think I'm massively keen on the RCs (I'm the same age but I feel like they're acting like I'm 10) and I despise these ridiculous constraints. 'No boys, no booze'? Seriously? I've been here two weeks I'm not going to cut my friends out of my life, especially when it would mean I'd only have two friends left. And I seem to be in the much coveted position where the majority of my classmates are guys. And I like them. They're a really nice bunch. This rule is ridiculous. Maybe I'll just go for a loose interpretation of it. Anyway ROUND ONE TOMORROW!! AH!! Do I really want to do this???

ROUND ONE 

Today can be characterised in two words: UTTERLY INSANE.


<<<< This is what I was wearing. The GO GREEK is actually the back but I thought that was probs the most important bit to show... Also made us pretty obvious targets for the non-Greeks and frat-boys to mock as we soon discovered.
Anyway there are ten sorority houses spread out primarily over Franklin and Rosemary Streets. Every house is SO cute; the Kappa Delta house is especially pretty, looking like a gingerbread house but painted a gorgeous grey-blue. But that cuteness, the endearing frontier, quickly vanished as a hoard of screaming, whistle-blowing, pots-and-pans-banging, prancing girls chanted through the windows before pouring out the house. It could very easily be a metaphor: on the outside we're lovely, on the inside - well... you may not want to know. 

Backtracking, I should probably explain how things go. You walk to each house in your distinctive tee, carefully trying to follow the map but being herded by numerous Ro-Kis down shortcuts that bemuse you. You arrive at the house and line up outside, usually in alphabetical order (this is all part of the system of remembering who goes where). You have a name tag on, and a name card that you'll give to the house when you arrive. You then wait. After a few moments of awkward small talk with other PNMs everyone is told to be quiet and the screaming begins. Actually, that's not quite right... usually the house has a chant, kind of like a team-shout in Lacrosse (eg. H.A.I.L.E.Y.Bee.You. Arrr.Why. WOO), which they sing it to you before the screaming begins. Then the sisters come out to lead you into the house. This usually includes them lining up in a formation and smiling at you with their shiny american teeth.


A girl 'collects' you. You go into the house and are usually ushered into a large space (emptied kitchen, hollow dining room, barren basement) that's been decorated with balloons and streamers and it's now that you realise that the house has a theme. One of the houses was 'rave' theme with white shoes and amazing technicolour shoelaces; another was nautical, another wore electric t-shirts and white shorts etc. They perform a song that  has somethign to do with friendship and sisterhood and forever and ever sentiments. After this you're led somewhere else in the House and begin a series of 'small talk' conversations with the girl. Usually these questions are pretty banal. Here is an example:


"Hey, how you doing?"


"Pretty good you?"


"OMG WHERE ARE YOU FROM!? What is that ACCENT?!"


"I'm from London."


"No WAY! I love London - one of our girls was there last semester...."


As you can imagine, I got that a lot. Of course, whether or not you have any 'deeper' conversations is sort of a weird mix between whether or not you speak to more than just one or two people and whether or not you want to. I had a lot of London conversations, but I also had a lot of conversations about how I was liking Rush, how different it was to home, whether or not the girl I was talking to wanted or had done any travelling, where they'd like to go if they could travel, what subjects they took etc.


If I was going to characterise the experience I'd have to say it's a bit like speed-dating for a home. You meet so many people, receive so many first impressions, become overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and sweat like Sea Biscuit as you fall out of one house only to mad-dash to the next.


There are so many details I want to note down - from the Tri Delts literally making my ears ring as they banged a saucepan by my head, to the beautiful bubbles blown from KD from their balcony and the amazing girls I met, but I want to keep this micro so I'd better stop for now.

ROUND TWO

Dressed up a little bit today in my favourite floaty skirt and a simple white tank top and a waist belt, I went back to six out of a possible seven today. I was a little surprised to see KKG as the first on my schedule but I had so much fun on Round One and meeting so many lovely girls that I don't really mind that it's a bit of a trek away. Plus right now it's not too hot and it's a really good excuse to go to the Carolina Inn to book my birthday brunch on Sunday. It's Labour Day today,  by the way, so everyone else I know is either still in bed and very firmly ensconced in their sheets or drinking somewhere, chilling in sun. I'm looking forward to this round a lot more than I was looking forward to Round One because now I know there's nothing to worry about, that everyone is lovely and that this is something that no matter how it works out, I'm going to be happy.


It seems to me that this whole thing is a lot like being at Boarding School, only you actually get to try and persuade a House you like to accept you on the basis of who you get along with rather than being randomly allocated one. Today is Skit Round, it started much the same way with excitable and enthusiastic girls leading you into their house, settling you down in their basement/kitchen/space again to watch a Skit instead of a song and then you go off and have more conversations, usually about more detailed things or interesting things.


I went to KKG, AD-Pi, KD, Phi Mu, Chi-O and Tri Delt. I loved all these houses on the first day, although I admittedly loved some more than others. I was also kind of surprised to be going back to Phi Mu and KKG because I'd not really remembered things so well at those houses. Although I did have a really interesting conversation about Africa. So maybe that's why. I LOVED this round though.


The three Skits that stood out were ADPi, KD and Chi-O although Tri-Delts was pretty cool too.


ADPis was probably my favourite because it had two girls in a forest lost and looking for the way home. They  run into Hansel und Gretel who tell them that they're sad they don't have an ADPi to go back to or to miss instead they have breadcrumbs from 1859... a bit later these girls then run into rappers who did an awesome rap about ADPi being epic and was written by one of the girls in the house... a bit later they then run into 'Frattie, Douchie and The Smell', frat boys - one of which quoted Tolkien, the very quote that I used on this blog (see here). It was brilliant and hilarious and made me love the house. I also had another series of great conversations with the girls (I think?)

Chi-O's was also amazing because it was based off the Breakfast Club and now, having downloaded and watched this amazing 80s film, I can say I'm even MORE in love with their skit. After all, how many houses will dress up like Bikers and crack Eggbert on their head?


And KD? Well suffice to say that Lillie on roller skates was BRILLIANT and the girls all seemed to have so much fun that the whole thing was contagious. Loved it.


I'm pretty hungry now though. I reeeeally wish we'd been given dinner. 

ROUND THREE

This time I had five houses, only losing Phi Mu from my list of houses. I can't say I'm surprised, although I loved everyone I met, I don't think any of the conversations we had were ground breaking or particularly exciting.


So today I wore my little red dress from Zara - chosen first by my sister in the store and today by Andrea who simply laughs at my hopelessness when it comes to dressing myself.


I wasn't quite sure what to make of this round. I had some great chats, looked around the houses (all of which are gorgeous), listened to how their philanthropy work is done and who they support and why, spoke to some of my favourite people in each house including Anna and Emily in ADPi, Wevine and Lillie in KD and Caroline in Chi-O. It was so nice to spend more time with them all and to just chat without all the small talk and stuff. I really think that with these girls I could genuinely join a chapter and love it. This is a very short entry but it's not quite such and extreme and strange concept any more. That, and I'm beginning to realise that next round I'm going to be trying to rank these houses in order of preference. I have no idea how I'm meant to do that.

ROUND FOUR

I still don't know how I managed to write down an order for the houses I went back to today. Chi-O, ADPi and KD. I love the girls in all of them. I wish there was a way to be an Alpha Kappa Chi. Or a Delta Delta Omega or a Kappa Chi Alpha or any hybrid of the three.


Anyway, tonight was Ritual Night. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say or how much I ought to say. Each house, you see, has a selection of rituals and as PNMs on pref-night we were allowed a glance into their traditions. In one house it included the lighting of candles and small individual speeches followed by what it means to be in that house. In the next it included being given a flower and being told what it represented before being asked to place it in a vase thus unifying those traits, again this was elaborated upon with some small personal stories. The last house was set up with candles and lillies in a beautiful centre-piece before letters were read and candles lit and plucked rose petals placed in a bowl of water. As I experienced these very personal traditions, sitting in my long dress, I again realised...


 ... How on earth do I chose?


I love Chi-O because they're so warm and so lovely and their house is covered with Owls which reminds me of Zoe and Edinburgh. I love the fact that they ARE so much like the Breakfast Club - I've met so many girls that I just adore and who I would love to spend more time with and I hope that no matter what things end up as I do manage to see some of them again.


I love KD because everyone I've met in their has been so sweet and accepting and because Lillie has just been such a star and I'd love to be in the same house as her. Their home is like a gingerbread house. I also love that they have that awesome map of the world on their staircase and that there are strings running from Chapel Hill to places that I'd love to go too. Not one person in KD has made me feel any different about how much I like them and I know I'd be happy there.


I love ADPi because I feel at home there - everyone I've met has made me smile and their home is fantastic - it feels like a home. I know that to some extent this familiarity is because of Rebecca and Abby but I feel like they've all been so welcoming. From the moment I sat in the rocking chair on the porch and freaked out because it was one of the things I so desperately wanted to do in America to the moment I walked out of it tonight, I've always thought it was great. 

I've now handed in Preference Sheet and tomorrow I find out who/if I have a Bid. I want to finish this though by saying that I have had the most amazing experience and although I don't know what'll happen tomorrow, I'm so glad that I did this. It was such a ridiculous, stereotypical American thing to do whilst also being so much more than that. I've met some brilliant girls and I hope I'll be able to keep in contact with many many many of them. In fact, I really hope that some of them will be coming to my 21st in two days time.


By then, these silly rules will be DONE and I'll never have to look back on that little blip in the whole thing. Not that I really abided by them (don't tell anyone but philosophy is best done with a glass of wine in hand), but nonetheless - PARTY TIME!!