Americans, hear my plea: not everything you say is comprehensible to the rest of the world. While you’re two speeches and a works cited essay into the pros and cons of, say, ‘prom’, ‘tailgating’, and ‘paying ridiculous amounts of money for healthcare’, most of us are trying to decipher the equations that have appeared out of thin air.
As someone who has been to American international schools since she was ten, and has a faux American accent someone once described as ‘American, until you try to figure out where in America it could be from’, I’ve experienced more of American culture than most people get out of watching Mean Girls and The Breakfast Club. Still, I was almost 18 the first time I actually set foot in the U.S.
Despite all this, homecoming still makes only the barest amount of sense to me.
I mean, I know what it is; a celebration that’s held when the American football team of the high school or university returns, hopefully victorious, from away games back to their home stadium. It’s also when alumni of the school can return to relive the glory days. If you’re UM alumni, you even get to gorge yourself on a buffet-style dinner than for some reason isn’t offered to the students, who, you know, actually still pay to go here? #notbitter
In all seriousness, it’s quite inspiring; having such obvious pride and love for your alma mater is pretty endearing, if surreal. I guess it’s because in the U.S., college is meant to be a whole experience – a home away from home.
At UM, homecoming was an whole weekend event. Thursday was the homecoming concert – free admission to watch Cash Cash and A$AP Ferg, music artists that I definitely, 100%, knew in advance, and did not Google. Definitely.
Friday was the homecoming parade, general festivities, and fireworks display. I’m not sure why every dance/party/celebration Americans have somehow involve electing some kind of ‘court’ – which typically includes a king, queen, prince and princess – but they seem really into having an elected monarchy. Deafening marching bands and scores of cheerleaders seem to be par for the course too.
After the parade, I walked beyond the really expensive food trucks and found a inflatable obstacle course, plus the biggest slide I’d ever seen out of an amusement park. Given that there were also some face-painting stands, it was probably the area for alumni who had become parents to entertain their kids with, which of course meant that I joined in too.
Finally, the fireworks display accompanied by lots of cheering and blasting from the UM marching band culminated over the lake, the main feature of the UM main campus. The fireworks display lasted forever; honestly, I’d even say it was better than the Disneyland fireworks display I talked about a couple of blogs ago.
Unfortunately, I missed the actual game on Saturday; homecoming weekend came at a pretty bad time for me, as I had three tests and two assignments the week after. But, a few weeks after that, I had a sort of homecoming reunion of my own – Rob, a friend from halls in my first year of university at Southampton, came down to Miami from Temple University, in Philadelphia! Coincidentally, he was on a year abroad in the U.S. too and decided to use Thanksgiving break as an opportunity to travel somewhere warmer – to a tropical resort, as he called the UM campus. As you’ve probably read on his blog, Miami’s winter is more of a mild summer, and my campus doesn’t look like it was built for studying.
Thanksgiving break also meant I got to fly back to my family in Houston – I usually don’t go back that often when I’m in the UK, since flights are more expensive, and are ten hours long. Plus, I got to celebrate my 20th birthday at home, with real Asian food.
I guess the answer to the question ‘what does homecoming mean to me’ is that for all that the over-the-top festivities associated with something like an American football game playing in a home stadium, there’s something I have to admire about getting hyped over coming ‘home’ to university. I guess the feeling’s the same, no matter if your homecoming is meeting up with a friend you haven’t hung out with in a while, or spending time with your family, or visiting your alma mater.