Helan går? Samling? Saken? You may be scratching your beard smugly now, but there was a time when you, too, were a wide-eyed walrus debating on whether or not to ask what’s up with all the Swedish words.
In order to shine some light on NESU-KY’s sitsi culture, each academic year starts off with a chance for walruses to familiarize themselves with our sitsi customs. Older students and alumni are seated among freshmen to answer questions and lead by example, whilst toastmasters also make a point to review and explain practicalities during the sets.
With the end of our active year drawing near, we wanted to make this evening as memorable for the new walruses as our first sitsi party was for us. Under the guidance of our Art Director, Roni Saroniemi, KY’s basement was transformed into a cave-like environment, equipped with UV-lights and a smoke machine. As the first walruses began to wander in we couldn’t help but feel a little sentimental.
This feeling of nostalgia was only exacerbated by our toasts, Aku-Jaakko Saukkonen & Miro Hemanus, who also conducted last year’s Practice Sitsparty. This year they were joined on stage by our year’s Hilla Parkkinen, who gave her toast debut and definitely held her own alongside the two veterans.
During the three sets walruses witnessed performances by out-of-towners and alumni, joined in on songs and chants, and were given a blatant reminder of why its best to follow sitsi rules. And who said it was only a learning opportunity for walruses? NESU-KY’10 Chairman Heini Toivanen also recited the Samling-story for the first time.
A few fire alarms and emergency evacuations did little to dampen spirits as the after party only seemed to intensify on the streets outside KY.
– Liisa Helle, NESU-KY ‘013