Last night was a terrible night. It started really great, but got a lot worse. Tonight was the last night of presentations. These are the presentations that several countries make each week. This week it was Russia, China, and Italy. Each one consisted of a really long video segment, a couple games, a dance, drinks, and food. When I arrived, I had a shot of vodka and a pickle to wash it down. This is a very good combination; I recommend it to those who haven't had it before. Then I had some Russian salad. By the time I finished talking to people near the Russian table, the presentations had started and there was no Italian pizza left. My laboratory partner told me that he would serve me a piece if I arrived early. Well I got there in time to eat, but I was talking so much I didn't get to eat.
The presentations started with China, I think, then Russia, and Italy. Maybe Russia was first, but they showed each group's preview first. Each one was funny, and gave sampling of what their whole presentation was going to be like. Each one was great, and the videos were really well done. The Russian one was very long, but was of good quality. The Chinese one was pretty cool, but the audio was pretty bad. The Italians showed themselves trying to pickup girls in creative ways, it was very funny, but a little long.
There was an afterparty at a place called Sasazu. I didn't really want to go, but I was convinced by my girl, Ludivine. We travelled with a huge group of people. The whole trip there was much better than the actual club. First, the people that are in our program are really great. There aren't many, or any, really nasty people. Everyone seems to get along pretty well, even though there are over 400 people. However, the times when I've run into other Erasmus students (Erasmus is the European exchange program), I've had a bad time.
Once, I went to an 80's party, I didn't like that some people were trying to cut in front of me, so I told him and his group to get lost. Then later on, I was dancing with Ludivine when two guys came up and started dancing with her, and telling her they thought she was blah blah. So, I had to chase them away, and then had to chase them away again when they came back. Later that night, I watched two guys be assholes, one climbed on something, so he got thrown out of the club.
Last night, the trip to the club was really funny, there were many people in the train. The Brazilian and Portuguese guys were crowd surfing on the train, jumping a lot, and making lot's of noise cheering. We arrived, and had to wait ouside in the cold for 45 minutes. At this point I wanted to go home, but we made it inside. Ludivine and I split up for short time. I had a beer and was watching the crowd. The place is a giant dance floor ringed by bars. I was gazing at the crowd, the light pulsing with the music, when I hear to my right, "you spilled beer on me!" A guy, probably a foot taller than me, was yelling at a shorter bald guy. The bald guy did something to the tall guy, so the tall guy pushed the small one saying, "don't touch me!" Somebody threw a punch, the small guy tried to get in close to punch the taller guys face. I stood with my half full plastic beer cup and tried to stay out of their path. The small guy was only up to the other's armpits, and was in a dire situation. Fighting with someone looking into their chest is not a good place, especially one who has about 30 lb on you. They both hit the ground with the big guy on top. Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! The big guy barraged the bald guy's face with his huge fist and arm, the small guy went limp. Blood started coming out of his nose. Thwap! I dropped my beer and jumped on the big guy, pulling his neck with my forearm. He stopped punching the small guy, since he couldn't reach him. Then he started to back off. I let go and walked away, lest he turn his anger to me. Luckily he didn't, he looked at me, and then walked away the opposite direction into the crowd. The bald guy lay bleeding from the nost, a circle of people closing around. Phone calls were made, and security rushed over. He was limp for another minute, but then stirred, and eventually stood up.
I usually don't like to intervene in other people's problems, but when I saw that the guy was knocked out, I thought he was going to kill him. I really don't like this club now, and (sadly) I especially don't like the parties with other Erasmus students...
