Raisin Weekend

Raisin Weekend is a weekend at the University of St. Andrews that takes place a few weeks into the academic year.

At the Unvieristy of St. Andrews first year students, during their couple of weeks on campus, find academic parents. Academic parents' are third or fourth year students who take you under their wing. It is their job to help you get accustomed to life at the University. They'll take you around town and introduce you to many students. Many parents host movie nights or do lunches out with their academic families.

You find your parents by looking for people with similiar interests as you or who you can relate to. For example, my academic father is a world traveler and photographer. He's also just a chill guy. My friend found her academic mother at an orchestra event. There are many ways to find your parents.

Raisin Weekend is a weekend dedicated to the academic parents. It's a ritualistic way of thanking them for introducing you to univeristy life. The tradition started with the academic kids brigning a pound of raisins, an expensive gift, to their academic parents. Since then the tradition has developed and changed as now the raisins have been replaced with a bottle of wine. The gift has also changed into a whole weekend devoted to the academic parents.


Beginning Sunday morning until Monday morning academic families do activities together. This often involves a lot of drinking and people passing out. That's only the majority of families. There are other families, such as my friend's, that do neat activities like scavenger hunts, apple bobbing and egg roulette.


The order of event usually follows this order. Lunch and tea at your academic mothers, then a house party at your fathers, and then back to your mother on Monday morning. Monday morning is when the foam fight takes place. To show gratitude to you for bringing wine, raisins, or whatever gift you brought, you parents dress you up in a costume of their design and choice and present you with a Raisin receipt. A Raisin receipt is any item, usually big (mine was a stroller, but people have had bathtubs or doors before, even cars), that your parent gives you to brign to the foam fight. At the foam fight you present your receipt with your academic family and then run in a quad for a massive foam fight. Everyone is covered in foam. The picture says it all.





The weekend has its positives and negatives. True, there is a lot of drinking and some injuries, but if you are a responsible person you can have the time of your life.



I won't write out all my experiences here on the blog, but you are welcome to ask me about hem and I'd be happy to share. Nothing terribly unique, just what you expect from the description I provided you above.