Life in a University Town

Apparently the first weekend of the semester is party weekend. Cindy and I went to a party on Friday night, held by a couple of the older grad students in my department. It was just a few blocks away but as we walked there we must have passed a dozen other house parties. Now, most of the parties are late night events, starting after 9pm. But Bloomington, despite being a college town, has a "quiet nights" policy that is sometimes policed. So, soon after midnight, when the party was just getting started, a couple of cops came by to chase up on a noise complaint. We were all a bit surprised, being grad students we just assumed that the police would be more busy chasing under-age drinking at the undergrad parties. (Don't forget, this is America, you can't drink until 21 so most undergrads are under-age.) They fined each of the house's residents $50, which is not that high but seems strange that the fine is per occupant. The strange thing was that they then threatened to arrest them if the noise continued! Cindy enjoyed that part of the night, we thought the music was a little too loud anyway, and she'd never been to a party where the cops had come. So she was able to chalk that one up on her list of American experiences!

But I did notice that, after 2 years living in Bloomington, I'm starting to know a lot more people at these parties. I had to chase one guy down there in order to pass on a "hi" that I'd been charged with at the Toronto conference. That's the nice side of living in a college town, you often see people you know; whether it be classmates or professors, at a big party or just at the supermarket.