The time has come for us all to return to Trinity for another semester of learning and diligent study, though we all know that the Lecky is hardly the hotbed of storymaking (unless Trinder is to be believed). So, just wait a week or two before your grand return to the library and instead make a return to your favourite societies, with some of the lovely events they have lined up over the next few days.
While the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar took place about three weeks ago, the New Year as celebrated by cultures which follow a lunar calendar is coming up this week on January 25. With that in mind, some of those societies have events lined up to celebrate this. Trinity CSSA and Chinese Society will be set up in the Global Room from 12pm to 6pm on Friday. They will be celebrating the incoming Year of the Rat by live streaming the Chinese New Year Gala and offering festive food. Meanwhile, the Korean society are back to celebrate Seollal, the Korean New Year, in the Drunken Fish on Friday night. They promise Korean music, Korean food, and perhaps some karaoke.
If (like me) you found watching Cats (2019) to be a transcendental experience which has caused you to spend the entirety of the Christmas break practicing your best “Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat”, you will be delighted to hear that there are two separate Open Mics coming up this week. First up is DU Music, who will be returning to Doyles for a night of music and pints on Wednesday, kicking off at 7:30pm. On Thursday, DU Alternative Music Society and Q Society are collaborating to bring their own Open Mic. They will be in the downstairs basement, Comedy Cellar of the International Bar at 7pm to get some bops blaring. Why not bop along yourself to one or both of these, bust out the Andrew Lloyd Webber, and start the New Year right?
If, on the other hand, Cats (2019) scarred you so deeply that the mere concept of music causes a deep existential fear that you will never truly understand yet causes your very soul to run cold, but you still want to go have a few pints with your favourite societies, no need to fear for there are two pub quizzes on this week. To kick off the week, DU History are hosting a pub quiz in JP Mooney’s on Tuesday. The questions will be a mixture of general and historical knowledge, so it should be accessible to everyone. Alternately, DU Internet Society, DU Pirate Party, and DU Computer Science Society are all banding together to serve up a pub quiz in O’Reilly’s on Thursday. Head along to one of these pub quizzes and flex those general knowledge muscles that have surely developed from five weeks of watching University Challenge.
If you would rather keep your January dry and don’t want the temptation of a pub setting, there are still plenty of society events you can take part in. On Thursday, DU Photography are taking a trip to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. This serves the dual function of taking photos around the gardens and visiting the exhibition that is currently on in the main gallery, “Desire”. If you would rather be on the other side of the lens, well you are in luck. Trinity Fashion Society are hosting open casting on Wednesday for their Annual Fashion Show. If you, however, are more partial to imagery to images, the workshop being held by Trinity Literary Society on Thursday may be for you. Award-winning author of “Bad Day in Blackrock”, Kevin Power, is visiting the society to give a workshop on creative writing.
Before the deadlines pile up and the hours in the library drag on long after the sun has gone down, salute the coming of a new term with a new society. Whether it takes place in Attic with the Literary Society or the basement with Q Soc and DUAMS, take the opportunity to discover your newest passions and meet your newest friends.
