Somewhat Familiar Faces

I went to an anniversary party with old schoolmates today. 40 years ago, we all took our Abitur exams (roughly equivalent to British A-levels) at the end of high school together. As it was a big school, we were more than 350 students in our year, and tonight about 150 of us showed up for the party.

It was very strange. I had met a few of them in the meantime, but that was more than 20 years ago; so I hadn’t seen anyone’s face (except for my own) age in 40 years. Many faces were somewhat familiar, but most seemed like total strangers to me. We all had name tags, which helped a little, and I managed to find some old friends again, and have a really good time with them.

The venue didn’t impress us, though. It was understaffed, badly organized, and very expensive. In the end, I had payed about 50 Euros for a small glass of prosecco, a large bottle of water, and a „mixed salad“ made from nothing but lettuce and tomatoes, without any protein, or even even bread to go with it.

So, not going there again. But hoping to meet some of the people again, before our next big Abitur anniversary is coming up in ten years.