The Days of the Old Schoolyard

A few weeks ago I had my 10 year high school reunion down in Albany.  It's a long drive, but totally worth it since I got to see my Nan when she was in Albany Hospital (she's home now...yay!)  It was very strange without Ellie though.

Two girls from my year started organising the reunion in January and posted it on Facebook.  At first, I was really excited about going, but as the time drew nearer, I started to get a bit nervous.  I was hoping that it wouldn't be awkward.  I consider my high school years some of the best of my life, but that was because I had such fantastic friends.  We weren't popular by any stretch of the imagination and I was wondering whether the popular crowd (the 'plastics' as my friend, Rhianon, calls them) would speak to us or still look at us like we were bugs needing to be squashed.

Duncan and I drove all the way to Albany on Friday the 10th September, picking up Rhianon in Perth on the way (her husband, Linton, decided not to come).  I was very glad she was coming because I'm not sure I would have gone otherwise.  The reunion was on the Saturday night.  When we walked into the pub, I felt instantly at ease when I saw an old schoolfriend, Natasha, who I hadn't seen for years.  It was great to speak to others I'd long lost touch with - it was as if no time had passed.  Unfortunately the 'plastics' completely ignored us except for a couple of girls who are lovely people and will talk to anyone.  I smiled and tried to make eye contact with a few of them, but they looked away and pretended they didn't see me (OBVIOUSLY pretending).  How rude!  I told Rhianon later that they probably felt intimidated by us because we're so ridiculously good looking. ;)

There were about 100-120 people in my graduating class, but the reunion invitation was for all people who were in my year from Year 8 in 1996 to Year 12 in 2000.  Only about 60 people showed up, and that included partners, so the turn-out was a bit disappointing.  Some people are living interstate or overseas now, but I think many just couldn't be bothered.  Sadly four guys from my year have since passed away (three from road accidents, one died in his sleep from meningitis, I think).  I was quite surprised to find out how many of my old classmates still live in Albany.  When we were in high school, we thought Albany was a hole and couldn't wait to move away.

After about three hours, Duncan started to get a glazed, bored look on his face so Rhianon and I decided it was time to leave.  He said he felt uncomfortable because some of the girls were staring at him curiously and he thought they were probably wondering if he'd been in their year, but they couldn't remember him.  They were probably wondering how on earth I managed to snag such a hot man hahaha.

When we picked Rhianon up the next morning to begin the long journey home, she said she was glad she went, but didn't think she would miss much if she hadn't.  I felt the same.  It was really sad when Rhianon's mum mentioned that she didn't even get invited to her reunion even though most people from her year knew she was in Albany and how to contact her.  She also said she occasionally bumps into some of her female classmates and they'll talk to her when they're on their own, but not when their other friends are around.

The main reason I wanted to go was to see if anything had changed after 10 years.  I know from Facebook who is married, who has kids, and that five girls from my year are now professional photographers.  What I was interested in was people's attitudes.  Were they nicer people than 10 years ago?  Sadly the answer for many is no, although I never want to take anything away from those who are unpretentious and friendly.  I thought people grew up a lot between ages 17 and 27.  I was mistaken.

I am grateful to the two girls who bothered to organise the reunion though.

Have you ever been to a reunion of any kind?  How did you find it?  Had people changed much over the years, for better or worse?

Rhianon, me, Duncan, Natasha and her husband, Billy.