Saturday, May 1, 2010

7) Walk on the beach at sunrise.

It’s 5 degrees Centigrade, which is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and I’m standing on West Sands facing the North Sea in only my bathing suit. Thankfully, I’m not alone. Any other day, my circumstance would seem like the result of a truth-or-dare game gone bad, but this morning the timeless tradition of May Dip was underway at the University of St. Andrews and my bathing-suit on the freezing beach was perfectly appropriate.

May Dip, you might be interested, is an annual tradition. Every year on 1 May students rise with the dawn or, more likely, stay up all night only to rush into the waves of the North Sea at sunrise. Bonfires aglow and booze flowing, most people find ways to fight the chill. In more recent decades, students have participated in various states of dress and undress (thankfully, no one in our immediate vicinity was in the nude!). On the whole, one of the most wonderfully insane university traditions I’ve ever heard of.

To say the water was cold would be a vast understatement. Within seconds of hitting the water, my legs became numb. As soon as my torso submerged, I gasped for air. My epic plans of splashing around the water were short lived. I dipped under as far as I could go, splashed my face, and ran back to the shore as fast as my dead legs could carry me! Towels and dry clothes have never been more appreciated! On our way to West Sands, an ambulance whizzed by, heading towards Castle Sands (another beach where festivities were taking place). I’m thankful no one in our group was injured. May Dip is, of course, crazy in its own right – people really shouldn’t think of ways to go even more nuts.

So, there you have it. I not only walked on the beach at sunrise, but also went for a swim. Happy May Day everyone!

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