by Rakesh BHANA-LAUER (Churchill 1991)
Back by popular demand in Luxembourg was “croquet in the city”!
Luxembourg’s mayor kindly allowed once again a jovial band of croqueteers to gather on the lawns of Parc Pescatore in the centre of the city..
Both Cambridge and Oxford alumni as well as current students were joined on the croquet lawn by soon-to-be Freshers from both universities, many of whom were already known to us thanks to the practice interviews that the alumni societies had arranged for them in support of their university applications.
The gentle chimes of the gothic chapel made the backdrop and the dancing fountains framing the lawn kept the rhythm. One of the LUGA (Luxembourg Urban Garden) exhibits encroached on to the playing area, but provided further decoration rather than interference with the event.
With the melodic clink of champagne flutes, a charming game of croquet was played with interventions from the young and slightly older alike. The rules were of course recapped for the novices, and to ensure that our Freshers were well-prepared for future games of croquet on the lawns of either University.
Between croquet rounds and the subsequent dinner, the event offered our soon-to-be Freshers – both undergraduate and graduate – the opportunity to meet each other and to discuss with alumni various topics about life as students: from college & academic life, to the various sporting societies & interest groups, to the mutual support that can be expected between fellow students.
Our croquet event for Freshers now being in its third year, it was a great pleasure for the Society to see again the now familiar faces of our Freshers from prior years who were keen to talk to us about their time as students. As one might expect, this allowed for discussion on how university life has (or perhaps has not) changed so much over the years.
Special thanks goes out once again to the Dedenbach family for bringing along the croquet gear, to the Oxford Society of Luxembourg for being such good sports, to John Speed (Clare 1967) for the photos and for organising such pleasant beverages to cure our thirsts: and, of course, to Rakesh, our Croquet Captain, for organising the whole event (Ed.)
It was again delightful for us alumni to see our soon-to-be Freshers “gel” so well together prior to departing for their respective Colleges.
