Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

All dressed up?
Finally, it’s the weekend, and everyone you know is out having fun. But you’re too young, and it looks like there are so few options. What’s there for you to do to have your share of a good time? Don’t despair. Tharangani Perera has a few ideas

You are 19 years old. It’s the weekend. You can’t go out, because you are under age. You just spent a hard week at school/work, and your only reward for a week of exertion is gone. Your social life is non-existent. Your friends are gloomy. And you get your kicks from watching your little brother learning to walk. Do all your weekends have to be this way until you turn 21? Not necessarily.

Want to be able to scream, “It’s the weekend!!” again?
Party time!
This is probably one of the most fun things you can do. Planning a party for your friends is very easy, as all teenagers love to eat, hang out, and prefer to go without parental interference.

First decide on a category. You may want to have a slumber party, which doesn’t require much planning. For a slumber party all you need is a movie, magazines, cookie dough, something to drink and something playable (Operation, Twister, etc.). If you are a guy, this kind of slumber party may not appeal to you. But you probably know about your type of slumber party, without needing any guidelines from a girl!

A dance contest party – which as the name suggests is mainly focused on a dance-off of sorts, and can also be fun, especially if you and your friends are skilled at it. You can also spice this up by pairing it with a karaoke session.
If you want to go all out and plan a big fun party, first decide on a theme.

It can be a costume party where everyone dresses up as their favourite character from the movies, or a party with a jungle theme. Plan out the menu. Great menu choices include pizza, burgers, a taco bar, and lots of fizzy drinks. For music, there are different options for this depending on your budget. If you have an unlimited budget, you can hire a live band. If you aren’t interested in a live band, consider hiring a DJ. If you choose this route though, be sure the one you hire has a very current playlist. You can also provide the music yourself with a CD player that can play multiple CDs. The decor will vary greatly depending on whichever theme you select. Don’t skimp on decor though, because when throwing a party, atmosphere is everything!

A movie marathon
This is just a great way to kill time. Order pizza and drinks, and plop down on a comfortable couch with your friends. For some reason, watching movies with friends is much more fun than watching them alone. Make sure you take a lot of caffeine though, because this can be really tiring! Recommended movies are Mr. And Mrs. Smith, The Pianist, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Batman Begins, Lion King, Brave Heart, The Butterfly Effect, The God Father Trilogy, Girl Interrupted, Rain Man, Face Off, Monsters Inc., Ice Age, Million Dollar Baby, A Few Good Men, Coyote Ugly, All The President’s Men, A Beautiful Mind, Meet The Parents, Shrek 1 and 2, Ocean’s Eleven, Hitch and Wild Wild West.

Roughing it
Since you have the whole weekend off, why not go camping with your friends? Contrary to camping experiences that’s depicted in Archie comics, camping is actually quite fun. Millions of ever-present mosquitoes who just live for your blood are just a myth, and as wild bears are seldom found in Sri Lanka, statistically the chances of being eaten by one of them is quite slim. If you are still not convinced, you can use your weekend to go mountain climbing, where the only threat to your life as opposed to Dengue, Malaria, Filaria and being bear lunch is plummeting to death from approximately 20 feet away from the nearest ground surface.

Dance lessons
How many of you actually want to learn to Tango? Well, here’s your chance. You have a long, boring weekend stretching ahead of you for miles, which can be used to learn a few sophisticated Latino moves. Besides teaching how to Tango, these social dance classes also teach you the Salsa, the Foxtrot, the Rumba and numerous others. You already have the time, so if you have the energy, it can be a lot of fun and imagine the stir you and your partner can create at parties!

Water fun
If splashing through rapids like a dolphin on caffeine sounds appealing to you, white water rafting is your sport. White water rafting is plain and pure madness disguised as a sport. You pile onto a little dinghy with your friends, and your guide tells you to paddle. You follow your guide’s instructions, and push down on the water with your paddle to move forward, but all of a sudden, your paddling doesn’t make any difference.

You are darting down a rapid, and as you go down, a wall of water comes up to meet you at an alarming speed. It’s hard and it’s cold. It crashes in your face and soaks you to the bone. And then, as abruptly as it happened, it’s all over. You’re alive! You’ve just bulldozed a giant wave! And you can’t wait to do it again. Canoeing is also a sport found in Sri Lanka, and it’s more of an adventure than white water rafting. If you’re really into water fun, check out the Banana Boat, another water affair that’s found in the hills.

The beach
The beach is a really great place to go on a weekend. Leave your work, computer and cell phone at home. There are unlimited amounts of fun things you can do there, beginning with volleyball, touch football, cycling (This is one instance where bigger tyres really are better), building sand castles, and sunbathing, and you can end up with ocean sports like snorkelling, jet skiing, surfing and swimming.

In the night, nothing can beat building a bonfire on the beach. Under a full moon sky, where the stars light up the faces all around you, you’ll never forget this glowing night. If you can’t make it in the night, and can only go during the day, look on the bright side, and the sunshine can only contribute towards brightening your mood!

Top