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Eurofurence 16 is over ;_;
15 years ago
Dear Princess Celestia...
Eurofurence - the first furry gathering I have ever attended - is over. There were some good times and some not so good times.
I traveled there with
ecmajor, having had him come to my house a few days prior. By coincidence, we met with 
darknatasha and her mother - and ended up assisting them by carring some of their luggage for the journey. Of course, I had no idea who it was until I was told later :o
The flight was fine, and although we had a little trouble locaing
sierussicling at the airport, we were on time for the train. The train journey seemed to take forever (it was over in an instant on the way back) but we eventually made it to the hotel. Registering and checking in was quick and painless, however getting to our room was not. The lifts were very busy and crowded, so we decided it would be easier to take the stairs. This turned out to be a big mistake, as the stair well was apparently a fire exit ONLY and therfore the doors could only be opened from the outside. Once inside the stair well, there is no way out except via the alarmed door to the outside. We spent about 10 minutes banging on the doors before someone finally released us.
We were so desarate for a cup of tea by this time that we had to go out and buy a kettle. Fortunately there was a large supermarket almost directly opposite from the hotel. Prices for food and drink in the hotel were extortionate, but the supermarket was great and had a huge number of choices. We stocked up on tea and snacks to keep ourselves going. The kettle was undoubtedly the best thing we ever bought. We later made an impromptu flask out of a glass bottle and a sock, which I would periodically refill for Flicka while he was working in the dealer's den.
The first few days of the con were very disappointing - Flicka was busy in the dealer's den during the days and doing commissions in the evenings, and Sierus was with his own group of friends, so I spent the first few days mostly just sitting alone in the hotel room, because I didn't know anybody else there and was too shy to go down on my own. I was really ready to go home at this point, and coupled with the insomina that I have had for a few weeks, by Thursday I was feeling very unwell. Flicka was invited to a restaurant with some of the artists and I came too - it was good to finally meet some people, and it was there that I met the very nice
balorkin and friends who we spent the rest of the con hanging out with. Unfortunately the restaurant staff were very hostile (which turned out to be a running theme in that town). The waitress told us that the chef was "very angry with us", and was refusing to cook for us, so we could only have things from the buffet. Hard to believe. The German friends we were with were cringing with embarrassment and trying to assure us that all of Germany was not like this! I was too unwell to take any notice though. I was feeling so unwell that I had to leave while the others ate. I spent an hour or so shuffling along the street in the rain.
I managed to get some sleep on Thursday night, and so by Friday I was feeling a lot better. The day was spent quietly on my own again, but we went out for dinner again with Loke. This restaurant was much better, and we had fun. In the evening Sierus said he was going to do some fursuiting, and I definitely wanted to come! We suited around the lobby area - not for a very long time, but it was lots of fun. It is so much easier to interact with people when suiting. I even plucked up the courage to go on my own later in the evening, and spent several hours just hanging out in the lobby until 2am. It was mostly good although a couple of people took the scritching too far, which was creepy. I generally don't like to be touched at all, excepting the occasional friendly hug.
Saturday brought the fursuit games, which were very entertaining to watch. This was followed by the group photo, and the fursit parade. I thought the fursuit parade could have gone better - I put in what energy I could, but there was no music and a lot of the suiters just shuffled along in something more akin to a funeral parade. In the evening, Flicka decided he would dodge his commissions and join us fursuiting in the lobby. We had fun, and his suit got a lot of attention. Saturday night was the night of the big fursuit dance, the main event of the con. By the time we had finished dinner with Loke et al and got ourselves ready, it was about 00:30. I danced in my fursuit for 5 hours without stopping, and I enjoyed it a lot. I have never danced before in my life and so I'm sure I looked like a flailing retard, but then again, so did more or less everybody else. By 05:30 the rest of the group was tired, so we all went up to Loke's room and chatted for an hour before going to bed. I slept for 4 hours, then got right back into my fursuit for another 5 hours suiting, including the fursuit walk around town, before the others were even awake. I really don't know where all that energy came from. I heard someone comment "now that's how you fursuit" as I was prancing around the lobby and interacting with the guests. I'm pretty sure they were talking about me because I think I was the only suiter in the area... I was very pleased ^.^
The fursuit walk through the town was a lot of fun. Most of the townspeople were pleased to see us, although a few tried to pretend we weren't there. The highlight was one little girl (only knee-high), I knelt down for her and she petted my nose saying "süß! süß! süß! süß!" (süß means 'sweet')... awwwwww.
We spent Sunday afternoon in an impromptu artist's lounge with Loke and friends again, although I can't draw and the conversation was all in German so I was at a bit of a loose end. After dinner I once again donned my fursuit and headed to the Dead Dog Dance - the last gasp of the con, at which point half the attendees have already departed. It was okay, but the music was very dull and was sending me to sleep. We eventually wandered outside to cool off, I'm not sure of the time - maybe around 1am, and I spent a little while standing in the middle of the road and waving at traffic along with a couple of other suiters. Most of the passing motorists were miserable and didn't acknowledge us, although a few did honk their horn or flash their lights.
As the night drew to a close, we said our tearful goodbyes to Loke and friends, and made our way to bed.
Monday morning brought a 10am start, and hurried packing. Although long and tiring, the return journey went smoothly and by 8pm we were back home at my stable, enjoying a Chinese takeaway.
The con is over. Good times were had. I'm still unsure as to if I would attend another... I am rubbish at making friends and so it's only fun for me when hanging out with people I already know (and letting them introduce me to new people). What I do know is that I really enjoyed fursuiting, I enjoyed visiting a foreign country (and babbling what few incoherent words of Deutsch I could dredge up from the depths of my memory), and I enjoyed the room meets with Loke and her friends, even if I couldn't understand what they were talking about. The smaller group is much more comfortable for me than the public areas. I wish it had lasted longer, because I was only just getting into it by the time it finished.
Finally: If anyone has or finds any photos/videos of me suiting, please send me a link!
I traveled there with
ecmajor, having had him come to my house a few days prior. By coincidence, we met with 
darknatasha and her mother - and ended up assisting them by carring some of their luggage for the journey. Of course, I had no idea who it was until I was told later :oThe flight was fine, and although we had a little trouble locaing
sierussicling at the airport, we were on time for the train. The train journey seemed to take forever (it was over in an instant on the way back) but we eventually made it to the hotel. Registering and checking in was quick and painless, however getting to our room was not. The lifts were very busy and crowded, so we decided it would be easier to take the stairs. This turned out to be a big mistake, as the stair well was apparently a fire exit ONLY and therfore the doors could only be opened from the outside. Once inside the stair well, there is no way out except via the alarmed door to the outside. We spent about 10 minutes banging on the doors before someone finally released us.We were so desarate for a cup of tea by this time that we had to go out and buy a kettle. Fortunately there was a large supermarket almost directly opposite from the hotel. Prices for food and drink in the hotel were extortionate, but the supermarket was great and had a huge number of choices. We stocked up on tea and snacks to keep ourselves going. The kettle was undoubtedly the best thing we ever bought. We later made an impromptu flask out of a glass bottle and a sock, which I would periodically refill for Flicka while he was working in the dealer's den.
The first few days of the con were very disappointing - Flicka was busy in the dealer's den during the days and doing commissions in the evenings, and Sierus was with his own group of friends, so I spent the first few days mostly just sitting alone in the hotel room, because I didn't know anybody else there and was too shy to go down on my own. I was really ready to go home at this point, and coupled with the insomina that I have had for a few weeks, by Thursday I was feeling very unwell. Flicka was invited to a restaurant with some of the artists and I came too - it was good to finally meet some people, and it was there that I met the very nice
balorkin and friends who we spent the rest of the con hanging out with. Unfortunately the restaurant staff were very hostile (which turned out to be a running theme in that town). The waitress told us that the chef was "very angry with us", and was refusing to cook for us, so we could only have things from the buffet. Hard to believe. The German friends we were with were cringing with embarrassment and trying to assure us that all of Germany was not like this! I was too unwell to take any notice though. I was feeling so unwell that I had to leave while the others ate. I spent an hour or so shuffling along the street in the rain. I managed to get some sleep on Thursday night, and so by Friday I was feeling a lot better. The day was spent quietly on my own again, but we went out for dinner again with Loke. This restaurant was much better, and we had fun. In the evening Sierus said he was going to do some fursuiting, and I definitely wanted to come! We suited around the lobby area - not for a very long time, but it was lots of fun. It is so much easier to interact with people when suiting. I even plucked up the courage to go on my own later in the evening, and spent several hours just hanging out in the lobby until 2am. It was mostly good although a couple of people took the scritching too far, which was creepy. I generally don't like to be touched at all, excepting the occasional friendly hug.
Saturday brought the fursuit games, which were very entertaining to watch. This was followed by the group photo, and the fursit parade. I thought the fursuit parade could have gone better - I put in what energy I could, but there was no music and a lot of the suiters just shuffled along in something more akin to a funeral parade. In the evening, Flicka decided he would dodge his commissions and join us fursuiting in the lobby. We had fun, and his suit got a lot of attention. Saturday night was the night of the big fursuit dance, the main event of the con. By the time we had finished dinner with Loke et al and got ourselves ready, it was about 00:30. I danced in my fursuit for 5 hours without stopping, and I enjoyed it a lot. I have never danced before in my life and so I'm sure I looked like a flailing retard, but then again, so did more or less everybody else. By 05:30 the rest of the group was tired, so we all went up to Loke's room and chatted for an hour before going to bed. I slept for 4 hours, then got right back into my fursuit for another 5 hours suiting, including the fursuit walk around town, before the others were even awake. I really don't know where all that energy came from. I heard someone comment "now that's how you fursuit" as I was prancing around the lobby and interacting with the guests. I'm pretty sure they were talking about me because I think I was the only suiter in the area... I was very pleased ^.^
The fursuit walk through the town was a lot of fun. Most of the townspeople were pleased to see us, although a few tried to pretend we weren't there. The highlight was one little girl (only knee-high), I knelt down for her and she petted my nose saying "süß! süß! süß! süß!" (süß means 'sweet')... awwwwww.
We spent Sunday afternoon in an impromptu artist's lounge with Loke and friends again, although I can't draw and the conversation was all in German so I was at a bit of a loose end. After dinner I once again donned my fursuit and headed to the Dead Dog Dance - the last gasp of the con, at which point half the attendees have already departed. It was okay, but the music was very dull and was sending me to sleep. We eventually wandered outside to cool off, I'm not sure of the time - maybe around 1am, and I spent a little while standing in the middle of the road and waving at traffic along with a couple of other suiters. Most of the passing motorists were miserable and didn't acknowledge us, although a few did honk their horn or flash their lights.
As the night drew to a close, we said our tearful goodbyes to Loke and friends, and made our way to bed.
Monday morning brought a 10am start, and hurried packing. Although long and tiring, the return journey went smoothly and by 8pm we were back home at my stable, enjoying a Chinese takeaway.
The con is over. Good times were had. I'm still unsure as to if I would attend another... I am rubbish at making friends and so it's only fun for me when hanging out with people I already know (and letting them introduce me to new people). What I do know is that I really enjoyed fursuiting, I enjoyed visiting a foreign country (and babbling what few incoherent words of Deutsch I could dredge up from the depths of my memory), and I enjoyed the room meets with Loke and her friends, even if I couldn't understand what they were talking about. The smaller group is much more comfortable for me than the public areas. I wish it had lasted longer, because I was only just getting into it by the time it finished.
Finally: If anyone has or finds any photos/videos of me suiting, please send me a link!
And i'm sorry if i kinda left you own your hanging a bit. The first few days were chaotic for me as i was almost acting as Nyemis agent which involved lots of faffing about.
You should come to RBW though its alot smaller and more personal and generally more laid back and will give you a perfect opportunity to break out the suit again ^^
Anyways! I just neeeeeeed to see you again! I love the necklace... it's pretty and awesome and you really gave me a hard time leaving you. But the necklace is an amazing piece of memory for me. I was stunned when you gave it to me. My hands where trembling so I couldn't get it off as you offered it to me... but I have it here with me and I look at it every day, just trying not to wear it too often because I fear the feather might get stained or break.
*hugs you* You are a blast. :) In a good way! I really hope we meet again!
You don't need to apologise for all the german speaking, we were in germany with a room full of german people, so it is kind of to be expected :P and I could see how busy you were, you were concentrating hard on your art. It was fun for me to try to understand some german, anyway. I could only catch one or two words here and there, but I was listening. There is nothing at all wrong with your english pronunciation, you don't fail at all so don't say that!
I'm glad you like the little necklace ^.^ Don't worry too much about breaking it, the birds still come to the garden so I can make another ;) It's really an ugly thing anyway - the wire and solder I used are made for electronics, not for jewellery... I just used what I happened to have in front of me. It is nice to have a little reminder of fun times though ^.^
*huuugs* I think we will meet again ;) It took me a long time to get into it because I am so shy, but now that I've done it once I think I will be less shy the next time. Thank you so much for looking after us, and for translating all the things we couldn't understand, and defending us from angry sushi chefs ^.^
Hehe, I always call him Flicka, in fact I only found out his actual name just before EF. I was booking the flights for all of us - I got half way through filling out the forms, and then realised that I had no idea what his real name was XD (in spite of the fact that he had been to stay with me at my house a couple of years ago, I still hadn't found out his name)
It irritates me a little when the americans call me Zeebra/zeeb :P