Again it’s party time – are there party animals around?

Partying makes the evenings fast and the mornings slow. Getting together with friends and occasional partying is certainly a normal part of life and balances everyday routines. People go to parties to relax, create memories and form networks. Unfortunately, despite their numerous positive sides, the negative sides of celebrations and parties play a big role among neighbours, just as they do in this text.

The constant pounding and noise coming from next door makes life difficult for the one living on the other side of the wall. It is understandable that lying wide awake at night against your will is annoying and makes it harder to concentrate on daily activities. Rules and regulations have been created for student apartments as well so that neighbours can coexist in harmony. The rules and regulations set the norms for joint living, but everyone’s personal attitude to rules and neighbours is what matters. I wish to emphasise the importance of respecting your neighbours and appreciating diversity. I wish to emphasise caring and uprightness.

Sorry – sometimes a hard but a very nice word

When you notify others of the start and end times of a party, apologise for any inconvenience and stick to your promises, you can significantly reduce the annoyance among neighbours. If you screw up and the party gets out of hand, I recommend that you pull yourself together, clear your throat and boldly go and apologise. The majority of our residents live in their first own home, so learning how to live one’s life is perfectly normal and sometimes behaviour may be over-the-top.

Neighbours do not have to put up with over-the-top behaviour, such as screaming, yelling and fighting. If you wish, you may go and complain directly to the party crowd next door or ask the police to settle the situation. Several of our student housing sites have club rooms, which may be freely reserved by residents. They provide more space for lively, exciting parties, and these parties usually disturb neighbours’ sleep less. But you cannot act like a pig in them either and you need to clean up after yourself.

Fun, fun, fun – but no messing around

A sure way to be evicted from your home is continuous rowdiness, repeatedly making a racket in the stairwell, fighting, disturbing neighbours and a disregard for common rules. Sometimes we will follow up by sending a commemorative invoice for cleaning and fixing the whole mess. You should remember that even if a herd of elephants is to blame for the damage, the occupant of the apartment is responsible for it.

However, I hope that nobody grumbles about the small things – meeting friends, walking on your heels and flushing the toilet at night are human rights!

Wishing you a lovely Christmas season, Leena


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