Unofficial. A term that leaves everything to the imagination of unknowing students.

There’s nothing more interesting than exploring a University tradition as a new student.

For me, unravelling the mysteries of Unofficial as an international student is a fun adventure. Asking American friends about this cultural phenomenon raises as many questions as it does answers. It is a hype, they said. It will be fun, they said. You will wear green, they said.

At first, I thought it was a fashion statement. A bold one, for that matter. Walking by the various merchandise shops, it is impossible to unsee the green dye of the Unofficial shirts, sweaters and mugs.

The combination of Illini orange and that Unofficial green would have taken color blocking to another level. Even matching it with the UIUC blue would have been a challenge.

But no, they said, on March 4, only green will conquer Champaign-Urbana.

And I never could have guessed that wearing green could be so dangerous.

According to my sources, the celebration will result in binge drinking, $300 fines for underage students and a lot of embarrassing Snapchat pictures.

That’s when I finally realized Unofficial has something — everything, actually — to do with drinking. Of course it does, this is the number-one party university in the U.S., right?

No surprises there, but the starting hour of the event startled me again. Adapting to the American breakfast of muffins, bagels, bacon and eggs can be hard, but starting your day with a combination of Coors Light and Natural Ice is an even more peculiar ritual from a European perspective.

As sad as it makes me, it is logical that Unofficial does not go for the powerful Belgian beers or strong eastern European liquors. This event lasts an entire day and night. If students want to enjoy the perks of food trucks from all over the country and funny Snapchat stories until the evening, ditching the Belgian drinks would be wise.

Let us all call it Official Light Drinking Fest then? Or maybe even Official Green Shirt Day? It is an Irish thing, they said. And then it dawned on me: Saint Patrick’s Day. Of course. The dye of the shirts, the partying, the madness. I thought I had it all figured out while thinking it was “Unofficial” because the country is different and there are less shamrocks involved.

Still wrong, they said. It is “Unofficial” because the date is wrong. After all, students are already booked on the real date for another and even bigger party occasion: spring break.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to prove their partying reputation, they just rescheduled the famous holiday to two weeks earlier, because they can. It leads to a crowd from around the nation coming to Champaign-Urbana.

On March 4, I can now safely pretend to officially know everything about Unofficial. As an international student I will blend into the crowd of American students to go eat food, drink American beer and take pictures.

My green shirt is ready to discover the mysteries of Unofficial.

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