Got it! So prom and a formal would be equivalent, if for some reason the word prom caught on in Australia, while here in the US it is two separate events.

“Formal” is literally the word we use in Australia because we don’t use the word “prom”. So it’s the Australian equivalent of prom.

In Belgium we don’t have prom but we have A LOT of traditional students “parties” Like : In the last year of high we have what we called ” the 100 days ” it’s to celebrate our last 100 days at school and that day, we come to school disguised and we put music at school we dance, we catch people who are in their first year and we put some lipstick on their faces or a lot of things on them , at the end of the day, we all go to the town to drink and celebrate in bars.

In university , the first week-end on decembre we have the ” Saint-Nicolas des Etudiants ” Every students wear a white apron and we draw on it and we go to panhandle everywhere to try have money and we can be very mean because if people don’t give money, we can drop flour on them or sometimes eggs.. But we don’t really do that ^^. Then we meet in a same place and sing out loud some students songs and then we go to drink …a lot XD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lZDf56FTGY (it’s just an example in ONE school. if you want to see what it looks like)

AND we have a lot more parties like this aha…

graduation was a whole different party 🙂 In an effort to keep the graduating class from drinking (since it’s not legal for 18 year olds to drink here), my school has a huge all night party. When I graduated they filled the school with all different games and food booths. There was a caricature artist and a hypnotist performer. Good times with sleep deprivation 🙂

Prom is reserved for juniors and seniors (sometimes seniors only!), and is usually at a fancy ballroom reserved somewhere near the school. For example, my school’s prom was held at a country club in a private gated community.

A lot of students will have dates, but will also get together in a large group to take pictures and eat dinner together before going to the dance (even though there are also snacks at the venue). As for a stretch limo…going in a group help makes that more affordable! Renting a limo is very common.

None of the dances listed above actually happen as the last event of the school year. Homecomings happen around September/October, and Proms happen in March/April, so you will still see everyone in class again once the party is over.