Parties are very common in many countries. People have parties to celebrate special occasions， for example， birthdays and weddings， or to get together with their friends just for fun. Parties can be loud and crowded， and some people don't like attending them. However， many people enjoy going out， dancing， talking and having fun!
Parties are held for all kinds of reasons and in many different places. Some are quiet and for small groups of people， and some are for hundreds of people and last all night! In Western culture， it is very common for students to hold parties and some students have parties almost every week! A typical student party could involve going to a house， listening to loud music， drinking lots of alcohol and playing party games.
One of the most common parties is a birthday party. Birthday parties are held to celebrate the day on which a person was born. The person who's birthday it is will usually buy or bake a cake and invite his/her friends round. The friends bring gifts for the birthday boy or girl. After eating the cake and opening the presents， the friends will play games and talk. Sometimes， people have surprise parties. As the name suggests， people don't know there is going to be a party. They are surprised! They turn up not knowing what is going to happen and are often very happy to find all their friends have turned up at one place!
