The city: L.A.? New York? Paris? Tokyo?

Could be anywhere. Clubs across the world have become a showcase for youth to demonstrate their love for the nightlife. It’s the lights, the people, the drugs, the alcohol and oh yeah, the music. "Electronica," a catch-all term for music that bases its tones in electronic synthesizers rather than traditional instruments, is the music of these clubs, which have a following as diverse as its sounds. Some of the most popular styles include techno, hip-hop, trance, house, jungle (or drum ‘n bass), but the list goes far beyond just these. Nonetheless, the atmosphere of a club gets created before the DJ’s skills take the stage.

At Pepperdine, the large population of international students as well as the accessibility to students to attend an international program allows for a myriad of experiences in clubs around the world.

One Pepperdine student from Hong Kong suggests that language embodies the biggest difference between going to a club in America and going to a club in Hong Kong. Culture places parameters on the actions and fashions of the people, but the similarities between two scenes on different sides of the world are the most striking. Clubs that are most similar to those of the L.A. scene are set aside for club-goers over 25. Who you know and how you look determine whether you are allowed in.

"These clubs push for the models and movie stars, all the most beautiful people," the student says. The exclusive nature of these clubs creates an image of importance that perpetuates the exclusivity much like many clubs throughout the L.A. area, particularly on Sunset and in Hollywood Boulevards.

Elliot Bentzen, a senior at Pepperdine who was raised in Switzerland, sees the club scene as much more entertainment oriented in Europe than in the US. "Everyone in L.A. who goes out to a club is trying to look like a rock star," Bentzen says. The electronic music scene is more acutely developed in Europe, according to Bentzen. People looking for a certain type of music will find a club that meets their needs for this purpose, not necessarily the club "where the people are." The scene becomes much more lax and the desire for a certain image much less pertinent.

Bahar Tafti spent a semester in Australia with Pepperdine’s sports medicine exchange program and says "there isn’t an extravagant difference" between the club scenes in the States and in Australia. She admits that the music is slightly different, more European based and less like the trance music frequently found in America. According to Tafti, however, the minimal change in music does not bring about a change human interaction within the club. The motives for going to a club are the same, regardless of what country one is in. "It’s basically the same as going to a club out here," Tafti said.

Maggie Bera, a student from Paraguay, agrees.

"In Paraguay, just as in L.A., people are aware of what you are wearing and/or doing," she said. She also notes that the "clubbing" age in Paraguay is approximately 17-25, whereas in the U.S., it is possible to see people who are 21(officially or not) to 40.

Unlike many other international students, Maggie sees the drinking habits of youth in America and Paraguay as similar in spite of different cultural backgrounds and upbringings. Drug use is a different story. She thinks there is more of a drug problem in this country than in hers. The abuse functions as a private part of the public action of going to a club.

International students and students that have been on international programs alike feel that the restraints placed upon American youth in order to maintain an image of moral uprightness pushes much of the dance music scene underground. International students view the youth in this country as more out of control, more rebellious and more secretive about the dance scene, which has become one of the most significant creative outlets of our generation.

The most recent manifestation of this concept is the rave. Though began in underground clubs in London, England, America has taken it to a different level. Foreign countries, primarily those with a more Western influence, allow young adults to experiment more freely with experiences, even drugs and alcohol. This public freedom renders the club an adequate venue for such experimentation. The drinking age in virtually every country of the international students interviewed was 18 or younger, giving adolescents a chance to test their limits out in the open, free from the watchful eyes of authority figures.

Clubs in America close at 2 a.m. Outside the U.S., clubs generally stay open until around 5 a.m., and many international students say a large difference between the style of going out in the states and elsewhere is the time frame. The late night/early morning idea is acceptable in Europe and South America; the U.S. primarily associates this time frame with illegal raves.

There are raves in other countries, but the aim is not quite the same. "In Europe, raves can just as easily occur in a club as they could in an underground scene," Bentzen said. "It was never illegal, and having a rave in the woods was just an interesting promotion for a party. There is no need to hide what is going on from authorities."

Although raves are quietly dying out in the States, the phenomena of raving is still prominent in the image attached to dance music and its sub-culture. On his website, "Silver Raver" declares that the kids involved in the scene are "modern day hippies" due to the love and community shared among ravers.

"At a ‘party’ people of all different walks of life, races and genders throw their differences aside to take part in the vibe," the website goes on to state. Diverse people all coming together to wear the same clothes, do the same drug and dance the same way. The only unifying factor that still allows one individuality is the music, yet descriptions of the music, its effects and its role in the rave scene is lacking in countless websites that discuss the topic. The idea of being a raver has become more important than living up to the description.

Drugs play an integral role in the community created by raves, complicating the true image of each individual involved. "People you meet who are rolling at raves expose their deepest secrets to you even if you've known them for two seconds," senior Jessica Warfield said. "It's like fantasy world where people are dressed to the gill in outrageous crazy outfits, and doing everything imaginable.

"I like reality a little better," she added. "[Raving is] all about being as wild as you can be while letting go of all responsibility and reality."

This false sense of companionship and trust is not a result of the thundering beats and the musical stylings of the disc jockey controlling the turntables but rather a physiological reaction to MDMA, the primary chemical in ecstasy. Ecstasy, according to a medical journal article on the drug published in 1987, suggests psychiatrists originally began employing the non-traditional psychedelic because they felt "MDMA has the ability to increase empathy and self-insight." The drug creates a feeling of euphoria that transfers to a love and acceptance of all that surrounds an individual during the "high" of ecstasy. It adds yet another layer to the image of a vast community of people, presumably from different backgrounds and different walks of life coming together in peace and harmony.

Unfortunately, the quest to be different and the attempt to forge an identity for oneself becomes somewhat of a paradox when the result is a "raver" lifestyle. The individuality of being a raver quickly lost its luster in this country when many masses of teenagers all had the same idea for their brand of individuality. The image of what was unique became so popular it became a norm.

The varied cultures Pepperdine students are exposed to never escape the idea of an individual and the image that individual portrays to the world. While most international students claim that Americans are more concerned with personal, unique identity than their foreign counterparts, all agree that each person seeks a particular image when going out to a club.

The music one chooses, the clothes one wears, the friends that one accompanies and the transportation one takes all factor into the image of a night on the town.

"Unfortunately, most people striving to make an image are in reality going with the mass population; everyone is doing the same thing," Tafti said.

Faced with not being able to fully reconcile this irony, the individual must learn to forget the image that one presents to the rest of the world and focus on the image we reveal to ourselves. The most simple way to achieve this in a nightclub setting is to allow oneself to be taken away by the music and not the image of the scene one has entered. After all, isn’t the music why you endured the aching feet, braved the cold and subjected yourself to humiliation at the hands of a bouncer?