Winter break is nearly upon us, and our currently all-too-insane schedules will soon dwindle to near nothing. Sticking around Eugene and looking for something fun to do over the break? Read on for some suggestions!
Go on a UO Outdoor Program trip
The UO Outdoor Program facilitates cooperative trips initiated by students to a variety of outdoor places. While trips come and go as student initiators post them, there will likely be many ski trips to Mt. Bachelor, Willamette Pass and Hoodoo Mountain Resort. There are no “leaders” on these trips — the Outdoor Program stresses that much like a group of friends engaging in an outdoor activity, all decisions should be made cooperatively, and all students are responsible for their own personal safety.
The cost on these trips is generally $10 or less for gas (the cost is split among participants, so the more the merrier), plus the cost of a lift ticket, although sometimes the trips receive a group discount. The program also offers heavily discounted prices on gear rentals. Visit their website @@checked@@for more information.
Do something creative
Many of us who aren’t art majors miss out on exercising the creative side of our brains. Come up with a cool project to work on with your friends. Build a 10-foot-high sculpture or write and produce a short film. Record a 1930s radio-drama-style episode and host a debut. Form a band where the only instruments are empty (or soon to be) bottles of booze and play a show at your holiday party. Write a short story or do a photo essay. Winter break is when you can focus on a project without worrying about other finals and don’t have any professor-imposed restrictions on your creativity.
Cook
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Here’s the thing: Cooking is awesome. Pick a nationality and have everyone come over and make a dish from said country. It’s the poor student’s way to study abroad! You’ll have fun learning about how to make exotic dishes and in the process will likely discover a few spices to liven up your regular meals.
One other big secret — processed food isn’t really that cheap. Ever buy a ton of vegetables for a delicious curry? They’re cheap. Cooking and eating well in no way, shape or form necessarily means spending more money. In fact, in many ways you will actually spend less if you cook your own meals rather than buying some pre-packaged frozen crap.
If you’re not sure where to start, hit up YouTube and type in something that sounds good. How-to videos make life easy.
Work on a foreign language while volunteering
Practice your Spanish or French while volunteering for a good cause. The University’s Department of Romance Languages hosts a program during the terms called the Participatory Learning Experience. In the program, students are able to earn school credit while volunteering and practicing their French or Spanish at a local community organization.
The website for PLE has a list of local community partners, the times volunteers are needed and their respective language requirements. Even if you’re not able to commit to a whole term of volunteer work, if you’re interested in getting some practice on your conversational language skills, call up some of the organizations and see if they can use a hand over the break. The contact info for the programs is listed on the page http://rl.uoregon.edu//undergraduate/ple/.@@checked@@
Read
Winter break is all about the freedom to read what you want. Come up with a few books to read over the break and get it done. When you’re through, make an event out of it and host a dinner party based on the world of the book. Tie your books together with a theme, and when you’re finished with books, do something along the lines of the theme. Read about adventures in the snow? Go snowshoeing. Some may think these things are a little cheesy for their oh-so-cool selves, but lose the ego and go for it! Reading is the way to go. If you’re not sure where to start, check out www.goodreads.com. @@checked@@It’s a great site to find new books and is a literary mash up of Pandora and Facebook.
Things to do if you’re staying in Eugene over winter break
Daily Emerald
December 6, 2011
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