Being away from Chicago for winter break for three weeks proved to be a little too long for me: I missed my friends, the city, and as hard as it is to believe, I also missed having a busy schedule and running around campus getting things accomplished. However, what I was not particularly looking forward to was the tundra-like scene that I’ve been hearing all about. I spent all of break in a city where it was eighty degrees and sunny, and here I was preparing myself to go back and live in a city where it would be ten degrees outside… on a good day.
I must admit it was challenging for me to adjust to the especially brutal Chicago weather at first, but it’s amazing how much a couple extra layers of clothing, hot chocolate, and a fast-paced walk can help. As much as I missed walking around downtown Chicago, I decided that I would find an activity on our Lakeshore campus that would be fun yet keep me indoors. One of the things that I’ve started doing this semester is taking spin classes at our Halas recreation center. Group fitness classes at Loyola are free for students and there are plenty of classes to choose from, which is convenient because you can work it around your class schedule. After just an hour, you get a great workout and you meet a lot of new people in the process!
Another fun indoor activity that I’ve just recently tried is taking a cooking class in Sur la Table, the new kitchenware store on Michigan Avenue. The price per class is relatively expensive, but cooking is one of my favorite pastimes, so I saw it as an investment! I took the 3-hour class with a friend and had an amazing time. They did a fantastic job guiding us through how to prepare a meal (that day the class focused on French food!), and it made me extremely excited to invite people to my place and practice my new cooking skills.
There are an abundance of things to do in the great city of Chicago. Weather may pose challenges sometimes, but there is always something you can occupy yourself with. You can have an equally amazing time doing things outdoors just as you would indoors!
