Holiday

When the first snow layers onto Low Steps, and the vanilla chai tea bags you’ve been snatching from Ferris start piling up in your room, you know the holiday season has begun. Don’t use the cold as an excuse to stay huddled up in your room to work endlessly on papers and finals prep; instead, follow Spectrum’s guide on how to do winter here in the city—holiday market edition—for a good time in the winter wonderland of NYC.

For many Columbia students, Thanksgiving break is a much-anticipated chance to go back home, reconnect with family and friends, and enjoy some time off before the start of finals season. The issue with this holiday, however, is its short length—it’s only five days long. For those of us who live just a bus ticket away from home, the trip, and its relatively small price tag, are easily justifiable. For the rest of us left behind on campus, however, these days off can be an emotionally isolating nightmare.

At this point in the semester, all you want is work to be over. If you're looking to waste a few more minutes away, we have a procrastination tool for you*. Relieve some stress with a (Columbia-themed) throwback to your childhood: the beloved board game Chutes and Ladders.

This week has probably involved a lot of studying, memes, and coffee (but mostly memes). With all this hullabaloo on campus, many of us forget the gift-giving season is right around the corner. Sure, we might live in New York City, the concrete jungle of capitalism, but holiday shopping just isn't our top priority at this point.

It is a universally-accepted truth that holidays spent in New York City are the most magical in the world. Unfortunately for us Barnumbians, the most magical thing we are likely to see is a giant pube sitting on the lawns as we shuffle from one library to another.

This Sunday night, (Le) Poisson Rouge will host holiday cheer with The 2nd Annual Dave Harrington & Friends Holiday Spectacular. The concert will bring together musicians from bands like Yeasayer and ARMS, and musicals like "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," for a night of pan-denominational festivity.

What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with hot chocolate, inventive food stands, and winter trinkets galore? Every winter, the Union Square Holiday Market hosts more than 100 vendors at its holiday-themed winter village, ranging from local artisans to up-and-coming designers and food vendors.

Fernanda Douglas, CC '16 and Sam Balzac, CC '17 are bubbling with holiday cheer, and it's contagious. The pair has been working as the composer/lyricist team for XMAS!9 for months now. With the show finally about to debut this Monday, Fernanda and Sam took the time to sit down and give Spectrum the low down on what it's been like to produce original music for a full-length musical. Though the content of the musical is top secret, I did learn a little something about a crazy killer reindeer.