Sam PodgurnyWith Christmas, and all of its tedious shopping, family visiting, and dinner coordinating over you’ve finally got some time for yourself. Ahhh. Sweet, sweet freedom. Sure, your part time job will knock a few hours off of your break, but between now and January 9th there’s no doubt you’ll have plenty of free time to kill. The question is, what will you do with it? Here are five suggestions.
5. Plan a record listening party
Call up a couple of your pals and get together for some old fashioned music sharing. No new fangled Apple Music playlists or YouTube links here, just an arm full of your favourite double LPs. With the resurgence of vinyl there’s a pretty good chance at least one of your friends has a turntable and speakers (that they likely picked up for $40 at Value Village), so all you’ve got to do is bring snacks (Doritos will do the trick), plop down on the couch, and drop the needle. If you don’t have any records, all good, head over to Listen Records (or any other store, I mean even London Drugs sells vinyl now) and pick one up. For some added fun, randomly grab three used bad boys for 10 bucks and see what you get! It’s a cheap, easy to plan afternoon that’s fun for all you music lovers out there.
Effort: 3
Fun: 6
Cost: $0-30
4. Get outta town
Haul ass to the mountains for a couple of days outdoors before returning to the dingy dungeons of Tory. Canmore is a prime choice for a quick trip. At only three-and-a-half to four hours away, this mountain town offers a good mix of activities and relaxation. Visit Elevation Place for rock climbing and swimming, the Nordic Center for outdoor gear rentals, or embark on hikes of various difficulty around the area for some physical activity. Then, come back downtown to shop, eat, and drink the night away (visit the CanHo before it’s shut down!). Plus you’re only 15 minutes outside of Banff if you’d like to spend a day soaking at the Sulfur Mountain hot springs or skiing Sunshine (don’t forget to use your FREE Canada 150 national parks pass). Make it a road trip with friends, or a romantic getaway with your SO to cut down on gas and accommodation costs. It might be a little pricey, but the drive is quick, the beer is flowing, and the fresh air is worth it to refuel after a busy holiday and before a stressful winter semester… and your Instagram will make you look like Leo in The Revenant.
Effort: 6
Fun: 8.5
Cost: $250+
3. Go snowshoeing
When it gets cold in Edmonton you’ve got to get creative if you want to stay active through the long, miserable winter months. Skiing, snowboarding, and skating are obvious choices, but this is 2017 you — a more bold, daring, and interesting you — so strap on those tennis rackets for your feet and put all that white stuff out there to good use! Mountain Equipment Co-op rents pairs for 15 bucks a day (book ahead!) and there’s tons of spots in and just out of the city to try your hand at a new winter sport. Just be warned, use layers for this activity because it’ll have you sweating and stripping them off in no time. If looking like Leo in The Revenant isn’t good enough, trekking through the river valley on top of the snow will have you feeling like him to.
Effort: 6.5
Fun: 7
Cost: $15
2. Attack or defend the sector in Battlefield 1‘s Operations Mode
Boot up your computer or console (you poor souls), squad up with some killer 14-year-olds, and prepare for World War. The new Battlefield 1 online mode “Operations” is undoubtedly the most fun I’ve had playing a multiplayer video game since Halo 2′s “Swat,” on Xbox Live, or co-op on Gears of War‘s “Horde.” The goal of the game is to secure objectives (as an attacker or defender depending on your team), but the trick is once all are secured or lost, the game doesn’t end, no no no, you move on to ANOTHER PART OF THE MAP or ANOTHER MAP ENTIRELY to do it all again. The lines of the battle change as you march towards a much more massive victory or defeat. With up to 64 players in a match, outstanding graphics, animations, and heart-pounding gameplay, the hours will fly by as you kill and die (and die and die) to feed your addiction of capturing/defending those sector flags.
Pro tip: Go for capture points to get your score up — kills are hard to rack up and many deaths are inevitable, so rush those flags for king and country!
Effort: 2
Fun: 9 (+/- 1,000,000 depending on whether you’re winning or losing)
Cost: $49.99+ (Origin)
1. H.I.I.T. up a workout class
Face it, all that Christmas and New Years binge eating and drinking has left us (as our Managing Editor Jon likes to say) feeling like a “fat piece of shit.” Now that we’re on the other side of the holidays, it’s time to get our fat asses in gear. I’ve never had much luck with the traditional gym routine (I’ve had a Fit4less gym membership going on two years now, and it’s okay but has never done much damage for me on the scale). Then, about 13 weeks ago my girlfriend and sister convinced me to try a High Intensity Interval Training (aka H.I.I.T.) group class at Blitz Conditioning. I nearly fucking died. But while waiting for the ambulance to arrive and revive me, I remember thinking ‘hey that was actually really fun.’ I’ve kept at it on a weekly basis, and can say I have never felt better for it. So to all of you out there, I encourage you to give it a try! Most places will offer a first class free type deal, so go out and take advantage of a H.I.I.T. class this week before you can resort to your typical “I’m too busy” excuses.
Pro tip: Bring a friend, your SO, your mom, or your dog to class. Who cares. Making it a team effort can help you turn this week’s first class into a weekly, monthly, yearly routine.
Effort: 10
Fun: 1 (during), 10 (after)
Cost: FREE (first time) then $21/per class
*10 visits/ 1 month unlimited passes also available
Bonus! Write an article in The Gateway
We are a student run organization, and the voice of students on campus. Accordingly, we are always looking for new people (that means you) to volunteer time and creativity. No experience is required and your level of commitment is up to you! So why not start now while you have some time to spare?
Whether you’re interested in writing, drawing, photography, or podcasting we’ve got options for you. Editors in our Arts, Commentary, Sports, News, Photo, and Multimedia sections would love to help you improve your skills and get your voices out there for others to read, see, and/or hear.
Email our Contibuting Editors, myself ([email protected]) or Ashton ([email protected]) if you have questions or would like to write your first Gateway article this week!
Pro tip: Ask to join our section mailing lists for weekly topics, and come by our office (3-04 SUB) to check out one of our weekly sections meetings (*stay tuned this will be updated for winter semester)!
Effort: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fun: 
Cost: 420
