Being in the Urbana-Champaign area for several months, I’m more and more used to the lifestyle here. While I spend most of my time in classes, practicing in Smith Memorial Hall, or in my apartment; I have found some wonderful places for relaxing in my free time. 1. Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) and Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE) Those are nice places for doing exercises. Especially in winter when it’s freezing cold outside with no possibility of going outside to exercise, it is always best to stay and do indoor workouts. There is plenty of fitness and exercise equipment for almost any kind of workout. Usually I visit the gym two to three times a week (mostly CRCE because it’s closer to the music building and Smith hall) to exercise and refresh myself from the busy days. I also sometimes participate in group fitness classes. The ARC offers many other kinds of recreational activities such as cooking classes. Those sound so interesting that I hope I can have a chance to try them in the future. 2. Japan House The southeastern part of campus locates the Arboretum and the Japan House, which is a beautiful Zen garden. I always feel relaxed when seeing the picturesque view there. In summer, the green plants create a vibrant atmosphere; in autumn, the plants show a variety of vibrant colors; in winter, all the garden is covered with snow, which is also a special scenery to see and enjoy; in spring, sakuras (cherry blossoms) bloom and add sweet pink color to the garden. Every time I go there, I take numerous beautiful photos to fill out my photo album. On one special occasion, I saw an advertisement for a photo contest held by the school. I chose a photo from my collection to participate in and surprisingly, it was selected as a winner and posted on social media! I was so excited that I could share the beautiful moments I captured in Japan House with more people! In addition to the view, there are sometimes Japanese activities held in the building, but I haven’t gotten a chance to attend. I really look forward to attending the tea ceremony someday to experience Japanese culture. 3. Champaign Public Library I often go to the Champaign Public Library in the morning when I have no class. Although it is located in Downtown Champaign, which is not within the scope of Campustown, the distance is still not so far from campus, and it is very convenient to get there by bus. The library is spacious, and it has a wide collection; amazingly, there are also many seats with natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Sitting on the seats and reading books with the warm sunshine always makes me feel very happy and comfortable. My favorite sections of the library are the music and art history and the world tour guide areas on the second floor. These categories of books always rejuvenate me, and they are like taking me into a “Dokodemo Door” (Anywhere Door) to travel through various dream wonderlands. Well, there are many more wonderful places I go during my free time to temporarily put behind the overwhelmingly stressful coursework and I hope to share more with you in some of my future blogs. - Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng ——————————————————————————————————————- Traditional Chinese: 休閒時的好去處在厄巴納-香檳地區待了幾個月,我越來越習慣這裡的生活方式。 雖然除了上課之外,大部分時間我都待在Smith Memorial Hall練琴或在我的公寓裡,我發現了一些非常適合在空閒時間去放鬆身心的地方。 1. 學校的體育館:ARC和CRCE 這兩座體育館是鍛煉身體的好地方,尤其是冬天外面非常冷沒辦法出去運動的時候,在室內做運動一定是首選。 健身房裡面有各式各樣的健身鍛練設備,通常我每週去兩到三次(通常是 CRCE,因為它更靠近音樂館和Smith Hall),以鍛煉自己,讓自己從忙碌的課堂中恢復活力。 我有時也會報名參加團體健身課程。另外,ARC也提供許多其他類型的娛樂活動,例如烹飪課程,聽起來都很有趣,希望我將來有機會嘗試。 2. 日本館 校園東南方有個植物園和日本館,那是一座美麗的禪宗式庭園。欣賞那里風景如畫的景色總是讓我感到十分享受和放鬆。夏季,綠色的植物欣欣向榮;秋季,植物呈現出各種絢麗繽紛的色彩;冬季,整個花園都被白雪覆蓋,也是一個特別的景色;春季,櫻花盛開,為花園增添了甜美的粉紅色。每次去那裡都會為我的相冊增添無數美照。有一次我無意間看到學校的攝影比賽,就選了張自己珍藏的照片參加,沒想到竟然獲選得獎並被發佈在社交媒體上!我很高興能藉此跟更多人分享我在日本館捕捉的美麗瞬間!除了風景,有時日本館還會舉辦日本傳統活動,但我一直沒有機會參加。我非常期待有一天能參加茶道活動體驗日本文化。 3. 香檳公共圖書館 我常常在沒有課的早上過去,雖然它位在香檳市區,已經不在學校大學城的範圍,但距離還算近,搭乘公車過去很方便。建築物裡面空間寬敞,館藏豐富,而且最重要的,裡面有許多採光良好的座位,坐在座位上讀書配著落地窗外和煦的陽光非常舒服。我最喜歡二樓的音樂藝術史和世界旅遊區,因為這類書總能讓我把繁雜的瑣事拋諸腦後,而且像帶我進入任意門,穿梭遨遊、讚嘆欣賞各個夢幻世界。 其實還有許多我在休閒時候會去的地方,期待能在未來的部落格中跟大家分享。 - Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng
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