Champaign-Urbana empties every summer as students leave for home or jobs. Those of us who remain have to be creative when thinking of ways to entertain ourselves. My friends and I have come up with some unique ideas. We made up a game involving chopsticks and M&Ms, cooked hairy hotdogs, and tried (and failed at) stargazing.
M&M Chopstick Challenge
One night, several friends and I were debating different ways of holding chopsticks. That discussion led inevitably to a contest to determine who was the best at handling chopsticks. We set up a round-robin tournament in which pairs of participants had to move 15 M&Ms from a plate to a bowl. Whoever cleared their plate fastest won.
We used smooth chopsticks and ceramic plates, which made it infuriatingly hard. I was eliminated in the first round. won in a photo finish against with a time of just under a minute.
Hairy Hotdogs
I don't know who first had the idea to skewer hot dogs with uncooked spaghetti, but it likely came from . The idea spread across the internet and inspired , Yun Young, and me to make it ourselves.
Failed Stargazing
A while back my father gave Yun Young his old six-inch reflector telescope that he was hoping to sell. Two nights ago Yun Young and I took the telescope to a dark cornfield to see what we could see.
Unfortunately, storm clouds rolled in as soon as we set up the telescope, but we did see some impressive lightning in the distance.
