What to do when the Games prorogue your semester

Various locations (Political Science, Communications)

Those who have converted the entirety of their student loan into beer and sausage at Deutsches Haus may choose to save money by spending a day observing a rare and nearly extinct animal that has gathered in the city for the Games: the violent anarchist protester. Small numbers of this exotic breed can be found dispersed in large crowds of peaceful protesters. As a protest against police intimidation and restrictions on free speech, they wear black facemasks and smash windows and newspaper boxes.

Not only will the inquisitive student learn about “anarchism” and other obscure and antiquated schools of political thought, but also an important lesson in communications.

Sochi House (Geography, Kinesiology)

Sochi, Russia will host the next winter Olympic Games in 2014. It is a beach resort located on the Black Sea and, as a glance at the very nice raised-relief map inside Sochi House will tell you, there is a ski resort located conveniently nearby.

The most intense educational experience we had at Sochi House was talking to a Russian man while waiting in line. He told us all about the political situation in the Ukraine, the merits of the 1973 Soviet hockey team (much better than anyone in the present NHL, in his opinion) and how many more large cities there are in Russia than in the United States. We asked him about none of this, but his inclination toward pedagogy easily overcame our incuriosity, and we learned it just the same.

Ontario House, Quebec House and Alberta House (Canadian Studies)

At Quebec House we learned that the audio-visual show doesn’t start until after dark, and if you go in the daytime, it’s basically just a roofless white box containing a café and a beer stand.

At Ontario House we learned that it feels weird to drink beer and watch a Caribbean singer and a steel drummer at noon while surrounded by kids.

At Alberta House we learned that they won’t let you skip the lineup if you have an Albertan birth certificate.

Vancouver Art Gallery (Art History, Anatomy)

And finally, something actually educational: During the Olympics, admission to the Vancouver Art Gallery is free. The featured exhibits are Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man and Visceral Bodies, which an exhibition of contemporary artists’ explorations of the human form.

We have nothing more to say about the Vancouver Art Gallery. We haven’t actually gone yet. We tried, but there always seemed to be another educational event with a better beer garden getting in our way.

For more free or almost-free events happening during the Games, check out the excellent listing on this blog.