At school for the holidays

On a campus that usually buzzes with activity during the academic year, interesting pursuits were difficult to come by during winter break.

Josphat Magutt ’12, who is from Kenya, visited a friend in New York for Christmas but remained in Princeton for the majority of the break.

“[I’ve] just been at school doing some work,” Magutt said, noting that, here on campus, he found “basically nothing” to do.

Jerry Peng ’10, who is from China, had more luck finding ways to pass the time.

“[I would] do some studying, watch some films, go to the city to watch some musicals and go shopping,” Peng said. “[It was] nothing extremely exciting.”

There weren’t many social opportunities to be found on Prospect Avenue either.

“I haven’t gone [to the Street],” Peng said, “[because] most of my club’s people are gone.”

On-campus events and lectures were also scarce. Peng and his friends went to see “A Christmas Carol” at McCarter Theatre, for example, but that was the only show playing in town over break.

Both Peng and Magutt both said they spent a lot of time watching movies.

Besides that, Magutt said he spent his time “just relaxing” and “trying to cook.” Because all dining halls were closed during winter break, the students who remained had to fend for themselves.

“[My] options for the first few days were to go to Hoagie Haven or Wawa,” Magutt said. “I had little experience with cooking,” he added, noting that an older student who was also from Kenya helped him with some of the culinary details. “Now I cook for myself.”

Peng said he had a great time making meals with the help of his friends.

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“A bunch of us Chinese students cook together,” Peng said. “We [also] have friends visiting from other colleges.”

“We go to Plainsboro to buy raw materials,” Peng added.

The University provides funding for international students to help defray food-related expenses over winter break. An allowance of $400 was provided to all students who are not from North America.

“[We had] 400 and something dollars directly deposited into our accounts free to use however we like,” Peng said.

Though some international students in the past have said that the allowance was inadequate to cover expenses, Peng said he disagreed.

“I think it’s already a very generous amount,” Peng said.

Magutt said the allowance helped him get through the three weeks.

“It’s a really good thing for me because I wasn’t working as much [as other students],” Magutt said. “It helped me cover for expenses like food and maintaining myself.”

Despite the lack of interesting activities, those who remained said they still had an enjoyable holiday.

“[It was] great fun, especially cooking with lots of people,” Peng said.