(Edmonton) The University of Alberta's Students' Union isn't letting the winter blahs take over as classes kick off again.
Two events-the Winter Week of Welcome and AntiFreeze-offer up five days of frosty fun to students returning to campus.
"There are some new students coming to campus-not a large group, but we want to make sure they feel welcome to the community," said Rory Tighe, Students' Union vice-president of student life. "But something else that's very important is welcoming students back after the break, and helping them feel a connection to the campus all year round."
AntiFreeze, an annual favourite, pits teams of 10 against each other in a host of odd competitions, from toboggan races to the Bear Sling 500, which requires competitors to slingshot a stuffed bear or panda across Quad.
"We tried to have a wide variety of activities to test everyone's different skill sets, whether that's strength, endurance, creativity or the ability to yell and scream," said Brennan Murphy, student program co-ordinator for the Students' Union.
Other activities include a trivia race around campus, name-that-tune and an '80s-style aerobics competition.
"It's a really good time," said Tighe. "For students in their first year, when they've gotten a taste of what campus life is about, this is another opportunity to get involved and meet new people. Especially if that's something they didn't do as much as they wanted to in the first semester; maybe they were a little bit shy, but this is definitely a good opportunity to meet people."
For those students not registered in AntiFreeze, there are still plenty of welcome-back activities.
"We wanted to bring back our evening events this year, but we're holding them separately from AntiFreeze so people know that everyone is welcome to come," said Murphy.
The Winter Week of Welcome consists of three great shows: a Double Feature Movie Night, Wayne Lee the Hypnotist and "Headphone Disco," where dancers listen to DJs through headphones.