At college, life often revolves around books, friends, coffee and our favorite treats! The good news is that Princeton has the perfect eclectic café that meets all of these needs in one place. If you're a fan of fair trade coffees, specialty beverages and homemade treats--and you're wondering where you will find that favorite study spot--I think that we have just the place for you. Chances are that you will fit right in with Princeton students' collective love of Small World Coffee, a hip coffee shop just outside of Princeton’s gates on Witherspoon Street!

Small World is where so many of us students go to study, chat and write. I love that it lets us get into the “real world” without going very far from campus; there’s something so refreshing about getting off campus and doing homework in a place that’s full of not only students, but also families, businesspersons and friends. Small World also has neat events like open mic nights on Mondays and periodic art shows.

And let’s not neglect the fact that their menu is great too. They sell not only all of the warm and cold beverages to fuel you through any season, but there’s also delicious oatmeal bowls, fresh-baked granola, cookies and the like! You'll likely find yourself as excited about Small World as most of us students are. If so, Witherspoon Café in the Frist Campus Center on campus also sells Small World coffee. So, on those mornings that you are craving your favorite drink on your way to class but don’t have time to get to Nassau Street, you don’t have to miss out!

One important thing to know about Small World is that they only take cash, so plan accordingly if you are visiting campus this spring and want to enjoy a treat at one of my favorite cafés!

This year, I decided not to go home for Winter Break. Although I initially feared that I would be incredibly lonely, it has turned out to be a very exciting time with my friends and their families. As part of a larger effort to procrastinate work on my junior independent work, I decided to keep a diary to document my winter, and share my activities around Princeton town with everybody!

Saturday Dec. 19, The First Day of Break: My friends Vipin and Shannon are visiting. We went to North Campus to see the Chapel and other gorgeous buildings, and then went to the Art Museum to see the exhibits on Cezanne and the Peck Shahnama. We then cooked a quick lunch in my food co-op, 2D. Shannon had to leave, so we her off at the Princeton train station. Vipin and I later went on to do some cardio in Dillon Gym. We then joined a few more of my friends in 2D and cooked pasta in tomato sauce with broccoli, scallions and mushrooms, while we discussed the presidential race ahead of the democratic debate. We then came back and joined a few more of our friends to study. I went to sleep reading the Lowland by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, whose class I am taking on literary translation.

Sunday Dec. 20, Heading into Town: We were feeling lazy so we just cooked some eggs with broccoli, mushrooms and tomatoes for brunch. I then went on a run along the Tow Path to the dam at the end of Lake Carnegie. We came back and had a wonderful pasta dinner in Infini-T Cafe. Vipin went to get a haircut at the Princeton Barber Shop, while I bought socks at the Princeton Running Company. I went to pick up a book at the Firestone Library, and ran into my friend Abby who is also here over break. Vipin and I walked around Princeton, which was decorated heavily with festive lights and then joined my friend Abby for hot chocolate and ice cream at Bent Spoon. Abby and I dropped by Wawa to buy some groceries for dinner, and Abby’s sister Lily joined us for a study session in my room.

Monday, Dec. 21, The Start of Laziness: I woke up to a very unproductive day. My first meal was lunch with Scott Leroy, the director of the Bridge Year Program. I had spent nine incredible months in Peru on this program before coming to Princeton (You can read about Adrian's experiences here). We had quesadillas and Juice at Tico’s on Witherspoon Street in downtown Princeton. Lunch was followed by a run with down the tow path with my running buddy, Charlotte. I came back and napped and then joined Vipin for dinner at Panera, just across the street from campus. We ended the meal with blended ice cream at Thomas Sweet’s. We hung out near the fountain in front of Robertson Hall and then came back and watched a movie.

Tuesday, Dec 22, Celebrations!: Vipin had an exam today, so we had a light breakfast and lunch, before going off on a short run around north campus (you can read about my favorite running tracks on campus here). After dropping Vipin at the exam center, I joined a few friends -- who are graduate students -- to start watching the Star Wars movies. I then cooked with Abby and Vipin joined after his exam. We hung out in my room for a long time afterwards, before going Wawa for a quick sandwich.

Wednesday, Dec. 23, Decorating the Christmas Tree: Vipin had to go back to New York today, so we had a quick lunch and then I sadly dropped him off at the train station. I went on a longer run that day with Charlotte. I tried to study in my room, but I mostly procrastinated. I then joined Charlotte and her family in decorating their Christmas tree with ornaments they have collected for many years. We ended the evening with a delicious dinner.

Thursday, Dec. 24, Ukrainian Christmas Eve: It’s Christmas Eve! I went on a short run with Charlotte and then tried to study for a bit. I got very little done. The exciting part of the day was that I was spending it with my friend Alana and her family, who lives close by. They held a traditional Ukrainian Christmas celebration! It was one of the best Christmas Eves ever. Her family was incredibly friendly and made me feel at  right at home. I had a lot of fun, and a lot of incredibly delicious Ukrainian food.

Friday, Dec. 25, It’s Christmas Day!: I was very lazy in the morning, probably a result of the huge dinner I had the previous night. In the evening, I had dinner with a few friends at a couple's house who invite all students who have graduated from a United World College, like me, to their house for American festivals and holidays. It was a great time, and we talked about a great deal of things and shared many jokes.

While the most prominent eating option for upperclassmen is to join an eating club, almost a third of upperclassmen don't join one. They either choose to continue with the dining hall meal plans, go "Independent" (which means that they haven't signed any dining contract, and either purchase meals or cook their own food), or join one of Princeton's co-ops. Last year, Libby talked of her experiences in the Brown co-op, and this year I decided to join the vegetarian co-op 2 Dickinson, known affectionately in Princeton as 2D, and this has already become one of my favorite spaces on campus.

The idea of the 2D co-op is simple. We are a group of 48 Princeton students (members of 2D are also known as Artichokes or 2Denizens), which includes undergraduates and graduate students from all years. The University has given us a house on campus, which has a huge kitchen and some rooms where some of our members live. We take turns cooking meals every week for all the members (for example, I cook Thursday dinner with four other people), and also share chores around the house. Chore designations include the Minister of Spice, the Baker of Tasties and mine: Maker of Hummus.

2D is a very special place on campus; it is an extremely welcoming and homie space, and the community is one of the nicest and most inspiring ones I have found. The idea of people working together to create a dining and social space — some would call it a home — for each other is incredibly heart-warming. And 2D really tries to make every member of the co-op an integral part of the community. Other than sharing responsibilities, all the decisions in the co-op are made collectively and democratically, and there is no hierarchy — no president, vice president or any designation of that sort. It is an anarchy that works, a miracle of the commons. It is a space that everybody belongs to, and has ownership in.

[caption]Members of 2D having dinner.[/caption]

I would say the two things that distinguish us on campus are our efforts to be inclusive and our efforts to be environmentally sustainable. Unlike eating clubs, any Princeton undergraduate or graduate student can join, and anybody can join us for meals. We also try to be financially inclusive, and 2D costs a small fraction of the University meal plan or the cost of joining an eating club. Even though we are completely vegetarian, almost a third of 2D eats meat outside of 2D, and we try to cook as much vegan food as possible for the vegan members of the community. Which brings me to 2D's environmental sustainability efforts: We cook almost entirely with organic and locally sourced food, and we try to minimize our environmental impact as much as possible. Also, of course, 2D has the best vegetarian food I have eaten on campus. 

Joining 2D this year has been one of the most fulfilling social experiences for me so far. For a vegetarian, this is a dream come true. And being part of this anarchic social experiment, which has been flourishing for over 40 years, is unbelievable. Hopefully you can come join me for a meal one day.

Have you ever stopped to wonder, in a moment of utter woe and misery, if perhaps all the sorrows in your life are caused not by fate, but by a flaky, oily, potato-based food often served with sour cream and applesauce?

Every year, since before I can remember, my parents obsessively watch the Chinese New Year Gala (春节联欢晚会). As a child, I welcomed it, as it gave me an excuse to sit on the couch and watch TV for hours, without having my parents yell at me. Rather, we would all sit together and watch dance routines, laugh at skits, and marvel over stunts and acrobatics. When I was little and my grandfather lived with us in the United States, he would tell me stories about celebrations in China—how the whole country seemed to erupt in activity this month, how trains would overflow with people going home, and how when he was little, this would be the only day of the year the family could afford to eat dumplings.

Celebrating Lunar New Year has become a ritual for my family here in the United States. Even though New Years usually falls on a weekday, my parents wake up early to call our family back in China, go to work, and come home to cook a New Year's dinner. Growing up, we would have dinner parties on the weekend and invite other Chinese families in the area. Everyone would bring their own dishes, and since we came from all over China, our dinner table would feature cuisine from Sichuan, to Shanghai, to Henan (my family’s home), and even pizza (for the kids).

However, celebrating Lunar New Year in the United States can also be difficult. While we celebrate the biggest holiday in Chinese culture, most Americans have no regard for the holiday. It’s hard to find a lot of Asian food, and we don’t get the vacation time that most do in China. My mother used to drive over an hour to buy Asian groceries. As a kid, I remember thinking how unfair it was that we would have vacation for Jewish and Christian holidays, but that I still had to go to school, take exams, and write papers on New Years. But now that I no longer live with my parents, and that I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate Chinese New Year more and more, and specifically, our special American version of Lunar New Year.

Here at Princeton, while students complete their schoolwork and continue to write their theses, I have the chance to take a break from studying, go home, eat good food, and spend time with my family. It’s an opportunity that many students don’t have. Over time, more of my family is able to travel from China to the United States, and more of my family comes to celebrate New Years with us in our home. We invite other Chinese immigrants and exchange students who don’t have family in the United States. We spend time with other Chinese families in the area. We eat dumplings and pizza, watch CCTV (China Central Television) and American movies, and speak "Chinglish." Over time, our Chinese New Year celebrations have grown from small family gatherings, to large celebrations of Chinese-American culture.

A week ago, I was hobbling from University Place to the Mathey Common Room with about 100 samosas precariously balanced in my arms, hoping that I wouldn’t trip or collide with anyone on my way. That night, I was also responsible for two Yule logs, dozens of Christmas cookies, three trays of baklava, a whole bunch of dumplings, dozens of jelly donuts, hundreds of potato latkes, and the biggest jar of applesauce I’ve ever seen. 

All of this was central to Mathey College’s second of four diversity events held throughout the year, Holidays of the World. With three other Mathey Residential College Advisers (RCAs), I helped to plan, organize and host this event. It went off without a hitch, except for the one tray of baklava that was dropped en route to the Mathey Common Room (unfortunately, the five-second rule doesn’t apply for baklava spilt all over the sidewalk). 

It was our hope that students coming through could get a welcome reprieve from their end-of-the-semester cramming, enjoy some good food, and learn a bit about the religious and cultural traditions associated with the dishes we were serving. At best, we hoped that our fellow Mathey-ites would actively engage with the student representatives we had asked to be present at each table; at the least, we hoped that our fellow Mathey-ites would try some items that they had never had before. 

To be honest, planning the whole thing was more of an event than the event itself. There were the humorous aspects: trying to explain to a very sweet and also very skeptical store owner that I did, in fact, want to order 150 pieces of baklava; the panicked phone calls about who was to pick up 100 jelly donuts and potato latkes; the horror when we thought we had misplaced all the plastic silverware and plates minutes before the event was to start. 

There were also more serious aspects. In some ways, I found the very concept of being asked to plan and host a "diversity event” to be rather uncomfortable. I value and respect other cultures and beliefs as much as my own, and am happy to attend events that celebrate other cultures and beliefs. However, I often find that events that are programmed around teaching about diversity can be rather clunky. For our event, we hoped to include a variety of major cultural and religious holidays from fall through spring—Diwali, Eid, Christmas and Hannukah—in a manner that was sensitive and inclusive to all. Hopefully, we achieved that. 

Planning Holidays of the World was a fun, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding experience. I laughed a lot at the ridiculous crises and shared some good memories with my fellow RCAs. But, more significantly, it made me seriously reflect on how the topic of diversity should be approached and addressed on college campuses in ways that are useful and constructive.

Oh Disney, what tales you spun! Where I live, animals do not rest in my lap or gather round affectionately. The Princeton deer are flighty, raccoons gluttonous, cats indifferent, squirrels deranged, and not even singing to them can help. If I were Snow White, I would choose somewhere far, far away to make my woodland home.

A little look into my experience of Princeton in Beijing last summer. There were teachers and food, weather and adventures!

Objectively speaking, there are three kinds of students at Princeton: T-Sweet people, Halo Pub people and Bent Spoon people—fans of the three ice cream shops in town.

Emotions run high over which is the best. Most students will gladly eat any of them (except for the lactose intolerant, whom I pity, and my roommate Mike, who doesn’t like ice cream and therefore is not to be trusted with animals or happiness). However, each shop has a contingent of rabid partisans who cling to their favorite.

Frankly, until now, I’ve been fairly agnostic on the whole matter. I’ve heard cases for them all, I’ve been to them all, I’ve enjoyed them all. However, in my solemn role as a blogger, I need to take a stand.

This week, for you and science*, I visited every** shop with friends to pick a side.

^{*I should note that I’m a politics/humanities guy, so I use the word “science” loosely.}

^{**I should also note that I’m ignoring the two froyo places in town, as froyo is ice cream’s illegitimate stepbrother and I consider it to be a wholly inadequate substitute.}

T-Sweet

Thomas Sweet Ice Cream, better known as T-Sweet, is located just off of campus on Nassau Street. As the closest, it’s the first of the shops that many freshmen discover, and so some imprint upon it immediately, similar to newly hatched ducklings with their mother, and never leave.

T-Sweet has a major selling point: You can get mix-ins. On this visit, I tried a scoop of Vanilla Heath Bar with mix-ins of brownie and peppermint patties to excellent effect. If you’re a fan of new flavor combinations and don’t feel like trekking further into town, T-Sweet is a solid choice.

Halo Pub

Located the farthest afield, Halo Pub is about a five-minute walk from campus. This tends to make it the least frequented by students, which can actually be nice—it tends to be less crowded than the others, making it a great spot for a date or just a long chat.

In terms of the ice cream, Halo Pub doesn’t have much in the way of gimmicks. On our research visit, I got one scoop of cookie dough and one of hazelnut. Of all three stores, I’d say that Halo Pub is the way to go if you just want a traditional ice cream cone, although in the colder months, I’m also a big fan of their hot chocolate floats.

Bent Spoon

Located on Palmer Square, The Bent Spoon is the most unique and often has a line out the door. Unlike the other two shops, Bent Spoon has more of an artisan/gourmet angle to their flavors—often I’ve never heard of many of the options.  You always get two small scoops, and sometimes one of the specialty flavors mixes really well with something more traditional, so experimenting is fun (I got a surprisingly good combo of mascarpone and peach).

It’s a different experience, so if you’re adventurous or watch shows where food gets rated on “plating,” Bent Spoon may be for you.

Pro tip: You get way more bang for your buck if you order a milkshake.

Verdict

I can’t really argue that any of the shops is objectively better for any reason. They’ve all got their pluses. That said, I’m a sucker for the traditional, so I think I give the advantage to Halo Pub. Next time you’re in, grab a hot chocolate float and get comfortable for a nice, long chat.