What the heck is there to do in Urbana-Champaign?
What do you do outside of campus? I visited and the town seems really small
and boring, is it normally like that?
Okay, now this is a fair question.
We are in the middle of "nowhere." If you've ever visited campus before, you
may be getting a little bit worried as you drive through cornfield, after cornfield, after cornfield.
Once you get past all the corn fields, when you actually get to UIUC, it's a very
lively, bustling college town.
For just this little area that's Urbana-Champaign, there's hella people.
Like there's so many, that sometimes it's hard to walk around, which is not really a good sign for Covid.
So speaking of which, quick little announcement.
My mom and I are starting a new mask business.
I'm putting together some cute patterns and designs for face masks, and any orders that I get before
the school year starts, I'll be delivering them here to campus.
But if you're not from Illinois, or you're not going to UIUC, then I also offer free
shipping for orders over $15, so stay tuned for that.
Make sure to like this video if you haven't already, and subscribe to my channel if you're new here.
If you're interested in watching my other UIUC videos, I have a playlist right here.
But for today's video, I'm going to be talking to you all about
all the different things we like to do for fun around here, and I feel like the
easiest way for me to do that is just show you, so let's go.
Oh my god. It's raining today, guys.
So I have a confession.
I actually filmed this video yesterday, but the audio was terrible.
Since it is very rainy and gloomy right now, you're gonna be seeing b-roll from a
very sunny, hot 90 degree day, and I will be talking in rainy weather.
Hopefully it's not too weird.
Hello, this is Kelly Tang reporting live from the Activities and Recreation Center.
I'm sorry I don't have a real microphone.
Aside from just working out here, you can go swimming in the pool,
they have a rock wall, you can rent out equipment to play badminton.
They also offer lots of different classes here. I also think they have cooking classes?
I don't know, did I just make that up?
ARC, or also CRCE, is also where a lot
of the dance teams practice. For dance teams such as 2XS or
Imagination, they'll hold dance auditions at the beginning of every semester.
From what I believe is like the first portion of the dance audition is like a workshop,
so you can just learn the dance and you can just,
you can just go for fun. Or you can just go to give moral support to your
friend who actually is auditioning. Throughout the year, I think they do
similar things where they just do dance workshops,
and it's maybe like two bucks to go, or something like that.
Fundraiser for them, it's really fun for you.
I personally would never go because I know that I
would just fall on my face. And I don't say that as an exaggeration,
one time during a dance audition, I literally fell on my face.
And I still got in. I think he just felt bad for me.
Okay, what am I talking about?
Yeah, if you're into dancing but you don't want to join a dance team,
there's still plenty of opportunities for you to dance for fun with your friends.
It is now raining, so I'm gonna stand
under this tree, but over there is the stadium.
That's where all the football games go on, so if you're into
sports, tailgating. I'm not that into sports
as you can tell, but I strongly believe that you should go to
at least one football game in your time here. I don't think we ever win,
but it's still a fun event, you should go.
Hi everyone, this is Karen Smith. It's 68 degrees, and there's
a 30% chance that it's already raining.
This is the Krannert Center. So this is where they have
theater shows like musicals and plays. You can get a discount on them with your iCard.
I wish I went to more of these because I hear they're actually pretty high quality productions,
and these stairs are really pretty, especially during sunset time,
so while you're here, you may as well take some Instagram photos with your friends.
Alright, so this is the Canopy Club. This is where I like to go to raves.
They also have different kinds of shows and concerts throughout the year, too.
Sometimes they have really big names here actually,
but the venue, honestly compared to any other venue
that you'll ever go to, it's trash.
But it doesn't really matter, because it's a good time to go with your friends.
I think it's December, that's when they hold Urbanite, which is like this
big dance showcase, and they showcase all the dance teams here on campus, but also
a bunch of teams like drive in, or even fly in to perform, and it's really really fun.
There's an afterset afterwards. So that's one of my favorite events during
the year, so mark your calendars and reserve your tickets.
Ah yes, one of my personal favorites. You can go to the fourth floor of
Grainger Library and bother your engineering friends.
And you don't have to feel bad about distracting them from their work,
because let's be honest, by sitting on the fourth floor,
they were never planning on getting any done anyways.
Hello, I am once again standing under a tree.
This is the Illini Union. Obviously, this is like the main hub for
everything U of I. They have lots of
different shows here throughout the year.
You know, David Dobrik came last year, they have drag shows.
They also have karaoke night like in the Courtyard Cafe by Starbucks.
But if you're not comfortable with singing, and you
don't want to listen to strangers screaming,
sometimes they have performers there during the day like play
coffee shop style, so people are playing guitar or piano
and singing. It's so beautiful.
Just try and not fall in love with them.
In the basement, they have a rec room, so you
can play bowling, arcade games, pool, and you get a discount
on all those things with your iCard.
And then of course in the basement, there's also all the restaurants,
so my two favorites are Blaze Pizza and
that Mediterranean place called Garbanzo.
That's so good.
Alright, so my absolute favorite thing to do on campus is to have picnics on the quad.
So like there's this window. Like the first three weeks of school and
the last three weeks of school, when the weather is just perfect.
It's sunny and beautiful, and that's before everything just
gets cold and rainy and snowy and gross.
Everyone's out here, we've got picnic blankets,
there's hammocks, they're playing frisbee,
drinking our coffee, studying, it's a really really good vibe.
And I don't know, something about that, just sitting on the quad with my friends,
that's when I feel the most U of I.
Yeah, so definitely take advantage of that window,
because it will be gone before you know it.
So this is the observatory. Apparently they have a telescope
in there where they open up to the public once a month for free,
so this is another thing about U of I that I found about way too late,
I never went, and now I regret it, so this is why I'm telling you now.
Take advantage of all the cool stuff that they have to offer around here.
So this is Cafe Paradiso. If you like coffee, this is one of my
favorite spots to go to, just because it's really cute inside
and I think this is one of the only places that does like latte art.
I suggest this place because it's good for studying,
good for coffee dates.
I can't wink, what was that?
So this is the ice arena, speaking of dates.
I think it's once a month, they give this insanely good discount where you can go
skating here with your friend for just like a few bucks.
So you can check out on their website for when those dates are
but this is also a great place to hang out with your friends.
So for my fellow introverts out there, this is Scott Park.
This is one of my favorite places to go get my alone time.
I like to just go on the swings there and it's very peaceful,
like people like, you know, they barbecue out here,
play basketball, have picnics in the grass, it's a good vibe.
Alright so I don't really go off campus much but when I do,
one of the top spots I like to go to is the Japan House.
So that's a really cool place to take photos or go for walks,
and apparently you can sign up to do
like Japanese tea ceremonies there, which is really cool.
Another fun activity for groups or dates is a place called Skateland.
So I've only been there once, but you can go roller skating there,
and they also have laser tag there.
Something that I discovered recently was Kickapoo.
So Kickapoo is this state park that's about
30 minute drive away and last week, I went kayaking which was so much fun.
It only cost about $10. You can also go tubing, scuba diving,
camping, fishing, biking, hiking.
In terms of restaurants, if you like chicken and karaoke,
then you really have to check out Star Karaoke.
It's one of my favorite restaurants in Champaign,
and they have karaoke rooms. My favorite thing to get is
obviously the fried chicken, I like the jajangmyeon,
and also the bulgogi.
Oh my god, am I pronouncing this right?
If there's any Koreans watching this, please don't come for me for my pronunciation.
Oh god, I can't even pronounce English now. Cut.
Okay, other restaurants. There's this place called Moki Sushi which is,
it's this all you can eat sushi place, which is like very very similar
to the place in Chicago called Sushi Taku.
You definitely have to try that place with a big group of friends.
Make sure to save room for dessert at the end because
they have this really delicious green tea ice cream that's just --
Oh my god, speaking of ice cream.
Oh my god, I'm going off on so many tangents today.
There's this really famous ice cream place called Jarlings
that's slightly off campus. So it's also a really good place for dates
and you can also take some pretty aesthetic photos there, too.
Oh my god I have to talk about Curtis Orchard.
So Curtis Orchard is like the quintessential place that everybody
goes in autumn. So if you're not from Illinois,
or if you haven't experienced fall in the Midwest,
like the leaves are so beautiful, you're gonna love it.
But basically Curtis Orchard, it's maybe like a 20 minute
drive off campus, and you can go apple picking, pumpkin picking.
They have a store where they sell these really famous apple donuts,
or they have apple cider, and I really like the apple butter.
I always try to go at least like once a year with my friends because it's just
like a U of I tradition basically.
Okay I have some seasonal events to tell you about. First one is,
there is Champaign County Restaurant Week.
So it happens in January, and basically like the different restaurants
around here, whoever participates, they have
special menu items, special pricing, special deals, so it's like a good time
for you to try out new restaurants on campus, or in Champaign.
There's also apparently a music festival in September called Pygmalion.
I've never gone but I have heard many many things about it.
If you have the time, I would definitely go check it out at least one
of your four years here, because to my understanding,
it's actually a pretty big deal, and it seems like a fun time.
Okay, Halloween.
So apparently, there are lots of haunted houses around here,
Halloween stuff, Halloween activities,
events that you can go to.
I personally will never go because I know that if I step
inside a haunted house, I will be traumatized until January.
So since I've never gone, I don't have any specific recommendations
for you, but just know that many exist, if you're into that sort of thing.
If you're just looking for things to do in general,
a really good website that people like to go to is called Chambana Moms.
It's like a blog for moms.
I don't know, it's just a good resource,
so I will leave a link in the description for you to check out as well.
But honestly though guys, just join clubs.
You know how I showed you so many different places and things to do on
campus, but I personally have not tried them?
That's because everything else that comes with college was keeping me busy.
I never really understood the question of like "what is there to do?"
in terms of a place that you're going to live at,
because aren't things you do kind of the same in all places?
Like you eat, you drink boba, you go shopping,
or you just around with your friends.
And now that you're in college, you have
to add studying and classes on top of that.
Honestly, if I look back to freshman year,
the main thing that I did for fun was just
go to my friends' dorms and bother them.
Especially after joining Greek life, then every single day
I had at least one event or hangout or a party to go to,
like you're literally never going to be bored in college.
If you currently go to UIUC or you went to UIUC,
please leave some of your suggestions in the comments too
because I'm sure that I missed a lot of stuff.
Like there's actually so much to do here that I'm not even like
aware of most of it, I'm sure.
If you enjoyed this video, please give it a like I would really appreciate it.
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel, I post videos every
Monday and Thursday, and sometimes on Saturday,
I don't know, you're gonna have to subscribe to find out.
Thank you all so much for watching, I love you all so so much,
I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I will see you on Thursday.
I'm scared.
I wanted to vlog next to him because I thought it'd be cute,
but I'm afraid he's gonna come alive and start talking too.