This past weekend I had the pleasure of showing my brother around Oberlin for the first time! Because he didn’t get a chance to check out the school/town yet (sorry you weren’t invited to come to help me move in, Matthew; I figured you wouldn’t be that interested in helping me organize my jewelry), he kindly took a few days off of work so that he could see the beautiful town where I’ve been living for the last year or so. Here’s what I did to show him around:
Farmers' Market
Around 10am, we headed to check out the Winter Farmers’ Market. Farmers’ markets happen every Saturday afternoon, moving locations from the parking lot outside the public library to the Oberlin Early Childhood Center as the temperature drops. The market was composed of about 8 tables operated by various vendors, selling crafts such as crocheted scarves and hats as well as vegetables, locally roasted coffee beans, handmade soaps, flavored honey, and freshly-baked bread. A small band of musicians on stage filled the cozy room with Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon covers. My brother and I treated ourselves to a loaf of fresh sourdough, and we were not disappointed. We tried some samples at the honey stand before deciding on a jar of cinnamon honey, which we later drizzled over some apples for a delicious snack. Fair warning, though; the ghost pepper honey has quite the kick. My brother was still sweating 10 minutes after trying a teaspoon-sized sample.
Oberlin Food
One aspect of Oberlin my brother made sure to explore was the food. And trust and believe, I was going to take advantage of all the free meals I could get (perks of having an older brother with a job)! I introduced him to the Lebanese-American plates of Aladdin’s, the deliciously flaky pastries of Blue Rooster, the indulgent cheesy pizza of Lorenzo’s, and of course, the spicy, savory Thai dishes at ThiNi Thai. My brother’s rating: tens across the board. He especially liked the Phat Kaprow from ThiNi Thai that paired so well with the fruity mocktails we ordered.
As much as I enjoyed taking him on a tour of Oberlin’s non-dining-hall food, my brother wanted to get the full campus experience, dining halls and everything. During our trip to the main dining hall, “Stevie,” he raved over the pepperoni pizza and the crispy hashbrowns, saying that he really liked dining hall food when he wasn’t forced to eat it every day. It makes sense, but I still can’t wrap my head around eating Stevie pizza every day and still enjoying it. He also raved about the chocolate milk sold at DeCafe, and that one I can relate to very easily.
Various shenanigans
In terms of entertainment, my brother luckily wasn’t too picky about what we did. We were planning on seeing Jordana play at the Sco, but jet lag demanded an early bedtime for the both of us. He got to sit in on my D&D session with my friends, where he was surprisingly quiet and got to witness some good action (our party set two fires that session!). We also played a few board games and he tried his best at implementing some Gen-Z lingo during Codenames (he kept saying “lock yourself in” instead of “lock in,” ultimately exposing his millennialism).
Overall, my brother said he enjoyed his visit to Oberlin a lot! He liked how walkable the town was and the way everything was so close together. The midwestern friendliness of the town’s residents stood out to him, as did the delicious food in all its varieties. And of course, South Hall’s common room marked his favorite spot on the unofficial tour, with a pool table, a ping-pong table, a piano, and lots of comfy couches. The next time he visits I’ll be sure to show him all the spots we missed. Until then, he’ll just have to dream about ThiNi Thai’s Phat Kaprow all the way from SF…
