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Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s even better when you can spend it in Chicago as a student in the Music Composition for the Screen MFA program. Here’s my top 5 reasons Christmas is better in Chicago:

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1. The whole city lights up at Christmastime.

Downtown glows in festivity, and it brings a great feeling to the air. The above picture was taken at a Cathedral a few blocks away from our apartment. It’s along the Magnificent Mile, which is packed with busy shoppers getting holiday gifts and tourists coming to see the sights.

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2. There is one train that is decorated each year.

They go all out making it the train that YOU want to ride on. It is a spectacular sight, and it switches lines each day leading up to Christmas. Here’s a peek at what it looked like one year:

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Photo Credit: http://www.chicagostreetstyle.com/2012/12/cta-holiday-train-2.html

3. This is a shoppers paradise.

Need a last-minute gift? Just head down the street to Michigan Avenue where you can find just about anything. I did some of my own Christmas shopping there for my wife, and I couldn’t ask for a better place. You name it, it’s there.

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4. Parties.

There are parties everywhere. We went to a fun church party where there was delicious food, great friends, and Santa Claus. I also had a party with my cohort on the last day of classes. It was fun to relax and finish off the semester with a bang.

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5. Ugly Sweaters.

Well, I don’t particularly love them, but today was the day to go to Chick-fil-a and get free chicken nuggets—as long as you deem your sweater ugly at the counter. We borrowed some from a friend and had a great lunch together. As we were heading over there, it dawned on me that someone, somewhere actually bought that sweater thinking it was worth the money. Well, it was never worth more than the $3.49 I didn’t pay at the counter today.

Merry Christmas, everyone.