Kangeiko is a weeklong activity at the University of Chicago. It's a series of exercises that take place at 6:30 in the morning; participants practice the "Salute to the Sun", a series of postures that exercise the entire body, and then either use their full access to the Henry Crown Field House or do one of the daily activities, such as Tae Kwan Do, juggling, or yoga. On the final day, participants walk to the Point, at the edge of Lake Michigan, and perform the Salute to the Sun nine times to make the sun rise. Kangeiko began in 1993 after the University ended its tradition of an annual first-year retreat, and is part of an overall winter festival, which also includes Kuviasungnerk, which is a series of afternoon activites. Kuviasungnerk includes a Polar Bear Run, in which participants run across the quads naked. Anyone who attends Kangeiko all five days (attendance drops dramatically after the first day) gets a t-shirt as a physical manifestation of the accomplishment. Kangeiko is derived in both name and form from a type of Japanese morning exercises. I believe it means "Training in the Cold." Kangeiko has or had an accompanying ritual called Kandrinko, celebrated by residents of the Breckenridge dormitory; Kandrinko was not celebrated this year (2001), and may have died.

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