My Time at the Brunch

A mixture of Perrier and pink cotton candy filled plastic champagne glasses and a jazz combo of gray-haired musicians infused familiar tunes in Elm. This year’s jazz brunch—just like the ones I attended in past years—was a spectacle of excited Exonians accompanied by unfitting music and tasty brunch dishes.Coincidentally organized on Valentine’s Day, the dining hall featured a variety of foods with forcefully—and perhaps uncomfortably—corny titles, a difference I noted as soon as I stepped in front of a buffet line. My first term at Exeter, I quickly discovered that the members of the dining hall staff are unapologetic with their diction, particularly on special occasions like the Jazz Brunch. But this past Sunday, I witnessed their confidence in word choice reached new heights, for adjectives such as “sexy”—written with neon highlighters all across the glass tops of buffet lines—were paired with foods like sausage gravy.Regardless of the names of dishes (and the insanely frigid weather), finding seats in the dining hall turned out to be a challenge. After scanning every corner of the building with my friends, eventually we settled at the tower room.Every table was covered with a white tablecloth and on the surface, a variety of heart-shaped items, namely “LOL” stickers and chocolates, were scattered across. After attaching a sticker on our shirts as an emblem of pride, my friends and I began to appreciate the white vases, also placed on every table, for they showcased real, living flowers. The roses, alyssums, and other species that I cannot identify (Sorry, Mr. Matlack, I have failed you) provided a number of opportunities humor, entertainment, snapchats and impromptu photo shoots. I do not believe, however, many survived the brunch, since many Exonians left the dining hall with flowers in their hands, jackets, or lips.The dishes, of course, were lovely per usual, regardless of the atrocious nomenclatural presentation of them. I especially appreciated the fruit bar, which offered a diverse assortment of fruits that rarely appear in the school dining halls like star fruit and fresh blueberries. One of my friends frequented the chocolate fondue fountain because of chocolate-covered strawberries and another, who fondly associated himself with the word “aqua,” said he ate a total of 15, or maybe 18, chocolate croissants. Though I was both confused and appalled by the name, I found the warm biscuit with “sexy” gravy quite tasty.And the music—the music was fantastic. Though jazz is a difficult genre to appreciate for many, the sound of the saxophone, coupled with the rhythmic keyboard line and the contrabass, was both intriguing and calming. The student performances, too, were great. I remember telling my friends that I was impressed by prep Dylan Yin and upper Ahmad Rahman who combined skill and creativity in their solos. Jazz, as all the musicians on Sunday showed, complements delicious foods—as well as a room-full of teenagers—like no other genre of music.Overall, this year’s Jazz Brunch, my last one as a student of PEA, was yet another deliciously-pleasant, hyper-prep-school event. As a guest from a peer boarding school said on Sunday, there is no other place that offers an event like this. From food to music, the combination of an oddly-fancy boarding school brunch with jazz is a uniquely Exeter trait that I will inevitably miss.