Campus Life Matriculation By Wahei Aoyama	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
オックスフォードの入学式 歴史と伝統に彩られた町オックスフォードに建つオックスフォード大学。英語圏最古、建物はまるで中世のお城のこの大学には、もちろん独特の伝統が色濃く残っています。毎年10月に行なわれる入学式も例外ではありません。今回は、同大学大学院2年生の青山和平さんが、昨年の自分の入学式を振り返ります。

昨年入学した筆者（左端）。

So, in other words, all the myths of Oxford are probably true. Oxford is an ancient university hopelessly stuck in a quagmire of time and tradition. Here are some seasonal examples.

Early October is the time of Matriculation. Matriculation is when students new to Oxford are made official members of the university. Once a member, a student is a member for life, even if he flunks his examinations and is expelled (I suspect I'm already on that tumultuous path).

Matriculation is an important rite of passage for students here and is appropriately steeped in tradition. Students must wear formal attire, which usually consists of a black suit, a black gown, a white bowtie and a mortar board to be only held, not worn. Imagine a mob of gowned black-suited young men walking the streets of a medieval town. I think we simply look like penguins from afar, but it seems as if Oxonians have been matriculating for centuries looking like penguins ....

I matriculated last October, yet I must admit I only vaguely remember the event, for I was dazed and confused from a hangover. It goes without saying, however, that the majority of students matriculate with a hangover due to the festivities the night before. These festivities usually involve pub-crawl, wherein students seek to prove themselves by draining as many pints of beer in as many pubs as possible.

The ceremony takes place in the Sheldonian Theatre, which is famous for being aesthetically pleasing and for being built by the renowned Oxonian architect Sir Christopher Wren. The freshers sit in the golden theater and await the vice chancellor's speech. As we wait, the students traditionally make a huge human wave through the theater, and it is breathtaking to see a tidal wave of gowned young people in an ancient building performing antics you would usually associate with a baseball game. The speech itself is dull, filled with Latin phrases hardly anyone can decipher. Thus Matriculation is much more about form than substance. It is a brief affair, perhaps only 20 minutes in duration, but it's a quaint little ritual I was proud to perform.

After Matriculation is time to recuperate and prepare for a formal dinner, the highlight of the evening. Formal dinners are candlelit dinners held in medieval halls, quite like the hall used in the Harry Potter film. The resemblance comes from the fact that the dining sequences (amongst others) for the film were shot in the hall of Christ Church, one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford. As these halls are where students usually eat their meals, students really do live the Harry Potter lifestyle, at least for suppertime.

The graduate students at my own college, Hertford, drink sherry before formal dinners in the Octagon, an octagonal room that's been around since the 14th century. When the clock strikes 7 p.m., we leave the Octagon to enter the Hertford hall. We must remain standing at our tables while we wait for the college dons to enter the room dressed in splendid robes. They are given seats in the front of the hall at a table called High Table, which is literally placed on a higher altitude than thetables for us mortal students. After my tutor chants grace in Latin, he knocks loudly on the table, which signals that we may sit down to eat food that is often mediocre. Yet a splendid thing about the Matriculation dinner is that the wine is free and perpetually flowing. The downside is that the wine served is alsomediocre, but one must compromise.

This year's Matriculation has yet to occur, but I am looking forward to the festivities. Since this is my last year at Oxford, I might as well enjoy it to the full.

Shukan ST: Oct. 25, 2002

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