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ダートマスの社交事情
小さな田舎町にあるダートマス大学の学生たちの娯楽は、キャンパスで開かれるパーティー。大学に15ある男子学生クラブと女子学生クラブは、学生間の交流を目的に、頻繁にダンスパーティーなどを主催しています。今回は、ダートマス大学で有名なパーティーゲーム "beer pong" の様子を見てみましょう。
Beer pong
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卓球とビールの一気飲みを組み合わせたパーティーゲーム beer pong
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Late one Saturday afternoon during final exam week, I walked into our dorm study lounge to find a bleary-eyed floormate frantically flipping pages of an economics textbook. When I asked her whether she'd been studying in there all day, she replied that no, she had been out playing "beer pong" in a frat basement until six in the morning and had, in fact, just woken up. Apparently, her plan for what was intended to be a brief period of de-stressing during her exams had backfired, leaving her with a throbbing headache and even more panicked about her exam the following Monday. While probably not the most efficient method, a lot of Dartmouth students choose to relieve their stress in exactly the same way.
In terms of the Dartmouth social scene, the system of fraternities and sororities - known as the "Greek" system - is definitely the most prominent. Fraternities, or "frats" as they are called, are organizations with Greek letter names and are unique to American colleges. Membership is strictly male-only, and its members, or "brothers," become affiliated with the organization for life and often live together in a "frat house" on campus. Sororities are the female "equivalents" of fraternities. There are 15 of these frats and eight sororities on campus, and the brothers and sisters (sorority members) often throw dance parties or hold other social events.
It does not take long before you are introduced to the Greek system on campus, seeing as there are not many other social options available in a town as small as Hanover. Despite the fact that freshmen are prohibited from several frat events due to the college's underage drinking policies, I managed to be smuggled into one within a month of arriving on campus. Venturing down into the basement of the fraternity Kappa Kappa Kappa (or TriKap, as it's more commonly called), I was first struck by the stench of cheap liquor. Here, I watched beer pong being played for the first time.
As the name suggests, this game is a combination of beer and ping-pong, and it has evolved from as far back as the 1950s into the mainstay of social life in the Greek system. There are several variations and rules to the game of which I am totally clueless, but as far as I can understand, it involves hitting your opponent's beer-filled cups that are lined across both ends of the table with a ping-pong ball. When your cup is hit, you have to down it. This continues until all the cups are gone from one end of the table. Understandably, the game becomes harder and harder as the game progresses due to the effects of alcohol, and you can get drunk very easily if you don't have good aim. For non-drinkers, there is the option of playing with water or soda instead of beer, but simply watching others play the game can still be entertaining.
Obviously, the Greek system isn't for everyone. To be honest, I found that the frats weren't really my scene, although I still managed to be dragged along on a couple of occasions by my friends. The basements look and smell disgusting - a great contrast from the splendor of the exterior of most fraternity houses. In fact, walking down Frat Row (the avenue where most fraternities are located) you could easily be misled into thinking that you were in some high-class neighborhood. Although it is certainly true that the Greek system dominates the social scene, there are still other options available for people who aren't advocates of this system.
Many take advantage of Hanover's rich natural environment by participating in outdoor activities. I've already rented my skis in preparation for the ski season, and also I'm planning to go ice-skating on Occum, the college pond, when it is frozen over. There are also parties sponsored by other college organizations every once in a while, such as the Global Jam dance party hosted by the International Student Association, featuring music from various countries of the world. Personally, though, I find that nothing beats chilling with friends with a good movie and a pint of ice cream to unwind from the rigors of academic life.
Shukan ST: Jan. 24, 2003
(C) All rights reserved
- Beer pong
- beer(ビール)とping-pong(卓球)の造語で、ダートマス大学で行なわれているゲームのこと
- final exam
- 学期末試験
- dorm
- 寮
- study lounge
- 自習室
- bleary-eyed
- 目を充血させた
- floormate
- 同じ階に住む人
- frantically
- 死にもの狂いで
- flipping 〜
- 〜をめくる
- frat(=fraternity)
- 友愛会(男子学生の社交クラブ)
- basement
- 地下室
- what was intended to be a brief period of de-stressing
- ちょっとしたストレス解消のつもり
- had backfired
- 裏目に出た
- throbbing headache
- ずきずきする頭痛
- relieve
- 発散する
- In terms of 〜
- 〜において
- sororities
- 女子学生クラブ
- Greek
- ギリシャの(友愛会の名称にギリシャ文字を用いることから)
- definitely
- 間違いなく
- prominent
- 目立つ
- strictly
- 厳密に
- become affiliated with 〜
- 〜の会員になる
- for life
- 終身で
- equivalents
- 同等なもの
- throw 〜
- 〜を開く
- there are 〜 available
- 〜がある
- options
- 選択肢
- town as small as Hanover
- ハノーバー(ダートマス大学のある町で、人口約9,500人)のような小さな町
- freshmen
- 1年生
- are prohibited from 〜
- 〜を禁じられている
- underage drinking policies
- 未成年の飲酒規制
- managed to be smuggled into 〜
- なんとか〜に忍び込むことができた
- Venturing down into 〜
- 思い切って〜に入る
- Kappa
- ギリシャ語アルファベットの第10字
- Tri 〜
- 3つの〜
- (was)struck by 〜
- 〜に襲われた
- stench
- 悪臭
- As the name suggests
- 名前が示すとおり
- has evolved from as far back as the 1950s into 〜
- 1950年代から〜に発展してきた
- mainstay
- 中心
- am totally clueless
- 全く知らない
- hitting 〜 with 〜
- 〜に〜を当てる
- opponent's beer-filled cups
- ビールが注がれた対戦相手のコップ
- are lined across both ends of the table
- テーブルの両端に並べられた
- down
- 飲み干す
- are gone
- なくなる
- don't have good aim
- コントロールが悪い
- entertaining
- 面白い
- weren't really my scene
- 自分の柄ではなかった
- managed to be dragged along on a couple of occasions
- 数回引っ張り出された
- disgusting
- 嫌な
- splendor
- 豪華さ
- exterior
- 外観
- 〜 Row
- 〜通り
- be misled into thinking that 〜
- 〜と勘違いする
- dominates
- 幅を利かす
- advocates
- 支持者
- pond
- 池
- is frozen over
- 氷で覆われる
- featuring 〜
- 〜を呼び物にする
- nothing beats 〜
- 〜に勝るものはない
- chilling with 〜
- 〜と一緒にいること
- pint
- パイント(0.47リットル)
- unwind
- 一息つく
- rigors
- 厳しさ