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Campus Life - Letters from Dartmouth College

Beer pong

By Yoko Kubo


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。

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
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

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