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物理学部でピクニック
授業が終わり、学年末試験も終わりました。雅子さんが専攻する物理学部では、毎年この時期に、学生と教職員が食べ物を持ち寄ってバーベキュー・パーティーを楽しみます。パーティーに持っていくためにおいしいクッキーを焼いた雅子さんは…。
Physics Department Picnic
By MASAKO YAMADA
After all of the classes were over and the exams were graded, the BU physics department had its annual departmental picnic at a local park. Liz Simmons, one of the professors on the faculty, coordinated the event. All the students, faculty members and their families were invited, and we were all asked to contribute to the event by bringing some snacks or side dishes that everybody could share.
The park is located in a neighboring town called Brookline. Although I had a simple map and I was given directions by three or four people, I ended up getting lost. One park official told me the wrong bus line, so I had to walk 30 minutes to the park after I got off the bus. Considering that it took 30 minutes to take the T and find the bus stop in the first place, I was quite annoyed. I had left my apartment a bit late (the cookies that I made for the event took a bit longer than I'd anticipated), so it ended up that I was 1ォ hours late for the picnic.
Nobody seemed to mind my late arrival, in fact, nobody seemed to notice. The atmosphere was extremely casual. Some of the people were chatting by the picnic tables, others were playing soccer, others ran around with the professors' children. Considering the size of the department (the total number of students and faculty must be over 100), it was a small party. There were only about 30 people, including guests. I was a bit disappointed that none of my Chinese classmates were there ― they make up one-third of the department ― and that most of the participating students seemed to be first-year students. However, it was nice to see the same familiar party animals at this picnic as always.
The cookies that I'd made for the party were lemon cheesecake cookies. They were a hit, especially since everybody else brought store-bought snacks. Before the picnic, I'd walked into a local post office to ask for directions to the park, and one of the salespeople behind the counter told me they looked delicious and asked me what they were. I guess it's not every day that you see a young woman in a leather jacket walking around with homemade cookies.
The main dishes of the picnic were typical: hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans and chili, a little bit of salad. These are things that can be bought off a supermarket shelf and heated on the grill, but the barbequing makes a big difference in taste. As much as I like real gourmet food, I also like grilled hamburgers a lot.
I've seen lots of overseas Japanese get excited over the prospect of backyard barbequing, but they often make grave mistakes. I've noticed that most people use too much lighter fluid and put on the food when the flame is too hot. A proper barbeque flame doesn't have any flames. After the lighter fluid burns away (very important, since the food otherwise tastes like kerosene) the coals are supposed to glow quietly. Another mistake that I've seen is putting aluminum foil on top of the grill before putting the food on it. Some people even put frying pans on top of the grill! This may seem cleaner, but it makes barbequing meaningless. The smoke doesn't get to the food at all, and the results are the same as if you had cooked inside.
It started getting chilly in the evening, and even though I tried standing right by the grill to warm myself, it didn't work very well. That seemed to be our signal that the picnic was supposed to wind down. Two of my friends had cars, so they offered rides to all of the people who'd gotten lost on the way there. After I got into one of the cars, I rested my head on the window of the back seat and gazed outside. I noticed some Brandeis stickers on the window, so I asked my friend whether he'd bought the car off of a Brandeis student. He told me, "Oh, my wife ― my ex-wife ― went to Brandeis. I guess I never bothered to take those stickers down." I thought he was joking but then I realized that he wasn't. This startled me, partly because I'd always thought he had been single and partly because I realized that his relationship to the car had lasted longer than his relationship to his wife.
After all of the classes were over and the exams were graded, the BU physics department had its annual departmental picnic at a local park. Liz Simmons, one of the professors on the faculty, coordinated the event. All the students, faculty members and their families were invited, and we were all asked to contribute to the event by bringing some snacks or side dishes that everybody could share.
The park is located in a neighboring town called Brookline. Although I had a simple map and I was given directions by three or four people, I ended up getting lost. One park official told me the wrong bus line, so I had to walk 30 minutes to the park after I got off the bus. Considering that it took 30 minutes to take the T and find the bus stop in the first place, I was quite annoyed. I had left my apartment a bit late (the cookies that I made for the event took a bit longer than I'd anticipated), so it ended up that I was 1ォ hours late for the picnic.
Nobody seemed to mind my late arrival, in fact, nobody seemed to notice. The atmosphere was extremely casual. Some of the people were chatting by the picnic tables, others were playing soccer, others ran around with the professors' children. Considering the size of the department (the total number of students and faculty must be over 100), it was a small party. There were only about 30 people, including guests. I was a bit disappointed that none of my Chinese classmates were there ― they make up one-third of the department ― and that most of the participating students seemed to be first-year students. However, it was nice to see the same familiar party animals at this picnic as always.
The cookies that I'd made for the party were lemon cheesecake cookies. They were a hit, especially since everybody else brought store-bought snacks. Before the picnic, I'd walked into a local post office to ask for directions to the park, and one of the salespeople behind the counter told me they looked delicious and asked me what they were. I guess it's not every day that you see a young woman in a leather jacket walking around with homemade cookies.
The main dishes of the picnic were typical: hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans and chili, a little bit of salad. These are things that can be bought off a supermarket shelf and heated on the grill, but the barbequing makes a big difference in taste. As much as I like real gourmet food, I also like grilled hamburgers a lot.
I've seen lots of overseas Japanese get excited over the prospect of backyard barbequing, but they often make grave mistakes. I've noticed that most people use too much lighter fluid and put on the food when the flame is too hot. A proper barbeque flame doesn't have any flames. After the lighter fluid burns away (very important, since the food otherwise tastes like kerosene) the coals are supposed to glow quietly. Another mistake that I've seen is putting aluminum foil on top of the grill before putting the food on it. Some people even put frying pans on top of the grill! This may seem cleaner, but it makes barbequing meaningless. The smoke doesn't get to the food at all, and the results are the same as if you had cooked inside.
It started getting chilly in the evening, and even though I tried standing right by the grill to warm myself, it didn't work very well. That seemed to be our signal that the picnic was supposed to wind down. Two of my friends had cars, so they offered rides to all of the people who'd gotten lost on the way there. After I got into one of the cars, I rested my head on the window of the back seat and gazed outside. I noticed some Brandeis stickers on the window, so I asked my friend whether he'd bought the car off of a Brandeis student. He told me, "Oh, my wife ― my ex-wife ― went to Brandeis. I guess I never bothered to take those stickers down." I thought he was joking but then I realized that he wasn't. This startled me, partly because I'd always thought he had been single and partly because I realized that his relationship to the car had lasted longer than his relationship to his wife.
Shukan ST: May 30, 1997
(C) All rights reserved
- Physics department
- 物理学部
- were over
- 終わった
- were graded
- 採点された
- BU = Boston University
-
- annual
- 恒例の
- one of the professors on the faculty
- 学部の教授陣のひとり
- coordinated
- 計画した
- were invited
- 招待された
- contribute to 〜
- 〜 に一役買う
- side dishes
- 付け合わせの料理
- neighboring
- 隣接した
- ended up getting lost
- 結局、迷ってしまった
- official
- 職員
- wrong bus line
- 間違ったバス路線
- Considering 〜
- 〜 を考えると
- T
- ボストンの地下鉄
- (was)annoyed
- いらいらした
- took a bit longer than I'd anticipated
- 思ったより少し長く時間がかかった
- mind 〜
- 〜 を気にする
- late arrival
- 遅刻
- atmosphere
- 雰囲気
- were chatting
- おしゃべりしていた
- (was)disappointed
- がっかりした
- make up 〜
- 〜 を形成する
- participating
- 参加している
- familiar
- おなじみの
- party animals
- パーティー好きな人たち
- were a hit
- 大受けだった
- store-bought snacks
- 店で買った菓子
- salespeople
- 窓口係
- typical
- 典型的な
- baked beans
- インゲン豆に香辛料を加えて調理したもの
- chili
- (=chili con carne)
- 牛のひき肉と豆をトマトソースとチリパウダーを加えて調理したもの
- can be bought off a supermarket shelf
- スーパーで買える
- (be)heated on the grill
- バーベキューコンロで調理される
- barbequing
- 直火で焼くこと
- overseas Japanese
- 海外にいる日本人
- prospect
- 期待
- grave mistakes
- 大きな間違い
- lighter fluid
- 点火液
- flame
- 炎
- proper
- ちょうどいい
- burns away
- 燃え尽きる
- kerosene
- 灯油
- coals
- 石炭
- are supposed to 〜
- 〜 するはずだ
- glow
- 赤く燃える
- makes 〜 meaningless
- 〜 を意味のないものにする
- get to 〜
- 〜 に風味を与える
- chilly
- 肌寒い
- even though 〜
- たとえ 〜 でも
- work
- 効を奏する
- wind down
- 徐々に終わりに近づく
- offered rides to 〜
- 〜 に車で送ってくれると言った
- rested my head on the window
- 頭を窓にもたせかけた
- gazed
- 見つめた
- Brandeis = Brandeis University
- ボストン市の西郊外にあるブランダイス大学
- never bothered to 〜
- 〜 しようと思わなかった
- startled
- 驚かせた
- had been single
- 独身だった
- relationship
- つながり
- had lasted
- 続いている