美語情景對話 第339期:Dorm Life 宿舍生活

Todd: Miki, when you were in college where did you live?

託德：美琪，你上大學的時候住在哪裏？

Miki: My first year I lived in the dormitory that was quite close to the campus. It was about a five minute walks so it was very convenient but I'm not sure that that many people actually enjoyed living in the dormitory because there were so many of us packed into such a small space that one did not get a sense of privacy at all. I shared a room with two other girls and 24 hours a day there was always someone near you, next door, down the hall if not in your own room, and a very small space. In Japan perhaps this wouldn't have been such a large problem because the sense of personal space and privacy perhaps isn't as strong growing up, but really in the United States if you grow up with you own room, if you grow up with your own sense of self and if, you know, you have personal space that you define just instinctively which, you know, maybe three feet in front of you, a meter, or if you have your own personal room itself, it's very difficult to move from that sort of sense of individuality and personal private space, to move into the dorms, and to have to share, all of that, and then always have a smile on your face, if you don't want to be considered a bitch.

美琪：我大一的時候住在宿舍裏，離校園非常近。步行5分鐘就可以到學校，非常方便，但是我不確定是不是大部分人都喜歡住在宿舍裏，因爲我們太多人住在一個小地方，實際上完全沒有隱私。我和另外兩個女孩住在一個宿舍裏，一天24個小時你附近都有人，如果你不在自己的房間裏，那你的隔壁和樓下大廳也全是人，地方非常小。這在日本可能不是大問題，因爲日本人在成長過程中的個人空間感和隱私感可能並不那麼強烈，但是實際上在美國，如果你成長的階段擁有自己的空間，如果你成長的階段有自我感覺，如果你有個人空間，那你就會本能地認爲距離你三英尺或是一米的距離就是你的個人空間，如果你擁有自己的個人空間，那從那個個人感和私人空間離開，然後搬進宿舍，和他人共享空間非常難，如果你不想被看成是討厭的人那你的臉上就要一直掛着笑容。

Todd: Yeah, so what about food? What did you eat for food? Did you have a kitchen? Did you cook?

託德：那食物怎麼樣？你吃什麼？宿舍裏有廚房嗎？你做飯嗎？

Miki: In the dormitories, no! We had a dining hall. I don't quite remember what it was called, but it was a common area where everyone went downstairs at the same time. It was only open, three hours in the morning, 3 hours in the evening, and we all shared our time together, kind of like a family, I suppose, and we must have eaten just normal American food. I don't remember.

美琪：在宿舍裏不做！我們有餐廳。我不太記得那具體叫什麼，不過就是一個公共區域，所有人都同時去樓下用餐。那裏只在上午開放三個小時，晚上開放三個小時，我們會一起共度時光，像一家人一樣，我們吃的一定是普通的美國食物。我不記得了。

Todd: Yeah! Yeah! How about your laundry? How would you wash your clothes?

託德：好吧！那怎麼洗衣服？你是怎麼洗衣服的？

Miki: That I forget! I think we had laundry machines every other floor in the dorm building. But I actually don't remember. Sorry!

美琪：我忘了！我想宿舍樓每層都有洗衣機。不過實際上我真的不記得了。對不起！

Todd: And what would students do for fun? for socializing?

託德：那學生的娛樂活動都有什麼呢？社交活動？

Miki: Oh, I think the bigger question is whether students did anything besides socialize, you know, right, I mean, if you're a freshman the chances of you actually doing work are actually quite small, especially in that sort of a social setting where,

美琪：我想更大的問題是學生們除了社交活動還有什麼活動，你知道，我的意思是，如果你是大一新生，那你實際上學習的機會非常小，尤其是在那些社交場合……

Todd: Even at Beckley?

託德：伯克利大學也是嗎？

Miki: Oh, are you kidding me? Yes! Berkley is highly competitive but it's also highly, it's a highly social atmosphere, especially in the dorms, well, and then once you move into a communal area, if you're there with your friend, then I don't think a whole lot of studying goes on.

美琪：你在跟我開玩笑嗎？沒錯，伯克利分校競爭非常激烈，但是那裏的社交氛圍也很強，尤其是在宿舍裏，一旦你進入公共區域，如果你和朋友一起，我認爲你們不會一起進行很多研究工作。

Todd: Wow! That's funny! Oh, thanks!

託德：哇！那真有趣！謝謝你！

Miki: Surely!

美琪：不客氣！

重點講解：
1. pack into
擠滿；塞滿；
eg. Hundreds of thousands of people packed into the mosque.
幾十萬人擠進了那座清真寺。
eg. People packed into the bus.
人們擠進了公共汽車。
2. at the same time
同時；
eg. Several matters have cropped up at the same time.
幾件事擠在一塊兒了。
eg. We must unite with them and at the same time struggle against them.
我們必須在團結他們的同時同他們鬥爭。
3. a whole lot of
很多；許多；
eg. And that should save a whole lot of power.
這樣應該可以節省很多能量。
eg. I don't really wish to earn a whole lot of money, I just wanna be healthy. At the end of the day, that's what really matters.
我並不希望賺大錢，我只希望身體健康。說到底，這纔是真正重要的。