英國大學社交生活 UK University Social Life
I was recently interviewed on Radio Taiwan International! @rtienglish @wansonscafe
我最近接受了Radio Taiwan International!的訪問！
We talked about the similarities and differences between uni life in Taiwan and the UK. In the UK we call university ‘uni’ in speaking.
我們討論了台灣和英國大學生活的相似和不同之處。在英國，我們在口語中稱大學為「uni」。
These are some aspects of social life at British universities that you’re likely to come across!
這些是若你來到英國唸書，可能有機會體驗到的社交生活！
Fancy dress 華麗服裝派對
'Fancy dress' doesn't mean dressing fancy. It means wearing unusual costumes for a particular theme, like dressing up like a bunny or dracula. It could be anything! These events happen most often for someone's birthday, society socials or a national event like Halloween. In a student city like Leeds, Liverpool or Manchester, you’ll see people dressed in fancy dress a lot, especially at the weekends. The theme could be 'something beginning with A' if the birthday person's name begins with A, or 'something that lives in the sea'. Like I said, it could be anything, and the weirder or more inventive, the better! I went to a birthday that was themed ‘things beginning with B’, and someone dressed as a bathtub, complete with bubbles and a tap on their head for the water. It was very funny!
「華麗服裝派對」並不意味著要穿得很華麗，而是指為特定主題穿著打扮平常不會穿的衣服（變裝派對），比如扮成兔子或德古拉伯爵。主題可以是任何事物！這些活動通常在某人的生日、社團聚會或類似萬聖節這樣的國際節日舉辦。在像利茲、利物浦或曼徹斯特這樣的學生城市，你會經常看到人們在週末穿著奇特的服裝。主題可以是「以A開頭的東西」，如果壽星的名字以A開頭，或者是「生活在海裡的東西」。正如我所說，主題可以是任何東西，而且越古怪或越有創意越好！我曾參加過一個主題是「以B開頭的東西」的生日派對，有人穿著浴缸的造型，頭上帶著泡泡和水龍頭。非常有趣！
Here are some examples of my fancy dress times at uni…!
以下是我在大學參加主題服裝派對的一些例子...！
2. Pub / bar crawl 酒吧漫遊
A good occasion to do a fancy dress theme is for a pub crawl! ‘Bars’ are found all over the world and you probably know what those are, but pubs are especially British, and are probably as common as 7-11s are in Asia. They're places to go for a drink and hang out, similar to bars, but the decor is more traditional. In the daytime, they’re more relaxed places where people go to chat, eat food, play pool or have a beer. Even children are welcome during the day because it’s a low-key vibe. But at night time pubs often become more ‘rowdy’ or even have loud music. It really depends on the pub!
選擇主題服裝派對的好時機之一是參加酒吧漫遊活動！「酒吧」在世界各地都可以找到，你可能知道是什麼，但「Pub」在英國尤其常見，就像亞洲處處可見的7-11便利商店一樣普遍。Pub是供人們喝酒和休閒的場所，與Bar類似，但裝潢更具傳統特色。在白天，酒吧更加休閒，可以在這裏聊天、享用食物、打撞球或喝啤酒。甚至也歡迎年紀較輕的孩子造訪，因為氛圍輕鬆。但到了晚上，酒吧通常變得更加「熱鬧」，可能有喧鬧的音樂。這真的取決於酒吧本身！
A “pub crawl” is when you go to many different pubs for a drink in one day. At Leeds University where I studied, there’s the famous 'Otley Run'. There's one long road called the Otley Road, which has 15 pubs on it. You have to start in the early afternoon and walk along (usually in fancy dress) getting a drink at each one. If you manage to survive until the 15th pub you’re very impressive!
「酒吧漫遊」是指在一天內到許多不同的酒吧造訪。在我就讀的利茲大學，有著著名的「奧特利路」（Otley Run）。基本上，有一條名為奧特利路（Otley Road）的街道，上面有15家酒吧。你必須在下午早一點的時候開始（通常是穿著主題服裝），走路到各家酒吧都喝一杯。如果你能夠堅持到第15家酒吧，那真的很令人印象深刻！
My first Otley Run at Leeds uni with my cohort studying Chinese. 我在利茲大學學習中文的同學，我參加的第一次奧特利路漫遊。
3. Student Union 學生會
The Student Union is the organisation that organises all the student activities and societies. There’s usually a 'Student Union' building on campus where events are held too, such as live music events, theatre, thrift fairs -- all kinds of things! If you want to join a society, you should go to your uni's Student Union website. Some of the most popular societies at British unis are snowsports, theatre, hockey, football and martial arts.
學生會是負責組織所有學生活動和社團的組織。校園裡通常會有一棟「學生會」大樓，也會在這裡舉辦各種活動，例如現場音樂表演、戲劇、二手買賣市集等等！如果你想加入社團，你可以參考你學校的學生會網站。在英國大學中，一些最受歡迎的社團包括滑雪運動、戲劇、曲棍球、足球和武術等。
Fun Fact: Wednesdays are typically the 'sports night', meaning sports social events and club nights will happen on that day.
趣味事實：週三通常是「運動之夜」，這意味著體育社交活動和俱樂部夜晚活動通常會在這一天舉行。
4. Clubbing 夜店文化
Cities that have lots of nightclubs are usually considered to have "good student nightlife". That's because most students like to go dancing at the clubs -- the music could range from mainstream pop, to house, techno and drum and bass. For the mainstream clubs, you could arrive at around 11pm and leave at 2 or 3am, and for the house or electronic clubs, you might arrive at 1am and leave as late as 5am!
夜店眾多的城市通常被視為「學生夜生活豐富」的好地方。這是因為大多數學生喜歡在夜店跳舞，音樂風格可以從主流流行音樂到house、techno和drum and bass不等。對於主流夜店，你可能會在晚上11點左右到達，然後在凌晨2或3點離開，而對於house或電子音樂夜店，你可能會在凌晨1點到達，甚至可能待到凌晨5點才離開！
Fun Fact: "Pre-drinking" is common for these events, meaning you start drinking alcohol at home, so that you don't have to buy so many expensive drinks at the club!
趣味事實：在這些活動中，「預先喝酒」是常見的做法，意味著你在家中就開始喝酒，這樣你就不必在夜店裡買太多昂貴的飲料了！
Even better of course is if you can go clubbing in fancy dress (though this isn’t common)!
當然，更有趣的是如果你能穿著主題服裝去夜店跳舞（雖然這並不常見）！
5. House parties 家庭派對
In the 2nd year of uni, students typically rent a private house with their friends. This means they have a whole house that they can open for parties! House parties involve games, talking, drinking and dancing. House parties usually have at least 30 or 40 people, sometimes even up to 100 people in one house. The neighbours might not be happy about these events, or the landlord!
在大學的第二年，學生通常會和朋友一起租學生宿舍。這意味著他們有一整棟房子可以用來辦派對！家庭派對通常會玩遊戲、聊天、喝酒和跳舞。家庭派對通常至少有30或40人，有時甚至可以到100人。但鄰居可能對這些活動感到不滿，房東也可能不太高興！
And of course you can go to house parties in fancy dress too…👹 Just check if your friends are first…!
當然，你也可以穿著主題服裝參加家庭派對...👹只要檢查一下你的朋友是否也在這樣做......！
Thanks for reading! I’m Susie, and together with our teachers, we provide interesting cultural lessons for you every week!
謝謝閱讀！ 我是Susie，我們每週都會和我們的老師一起為你提供有趣的文化課程！
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