Arts & Culture

Travelog: In Search of Deeper Meaning (or Olivia Rodrigo in Dublin) 

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Dublin is filled with 21+ clubs. 

I say this not just to pettily express my annoyance at deliberately studying in a country with an 18+ drinking age only to discover that clubs enforce a higher standard. In fact, I’m as interested as I am miffed: Why are they doing this? Culture shock for me has come in the form of that question and its relative unanswerability. After all, I don’t know why the drinking age in the U.S. is 21 exactly, nor do I know why we drive on the right side of the street, don’t need to hail buses, play a different brand of football than either Gaelic Football or Rugby or refuse to install air conditioning in brand new boiling brick buildings. Many of those would take a Google search or more, but the little differences pile on faster than I can or care to research… Hence, culture shock. 

Wanting to integrate into my host country’s culture means trying to attain a sense of what culture means.

Columns

SWASING | Why Don’t You Drink?

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“Why don’t you drink?” The question itself is innocuous enough. In a sea of college students who couldn’t imagine St. Patrick’s Day without jugs of green alcohol from Thursday night through the duration of the weekend, it can seem off-putting when someone chooses not to indulge. To me, the real question is, “Why do you?” 

Truthfully, the whole concept of drinking has always been a little bit odd to me. I’m not talking about the occasional beer or glass of wine, but rather the ritual of dedicating every weekend to trying to set a new personal record of alcohol consumed. The idea that you have to reduce your inhibitions or change who you are in order to have fun or feel comfortable socializing is something I’ve never resonated with. I like myself and my friends. I don’t need to change my personality to have fun with them or to feel confident in who I am.

Columns

GROSKAUFMANIS | Casual Dysfunction and the College Experience

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So much of the stereotypical American college experience, as it’s packaged in pop culture and the memories of nostalgic alumni, seems to be wrapped up in anticipation — and sometimes the romanticization — of dysfunction. Even in the age of hyper-attention to self-care, college remains a bubble in which it’s normal, even commendable, to do things like pull successive all-nighters in the name of work or push passions onto the back burner because they don’t fit our notions of productivity. Staying up all night to study is presented as evidence of a strong work ethic, rather than an unhealthy last resort. At Harvard, students in the class of 2022 were even asked to complete an online “Sleep 101” course, designed to help them develop healthy sleep habits in an environment as “competitive and busy” as college. It is particularly within the context of any work hard, play hard environment, where opposite and sometimes incompatible extremes regarding school and going out are expected to exist simultaneously, that a lot of unsustainable behavior is necessitated.

alcohol

VAN ZILE | The Tao of Beer Pong

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I was standing somewhere on a Friday night during my freshman year when a stranger asked if I wanted to hear the secret of beer pong. I don’t remember what he looked like, just that his face held an expression of profound serenity and compassion. “The secret of beer pong,” he said, “is to throw the ball into the cup.” I asked him what the hell he meant by that. “Beer pong is a metaphor for life,” he said. “What is it to exist but to throw a ball into a cup?

Uncategorized

Song for Slope Day

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As everyone is surely aware, the Cornell community will be celebrating Slope Day this Friday. The Slope Day Programming Board would like to wish all of you a fun and safe Slope Day and leave you with some advice:

When we come to Cornell we hear a great deal of lore,
Of courses, of parties and oh so much more.
Among all of these stories, one stands alone,
That one is Slope Day, king on a throne.
As all of our classes come to close,
Our collective love for this school most surely grows.
It’s all about hanging out with your pals,
All of the coolest Cornell guys and gals.
There’s no other day where we all get together,
Frolicking happily like birds of a feather.
So get to the Slope where fun will be had,
Really, we’re telling you, it’s totally rad.

Uncategorized

Prevent That Hangover

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Being the drunk and stupid college students that we are, the dreaded hangover is no stranger to our weekend routine. Dazed and confused after a long night romping around in college town, I wake up to a huge slap in the face by Mother Nature. She’s apparently pissed that I put so much crap into my body. I guess warm beer after warm beer isn’t exactly her definition of natural. So I suffer her angry wrath: a splitting headache, a sandpaper tongue, a rolling stomach, and some weird ache in my legs from my abnormal urge to run around when I drink.

Uncategorized

In the Wake of St. Patrick’s, the Undertow Stays Strong

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Because of the United Kingdom’s close proximity to Ireland, one would be inclined to think that St. Patrick’s Day would be an enormous celebration here. And it is – for Americans. Although I am surrounded by Scots, Englishmen, and both Irish and Northern Irish alike, I was forced to orchestrate my St. Patty’s Day plans with my American friends. The others followed suit, but couldn’t for the life of them understand why St. Patrick’s Day is such a huge deal in American metropolises spanning the nation at large. But deciding to forgo all questioning in favor of libation, the celebrations commenced for all.