* I had the most wonderful afternoon in San Diego.
聽說過草地保齡球嗎? 要去聖地牙哥之前, 做了點功課, 看到Balboa公園有一區專門保留給聖地牙哥草地保齡球俱樂部, 會員們固定星期日與星期二以球會友。
I have never heard lawn bowling before I visited San Diego. Doing research on Balboa Park, I noticed that there is an area dedicated to San Diego Lawn Bowling Club. The website also said that the club members meet every Sunday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
星期日早上阿民投球拿到第十八勝, 我看完文字轉播後才出發到公園逛逛, 等走到保齡球草地時, 只剩一位先生準備要離開, 我鼓起勇氣去問他草地保齡球怎麼玩, 並告訴他這是我第一次來聖地牙哥玩, 也是第一次聽說草地保齡球。
After Chien-ming Wang got his 18th victory, which was a Sunday, off I went to Balboa Park. By the time I reached the lawn green, the bowling game was over and there was only one gentleman there, ready to leave. I approached him and asked how to play lawn bowling. I told him that I was a first-time visitor to San Diego and never heard lawn bowling before.
* Don 握給我看 showed me how to hold the bowl
他 (名字是 Don) 簡單的解釋說球 (叫做 bowl) 滾出去後並非直線前進, 而會中途略為彎曲轉向。
He (his name is Don) kindly showed me how to hold the ball (called bowls), and explained that the bowl, instead of moving straight after you release it, will curve depending on how you hold it.
他說完就準備要回家, 我也不好意思繼續打擾, 誰知正當他把配備收入小木屋時另一位先生過來問他要不要再打一回, 他說好, 而且還拿出四個練習用球跟一塊人工小草皮 (a mat) 給我, 並教我如何打球。
Just as he restored his stuff to the cabinet, another gentleman came up, asking if he wanted to play. Not only did he play with this gentleman, he also gave me 4 training bowls as well as a rectangular mat and taught me how to play.
* These are the cabinets that they store bowls and other things.
我自個在旁邊練習, 並隨時看他們的動作。球並不是正圓形, 一邊重一邊輕, 至於球滾出後轉向是偏右或偏左, 則看你握球時輕的那一面是朝哪邊。
While they were playing, I practiced on the side. The bowl is not perfectly round-shaped; one side is heavier than the other side. After you release the bowl, it will start to curve (called bias) toward the lighter side about half way through.
* 大圈表示這邊重小圈則輕 / How do you know which side is lighter, which side heavier? The bigger circle indicates this side is heavier than the other side.
那我到底要讓球滾到哪兒呢? 有一顆小白球 (叫做jack, or kitty, or sweetie) 會在草地的對邊, 保齡球滾出去後靜止時最靠近 jack 最好, 所以開始前要先把 jack 滾到對邊去。至於誰滾jack呢? 丟銅板吧!
So, where do I roll my bowls to? There is a small white ball (about golf ball size) called jack, or kitty, or sweetie. You want to roll your bowl so that it stops closer to the jack than your opponent’s ball does. So, before starting rolling the bowls, one (decided by flipping coin, maybe) has to roll the jack cross the green lawn. And then players take turns (3 to 4 times) rolling bowls from the mat.
寫到這兒, 已經被我搞混了吧? 基本上草地的一邊有小白球, 一邊有一小塊人工小草皮 (a mat), 站在 mat 上把球滾的越靠近 jack 越有可能得分。
(Are you confused now? Basically a mat is positioned on one side which you stand on, whereas jack is on the other side of the lawn green. You roll the bowl from the mat and try to make it stop as close to jack as possible)
因為我沒有jack, 所以我自己想像了一個點, 對準那個不存在的點投了這四顆練習球, 然後走到對邊準備下一回合練習。當我站在人工小草皮上要滾球時, 看到正對面一個白白的東西, 位置適中, 所以我便朝它投去。等我投完這一回走過去一看, 是一塊布做成的小旗子, Don 幫我插上得, 真貼心。
Since I didn’t have a jack, I just imagined a point and started to play. After I rolled all 4 towards that imaginary point, I walked cross the bowling green to the other end. When I was about to start my second round, I saw a little white thing on the grass. I didn’t know what it was but it appeared to be where I should aim my bowls, so I did. Once I finished, I walked back and found that it was a little flag. Don was very considerate and he put it down for me.
* 一個草地可平行劃分成很多 rinks, 好幾隊可同時比賽 / The bowling green is divided into parallel playing strips called rinks. Several games can take place simultaneously.
我邊看他們邊修正我的動作, 約30分鐘後, Don 說光線正好, 要幫我拍照。
I watched them play and constantly corrected my pose. After about 30 minutes, Don said that the sunlight appeared to be friendly and offered to take a few photos of me playing.
* 不錯吧! 有模有樣, 英姿煥發! Look at me, not bad, huh?
如何比賽呢? 有兩對人馬, 隊長叫做 Skip, 當其他隊員在mat這一邊滾球時, 隊長在 jack 這一邊指揮。等隊員們都輪流丟完球, 隊長會到 mat 這邊, 換隊員到 jack 這邊來指揮隊長。
So how do you compete? Say there are 2 (to 4) people in team A; 2 (to 4) in team B (same number of players). The team captain is called Skip. While the rest of team members roll the bowls at the mat end, Skip will stand close to the jack end and directs his/her teammates’ next bowl. After the players finish their turns, they will walk to the jack end while 2 Skips will move to the mat and roll their bowls towards jack.
我問 Don 說有時候保齡球會撞到 jack, 怎麼辦? 他說要等到全部的人都滾完之後再看距離, 所以一開始很靠近 jack, 並不表示最後還是很靠近。
Sometimes bowls will hit the jack and push it over, so even though your bowl appears to be closest to jack at the beginning of the game, it may not at the end.
至於得分如何算? 假設這一回合結束時, 最近 jack 的是甲隊的球, 則甲隊得一分; 如果第二近的也是甲隊的, 甲隊再得一分; 甲隊會一直得分, 直到下一個靠近的球是乙隊的, 乙隊則一分也沒有; 這樣通常可玩到21回合再統計總分 (不過並不是每個地方都要玩21回的) 。
As for scoring, if the closest bowl to jack is by a team A member, team A scores 1. Team A will score 2 if the second closest one is also by a team A member. If the 3rd one is by team B, then team A only gets 2 whereas B doesn’t score at all. If the 2nd one is by team B, team A only gets 1 point. And then the exercise starts over when someone rolls the jack, players roll bowls from the mat while Skips give directions . . . The exercise is repeated for the next end, a game of bowls typically (not always) being of 21 ends.
* 一回合結束時, 用這個像大掃把的東西把散落四處的球掃在一起, 就不用彎腰撿的很辛苦
Once one end is finished, this bloom-ish thing is used to gather all bowls.
(much info taken from Wikipedia)
* Don playing
* 計分板 Score board
* One of the Skips – he saw me with camera and posed. He really enjoyed himself!
* Several games can take place on the same green simultaneously.
* ”How to Play,” printed by the Club / 俱樂部有印發”如何打球”的小單子
當我往停車場走時, 請一位小姐幫我拍照, 拍完後她說她的影子也出現在照片中, 因為夕陽西下影子被拉長了, 並要再幫我拍一張, 然後我們開始聊了起來; 她的名字是Christin, 我告訴她我剛剛玩了草地保齡球, 她直嘆驚奇。
By the time I walked towards the parking lot, the sun was setting. I asked a lady to take a photo of me with the building. After she did, she told me that her shadow was in the photo, too, and offered to take another shot. We started to talk. Her name is Christin. When I told her I was just playing lawn bowling with the gentlemen, she was amazed for she has never done it before.
後來她男朋友騎完腳踏車過來, 我得知他在廣播公司上班, 主播棒球, 所以他也知道阿民今早拿到第十八勝, 真巧; 我還請他們推薦要到哪兒玩, 他們說可以去Torrey Pine State Reserve, 請拭目以待下一篇文章。
Her boy friend met us after riding bike, and I was surprised to know that he works for a radio station and broadcasts baseball. He knew that Chien-ming Wang just got his 18th win this morning, too. I also asked them to recommend places to visit in San Diego. They told me to visit Torrey Pine State Reserve, which will be my next blog . . .
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