my faculty’s logo! (very seldom seen though….)
If there’s one thing about lectures here in Beida, China, it must be how seats are filled faster than anyone can say anything.
i) Firstly, people chop seats… 1 person chop 10 seats is not unheard of.
ii) Secondly, people are kiasu, so they snap up the front rows in lightning speed
iii) Thirdly, there are all kinds of weird people who appear in a class they’re not registered in, especially my chinese language classes. Aunties, uncles, farmers, seniors supposedly doing masters and PhD, freshman from other faculties… before you know it, a class catered for 50 has >100 people listening in.
iv) Well, to top it off, people have weird ways to emerge through the competition. Chairs are a very useful commodity in lecture classrooms (where seats are fixed). So, we have chairs lining the aisle.
And that was how yours truly (who overslept today) managed to arrive in class late, and sit on the floor in front of the door for class today. And clause (iv) was how my Chinese friend 梁勇 chivarously rescued me… Despite knowing him for only 2 days, he went all the way to the end of the block and got me a chair.
I am a lucky guy.
