![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
incongruous
Feb. 4th, 2009 10:09 amThe statistics class met yesterday. The last seat opened up, and then filled again, and I still have not heard anything from the Graduate School. In fact, when I called yesterday, they transferred me to the extension of the woman who reviews these things, and her mailbox was full. Also, I could not understand a single.word.of.her.outgoing.message. This does not bode well. Nor has my email been answered.
But I trudged the mile back uphill, and went to the class anyway. I knew that the class was going to be taught by a Chinese PhD student; we share the same faculty advisor. So it was a bit disconcerting to walk in, see the slight, earnest, bespectacled Chinese fellow at the front of the class, only to have him open his mouth and have measured, precise, tweedy English-accented words emerge.
I can see why a former classmate of mine called him dark and intriguing.
Screw statistics; I want to listen to that voice all day. And it's not just the accent— it is the queerly precise and deliberate word choices. Each word is carefully chosen; he does not hurry his words, nor does he speak loudly. Each word has its own weight, a comfortable cushioning of space and time.
There are several people attempting to get into the class; as they are all graduate students and I am not, this is not going to work out well for me. However, he indicated that he did not mind if we sat in on the class. He would not be able to grade any of our homeworks or projects, of course, but he hoped we might find it instructive in any case.
So, even if I do not get in officially, once a week I will be taking in as much statistics as I can. On a side note— statistics is expensive. I think I've bought $300 in *used* books, just for this class. Still, these are references that I'll be able to use for a long long time.
But I trudged the mile back uphill, and went to the class anyway. I knew that the class was going to be taught by a Chinese PhD student; we share the same faculty advisor. So it was a bit disconcerting to walk in, see the slight, earnest, bespectacled Chinese fellow at the front of the class, only to have him open his mouth and have measured, precise, tweedy English-accented words emerge.
I can see why a former classmate of mine called him dark and intriguing.
Screw statistics; I want to listen to that voice all day. And it's not just the accent— it is the queerly precise and deliberate word choices. Each word is carefully chosen; he does not hurry his words, nor does he speak loudly. Each word has its own weight, a comfortable cushioning of space and time.
There are several people attempting to get into the class; as they are all graduate students and I am not, this is not going to work out well for me. However, he indicated that he did not mind if we sat in on the class. He would not be able to grade any of our homeworks or projects, of course, but he hoped we might find it instructive in any case.
So, even if I do not get in officially, once a week I will be taking in as much statistics as I can. On a side note— statistics is expensive. I think I've bought $300 in *used* books, just for this class. Still, these are references that I'll be able to use for a long long time.
