Trapped in the Closet. Err, I mean, Library, Trapped in the Library!

No pictures in this post!  (Lame!)

So, it appears that blogging has become a weekend activity.  This, of course, is no big deal, dear readers, for I am provided with the amazing ability to time my posts as I please, leaving no-one the wiser as to my actual writing habits (so sneaky!).  However, this weekend, I found a much more addictive way to waste a bit of time!

In the past three days, outside of social and gastronimical obligations, I have primarily split my time reading The Three Musketeers, and the first one thousand pages (literally!) of the online comic Questionable Content.  If you are mildly into great literature or web geekery, I suggest both to you, although if you're going for QC, be patient, as the comic gets addictively interesting around the 200 mark.

Also, if that's not enough web-dorkiness for you, you should also be reading the occasional XKCD (though I feel a bit trite saying so), and if you're into things that are ridiculously awesome, than you might also enjoy the annals of Dr. Mcninja.

Actual story time

Not to be completely wrapped up in my uninteresting geekiness, I thought I might also relate a quick anecdote from my recent life.

One interesting little fact about China that I didn't know about before I came was that the society, at least locally, is highly predisposed to take a little siesta each afternoon.  Consequently, right around the 1:00 mark, the campus turns into a ghost town (relatively speaking; China has way too many people for that to actually happen).  The interesting thing is, almost none of the local shops or restaurants ever actually closes in the afternoon; if you need anything, you just walk in and wake up the owner, who is probably drooling behind the counter.  This sometimes makes one seriously reconsider just how much they need that little snack, or possibly lunch.

One other effect of the afternoon siesta that I recently discovered is that the big library on campus closes from about 1:00-ish to about 2:30-ish every day.  I discovered this, of course, the hard way.

As I am often wont to do, I found myself one afternoon lazing on the roof of the library, studying Chinese and trying to soak up a few rays through my 4 layers of clothing.  However, when I decided I wanted to go home, I found that not only were the main front doors locked, but the entire first floor was devoid of people.  Slightly panicky, I made my way downstairs to the lower doors, back doors, and side doors, all of which I found locked as well.  Eventually, however, I ran into a large study-room on the ground floor that had a few students scattered about, some studying, some out cold.  Thinking myself saved, I struck up a conversation with one of the students that went something like this:

Me: "Excuse me, can you tell me where the exit is?"

Student: "Sure, it's right over there."

Me: "Oh, but that door's locked on the inside, too.  How do I get out?"

Student: "Oh yeah, that's no problem.  There's a guy that comes around 2:30 to open the doors again."

Me: "What??  Wait, so all the doors are locked?  From both sides??"

Student: "Yeah, they come in about an hour to open everything again."

Me: "So I just have to wait?  What if someone has to get out?"

Student: "I'm not really sure.  We're just studying down here, and a guy comes and unlocks the doors around 2:30."

Me: "But I have class at 2:30!"

Student: "Hmm.  I don't know.  Maybe he will come early?"

China is crazy!  Luckily the guy did come a few minutes early, and I was able to run off to class in time, but it's just crazy to imagine those students getting locked in for a couple hours, with no clear way out.  I feel like there must be a way somehow, but having lived here for awhile, a complete lack of a viable exit would not really surprise me.  And what if it was closing for the night and you got trapped in?

Worth the experiment for the blog post, I wonder...?