A Lesson on Avoiding Conflict

It's hard to admit mistakes.

Especially in a different language.

Especially when your mistake is walking into the wrong class, half an hour late, on the first day of classes.

I wasn't even planning on going to a class today. I decided this afternoon that I would accompany Maria to register for classes at la Catolica. For whatever reason, we're not allowed to sign up for literature classes until the 12th of March, but I did have a politics class for which I would be able to register.

A Note on Registration at La Catolica

La Catolica registers in the old fashioned way. That is, you need to go to the office of the department and request to be registered in a certain class. For each class, you get a slip of paper with your name and some information about the class. It's really easy and in fact more reliable than la Chile's online registration system, but it also means you have to run around campus to get a slip of paper for each individual class you're taking (which for me means four). Because we register late as exchange students, it isn't necessarily expected that we attend the first class or two, but it's certainly not discouraged.

Once we finally found the Political Science office, I waited my turn in line. When I requested to register for Conflicto Armado y el Politico del Trabajo Humano, the secretary said, almost off-hand, "That class is going on right now. You can attend the first class."

I looked at my watch. It was 3:45. The class was supposed to begin at 3:30.

"Ok," I said.

I didn't think to ask for the classroom number.

I had assumed that the classroom would be listed along with the rest of the information about the class, but unfortunately it wasn't, and I didn't realize it until after I had left. The course book we had been given at orientation two days ago fortunately had the classrooms listed next to the courses. Conflicto Armado was to be held in S6.

Maria and I frantically raced around the political science building, and by 3:55 we finally found classroom S6. Maria wished me luck, and told me she would meet me after class. I felt like a little kid being dropped off for my first day of school -- which, in a way, I was. My heart pounding, I swallowed and turned the handle.

All eyes on me. I kept my head down and avoided eye contact as I stumbled into the nearest open seat. I chanced a glance up. The professor hadn't made any indication that my tardy arrival was anything unexpected or unusual. I began to breathe again, and slowly began to tune in to what the professor was saying -- mostly details about the syllabus and exam formats. Suddenly I caught the word "Platon." I froze, and looked up at the board.

The board was filled with the usual first-day-of-class fare -- exam dates, the professor's email, and a list of readings. Among the list were Eutifron; Republica; Fedon; Fedro; and Sofista. Euthyphro; Republic; Phaedo; Phaedrus; and Sophist. I had walked into a course about Plato.

By this point, the professor was nearly finished going over the syllabus. He threw out a few comments about having nothing left to say, and I held my breath, hoping for an early release so I would perhaps be able to try another door in search of my politics class. There was a long pause, and I grabbed my backpack. The professor opened his mouth.

"Now, why do we study philosophy?"

I counted to five and released my breath instead of a curse. Now what? I couldn't stand up and leave -- I was too embarassed at my late entrance, and I didn't want to cause more of a disturbance by leaving five minutes later. Besides, by the time I discovered the actual room, it would probably be to late. I settled back in my chair and prepared for the long haul.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible way to spend an hour. It was an interesting lecture, and the professor was very good. I almost regretted that I wasn't actually taking the class, until I remembered that I've never really been much of a philosopher. It was certainly nice to be back in a classroom again -- as weird as it might sound, I really do miss taking classes. I'm excited to finally begin the school year! I'm hoping that my first Chilean classroom experience won't be indicative of the rest of the semester, although I suppose if it is, I can expect a lot of surprises coming my way! Which, now I think of it, isn't too terribly bad after all.