Upper-Intermediate - University Nostalgia (Part 2) (D2189)

A: 蓉蓉呢,对什么印象深刻?
Róngrong ne, duì shénme yìnxiàng shēnkè?
Rongrong, what left an impression on you?
E: 我印象最深的就是占座位。呵呵,我通常起得比较早,几乎每天早上帮宿舍的姐妹们占座位。喜欢的课就占中间的座位,不喜欢的就占后排的。
wǒ yìnxiàng zuìshēn de jiùshì zhàn zuòwèi. hēhē, wǒ tōngcháng qǐ de bǐjiào zǎo, jīhū měitiān zǎoshang bāng sùshè de jiěmèimen zhàn zuòwèi. xǐhuan de kè jiù zhàn zhōngjiān de zuòwèi, bù xǐhuan de jiù zhàn hòupái de.
The most lasting impression I had was getting a seat. Haha. I would often get up early. It seemed like every morning I'd help the girls in my dorm get seats. For the classes I liked the most, I'd get a seat in the middle. I didn't like to get the seats in the back.
B: 我们也是,尤其是快考试的时候,大家都要复习,图书馆和一些大教室的座位太紧俏了。
wǒmen yě shì, yóuqí shì kuài kǎoshì de shíhou, dàjiā dōu yào fùxí, túshūguǎn hé yīxiē dà jiàoshì de zuòwèi tài jǐnqiào le.
It was the same for us, especially right before exams. Everyone would need to review. The seats in the library and in some of the lecture halls were in high demand.
D: 因为占座位我还丢掉好几本书呢。
yīnwèi zhàn zuòwèi wǒ hái diūdiào hǎojǐ běn shū ne.
For the sake of getting a seat, I lost a bunch of books.
A: 占座位真是大学里面独特的现象。
zhàn zuòwèi zhēn shì dàxué lǐmiàn dútè de xiànxiàng.
Getting a seat really is a phenomenon unique to college.
C: 我还想到一种独特的现象。
wǒ hái xiǎng dào yīzhǒng dútè de xiànxiàng.
I thought of another unique phenomenon.
A: 什么?
shénme?
What?
C: 洗澡。
xǐzǎo.
Showers.
D: 你是不是想说排队洗澡?
nǐ shì bùshì xiǎng shuō páiduì xǐzǎo?
Are you talking about lining up to take a shower?
C: 对啊,我记得我们学校是下午2 点开放澡堂的。开之前就有很多人去排队了。女生的队伍总是很长很长,男生么,就那么零星几个人。
duìa, wǒ jìde wǒmen xuéxiào shì xiàwǔ liǎngdiǎn kāifàng zǎotáng de. kāi zhīqián jiù yǒu hěn duō rén qù páiduì le. nǚshēng de duìwǔ zǒngshì hěn cháng hěn cháng, nánshēng me, jiù nàme língxīng jǐ ge rén.
Yeah! I remember that our school opened up the shower hall at 2pm. Before it opened many people lined up. The line for girls was always really long, but for the guys there were just a few.
B: 这就是师范类大学的特色。女多男少。对了,我也想起来一个。就是泡开水。
zhè jiùshì shīfàn lèi dàxué de tèsè. nǚ duō nán shǎo. duìle, wǒ yě xiǎngqǐlai yī gè. jiùshì pàokāishuǐ.
This is characteristic of the teaching universities. There are a lot of girls and few guys. Yeah, I can also think of one. It was snagging boiled water.
E: 什么是泡开水?
shénmeshì pào kāishuǐ?
What's “snagging boiled water”?
B: 哦,就是打开水。每天拎2个热水瓶去水房打水。
ò, jiùshì dǎkāishuǐ. měitiān līn liǎng gè rèshuǐpíng qù shuǐfáng dǎ shuǐ.
Oh, it's getting hot water. Every day I'd carry two thermoses to the water house to get water.
E: 打开水我可是体会深刻。打开水要排队要等,打饭也要排队要等。那会儿要是谁谈恋爱了,我们首先就羡慕她有人帮忙打水打饭了。
dǎ kāishuǐ wǒ kě shì tǐhuì shēnkè. dǎ kāishuǐ yào páiduì yào děng, dǎ fàn yě yào páiduì yào děng. nà huǐr yàoshì shéi tánliàn\\\'ài le, wǒmen shǒuxiān jiù xiànmù tā yǒurén bāngmáng dǎ shuǐ dǎ fàn le.
Getting hot water also left a deep impression on me. To get hot water, you had to get in line and wait. To get food, you also had to get in line and wait. At that time, if someone was dating, we'd envy her first because she had someone to help her get water and food.
A: 呵呵,现在大学里面条件好了,可能90后就不会有这样的记忆了吧。
hēhē, xiànzài dàxué lǐmiàn tiáojiàn hǎo le, kěnéng jiǔlíng hòu jiù bùhuì yǒu zhèyàng de jìyì le ba.
Haha, nowadays the conditions at universities are better. People born in the 90s probably won't have these kinds of memories.
D: 不管怎样,想起来真美好。真想再上一次大学啊!不过下次我要上那种男多女少的大学。
bùguǎn zěnyàng, xiǎng qǐlai zhēn měihǎo. zhēn xiǎng zài shàng yīcì dàxué a! bùguò xiàcì wǒ yào shàng nà zhǒng nán duō nǚ shǎo de dàxué.
Regardless, remembering them is really nice. I really want to go to college again. However, next time I want to go to a university where there are more men than women.
B: 嗯。找个帅哥来场惊天动地的校园恋爱!
ng4. zhǎo gè shuàigē lái chǎng jīngtiāndòngdì de xiàoyuán liàn\'ài!
Yeah. To look for a handsome guy to have a school romance to shake heaven and earth!
E: 美好是美好,不过我可不想天天背单词考四六级了……
měihǎo shì měihǎo, bùguò wǒ kě bùxiǎng tiāntiān bèi dāncí kǎo sìliùjí le……
Good times are great and all, but I really don't want to spend all day memorizing words to take the CET test.

Key Vocabulary

印象 yìnxiàng impression
深刻 shēnkè profound, deep
zhàn to occupy
占座位 zhànzuòwèi to occupy a seat
通常 tōngcháng generally
尤其 yóuqí especially
紧俏 jǐnqiào in high demand
独特 dútè unique
现象 xiànxiàng phenomenon
澡堂 zǎotáng showering hall
零星 língxīng scattered
师范 shīfàn teacher training college, “normal”
lèi type
泡开水 pào kāishuǐ boiled water
热水瓶 rèshuǐpíng thermos
水房 shuǐfáng water house, a place where one gets hot water
体会 tǐhuì to experience personally
羡慕 xiànmù envy
惊天动地 jīngtiāndòngdì to shake heaven and earth
四六级 sìliùjí CET, College English Test

Supplementary Vocabulary

抢手 qiǎngshǒu in high demand
独一无二 dúyīwúèr unique
淋浴 línyù to take a shower
零碎 língsuì trivial, odds and ends
集中 jízhōng to concentrate
回忆 huíyì to recall
回想 huíxiǎng to recall

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