During my exchange trip with a Korean school, I quickly realised that the Koreans are very big on hierarchy.
Every meal in a restaurant began with a consideration of who should sit where, based on your place in the pecking order. I was the lowest ranked teacher and happily sat far from the seats of power.
I was sitting at the end of the table with a Korean counterpart who asked me whether I wanted a beer.
It was not part of MOE culture to drink beer during an official function and my VP was a teetotaller, so I declined.
Sitting opposite me was a Korean teacher who taught English. She said to me in English, “We are sitting at the fringe table. No one would care about us.”
I did not take up the offer of beer. But the term “fringe table” has remained with me since then. Perhaps it is a direct translation of a Korean term to describe the place where unimportant people sat.
I love being at the fringe table!