Quirky news: China graduation student in cartoon outfit, black tongues after meal, Japan slow service
- PhD student goes viral after dressing as Patrick Star from SpongeBob, black tongues for mother and daughter, extra slow service in Japan
A Chinese man walked for his PhD degree dressed as Patrick Star, the famous character from SpongeBob SquarePants, to honour his friendship with a former classmate.
Pan Ronghao wore the pink costume at the China University of Geosciences commemoration event in Beijing in mid-June to surprise his friend Xia Qing, an alumnus of the school.
During the ceremony, as Pan approached a professor, the latter ceremoniously turned the tassel for him, according to Luzhong Morning Post.
“Xia likes SpongeBob very much, and I am taller than him, so I am Patrick Star,” Pan was quoted as saying. “The university is our Bikini Bottom [where the two cartoon characters live].”
Xia and Pan were classmates for a decade before Xia graduated from the university two years ago, also earning a doctoral degree. Xia now works in another city.