at first / (at the) beginning / first / junior / basic
初
=
刀
+
衤
:
Back in the days when Chantal Chicken first arrived at the space station as the first junior scientist, she tried really hard to make a good first impression and put on a royal ermine coat. Just to be save she hid a cleaver behind her back just in case she wouldn't be received well.
to compete / competition / match / to surpass / better than / superior to / to excel
赛
=
宀
+
井
+
丌
+
贝
:
Socrates (s) and the crab (贝) are competing in a competition (赛) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). The competition is about stacking wells (井) as high as possible. After time's up, Socrates is the clear winner. He climbs the winner's pedestal (丌) and receives a honorary PhD and thus a graduation cap (宀).