First Impressions…
By Keiti | September 18, 2008
I have to interrupt the regularly scheduled QM2 updates to tell you about my first day of class yesterday.
See, I live inside my head a lot - and will giggle at things that pass through unannounced despite the fact that I usually end up explaining why I’m giggling which tends to make other people look at me a bit askew.
And that’s okay; it’s something I’ve learned to accept about myself.
Anyway, yesterday I head over to Pathfoot (the building where my classes are held) for what I thought was my individual meeting with the Postgraduate Secretary, Alison, and Dale, one of my tutors (read: instructor). I was wandering the hallway wasting a bit of time because I showed up way early and overhead two women talking about the Gothic Imagination program. So I stopped them and it turned out they were two of my classmates (we’ve only got 4 total, myself included) C. from Colombia, and V. from England. As we were talking they asked me where I was on Tuesday.
Uh…Tuesday?
Seems that my individual appointment was on Tuesday and I’d gotten my days mixed up (which happens more than I care to admit) and yesterday was our first lecture.
Crap!
So, after I explain the idiocy, we all (including the 4th person who we’d picked up along the way - that would be W. from N. Ireland) head to Dale’s office for the lecture (since there’s only four of us, we don’t have to do things like sit in an actual lecture hall). When we walk in, I apologize to Dale for missing yesterday and explain that I had my dates mixed up. He said it was no big deal, offered everyone biscuits (chocolate covered cookies) and coffee or tea. Then we got down to business.
Now…first day of classes for me are generally a nightmare - mostly because I feel way out of my element - and yesterday was no different. We started off by going over where and how “gothic” originated. I’m scribbling notes and trying to make sense of everything, but I was so lost - mostly because of the depth of British history involved. History, in general, isn’t my strong suit by any stretch, and British history…well, let’s just say I was even more lost than usual. It was all British parliament and the Whigs and monarchs and renaissance and medieval…
Until…Dale said something about the Roman Empire. See, “gothic” came about, in part, as sort of an “anti-Roman” sentiment and was an alternative to Roman depravity and corruption. Somewhere in the lecture, Dale said something about the fall of the Roman Empire which is when I did what I always do with history:
Find the correlating scene in Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part I.
So I giggled to myself quietly, but in a room with only 5 people, even quietly giggling will draw notice. So Dale asked me why I was giggling. I mumbled something about how I tend to laugh at things in my head, but it wasn’t important. He asked me to explain, so I gave a brief overview of HotWp1, and gave them the following scene:
One of the historical events that’s covered in HotWp1 is the Roman Empire - and these Roman Soldiers are racing their chariots across the countryside in pursuit of other characters and it winds up that the soldiers end up in a field full of marijuana. The chase stops because all the soldiers end up getting high. So there’s these two soldier sitting beside a chariot smoking a joint and soldier 1 asks soldier 2 if he cares if it falls. Soldier 2 asks him what? Soldier 1 says “The Roman Empire.” Soldier 2 replies “F@!k it!” (only I used the full word.) And the two dissolve into stoned laughter.
Thankfully, it got a decent chuckle out of Dale and we moved on rather quickly, but things like that are so typically me. No matter how well I try to keep the running commentary in my head to myself, sometimes I fail miserably.
Topics: Grad School, Human Behavior, Life in General, Movies |
September 18th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Well that’s my ‘lil sis the nut job. It just proves that you are in fact a blood relative to the rest of us. Look at me, Mr. “I know every useless and arcane fact in the world and will tell you one”
BTW get my room ready, I will be over in the summer now that I gets my government cheese.
Your Big Bro.
September 19th, 2008 at 3:54 am
I am who I am and pretty happy about it, all things told.
Yay for next summer!
Love you!
k~
September 19th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I honestly can’t believe you said the F-word. Seriously? Gosh.
September 20th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Yes I did, and yes you can.
Silly boy!