Ersten Tag

Frau Cornelia Schulz ist meine neue Deutschlehrerin. And I think class is going to be a blast. German this semester looks rather like the best half of Doctor Roberts class, with the addition of--at least I think from statements made by Frau Schulz--the better part of her last class. It seems to be a generally fun group, wherein conversation flows in a way it has never done for any of my other classes. I might add that Schulz has many of the desirable people management skills which past professors have lacked. Normally, in my experience, class conversation sort of shrivels and dies the second the professor walks in. She is very good at putting everyone at ease, casual in her air, strict in her expectations. I noticed from comments beforehand that all of her past students adore her, but they also respect her. Good sign.

And it is my pleasure to have the company of the same people who sat around me last time. Brian, the honcho of the campus atheists, who now seems to be majoring in 5 subjects. Hobbesian, Marxist, and well read, with a slight but lingering geeky aftertaste, Brian makes for decent company and brain exercise. Winston, brother of mine and, as he would have it, the only black physics student coming out of IPFW in living memory. Winston's lighthearted predictions of his own doom and torture at the hands of the good doctors, Wong and Masters, serve to remind me that there are worse things than death. And, the final person with whom I invariably ended up sitting, Jasmina. Winston's boss, devoted shopaholic, and favourite target for needling on the subjects of blonds and Bosnians, she may be the only reason that Winston ever finishes his German homework on time.

Tomorrow will see the beginning of my work in earnest. I look forward to a five hour day and all the homework that such a day entails. But...

*slightly higher and lilting* But...


*Excited, glass shattering, bats and dogs type pitch* Real Books!!!

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