New beginnings

Today was the first day of a new semester.

My classes for spring are as follows:

Monday:
8-9:15 Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century Recitation
9:30-10:45 Major Playwrights: Caryl Churchill, David Hare, and Tom Stoppard

Tuesday:
9:30-10:45 Creative Writing
11-12:15 Intermediate German II
12:30-1:45 Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century

Wednesday:
9:30-10:45 Major Playwrights: Caryl Churchill, David Hare, and Tom Stoppard
11-12:15 Intermediate German II

Thursday:
9:30-10:45 Creative Writing
11-12:15 Intermediate German II
12:30-1:45 Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century

Between classes and work, I have a relatively busy schedule, probably about as bad as last semester. I have Tuesdays off from work, and I'm thinking of asking to have Thursdays off as well.

Anyway, I mainly wanted to post to write about my first impressions of classes. So far, I've had three out of four, so I'll write about Churchill/Hare/Stoppard tomorrow.

Creative Writing

I was really nervous to find out about exactly what this class would be about. It turns out, it doesn't seem nearly as scary as I thought it would. Each of us has to write two short stories and five poems over the course of the semester, which doesn't seem like it's going to be too bad. One of our short stories will be workshopped with the class in addition to the poems. I had thought that we'd have to read our work aloud to the class though, which seemed scary, but we don't. We just have to provide copies for outside reading. That means that the reading load will be pretty hefty, but it should be fine. My teacher, Matt, seems nice and laid-back.

Intermediate German II

So, I was absolutely terrified as I sat down for this class, especially because I haven't really spoken any German for about nine months. Turns out, however, that I had no need to be. I always freak out and think I'm going to be the worst student of German in the room, but inevitably there are a few people who still can't grasp basic concepts. Also, the German teachers, for some reason, seem to be nothing but friendly and funny. My teacher this semester, Natalie, seems quite funny and personable. I'm sure it'll be a good class. The only drawback is that we have a tiny little classroom that feels a bit cramped. We played a name game to introduce ourselves and did a few little interview exercises, which seems to be the norm for first days of German. Overall, it was harmless. I guess I always assume I'll have a harder time with German classes than I end up actually having.

Conversations of the West ("Con West"): Antiquity and the 19th Century

So, admittedly this class might be a little bit harder for me to get into than my other classes, but it also seems genuinely interesting. My teacher, Professor Ertman, did a good job providing a clear outline of the course. We're going to study antiquity (ancient Greece, Israel, and Rome) and then the 19th Century (Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, John Stuart Mill, Darwin) keeping the comparisons between the two periods in mind. A lot of the readings will probably be hard to trudge through, but they're all things that anyone studying liberal arts should probably be familiar with (On Liberty, Plato's Republic, The Origin of Species, The Communist Manifesto, the Bible, etc.) I'm sure it will inform my general knowledge base and maybe even my writing. While Professor Ertman doesn't seem overaly jovial, he seems like he'll at least keep my attention and command the classroom, which is more than I can say for some of my previous lectures.

Overall, it looks to be a good semester. I'm looking forward to the second day of classes!