Japanese Etiquette & Tradition, 1/11/10, Period 5

[shiroi_tiger]

The classroom setup today was decidedly similar to the setup last week, with the mat at the door, and the slippers, and the cushions for sitting on. Once again, Algren had said 'screw it' to the conventional classroom setting, and had gone with what he was most comfortable with.

Also, he went ahead and provided donuts from J-GoB, which weren't Japanese in the least, but they were jelly-filled, which Algren figured gave them bonus points, somehow. Don't make a mess on the floor or on your cushions, or he might be forced to look at you disapprovingly. And then make you stay after class to clean up after yourselves. Which does happen to be proper Japanese classroom etiquette.

( Today, we'll be taking a look at Japanese honorifics. )

Algren reached for a donut and smiled at the class.

"Your assignment for today is to take each of the honorifics I've spoken about today, san, chan, kun, sama, sensei, and senpai, and then write a list of examples of people that you know who you might use each of them for. Take a donut, and feel free to discuss your options with a classmate if you think you might need to do so."

[OCD on the way up. Have at thee!]

Horror 101, Monday

[chosehumanity]

"One of the main cornerstones of horror as a genre has always been demons," Mitchell began, tapping his fingers against the couch. "Inside and out. What we are going to be focusing on over the next few weeks is the 'out' part - or the more visible kind, at least. Some of you may have worlds where these creatures are real, crawling around in the dark or lurking elegantly in the shadows. Some of you might only know them as stories. But monsters are a thing of every time and every place."

"Most sources will tell you the start of it was Mary Shelley's meta for Frankenstein. The creation of a monster. It's poetic, in a sense, but it might as well have been science fiction. Is it our fear of being monstrous, or our fear of the monster, when the story talks about how much he was misunderstood? How much of it is about fear of the other, and how much is fear of ourselves, of what we're capable of if one day, we wake up as something not quite human? The name of the book is the name of the doctor who came up with the monster to begin with. So who's the center of our story, really?"

He considered the class. "We'll be watching some of that for a film today, just to start you off light," he said, finally, "But afterwards, I'd like to know. What is monstrous to you? What's the scariest monster you can think of, and why does it frighten you? Do you feel like this guy," he tapped the monster on the front of the DVD case, "Or the blokes chasing him around with pitchforks? What's the anatomy of your monster?"

Beat.

"Oh, and it's in black and white. Just to get you Philistines adjusted to real film."

World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

[atreideslioness]

"Today, we start at the very beginning," Ghanima announced crisply. "Or as close to the beginning as such a young planet can get. Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from parts of the fertile crescent, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq."

( e-nu-ma e-liš la na-bu-ú šá-ma-mu // šap-liš am-ma-tum šu-ma la zak-rat // ZU.AB-ma reš-tu-ú za-ru-šu-un // mu-um-mu ti-amat mu-al-li-da-at gim-ri-šú-un // A.MEŠ-šú-nu iš-te-niš i-ḫi-qu-ú-šú-un // gi-pa-ra la ki-is-su-ru su-sa-a la she-'u-ú // e-nu-ma dingir dingir la šu-pu-u ma-na-ma' )

[Wait for the OC of D! The OCD hath been achieved. Go forth!]

Study Hall, Monday [1/11]

[takesaftermom.livejournal.com]

It was Monday which meant Summer was in charge of study hall once again. She set out moddable drinks and snacks for any students that might stop by.

She settled in with her laptop, logging into the NUMA website. She had a few things to share with Admiral Sandecker.

[OCD coming up!]

Ethics [Tuesday, January 12, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

"Today we discuss lying," Anakin said as he closed the classroom door precisely on time. "Everyone lies. 'Of course that doesn't make your butt look big.' 'You like her, I like her.' 'I'm totally okay with you moving on.' 'Everything's fine, why do you ask?' It's how the world goes around because no one wants to be trapped in a conversation where someone whines at you for hours on end about how awful their life is."

He looked around the room. "Trust me. Everyone's life is terrible. They're just not telling you about it. Be grateful."

He reached onto his desk for a piece of paper. "Today we're conducting an exercise to see how well you pass this particular social ritual, then we'll discuss whether you think it is necessary. We're playing two truths and a lie. I'll tell you three things about myself and you have to decide which one is the falsehood. Then you'll all tell three things and we'll see how well you can either read each other or keep things hidden."

He gave them a small smile. "I'm very good at this." It had taken him a very long time to come up with things that Leia either wouldn't know or shouldn't know, but that was hardly the point, was it? He schooled his face to absolute neutrality, put his mental blocks up to bar any psychics in the room from gaining an advantage, then said: "I have never lost a lightsaber duel. I hate sand. I can fly any ship I ever sat at the controls of." His eyes challenged them to call him out. "Who's next?"