Shop Class; Friday, First Period [04/17].

[special_rabbit]

"Good morning, everyone," Amaya smiled a bit as she greeted the class with her usual nod and that faint trace of eagerness to get started on something. "So, I don't know if you've all realized it, but I certainly didn't, until I was looking at the calender the other day and realized that next week is actually our final class of the semester, and I'm not quite sure how that happened, but that means that it's time to switch gears for today so that you all can start thinking about your final projects!

"Now, sometimes," Amaya continued, "I like to give us all a general theme to work with and other times, like times when the end of the semester kind of creeps up on you like this, I like to keep it more open-ended. And so that's what we'll be doing this semester. Basically, you've got the opportunity to put some of the skills you've learned in this class to put something together to show off whatever you'd like to build. And today's class will be mostly brainstorming and getting started. This week, if anyone wants to have some extra time in the shop, just let me know, and I'll be here so you can use the equipment and supplies you need, and the forge in town is also available, should you want to work there. I might be a little bias, of course, but it's a great space, though we don't have as many fancy machines as we've got in here.

"Feel free to chat with your fellow classmates and bounce off them, too, or, if you'd like, I'd be happy to help you try to come up with something if you're feeling a bit stuck. And if not? Great! Get to work! And then next week, you'll have the chance to show off what you made and talk about it a little bit.

"If there aren't any questions, I'll just let you all get right to it."

How To Be Civilized, Friday, Period 3

[1000yearstoolate]

"Now, we know that propriety goes hand in hand with civilization," Seivarden began, standing in front of the class.

 

There was tea set and freshly made tea on a table as usual.

 

"But there can actually be too much of propriety. No one likes a bore, and if you overdo it you'll come across as having something to prove, which obviously isn't an impression you want to give."

 

She looked at the class.

 

"So today we are breaking the rules with style. Because even if you break the rules, you can't do it in a tasteless way, and at the wrong occasion. You also need to know what you are aiming for and whether it suits your plans. Being an eccentric might be interesting, but it won't further your career and might annoy your family. Talking about the wrong things in an unsubtle way might make you come across as a gossip, whom people might want to talk to but definitely won't trust."

 

"What we're aiming for is to be fun, exciting, someone people notice. It can be in the way you talk, in things you do, in the way you look. Consider a way to break the rules tastefully and discuss how you might do it."

 

Said the teacher, who was known to use really bad language with an accent that immediately gave away just how prestigious her family was.