The Art of Haiku; Monday, Second Period [07/04].

[sake_shinigami]

If Shunsui had been even remotely aware that today was a holiday, he would not have hesitated for a second to have called off class in lieu of celebrating it. As it was, though, this was a man who barely remembered that his own birthday was coming up (and that only because he knew it was a few days after someone else's birthday, one he always, always remembered), and so there was class. But it was still one of his classes, so, really, there it wouldn't be very taxing beyond some waxing intellectual about poetry and enjoying the welcoming shade of a large tree in the park.

"Ohayōgozaimasu," he started, with a duck of his head and that nearly ever-present lazy smile on his face, as he invited the students to gather around comfortably in the shade, "and welcome to our first lesson of the Art of Haiku ♥, where we will explore the traditional classic Japanese short form of poetry know for its brevity, its beauty, and its ability to say much in very, very little ♥.

( Cut for an actual lesson, what is this nonsense? )

He chuckled a little as he finished. "Well," he said, ducking his head again, this time as if in apology, "not quite my best, but, then again, I am no Bashō, nor do I expect or claim to be ♥! But hopefully, you get the idea. Now if you prefer a more modern pen and paper to compose your poems, please do that, but I have also brought with me some parchment and calligraphy brushes if you'd like to try to make the experience a little more immersive. Take a moment to consider your introduction haikus and towards the end of the class, we'll share ♥. And I also have a little assignment for you ducklings for next week, as well; I'd like you each to find your own haiku in the wild and bring it in and we shall discuss them next week ♥. Any questions before we begin?"

Coping with the Non-Modern World, Monday Period 5

[tellmehowstuffworks]

From the way Yennefer swanned through a portal and into her classroom on Monday afternoon, one would never guess that five minutes previously she'd been in her apartment screeching, "I submitted what while I was drunk?" into her cell phone.

She went right into it: "In May, I popped over to my home universe for a quick research visit concerning an ongoing problem of mine, and found myself stuck there for a couple of years while Portalocity either never returned my calls or neglected to take me off hold. I have "Feliz Navidad" as played on the saxophone burned into my brain." Zero stars, could not recommend. "I spent quite a lot of time trying to invent interdimensional portals and thinking about how much I missed certain things about this world, including but not limited to: flushing toilets, air conditioning, the cocktail, and Thai food. And then I came back and found that merely two months had passed here, and here we are, in this workshop. Since you are here I imagine you find it likely you will one day face an at least somewhat similar scenario, and want to know how to prepare.

"My first piece of advice is to learn magic, at least a little, if you are capable and your home universe will support it. A bit of magic makes everything much easier. If magic is not an option, you are going to have to rely upon technology, which is trickier. For example, let's say that all you want is a simple gin and tonic. Well, first you've got to invent gin...and then you've got to invent tonic. And that's easy compared to something like the flush toilet, where now you're talking about infrastructure.

"On the other hand, as the inventor of gin, tonic water, and basic sanitation, you stand to make quite a lot of money, which should make your life substantially easier, and may even help to offset matters if the thing you're really missing is, say, democracy, or people who look or act like you not being an underclass. On the other other hand, all the money or magic in the world isn't going to help you when the only thing you want is one single, solitary piece of chocolate, and the plant it's made from doesn't even have the decency to exist in your world."

It was fine. Yennefer was fine.

"So. As it is our first week together, if everyone could please introduce themselves, and list a few things this world has that their world does not which they would much rather not have to live without now that they have it? If you are from this world or something like it, and are taking this workshop as a thought exercise, or because you don't trust the island or Portalocity (wise choice), just list a few things you wouldn't like to be without that weren't available, say, a few hundred years ago. How does that sound?"

2Paint2Ball, Monday - 4th Period

[imafuturist]

Well, it was Steve's birthday, so Tony was being kind and getting the first class of this session taken care of to give him a break before he'd be pulled into a number of parades for the holiday.

"Welcome back and welcome newcomers," Tony said brightly. "Today will be our first go at the more advanced level of paint ball. What does that entail? This week... we're going to try out zero gravity spots."

Because Tony had been allowed to test out ideas without Steve being there to supervise him.

The course was very much the same as the basic one from before with a number of places or hide or duck behind should the class need them. The only difference this time was that, scattered around, there were little pockets of weightlessness. Because that's just what you wanted on day one, right?

"No powers, sorry folks. That'll be for the end of the summer," Tony promised. "Now feel free to grab a suit to protect your clothing and a paintball gun to begin."

British History, Monday

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon looked good today. Well, he could probably use a haircut again, but he was as healthy as he ever got. He was, however, scowling and doing a bad job of hiding it.

He waited for everyone to arrive, then stood at the front of the class with his arms crossed. "Right. Well, welcome to the first day of British History on American Independence Day. Probably the most amusing part about it. I have no idea why the moose decided I should teach about the history of my terribly imperialist, monarchist, capitalist country, but here we are." He threw up his hands.

"We're going to do our best to learn about the people British history tries to erase or elide. Not a single straight, white, cis man or monarch; you can learn enough about them on your own." He paused. "Well, today is introductions, so I suppose if any of you is a straight white cis man, we'll learn about you. But not other than that. So, let's go around and introduce yourselves. Who you are, where you're from, how much you do or don't know about Britain.

"I'll go first. My name is Jonathan Sims, I'm from Bournemouth via Oxford and London, and I lived in England all my life until I moved here." He nodded at the student in front to continue.

Treasure! [Monday, Period One]

[good_for_six]

It was the first workshop of a new session which meant your teachers actually made a modicum of effort to be on time for the start of class. Which was mostly accomplished by holding class at J,GoB so that they only needed to stumble in from next door, clothing somewhat askew.

"Treasure!" Isabela declared. "That's it, that's the class. Over the next few week, you're going to be learning all the important things about finding treasure, including the most important one, recognising it. Because treasure isn't just piles of riches liberated from those who don't need it. Though it certainly counts."

"It could also be a rare cultural artifact, or the last cup of caf on this island," Aphra said, curled over a steaming cup of not caf. "Or something more ephemeral, like previously lost knowledge, or the validation of your peers."

"That girl you like liking you back," Isabela added, looking at no one in particular. "Or boy, or person, depending."

"The point is, treasure is a very broad reaching concept, so in order to figure out how to find it, you need to figure out what it is. So it's time for introductions, tell everyone your name and what treasure means to you. Remember your answers, we'll be revisiting them later."