Wilderness Survival; Wednesday, Second Period [01/10].

[sword_chocobro]

There was a part of Gladio that did consider, even in this crappy winter weather, holding his class outside in the actual wilderness today, but that, he figured, was a bit much, at least for the first class, although it would be a good lesson and set an interesting standard for what to expect in this class. However, he figured he'd save the more miserable stuff for later in the semester, and everyone was asked to meet in the danger shop that week, where he'd set things up to be much more pleasant, on a nice wooded clearing with a great view on the mountainside, with nice clear skies overhead that you definitely shouldn't get used to.

"Hey, everyone," he said, greeting the class with a grin and a nod, "and welcome to Wilderness Survival, the class where I'm gonna teach you a lot of the basic skills and knowledge you should know to help you survive in the great outdoors in various situations, as well as maybe even how to enjoy it a little bit. For those of you who don't know me yet," a nod to the more unfamiliar faces, "my name's Gladio Amicitia, and I've been teaching the class a few times at this school, plus, I did survive a decade-long apocalypse in a world without sun, so I like to think that gives me a good basis of knowing what I'm talking about with this kinda stuff. I'm sure we've got a wide variety of skills and experience in the class already, so hopefully, those of you who are new to this can keep up, and those of you who know a thing or two already can still pick up something new or at least hone what you already have. Today, for our first class, we're keeping it simple, with one of the most basic and essential things to know about survival in the great outdoors: how to build a fire.

"But before we can build a fire," he said, "we're first gonna need some wood, and that's where we'll get started. I want everyone to take some time to head out into the woods and gather up some fire and kindling. You want to try and find hardwood if you can, and something dry, because softwoods and damp aren't going to burn as well. And when everyone's got some fuel for our fire, we'll gather back here at homebase, start putting it together, and once we've got that going, we'll do our introductions....campfire style.

"Any questions before we begin? And it's the danger shop, too, so you don't have to worry about going out of bounds into dangerous terrain or any wild animals..."

He paused, his grin growing wider. "Yet."

And, with that, he looked around to see if there were any questions before sending everyone off to go get some wood.

Conversational Japanese; Wednesday, Fourth Period [01/10].

[id_kill_him]

It was a very good thing that Yukari's class was in the latter part of the day, because she had pretty much spent the last few days since arriving on this island getting herself set up in her new apartment, which also meant setting up her gaming systems, which then also meant wasting almost all her time playing video games well into the night while drinking a bunch of American beers that she had to try, which meant that she barely woke up in time and only realized she needed to be in class a few hours before it, when she blearily asked herself the million dollar questions, "What time is it? What day is it??"

Which was fine! She'd taught on way less than that before! And while teaching adults and peers was considerably more intimidating than teaching a bunch of high schoolers that she could easily lord over in her superiority, the fact that she only had to teach one class a week was pretty freaking sweet, if you asked her! No more of this every day at hours no one should be awake at for her! She could really get used to this whole college professor thing!

So, as it was, despite only remembering about her class a few mere hours ago, she was bright-eyed and eager to get started when class time actually came.

"Konnichiwa!" she started brightly. "O-genki desu ka! E yōkoso Kaiwa-tekina nihongo! Namae wa Yukari-sensei desu! And if you understood all of that, congratulations! You're already on the right foot to a great semester!

"Either that," she continued brightly, "or you're a ringer and already know the language and are just taking this class to show off! But, either way, welcome, everyone, to Conversational Japanese. My name is Yukari Tanizaki, and I will be your instructor for the semester! In this class, we will be learning some of the most basic elements of Conversational Japanese to hopefully allow you to speak the language comfortably enough to hold a conversation! And since this is the first class, it makes sense to start with the very basics: greetings and how to introduce yourself, as well as how to address others, because in Japan, it is often proper to use honorifics to address other people. For example, I am your teacher, and so you could call me -sensei. You are my students, and if we were still in high school, I might call you -chan or -kun, but since we are all, presumably, adults here, it would be more appropriate to use -san, as that is more honorable and dignified."

So keep that in mind if she ever did call you one of those first honorifics!

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. I am going to pass out a list of phrases and pronunciations for you and we're going to go over each one, and then I would like you to be able to construct and introduction that is the equivalent of Appropriate Greeting, My name is.... and then followed by some little interesting thing to know about yourself. That doesn't have to be in Japanese. Again, because this is a beginner's class, and if you're coming at at me with Konnichiwa, namae wa BILL desu! Piza o taberu no ga suki!, you're probably just here to show off and screw up the grading curve!"

And possibly make her look bad!

Which she didn't need! She was going to do just fine with that all her own!

"Now, then, let's get started with the very first word on the sheet...."

Music, Wednesday

[suitably_heroic]

Why would a music class meet in the Danger Shop? Well, hopefully the creative and wide assortment of musical instruments sitting in one corner of the vast white void of the Danger Shop provided an answer.

There were tables and chairs, too, of course. And two teachers. The dark-haired one wore a t-shirt that read Sepultura if you put enough effort into figuring out what the stylized lettering meant, and was leaning against the desk - the last remaining puzzle piece of the space. “Hi,” Atton said. “Welcome to the only class I’ve ever given that I’m not planning to be a hard-ass about.” Whether he would succeed? Well, time would tell. “This semester, we’re going to try and give you guys a broad background on music in general, but I expect you to branch out when you leave us.”

He crossed his arms. “So. Music class. Is it about making music, or is it about other people’s music? We figured both would be a good idea. Because if I hear something great, I think about how I might be able to do that, and I figure there’s at least some of you who might feel the same. But that doesn’t mean there’s any shame if you decide you don’t want to. The instruments are optional.”

( We want you to feel something, class. )

Teamwork, Wednesday, January 10, 2024

[sith_happened]

Instead of just Anakin in his Jedi robes for class this week, there were two robed figures in the front of the class. Standing as far away from each other as they could without thinking it looked really obvious.

(It looked really obvious.)

"Welcome to Teamwork," Anakin began, mental shields up as high as he could keep them and the blandest, fakest smile on his face. "I'm Anakin Skywalker, and this is my former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano. We're here to teach you about working together."

Going great so far. 10/10.

Ahsoka's shields were equally high, and her smile equally bland. "We're also going to cover the importance of being able to trust in your teammates," she said, absolutely and remarkably not pointedly. "It can be the difference between success and failure."

Failures like being horribly murdered by clones who were supposed to be protecting you! Anakin wasn't bringing that up. "But it's only the first week, so let's start with introductions. Give us your name and what you think is the best characteristic of yourself that you bring to a team."

Or having to murder those mind-controlled clones to avoid being horribly killed by them, which Ahsoka wasn't bringing up either. "It doesn't need to be flashy, the ability to recognise you can't do everything on your own is an underrated skill."

One that Anakin one hundred percent did not possess. It was fine. So fine. What a fun class this would be! "Or the ability to adapt to a situation as it happens, and not be bound by a static plan."

Some might call that "inability to follow directions."

"Or landing a starship." Way harsh, Ahsoka.

"But we're not going to stand here and give you all the good ideas," Anakin decided. "Come up with some of your own. Starting with--" he pointed to someone in the back of the room, "--you."