Plants: Thursday Period One

[mylandmyrules]

Nell waited for the class at Portalocity today where she'd handwavily told them to meet. "Good morning, everyone," she said when they'd all arrived. "Today we're heading to one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.

"Kew Gardens in England is a UNESCO World Heritage site with over 50,000 living plants." Pretty much a dream for Nell. "We'll be visiting Temperate House, which is the world's largest greenhouse. It's home to 1,200 species of plants from all over the world. There are over 3,000 plants including some from remote places such as St. Helens and Pitcairn Island.

"You can check out the loneliest plant in the world and a plant grown from a 203 year old seed. After that we'll check out Kew's Kitchen Garden before heading over to try some of those vegetables and fruits at the Botanical Brasserie."

She smiled at them. "It's a lot to see, so let's get going."

Treat Yourself, Thursday, Period 2

[deathsmajesty]

Handwavy messages had gone out during the week once again informing students that today's class had a massage component and suggested people wear clothing that they would be comfortable getting a massage in, whether that was stripping down to their undergarments, bathing suits, or wearing some kind of thin, base layer that a masseuse could work through, or but reminding people that because this was a class, some kind of clothing did need to be worn. Additionally, it suggested giving some thought to any instructions that they should pass along to their masseuse, providing examples such as: places to focus on, places to avoid, preferred amounts of pressure, scents or textures to avoid, etc. And, lastly, it contained a reminder that an alternate exercise was available for those who wished to forego the massage, but asked that those who were hesitant to undergo a new experience to at least try it, before reiterating that anyone who chose to skip it were free to do so, with no questions asked.

On the day of class, they once more met up at Theodoric's, though when they entered, they were shown into a small waiting area, full of plush sofas and chairs, soft instrumental music playing in the background, and cups of cucumber water for them to drink. Liliana was already lounging on a low couch with a glass of water when they entered. ( 'Cause I get chills every time that you / Almost touch me )

"And so many people find themselves in something of a catch-22; wanting and needing that touch from others, not wanting to admit that there is something that they need from someone else and many people are raised with the concept that absolute self-reliance is the ideal to strive towards, and all the while being wary of the dangers inherent in obtaining that touch. There are, of course, ways to work around this; the most effective - though I do not say easiest - is to find a person or persons that you trust and care about who are not generally touch-averse, or, at least, do not seem to be with you, and having an open and honest conversation about consent for touch and touching, as well as physical and emotional boundaries around what kind of touching is allowed and welcome. Even just sitting close enough to someone that your sides touch, or engaging in hugs that last ten seconds or longer can soothe some of that skin hunger. There are programs that look for volunteers to come interact with elderly, infant, and other infirm people to make sure they are getting enough touch, which also will help you in that capacity as well. And then we have massage, a supposed 'self-indulgence,' that puts you in the position of being touched by a professional, in the exact manner of your choosing. As we've discussed before, indulgence is the opposite of deprivation, so it might certainly feel like indulgence after so long of not being touched at all, but once your needs have become properly regulated, it will start to feel like what it really ought to be - maintenance for your continued well-being...aka, self-care."

Wine & Dine: Pairing Fine Food with Fine Wine in Fine Countries; Thursday, 4th Period [07/25].

[chef_chocobro]

"This week," Ignis announced as everyone gathered outside of Portalocity as usual, "we'll be doing something a little bit different. Not so much in structure, but in type. So far, we've focused on classic wines that derive from grapes, but today, we'll be exploring wines made from something a little different: rice and plums. Now, those of you more familiar with Earth may already know that I'm speaking of sake and umeshu, which means you have already guessed that we wil be heading to Japan. Specifically, the Ozawa Brewery in Ome City, in the western part of Tokyo.

"Once we've arrived, we will settle in for a small overview on the proper ways to drink sake and preferred methods for enjoying umeshu, along, of course, with foods to compliment them both, and then you'll have the rest of the class to enjoy the gardens, museum, or brewery further if you so choose."

And so, without any further to add at the moment and the portal ready, let them be off to their destination.

Build-A-Crumbler Workshop; Thursday, Fifth Period [07/25].

[special_rabbit]

"Well," said Amaya, with a nod, and she held up a hand to start ticking things off her fingers, "so far, we've talked about the base of your Crumbler and worked on our chassis, and then we talked about powering our Crumbler, and various kind of motors and engines, and today we're going to talk about steering your Crumbler!"

And, oh, boy, were they ever going to talk about steering!

"Now, I'll be honest," Amaya concluded, after...all of that. "I personally prefer to steer my Crumbler in the most manual way there is, and that's with these," she held up her arms, giving those blacksmith's biceps a proud little pat, "but I know now everyone's part of that pushing prowess! And, besides, even if you don't want a mechanical steering for your Crumbler, they're still really fun to work with, so we're going to spend the rest of the class working on building a small steering system so you can see how they work and how you might want to apply it to your own Crumbler. Anything you'd like to go over before I start showing you how?"