Back to School!

I have a paper due on Monday that I'm having a bit of writer's block with, so I've done the following things to avoid writing it: cleaned the living room, tried on some cute fall outfits, did dishes (that's not even my chore!), shaved my legs, put Snakes on a Plane on my Netflix queue, and let's not even get into the mindless internet browsing. And now here I am writing a blog. I swear, once I'm done with this blog, I'll finish my paper...

I've been back in class for just over a week, and while I'm really glad that it's that time of year again, I had a bit of a bumpy start. Here's a chronological rundown of what's happened so far:

Last Wednesday: I head to my first class, which is Spanish. Last year, I had the same Spanish professor and classmates (for the most part) who I really liked (for the most part) both semesters. He is not teaching the 200 level, so I had to find a new professor. So heading to my new class is quite like that first date after a divorce. I get there 10 minutes early, and wait and wait and wait, and the teacher never shows! 25 awkward minutes after the class was supposed to start, my new classmates and split. I've been stood up! On my first date since the divorce!

Next I go to my Anthropology class. It's time for class to start: no teacher. 5 minutes go by: no teacher. 10 minutes go by: no teacher. I'm wondering WTF is going on and contemplating leaving due to my earlier trauma, when the teacher strolls in 12 minutes late. No explanation or apology. She then proceeds to go over the syllabus, which stresses her super-strict attendance policy, and how if we're late, we will be asked to leave. Um, what? Throughout the entire class, she seemed to be trying to intimidate us and scare us into dropping the class. She then assigned 2 chapters plus online quizzes due before the next class and 7 articles in a packet with questions due at the beginning of the next class. It was like she was a gorilla asserting dominance and we were getting our own little primatology lesson. Disclaimer: I was sick and grouchy.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out this online math class, what with all the newfangled technology (that's probably been around forever) of connecting your graphing calculator to you computer. I think I finally figured it out. I've taken several online courses, and this teacher is by far the best online teacher I have had. In my experience, they load you up with work and send you on your own, and their only real presence is to give you a grade. This fills me with suspicion even though I always get good grades. This professor is really involved, though, and has created all kinds of documents to walk us through all the different areas on the online platform, as well as our calculators and other things. I give her two thumbs up.

Monday I go back to my Spanish class, wondering if we have a teacher since she didn't contact us after not showing up. It turns out we do, and she didn't know she had the class until Saturday. I guess that's a pretty good reason not to show up. Consequently, she is completely unprepared. We spend the class doing review of really basic Spanish that, let's be honest, anyone in this level of Spanish couldn't possibly NOT know. I don't like her. I chalk it up to her being unprepared and hope for the best.

Next I go to my Literature class called Minority Voices. A kid who is in my Spanish class is also in this class, and we sit together. I try to get him to trash talk our Spanish teacher with me, alas, he is far too diplomatic. Once class starts, it becomes clear that this will be my favorite class. I like English classes in general, but I am happy to find out that the professor is hilarious, and the material is really interesting (one short story we are reading for our first assignment is a David Sedaris story!). At the end of our break he asks if we're done sexting yet, and continues to cracks these sorts of jokes throughout the night.

Wednesday I go to Spanish yet again, and the teacher shows up dressed like a hooker. Seriously, she was wearing the shortest skirt and these patterned tights, and the main thing I was thinking of throughout the class was whether or not she was going to flash her hoo-ha every time she sat down. I was like, do you think you're at a bar right now? Despite giving it my most optimistic shot, I just don't like this professor. I'm not sure why.  I hope that as the semester goes on, I grow to like her more because it would be really depressing to not like the only class related to my major.

Anthropology class number two brings all kinds of hope. The professor had relaxed a lot, and it turns out is actually quite likable. Even though she gave us tons of homework, she did a really great lecture on the material, so I forgive her. Plus, a little while into class, I realized a friend of mine who I used to work with at Borders is in the class, which is exciting.

So, so far 3 of my 4 professors are awesome, my schedule is awesome, and this is shaping up to be a really great semester. Yay!