Ze Mad Rushin’

No, this is not a post about Rasputin, but about the first day of the spring semester, which was today.

I had the first class for three of my four courses today. I’m not sure if it’s just that one of the two office assistants (the less helpful  one, generally speaking) quit last week, but something has left our remaining office staff in a tailspin. I had syllabi for only one of my courses (the others were lost until after the second class had finished), and the attendance sheets are blank in the front, as I’ve never seen them before. (So you can only know what class it is by looking inside.)They’re only tentative attendance sheets, mind you, but it’s still weird.

I’m not slamming the Office Assistant who’s stayed on staff: she’s very clearly overloaded, but I’m just surprised: we haven’t had a semester start off this roughly in years, and it’s not like its beginning was an unexpected ocurrence. We knew school would start March 2nd, it always does, but it looked like most of the preparation that was usually done at the end of the week before was left until today this time around. Maybe it was to catch the late enrollments over the weekend in the attendance sheets? I dunno: I’m puzzled as to where the extra work that’s overloading our Office Assistant is coming from. But she’s definitely busting her butt now!

In any case, the new semester has, with no remorse or trepidation, begun. In all three classes, there were a mixture of familiar and new faces, and one class is particularly huge, which is nice. Several students commented about being disappointed that my Debate course was canceled, to which I could say little else beyond, “Why didn’t you enroll in it, then?” (It was canceled because of insufficient enrollment, but also so I could take over The Course That Dare Not Be Named in the place of a newly-hired prof in another department who backed out at the “last minute.”)

Tomorrow, my fourth course’s first class. That one’s Creative Writing. It’s in the afternoon, so I’m hoping I get some reading and writing done in the morning. I also have a book review to work on, several emails to send out, a class-related website to update, an outing to confirm: I’m meeting another Clarionite — though not a Westie, alas, and not from my year, though I hold neither data point against him — for dinner and beer on March 4th, which is my birthday.

Actually, if any other of you booksy, SF-loving readers here in Korea are not busy Thursday night, and wanna join, and help celebrate my 36-ness, and meet a newcomer who is also an up-and-coming speculative fiction writer, let me know.

(Or if you want to get together on the weekend. I have nothing booked, and a recent publication to celebrate — for more on that, see my next post!)

Wait, am I begging for company this weekend on my blog?

Nah, nah… I would never do that. I have no plans mainly because I’m just back in country, need to sort out my house, and am feeling just lazy enough not to arrange anything. But I wouldn’t be averse to one outing this weekend, if those friends of mine who happen to read this blog feel up for something. I’m just letting them know — in the laziest way possible — that this is the case.

No, really!

3 thoughts on “Ze Mad Rushin’

  1. Happy upcoming Birthday! Writerly get-togethers sound like a fun way to celebrate – wish I could be there! I’ll send you a virtual beer, but it’s just not the same.

    1. Thanks, Tina! Well, I’m likely to send you (and the others) a real beer, so it works out better. Wish you could be here for the get-together too, but ah well, another time. :)

  2. Happy Birthday!

    (I hope I’m not too late where you are. And, oh, yeah, I’m behind on blogs and stuff again….)

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