First Meeting today!

Today was the first of the three lecture classes for the class. So far, the vibe is good.

First, we talked about the actual trip. We discussed clothes, money, travel tips, passports, food, and hotels. Mostly things I had heard already from a family friend who spent some time in England a few years ago, but it was good to hear it from a second source. That took the first two hours, and then we broke for lunch. Most of us went across the street to Moe's and talked while we were there. I hope we can keep the dynamic going for the whole trip, because that was fun and interesting.

After lunch, we talked source texts. The discussion was pretty sparse because most people had not done the reading. This was most likely due to the bookstores neglecting to get them in time. I went on Tuesday and asked after the books to which I got the answer (both places) "Oh, we'll get those with the rest of the Maymester books." I ended up having to order the books online and have them shipped overnight, and I didn't even get them until yesterday. During discussion Arthur was likened to Sauron and Darth Vader, the Saxons were the Borg, and a certain battle was "the photon torpedo into the Death Star" (I won't even get into the fandom crossover there, but it made me laugh). I also made a mention of how historical Arthur seemed to be the Dread Pirate Roberts because so many historical heroes end up masquerading under his name (it's the name that counts here, not the person wearing it). Professors that make sci-fi references and classes that get them: win. The texts were a little cludgy today because we are still discussing origins and everything is in Welsh, but it's still interesting stuff. I did keep thinking "Golden Fighting Machine!" in reference to the BBC show Merlin, but refrained from mentioning it because I don't think I want to discuss its convolution of the Arthur myths with Dr. Gwara just yet.

Just as a side note about this class and the university: the book thing is pretty par for the course with the institutional organization. Everyone involved seems to know what's going on and what needs to be done, but no one wants to tell everyone else. The result is that we keep getting emails that pretty much say "Oh we forgot, you need to submit one more form" or "Oh wait! There's another one!" and "Yeah sorry, we didn't tell you about this fee." Over all, this is just a minor annoyance, but it seems like since they do these trips every year, they'd know what we need up front by now.

I am super excited for this trip and the rest of the classes. I think the group will have a good dynamic once we get to know each other a little better. Mostly we are complete strangers, which I think is good because we will clique off less. I can't wait! It's going to be awesome!