Bath and First Day of Classes

29 January 2008

I have done much in the past week or so. I went on a trip to the city of Bath. This is where the Romans built fortifications and temples and all sorts of nice buildings to house the geothermal vents to make hot baths that were aimed at healing all sorts of ailments. The town was lovely; it looked like what I have expected of a British city. Small flats lining the streets, busy thoroughfares, and quaint shops along the way kept my brief afternoon visit busy and fun. I found a very neat little Book Exchange. The room was no bigger than a typical dorm room, and books lined the walls and table. It smelled strongly of old books, the slightly dank musty odor found in old novels and catalogs. An extremely ancient man emerged from the back when the bell was struck by the opening door. He commented on the lovely weather and asked if we had any needs. Gwyn and I were just looking, but we looked for nearly a half hour in his tiny shop.

I walked away with a copy of “the first modern compendium on the art of homebrewing” as well as a copy of Casino Royale, Ian Flemings first novel on James Bond. I was happy to buy from the old gentleman, and would be quite happy to go make some exchanges from my own collection, if it were not some 3,000 miles away.

The week has been interesting. Trying to sign up for classes was a real mess. I am used to receiving a schedule listing class names, departments, professors, and most importantly times. Classes started Monday. I got a course module packet Friday. And there were no times or professors listed. We had to walk to each department’s office to seek their approval for entering the class. We then found out when the class was offered. So naturally, when my second class interfered with my first class, I had to go back and amend the first class. The class I really wanted to take, Medieval Castles in Peace and War in Wales conflicted with three other classes I wanted to take. So I gave that up to take a psychology class, which I need to graduate from Wabash, and a class on Renaissance Venice. I also enrolled in World History 1500-1800 and a class on Wales from 1800 to present.

The first day of classes was fine. The Renaissance Venice class seems like it will be interesting, especially since my knowledge of Venice is extremely limited. And based on my prior prejudice against psychology and my first class in it, I think the subject seems wrought with social construction and inaccuracy. But I’ll try to keep a semi-opened mind.