It's not just reading the plays!

"O this learning. What a thing it is!" -- William Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew I.ii.159

It's very late. Every day starts at 7am and ends anywhere between 5 and 9. Today was 9. It's not bad. And by that I mean it's not a bad experience. I mean, I signed up to work, really. It's just a lot of work. Here's the typical day:

8.45-9.00 - Homeroom. Yes. I'm not kidding. Announcements, schedule, etc.

9.00-10.00 - Lecture. It's always a Shakespearean scholar. It's usually a wonderful lecture and discussion. We, the students, usually end up talking about them all day.

10.15 - 11.30 - Seminar. We sit in smaller groups with one of the scholars to discuss the lecture, and a variety of other topics dealing with the play, this week it's The Taming of the Shrew. Always interesting, even if the scholar does not have much to add. The conversations usually end up spurring some sort of talk, ie. gossip, for the rest of us throughout the day.

11.30 - 12.30 - Lunch. Usually more gossip.

12.30 - 3.00 - This period varies between performance, curriculum development, and earlier in the week, a tour of the library. That was fun. We got to look at quartos and folios from the 17th century. And a few books from the 15th c.

3.00 - 3.30 - Tea. Yes tea. We actually have tea. There are no scones, but there are cookies. Again, much gossip, and some discussion of the activities.

3.30 - 5.00 - If there wasn't curriculum, or performance for the group there is now.

After 5.00 - Movies, baseball games, theatre. There are a variety of events that take place after hours. Most are required, others are not. These are fun, for the most part, so far. Today was a film of Taming. I've seen it, but now, having experienced the lectures and the close readings of the play, I was able to get more out of the movie.

I'm loving it so far. Sounds cliche, or nerdy or whatever you want to call it, but it's what I wanted. It's 25 people sitting around talking about Shakespeare, and teaching it as well as our own experiences, besides Shakespeare, in the classroom. It's really what I wanted it to be. I've developed a circle of friends already, but the door is open for others to come, but if no one else does, I'll really be happy with the ones I've made.

More later. It's freakin' late.

Mahalo