Tired of explaining things to the virgins?

Classes and lectures seem to be getting under way finally here in Londinium. Yesterday was Crisis Decision Making, where I began to really wonder about organisation here - a seminar sign-up sheet the profs handed out took a whopping two hours to circle the room. Not the best laid out sign-up sheet. I thrive on chaos theory and disorganisation, but that did surprise me a little bit.

The first one today was the Politics of Islam - man is that a long reading list. It'll be interesting, and timely - "the great cultural divide of our time" - and all that. But it's the other course which began today that I have really high hopes for. Sex, Race and Slavery. Bring it on. The prof has the perfect dry English humour and understates everything even as he's giggling at his own jokes at the lectern. It was originally an undergraduate course but apparently he "got tired of explaining things to the virgins". "I hope that none of you have any - um - hang ups," he told us, adding an anecdote about an essay written by "quite a gay little chap" which was being discussed in class - the prof turned to a Muslim girl to ask what she thought and she replied, "I don't care, they should all have their heads cut off!". Naturally he was a bit taken aback and had to make some effort to steer her back to the history discussion they were in fact having.

In about ten minutes he also noted the theory that a homosexal army is the perfect army, because a) the soldiers don't want to look weak in front of their lovers and b) they would die for their lovers. When such an army was created in Thebes - the Golden Army - the theory proved true, they kicked everyone's asses. As wars were fought in Ancient Greece for pretty much the sole purpose of preventing other nation states from killing you and taking your women and children as slaves, this meant that gays were preventing slavery. That compared to today, where the descendant of slaves - Colin Powell - is dead set against gays in the military.

Thoughts, Bermuda Regiment?

And Race, Violence and Colonial Rule in Africa is still yet to come. I have high hopes for that one also.

In the meantime the Desperate Dance to Make Friends continues. A little shell-shocked from living in a student residence again (it's Trinity all over again, right down to the tables in the dining hall. I have regressed nine years) I made less than no effort last week, instead enjoying the company of fellow Bermudians. Now the fellow Bermudians have abandoned me and in a sad attempt to fill the hole in my life I have signed up for: rowing, hockey, swimming, climbing, the cooking club, the wine society, a south african charity project, squash, the book club, the volunteering society, yoga, ballroom dancing, and the women's network. Plans to continue Spanish courses and learn French are also in the works, while I am printing out the list of different lectures on at school this year to make sure I can attend the interesting ones.

I don't even know what the women's network is, I just signed up to it because Fellow Bermudian Stephen N signed up to it, and I am dying to see all the women's reactions to him.

Something tells me I may not be keeping up with all these commitments.

Just imagine if I did, though. What a super fit, sexy, well-rounded and accomplished young lady I would be!