But I had a funny moment on Thursday, which happened to be my birthday as well as the start of the new semester. I walked into the 9:00 French class I’ll be taking every day this semester and sat down. Yes, I’m taking a class with students who are of the same age I normally teach. Apparently I registered this fact on my person somehow, whether it was the bloom of the new year that I showed in my complexion, or something that cried “wisdom and experience” in my countenance. Or maybe I just looked appropriately cranky. At any rate, the student who entered the room next made a beeline for me as soon as he entered and asked if I were the teacher. So much for hiding out among the natives . . .
Erin
Alan Schmierer
I took a low level undergrad class last year and I felt SO OLD! Kathryn and I counted the number of brunettes… there were only 3. The rest were all blond, wore PINK sweat pants, and ugg boots all semester long. I showed up one day in a suit and they all stared at me like, “ew, a suit? its not even cute, its just black…”
It was a *really* weird experience… but kind of amusing 🙂
You were a)wearing a skirt b)shoes appropriate to the skirt c)carrying your usual minimalistic 2.1 items and d)in addition to looking cranky, looked organized and authoritative. What do you expect??!!
Not true. Black pants (it was cold), sandals, and a huge bag plus computer. But since the instructor was in sandals, jeans, a messy ponytail, and a t-shirt, I’m not sure clothes would be the most useful way to distinguish teacher from student. Ithaca style is really a world unto its own . . .
Erin