First Day Of Classes This Semester

Well, it was quite the first day of class. I did a bit of the dress up for the first day of class thing, which was somehow a bit confidence inspiring for myself. It felt very good to be back with the minyan here, and then breakfast was pleasant- rather nice not to have to rush. Getting back into Talmud class I felt a little overwhelmed and a little out of practice- that's the problem with new skills, no matter how much they're built up over a semester or so, they get rusty much faster than ones that have been worked in for a long time, and the confidence level just isn't as strong. I'm sure I'll settle back into it and things will go well. But I really want to develop my skills in this, and not disappoint my teacher, so- there's a bit of internal pressure. I went to a remarkably well attended lunch-and-learn on Morroccan Jewry, where the speaker was really enthusiastic, but a bit hard to understand, due to language issues, tangents and general enthusiasm getting in the way of content. Hebrew was very giggly- it seems like it'll be more of the same, but with generally good interpersonal energy. And then the course in Nevi'im Rishonim seems like it'll be really worthwhile, but will take a good chunk of work.

This evening I was really a bit jittery for a while, so I spent well over an hour finishing the kippah I started on Sunday night and worrying if it would turn out the right size or not. It came out a bit large, but it does fit- so I'll try it for a while and see how it suits. If not, I'll find someone to give it to, although I can imagine that a hand-made kippah would be a difficult thing to give as a random gift. So- we'll see.

But afterwards I was still sort of jittery, and zodiacmg was online, so I figured I should use the jitters for something, and I got back in touch. We're still talking- but so far it's been pretty non-threatening.

And tommorrow for community time we've been told to bring musical instruments. This should be an adventure...

First Day Of Classes This Semester

Well, it was quite the first day of class. I did a bit of the dress up for the first day of class thing, which was somehow a bit confidence inspiring for myself. It felt very good to be back with the minyan here, and then breakfast was pleasant- rather nice not to have to rush. Getting back into Talmud class I felt a little overwhelmed and a little out of practice- that's the problem with new skills, no matter how much they're built up over a semester or so, they get rusty much faster than ones that have been worked in for a long time, and the confidence level just isn't as strong. I'm sure I'll settle back into it and things will go well. But I really want to develop my skills in this, and not disappoint my teacher, so- there's a bit of internal pressure. I went to a remarkably well attended lunch-and-learn on Morroccan Jewry, where the speaker was really enthusiastic, but a bit hard to understand, due to language issues, tangents and general enthusiasm getting in the way of content. Hebrew was very giggly- it seems like it'll be more of the same, but with generally good interpersonal energy. And then the course in Nevi'im Rishonim seems like it'll be really worthwhile, but will take a good chunk of work.

This evening I was really a bit jittery for a while, so I spent well over an hour finishing the kippah I started on Sunday night and worrying if it would turn out the right size or not. It came out a bit large, but it does fit- so I'll try it for a while and see how it suits. If not, I'll find someone to give it to, although I can imagine that a hand-made kippah would be a difficult thing to give as a random gift. So- we'll see.

But afterwards I was still sort of jittery, and zodiacmg was online, so I figured I should use the jitters for something, and I got back in touch. We're still talking- but so far it's been pretty non-threatening.

And tommorrow for community time we've been told to bring musical instruments. This should be an adventure...