dream.20080708: pedagogy
¶ by Rob FrieselTo get there on time we need to leave on time. But how can we leave into that dark cold winter night without being properly equipped. Everyone else rushed to the door, cavalierly donning whatever barely warm-enough coats they could find. I took my time, plowing through the closet to find my warmest coat. The one with the orange liner. Everyone is telling me to hurry up. Even having found the coat, I still struggle to find the hood; it has become detached somehow and is missing. I continue to dig through the closet despite their protests. “Let’s just go OK!” But what foolishness is that? Finally, I find the hood but it’s too small, like it’s shrunk in the wash.
We walk onward into the night. There is a party where we’re expected. We walk through campus greens. When we arrive, I follow one of my mates into the house and right into the bedroom of our host. I do not know any of these people. They are all lying on the floor watching football on television. Our host (however) reclines on his bed which is somehow too large for the campus environment. After a moment or two, I recognize his face. J.S.? He acknowledges me with a tone hinting at disdain, asks if I’m a sinner.
I leave the party almost immediately, realizing that I am late for … class? The building goes on forever. A monstrosity. Many buildings have fused into one, connected by hallways, gangways, breezeways, cloisters, terrariums… After enough turned corners, I find myself so deep into the super-structure that there are no more windows. The only light is the buzzing of the fluorescents. I do not arrive at any classroom on time. The professors all seems to expect it. “No one finds it right on the first day.” The stairs wind up in squared-off coils, too many steps between floors, or else too few. Or else they’re too steep or terminate abruptly. Many hallways are too narrow. They have jammed in residences where there might only have been room enough for service closets. There isn’t a single map anywhere.
Leave a Reply