Four weeks in, and this is starting to feel somewhat normal. I started writing this blog from the point of view of an outsider, but I don't feel so much like an outsider anymore. I must say I am truly impressed by the students around me.  The best term I've been able to think of for them is "civilized." They are polite, not only to me, but to one another.  They hold doors open, not only for me, but for one another.  Always.  Every time, every day.  They will wait a few seconds for an approaching student to reach the door, much longer than I would expect.  They are surprisingly quiet.  A throng of students will be crossing the pedestrian bridge between East and West campus (pics below), and one only hears a murmur of conversation.  They are rarely loud, rarely boisterous.  If there is a loud group everyone turns to look, as though they were hearing something unusual that needs to be checked on. They are happy, they are tolerant, they are busy, they are adults attending one of the best colleges in the country.

Early morning, walking toward the bridge.  The harbor is in the distance to the left.

The pedestrian bridge from West Campus to East Campus.

View from the pedestrian bridge.  Pacific and palm trees.

Leaving the bridge heading for East Campus.

Morton Bay Fig tree on East Campus in the early morning sun.

My geography classroom.  I was in this same room back in the 80's for geology.
 This is the only class I have on East Campus.

The pedestrian bridge looking toward West Campus.

Week One - New Surroundings, New Classes, New Friends?

Santa Barbara City College is perched on two hills overlooking a popular surfing beach, the harbor, and the city.   Here is a short video I shot the first day of classes, panning from the beach to the library, near the building where I have most of my classes.

All but one of my classes are in the Interdisciplinary Center, or IDC, on West Campus.  This is a convenient location near the bus stop, parking, the Luria Library, and a snack shop.

The IDC

Room 211 - Both of my history classes are here.

It is odd to sit in a classroom again, and I am still very much aware of the decades separating these new students and myself.  I did think I had spotted another student of my generation, another white-haired woman, waiting for the first session of my Western Civilization class to begin.  I plopped down in the desk beside her, and with a relieved and eager smile, said "Let's be friends!"  As it turned out, she was simply the mother-in-law of the professor, visiting her daughter, sitting in on one class to watch him teach.

I have, however, had one young student befriend me.  She sat behind me in the first meeting of one of the honors sections, saying "Hi, aren't you in my English class?  Have you started the reading?  Isn't it strange?"  I have hope.

My first day of school.