When I was an undergrad I remember having difficulty scheduling time to shower, much less to do all of the reading and writing for all of my classes. Then things calmed down and I forgot what that was like. Then when I started graduate school I remembered again. Then grad school calmed down and I forgot again.
And now, because I took on extra teaching hours for a few weeks, I am teaching so many hours a week that I barely have time to prepare my lessons, much less eat/sleep/shower. I am not kidding. It's a good thing my man is all the way in Hong Kong! Like a PC perilously close to crashing, I am running in safety mode. Last week I taught the Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and the Odyssey-- none of which I had read in their entirety, much less taught, until very recently. This week it's been the Odyssey, the Canterbury Tales, and a lecture, with slides, on Greek Art. When a student complained the other day about the amount of reading they have to balance with going on trips to the ballet and Burgundy, you can imagine how wryly I smiled. I never imaged, when I was in college, that my professors were as overloaded as I was.
Next week it's the Ramayana and Shakespeare's Sonnets. And then, finally, finally, my teaching schedule will revert to usual, I can go back to eating (cooking even!), sleeping (more than 6 hours a night!) and showering (might even wash my hair!). And next year, if I teach this class again, the prep will already be done, and I'll breeze through on my notes from this year. But next year is so far away...
Take care of yourself! I know what its like to be so busy... usually the first thing to go is the housework. You have quite a roster of books to teach... I love the Odyssey...
Posted by: Daily Connoisseur | October 15, 2009 at 06:09 AM
When I was an undergrad I don't remember finding time to actually go to any of the lectures or do any of the assignments. I'm not proud of that, but there was so much else to do!
Posted by: Adam | October 16, 2009 at 11:00 PM
I can definitely identify with your post- thanks to a lack of grocery shopping and cooking time, though, my husband and I discovered lots of great Parisian restaurants while in grad school!
Posted by: Joy | October 21, 2009 at 05:39 PM
You said Ramayana- Well, that set me on a nostalgic trip while I was strumming through its metres as part of my doctorate in Sanskrit Historical Narratives { Published 2004 as "Unveiling Ajit Singh's Sanskrit Biography"
Lemme know if you come across any stumbling blocks in your skirmishes in Oriental studies.
Posted by: Sanjay | October 26, 2009 at 06:50 AM
great post. thanks for this. I really need something like this.
Posted by: newbie | November 10, 2009 at 12:40 PM