8/15 Instance: The Leaning Tower of Babel

[Saint Kurt]

Classroom - after classes
This instance takes place in WagnerTime.


Angel : Angel sat down, scrolling through the calls on her cell phone. Alex, Betta, Scott's mom, Megs... The wedding fun never ended.

Elizabeth : Tripping into the room, Lizzie sat down and closed her eyes, tempted to plop on Angel's lap...

Cessily: Cessily strolled in, playing around with her mp3-player. She raised her head and looked around, spotting Angel. Letting out in inaudible sigh, she pulled herself together, walked over to Lizzie and Angel and sat down, giving both a kind smile. "Hey."

Elizabeth : "Hey Cess," she replied, keeping her eyes closed. Ooooh. Tired. Informal session. Rest!

Talia: Talia walked by the classrooms, hearing some voices in one. This must have been where it was. She sighed a bit, shifting Johnny to her other arm, before heading in. "Hey, have any of you seen Remy??"

Angel : Angel looked up. "Buon giorno!" She grinned at Cess and then leaned over to peer at Lizzie. "You okay?"

Elizabeth : Leaning into Angel, her eyes still closed she nodded and slumped on her friend's shoulder. "Yep. Didn't sleep much..."

FrWagner: Kurt looked into the classroom and was surprised by the number of people who had actually showed up. He walked in and set his briefcase down on the desk. It was so nice not to have that stupid cane anymore. He still had the limp, but as soon as they let him actually exercise properly, he was sure it would go away.

Angel : "Nah, I haven't, Teej." She told the other girl, plopping a friendly arm around Lizzie. "Well, tell Warren ya need your beauty rest and his hand works just fine." She giggled.

FrWagner: "Hallo," Kurt said. He rummaged in his case for a moment, trying to ignore the discussion, and then looked up.

Talia: Johnny whined a bit, and she joggled him. "I just wanted him to watch him for this thing...but I can't find him," she said with a shrug. "I guess I shouldn't like..wait til last minute, right?" she took a seat with him, handing him his teething toy.

* Northstar smirked, coming in late enough to hear the tail end of Talia's complaint. Trouble in paradise? Sad.

Angel : "Yo, Father Kurt," she chirped, reaching out to pat Johnny's pudgey leg. "He gets bigger every day."

FrWagner: "I guess my email must have been pretty good, since you're all here during your free time," Kurt said.

Elizabeth : Lizzie sat up and fixed Angel with a stare. "With THOSE claws? And no. My fault. I had an ice cream craving..."

FrWagner: He looked over at Angel playing with Johnny and had an urge to do the same thing. He was getting bigger.

Talia: She noticed JP coming in and grimaced, instinctively holding Johnny a bit tighter. She shot Angel a smile. "He does, right? He totally needs new clothes, he's starting to grow out of these."

FrWagner: "So, since as you know I was supposed to be in Germany this year and then I wasn't well enough to teach at the start of the semester, we're trying something new," Kurt said.

Angel : "Awww...." She returned the smile. "We should totally go shopping - I'd like ta get some stuff for Annabell too!" She just wriggled her eyebrows at Lizzie's ice cream comment.

Cessily: "We're just so glad that your staying, Father." Cessily gave him a big grin.

FrWagner: "Danke Cessily," Kurt said.

Talia: "Yeah! Totally!!" TJ replied to Angel. "That'd be fun!!"

FrWagner: "So you got the basics from my little note. This is just to go into detail and see if you're actually interested. It's not a class. Just a discussion to see if my idea is a good one; something you might want to do."

Elizabeth : "It sounds cool to me, Padre..."

Angel : "It's a girl date, yo!" Angel sat back then to listen to Wagner. "Si, Father, this sounds kinda cool... since I've been learnin' about Europe more..."

Cessily: Cessily leaned over to TJ and Angel as she overheard their discussion. "Oooh, could I come, too?"

Cessily: "Yeah, the mail sounded very interesting, Father:" Cessily looked back at Kurt.

FrWagner: Kurt pulled out his old course books from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. "Okay, as you know, I speak a lot of different languages," he said.

Talia: "Yeah, sure!" she told Cess. "If you don't mind baby shopping..."

Talia: She looked up to Wagner. "Wait, this is about Europe or something??"

Cessily: "Oh no, I love it, TJ!" She reassured her. "I've been baby shopping for Johnny with Remy, Kitty and Rachel before. It was much fun, really."

FrWagner: Kurt decided he didn't like standing up there by the board lecturing so, taking his books with him, he sat down at a student desk and motioned everyone to turn theirs so they were all in a circle.

FrWagner: "This is absolutely about Europe," Kurt said smiling.

Northstar: Jean-Paul sighed and turned his desk around. He really didn't want to bother with Wagner, who was as annoying as ever, but it could be useful to pick up a new language. Italian was almost as hot as French, and he had a good track record with Italians.

Elizabeth : "I really need to extend my languages...My agent was saying something about France and Spain..."

Angel : "Sounds great, Cess!" She turned her chair toward Wagner a little. "Si, I hear people speakin' all kinda of languages in Rome... so I wanna learn."

Talia: TJ attempted to turn the desk with Johnny, but gave up, just turning herself. "I don't know like..any other languages."

* Northstar rolled his eyes. The English girl had an agent? Figured. Stuck-up little snob, most likely. Thought she'd survive on her looks.

Cessily: "I love Europe. My family travelled a lot and my parents took as all over the world." She stood up to turn her desk around. "I'd love to go back there and take pictures of all the wonderful places again."

FrWagner: He was sitting a lot closer to Talia and Johnny now. "Hallo, meine geliebt," he said, waving at infant in TJ's arms.

Talia: Johnny laughed at Kurt, before reaching up to grab at TJ's hair. "mamamama!"

Elizabeth : "I know passing French. Enough to get by in class but nothing worth anything in the real world."

Talia: "Ugh! Nooo!" she pulled her hair away, turning him so he couldn't grab again. "I always wanted to go to Europe, but I never got to."

FrWagner: "Okay," Kurt said, leaning forward. "Here is a secret. Though I grew up speaking a lot of different languages, I didn't really know them. In fact, I did not know how to speak in German until I was in my twenties."

FrWagner: "About half of Germany couldn't understand me."

Angel : Angel inwardly squealed at Johnny's 'mama.' Wow... she couldn't wait until it was her turn.

FrWagner: He laughed at Johnny's outburst.

FrWagner: "He's lucky," Kurt said, pointing to him, "the way his mind works right now, he's picking up everything. The words we're speaking, our gestures, everything we do that allows us to ... communicate."

Talia: "Well, he's only good at the one word now," she told him.

Cessily: Cessily looked over to TJ, smiling at Johnny's words. "I still know a bit from high school. My parents insisted that we learn several foreign languages. But it was fun anyway. I loved trying to talk to the people in their language when I was a kid and we were on vacation."

Northstar: Jean-Paul smirked. At this school, he'd pick up a few more choice words pretty soon.

FrWagner: "It's not so easy later on, but it can still be done. After I left Seminary in Munich, I went to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy for diplomacy and part of our program was extensive immersion in language and culture. Since I did not go to school in Germany, I didn't speak the standard German that everyone learns to read and write; I spoke Bavarian, which is a dialect of German that's almost another language all by itself," Kurt explained.

Elizabeth : Lizzie watched the baby stuff, semi interested. Babies...Just not her thing. Johnny was cute as a button, but personally? Nothing was coming out of her and following her for th next five years or so...

Talia: "I never had to learn any other languages," she replied to Cess. "It wasn't like...part of my school.."

FrWagner: "So, I have my old class books, and of course the experience of being there, and so I thought we could emulate that experience here."

Angel : "Sounds cool, yo," she nodded. And it distracted her from the wedding plans...

FrWagner: "And Rome is certainly a place where many of Europe's main languages come together, Angel. It was a good place for me to learn to speak, not only Italian, but French and German as well," Kurt said. "Unfortunately, we don't have Rome here, but we do have me and ... so I'll do my best." He smiled.

Elizabeth : "Yeah. I'll try it out. Sounds like it'll come in useful."

Cessily: "Oh, that would be fun, Father, for sure." Cessily turned to TJ. "Well, it wasn't all part of our school. Our parents actually hired teachers to home school us after regular school."

Talia: "Wow, really?? You had to take school after school??" she shuddered a bit. "That must have sucked!"

FrWagner: "So, here's how it will work," Kurt said. "The focus will not just be on learning three core European languages, but the culture as well. European's have different body language, eating habits, and ways of relating to each other that are different than they are in the U.S."

Angel : Angel had to agree with that. She only stayed after school in those days for drama club and rehearsals...

Cessily: "Well, kinda. It wasn't all that bad, some things were pretty interesting." She smirked. "My siblings got it worse. As the youngest I had more liberties and could actually sneak out often enough to do my own thing."

* Northstar smirked. Notably, the Europeans were more hands-on. It wasn't always a bad thing.

FrWagner: "I went through some college level language text books and I though they all... what's the word? They all sucked," Kurt said.

Angel : Angel couldn't help but giggle. "You work that word, Padre!"

FrWagner: Kurt laughed and then went on. "Hence, this meeting. I'll have to make copies of my Academy texts and occasionally write my own. I need to know who's interested for true."

Talia: "So its like..to learn languages?"

FrWagner: "And there will be some extra work outside of class. We'll probably go out to eat a few times, see some films, that kind of thing."

FrWagner: "And yes, by the end of the year you should be proficient enough in French, German, and Italian that when we visit those countries, you'll be able to get by," he said.

Talia: Hmm..she wasn't sure about that. "I dunno if I can..."

Elizabeth : "Oh, there are some great films in French! I watch subtitled versions but it'd be nice not to."

FrWagner: "Fluency comes with time and practice," Kurt said. "But there were Americans who, after a year, I could hold conversations with in Italian, French, or German. None of them spoke anything but English when they entered."

Angel : "I'm in," she nodded, sitting up and rufflng her wings. It was interesting, and she should know more languages...right? She was supposed to head up the intel group...

Elizabeth : "Going to the countries helps as well as you kind of get thrown in at the deep end."

FrWagner: "And remember, we were also learning Latin at the same time. Along with our additional training to become diplomats," Kurt said. "Which is in a sense what this class should put you on the path towards - diplomatic relations with cultures beyond those here in this country."

Angel : "I've picked up kinda decent Italian in just a year," she said. "And if I can do it, anybody can, yo!"

Talia: She bit her lip. It sounded so cool...but..."Well, when would we do this though?"

Cessily: "That sounds fantastic to me, Father." Cessily beamed at him. "I'd love to do that. That seems to be so much more fun than many of the other classes."

Northstar: Jean-Paul leaned back and didn't comment. It wouldn't be all bad, and it'd be amusing to mess with the Father. He had to remember to bring cigarettes next time.

Elizabeth : "Oh, my brother taught me some Latin! They had to learn it at his school!" Lizzie pipped up. "Probably can't remember much though!"

Cessily: "Hm, yeah, we also had to learn some Latin. I still have some of the books at home and at my grandparents place."

FrWagner: "It should be really fun," Kurt agreed.

FrWagner: "You've been in my classes. You know I don't like textbooks or a lot of tests. Most of the grade here will be participation based. Coming to class and speaking will be your real work - nothing I can assign to do outside of class will be even half as useful."

Talia: "But then, when are classes??"

FrWagner: "That's a good question," Kurt said. "All of you have different schedules. I'm going to have to find a time when everyone can meet."

Talia: She looked down at Johnny. "Well....it's not just my schedule.." she started. "I only really have free time when Remy's not in class too..."

Elizabeth : "That's alright.My timetable isn't so heavy this year."

* Northstar smirked. Good luck with that... and it sounded like he was one of those "subjective" graders. If participation was what counted, he wasn't going to do so hot. Well, he wouldn't do so hot if it was grades, either, come to think of it...

FrWagner: "What I'm thinking right now, is that we'll meet everyday, at least for an hour," Kurt said. "And if I can arrange it, we may meet twice. And since I'm the professor if we need to ... uh, babysit during class... we can."

Cessily: "I'll have to see when I can find the time." Cessily pondered. "I have to do most of the classes the first semesters have to do because I missed most of it last year. And now there's also the team I have to train for."

Talia: She sighed. "Well..I don't know if I like the idea of bringing Johnny to classes," she shot a quick look at Jean Paul. "What if I missed some??"

Northstar: Jean-Paul smiled beatifically. What, was she afraid he was going to teach the baby French obscenities?

Cessily: "Oh yeah, we could have Johnny here in class. That would be lovely. And he'd pick up all the new languages that way. We can all help you take care of him, TJ."

FrWagner: "So, the key here is ... doing rather than studying. You won't have a lot of homework. At most you'll be reviewing vocabulary outside of class. The real work will be done together. Nothing can replace the value of actually speaking in foreign languages when you are learning."

Northstar: OK, so he probably would. That wasn't the point.

Angel : Angel saw the glance to Jean Paul. "Aww, we can watch out for Johnny, Teej. Half his aunties are in here with ya!" And grandpa... which was still weird.

FrWagner: "If you're really interested Talia, I'm sure we can figure something out," Kurt said.

Talia: "Ok, well..." she stopped. "I'm in I guess...I have to talk to Remy first to make sure though..."

FrWagner: "So, to sum up: participation based class with field trips. At the end, if I can arrange it - we'll have a very big field trip to Europe." Kurt said.

Talia: Her eyes widened. Europe?? WOW!

Angel : She perked up at that, grinning and looking around at the others. "I think I gotta favorite new class!"

* Northstar raised an eyebrow. OK, that could be fun. Euro twinks were even more fun than American twinks.

Elizabeth : Lizzie tried to hide her amusement. Big feild trip to Europe....Cause that wasn't new to her...

FrWagner: "Here is one thing I know about being a 'polyglot' - which is the word for someone who speaks several languages, if you don't use them, you will lose them."

FrWagner: "For years I spoke very fluent Russian, but as I don't speak it as much now, I'm rusty. Learning this way and then not going to Europe would be foolish. And our goal will be to do more than just converse, but to blend in," Kurt explained.

FrWagner: "It's not just a language class, it's a class about culture as well."

FrWagner: "Do you know where my new office is?" Kurt asked.

Cessily: Cessily nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that makes sense. And I'm really looking forward to this, it sounds just too good." She chuckled. "But I don't really blend in, even if I speak the language perfectly."

Cessily: "Oh, you got a new office? No, I don't know, where is it?"

Angel : "Aww, blendin' is overrated," she buzzed her wings. "Ya get one with a locking door this time, Father?" She grinned at him.

Elizabeth : "It always did lock. We just broke the locks so much...Well. There wasn't a point to them."

FrWagner: "Well, I never did blend in myself..." Kurt said.

FrWagner: "And yes it has locks, except they don't work because there's glue in them. Oh, and it came with a full set of desk supplies! All glued down to the desk of course..." Kurt said.

Cessily: Cessily simply looked at him understandingly and smiled.

FrWagner: "I have switched offices with Dr. Farouk it appears," Kurt admitted.

Talia: She began to think a bit about blending in, looking down at Johnny. Would she be able to bring him to Europe?? She couldn't possibly go without him...

FrWagner: "So, I'll have a sign up sheet outside my office. Once I see how large the class is, I can start making arrangements for a classroom and then for our trip."

Elizabeth : Lizzie snorted. Trademark work with the glue there...

Angel : Angel blinked. Glue? "Si, I'll see if Scott wants to sign up. I'll poke him till he does."

Elizabeth : "I can ask Warren...He might want to if he isn't too busy with work."

FrWagner: "That would be excellent. The larger the class is, the better it will be," Kurt said.

Northstar: Jean-Paul decided it just may not be a bad idea. All the talk of picking locks... and they seemed to know something about the glue the teacher didn't... these people could be mildly amusing.

Talia: "I'll...." she stopped. "I'll do it," she added tentatively.

FrWagner: Kurt stood up, slightly stiff from sitting at the smaller desk. "So it sounds like you are all interested then?" he asked.

Northstar: And it'd stretch him creatively to find something to annoy Father Wagner every session... he sat back with a twisted smile and began to think of the possibilities...

Cessily: "I'm certainly in. And oh, yeah, I'll go and ask the others if they're interested. I'm sure this is be something Kitty would be interested in."

Cessily: ((*-be))

Angel : "Sì, li vedrò nel codice categoria, professore!"

Elizabeth : "Oui, Monsieur."

FrWagner: "A Presto, then." Kurt said.

FrWagner: "Classes should start next week. So I'll get you syllabi and some texts before then."

* Northstar shrugged. "Sûr."

Cessily: "Shiny! I'll be there."

FrWagner: "We'll work on one language at a time in class so we don't sound like the tower of babel in here, but you'll be learning all three at once so ... don't worry if it's a little confusing at first." Kurt said, putting his books back into his breifcase.

Talia: Three at once? That was nuts!

FrWagner: "So, sign up so I have a list and... Ich freue mich auf Ihre baldige Antwort." he said smiling.

Talia: She felt a bit of wet on her arm, and noted Johnny had fallen into a drooly sleep. Well, maybe she could put him down for a nap for a while!

FrWagner: "Lebewohl, meine Geliebt," he said, putting his hand gently on Johnny's head for a moment as he walked out.

Elizabeth : "Bye, Padre," Lizzie called as she decided to go back to sleep...

Cessily: "See you, Father." Cessily called.

[Edited on 15/8/2007 by Saint Kurt]

[tears~fall~like~glass]

......glue?

[Edited on 26/8/07 by tears~fall~like~glass]