Dylan stared at his laptop for a few moments. He was still alone, and the class had not yet begun. But he was nonetheless nervous. Despite being a teacher for some time now, he had not expected to be accepted when he solicited at Osman. "Well, at least your not back floating in space." He mumbled to himself. The school bell rang, and he saw that he would be teaching a freshmen class.
He pulled open the door, and placed himself next to it. He greeted the students, and the class slowly filled up. When Dylan saw the last student come in, he closed the door behind him, and walked to the front of the whiteboard. With a click, he started his slide-show, projecting above the board. With that, he wrote his name, and turned to the students in front of him.
" Good morning, everyone. My name is Professor Dylan Bjarkmar, but you may call me Dylan if that's convenient for you. I'm 39 years old, was born in Tania, and have only recently relocated here. I was educated in xeno-biology at Kyousou." With that, he clicked to his next slide.
" But, I will be teaching you geography, and geology, but that's another class. During this semester, and hopefully, your entire career here. Allright, let's start with some explanations. First, we must determine, what in essence, we understand with geography."
With that, he took up a map of Kyoto, and held it up. " What most people believe geography is, is the systematic classifying of places and names that make up the physical map. And while that is mostly true, cartography, which is the practice of making maps, is only a small part of geography. Nevertheless, it is an important one. But I believe some of you may have gotten that from Mrs. Ironhart."
Dylan laid down the map again, and quickly clicked to the next slide, showing several mountain formations, rivers, and forests. " If we must truly answer this question, then geography is in its essence the study of natural phenomena and -features. While this different than chemistry, which is studying what those features are made, and physics, which explains how they work. This is why geography is one of the oldest sciences." Dylan clicked to the next slide, showing old paintings of navigators, explorers, and cartographers.
" Since time immemorial, geography has been the basis by which we as a society have attempted to chart what was inside our vicinity. Whether for resources or simply to map the city, nature has been the source of nearly all early science." Dylan. He noticed some of the people in the front were driftingly taking notes, however at the back there was some trouble.
" Second in geography is the study of society. Since one of the phenomenon of nature is our inhabitance of it, culture is the second task of any geographer. You must understand, however, that this does not include social studies or political science. Cultural study can best be described in the field of geography as the 'collection of ideas, values, and norms' of a shared group of people."
Dylan now clicked to one of the more informative slides, showing the courses layout and tasks, as well as the end exam. " The study of culture and nature shall both be our focus this semester. In general, we will be answering two questions that were the centre of early geography, and are still asked today: 'What influences does a ecosphere have?' and 'What is the connection between civilization and nature?' Do not worry, I will not ask you about different kinds of trees. Dr. Beaumont will do so in your biology class."
With that, Dylan clicked to his last slide of part 1. He saw he had already taken up little over 45 minutes. " Very well. Introduction is over. I will have recess of 5 minutes, then let's begin with question 1: ecospheres." Dylan looked at the class, who were physically relieved. Dylan made a physical reminder, and remarked:
" If I'm going to fast, please let me know, okay. And don't worry so much about your notes, I will have the slides online with some personal remarks after the class is over."
The students laid down their pencils, and Dylan sat down at his desk. This is going exceptionally well, Dylan thought. But he had no idea what the students thought of him though.