But I just sat there drinkin'

The reassuring smell of fresh pig poop let me know I was back at Prov.

Apparently there was a waiting list for my class this year. They had to move me to a bigger room. The students came to the new room too. Man, you tell a couple of embarassing stories in class (only half of which are true) and people think you're Mr. Fun-pants. *rolls eyes* There are more male students than I've ever had in a class before. There may be more males than females. I don't know what to do with this.

Today was just an introduction to the course and then to Beowulf. I forgot how much I love teaching Beowulf: monsters, knights, arms getting ripped off. Good stuff, kids.

My officemate, Wendy, asked me if I liked cake. "Absolutely," I said, excitedly. People tend not to ask such question if they don't have cake to offer. "Would you like to try this," she asked, handing me a small piece of cake in Saran wrap. "My friends just brought it back from Vietnam. The Vietnamese only make it once a year, on the autumn full moon. I guess it's a pretty big deal."

"Ooooo," I said, intrigued. Fancy, once a year cake!

"It has shark fin in it," she said as I was searching for the start/end of the plastic wrap cocoon.

"Excuse me? Did you just say 'shark fin'? As in a real fin from a real shark? It's not some cute local name for an spice that looks something like a fin?" I didn't want to appear rude by to be turning my nose up at a delicacy, or to imply that I'm an unadverturous eater. I'm not, though most of desserts have been, until now, decidedly fish free.

"No it's a real shark's fin."

"And they only make it once a year, eh?" That piece of cake-puzzle was falling into place - shark-fin cake can't be a overly popular dish. I figured it was akin to how my mother made liver once a year - more out of a sense of duty and expectancy then our desire to eat it.

I unwrapped the piece of fish cake and sniffed it suspiciously. Another reason for the cake's annual baking presented itself It smelled... unlike cake, but not unlike raw sewage.

I took a bite and tried to discern what I was eating - sesame seeds, some sort of fruit, cake... oh, shark fin. There it was, slapping my taste buds with its out of place taste.

"Wendy," I said. "This..." I struggled to find the right words, struggled not to use an expletive. "...this is the worst cake in the entire world."

She smiled. "I know."