New year, new class

Tomorrow is the first day of the quarter, and the first day of a new class for me: Microbiology 105, microbial diversity. It will be a novel experience for me. It's a morning class; it's less than a hundred students; it's a non-introductory class; I'm sharing the class with another professor; and the lectures will only be 50 minutes long. I think most of these are improvements over what is the norm for me, so I'm looking forwards to it.

Of course, my co-lecturer and I have got our haka ready for the class. As usual, I can't really write the Maori, so here's the English:

See, you majors in microbiology,

students of small,

Diverse as the peoples of earth!

You would know

The range of microbes,

More than the stars of heaven!

Beijerinck taught us,

Kluyver taught us,

Van Niel taught us,

Hungate taught us,

Stainer taught us,

Woese and Wolfe taught us,

And now we must teach you.

See! How many the microbes,

They crowd the earth

Like stars of heaven.

Understand them,

Count their number,

And call them all by name!

There is also a lab class associated with this class, complete with its own registration number and everything. However, the lab is really the domain of the TAs--I am pretty much a figurehead. So, the TAs are doing the haka for the lab. I don't know it, but apparently they have really gotten into the spirit of it, and are doing (temporary) facial tattoos using Gram stain and Malachite Green.