Great Perl classes
I teach a lot of classes, and while it seems the students always enjoy themselves and give fantastic feedback, there are some courses that I've enjoyed much more than others. My class last week in Sydney fell into this most-enjoyable classification.

The course started with me being a little worried; one attendee was absent on the first day due to a sick child, and I was later informed of a last-minute booking that would be arriving at lunchtime. Students who miss material are often playing catch-up for the rest of the course, and I was concerned that extra coaching for two late arrivals may have me spread a little thin.

As it happened, our late arrivals were very talented, and not only recovered quickly but began to lead the class in asking excellent questions and experimenting in new techniques. However the highlight for me was me asking the late-arrivals why they were learning Perl, so I can provide more meaningful examples throughout the course.

Our last minute booking answered that she was learning Perl because she had a potential job lined up, and apparently they were using Perl extensively as part of their business. That's not an unusual answer, but the exciting part was when I asked which job. The answer? Sony Online Entertainment.

I didn't know that SoE used Perl very much, but it kept getting better. Our late arrival was being interviewed to become an EverQuest II game developer. Sweet!

As it happened, half the attendees seemed to be gamers of one sort or another, and on the third day of teaching I was presented a map detailing all the comic-shops, games stores, miniature houses, and sci-fi/fantasy bookstores in Sydney. That evening I was even invited to play wargames next week, but unfortunately the time clashes with the next Sydney Perl Mongers meeting.

All up, a most enjoyable time was had by all. One student even suggested on their feedback form that we release a new course on how to talk like a pirate using Perl. Arrr...