New Zealand Time – June 22, 9:20pm
Today is the winter solstice down here in New Zealand. It’s quite odd, having the shortest day of the year in June. Technically it is winter here, but not the winter I’ve been brought up to know and hate love. We did have a rather cold day this week. It was around 3-5 degrees for the majority of the day. Cold enough, that instead of conducting my soccer lesson outside, I decided it’d be best to move into the hall. All went well, basic soccer skills were learned, and there was not a single mention of cold.
As of now, I’m officially off for two weeks. No teacher’s college, no schools. I will continue on with coaching basketball however. I can’t deny anyone my expertise. I’ve told my team I’ll make a special appearance in the coming week, and show up at lunch hour to take them for a practice. Besides the benefit of having practice, it’ll force me to stop attending to school work. Yes, while I do have two weeks off, I have a great amount of work to get done. I’ve three assignments due the week I get back, with a test to write as well. Funny how that was laid out, eh?
Basketball continues to go well. We had a bye this week, so the kids handled the score keeping while myself and another teacher handled the refereeing duties. I refereed a couple games, and had a fun time doing so. The last game of the evening was forfeit as one team only had three players show up…. so, I donated a handful of my players that were around so the kids could play anyways. Officially, they forfeit the match, but for the most part the kids don’t care. They just want to play. We’re about half of the way through the basketball season. I believe they’ve now shifted the teams, and created new divisions based on teams performance to date. Apparently there are some teams that have yet to score a basket. Anyways, the organization is excellent, and I’m most happy to be a part of it. It’s pretty awesome (so far!) to coach a team, so I’m glad I decided to do so. Plus, the most recent rumours I heard were that I could still probably dunk a basketball … how could you not love that?
As for my own plans over the break, they include the following: rest, recuperating, spending whole days when possible not touching anything school related, looking for a new place to live, finishing up all work necessary, and doing what I can to get out and have a drink! Sadly, I know these two weeks will fly by, so I best use my time wisely I gather. As for finding a new place to live, I’m basically looking for somewhere cheaper and a bit more convenient in terms of location. I can very well afford to live where I am now, but I’d prefer to be closer to a few things, and I certainly wouldn’t mind saving some money.
I just watched ‘Sicko’, Michael Moore’s latest documentary detailing American health care. As soon as possible, I recommend it as viewing to all. A good flick.
I’ve started the process of uploading pictures, so far I’ve just got up a small album of photos from one of my basketball games. I’ll be courteous, and provide you a link to them : Basketball photos.They were all brilliantly taken by Holly. There are a bunch on the way, also taken by Holly, of the surrounding area such as the main Massey campus, etc. I’ll have to take some of the teacher’s college campus sooner than later.
Alas, I think I shall end this little talk for now. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to write a heap of emails over the break. By all means, toss me your addresses. Hope everyone is well, and enjoying the summer.
Cheers.