Trick of the Light

One of the strangest things to us about our return to the UK has been the sudden exposure to the extended daylight of the northern hemisphere summer.

Waking up first thing and heading to the bathroom emerging into the light to realise that it’s only 5:30am.

Sitting in the lounge and realising it’s 9pm even though it’s still light.

It’s only two years since this was the norm but you get used to the consistency. If it’s dark it’s either before 7am or after 7pm. The pattern is virtually fixed with limited changes as you move through the year. 

We took the opportunity to go for a walk after our evening meal last night and it was strange to walk through a local nature reserve at 8pm. Twilight here is also significantly longer here than in Mwanza where the sun sets quickly and the transition from daylight to night is less than an hour. It is nice to have the long nights, but I’ve got to get used to sleeping through the early morning light whilst we’re here.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Time (Past in Prague)

A submission to this week’s photo challenge -time.

Ten years ago I celebrated my 40th Birthday in Prague. The weekend started outside the famous Astronomical Clock in the centre of the city. This tourist attraction is an amazing Medieval construction.

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Prague Astronomical Clock

Weekly Photo Challenge: (Most of My) Time

 This post is linked to the weekly photo challenge:Time

 This is where I spend most of my time. My waking time at least. This is my classroom – the ICT room known as Babbage. I am Head of ICT here in a faculty consisting of Business and Economics too. 

 Today I have spent a lot of time in this room, having arrived at 6:30am, courtesy of an early morning swimming lesson for my daughter. It gives me an opportunity to put to bed the Reporting Templates for the forthcoming whole school reports. 

As Assessment Co-ordinator my role is to organize the system, so that colleagues can report on their subjects in Years 7-13 across the school. The spreadsheet system is simple enough to fill in but behind the scenes fiendish calculations process the data into reports. I enjoy working on it and I’m pleased with the result it there are glitches to iron out.

The start of school at 7:55am follows with classes in Years 8, 10 and 11. Currently years 12 and 13 are on exams, so a little more time solving glitches on the reports, during my ‘frees’.

Lunch time -and a heavy downpour means I’m not going any further than the Staff Room, two doors down.

   
I have an after school ‘club’ with my  year 11’s, aiming to give them greater practice and confidence in their practical skills ahead of their exams. This runs until 4:30pm.  

 The clock runs about 45mins slow!
The kids here are brilliant and so much better behaved than in the UK – my job is enjoyable most of the time and certainly working here in Africa has been an amazing experience.

Over 10 hours after my arrival I’m heading home. 

I’m sure many of you work in darker dingier places for longer hours so no pleas for sympathy just a recognition that  we teachers work longer hours than you might imagine. 😉

P.S I still need to mark those A2 and AS exams tonight – at home until late!

End of another week

Life rushes by and after a slow start I suddenly find myself at Friday ,already a fortnight into a five week term – where does time go. 

A short post, like the week gone by – it is over so  quickly.



If we were living at GMT

It’s strange to think that as I finish my afternoon at school, my erstwhile colleagues will just be starting their lunch break.  It is amazing to think that somewhere in the world some one is waking up at this moment, somewhere else at the exact same instant someone is going to bed. Someone eats breakfast at the same instant as another eats a midday snack, yet another has their evening meal. 

Currently (for the next two  to three weeks at least) there is a three-hour difference between UK time and Tanzanian time, before the UK lurches  forward into BST.  So here is my daily routine converted into GMT.

The alarm goes of at 2:50am and by 3:15am we are up and about. Sunrise is at 4am or there abouts.

 

After a shower and breakfast we leave the house by 4:30am at the latest. It’s a short walk to school which starts at 4:55am with Assembly or Tutor. Lessons start at 5:15am with a break from 7:45am to 8:05am – a time my old colleagues are getting into work in the UK. Lunch is at 9:45am and afternoon sessions begin at 10:30am. The school day ends at 12:15pm after wich there are meetings or clubs until 1:30pm. Then home and for me Language school (Tue-Thu) from 2pm to 3pm. We tend to eat our evening meal by 3:30pm and sun sets by 4pm.

If we are out at night from 4:30pm until 7pm. If I am working of an evening over a similar time period or an hour later. I tend to go to bed about 9pm , sometimes 9:30pm (which means that sometimes I am blogging /posting from tomorrow as far as the UK is concerned).

Weekends, we get a lie in until 5am on a Saturday when I either head off to Prep (5:30am until 7am) and Saturday School (from 7am until 8am). Then we are often in town shopping until 11am. If the children are off to youth group then it runs from 12noon until 2pm.  We might watch a DVD if we are in  (from 5pm until 7pm). Even though we could watch some UK TV on iPlayer most of the good TV will be on after 11pm.

Sunday church runs from 6:45 am until 8am. Then home for lunch (10am), a phone call home can be as early as 1pm or as late as 6pm varying from week to week. We might go out for a walk from 12noon to 2pm. An evening meal and some TV (DVD’s or iPlayer downloads). Then it’s to bed by 8:30pm or 9pm ready for an early start!

So here is our life as lived as if at GMT. If you live elsewhere in the world what is yours?

A Month to Go

A month to day it will be Christmas and in 5 weeks time the year will be done. Where has all the time gone?

The Sands of Time

T Minus 91

It’s difficult to believe that today is the end of my penultimate term. Like grains of sand rushing through the narrow neck of an hour glass, time is rushing by at an ever increasing rate.

Suddenly we find ourselves nearing the end of May. In three months time depending on how you measure it, we will will either be spending our last day in England (Friday) or our first day in Tanzania (23rd).
I think that part of the issue has been the business of work and also the plethora of Bank Holidays concentrated into April and May, another Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and will allow us to meet up with Family. The rest of the week will possibly involve a trip to Lincoln to drop off some stuff for storage and some further house clearance. We aim to of some trial packing to see how much it all weighs. We are also looking at some options for our equity and considering the possibility of investing in a smaller property.
It will be a busy week – probably our last week off before we move. We hope to make the most of it.

Clocks

T minus 144

One thing I’m really glad to be leaving behind is the Spring change in the clocks. Getting up this morning on this first working day of the week is a struggle. I’m just glad it wasn’t last weekend.

Africa Time – Ups & Downs

Interesting blog – a ‘take’ on African life in general – although being at an International School might mean more structure.