Another Perfect Day in Paradise

Woke up at 6:00 am to a beautiful pink sky.
Went back to bed (after a little drinkie)

Got up again at 8:30 and had a coffee while admiring the view (see above)

Had breakfast of freshly picked melon, proscuttio and a nectarine.
Went for a 5 mile gentle cycle, and returned to have a glass of a local chardonnay.

Went to a local vineyard for lunch; gazpacho, tasting platter of meats and olives, accompanied by an absolutely fabulous Semillon (Clearview Estate, 2010 Reserve).

On the way home, picked up a basket of nectarines right off the tree.  Juice dripping off of my beard.  A bit unsanitary, but delicious.

Ah well, time for my nap.

Did I mention the weather?

Cloudless, fluorescent blue sky.  Gentle cooling breeze coming in off of the sea.

The hammock calls.

Life is (almost) Hell

View from Porch Swing

The temperature outside is 28ºC.

Life is Hell

I'm bored

The simple things are sometimes best

I got home about 6:30 last night, really knackered.

We continue to have computer network problems in Nuova Lazio High School, and even though I know that our Systems guy is working hard at it, it becomes very frustrating when you are losing 15 minutes out of every lesson to re-boot the computers and get the kids to log-on.



I've also been involved in fixing the timetable and setting up our SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) classes, plus teaching 4 classes, setting and marking assessments, taking my beloved's car into the garage and my own car into the body shop after some silly girl in a bright orange BMW reversed into me in Wellington. Her excuse of "I didn't see it" was a bit shaky. It's a big black Isuzu 4x4, how the hell do you miss a 2½ tonne truck?

So I was tired and a bit fed up.



After I had changed into my usual kit (mentioned on previous post, T-shirt and disreputable shorts) and my beloved had set out a nice big bowl of a meaty pasta dish, I began to feel better.

An ice-cold bottle of beer completed the process of making me feel almost human again.

Then I took our little doggie out for a walk. This is a Bichon-Frise, a small white fluffy bundle of mischief. My beloved wanted a dog, so she got one. Guess who takes it for most of it's walks? Yep, me.

Our outside thermometer, last night at 7:30 pm

But this evening I didn't mind. The temperature was a lovely 25°C, a balmy intermittent breeze was blowing, the sky was a brilliant, almost violet blue as the sun began to dip towards the Belmont Hills. I realised I was happy. Nothing special had occurred, no earth-shaking realisation or re-alignment, just the simple pleasure of walking under a perfect sky in comfortable clothes.

These are safety boots



These are not safety boots











I was wearing, in addition to the shorts and T-shirt mentioned above, a broad-brimmed hat and a pair of elastic-sided steel-toed working boots. These boots can be found in most kiwi homes, and are really useful. These boots have protected my little tootsies from dropped rocks, a carelessly swung pick-axe, a ladder dropped off of a roof an innumerable splashes of paint, concrete and on one memorable occasion, blood.

In addition to their protective qualities, they are very quick to slip on, which is why I was wearing them on my evening perambulation.

This is one of the things I really love about New Zealand. The casual approach to dress codes. I would not have dared to go out for a walk in the UK similarly attired. Apart from probably being too cold for just a T-shirt, walking in public in shorts and work boots would have been frowned upon. Decent clothes are expected, ties should be worn at most times, and some effort should be visible to being smartly co-ordinated. It's this cloying cloak of respectability, all but invisible and unremarked which makes life in the UK unexpectedly restrictive. You can't really do as you want, but must comply with the unwritten laws of public behaviour.

Kiwis mostly don't give a shit what you wear, do or say.

I love it.

Our front deck and swing.  (Note carefully placed G&T table)

After we got back home, I stretched out on the porch swing with another cold beer and just drifted to the sounds of the parakeets swooping up the driveway, the Morpork (a small owl) hooting in the reserve behind our house and the guttural, yet somehow reassuring snarl of a chainsaw drifting up the valley. The light had begun to take on that ethereal golden glow that warms without heat as the sunset approached.

View down the valley from the front deck

I was content.

I was happy.

I was sleepy.



Life was good.

Summer

I feel that summer has really arrived.  Last night, even though it was a bit windy, the wind was very warm, I was outside in just shorts and T-shirt at 9pm, and it was quite pleasant.  Unfortunately, it looks like the trip to Scotland is still on, so I'll be saying goodbye to the blue skies and gentle airs of Aoteroa, and hello to the grey slush and freezing winds of Caledonia.

I've lived now in NZ for 7 years, and now consider it my home, I don't want to return to Scotland, but my familial responsibilities demand it.  Summer in Scotland is different and I was trying recently to describe to an old friend in Scotland what the differences were.  I didn't do a very good job when I was speaking to him on the phone, and I think a better way would be simply listing the main impressions each type of Summer made on me.

Summer in Scotland:
Warm winds
Warm sunshine
Midges (small biting fly)
Ham salads
Fluffy clouds
Busy beaches
Sandals and socks
Grey seas
Cold beer
Strawberries
Very long days and sunlit evenings until about 11pm
Electric mowers trimming green lawns
Packed roads
Ice lollies (Ice blocks)
Picnics
Fish and chips on the esplanade
Cool Irn Bru

Summer in Aoteroa:
Hot winds
Burning sunshine
Sandflys
Avocados
Cherries
Extraordinarily vivid blue skies
Empty long beaches
Deep blue water
Cold Chardonay/Sauvingon Blanc
Bright mornings
Petrol mowers trimming brown grass
Easy driving
Ice cream (Hokey Pokey - Thanks Bin Hire)
Barbecues
Chilly bins
Fish and chips on the esplanade
Cold  L & P
Flowering Pohutikawas
Jandals (Thanks Bin Hire)

Please add your iconic summer items to either list via the comments.  I'll add them to the main list, so my friend in Scotland can see them.

TFIF

This has been a very long week, I don't remember ever feeling so old and being so tired at the end of term.

Most of the students are actually OK, just the usual troublesome few, but we're all so bloody tired that we're starting to make little errors of judgement.

Sometimes my brain feels as if it's starting to melt under the strain of the timetabling.

Just so drained and withered.

Can't think, too tired

Just exhausted.

But we mustn't panic.

Because there's ONLY SEVEN DAYS LEFT

Then WE"LL BE ON HOLIDAY

And we can completely forget about school and the students and just enjoy ourselves in the summer.

End of Year Activities

Now we're all back at the chalkface, we have to plan for the remainder of the year.  Apart from fairly major events like NZEA exams, junior reports etc. we have to arrange some exciting attention-getters for our last couple of days.
For some reason, this seems traditional in Kiwi schools, where the juniors go in little trips on the last couple of days of school.  One of our PE teachers has (been) volunteered to co-ordinate the event.

Nuova Lazio Bush Walk (These are not Elephants in the background.  NL has a very large Polynesian population) 

Last year, and for the 5 years prior to that, we used to do three things.  One group of teachers would take the kids to the swimming pool, one group would take the kids on a walk through the bush to a posh suburb over the hill, by the sea, and one group would hide, and hope everyone would just leave them alone to finish their planning for the next year.

Oh Shit!

I was always a proud member of the third group, utilising a technique I developed in the Army.  If you walk around with a couple of pieces of paper in your hand, and a worried frown on your face, chances are that people will actually get out of your way.
   A problem shared is a problem grown out of all proportion.
The real reason for this hide and seek escape and evasion is fear.
If I'm a member of the party that goes to the pool, and one of the kids drowns (It might happen.  I've got a little list, they never will be missed.) what happens to the teachers nominally in charge.  I can see the Coroner in his court asking incredulously "Are you saying Mr TSB (the Scotsman, not the arena) that you were in charge of over 150 children involved in a swimming activity and you have no certification in life-saving or even resuscitation or first aid, or that you cannot even SWIM?"

This would end badly.

If I'm a member of the group that goes bush, and one or more of our little angels goes missing (I've got a little list) I can again see the Coroner in his Court asking unbelievingly "Are you saying Mr TSB (the Scotsman, not the arena) that you were in charge of over 150 children involved in tramping through thick bush, and you did not have a map, a compass or even a GPS device, and that no-one was qualified to lead such an expedition, nor had any map reading certification, nor any sort of outdoor education certification apart from yourself who failed his map reading course whilst a British Army Officer?"

That would end very badly.

The Kiwi Number 8 wire approach is all very well, until someone gets hurt, and then the insidious culture of litigation, infecting every part of the world from the USA , would invariably end up with you in the dock.  Thanks but no thanks.

Hiding is obviously the best option.