Hi all,
Sorry not to update you recently: we have been very busy. Our Christmas greetings card link is in the links box on the top right of our landing page - the map stolen shamelessly from AirNZ's Kia Ora magazine cover for December this year :-)
Justine came for four days, which was great. Amongst many other things we did, she took some photos from the top of Christian's hill, which I stitched into this panorama:
Andreas, Katrin & Christian are here from Eppingen, and we have had a lovely time together with Justine and Camila as well.
Camila's friend Karin came to stay a few times, and the girls managed to entertain themselves well in the country :-)
Will post some more news later on, but we hope you all have a fabulous family Christmas and a prosperous New
Year, and hope to catch up with as many of you as we can in 2013!
Jan & Sam
Hi everyone,
Here we are, hitting the last month of the year – where did it go?
Firstly, we have had a MAGNIFICENT parcel from Germany! Jan’s Aunt Uta
from Neu-Ulm has sent us a huge box of lebkuchen, chocolate and all sorts of
special things. She also sent some Hawthorn capsules for my Father’s heart
condition, which was incredibly kind of her. We are so lucky – and will have a
very German Christmas with all of our wonderful bounty (mmm – lebkuchen
chocolate hearts filled with apricot!)…
Camila is back from her South Island Tour and the Milford. She had a
great time, and is now planning her next shindig: to get all the Rotary
Exchange students from the deep south to Nelson before she leaves to return to
Brazil. The process of her getting a load of students from Cromwell, Dunedin
and Invercargill all to Nelson on a shoe-string will be interesting!
Bonnie has had an eye ulcer, which has meant a few trips to the vet. We
were worried as she had quite a bad one a couple of years ago. However, this
one has healed well. I will take her in tomorrow for her final check up, but
when I went last Friday, it was almost completely gone, so I would expect the
all-clear tomorrow.
This weekend we are in Wellington for my last CDANZ Exec meetings of the
year. Jan is coming up as well, and we are going to see Doug & Morv, then
head around to catch up with everyone else (we hope) at Guy & Sonia’s. Will
be great, and I am really looking forward to it.
Last weekend we had Frits here, who did loads of brush-cutting. I attacked
the grass and weeds around the house and Jan got all enthusiastic about
planting veges. Hopefully we will get a bit more rain in the near future, as it
is getting pretty dry already. However, we caught the tail end of something on
the radio about NZ being in the middle of a La Niña / El Niño pattern this
summer, where we would have fine weather, but it would be cooler with southerly
winds. I think that was the pattern when we built the house. It was certainly
windy that year, and largely from the south.
Tessa, her girlfriend Sandra, my folks, Hui-Ping and her brother Burt
and his wife Rita, Hui-Ping’s mum, Mae, and Burt & Rita’s son all visited
on Saturday as well. We had a great lunch together, and the afternoon melted. There is nothing like good company.
I made my first prezi (http://prezi.com/nz4vil20umpa/lara/?kw=view-nz4vil20umpa&rc=ref-18076696) for Lara's birthday. She seemed to enjoy it.
I also found a photo of frost on the ground here during winter:
Also I have taken some photos of the office:
And we finally have blinds in the lounge. It is useful to be able to shut out the sun sometimes (I never thought I would say that!) - especially when we want to watch a film before 9pm :-). They sit very discreetly above the aluminium rail over the windows, and don't really intrude into the room.
All my NMIT stuff for this semester is done. Now I have only to review
and update this year’s contetn for next year, prep some new topic materials for
next year (writing a new section on Social Media for Sports Comms), record some
AUT lectures and post them online, and do some study. Piece of cake!
Had a ruling: can’t go straight to PhD, as they gave me 60 credits off
the Masters. However, they did say that if the depth and quality of my work continues
to exceed masters’ standards, it will
shorten the PhD path if I chose to continue. However, I am not being entirely
let off the hook. There is an International Leadership Association conference
here in Auckland next April, and Brad has asked me to present at that. I asked
him “You mean, 2014, once I am nearly finished?”. No. Next year, so I can get
feedback before I do the research.
Nice. Only presenting a draft research project in front of the really big guns in the field. No pressure.
The NSO concert went well, as did the Greenhill Concert on Sunday just
gone. So that is our music scene completed for the year (though I am still
working on Nelson Symphony PR materials for next year). I scratched my eye just
before we left for the concert, which wasn’t flash. I got Jan to drop me off at
the emergency doctor's, then sat in the concert audience with a big white patch
on my eye. All good though now: patch off, antibiotic ointment is doing its job,
and it feels fine.
We have a few BBQs coming up. Firstly, we have a lunchtime one for
Camila’s birthday (her birthday is actually on December 6th, and we go to Welly on Dec 7. Bad timing) which we will celebrate
when we are back in Nelson, the next weekend on December 15th. Then we have an evening
BBQ for Justine on December 22nd (Justine is back in Kiwiland for
Christmas next week). Then a Roses Road lunchtime BBQ for New Year (New Year’s
Day). Then a farewell lunchtime BBQ for Camila with all the Rotary people on January
6th.
We also have the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party tomorrow night, the
AUT Graduation Party on the 13th, Kevin’s graduation party at Masu
(Japanese restaurant) on the 14th, Mud Castle’s Xmas party in te 23rd,
and no doubt a few others that haven’t yet made it into my calendar.
Speaking of calendars, Jan finally has a blackberry. He was swearing at
the keyboard last night, attempting to send a text. I had forgotten that
transition, from phone pad to keyboard. The keyboard makes life so much easier.
When I am up in Tauranga for an AUT leadership training session on 7-8
February, I will catch up with DJ & Dilani. They have been kind enough to
put myself & my AUT colleague, Lynn Kidson, up for the night. Bless!
Magda sounds like she is settling in in Christchurch. I do miss her, but
it sounds like she is having a good time.
Happy birthdays over the coming month to Christina, Camila, Jamal, Tina, Murray,
Karl, Cherry, Christél, Gareth & Wayne!
Right – back to the salt mines.
Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young
