Planning for Europe is now almost complete. We fly into Munich, get a rental car, and drive to Ulm to see Uta, Eberhard & Monika, Oli & Katrin, the accountant; then go on to Stuttgart to visit Nane; to Eppingen to see Katrin & Andreas and for Jan's work; to Langen to see Simone & Andreas; to Pohlheim to see Holger, Katalin, Achim and Katrin; maybe to Treysa (not sure yet) to see Dieter & Gudrun, Anne & Herbert; to Celle to see Gerhard and Claudia, then to Amsterdam via train at Hanover.
We had been going to meet Justine in Berlin, but Jan felt that Berlin in winter would be horrible. Instead, we will meet Justine in Amsterdam. There is lots to see and do... and there is a Fluevog shop in Amsterdam, and Justine is a fellow vogger. There will be shoe shopping :-D
This month I got all my outstanding NMIT work complete, got my marks into the system, verified everything, attended the last meeting for the year, and signed off. I also got some really nice feedback from my students and supervisees, which makes the hard work all worthwhile. It is a pity that I will miss graduation (will be in Europe). Despite the uncertain skill level of the research students, my supervisory team got nearly all the students up to standard, on the students' own merits, through intensive coaching. In the end we had only a few fails. The effort that the team put in was significant - and I took them all out to lunch to thank them all - but I want to spend some time over summer simplifying systems, reporting and administration as much as possible so that this additional effort is less likely to be required again. The institution cannot run on goodwill: people get exhausted.
It is a good time to review as next year I will be supervising and lecturing for all the undergraduate research projects: management, accounting and marketing. Until now I have only supervised the management students. Now all three majors are combined, which will mean that at last all the projects are consistent in approach, effort and results. All the other supervisors will follow my systems and marking regime. I have been discussing the changes that are coming with the head of accounting for three years, so we know we are on the same page, and the head of marketing has just retired, so the new appointment will only know the new way of doing things, hopefully without resistance.
Because of Jan's change in work status, this month we got stuck into doing some jobs around the place. Warren came to visit and really drove us onwards. The old stairs that Jan got from Nelson Pine two and a half years ago were literally manhandled into position by a load of friends and neighbours, well rewarded by a barbecue and some beers. The stairs had been stored by the end of our four bay farm shed, got carried across by loads of strong blokes, then roped up and lowered down to be bolted onto the concrete pad that Jan had put in. This makes getting down to the orchard a whole heap easier.
Boo had a trip to the vet this month to have some epulis removed from her gums, and the vet found a breast lump. I had no idea that dogs could get breast cancer too. The lump got whipped out along with the gum problems, got sent to the lab, and was benign. That was very good news.
This month at long last we found time to go out for a coffee at the Jester's cafe: I had forgotten how lovely the gardens were. I saw Katie Gold while I was there, and she asked me about my shoes (she is also a Fluevog fluesie). This is the first time that Jan and I have gone out together, and not with other people, for ages. We have been far, far too busy!
We caught up with Sharon & Ian, which was lovely.
Tracey, H & Erica had their housewarming out at Hira, which was a good night, and started with a karakia and spot of planting. Everyone had been asked to bring plants to donate to their new lives together - a great idea - and there was a real mix of things. Lots and lots of natives. As well as bringing natives from our wee tree nursery, we also brought some fruit tree saplings.
Still doing the wardrobe challenge, though it is getting harder to find things to wear as it is getting quite warm now. In some ways I am looking forward to the cool of Europe! By the way, the coral coloured jacket was made by the lovely Jenny Ladley.
This month I also found time to do a couple of webinars for my directorship training log: one on organisational culture and one on data safety. The webinars are great ways of getting access to international training - and are often funded by IOD (Institute of Directors) as part of the membership fee, which is good.
I realised that my passport only has four months to run once we get back from Germany, so sent off to get a new passport done. It was staggeringly quick. I loaded my data online on Sunday, got a message back on Sunday night that my passport was being processed, then it arrived on Tuesday! I couldn't believe the speed of it. The form still says that it might take six to eight weeks, but three days is one heck of a lot faster than that.
Jan has played in the last NSO concert that he will play in for a while, Romance Mystery, where we had a guest pianist, local man Louis Lucas-Perry. He played Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Louis has been studying at the NZSM and it really shows in his technique, showmanship and polish: he has come a very long way. I went with my mother and Wendy to the new School of Music which is all finished and very nice indeed. We got a tour out the back from Jan after the concert.
Jan also finished work at the end of this month, and appears hugely more relaxed: long may that continue. Now we are waiting until we get to Germany to find out what his start date will be with Dieffenbacher. Hopefully it will be later in January - or even February - but we will have to wait and see.
Sam (& Jan)
