Sam & Jan's Brazil adventure

We left for Brazil on the second of April, as soon as I had finished my last lecture before Easter, so as to eke out as much time away as we could.

We flew Nelson - Auckland - Santiago - Sao Paulo with Lan Chile, in the tightest packed cattle class we have yet experienced. On the Auckland - Santiago leg I sat next to a Kiwi rugby player who was playing and coaching in Argentina. He was a very well-built bloke who was so cramped in his seat that I felt sorrier for him than I felt for the two of us!

He had the aisle, and when we arrived, I warned him that we would get up a lot, and invited him to take the window seat if he would like to be undisturbed. However, the poor guy was claustrophobic (what a flight to be claustrophobic on!). So every time Jan or I needed to get up, this poor bloke had to painfully unpick himself from the seat, back out into the aisle (which was only just wide enough for the airline trolleys), and let us out, only to have to repeat the process when we came back.

He and I had a great old yarn though about coaching and leadership... thank goodness, as for some reason I had my eyes stapled open and only managed about an hour of sleep.

If you don't want to read what we did, shortcut it by watching the video:

Arriving in Sao Paulo on Friday evening, we found Ana, Camila and Beto waiting for us through customs, which was fabulous! Célia was at home, preparing dinner. So we hopped in the car and hit the lava line of red tail lights on the north-west motorway, along with what seemed like half a million other Paulistas on their way out of the city for the Easter weekend.

We were both shattered when we got to Piracicaba, but it was so great to be with the family. Célia and Beto had so, so kindly given us their bedroom (with them taking over what had been Ana's bedroom I think - I never did quite work out whose room it had been). This generosity was because Célia and Beto's room had the only air conditioner, and they thought we would be more comfortable with the ability to keep cool. Kind!

However, I don't think the end of the world would have stopped me sleeping that night.

The next day we went for a meander around Piracicaba, had lunch at a friend's restaurant along the river, did some sight-seeing (seeing the real places from Ana and Camila's Rotary presentations), had drinks at a street bar... and I was exposed to Caipirinha. Yum! Although Jan didn't like it - too limey or lemony for him - this was to prove my cocktail of choice each and every night in Brazil.

We met Ana's boyfriend, Chico, who is a lovely, gentle man. He and Ana seem well suited.

On Easter Sunday we headed back south-east to Sao Paulo to join the extended family in their Easter celebrations, which was fantastic. Thirty people gathered for a pot luck lunch served on a very slick logistics operation of trestles and seats appropriated from various uses in the house, or supplied by the attendees. Even though we hardly knew a word of Portuguese, we were so warmly embraced by the family we didn't feel a moment of awkwardness.

They even kindly celebrated my birthday, along with three others from within the family happening around the same time, which was really lovely (Jan and I had been too busy with packing and organising to bother marking my birthday, though we had had a family dinner at Krauts the weekend before).

The next day was Piracicaba for quiet walks, lunch and shopping. Camila had gone back to her Uni in Campinas to finish off some projects. We went to the Piracicaba Uni, which was very spread out park-like campus, and had lunch at the main restaurant which was open to all comers for lunch. Buccolic!

The day after we headed to Serra Negra with Beto and Celia to visit a coffee plantation in the area (fascinating), have lunch in an alpine - or as alpine as Brazil gets - resort, then to visit Célia's brother, Alessandro (sp?) in a gated community, and lastly to see the family bach. A full day, but lovely. Then another quiet day, doing laundry, walking along the Piracicaba river, visiting museums and having lunch with Beto at a riverside restaurant, and going to visit Camila's uni, flat and having pizza in Campinas.

The next day we left for Rio, having brought Camila back to Piracicaba the night before. A bit of a marathon drive for Beto - about twelve hours, with a stop at Camila's favourite motorway restaurant for us - the name of which escapes me ...beginning with 'F' like Frango or something -  to finally experience what she was talking about (and it was very good).

Wow - what a blast Rio was. Such a beautiful city. Loved every minute of it - and that really felt like the holiday for all of us. We drove around Tijuca Forest National Forest on Corcovado Mountain, and visited the Chinese lookout and Christ the Redeemer. We visited Ipanema, Copacabana, and Prainha Beaches (and what I didn't know was that each beach has a different footpath mosaic pattern). We visited the Lapa steps and went to US-import restaurant, Outback, for lunch (the deep-fried onion.... mmmmmm!). We rubbernecked at houses and the riotous colour on a long and narrow drive around the hills. We took the cable car up the Sugarloaf to see the sunset across Guanabara Bay, toward Niteroi.

Then all too soon the five days were over, and Ana and Chico had to head back to their work. Beto, having driven the twelve hours there, also drove the twelve hours back, stopping at the heritage marine town of Paraty (est 1597) on the way home to Piracicaba for a late lunch, some shopping and sight-seeing, before driving on to Piracicaba.

The next day we went to Botucatu to see Ana Julia Delgado, along with Camila and Célia. It was lovely to see her again, and to meet her father (who most generously gave us some aged cachaça - the sugarcane-based alcohol that Caipirinha is made from). Ana Julia's unofficial step-mother makes amazing mosaics out of egg shell, so I took lots of photos to pass to Ellie F when I got home (Ellie is really getting creative with these now). Ana took us sight-seeing around Botucatu and we visited a coffee museum in the Uni grounds there (focus is on agriculture in that region - gorgeous, spread-out campus like Piracicaba's one). We also went up on a rise which looked like the edge of a rift valley where we could see for miles. I took lots of photos, but not quite enough to make a full panorama. This was a SERIOUSLY big view.

Finishing off that day at an all you can eat pizzeria, the next saw us head back to Sao Paulo, for some more sightseeing, a trip to all-you-can-eat beef restaurant, Fogo de Chao, and to stay at Ana and Camila's cousin Elika's apartment, which she generously lent to us. I didn't eat meat at Fogo de Chao, but there was a buffet table of salads. I made it halfway along one side before I was so full that I was in danger of doing a Roald Dahl-like exploding child.

We had a fantastic couple of days, before it was time to wedge ourselves into another tin tube and head home. Again, largely sleepless. And late. And we missed our connector in Auckland (apparently Lan Chile are habitually at least an hour late - so if you are planning a trip, go AirNZ into Argentina instead, or allow four hours between your arrival and your onward flight).

Food finds: funnily enough, mostly drinks. Abacaxi com Hortela Suco - that is, Pineapple juice with mint. So refreshing. And Suco de Caju - this is cashew fruit, very nice. Who knew that cashew nuts are the stalk?! And, of course, Caipirinha.

The Martins sent us home with presents for the other Rotary host families, and a swag of memories. We hope they come back to New Zealand to visit soon: we were so seamlessly and warmly looked after, we have some real host responsibility to live up to.

It was the most fantastic holiday. Thank you so much, the Martins family!!!



Jan & Sam

News from Nelson - February 2013

Hi all,
Wow. Dunno where the year has gone already!

We have been watching the rain pass us by for some time now. While we have plenty of water still (the advantage of having three huge tanks), it is not so good for the garden - nor the neighbour's pasture!

We are now firmly into firewood mode, and have had some old tracks cleared by Jimmy Sagar so we could fell some trees close to our power line, and get at some trees which had fallen a while ago.

Jan is happy as a sandboy with his chainsaw... and I have discovered that acetone-free nail polish remover gets pine sap out of clothing, so I am happy too :-D

Hartmut sent us three beautiful bowls that he made (not the one that discorporated and hit his forehead, needless to say):

I have published my first issue of the CDANZ  magazine, which has been quite intense, along with all the other things I am trying to do at the moment. Now I get a breather until late March, when the next one will be in the starting blocks.

Jan is busy at work still, but seems happy enough with how things are going.

Montrose Drive still hasn't sold, so we have decided to keep it on the market & rent it out. We are meeting some potential tenants there today.

Kathleen & Frits are coming to stay for the weekend, and we have a full-on programme planned, including the Sarau Festival on Sunday. Additionally we may well see Andrew, Jennie & their family today, on their way to the Neudorf concert.

Next week I am in Tauranga (Thursday & Friday), the week after I am in Wellington (Sunday & Monday) and Jan is in Auckland (Monday & Tuesday). Things will also crank up for Semester 1  from the 25th (though I need to be in for orientation week before that).

The Masters work is coming along painfully at the moment as I am still writing a RFP for a presentation at the International Leadership Association conference in Auckland in Anzac week. But it is coming along. So we will see.

In Anzac week we also take off on the North Island Tour with the Rotary International exchange students for twelve days. They will leave me in Auckland for the conference and go on to Hobbiton etc. I will then fly into Rotovegas to catch them up (and miss Hobbiton!). Should work out just fine. We CAN do everything! And Jan will have his trusted lieutenants in Timo, Kazu and Karin.

Camila is back at school, after a lovely holiday at the beach (pictured here with Beto (her Dad), Célia (her Mum) and Ana Silvia:

Tessa got engaged to Sandra last Saturday in Nelson, at a family gathering at Mike's place. I don't have any photos yet, but when I do get some, I will post them. 

Simone has sent some photos of Andreas with Michael, and herself and Michael:

It is my folks' wedding anniversary on the 13th, so hopefully we will get to celebrate with them the weekend before.

Right: I know I haven't covered everything, but this will do for now. Will add more when I get time!

Jan & Sam

News from Nelson - January 2013

Hi all,
Again, things are a bit busy, so will mostly post images :-)

Camila has sadly left us, but has received a great welcome at home.

She also took a lovely photo of her journey home across the Pacific:

And had a good send-off at the airport with other exchange students

 And her host parents

And her friend Lydia

And the dogs

We hosted three other exchange students for the week before Camila left (they played pool and watched rather a lot of movies!). Kazu made us sushi, which was great, with able apprentices Camila and Timo:

We had a great New Year's eve celebration, with about 30 people here at various times. We saw the New Year in, had our chat with Andreas, Katrin & Christian and went to bed for a lovely long sleep :-)

On Christmas Day we had 13 people here for lunch and dinner. It was a very relaxed affair, with Frits' sister and her husband here from Holland, Kathleen, Amy, Camila, Andreas, Katrin & Christian and my folks. We had a very laid back and relaxed day having cooked a barbecue covering two meals, with a walk up our neighbour Christian's hill in between time. Camila and her friend Karin dressed the Christmas tree. We had a bit of a house-full with Camila, Andreas, Katrin & Christian all tucked up in bed for the night (those two small fold-out couches I bought from Nood did great duty as single beds!).
 
Magda came up for Christmas, so we were able to catch up for lunch during the break. We have also caught up with the Hofmans, and had a lovely lunch at Ellie & Greg's place along with Duncan & Kel.

Hartmut has had an accident with his wood-lathe but is OK. A piece of wood broke, but as he wears safety goggles, he was saved serious injury. A good reminder that safety equipment is worth it! 

Bonnie had an eye ulcer, but it has healed well, now; after a trip every three days to the vet, for three weeks. Phew. Fliss is getting very frail.

We hope all of you are having a good 2013 thus far, and we will catch up with you more fully as the year unfolds

All the best

Jan & Sam

News from Nelson, Christmas Day 2012

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

News from Nelson - December 2012

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 6^th, 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 15^th. Then we have an evening BBQ for Justine on December 22^nd (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 6^th.

We also have the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party tomorrow night, the AUT Graduation Party on the 13^th, Kevin’s graduation party at Masu (Japanese restaurant) on the 14^th, Mud Castle’s Xmas party in te 23^rd, 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

News from Nelson - November 2012

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and prosperous! We seem to have avoided the spring colds that are doing the rounds, though Jan has a bit of a sore throat still.

Camila has been with us for a month already; it has gone so fast! We can’t believe that she is away this weekend to do the South Island Tour and tramp the Milford Track. She will be away for nearly two weeks, and will see a lot of the South Island, in the company of the other South Island Rotary exchange students. She will have a ball.

Jan has helped her pack, so she is thoroughly well organised too!

Camila’s pool playing has improved by leaps and bounds since coming to stay here: she has beaten us both at times, and will be able to earn a living in bars in no time (:-D).

We have been so busy lately, I can’t think where to really start; so perhaps I will go backwards. Last weekend Jan & I helped out at his work on the annual “Big Beach Clean-up”, where volunteers clean up the coastline. We cleaned up the perimeter of Nelson Pine and the Waimea Estuary for a couple of hours. It was reasonably clean, but we managed to get a Ute-load of junk and rubbish from a couple of kilometres of shoreline and estuary (some stuff been there for a long time). We also had Michelle and Tony here for a BBQ, had dinner with Kathleen & Frits, and went to a Thai Food night fundraiser (I am now totally in love with Thai Green Curry from a little food-cart in Nelson!) with Ellie & Greg, Mark & Nicky and Camila and her friend Lydia (who turns out to be the daughter of some master cider-makers who live down the road from us). We tidied up our garden beds, put an extra layer of timber on them to make them higher, and filled them with fresh soil ready for planting this summer’s crop of vegetables.

The week before we went to the Upper Moutere Fair, went to Dawn’s Guy Fawkes party (where Jan & I saw Shelley & Kevin and spent a lot of time talking to Ross L & his wife... and came up with a novel way of cooking sausages), and went to the Chamber of Commerce Business Awards with the Nelson Pine team. Camila's friend Flora has been to stay (and played pool). While at the business awards, Jan got roped in to playing for the Greenhill Orchestra again for an upcoming concert (2 December) which is conveniently on the same day as the Nelson Symphony Orchestra’s Friends Thank You bash; so I have to choose which one I go to. We also had the sliders in the lounge measured up for blinds, so we can watch movies before 9pm in the evening (it is so light here in summer). The blinds will be ready and installed before Christmas.

 

 

 
The week before that we installed some shelves… doesn’t sound like much, does it. Well, it was a four day mission. The story goes: NMIT, as part of the government building earthquake safety audit, had to close their nursing school building. It is being demolished now, but just pre-demolition, all NMIT staff were emailed on the Wednesday asking if they wanted to buy any of the building fittings (at very reasonable rates, I might add). I emailed the list to Jan, and he suggested that find out if we could go and have a look at what was there. So bright and early on Thursday morning, I emailed Mira at NMIT to see when we could come and have a look. She got back to me at 10, and said there were only two more supervised, guided tours of the building, with the next one happening at 11 (and we should be quick, because things were going fast). Jan had already put the trailer on the car and gone to work, just in case we were able to pick anything up on the day. So I raced in to his work, picked him up, and got into NMIT on the dot of 11, with Jan still driving around and around the campus looking for a carpark that would fit a car and a trailer. Well, for the grand sum of $220, we got a two benches, one with timber drawers and cupboards, one set of wall-mounted cupboards and shelves, and two big sets of shelves, all in solid rimu. Staggering. And staggeringly heavy.

We had a deadline to get our purchases out of the building: 5pm the next day. Luckily there were a few other staff whom I knew, and they pooled their muscles and tools to get all their materials out. The most exciting part I missed: Jan and the team getting our big sets of shelves down the stairwell, as I had to go and deliver my last Leadership lecture of the semester. Camila arrived on Friday after school, helped us get everything loaded and then helped with unloading at home.

We then spent the weekend putting everything in place and completely reorganising the cellar (and very fine it looks too). And no, I didn’t get any Masters work done!

Speaking of my masters, it is continuing well – so well that my supervisor is suggesting I consider skipping the masters and going straight to PhD as the depth and quality of my work is exceeding masters’ standards. He is going to investigate the process and whether this might be possible; and has already warned me that this will mean a lot more work (I will really have to come to grips with ontology and epistemology <sigh>). Regardless of whether I am able to do that or not, I am VERY pleased to have my work considered so highly. Jan will prevent me getting an inflated ego though. When I told him, he said “Oh, lots of people at Uni did that”. <pop>

We have had fish and chips with Camila down at Mapua, and have done plenty of trips in and out of town for various events. We have also got some great shots of the neighbour having their top dressing done, which was pretty cool with the plane flying right over us!

 

The next NSO concert is on 24 November, ‘Dusk’. Jan is not playing in it, as he decided with being away in October in Australia, and all the other things he had to do at work, he would have some time out. A good move, I think (and of course, now he has volunteered for the Greenhill concert anyway).

On Wednesday nights the NSO Secretary, Becks, has been coming around for a pot luck dinner and we have all been working on getting NSO systems and PR sorted. It has been very productive.

My CDANZ stuff has been a bit neglected – I will have to get back into that, but I have been marking final semester projects flat out. I have one more left to do – a late submission which will come in tomorrow – then some preparation for Leadership being moderated. I have already moderated AUT’s Leadership paper, so that is one more thing off my list. I am going to get three of my courses overhauled over the summer break, as well as work on my masters, but I am not teaching again until February, which will hopefully mean I am fresh and ready to start teaching with lots of zing.

Jan & I are both in Welly from 7-9 December (next CDANZ Exec meeting). I will be free on Saturday evening, so catch ups Sat night with the Hutt crowd would be great. 

I will also be up in Tauranga for an AUT leadership training session on 7-8 February. I hope to catch up with DJ & Dilani while there, but haven’t heard from them yet.

Congrats to Magda who has a wonderful new job. But sad faces to Sam & Jan who lose her as her new position is in Christchurch :-( She is coming around tonight for a farewell dinner as she leaves next Wednesday.

Tessa is coming to Nelson at the end of this month for Donna’s birthday. She got knocked off her bike a couple of days ago, but seems – luckily – to have escaped serious injury. Just at home, getting better.

Happy birthdays over the coming month to Dawnie, Lara, Justine, Jeremy, Donna & Neil! 

Right – better start peeling potatoes for dinner tonight.

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson - October 2012

Hi everyone,

I just did a drive-by on www.xmasclock.com to find there are only 68 shopping days until Christmas. Where did the year go?

Camila comes to us this weekend; we are going to pick her up on Saturday morning. That will be very entertaining, I am sure! She postponed her change of address for a week as she had lots of things to do in town last week, and thought it would be easier to stay where she was. No problem!

Speaking of entertainment, our pool table is continuing to keep us occupied. My skills appear to have plateaued, but Jan is continuing to improve.

I think this weekend we will be continuing with gorse control, a bit more tree planting, and protecting some of the trees we have already planted with drums. Last weekend I went up to Wellington on Sunday, but on Saturday we went into Jan’s work and recycled some old oil drums. Jan cut the tops and bottoms out, so we can put them over our trees and foil the very, very hungry bunnies who are currently our only lawn mowers.

My masters work is continuing well – my reading list is now 460 items long though! However, I am chopping through them. I am holding to an A overall (my methodology needs work though) so all is looking good. Just got to keep chipping away at getting the work done, and not lose focus.

Jan’s Les Mis production went very well, with lots of audience and orchestra people saying they would like to do it again, despite it having been such a huge commitment. So all good. Brigitte and John came down to Nelson while the production was on, so we got them tickets to go and see it. They said that for an amateur production it was surprisingly good. I know exactly what they mean by that, as the same comment was repeated again and again by the audiences. All in all, a great success for Richard Carruthers, the show’s director, driver and creative influence.

Jan was also in Oz last week to visit a Nelson Pine plant, with his mechanical engineer, to look at how a project has gone over there. He has come back with some good ideas, despite being very tired. It was go-go-go for them both for the four days that they were away.

I managed to get my marking sorted during the study break, and have been tackling lots of Career Development things. I had meetings, training and the AGM in Wellington on Sunday & Monday for CDANZ, and came away with my head so full that I felt like I was concussed. I think I have managed to process now! However, we had a stand-out presenter at one of the training sessions, Amanda Fleming of Presenter At Large from Auckland. This woman is a great speaker, with some very interesting stories to tell and insights on personal development. If you get the chance, to go to one of her sessions, go.

Bonnie will be staying with us for a bit longer, I think: John is going to the US for a few months while he gets some business systems sorted out. No problem for Coco to retain her friend, especially as Fliss is growing increasingly frail.

Jan & I are both in Welly from 7-9 December (next CDANZ Exec meeting). I will be free on Saturday evening, so catch ups Sat night with the Hutt crowd would be great. 

Congrats to Christél & Ray for being able to share cute little Lizzie with Christél’s folks! Hard to tell the puppy from the slipper :-)

Congrats to Magda who has a wonderful new job. But sad faces to Sam & Jan who lose her as her new position is in Christchurch :-( 

Happy birthdays over the coming month to Hartmut, Morv, Margie, Uncle Norman, Dawnie, Lara, Justine & Jeremy! 

Right – better feed the dogs  :-D

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson – September 2012

Hi all,

We hope you are all fit & well, whether it is autumn or spring where you are.

Our pool is improving: Jan & I played three games on Saturday night before we went to bed, and the games are going much faster now. Jan won two and I won one; though I was only one ball off the pace on both the games Jan won. 

We had Robbie, Janet, Fergus & Mac here last weekend. We stayed up far too late, watched lots of films, played lots of pool and ate too much! In other words, we had lots of fun, and hope to do it again soon.

I have nearly got my research proposal for my Masters knocked into shape, being currently lost in the world of ontology and epistemology. I am up in Auckland on the 19^th of this month to meet with a load of people at Auckland Uni, and will catch up with Tessa for Japanese at the Stamford. I am doing a lecture on Leadership diversity at AUT in Manukau on the 20^th, on my way back to the airport, which will be interesting.

Jan & I had a lovely dinner out at Hopgoods for his birthday. I bought him a new viola case (when I was in Welly a couple of weeks ago for an Exec meeting) and got Camila’s folks to send some guava paste from Brazil (Beto & Célia also sent Jan some lovely peanut lollies that he likes - paçoquitas). Tina & Jeremy got shoes & socks for a child in poverty (what a great idea!) and we got a handmade card from Otto & Lara. My folks bought him a Mitre 10 voucher, Midori & handmade hazelnut chocolates, Kathleen & Frits got him Monopoly: the chocolate version :-)

Jan had a family & friends birthday lunch at Lambretta's – it was great to catch up with everyone, and the sun was kinda-sorta out too. Then he went off to rehearse with the NSO and I went to Kathleen & Frits’ place to mark.

We went to Lake Rotoiti a few weeks ago and presented “what happened on the North Island Tour” to the next intake of exchange students. They are a great crew and we should have a really good time next year on the tour as well.

We also caught up with Hui Ping & Mae at Bill & Cornishes’ place a few weeks ago, along with Murray & Julie. It was a lovely night with LOT of lovely pizza, which Hui Ping made for us all. Wonderful. Hui Ping went skiing, so had her dream stop in Nelson. 

Speaking of skiing, Camila has been, and probably now has the show bug as badly as Ana Silvia had it. Unfortunate that the snow has almost gone now; but I think overnight there has been a bit (it is chilly enough this morning to light the fire again).

Tina & Jeremy hosted me brilliantly in Welly a couple of weeks ago, and not only did we have a birthday party for Uta with Hartmut on Friday night, but I spent time with Otto & Lara watching Mr Bean on Saturday night. A great weekend.

Interesting sunrise recently with a halo around the sun... very thin cloud about.

 

Jan & I are both in Welly from 7-9 December (next Exec meeting) so we will be in touch to try & catch up with as many Welly people as we can then. 

Andreas, Katrin & Christian will be with us for Christmas and maybe New Year in Nelson. Flights are booked, should be loads of fun, and we are really looking forward to it!

Happy birthdays to Otto, Bob, Warren, Doug , Helen, Andreas, Leigh, Max & Karen, DJ, Tony G, Andrew and Ana Silvia! 

Right – better finish my marking. All the best :-D

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson – August 2012

Hi all,
Latest news – we have a new addition in the family: a pool table. I have had a search on TradeMe for a couple of years, looking for an old pub pool table, and we hit pay-dirt last weekend. We went to Blenheim to pick it up, avoiding the rain, and installed it in our lounge on Sunday.

We played about thirty games and we were both RUBBISH, but I was by far the MOST rubbish. No down-trous (Kiwi rule: if you don’t sink any of your balls, you have to take your trousers down), but close at times. It was fun. I see budgie-smuggler free pool parties at our house coming up (translation: budgie-smugglers are Ozzie for tight fitting swimming trunks that look like shiny undies). 

“Deutschlandreise 2012” has arrived from the printers, so I am now waiting for Jan to write a couple of letters before the copies will wing their way to Jan’s grandmothers. 

NMIT & AUT teaching is going well; I have sorted out all my courses and my semester's teaching is going smoothly. My study is going slowly, and I am constantly getting lost down side-alleys in UA’s LOVELY library where I have access to journals for Africa! Ooo Grommet!

My brother’s 40^th birthday was last weekend. My family came together for a party, which was great. My sister is off to the US in a couple of weeks for a holiday, and to meet some friends whom she has met online (in Washington DC and Pennsylvania).

Dogs are all well, if put out by the rain. They keep going to doors and expecting me to open them onto sunshine, I think. However, they certainly don’t mind splashing through puddles, if it is a walk. It is only toilet stops that are infra dig in the rain. Photo of a weird sunrise attached, and a night shot from Princes Drive.

Only a couple of months until Camila comes to us for the last three months of her Rotary exchange year. I suspect that we won’t see too much of her during the weekends though as she has lots of places to stay in town. However, she does enjoy pool, so perhaps the pool table will provide a key attraction!

We are going to Lake Rotoiti this weekend to present “what happened on the North Island Tour” to the next intake of exchange students. That should be fun.

Andreas, Katrin & Christian will be in New Zealand this coming Christmas and New Year, and it looks like either Christmas in Nelson, or Christmas in Wellington at this stage – but we haven’t heard back on a final decision from Eppingen yet. Hopefully this will spur a response!

The weekend after next I am in Wellington for a CDANZ meeting. I am up in Auckland on 19^th Sept for some Masters stuff, to joint-present a lecture at AUT’s Manukau Campus and to have dinner with Tessa. 

Happy birthdays to Neil L, Gary B, Uta S-K, Oma Lieselotte, Hui-Ping, Raeywn TeH, Otto, Bob, Warren, Doug, Helen, Andreas, Leigh, Max, Karen and DJ! 

Right – I am sure that I have forgotten lots, but this will do for now. All the best to everyone :-)

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young