Day 19

So today was a much less adventurous, more peaceful day. The furthest the children & I ventured was down to the third floor balcony for a quick play on the swings to clear our heads & let off steam. It does seem a shame to spend half an hour putting everyone's snow gear on for a quick 10 minute play! I need to teach them to dress for the elements quicker!

I had an interesting conversation with 2 cleaners who knocked on my door. I'm not sure whether they were telling me I shouldn't leave my rubbish outside in the corridor, or whether they were offering to take my rubbish away from the corridor or whether they wanted me to pay them for taking my rubbish away from the corridor. Nevertheless, we all smiled sweetly, I didn't pay them and there was no rubbish there later! I do feel I should make some time to review the little amount of Russian I used to know.

This evening I am currently attempting to watch 'Call the midwife' on BBC iplayer. Considering the technological age we are supposed to live in, it seems particularly complicated to me. Nevermind, I have a good book!

Ali

It's cold outside and there's no kind of atmosphere...

Sheer exhaustion / fatigue. Feeling very much like Garfield’s dislike for Mondays. Trying to wade through work in NU and finishing work off in Brighton is very draining. Preparing lectures for tomorrow morning was only made easier by having done similar things, but I still don’t know how good these students are at chemistry. They are bright and capable, but pitching the material requires some form of iterative process, but the first lecture is usually hit or miss. I am not sure why third year undergraduates are only just starting their studies of chemistry. I would have thought that for a chemical engineering course, knowing something about chemistry should have started in year 1. But what do I know?

I'm all alone, more or less...

I’ve been looking at the work site across the street from us; they never stop. It was minus 15 and falling, they work all hours of the day & night and progress is being made. Do they complain? Well, not publically. I believe quite a few groups in the UK could benefit from this proactive attitude and stop complaining about the conditions. We’re all after equality, we all long for fairness no matter what our position in life, but where’s the reality in that? Enjoy what you do have, you’ll miss it when it’s gone and trust me, you have a lot.

Ray