This morning, Rhenish school had an "athletics meeting." Translation: a field day with timed sprints for the Grade 1 through Grade 3 students. Best times go to a regional meeting next week. The "houses" at Rhenish compete against each other. Mark is in Yellow house. Not quite sure what that means yet.
Mark raced in the 100 m. Not fast enough for the next level, but he had fun. I took some pictures.
Next week, they'll do something similar for swimming.
We talked to Grandma and Grandpa over the internet today using the Apple version of Skype (iChat). We wished my mom a Happy Birthday. Mark and Catherine enjoyed seeing their grandparents on the videophone.
I tried to obtain my staff number at CPUT again today. No luck. Or, as they say here, I'm "not winning." I was able to get on the internet using my laptop for web browsing. And, I set up a CPUT email account. But, I can't check the account using Mail.app yet. And, it doesn't look like I'll be able to check my other email accounts from CPUT's campus either. Their firewall blocks IMAP ports. Definitely "not winning."
A funny story from Wednesday that I forgot to write about. I joined a couple colleagues at CPUT for afternoon tea. The policy in the Mechanical Engineering department is that staff members bring their own cups and spoons. We're also responsible for washing them (if we wish). Of course, I didn't have the required equipment, because I didn't know the customs. What a dither THAT created! All cupboards and cabinets were searched for a cup. When that failed, I said, somewhat sheepishly, "hey guys, I don't mean for this to be an emergency or anything. I can sort myself out tomorrow." To which they responded, "this IS very close to an emergency" and proceeded to phone the secretary to find a cup. 2 minutes later, I had a cup full of Rooibos. Whew! Apparently, the cup that was provided is quite special, obtained from a hidden supply known only to the secretaries.
Today, I brought my own teacup to campus.
--Matt