Swimming, Teaching, Chess, Tosca

Today Mark had an early swim practice. In the pool at 7 AM. He said that it felt good to get back in the water. I stayed to watch Mark and the 8 or so other kids in the outdoor pool. The coach (Lisanne) was good with the kids and led them through a few laps for a half hour. Tomorrow and Friday are time trials.

I taught for the second time today. I'm not sure how many readers will be interested to know that the topic was conductive heat transfer. I'm enjoying the students: they provide lots of feedback in class which makes the classroom environment fun for all. Because several of the BTech students are going to the Netherlands for 2 weeks, I'm having to double-up lectures. Today, I taught from 2:00 - 4:30. I hit Cape Town rush hour traffic on the way home, but it wasn't so bad. It took 10 minutes longer to get home. I'll have 2 weeks off from teaching when the students are in Europe.

Mark's chess club started at Rhenish today. Supposedly there will be tournaments later in the year. Reminds me of Searching for Bobby Fisher. Hopefully there will be a little less pressure on the kids than in the movie.

After dinner, Catherine, Mark, and I brought Tosca to the park. The routine is that we hit a tennis ball which Tosca fetches, brings back, and drops at least 20 ft. in front of us. We gradually work our way around the park. It's a mystery why daily routine is so important her. But, it seems to be the highlight of her day. You can see some pictures below.

--Matt