Disabilities

The teachers had a training session about disability awareness lots of interesting issues about perceptions people have about disability. I broke my pelvis once and had to walk with stiff legs for a while, I remember one evening in a pub having a really hard time getting served. One of the girls giving the presentation had a three fingered hand. Well at least she can still do flemmings left hand rule (physics joke). I once climbed with someone who had a hand that looked like a blown up rubber glove, I was always scared that it would burst. In the early years of the college we had two completely blind students David and Pawel, the teachers were promised extensive training to prepare for this, I think we had half a day. The first weeks were quite tough for the two lads, sometimes one would take a wrong turn and end up in the middle of the bushes they'd sometimes be there for some time before someone could be bothered to rescue them. How they never fjell in the fjord I'll never know. David did physics which was quite a challenge for me (a bigger one for him) since physics is so visual, the smart board wouldn't be so good for him (although to come to think of it if he used a tactile screen and snowshoveller.....). I tried all sorts of tricks to help him visualise, whistling graphs, throwing things at him, pushing him round the room, sticking electrical contacts to his tongue, spinning him in his chair, exposing him to high energy radiation (the last one was a joke). When they did their exams some teachers had to describe diagrams to them, I did this in the chemistry exam. I remember they were sitting facing the triangle window in the Høegh. Once when another teacher (Mark) was with them I walked backwards and forwards past the window trying to make Mark laugh. I succeded.

Using time

No time to Blog the past week and it's not just because of records and school stuff, actualy I've been doing other things too. In two weeks I'm going climbing in Spain with some guys from Bergen, there all very good climbers (half my age) so i'll be pushed, thats why I'm spending time in the TSK (that's rcnuwc speak for weights room) and on the moonboard. After font I realised that to get better I must get stronger and to get stronger I have to lift weights. It's one of the huge benefits (for me) of living here, how many people have a proffessional gym 5 minutes from their house? Talking about benefits there's been quite a bit of talk about that recently. So what are the benefits of teaching at a UWC? Well I've taught at several different schools and compared to some we have it easy. I started teaching at an inner city comprehensive school in coventry (Sidney Stringer). Large classes, no free blocks (you had to cover for absent staff and there were many). I never went home straight after school because this was a community college and as such was used in the evening by the kids and the local community. After school I would play squash or table tennis with the pupils, I was also very much involved with youth work (voluntarily) I helped organise parties on saturday evenings, very much like the Flekke Parties but wilder. I once got jumped by a gang in the street after I had kicked a bunch of kids out of the party, luckily they had an average age of about 12, I swatted a couple and went back inside. One kid refused to get off the table in class so I lifted him off, he didn't like this so said he'd get his dad onto me, i said go on then..... Big mistake. Luckily I saw him coming along the road so legged it into the headmasters room. Before moving to UWC I had never had a discusion in a Physics class, I would ask questions (like I do now) but would end up answering them all myself, that's probably why I always claim to know what everyone is thinking, mind reading used to be the only way I could get any feedback.
I have often had discusions with myself (not out loud you understand) about the amount of time I "waste" climbing, training, writing my blog, surfing etc. Why is this considered by some to be wasted time but marking homework and cleaning the house is not? I have come to the conclusion that all these activities have equal value. How did I reach that conclusion? let's just say it came to me from the heavens. Some things just don't have to have logoical explanations.

Practical Jokes

I hate practical jokes. I don't mean jokes about physics practicals, I mean the plastic dog poo type of joke. What's so funny about watching someone think that there is a dog poo in the middle of the sitting room carpet, especially if you don't have a dog. The ones that hurt are even worse, i once swapped a bag of marbles for a packet of joke chewing gum. You offered the gum to someone and when they pulled it out a spring snapped closed on their thumb. I took it home and offered one to my dad and the spring inflicted pain to his thumb. The look of dissapointment on his face at receiving pain rather than a chewing gum was hilarious.. NOT. I just felt really sorry that I had done such a terrible thing. Imagine training a dog like that, heres a treat, snap ouch. So no more practical jokes ever since. Reminds me of a teacher who worked with problem kids in Coventry, he used to play trust games with them. You get them to stand blindfolded on the edge of a table, the rest of the group would stand in front and the kid on the table would fall forward in to their arms. As trust built up they would let him fall further and further until..... splat, they let him fall flat on his face.
Lesson learnt, never trust anyone.
nice one.

Family Slipper

Got home from France to be greeted by the fact that my son Rowan is taller than me, he either grew about 4cm whilst i was away or I shrunk. It's a very strange feeling, not sure I like it really, maybe I'll have to buy some of those special shoes that make you taller. I've seen them in one of the free magazines we get in the post box, the ones that are full of useful things to buy.
There's one great item you can get called the "family slipper", it's like a great big long slipper with lots of foot holes in it. The hole family can sit on the sofa watching tv keeping their feet warm in the slipper. I wonder what you do with it when you haven't got it on? Probably have to by an extra long shoe rack or something. I wonder if anyone ever buys anything from these mags, I remember my dad once bought a portable shower from a similar brochure when I was a kid. It had a curtain and everything. The company making it was MFI, my dad liked it so much he bought shares in the company and made loads of money.

Paris

Last night in Paris after an enjoyable week combining bouldering at Font and working here in Paris. Quite a contrast from the squalor of the gite to the luxury of the hotel. Had some good meals but feel like I've eaten too much, need to get into some serious training before my next trip to El Chorro at christmas. Going out for a "Plat de fruit de mer" this evening but after that the dieting will have to start again. The good thing about living in such a beatiful place as Flekke is that it's always good to go home. Several trips planned for next year, Lyon in March (another IB workshop) Portugal at Easter (surfing and bouldering with the family), Maybe Athens in the sumer and hopefully Paris again in the autumn. Jet setter or what. I think I have a very nice life.

Font

The trip to Font has been and gone. Did a 7b+ pretty quickly on the first day plus a couple of 7a flashes and that turned out to be the high point. That's the way it is really, one good effort and then spend the rest of the week trying to recover whilst climbing every day. Had a good time though, stayed in a house with a bunch of boulderers from Norway. They went to different bouldrs each day and tried different wines each night. Trip was slightly spoilt due to the hire car getting dented whilst we were away bouldering, just couldn't come to terms with the fact that we might face a big bill when we returned it. Decided to own up rather than try to pretend nothing had happened, luckily the guy at Hertz was cool about it and we weren't charged. I won't get the demon negative thoughts out of my head until I see the bill though. Per practiced his cognitive therapy on me and managed to save the day (almost).
Now in Paris ready to lead another Physics workshop, the organisers have bought a portable version of a smart board so I'm well at home. Looking forward to eating some nice meals there are certainly a lot of good restaurants in the area.

WWF (World of Warcraft Fund)

Juat packed ready to go to font. Several of the others I was going with have cancelled because they are sick or have too much on at work. I feel sick now as well, I'm not of course but I would still go even if I was.
Rowan has bought a new head set so he can talk to his virtual mates while playing World of Warcraft, I can occasionaly hear him grumbling to someone. Got up the other morning to be greeted by a wonderful autumn day, mist lying over the fjord and a sprinkling of snow covered the feilds. It was one of those sights that makes you stand and stare. I was wondering if world of warcraft players get the same buzz when they come across a particularly beautiful LANscape or see a sunset, Rowan reckons he does. So if the software developers decide to start building hotels in these beauty spots would the players get upset? Would they start to campaign to protect the virtual environment?

Will it settle

First snow of the year is lying on the ground. Major mahem around the village as the flakes fell yesterday evening. When I was a kid we would always ask "will it settle"? My kids don't bother asking.