Part of the end of each teaching term is an effort by the scheduler of my classes to reach some kind of equilibrium between all the students. During the term there are many business trips, overseas transfers, important meetings, and it is just about impossible to have everyone end up with the same amount of classes. The last couple weeks of the term are therefore reserved for adding and moving classes around to fit the overall schedule better. What ends up happening is that whichever days don’t end up getting filled with moved classes are mine to enjoy on my own. Usually I take these days and work on planning for the upcoming term, thinking about what worked well and what didn’t in the previous term, and organizing my documents and computer for the new students. But sometimes I go hiking.
This term will end with a couple of days available for this sort of thing. I like having the extra time – because I’ll certainly be lacking it once the classes kick in.
Around here the cold is continuing to hang on, and other than a long weekend a couple of weeks ago I’ve had to continue wearing my old man underwear to stay warm going to and from the office. But there is hope – some of the plum trees around our neighborhood are blossoming, which means that the cherry trees are a few weeks away from their annual presentation. That means hanami party – and I’m hoping that we can enjoy some good ones this year.
