It has been a crazy couple of weeks. First preparing for the new term of lectures and then actually teaching them. At least the first two weeks have passed without a glitch, but not without exhausting me. So there is a lot of news, but I think that it is best for me to vent a little today.

I had the chance to try the sauna at the gym across the road and well… I promised myself to be more positive about life. The best I can come up with is that it is better than nothing. Sorry, I cannot help myself. I have a duty to complain a little. The sauna is about 1.5 to 2.0 too big for the stove. That is the first thing a Finn would say if he walked into the sauna. (I have only been in the male sauna.) The second thing he would notice is that there is no bucket and ladle. Instead there is a button (a button!) against the wall that dispenses some quantity of water when it is pushed. And some time delay before the button works a second time. The result is that the temperature never goes above 85 degrees, which is much too low for me personally. My muscles simply do not relax. I guess if they push it up to 110 degrees someone might keel over and die. That must be the reason. But it seems somewhat pointless to keep a cool sauna.

Oh never mind. I’ve survived without sauna for a long time and I’ll keep on surviving. Until I don’t. I thought about the possibility to build my own sauna own day, but I’m not sure if it is even possible in South Africa. Well, not for any reasonable price. And maybe it is partly psychological.

OK, enough with the negatives. My new class of third year students are a great bunch. They are lively and intelligent and there are a lot of them. If I can master their names, I think this year’s course will be swell.