Morphing of life in Doo

Things keep changing here as time goes by. My recreational activities are developing and my job keeps changing in a positive way.

I was shopping a couple of weeks ago and a Doo woman came up to me and asked if I taught English. I said that I’m not a professional teacher, but that I’m tutoring another woman, so she asked me if I would teach her. She took my number and I didn’t really expect to hear from her. A week later, her husband phoned me to discuss the details of our arrangement. I met her and her husband at a local bookstore and we chose a textbook together and had coffee while we planned it. Sarah and Mahmoud are moving with their children to Florida in the summer for his sabbatical (he’s an Entomologist). During their previous 4-year stint in the US, Sarah only ever met with Arabic-speaking women, so her English conversation skills are fairly limited, but she understands much more than she can speak. I’m really pleased to be working with her and I had a great time speaking with her kids yesterday although the 3yo looked like he thought I was planning to eat him for dinner. Lara, the 12yo speaks English very well, and smiled at me the entire 3 hours I was at her home! So my weeknights and one weekend afternoon are now entirely focused on language learning / teaching. It’s fun and such a gift of opportunity to get to know 2 Doo women and their families.

Work has been fairly chaotic this week. My boss had asked me to supervise a large project we’re planning to revise every form in the hospital (in the hundreds, if not over 1000 I suspect). I’d agreed as I’m already getting a little bit bored with the admin side of my role, so a new challenge was welcome. Later in the week, he was informed that he now has an additional role of running the Statistics & Planning team. I’m not sure what that makes my title, but Khalid suggested it is likely to change to a project role. I had to proceed to drafting job descriptions and a strategic plan for a team I know very little about, but the Australian Institute for Health & Welfare website was very helpful. I’ve told Dad he needs to include a beginner’s tutorial on the NZ stats website . I’ve been asked to plan another project to develop an annual statistics guide for the hospital, and also a major review of the eligibility criteria for our patients. It’s a busy time, but I’m enjoying the challenges and once again, I’m grateful for the opportunities, and especially for my boss.