IDC countdown – 18 days to go
We’re into July already, which means my IDC is getting far too close for comfort! And the first 3 weekends are weekends without diving, unfortunately. The weather was beautiful this weekend, but I was stuck inside a conference room with negligible air conditioning, supervising my students as they had a Model United Nations Conference. Their agenda was Child Soldiers, and they performed pretty well.
The delegates were a mixture of 3rd years and 2nd years, with a couple of 1st years and a few students who came from other schools. There would have been far more people attending if we ‘d have actually had a lengthy preparation for this conference. The invites went out to guests and other schools about 3 weeks ago which is nowhere near enough time for people to prepare. Bear in mind that we are the only school in Okinawa which teaches (and therefore has a knowledge of) MUN. So if any schools want to send their students, then they need to get permission, learn about the agenda item, learn about their country and its position, and have a knowledge of the MUN procedures inside a month. That’s just impossible. And compounded to that, we sent some invites to schools in mainland Japan – a complete waste of a stamp! But they performed well and I was proud of them. They look so different too when they’re in business attire; some of the students had gone out and got a business suit just for this conference. Plus I have managed to get 2 new contacts from high schools in Kagoshima. They are interested in teaching Model UN, and want advice and help from me in doing so. People coming to me for advice – what is the world coming to?!?! So that’s my excuse for not diving this weekend.
Next weekend I’m heading up to Hiroshima. I’ll be meeting my friend, Verena, up there, and it’s always good to have a travelling partner. Think we’re staying at the Hiroshima Prince Hotel, which is usually far too high a standard for me, but I try to live it up a little when I’m with friends. Even if I was staying in Okinawa, it looks like diving might be out of the question next weekend though. Typhoon Ewiniar is on it’s way, and on Friday at 1800, it is forecast to be within 120 miles of Okinawa. Hopefully it won’t affect flights as I’ve got a 1800 flight up to the mainland on Friday evening.
So yesterday I decided to do something productive and sort out how I’m going to get all my dive gear and my diving manuals to Thailand, and stay within the luggage limits. And with a bit of effort and a little luck, I may have managed it. I’m going to try and take both my U.S. Divers Cousteau BCD and my Tekwing. The BCD is pretty old and has seen a lot of use, but it’s reliable and will be my teaching BCD. So I want to do the IDC and IE with the equipment I will be using to teach with. Teaching students while using my wing would lead to too much task-loading on their part. Not a lot else to report for now. Dive study is going well and I’m focused, with just a few nerves starting to build up inside. Nerves are good though – they keep you at the top of your game and take you out of the comfort zone. More from me a little later. Have fun and dive safe.
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