June 2017 Calendar

Dragon Boat Challenge

The annual Dragon Boat Challenge is part of the Medway Food & Drink Festival.  I'd like to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to all the students (and Jon) who stepped up to the mark and joined our SAS Mermaids team.

We had three great attempts. Didn't come away with any prizes but were amazed to knock 17 seconds off of our first row.  Our timings went from 1:40:16 to 1:23:36 to 1:23:00  ...  not bad for a bunch of novices.

Assume crash positions!!!

Congratulations also go to our other two university teams: 'The Drill Hall Dragons' and the NRI team, 'Nearly Never Ever Rowed in a Boat' both of whom did extremely well.

On a personal note ...

Aiste, Lynne, Katie, Pauline

Had the most marvellously, wonderful day out on Saturday. A very welcome and much needed break just two days after I moved house!!  
Our day involved time at the beach at Hythe, coffee and pancakes, a dip in the freezing cold sea (brave Aiste ventured more than a dip). Followed by three hours in the Hythe Imperial Hotel Spa  ...  swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi and slightly too much sun!!  Then a traditional English afternoon tea.  All that was rounded off with a shopping detour to Ashford Outlet Mall.

Manchester attack

At least 22 people were killed and 120 injured after an explosion in the foyer of the Manchester Arena on Monday night. Our thoughts and prayer go out to all those who have been affected by this dreadful attack.

On Tuesday, May 30th we will be holding a Prayer Vigil  for all those affected.  Please join us in the Medway Campus Faith Space, Pilkington 039 anytime between 4:30-5:30pm. 

This will be a silent hour for people to come and pay their respects and offer prayers on our graffiti wall. Between 5-5:15pm there will be a short time of prayer offered by the Medway Campus Chaplain.

Please check our Facebook page for further updates.

Summer Ball

Another great Summer Ball organised by the Faculty of Science & Engineering  ... thank you Nicola and team for all your hard work!! 




The food was fantastic  ...  Basel, did you really eat all that?





And we totally loved the playground area in the Ward Room.
I didn't exactly win the stuffed banana; I think the man took pity on me, either that or he just wanted me to go away!

 

Sadly, I forgot to charge my camera battery so didn't take many pics and the ones we took outside had us all looking rather green, like we'd got the lead role in Shrek!!

A cracking Sunday roast

If you happen to have read my blog post late February 2017 about our India 2018 Auction, you will know that I bid for a Sunday Roast for six people. Today I was joined by my friend Sue, plus Aiste, Basel, Kannan and Clement to collect on that. We enjoyed a marvellous afternoon with Terry & Jo Whittaker and their boys, Rory & Conor.

Shame about the lighting :-)

Eurovision

Had a great Eurovision party last night. Though, as usual, we didn't agree with the final outcome of the vote (sorry Portugal). Our vote would have seen the following nations in the top six places  ...  

          1st  -  Sweden

          2nd  -  United Kingdom  (yeah Lucie!!!)

          3rd  -  Ukraine

          4th  -  France & Moldova

          5th  -  Romania

          6th  -  Poland

Clement, Ghofran, Basel, Ahmed, Adnan,
Ahmad, Aiste, Amira, Mary, Areti, Gabriella
(as you can see I have a special liking for people who have
five-letter names beginning with 'A')

Danger & Daring

Danger & Daring was our theme last night at TABLEtalk. After some brief discussion as to what it means to be brave, I had produced a questionnaire to find out how daring people were. How willing they are to step outside of their comfort zones.  This included questions regarding  ....  extreme sport activities people have tried, their confidence & experience in speaking publicly, they response in difficult situations, etc. Results of scoring was as follows:

Then we played Cat & Mouse  ...  in which several mice and one cat were blindfolded and had to be led through a maze using only sounds, made by their guide, to indicate left, right, stop, etc.  The mice were trying to cross the maze and reach the safety of the mouse hole before the hungry cat blocked their path and filled his tummy!

This turned out to be, not just an exercise in trust, but an excellent exercise in communication. Round one, hungry cat Ahmad got to the mouse hole first and simply waited for his prey. Round two our mice, Gabriella and Amira, found safety whilst hungry cat Clement was struggling with his left and his right :-)