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HSBC Cape Town 7s

15 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in Family and Friends, My Adventures, Uncategorized

So I was fortunate enough to go to both days (Saturday and Sunday) of the Cape Town 7s. It was super awesome off the hook cool! The blitzbokke were playing rather shabbily the first day – I really didn’t have high hopes that they would make it into the finals. But the blitzbokke gave their fans the best gift ever, They won the finals!

The vibe around the stadium was electrifying. Now I also know, the 7s tournament is like a big costume party. People come and hang around the stadium for the day, eating, drinking, chatting to mates and watching some lekker fast paced rugby. Fun times. Great way to kick off summer.

Viva le Blitzbokke! Go bokke, go bokke, go bokke! Ma se kinners, julle is te Oulik! Epic weekend. Doing it next year again for sure.

The Scene of the Action

Minions and my BFF

Some more Femiliyum

The parentals and baby boetie

The Robster, Minions and I

Happy Day

05 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in My Adventures, Purely Academic

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Feeling blessed!

So this is a picture of the group that went to Mont Fleur, the publishing workshop I was so desperately keen to get onto. I’m feeling so blessed that I had that opportunity… It was everything was I hoping for and more.

I will have to write a whole separate entry on the wine farm itself, Mont Fleur – it was breathtakingly BEAUtiful. The very last farm on road, nestled in the middle of the Stellenbosch Mountains – a perfect recluse for writing. And yet, it is interesting to note that even in this wonderfully beautiful and potentially distracting scenery, every member of the group was very focussed on or absorbed in their work.

For me that environment added to the experience. I loved being surrounded by like-minded people. Everyone was so completely ‘into’ their research. My experience was that every participant added to the overall learning experience, and it was such a privilege to be part of this group who willingly shared their knowledge from their own personal experience and journal articles as well as whatever else they could during our workshop. For example, doing a quick crash communal training/learning session on Atlas TI was not part of the programme, but after a full day, after dinner, about half the group met in the conference room again to share knowledge on Atlas TI. Who does that? Only nerds I guess ..♥) I love being a nerd. The support that I was given as a young emerging researcher during this workshop was invaluable. And it’s not only going to add to my research projects, but also to my supervisory skill. Their support, through me, is a support for my students.

I’m loving the word ‘conceptual framework’…because I think I finally understand it. Confidence is what this workshop gave me. That’s why it was invaluable, Confidence cannot be bought.

However my bed beckons me now…2 minutes before midnight. I shall blog some more about this again, but in order to avoid any unnecessary risks of turning into a pumpkin and what not, I bid thee night night dear fair readers, sleep tight and happy dreams to match my happy day.

Fake it till you make it…

13 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in My Adventures, Purely Academic

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Being rather brave indeed, I am.

Publically stating something like that. But it is true. Some of the greatest accomplishments that I achieved were things/heights that were unfathomable and it started with a random wild thought. Things I wasn’t supposed to be able to do. But I started working toward the unthinkable and pretending to know what I was doing until I figured it out.

Most notable example was when I started lecturing Stats. In the beginning every week I would re-study the content of the course. Sure I passed Stats 3 and Stats 4, not to badly even. I think 88% for Stats 3 and 70% for Stats 4. But I sure as hell was not competent, enough by my own standards to present the subject when I did! The students in those first classes will probably agree with me. I love you Mr. Russel (my lecturer), for giving me the chance to prove myself. Because that’s exactly what I did. Extensive hours of studying, then writing notes, and doing worked exercises each week up until minutes before I presented class was what it took to pull it off – Faked it till I made it.

Well now see here, I’m doing it again! I was just accepted to attend a highly valued CHEC Course on ‘Writing for Publication’. Oh MAN. I’m so grateful! The department I work for is going to pay for it, and there are renowned Professors from all the CHEC Universities in Western Cape (UWC, UCT, US and CPUT) facilitating on the course. I need to publish, and all help, every little bit or big bit, is welcomed with open arms.

So to get on the course I needed to write an extended abstract, and I didn’t exactly lie, but I can neither confirm, nor can I deny that I might of, or might not of written what I intended to do in a way that might of, or perhaps might not of made it sound like I did it already, Perhaps, Maybe. Something like that.

I wrote about my quantitative data – and that I do have. However I might have mentioned qualitative data as well – which I don’t have yet. ‘Yet’ being the operative word. But bugger it. I’ll get the data!, and I really don’t know how, but some time between this month and the end of next month I will also learn how to analyse qualitative data 🙂 Yeah that sounds about right.

Bottom line my abstract was accepted. So I’ll be packing my little red suitcase and off I’m going to Stellenbosch for 3 days in November to learn how to write even better than what I do now. What I do know is hard work pays off. Sometimes I get burned. But 8/10 times I get it right. The other 2/10 times… well I either learn something or I have an excuse to have a uhmmm cough cough dinner club pity party.

Fake it till you make it Baby

Murder most foul…

23 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in Family and Friends, My Adventures

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So last night we had a murder mystery dinner party at our house. What an interesting affair.

Taste testing the punch before the dinner!

Spoiler Alert- if you plan to ever play The Masked Massacre by bepartofthemystery.com rather ask me about it person, as opposed to reading the rest of this blog entry.

We were 10 suspects including a ‘nosy parker’ society journalist, a ‘coke addict’ CEO, an ‘eccentric’ fashion designer and ‘crooked’ investment banker. Josh obliged by playing our private detective, Inspector Richard.

Inspector Richard and Idols Winner Singer Terry van der Kamp

Each character (suspect) is given a character booklet a few days before the event to help them get completely into character. The character booklet also tells the characters when to reveal certain information about themselves to the group. It prompts the characters to ask or do certain things at specified time.

CEO Tyler Williams

Over the duration of the three course meal, three sets of clues are given to the group of suspects with evidence about the murders, such as the coroner’s report or police report of the murder scene.

The rules of the game state that no one is allowed to lie except for the murderer. So if someone asks you a direct question one must answer honestly, unless of course you’re the murderer. Suspects may however embellish the truth. It makes for more challenging for the others and a more fun experience. At the end of the three course meal, all suspects should state who they think the murderer is and only after the final accusations the murderer is revealed by the host or inspector. So the rules say…

Getting ready to solve the murder, journalist Alyssa Jones starts taking notes immediately!

The rules also say that the murderer is not allowed to confess before this point, but my Femilyum is special. Fortunately our game had two murderers, so when my mom confessed to being the murderer before it was actually time to confess, we could go on playing.

Considering the context, it’s rather funny – just proves my mom could never be a hard core killer. It seems she felt guilty about killing an imaginary person, so just a little bit of badgering from the ‘nosy parker’ society journalist (aka my friend Ronel) had her confessing before we could even start dessert!

And then, as we were about to reveal the solution in the midst of everyone making final accusations Josh, …sorry I mean Inspector Richard thought he was asked who he thought the second murderer was so he casually blurted the solution out.

Our murderers, Hayden Davis and Madison Brown

A rather suspicious looking lot

But what our game lacked in suspense (3/10 we scored in that department), we made up for in spirit (scored a whopping 11/10 for that!). Everyone put effort into their outfits and looked the part. Despite none of us having partook in such a dinner before but we certainly got into it as the evening progressed.

Tonight when the parentals popped around at my place and we did a bit of an autopsy (cough cough, every pun intended), we already decided toward the end of the year over festive season we must have another such dinner. Since we South African, heck we could even have it over a braai! Fun times. Family memories 💣🔫🔪💉💵 Can’t wait till we do it again!

That was fun!

Chris Barnard #Legend

02 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in General, My Adventures

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About two weeks ago the minions and I visited the heart transplant museum at Groote Schuur Hospital, and what a life changing event…literally. For starters, as an immediate result of our visit, we have all three registered to be organ donors.

I urge Every South African to do themselves a favour and pay the museum a visit. I sincerely promise you, that you will come away feeling immensely proud to be South African. And for every Non-South African and South African, alike, you will come away with an amazing story of one man’s courage and determination in the face of adversity, a story about the unrelenting human spirit and our capacity to overcome, a reminder that after hard work and tenacity there are well deserved acknowledgements that came with accomplishments. Chris Barnard is an inspiration. His life made a difference.

Before our visit I really didn’t think much of the man. Sure, he performed the first heart transplant and what not, something very noteworthy yeah of course yeah- but until that morning I never realised the extent of the sacrifices he made and what it entailed. Our visit gave me insight into his life and allowed me to try and imagine what it must of been to be in his shoes. He was the underdog and a risk taker. He finished a PhD degree that should have taken six years in two years – Respect!. Then, there were also no guarantees that any of his efforts would pay off, and yet he persisted for years…because he felt passionate about his work. And the time arrived, when totally unexpected by the rest of the world, in the wee hours one December morning in unsophisticated Africa, he performed the historical operation that forced the world to look up, and reminded them, don’t underestimate the underdog. Sometimes, that underdog will surprise you.

However, the thing that I admire the most about Chris Barnard, the characteristic that won me over and had the most significant impact on me was that through it all, through his trials and his failures and then his glory, his ‘human-ness’ shone through, his temperamental side, his sense of humour, his humility and daring nature and his mischievous streak. I reckon he was a good guy, a really cool human being.

I will not elaborate any more on the details of our visit, because again I’ll urge you – go check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve been missing you

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in Family and Friends, My Adventures, Purely Academic

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So like it’s been forever (2 weeks = forever in the drama queen dictionary), since we’ve chatted, and I have loads to tell you… I took a week’s leave last week and it was lovely. Have you tried the red bus in Cape Town? If not then it’s a must, and if you have, then well, let’s go again. What a fantastic adventure for the minions and I. There are 4 possible routes (all open top red busses) namely the Red Route which involves a tour around the city centre, the Blue Route which involves a mini trip around the Peninsula, the Purple Route is a little wine route in Constantia and the Yellow Route which takes you around Bo-Kaap. If you buy one ticket you can hop on and hop off these busses as you wish for the day. The Routes are interlinked so what the minions and did is started with the Red Route, hopped off at Stop 5 in Long Street, and hopped on a connecting bus on the Blue Route. We hopped off at Kirstenbosch Gardens, had lunch and went for a walk, then back on again, around Hout Bay and hopped off at Camps Bay for dinner. Finally hopped back onto a Red Bus which took us back to the V&A Waterfront where we originally caught the bus. It was a fantastic trip. Like the International City Tour busses, it was a guided tour, however as opposed to a real life tour guide, each person who buys a ticket gets a set of earphones which you plug into a port in the bus. Thus as the bus passes the different landmarks situated on the route, you get running commentary as you would with a real life tour guide. It was entertaining, informative, educational but most of all FUN!!! Give me a shout if you want to go sometime and I’ll definitely join you.

Minions on the Red Bus

Tourists in our own city

So the next thing we did was Disney on Ice. Again, another spectacular experience. It was a 2 hour show, but it felt like 30 minutes – it was that good. I was (we all were!) sad and disappointed when it ended. It was one of those shows that completely captivates you and swallows you in. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and all the favourites, TinkerBell, Peter Pan, Snow White, Belle and all the princesses, and later even Toy Story. The costumes were magnificent. The tickets were a bit pricy but it was clear that so much practice and much more effort had gone into putting that show together. I would highly recommend it to everyone. The minions and I were beaming from ear to ear when we left. It’s such a feel good feeling. If watching Disney on Ice had that effect, I can only imagine what it must feel like to actually visit Disneyland!

Look at these amazing costumes! And just to think there is a skater inside the Rex and Ham costume too!

So then it was off to Knysna, and the Oyster Festival with the Femilyum. Great memories #familytime. The brothers and I again participated in the races there, Andre and I completed the Knysna Half and Jase did a trail run. Another exciting adventure for the minions:)

Missing Roberto Jones

High Five-ing the Femilyum as I run past

Found a cave at Knysna Heads. Check my Dad take a picture of my Mom taking a picture of us

So then the big one….The night we got back from Knysna, I finished my Proposal and I submitted the draft to Prof! Whooop WHOOOOOP. That’s an amazing feeling, I am well and truly on my way to being a Doctor now:) I am waiting on his feedback. I am actually preparing myself for the worst. But I have done my bit. Whatever he says I will say thank you, make the changes and grow stronger with every iteration.

And my final piece of news is I am going to present at a conference at the CTICC in August. The conference is for Women in Quality and I submitted an abstract, which has been accepted. My talk will be on Quality Circles. I am really looking forward to it. I have finished preparing my PowerPoint Slideshow and I’m currently completing the conference paper. I love my job, and I am just so blessed and grateful that my passion is my career. And my career is my passion. Two more days of school holidays to go and off we’ll start the new term with fresh impetus. Looking forward to it. Life is good:)

Land Ahoy!!

20 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by Bronwyn Swartz in General, My Adventures

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Almost almost, just not quite there yet. I saw an interesting post on FB earlier. It said “When you are dead, you don’t know that you are dead. It is only difficult for the others. It is the same for when you are Stupid” This nothing to do with my blog, or what I’m writing about today, but it had me in stitches so I’m sharing that first.

So “Land Ahoy!!” in my case means I feel like I’ve almost reached a little pit-stop on my journey. I submitted my CHEC proposal on Wednesday. I am making a pledge to myself that it’s not ending there.

I will either do the PG Dip at CPUT if my contract at Cipla is not extended, and then for my D. Tech do research in Educational Technologies, or if my contract is extended then I’ll start with the D. Tech or PhD as of next year and conduct my research on Resistance (Non-adoption) of Quality Culture. It feels good to have a plan.

But for now, I’m winding down, catching up with my marking. I still owe Jan-Hendrik an editing assignment, but I tick that box by Tuesday for the latest and then will also just keep going with my administration for the CPUT related work so I don’t fall behind there. blah dee blah blah blah Boring!

The exciting news is Din-Din Club has decided to go Sky Diving for Roberto’s birthday! Super excited about that. I’ve been speaking wanting to go Sky Diving for two years now it’s time to just do it!

Then other really cool news is I met an ex-Springbok captain. Like seriously, SERIOUSLY, how cool is that. He works with me at Cipla. And he was Not just a player, the Captain baby! I am completely loving this moment, delighting in a small pleasure, and why not. It’s mine. Yes I will admit, I had absolutely no idea of who he was before he told me, but I can respect awesomeness when I come across it. And his achievements are way up there on the awesome gauge. In addition I must add as well, he is a really nice guy too….well the whole 15 minutes I chatted to him he seemed nice so I’m going with that. Divan Serfontein just won himself another great fan.