As time goes by

A month into our stay, I realised that today would be the first time I ventured out on my own since we arrived ... to attend a breakfast event at the Johannesburg Country Club, hosted by the Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA). For a risk management geek like me, it was fascinating hearing about the state of the world, nation and industry from a South African point of view. It’s ironic that 2 of the top 4 national risks are Water Crises and Droughts in Sub Saharan Africa … given that all 300 attendees battled floods to get to the event. It has rained non-stop here for 48 hours - fallout from Cyclone Deneo that skirted the north of the country a few days ago.

Another first – my working morning was based on local Johannesburg time. So far, I have lived in dual timezones – waking up, eating meals etc to local time, but liaising with the office on a two-hour time difference. I thought it would be easy, but it’s surprising how often one forgets. I thought I’d cracked it when I found I could set my phone to show three timezones (UK, Australia & SA)... until I found that swiping to answer the phone also swipes the timezone. In the last week, I’ve accidently found myself working in Jeddah, Kathmandu and today Luxembourg!