(Tim's) Spare Time

Well, now that I've gone into too much detail about my teaching week, what do I do when I am not teaching? I will admit that I do have a decent amount of free time in my schedule. On Thursday and Fridays I get off at 2:30 and have no after school activities! Even coaching football, and my other after school committments, gets me done at 4. (I worked until 5 almost every day at EC!) And here in Dar, I have no night meetings, no church committees, no track season of long meets. If the kids have school activities themselves, we live just a short walk away! I know there are definitely people in America with schedules 3x as crazy as mine!

Even here in Dar, some fellow teachers have extraordinary committments and responsibilities. Some are starting churches, or helping in ministries at church, and have all those typical night meetings we are used to at home. Some are involved in youth groups and "YoungLife," which keep weekends filled. And there are others with connections of orphanages or duties from their calling organizations.

So I feel pretty guilty often about my schedule. But something I've learned about myself over the years is that teaching takes a lot out of me. Part of it, I believe, is realizing how much of an introvert I am. Pouring energy into my students is what I love to do, but it does leave me pretty drained. Introverts basically use "alone time" to recharge those batteries back up. I make no claims to being a great "high energy" teacher who daily inspires his students to reach for the stars, but whatever it is I do with my students does tire me out.

So, I do enjoy downtime being at home with the family. Of course, this isn't always down time. There is plenty to do. I don't always succeed in keeping up with the dishes, but I try. Helping the kids with doing homework and just being a decent dad and husband. I don't think I am always particularly good at that either all the time!

For fun, the kids and I play some video games. They have their Kindle Fires or Nintendo DS consoles. I have my computer. Even though we don't have TV, we do download and watch some American shows together as a family, especially Survivor and Amazing Race. It's annoying that we have to download these "illegally," as all we want to do is watch them during the same week they air. There's no other way to do it...even if we had the bandwidth to stream the files from CBS's web site, CBS itself blocks streaming to other countries! Steph and I have also watched Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and Game of Thrones.

There is also plenty of reading, and as of this Christmas, I think the whole family owns and uses Kindles. I have made some headway on the list of "best science fiction and fantasy" that NPR published last year.

Before bed at night, I've been playing some video games while listening to sermons I can find online. The best news: I can download sermons from the awesome preacher at Prairie Lane CRC, Omaha (look him up!) It's either him or Tim Keller! I used to listen to various podcasts, but I am pleased with this new idea. For me, it's the perfect way to wind down yet be engaged and thinking at the same time.

Strangely, board games have been getting the short straw. There are good opportunities for gaming here in Dar with both family and friends, but recently we've been too tired. I think it is that the hot, humid evenings just don't scream out "sit around a table with sticky cards!"

Now, if I do have a second ministry, it is probably in my time spent participating in team sports. Yes, Tim Steen Athletic Missionary is probably not the description of me that comes to mind, but so far living in Africa has been pretty good for my body. I don't have a scale, but I am pretty sure that I am lighter than I've been in about 15 or even 20 years! and I'm starting slowly to get into some shape. My athletic skills, on the other hand, might be beyond repair. On Wednesday nights, the community plays football. On Saturday mornings, I can walk down to HOPAC and get into a basketball game. And on Sunday nights, I am actually pretty decent at Ultimate Frisbee. Unfortunately, I think I've over done it lately, and developed some tendonitis in my knee. The best news, however, is that playing sports (and coaching football) has let me develop relationships with both community members and students this year. It's been great getting to know these people outside of class. So it's been good for me, but it's been good for relationship building as well.