Professor for one year (week 37): Winter term break

Some weeks ago, I commented on term dates and my feelings towards winter term.  Actually, it's not 4 but 6 weeks of teaching after New Year.  This means, the Christmas/New Year break is roughly in the middle of winter term.

I felt uncomfortable with teaching after New Year, but this was mainly due to having still contact with colleagues teaching in Switzerland.  I don't feel exhausted the way I usually feel at the end of a semester, i.e., like this owl posted on Facebook some time ago:

In fact, having a break in the middle of the term offers some chances:

• I will start the second part of the term with a repetition/summary.  When there's no break, I usually don't do this because I'm hesitant to "lose" a session while there is so much students should get to know/practice.
• Students have a bit more time for "homeworks." And I hope this pays off with respect to quality.  Usually, they have two weeks for submitting assignments.  I don't include the days of the Christmas/New Year break.
• I have some time to unwind and I hope to be not as exhausted as usually at the end of the term.

However, it still feels odd that the week after Winter term in Konstanz ends, Spring term in Switzerland starts. So I'm very happy to have no teaching appointment in Switzerland for Spring.