Who am I?

People do not exist in separation but in a rich interwoven web of connections: connections to other people, to society, to geographical locations and more.

Here are some of my connections:

My name is Philip S. Wood. I was born from the marriage between my father, Mike Wood, and my mother Rialet du Toit (her maiden name). I was born at about 16h30 on Tuesday, 4 November 1975, in the small South African town called Caledon. I have one younger brother: Michael Wood.

My father is English and has been a technician and technical manager in the broadcasting/signal distribution industry in South Africa for several decades now. From an early age he shared his interest in matters mathematical and physical with me. He helped me build my first crystal radio. He showed me electrolysis and taught me trigonometry, and in many other ways encouraged me to explore my interests in chemistry, computers, physics and mathematics.

My father’s family came from England. His father, also a Philip, was an English minister who came to South Africa to do missionary work in the Transkei, and my grandmother, who was a nurse, came with him. Most of my English family is spread around the world in places like New Zealand, Australia and England.

My mother is Afrikaans and has been a social worker for as long as I can remember. She has worked with children and the elderly at several different institutions. She has taught me to observe and enjoy people and to appreciate matters psychological.

My mother's family traces back to French settlers who came to South Africa in the sixteen-hundreds. Her father was a farmer in the Overberg. Most of my Afrikaans family is in South Africa (mostly in the Cape province).

I grew up in a series of small towns: Kokstad, Middelburg, Kroonstad. Later we moved to Roodepoort a small city close to Johannesburg and finally we moved to Port Elizabeth, a smallish city in the Eastern-Cape province of South Africa.

I attended primary school at several different schools: most notably ones in Kroonstad, Roodepoort and Port Elizabeth. I attended high school in Port Elizabeth. After High school I went to Stellenbosch University, which is situated in the Cape province.

I miss the beautiful mountains and trees of Stellenbosch.

I also studied at CTI (Computer Training institute) a private college specializing in computer education and completed a Computer Science Diploma in a short, but intensive course of 46 Weeks.