Boo rain

So today was supposed to be my big day... skydiving. I had to catch a bus into the city for the first time because the ferries don’t run early enough. Unlike the buses I take in Minneapolis that come every 10 minutes, the bus I needed to catch for skydiving runs once an hour. I left unnecessarily early for my 6am bus and got to the city no problem. Started walking to the pickup location (about 20 minutes away) and couldn’t find the address I was supposed to be at. Did I mention it was raining? Of all days I pick to go skydiving, its pouring. I conveniently forgot the rain jacket I bought this weekend, and decided to wear my track shoes that are not waterproof. So I’m soaked, but eventually got in touch with the people picking me up and was on my way to Wollongong to skydive the beach. I left my room at 5:15am, to catch a 6 am bus, for a 7 am ride, for my 10 am jump... lots of traveling and waiting around. We got to the place and they weren’t sure if we’d be able to jump. It wasn’t raining but still very overcast. They put our jump on stand-by until 10:30... and then noon. They said from the start the weather wasn’t going to get better, but wanted to keep us around anyway. I know I shouldn’t have been upset—no one can control the weather—but I was so ready to go and it wasn’t going to work. I called home to let mom and dad know it probably wasn’t going to happen... they were expecting the phone call that I was still alive. Not going to lie, I freaked out a little bit, but Dad calmed me down. (Thanks by the way... I was much more content after hanging up, Mom- your email and card cheered me a ton). I rescheduled my jump for November 4th and Brittany is coming with... yay for company! Don’t worry; I won’t miss election coverage Tuesday night will be Wednesday afternoon here. After getting over the disappointment I realized I’m even more excited to go with friends. Clearly trying to do things by myself doesn’t work out. I’ll miss my Tuesday morning class... but missing once isn’t going to kill me (although McRae might if she finds out why I missed). A lot of things went wrong, basically anything that could have, but it’ll be alright. Hopefully things work out better the second time around. I can’t stay upset here... I’m in freaking Australia on a three month vacation (with homework) and more relaxed than ever. Sometimes I wish the weather would cooperate more. After our ride back to Sydney, walking back to the Quay (feet still soaking wet), catching the ferry, and walking up the hill to college it was almost 4pm... over 10 hours since I left. Luckily I brought some homework and my book with; it wasn’t a complete waste of a day.

Who knows, maybe this series of unfortunate events was for the best... hopefully November 4 will be a warm, sun shining day. Better yet, I’ll have company! Other good things happening: I got my second written assignment back from McRae and she only crossed out 50 words this time... and she wants a clean hard copy to keep as an example! I might not be so bad at this writing thing after all. I’m half done with those and my mentoring sessions. Next week I have the opportunity to mentor students visiting college from Torres Straight Islands. These are aboriginal students studying hospitality at a comparable school for aboriginal students in Northern Australia. It will be interesting to learn about their culture because it is very different than the coastal lifestyle I have experienced in both Cairns and Sydney. Stay tuned for updates next week! Yoga was great on Monday... it’s getting easier every week. I have plans to continue when I get back (you can’t back out on me Hanna!) My friend Marica is teaching a hip hop dance class on Tuesday nights, I figured I should continue my recent trend of trying new things and went to check it out. I’m not going to be a hip hop dancer anytime soon, but it was a great workout and a lot of fun hanging out with a different group of people. Speaking of workouts... I tried running again yesterday. I enjoy it, but only for short distances... the “exercised induced asthma” they diagnosed me with in 8th grade might have been legitimate. The half-marathon I was thinking about in May might not work out.

Looking forward to the weekend, I think Friday night we might head up to North Head to watch the sunset with some wine. Saturday I am going to Hunter Valley on a trip organized through the school for some wine tasting. It’s about 2 hours away, and the countryside is supposed to be beautiful, I’ll take pictures. Sunday is going to be a beach/homework day. The aboriginal students are arriving that day and there is a BBQ set up to welcome them. It should be a great weekend; hopefully the weather warms up again. 50 degrees with rain and wind is not cutting it for me.

Finally, good luck to Wendi and her volleyball team on their upcoming playoff game Friday... I’d be there if I could:)