This morning I'm sitting at the computer with my second cup of instant coffee beside me (its the only kind of coffee they drink here), looking forward to a gorgeous spring day. How do I know it's spring here? Well, besides the whole city seeming to come alive with a new energy that was missing in the winter months, there are a few other signs.
The hot sun is pulling out 30 degree celsius days and some heat that I've never experienced before in my life! There is no O-zone over the whole continent of Australia which means a penetrating sun that can be quite damaging to your skin if you don't wear sunscreen! Australia has the highest number of cases of skin cancer in the world and its easy to see why! Its hard to believe that this is only the beginning of the warm season...summer gets up into the 40s!
Another sign of spring is the magpies. If I haven't mentioned the birds before, I should have. They're vicious and aggressive here. That was one of the first things I noticed about Australia. The crows are massive and sound like dying cats, the seagulls are even more belligerent than in Canada, and there are so many weird bird sounds and calls ringing through the trees. But anyways, back to the magpies- I was warned by John and Celeste that the beginning of spring is magpie swooping season...basically the mother magpies will swoop down and try to peck your eyes out if you walk under their trees. I thought this was just an embellishment and a rare occurrence until this morning when Celeste warned me again to be careful of the magpies. Apparently a little girl lost her eye last weekend and there are usually about 5 cases of magpies pecking peoples eyes out over the course of spring!! Please pray for me!
Spring also means cricket in Australia. Another new sport for me to observe and try to figure out. There is a beautiful park next to the river that I jog/walk/bike on, and the past few weeks have been busy with cricket matches.
Other updates: my surfing lessons have taken on a whole new dimension since last Saturday and the final triumph of my first "green" wave. As a beginner, the only waves that you generally surf on are the white waves (after a wave has broken). Basically the water just pushes you toward the beach with enough force that you can practice standing on your board and riding the wave out. As you can probably guess, there's not much excitement to this after awhile. Well, this past Saturday I had a great surf instructor (he's been surfing all his life and he's about 45 years old!) and he was a lot more ambitious with us than other instructors I've had. He goes to me, "Jods, come out here and we're gonna catch ya a green one." Clearly I wasn't going to argue even thought I was a bit nervous because the swell was pretty big that day. So I paddled out and he watched the waves for me (picking the right wave is a big part of it) and told me to start paddling at the right moment and I hopped up on my board and finally experienced what it really feels like to ride down a wave! Pure adrenaline. It was exhilerating! I caught 2 more after this, and then got pounded and obliterated by the majority of the rest of the waves. One time I think I was turned in 3 complete somersaults under the water and came up with my rash guard T-shirt completely pulled over my head and covering my face! haha. But I finished the day feeling pretty happy and satisfied.
Anyways, there are only 3 more weeks of classes left and then a study week which will include me leaving Australia to go on a little trip to Bali, Indonesia. After that, there are two more weeks of exams and then the semester is finally finished! Hard to believe. Although I still have 8 more weeks here, I know the time will fly and there is still much to do before my Aussie adventure comes to an end.
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