Another chapter

This week I begin another new chapter of my life. The past sixteen-ish months have passed by so quickly and my head has been so full of thoughts and feelings that it's going to take some time before I have everything thought out and "filed away". I was hoping to have this all sorted before moving on but will I ever? I feel like time is moving so fast that I can barely keep up and all I can do is do what I can and remind myself to pause and soak for a moment before moving on to the next thing.

But yes it's been an interesting and fun life thus far and it's been almost entertaining to look back and see what plans panned out and what plans did not, windows and doors eventually leading the way for something even better.

Which almost makes me a bit disappointed that I'm back so soon, getting ready to work again and that on the outside I might appear to be the same as I was five years ago, living and working in the same city that I grew up in and have spent almost my entire life. I feel like a brat that I complain about living in such a great place, having the friends and family and connections to make it all possible and comfortable as can be. But I'm not the same. And I think what I'm actually worried about is taking it for granted and letting potential all go to waste...and that I'll eventually become lazy and complacent and give up on trying to improve and be the best I can be. To understand what potential really is and go for that.

I feel sad that my year abroad is over but I do look back and smile. That chance to start fresh, make new friends and discover new thoughts and feelings while watching sunrises and sunsets from another part of the world. The friends I made there are friends I'll have for life and I feel so blessed to have had the past year to be: free.

And now? I truly believe that my birth city is a great place and for now my place is here. Whether that means two years or ten years or forever, I'll decide that with time and when that time comes. I think I'll just know.

But in any case, I AM looking forward to my new job. To meeting new people, learning new things and to eventually that designation that I've studied so many hours for. Whoooo progress :)

Sunrise the morning we reached the Percy Islands in Queensland.

Whoa: A really quick reflection

The past few months have totally flown by. I'm amazed at how much has happened, yet on the outside I might still appear the same. But I know I've changed. I know I've grown.

It's going to take me a long while to sort through all the great memories I have, some captured in photos! I've photogrid-ed a few to at least put in some markers so that I can hopefully move on without feeling "behind".

The first month back: It's pretty slow when you don't work, but I've been keeping myself busy. During this first month back I also celebrated my 29th birthday, with the help of some great friends and family and some delicious treats.

 Asia Travels 2014: Just amazing. Not much else I can say right now in such a quick summary but hopefully I'll get it sorted out later, once I get this job situation figured out so that it no longer occupies so much of my energies.

Aaaand Sydney. How I still miss my Sydney. It's Australian National Dragonboat Championships this week/weekend and I'm not in the boat :( It makes me sad but I'm happy to have had the opportunity to experience everything that I did and to have met the great people that made it all worthwhile.

Okay. I can do this yeah?

And so the journey continues

writing from the sydney airport, on my phone, boarding a flight to manila shortly and my phone seems to not be cooperating, so shall be a short post.

the past year has been amazing. last night was my farewell party with many

 goodbyes. this morning was especially hard as i said see ya to maya and geghis after they dropped me off at the airport, as they are among those that i became especially close with and i will miss them like family. it is emotional to think of all the people who opened up teir lives to me and let me in. 

while i did indeed come to sydney to try something new, i did not expext to make so many wonderful friends.

well, just about to board, as my adventure continues.

Play

When I moved back to my friend's house due to unemployment, I started going to the gym with one of my housemates, mostly for the social aspect, since sitting at home and applying for jobs all day can be depressing. It's been a few weeks now and I'm pretty proud of my progress, as we only go once per week and I am getting stronger and stronger..

 It's quite interesting, because there is a lot to think about. A deadlift is when you bend down, grab the weight, and then stand up, and then carefully put the weight back down. Sounds simple but it's not, and, there are a lot more muscles involved than I originally thought. Also, it's not really a quads+arms exercise, as I originally thought.


Getting ready to lift 70 kg. My form is not perfect, but it's not too bad. Keep knees behind toes, straighten back, head up. I should have my shoulders back too I think but I obviously don't. Eeep. 

 

Engage the abs and squeeeeeze the glutes and hamstrings to come to standing. You can pretty much see my abs through my shirt, because all your core muscles are activated.

 



70 kg felt quite easy, so we upped the weight to 80 kg. This is the heaviest I have lifted to date. I like this picture because I look funny in it but I know I was seriously thinking about the motion and what muscles to use and how to maintain form, because while kinda easy, 70 kg was heavy and there are so many things that can get hurt if you lift with incorrect form. I hope I don't always look this funny while thinking, but anyways. 

Did it! Haha that was heavy. I think I look bigger in this photo than the 70 kg photo, but it could just be that I'm a tiny bit closer to the camera in this one I think. Or maybe I actually am better since like, everything is flexed haha. Called it a day after that.

The gym I go to is pretty awesome too, cuz as far as I can see, everyone there is simply there to gain strength. Not really to lose weight, bulk up, etc. but to merely become stronger. Which is quite exciting because when combined/applied with/to the other things I have been doing, I feel like I am becoming more efficient and powerful, and everyday things feel easier.

Also this week, there came a day when Butch, Skyn and Genghis all had the same day off, so we managed to round up enough singlecrafts (three outrigger canoes and a surfski) to go for an afternoon of paddling. I originally learned how to paddle an outrigger in Calgary, but this was the first time I went out in one in Sydney. Didn't try the ski since it was quite windy and those things seem to be tippy in even the calm conditions. It was also kind of fun strapping the boats down to roofs, as it reminded me of Tetris-ing snowboards into the car in Calgary. Here and there :)

Singlecrafts!

 

Holding my breath

I made this black sesame pudding with glutinous rice balls for a mid-night-ish snack tonight. Mom makes this at home on occasion and after having it at a friend's house a few weeks ago (her mom made it for us), I had to give it a go myself. It turned out pretty good!

I miss cooking/baking late at night, something I'd often do back home, usually baking a batch of muffins or cookies for the week or even for the freezer, but I don't really do here now that I live with other people, but I tally that simply to adapting. But still, there's something peaceful and calming about cooking at night, with nothing pressing on time and really, not much else to do or places to be.

Visited three Asian supermarkets before I was able to procure all the ingredients.

I had an important second-round interview yesterday that I am eagerly awaiting the verdict from. Eager because a potential offer means options. I know I have options now too, but a job offer is kind of a big deal in terms of location and tactics. And no job offer (for now) is also a big deal too, because that means I'll move on to do other things.

I know I'm in a good position though because whatever the verdict, I will do something of value and I will be with people I love :) The hard thing is going to be that also whatever the verdict, and whatever I do, while I'm with some people I love, I'll be missing others. But thus is life.

Excited/Nervous. And grateful :)

Today marks two months of unemployment

Two months of unemployment is also the longest that I have not worked since getting my first job after university. So what have I been up to? Here's a sampling:

Job searching:
Since August I have applied to over 69 jobs, have had nine first interviews and three second interviews. I've learned about different industries, companies, roles, how to do case studies, structured finance, research, and that recruiters in particular favour previous experience to lead to your next experience. Still hopeful that I'll find something gainful, either here or at home.

Bushwalking:
After receiving disappointing and not exactly constructive feedback after a second interview, I felt a very crushed and decided to escape for a day. That weekend I woke up before sunrise and hopped onto a train, travelling about 111 km south of Sydney CBD, more than 2.5 hours by train, arriving in Minnamurra where I began my coastal walk to Kiama, just about 10 km away.

I found it disappointing that the walk was not along the beach for the full 10 km, as I had imagined, but rather involved some beach, some bush and a lot of walking along the road. In any case, I got some good photos and had some good views.

 

The Blowhole: a hole in the rocks that water shoots up out of when the tide comes in. Lots of tourists standing around waiting for the water spout, but it didn't happen at this time, so I continued onward to find another blowhole called Little Blowhole, a few kilometers away.

I believe this is at Little Blowhole, which is smaller than the big one but did have some action: a couple gushes of water that squirted up about....four feet high. Not overly impressive.

 I was at Little Blowhole feeling sweaty, sticky, on the fringe of a sunburn and still down. What do you do when you lose confidence in yourself? Watching the unimpressive yet apparent highlights of the area, I felt disappointed. I was away from home, I quit my job at home and rented out my condo, missing my family/friends at home and missing my nephew growing up. And I hot/sweaty/sticky, staring at a hole in a rock, watching water squirt up to not even my own height.

I got an ice cream and caught the train back to Sydney to meet my friend Carmen for dinner.

Round-about on the main street in Kiama.

I got my confidence back a few days later. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, just some encouragement from friends, some rationalization, and a reminder to myself that people learn and I can learn. Even deconstructive feedback can be broken down and you can then extract the constructive pieces out of the mess and build upwards from there. Yay :)

Dragonboating:
Possibly my favourite, or at least one of my favourite things to do here in Sydney.

The second sanctioned regatta was at Manly Dam. It was quite rainy and cold and I found myself shivering quite often. In Australia!! It was forecasted to rain so I packed pretty light, freezing during marshaling and quickly changing back into warm clothes after each race. This was the third regatta (out of five) that I have attended that has been rainy and cold. But yeah, I was pretty proud of my packing strategy. I think I packed the lightest out of everyone! Though I seem to withstand cold better than the others, which isn't saying much since I'm not the best in the cold in Calgary.

The Team. We have a new tent! That's my in the blue windbreaker/waterproof jacket. I couldn't be bothered to bring my team hoodie since I was trying to pack light for the day, should stuff get wet, cuz I greatly dislike dealing with wet stuff.



ACCA Women. That's me in the second row, looking down.

Boating
Being unemployed means that I have available time to do fun things during times when other people are working. And thankfully, my Aussie dad had some free time too, so we went on a bushwalking/boating trip the other day.



Start: Bobbin Head Wharf, kinda down in the left hand corner of this map. We used the engine up past that 'A' marker, and put up the sails to sail down to Pittwater

Bobbin Head Wharf

Dingy! For shore-adventures, for those who aren't strong swimmers (me hehe) as well as for keeping stuff dry when going to shore.

Stop #1: Fisherman's Beach

Stop #2: Refuge Beach. Check out that awesome rock!

Waterfall at Refuge Beach. It was running nice and strong since it's been so rainy lately. We were lucky to have a hot and sunny day after all the rain.

The water from the waterfall runs down the sand and into the ocean.

We climbed up to the top of the waterfall.

At the top of the waterfall there were these holes in the hakwsbury sandstone that the water flowed into and overflowed out of down the waterfall.

Some of the holes are deep enough to go into and thankfully, shallow enough that I could touch the bottom! Would be so scary to go in and get lost in the rock, although I've been told that the holes are just holes and don't really make paths elsewhere, but yeah, not something I care to test!

That's the boat in the background, with the high mast.

Refuge Beach is not just a pretty spot, but was used in WWII by Special Unit Z, a joint allied special forces unit formed during WWII to operate behind Japanese lines in SE Asia. Z cammandos sailed from this bay to attack enemy shipping in Singapore harbour on 26 Sep 1943 and was considered to be the most daring and successful seaborne raid in military history.

Stop #3: The Basin. I'd been to this spot before, during my first boating adventure in Sydney. I like it cuz there's some nice bushwalking, wallabies and goannas, as well as a netted off area where one can swim and not worry about shark attacks.

 

That's me in the water. It gets deep suddenly where I am.

Water on sand.

So yeah, it hasn't been a bad couple of months. Had some rough patches and still riding the emotional roller coaster, but when I remind myself that I'm here to collect experience and to grow, I start to feel okay.