Whirlwind

I've been here for twelve weeks already. I've decided I prefer to think in weeks, as a week is easier to chew than the mammoth of a month. Baby steps I guess.

I've been catching myself getting myself caught up in the everyday. Which I suppose is part of the experience that I set myself up for: Working a corporate job and paying real rent, just like a local. Last Friday I worked 'till 8pm, which is actually not unusual for me. Anyway, it made me feel sad that I live in this big exciting city and I work late on Fridays. It's not that I'm a workaholic but I just know that my job requires me to deliver and it simply took 'till then to finish what I needed to finish. But I really do need to be careful and keep my head above the work instead of getting buried in it. I'm here to learn and grow, not to be a slave to "the man". I think perhaps I need to figure out how to "work smarter". And get paid higher. If I wanted to work so hard I might as well have just stayed in Calgary, with higher pay and and lower accommodation expense AND a more comfortable home.

(Oh how I do miss my pretty purple condo.......must not think about that too much though!)

I moved to "the city" last week. While it took me weeks to pack up my Calgary home and  distribute it for storage it at various locations throughout the city (thanks friends!!) it only took me a couple hours to pack up my things here. I was quite pleased to see that I really don't have too much stuff:

Of course now I own more, now that I've purchased a bed, sheets and cover, and some towels and hangers. Sigh. So much for being a minimalist. I was thinking of just sleeping in my sleeping bag (thanks Laura!) for the next few months but the floor is quite hard and my chiropractor friend said it's probably not a good idea to sleep on the floor for long periods of time. But I should probably be done accumulating stuff now, as my flatmate is letting me use most of her stuff, dishes etc, which is handy.

Okay, break from the serious stuff for some fun stuff! What I've been up to (besides work):

1. Sailing

Handy dandy path that leads to the bay.

I've recently taken up sailing! It's a bit of a uncomfortable and awkward process to try to crew, especially having very little experience, but after my first time out with my Australian dad a few posts ago, I got hooked! I became informed that one of the yacht clubs holds races every Sunday and that you can show up as a visitor, put your name on the board as a hopeful crew member and hope that someone lets you help out on their boat. So far I've crewed with two different boats, both which have been awesome. Yesterday's crew I especially liked. The other sailors on this crew were super friendly and willing to teach me what they could during the three hour sailing race. I learned how to tie three different knots, how to flake a main sail, and how to raise, lower and pack a spinnicker, as well as a bit about the set up of the gears and sheets. I also got pretty good at crawling over the boat under the boom with each tack and managed to not fall down any hatches in the process. I have some good bruises and scratches on my shins and knees but was worth it. Yup, was pretty cool :)

While out on the water, the worries and stresses that have been bringing me down lately didn't seem as heavy. One of the guys, who I understand has been through a divorce, joked that the skipper and sailing is the one constant in his life. It was actually kinda heartwarming to hear, because these guys were all genuinely nice and I could see that they were all simply just out for a good day of friendship and sailing. Afterwards the race they handed around cold beers and the skip made sandwiches and we hung out on the back of the boat eating and drinking. They even brought chocolate cakes for dessert!!

2. Special Events

A couple weeks ago I took a Wednesday off work to help out Dave's parents with a wedding that they were hosting at the house. Was a super nice day to have off. I only just met the bride and groom a couple weeks prior but I said I'd help out at the house since they weren't hiring people and would need all hands on deck. And well, I wanted to take a day off haha. Anyways, helping out wasn't too difficult and it was fun to be included in the celebration.

I helped the florist put those flowers on the arch. Fine job if I must say so for myself.

Sheri (my Australian mom) and I on the groom's buck's night in King's Cross. He didn't end up coming so we went without him haha.

3. Abseiling

Went abseiling with Mike, May, Jane, Choy and Mike's cousins in Blue Mountains National Park. Already looking forward to the next outdoor adventure: canyoning! Will have to wait until the summer for that though, as apparently the water is fairly cold now that it is Autumn/Winter.

Photo composite that I pinched from Mike's Facebook.

This portion kept reminding me of the movie "28 Hours", even though it was unlikely that our guides would lead us anywhere where we were in danger of getting wedged in and losing limbs.

Scenery from the beginning of the trip. Not really too similar to the Rockies, but pretty nonetheless.

Trying to take a ledge shot. Kinda difficult when the number one priority is safety. We had two guides, which meant  one was holding me from the top and the other from the bottom, but I was still grasping the rope for dear life. The camera string is in the picture, but I'm alive and I still have my camera, so can't really complain :)

4. Dragonboating

The 2013 Australian National Dragonboat Championships were held in Sydney this year. I, being the responsible and often overly logical person that I can be sometimes, chose to miss out on the Thurs and Fri races to work instead, and only attended the 200 m races on Saturday. I semi-regret doing so. My thought was that I will probably not make a career out of dragonboating but analysis has a higher probability of taking me somewhere. However, in the long run I won't remember those two days of work, but I would have made memories from racing in the 2km and the 500 m. Oh well :/ But yeah, Saturday was rainy and cold! They actually ended up cancelling the afternoon races, for the safety of the volunteers and race marshals. It actually wasn't bad racing in the rain, as the water itself was warm, but it was hard to see with all the rain. By the end of the day I was exhausted....from two minutes of racing!! It's super intense though. And it sure feels longer when you're in the boat, muscles screaming at you in pain, yet you only paddle harder, because you know that one minute cannot be that long. Ahhh dragonboating :)

A photo I took from the grandstand. This photo doesn't do justice for how cold it actually felt.

Team Photo!

 Ironically, though not surprising being from Calgary, the weather cleared up by later in the afternoon and the after-party was still on. My team arranged to dress up as pilots and stewardesses. Totally sexist, I know, but I have to admit that the outfits were fun. The party was fun too. There was food and drinks and a band, so was fun to spend a few hours dancing and at a partee :)

Line-up from shortest to tallest.

I'm not actually sure who is in that costume or where he even came from but for some reason we  were taking photos with Darth.

Okay so yeah, I suppose I have been quite busy over the past twelve weeks. Only 40 left of this year, and three of those will be in Canada! I do have some deeper thoughts but those are still quite raw and not sorted out for sharing, as I myself am not sure what I myself am doing at times. I already mentioned that I now live in "the city". I'm not yet sure if I'm a "city" person. Friday when I worked late, it was my first Friday in my new place, and I walked along the harbour on my way home. There were heaps of people out, socializing/eating/drinking on the patios and people just milling about everywhere. Surrounded by people, I felt really lonely. Which I suppose makes sense. I think seeing all those people compounded the idea in my head that I'm alone. But that's only an idea, so it doesn't even make sense, because I do have dear friends here. And even if I didn't, I know I do back home and in reality, I can go home whenever I choose to do so. I think the city will just take some getting used to.

I feel like my head is swimming with thoughts and ideas and plans and I'm having a hard time focusing. I feel like I need a vacation.....which is funny because some people think I'm on vacation now, which isn't true, because I'm on an experience and I work ridiculously hard for ridiculously little pay. But I shouldn't complain because this is part of it. But still. A vacation would be nice, but I keep filling up my time with other stuff. This is where i need to prioritize. But perhaps I am innately prioritizing. Hmm.

Bedtime. I will finish this post with a relaxing photo I snapped at Manly last month.

Okay, Goodnight!

Manly Beach, just before sunset