Wednesday September 24th, 2014
I woke up early to start working on the data for my final assignment. I felt really smart when I figured out how to make the pivot tables and save myself a day of work! It took me until lunch to complete all the results but I was very happy I finished it. Then I continued to work on the rest of my paper until class. During class, we had a guest speaker from Canada. It was great to listen to someone from North America. And the only people who got the ice hockey jokes were the Americans in the room. It was a great talk. Afterwards, I got a few things organised before heading to Ben's for dinner. It was great to have someone else cook and for me to get away from my paper for a bit. I also picked up the newspaper I was in from the week before. Here is a link to the online article.
http://www.standard.net.au/story/2564194/marine-science-course-gives-sherwood-park-a-global-glow/?cs=72
Thursday
All day class. I hadn't slept well at all so I was struggling in my classes. Although, my last class of the day was great. We have a lecturer substituting for our normal lecture and since there was only four of us in the class he turned it into a discussion. I think it is a great way to learn the material! I came home and helped a few people with an assignment before getting ready for the seniors dinner. It was to celebrate the people that have lived on res for 3 or more years. It was free food too! It was a ton of fun after the dinner because Venessa had a polaroid camera.
The rest of the night I just relaxed and went to bed early!
Friday
The morning started with whale watching! Azra came along and we got to see both mothers and calves. They were 1.5 km off shore but it was fun to watch them through the binoculars. There were a lot of people on the platform too! I was supposed to go surfing shortly after getting back but the surf wasn't great and my friend was sick with the infamous cold that is going around. So, I took a short nap and then headed outside to work on my homework all afternoon. It was a nice, warm sunny day! I worked up until dinner. Then after dinner it was a Girls Night In on res. It is an event people can host to raise funds for breast cancer research. We all donated a gold coin and watched some movies. Girls only! The boys were upset about that and had there own movie night that we crashed after our movies finished.
Saturday
I got up early to finish my paper. I was so relieved to have it done. Then it was time for the fun to begin. It was the AFL grand final day (aka Australian Footy Super Bowl). We organised a cook out before heading over to NRAS to watch the game. We had to play some American football and soccer ahead of time too.
Yum!
http://www.standard.net.au/story/2564194/marine-science-course-gives-sherwood-park-a-global-glow/?cs=72
Thursday
All day class. I hadn't slept well at all so I was struggling in my classes. Although, my last class of the day was great. We have a lecturer substituting for our normal lecture and since there was only four of us in the class he turned it into a discussion. I think it is a great way to learn the material! I came home and helped a few people with an assignment before getting ready for the seniors dinner. It was to celebrate the people that have lived on res for 3 or more years. It was free food too! It was a ton of fun after the dinner because Venessa had a polaroid camera.
The rest of the night I just relaxed and went to bed early!
Friday
The morning started with whale watching! Azra came along and we got to see both mothers and calves. They were 1.5 km off shore but it was fun to watch them through the binoculars. There were a lot of people on the platform too! I was supposed to go surfing shortly after getting back but the surf wasn't great and my friend was sick with the infamous cold that is going around. So, I took a short nap and then headed outside to work on my homework all afternoon. It was a nice, warm sunny day! I worked up until dinner. Then after dinner it was a Girls Night In on res. It is an event people can host to raise funds for breast cancer research. We all donated a gold coin and watched some movies. Girls only! The boys were upset about that and had there own movie night that we crashed after our movies finished.
Saturday
I got up early to finish my paper. I was so relieved to have it done. Then it was time for the fun to begin. It was the AFL grand final day (aka Australian Footy Super Bowl). We organised a cook out before heading over to NRAS to watch the game. We had to play some American football and soccer ahead of time too.
Yum!
The match was fun for the first quarter but then it was a blow out so we al stopped watching and just goofed around!
Typical look for Chris and I
It was a lot of fun. I had dinner back in K3 with both Chriss, Anthony, and Jackie. Then we headed back over with Jacinta to celebrate Gemma's birthday. I didn't stay too long because I had church and a SCUBA dive in the morning.
Sunday
It was the first time, I think, I had ever worn my swim suit to church. Don't be alarmed, I wore a dress over it. Church was good, but right after Alex dropped me off at the dive shop. I met Jimmy, Jimmy's brother, Chris, and Anthony there. I rented my BCD, tank, and weight belt and we were off. It was extremely windy. So we decided to dive on the inside of the breakwall. As we were getting suited up a family walked by and a little girl was horrified. She asked her mom if we were the divers from Finding Nemo. Her mom said sort of. Chris over heard and said "we aren't taking any fish, we promise." All of us kind of laughed. We were all ready, in the water, and descending... but not me. I could not sink. I needed more weight. As I was swimming back to short to get more weight I was really puzzled at why I wasn't sinking. I had the same amount of weight on as when I got certified at home in a similar suit. Then it hit me... at home = freshwater. DUH! It took another 9 pounds for me to sink but I sunk! I struggled with my buoyancy most of the dive but I still enjoyed it. My camera is currently in for repairs but Anthony had his GO PRO and recorded the whole dive.
Here is one of the segments of the dive.
Some other still photos I took from Anthony's video
Here are some still shots of me. I was looking for seahorses but I didn't find any. The visibility wasn't great as you can see. But I still got to see a crab eating, fish, a big lobster, beautiful ascidians, a hunter orange sea anemone, and I found some cool shells. Chris saw a baby shark! Now that I have figured out how much weight I need! I can't wait to go again. Hopefully the visibility will be better!
After we returned our gear and got cleaned up. I needed a nap. Then I was off to a BBQ at Beck's. It was a fun relaxing night hanging out with friends!
