Heat Wave!
I doubt this made the news in the States but it is HOT here! It’s about 35 degrees Celsius (close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit), which is unseasonably warm for the middle of spring. People have been flocking to the beach, naturally, but sitting on a crowded bus to Bondi for an hour and a half wasn’t something I wanted to do today. There’s a small resort hotel across the street from my apartment that charges the public $5 a head to use the pool for a couple of hours. I have to tell you, it was the best $5 I’ve spent all semester. To be able to walk across the street from my place and enjoy wedges with sour cream and chili sauce under palm trees and a waterfall, just wow. It was the perfect Aussie afternoon.
Australia’s also facing its worst drought in a century, something I don’t understand since it’s supposed to rain this week. It doesn’t rain infrequently, actually, so I have to assume Sydney weather is not an accurate reflection of the rest of the country. Australia is the driest continent on the planet, something I wasn’t aware of probably because, when I was in Melbourne, I was the closest to Antarctica I’ll probably ever be in my lifetime. The hole in the ozone layer is also directly over Australia. The sun’s rays are noticeably stronger here, something that was particularly evident when, just for a few minutes, a cloud passed in front of the sun and the heat broke.
I’ve been working overtime these past few weeks since my parents are flying in on Monday. I’m more excited to see them than I thought I would be and I’m really looking forward to relaxing in Cairns next weekend. Man, this life abroad is tough but someone has to do it! I’m also planning to shoot Episode 6 while they’re here, which should be very interesting. I’ll have to tell my parents to leave the Hawaiian shirts and fanny pack in the suitcase, as well. (Nothing screams tourist like a fanny pack, believe me.)
I received my last assignment for the semester the other day. With my parents coming and finals just around the corner, it’s starting to hit me that everything’s winding down. I booked a stopover in Auckland, New Zealand on my way home and then, well, it’s back to reality for me. I don’t want to focus on that right now, though. What I want to focus on is my assignment, a paper for my Contemporary Australian Politics class on religion and politics. I’ve already started researching and it’s absolutely fascinating. The extent to which religion, namely Christianity, plays a role in the public domain is unbelievable. In fact, I even found a book on religion in Australian politics in the library under the “Christianity” section. This paper is going to be a lesson in tact for me, I can see it already.
Well, I should probably put some pants on (it’s quite warm in here!) because I’m off to a pub crawl in Sydney tonight. Tomorrow it’s back to work on my paper and Monday night is (whoa) dinner with my parents.
Have a good weekend everyone,
Jason
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