I hate the short ones!

To start things off right, I was very happy to skype my sister Tiffany today! Technology really has evolved, but I’m thankful to be able to stay in touch with my family while I’m half way around the world. Definitely makes me feel less far away! Also not a bad way to start off the morning, although it was Friday and there was only one class on our schedule for the day. Our teacher for this class is notorious for running lectures from the seat of his pants. He claims that he always sits and prepares a lecture for over two hours, but that must go to the wayside whenever he steps in the classroom, today inparticular. We were supposed to have a three hour lecture in the afternoon and then go to a two hour field trip to play some lawn bowls. However, whenever we got in class he told us that we had two options due to him forgetting his laptop. We could either go have a lecture outside for two hours and then go to the field trip or we could go on the field trip and then have the lecture in between our games. Riley and I knew for a fact that this was the better option because we would either get out of the lecture all together, or at least get a shorter lecture out of it. So after he made everyone state their name and which option they preferred we were heading to the field trip first. We had to get to the lawn bowls court first though and that required walking fifteen minutes to the bus stop, which our teacher claimed was only just down the street, and then about a twenty minute bus ride to the park. We paid a levy of $65 for this class which we thought covered all the expenses of the field trips but apparently we were on our own for transportation. This is a bummer considering the teacher pets got to ride with the teacher, but what can we do? We had just missed the bus so we were stuck waiting for fifteen minutes until the bus came so our teacher was stuck waiting for us anyways. That didn’t matter though since him and the select students that rode with him were already playing lawn bowls by the time we got there. We obviously got the abbreviated version of the rules and mannerisms of the game and then got thrown into games with each other. The game of lawn bowls is played with partners and I think it is closely related to Bocce. There are lanes similar to bowling lanes in a square of golf grass. There is one small white ball which is the target and then each team has a set of wooden colored balls that are slightly shaved on one side to give it more weight and curve. The point of the game is to get your colored ball closest to the white ball by rolling it on the ground. It is actually a lot harder than you think because of the curve that the one side gives it and the lanes really aren’t that long so it’s easy for the ball to go off the edge. The strategy of the game is fairly easy since you want your ball to be closest but you can actually bump the white ball to get it further from the other team’s colored balls. We were told to play a minimum of three games with our classmates and if we won more games than we lost than we were supposed to get a bonus point towards our grade. We unfortunately lost our first game against two girls but we soon figured out we weren’t good at the short distances and would rather have the white ball further down the lane. We were fueled and ready for our second but these girls were the queens of short runs. They purposely laid the white ball right at the beginning of the lane so that it wasn’t hard at all to get their colored balls close to it. At one point we were losing 6-0 but somehow we were able to get it tied up to 6-6. Our strategy consisted of hitting the white ball right off the bat to get it further away from the beginning, therefore making it harder for them. Luckily it worked and we ended up winning the game by merely inches! We were unto our third game in no time and actually excited that we might earn a bonus point after all, but our teacher interrupted us and told everyone to come in for a debriefing. It was no surprise that he was ending our field trip then with no lecture but we weren’t complaining since it was rather hot outside. This class had been so promising and fun in the beginning but week by week we are beginning to realize how immature the exchange students are, and of course they are all from the United States. No wonder we have such a bad reputation for ourselves. We were more than happy to enjoy our packed lunch in the park by ourselves and walk through Balmain to window shop. We had never been this far away from the city and it was a completely different vibe. The atmosphere was a lot more laid back and small town so it definitely reminded me of North Carolina. We had seen a Red Cross shop while on the bus so that was our final destination. Whenever we stepped in though we quickly recognized that it wasn’t a Goodwill like we were imagining it to be. All the clothes were individually marked and let’s just say they weren’t in our price range. It was okay though since I had to get back into the city. While on the islands in Fiji I had shared one particular cup of tea with a girl from Norway named Guro. Her next stop in her travel plans was actually Sydney so I had given her my information so she could get up with me once she was here. It was unfortunately her last night in Sydney but we were still planning to meet up and do a little souvenir shopping at the markets that I was going to take her to. I was surprised that she knew her way around the city so well, but I was thankful since she was able to meet me right at the markets. She was staying in Kings Cross, making me remember our first couple weeks in Sydney. Guro and I didn’t stay out too long since it gets dark so early now due to the daylight savings time and I knew that Riley was going to have dinner waiting for me upon my arrival. We unfortunately had to say our goodbyes which are never fun but we were both thankful that we could meet up! Once again, small world. With my stomach growling I was thankful for Riley having dinner ready just like I had hoped! He really is becoming quite the chef, and a good one at that!