Coming Up to Breathe

March...last blog entry...pre-craziest semester of my life. There's a bit more breathing space now that I'm done squishing "just one more thing" into my life.

Here's a glimpse into the past few months:

Virgin Blue became Virgin Australia. I answered phones for 6 months, helping people book flights, change flights, cancel flights - I now know where cities are in Australia and the states they belong in. After squishing 20 hours a week at Virgin in and around my teaching and studies, I finished the job in July - but not before my staff travel contributing significantly to a once-in-a-lifetime trip with my friend Wendy!

Wendy came all the way from Nova Scotia and we got to experience an incredible "winter vacation" in Australia and New Zealand. Thanks to free staff travel, we flew up to the Whitsundays for some Great Barrier Reef snorkeling and then down to the South Island of New Zealand for some snow and mountains! We also explored beaches and rainforest in the Brisbane area before flying down to Sydney where Wendy returned to Canada. It was so incredible to see such a variety in creation. Loved every minute of it.

Other highlights:

• April: went to a music festival over the Easter weekend called Easterfest - we got rained out and I helped execute a very sleuthing rescue of a friend's Nord keyboard from a flooded tent.
• May: taught SIX vocal workshops over the course of 6 weeks to 2 churches.
  
• June: Flew my housemates Dave and Bel up to Rockhampton for steak for Dave's birthday. Pretty much the best present EVER.

• July: Saw fish, snow chains, Mary Poppins musical, the Blue Mountains and won an award for Academic Excellence!

So, 20 hours a week has been returned to me. I am into my FINAL semester at Uni and will graduate in December. Looking forward to a bit more time to enjoy the people and the places in OZ before returning to my Home and Native Land.