Beach pictures

I was invited to take a day off with some friends so we went to the city and also spent some time at Bondi Beach.

Far left, facing the ocean is Stephen (also in picture below). Next to him and looking very cold is Ryan, another fellow Canadian. Then is Paula, the lone American with us this particular day (she’s been learning the Canadian national anthem!!!) Next, in the pants with wet pant legs (with a face you can’t see in the picture) is Amy, Ryan’s wife. And the girl in the white shirt on the right side is Coral from South Africa.


We had heard the weather forecast and hoped it was as wrong as it often is in Canada. Unfortunately we were wrong; but we had a great day anyways. I got some very interesting color on my arms by the end of the day – actually I should say arm (singular) because one of my arms got a really mild sunburn and the other got nothing at all. It looks like I spent the day with one side of me facing the sun.


Apparently some people are having a hard time believing I’m actually in Australia because there have been no pictures of me on my blog so I made a point of taking one on one of the most recognized areas around here. Like my hat? I bought it one day when I was away from home and expecting to be indoors most of the day and found out when I got to my destination that I would be outside all day in 36 degree weather with hot sunshine. The other guy in the picture is Stephen, a fellow Canadian. He also happens to be one of the few other guys here who have some sense of cleanliness. I'm actually hoping to move out of my current apartment and rent a house together with Stephen, Ryan and Amy (in picture above) and one other couple. If it works out as planned, we will be living in a spacious house closer to school and paying less rent. Looks like we won’t be able to do this until after Christmas but hopefully it works out then.



I’ve had a question here for a long time about the sun. When you’re at risk of sunburn more quickly, the UV index is raised. In Manitoba, a UV index of 7 is about as high as we get on a hot summer day and that is officially called high; so with the hotter climate here, I wondered if the same scale was used. I found out that the same index is used and we are just in a higher category. Yesterday was not a hot day and the sun was blocked by a lot of cloud (see pictures of cold people) but even so the UV index was 9. I have yet to find out what it is on a hot and sunny day.

Lest you start to think I’m here for a holiday, I’m still very busy with school and church. I’ve been spending time this week doing assignments and even on this day off, I did some homework. I’ve also been asked to become a connect group leader. I met the pastor in charge of this the other day and after talking for 2 minutes or less, he suggested it. Within 4 hours, he had told my connect leader about our conversation and she talked with me about it too. About a week later (yesterday) he had his assistant call me to talk with me about it. I will likely be taking up this challenge starting after Christmas with some preparation beforehand.