A Lot of Learning and a Good Laugh

I've been teaching for over 10 years. After college, I couldn't get a full time position as schools wanted experienced teachers, but I did get hired on as a permanent substitute and then in 2005, I got my first classroom assignment. I taught at Midland Park Elementary School my first year, then quickly transferred to Heaven, aka Stiles Point Elementary. I taught there for 7 years then took a self proclaimed "sabbatical" after my dad passed away, and for a year, I played in Europe. I volunteered, taught private English lessons, and traveled. It was amazing.

After a year of that, and after I ran out of money, I moved back to Charleston and taught again for two more years at Stiles Point. I was a lucky gal to get back in there. I don't think there are many other schools in Charleston that would have taken me back without question, or to which I'd have wanted to return in the first place. I knew when I returned though, that something had changed. I knew that I wasn't meant to stay in Charleston at that time, and I immediately began looking for jobs abroad.

That's what brought me to China. I had a calling. I knew that the Lord was leading me elsewhere and I prayed and prayed about it until I knew for sure that I was going to the right place. It's funny, because I never could explain WHY I was going other than I knew it's what the Lord wanted. I had no idea (and still don't really) EXACTLY what the Lord wanted me to do, but I am trying to make a difference, even if in a small way, and I'm trying to share His love.

In all of the years of teaching in Charleston, I attended dozens of professional development sessions: seminars in the capital, grad classes at the College of Charleston, in house PD's all over the district. I even presented at a few smaller meetings like for FOSS kit training. I was the first to volunteer to go to sessions like this because, and it's nerdy, I love learning. I love the opportunity to hear about a new method. I also love the chance to have someone remind me of the forgotten approaches to teaching.

One thing I don't tend to enjoy so much is when you go to these sessions and you have someone tell you to get up and move around and make friends and, and, and. Ugh. I am social in the way that I greet people at these events because I think it's important to network. I want to make those connections, but I am not so enthusiastic about the get up and move part. That sounds awful, but many teachers will tell you this is the thing they dread the most. It's a conundrum (my friend Jim's favorite word I think) because we know our students have to get up and move and we know the importance of them sharing ideas, but when it comes to doing it ourselves, we often tend to shy away from it. Please don't get me wrong, I can't sit in a PD for 8 hours without the chance to get up and stretch or at least get my blood flowing, but sometimes they get a little too "two stray and one stay" for me.

This past weekend, I went to the absolute most enjoyable PD I have ever attended. It was held in Hong Kong at the school that offered me a job. This was interesting for me because I got a little taste of "what might have been." The campus of Hong Kong International School is absolutely breathtaking. It sits in the mountains and overlooks a lake. Classroom views are stunning.

The school is huge though, and I think that's one of the reasons I chose to come to Dongguan. I'm happy with my decision, even though I love HK and would LOVE to live there. Dongguan is home for the time being. My friends are here, and if nothing else, God intended for us to meet so that we'd be able to be part of one another's lives.

Back to the conference though...it was a two day seminar featuring keynote speakers Ellin Oliver Keene, Carl Anderson, and Kathy Collins. Those are three names, I'm embarrassed to say, I had never heard before the weekend in Hong Kong. Although they are supposedly "big wigs" in the literacy field, I personally had never heard of them. Now, I'm their biggest fans, and yes, I already follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

The two day conference began on Saturday morning with Ellin talking about "The Role of Engagement in Comprehension." She gave a great keynote where I took copious notes on how to get children involved, engaged, and excited about reading. One of the questions she posed was, "Is it engagement without emotion?" As I'm such a proponent of empathy building, this really struck a chord with me.

Later in the day, I stayed with Ellin for her talk on combining comprehension instruction with the Common Core. I had actually hoped to gain a little more from this talk as I'm new to Reader's Workshop and struggling with making it match my standards based teaching instruction, but it was a great discussion and again I took notes based on her suggestions. More than anything, I felt very reassured that, despite the chaos that might be standards and curriculum, I am a good teacher and I know how to teach children be better readers.

I loved Ellin's made up word when she said, "Resist the urge to curriculumisize the standards." It makes sense. Standards are absolutely necessary when planning, but sometimes we do get a bit carried away. Randomly, did you know that children at the elementary school level (grades 3-5) should be reading 45-60 minutes a day MINIMUM in order to MAINTAIN their level?! If we want students to catch up (because they are below level) or to grow further, they need to read 60-75 minutes A DAY, and this doesn't include whether or not they'll be able to read at home. Here's another sad fact...did you know that the average length of a kindergartener's sentence has decreased in the past few years from 6 words to an average of 3.5 words! Does that not scare the pants off you?!

After these frightening statistics, a lovely catered lunch in the HKIS middle school cafeteria, and a nice little stretch of the legs by way of climbing their many stairs, I went to Carl Anderson's keynote on "Writing Workshop and the 21st Century." If nothing else, this guy is a comedian. He's a genius, but he's hilarious too. I honest to goodness never in my life have laughed so hard at a teacher's convention. Not only funny, he shared some amazing insight into writers workshop, so I followed him to his next session on assessing writers. I have a whole new approach to writing conferences now. He will have to have his own blog post from this little lady, as I can't go into depth at the moment. I'm going to attempt to write a few newspaper articles, so I'll add those later. For now, I'm going to try to add a sound bite from a piece he read to us, "The Sad Pathetic End." I was in stitches.

Sunday was another wonderful day at HKIS with a keynote given by another comedian, Kathy Collins. She started her speech with a video of her running chaotically through a corn maze, loud music blaring and the feeling of complete and utter confusion. The woman is a nut, but someone I'd be thrilled to call my friend and mentor. The topic for her talk was "Creating a Community of Comprehenders." These literacy people like to make up their own words! Her focus was on helping children see how they can be in charge of their own understanding. She had some great little tricks that I've already implemented in my classroom. For example, my students are all creating "shelfies" for their weekend homework. She says it's like porn for avid readers. I created mine and posted here to show you what I'm currently reading. I've got a few other stacks of books lying around the house, but these are the ones on my bedside table. I can't wait to see what my kids produce.

In Kathy's next breakout session, she discussed the importance of reading response. She shared this great poem by Billy Collins. I think I'll have my kids write their own versions.

Looker, gazer, skimmer, skipper, 

thumb-licking page turner, peruser,

you getting your print-fix for the day,

pencil-chewer, note-taker, marginalianist

with your checks and x's

first timer or revisiter,

browser, speedster, English major,

flight-ready girl, melancholy boy,

invisible companion, thief, blind date, perfect stranger-

that is me rushing to the window

to see if it's you passing under the shade trees

with a baby carriage or a dog on a leash,

me picking up the phone

to imagine your unimaginable number,

me standing by a map of the world

wondering where you are-

alone on a bench in a train station

or falling asleep, the book sliding to the floor.

When we looked at the poem together, Kathy had us decide who we were in the piece. I jotted down the words that I thought best described me. Gazer, note-taker, revisiter, flight ready girl. 

Other great ideas I will take from Kathy are the way we keep reading logs...and how I want to change them. The way we should give more freedom to students, to allow kids to keep a reading diary, a picture journal, a book that rates what they've read. I had my parents fill out a reading survey this week to tell me what they think. They all, well all but one, said they felt the log was helpful, but not absolutely necessary. In other words, they thought I should keep using it but that it wasn't the end all be all. One parent said his child would read no matter whether she had a reading log or not. She's the kind of kid he has to make turn off the light and go to bed. Another parent said her daughter wouldn't read without being forced into it. That bothered me. I don't want to "force" anyone...I don't want to turn the child off to reading altogether. 

My last favorite thing from Kathy was the idea of creating a reading timeline that shows memorable parts of your reading history. Mine ended up being something like this:

____________________________________________________________
reading stories      seeing Daddy's stacks                 reading Babysitters Club

with Nanny          of history books on his table       RL Stine, and Mary Higgins Clark

                                                                                          in middle school

____________________________________________________________

Honors English in high          senior year of high school             loving anything of the

school and feeling not            taking college English with          historical nonfiction genre

worthy                                       Dr. West and LOVING it

When Kathy asked us to make a list of four books that have been important in our life, I struggled. I thought of Wuthering Heights and other classics. Then I thought of The Kitchen Boy, which has always stuck with me. I love to read, but I couldn't get any further than that. This is something I'll really have to ponder. It bothers me that I can't qualify other important books.

After another session with Carl, the conference was over. His last session was a continuum of improving the quality of writing conferences. This man is amazing. I will follow him from now on, which sounds a little stalkerish (look who's making up words now!). When I literally chased him from the session and to the bathroom (I had to go too), I nervously said, "Don't worry, I'm not following you." Great, now he's scared of me.

The one thing that really hit home with me, and this is hard for me because I'm a grammar freak and I can't help myself, but he said, "Teach kids to be a better writer...don't fix up their writing. Teachers have positioned themselves as editors of their students' work...they don't need editors, they need teachers who will wait." It might sound like an obvious thing, that kids need teachers, but this one little statement really made me think about my writing lessons and conferences. So if for nothing else, thank you Carl for that.

Thank you to all three of these people for the wealth of knowledge they shared. Thank you to Hong Kong International School for hosting such a wonderful conference. I am glad no one made me stand up and move around and do silly little activities. I am grateful that I could sit and soak it all in. I'm glad I could take my notes and mull over the wonderful strategies that were shared. I can't wait to see these three goof balls again, wherever they may be. I had more fun those two days than I've had in ages and I have to say, in a place where I often feel like the Joker asking, "Why so serious," I was thrilled to be able to just laugh, and laugh I did.

Decisions, Decisions

I don't know what it is about coming back from Australia that's made me really start thinking about what I'm doing when I finish my stint here in China. I mean, yes, it could be that I was in a beautiful country with clear blue skies and returned to this place where, as I mentioned, I could barely see the buildings in front of me due to the pollution. In all honesty though, this week has been gorgeous (or as gorgeous as it can be). We've had our own version of blue skies since last Saturday. I have seen stars, like 12 of them, almost every single night! It's amazing!

After living here 6 months, I feel like I've been here much longer. There are things I'm still discovering and I'm so happy when I stumble across a new clothing store (like I wrote about in last week's blog Retail Therapy) or a market that sells Western products. I found Playtex tampons in a shop the other day and about died...do you remember reading about how I calculated tampons for a whole year in A Girl's Packing Guide? I get really excited when I hear a new English accent (sorry but it's my favorite and lately I've heard a lot) and I get to enjoy a little British banter. I still LOVE my apartment (that's been a running joke because I think my apartment is my favorite thing about this whole experience, and it's nice, but it's not Caesar's palace), but China in general is well, "ehhh," as I just told my friend back home.

It's all about the experience and what you make of it, and I am the kind of person who WANTS to make it a good one. I WANT to be positive and I WANT to live in the moment. It's easier said than done though. I keep seeing pictures from back home...beautiful oak trees lining long, dirt roads, panoramic views of the Battery, the bird's eye view pictures I myself took during my Bucket List helicopter flight. I am telling you what...I come from one BEAUTIFUL city. There really are very few places in the world that capture my heart like Charleston does. The icing on the cake of course is the fact that the people in Charleston are so hospitable. I mean, really, how hard is it to smile at person as they walk by, give a little nod, say hello?! I get SO irritated by people who lack this common courtesy, but I digress.

In the last week, I may have made a few comments about home (in the last 6 months I may have made few more). I may have spoken of the beauty of the city, the beauty of the people, the warmth of the sun, the smell of the marsh (oh there I go again), but it's hard not to talk about a place that is so wonderful. The other night I mentioned something that my school district back home did, and that I feel all school districts SHOULD do, and a friend here said something along the lines of, "Oh, not all districts can be as PERFECT as yours." Those weren't the exact words, but you can easily catch the undertone. Let me just say quickly that Charleston County School District wasn't and still isn't perfect, BUT I did come from one AMAZING school and other facilities could learn a great deal from modeling themselves after Stiles Point (in it's glory days with Steve Burger). I have had many email, phone, and face to face conversations this week again about how things should be done, and how frustrated I get when best practice is not implemented. That's a soap box I'd rather not get on at the moment though.

So away from school, even though I'm never really away from school here, another thing that I've noticed is how so many people become complacent with their work, their lives. I don't know if it's how I was brought up or if it's just me and maybe I truly do think too highly of myself, but I feel I deserve more than complacency. If I'm not happy with my hair, I highlight it. If I'm not happy with my weight, I run. If I'm not happy with my job, I make the changes (usually within myself) to find a way to make things better. It's what I did recently when I came Out of the Funk and Into the Light. I don't like settling. I don't settle. That's why (in my own head anyway) I'm not married. I want it; I want it badly, but I don't think it should be marriage for the sake of being married. I don't think I should keep a job for the sake of keeping a job. If someone speaks to me and offends me, I'm going to let them know. If a restaurant treats me poorly or gives me bad service, I am going to write a killer review that lets the world know. I just don't hold back the truth of things, and if the truth will help, no pun intended, set me free, then by George I'm going to speak it.
*Side bar-I know I have my own issues and in no way do I truly think that highly of myself...I know I am blessed with confidence but that it can also be a dangerous line to walk, and although I may sound really conceited here, I'm not. I know that it's the Lord who made me me and I'm not any better than anyone else...I just wish other people would sometimes look at themselves in a similar light, a light of self love.

This rant takes me back to Charleston for one moment, and the title of the blog "Decisions, Decisions." You may ask, "Well if Charleston's so great, why did you leave?" Good one...thanks for asking. You see, it's part of the non complacency thing. I get stir crazy. I LOVE my hometown, but I also LOVE traveling. I LOVE a challenge, and I LOVE meeting new people. I know that one day I may get tired of it, but as for now, I am single, I do have skills/talents/experience that can be used to support a lifestyle that allows me to see different parts of the world, and I think that, as much as I love Charleston, I'm doing the right thing. I am counting down the days until I get to go home (four weeks from today thank you), but I'm also counting down the days until I get to go back to Hong Kong next weekend, and I'm counting down the days until I get to explore more of Asia this summer. I'm always looking ahead, which is totally contradictory to living in the moment, but maybe "the moment" is relative and perhaps my moment is the two year chunk of time I've set for myself to see this side of the world. When the time is up, then I'll make the next big decision for my future. But maybe, that decision isn't meant to be made right now.

Retail Therapy

I've been back in China for a week and I keep having a few of those, "why do I live here" moments. As soon as my friends and I returned from our respective holidays, we began the complaints. It's hard not to do. I try to be in the moment and to appreciate all that I'm experiencing here, but when you take a holiday to say, Italy or Australia, and you see that blue skies exist, coming back to a heavily polluted city can be a bit difficult.

My friend Antoine returned from Australia (funnily enough he and his family were in Sydney when I was there), and he made a few really valid points. He said something along the lines of, "It's hard to come back when you realize a) there are blue skies elsewhere b) there are more than two bars and restaurants you can frequent c) you can drink the tap water without being frightened of the side effects and d) why am I here in the first place?" I giggled because it's so true. Another friend went back home to Italy for Christmas and New Years and he said that being back made him feel like he was experiencing it all for the first time. Italy is beautiful, no doubt.

I didn't have too many initial emotions returning, but the one thing that has really gotten me has been the gray. It was so polluted the day I flew in that I couldn't see half of the buildings as I drove from Guangzhou to Dongguan. The tallest building here in the city was barely visible, and the ones around it were nearly covered in smog. Yesterday walking around, I could literally taste the grit in my teeth. That's not a pleasant experience.

It doesn't help at all to see post after post on Facebook of Charleston...why people move there...what places are hot right now during restaurant week, skyline and marsh. Actually, that's made me really consider what I'm doing and what I'll do when my contract is up.

The past six months have flown by and I've honestly NOT had a bad experience. I have met good friends, traveled to many wonderful places, and I have a decent quality of life when it comes to my finances (the cost of living is so low). It's a catch 22 I suppose, but I wonder if Charleston will be next on the list or if I'll want to go somewhere else. I mean, there are VERY FEW places in the world better than Charleston (actually I can't think of anywhere better at the moment), but am I ready to go back? If I'm perfectly honest with myself...and those of you who are reading, I can't say that I am. I love my family and friends to the moon and back, and I can't tell you what I'd give to inhale lungs full of that salt water and marsh air, but am I ready for that?

Being that I have had these feelings in the last week and also that I got a bit sick recently, I went to the doctor's office yesterday for some tests (nothing serious at all so no worries) and after went to lunch with a friend. She and I both were at the doctor's together because she had her own "issue." I had discovered a store a day or two prior which I happened to notice had Vineyard Vines on a rack outside the shop, so we decided to make an afternoon of it...retail therapy is the best medicine after all. I had tried two dresses the first time I went and I finally talked myself into going back to get them.

The shop is called Isabella and isn't fancy by any means, but it caught my eye when I saw the V.V., so I had gone in and found, to my astonishment, Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, etc. Sidebar here...the night I first found the shop was my friend's birthday and of course I was late to her dinner because I was shopping and so excited. I told her she must be like a sister to me because typically, if I go looking for a present for my own sister, T'Lene, I end up buying things for myself!

I was so stoked to find Isabella because shopping in China (here in Dongguan) isn't usually any fun. We have stores, plenty of them, but not things I wear. The most exciting thing I'd found up until this point was H&M and Zara and both had weird items. After a friend in Japan had told me about clothing being marked "size fat," I got really discouraged about shopping here. Yes, we can get things made easily, but it's even hit or miss with that.

When my friend Lisa and I returned to Isabella yesterday, I ended up buying the two dresses I had originally seen and then another sweater which was almost identical to the Ralph Lauren dress I purchased, but I loved it. The dress has already been assigned to a dinner I'll be going to in Hong Kong soon. Totally worth it. I spent a whopping 700 RMB on those three pieces. That comes to $116 total. The tags for the "real" price on one dress alone was $165. Lisa ended up buying two Tory Burch wallets for the equivalent of $80 USD. Not a bad deal at all. Our purchases even came with a cute little reusable "Chanel" bag.

On our way back home from our shopping spree, we passed another shop that I have walked by a million times. It was like Kate was calling me from inside...I saw a dress I recognized way back in the store and I told Lisa we had to check it out. My shopping angels were good to me yesterday. In the shop, I found the piece de resistance, a Burberry trench coat that was priced for 1250 RMB, but it was on sale so I ended up paying less than that. Online, the Burberry trenches range from $700-$8,000 USD. I think I got a steal!

Walking, actually, skipping back home after my shopping excursion, I couldn't help but smile. China is what it is and there are certainly things that I don't like about this place, but the simplicity that comes from an afternoon with a friend, a good bargain, a blue sky, a cold (non Chinese) beer...man, that's why I travel, live abroad, and love my life.

My Favorite Things (Travel Edition)

The more I travel, the more I realize what things I do and DO NOT need stuffed into my suitcase. As I've just returned from two weeks in Australia with at least two pairs of shoes and about three or four outfits not worn, I thought perhaps I should jump on the bandwagon of creating a list of do's and don't's when it comes to packing. Here are the things I can't live without, and a few things I've noticed I would never miss:

Click on the links below for purchase information.

MY NUMBER ONE TOOL: My iPhone 
I don't know how any of us lived before Smart phones. I swear, it's my everything. I do almost all of my research on my iPhone. I book my Uber taxis, I check my email, into my hotel, review restaurants, take pictures, and so much more on this one little device. It is my lifeline.

In the bottom of my suitcase I always fold up: My Longchamp duffle
I learned from an early age that it's good to have a "backup" bag in your suitcase. This comes in handy when you're leaving for a day trip and don't want the whole suitcase to be lugged into and out of the new accommodations. It also works out well when you're purchasing items along the way that can't fit into the suitcase at the end of the trip. You can easily put items in the duffle and tote it as an additional carry-on during your return flight.

Along the same lines as this, I also like to carry a little canvas tote with me so that when I'm shopping in the markets or heading to the beach for the day, I can use this bag instead of all the plastic ones that wind up in the landfill. Many places around the world, including cities in China, don't offer plastic bags at the grocery store (there's and added fee for these), so when you shop, it's good to have a reusable bag anyway. In Vietnam recently, I bought another adorable canvas tote for a whopping $7 and I am loving carrying it even now that I'm back "home" in China. Had I been thinking, I'd have purchased several more as souvenirs for friends.

When it comes to shoes I always take: My ballet flats and a pair of sandals
I walk, A LOT, when traveling, but I am not the kind of person who can put on a pair of tennis shoes and feel cute. I'll pack my running shoes for exercise if I think I'll have time for it, but for regular, day to day walking, I put on a pair of comfy ballet flats. They can be worn throughout the day and into the night, with pants or even a cute dress. Brands like Hush Puppies and even Tory Burch can be very comfortable. I'm currently on my fourth pair of flats from Saks!

I also wear my sandals with everything. I've trekked all over New York, Dublin, London, Milan, Sydney, and Hong Kong (just to mention a few big cities) in my sandals.

It's good to have a: Collapsable Water Bottle
I've gotten in the habit of refilling water bottles along the way to try and keep myself hydrated, but I get tired of drinking from those plastic bottles you pay $4 at the airport for. If you purchase a collapsable water bottle prior to traveling, you can fold it up and throw it in your bag for easy access. It can be cleaned by boiling water (most hotels have kettles these days) and pouring over the bottle.

When it comes to toiletries I always have: My hand lotion, face moisturizer and sunblock, and hand sanitizer or wipes
No matter where you go these days, your hotel will probably offer toiletries for you. When I stayed in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam recently, the hotel provided toothbrushes, lotion, bath and shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, razors, shower caps, q-tips, and even sewing kits. You can usually find the toiletries you need (if still lacking) at drug stores or even 7-Elevens. It's not that difficult to find things to get by, so it's really not necessary to pack a full set of everything you use at home. Take only the important items (your contact solution, for example). For me, the items I travel with the most are the ones I really like, the brands I prefer using. I grab samples of these products and put in my little ziplock bag for security checks. I've also discovered, for hotter, more humid climates, it's really nice to have a pack of blotting papers to help absorb facial oil.

As far as make-up goes, I'm lucky to have a pretty clear complexion. I only ever need my tinted moisturizer (which also has an SPF), loose powder, mascara, blush, a little golden sparkle eyeshadow and some lipgloss.

In case it gets chilly I carry: A wrap/pashmina
I'm a little obsessed with pashminas to be honest. I started buying them in Europe on holidays, I think in Italy first, and took them back as souvenirs for myself and gifts for my sister and mother. I've collected so many over the years. In just the last four months alone, I've purchased another two and been given at least one other. I. LOVE. THEM.

Pashminas work well as blankets and pillows on flights, will cover your shoulders when you enter chapels (required in a lot of cathedrals), and of course can be used for the obvious reason of warming you up either as a scarf or wrap. I never travel without a pashmina.

Even with 17 years of overseas travel experience, I still tend to carry too much. It's hard to narrow down items for packing when you want to have cute things to wear, but if in doubt, it's probably not something you need. Pack on the lighter side of things, roll your clothes to keep them wrinkle free and save space in your suitcase, and remember to wear your heavier items on the day of the flight.

As for now, I've got six weeks of planning time before my next trip. Fortunately, I'll be going home to the states so I'll really get to pack light as many of my things are still there. Unfortunately, my suitcase will be extremely loaded on the way back to China when I've stuffed it full of items I know I can't find here!

Ready to Jump!

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to go skydiving. When I was young, my sister, brother and I did a bungee jump in Tennessee from one of those 100 ft or so towers. I thought I'd wet my pants, but I did it anyway. For years after that, I told myself I'd one day jump from a plane. 

In the last few years, I've listened to my cousins' stories of jumping, watched their videos, and scrolled through their Facebook photos with envy. Everyone else I spoke to about wanting to go told me I was crazy, that they'd never jump out of a perfectly good airplane. My brother, who I've always considered to be a bit of an adventurer, told me he'd put on a squirrel suit and jump off a mountain, but NOT out of a plane.

Despite the lack of encouragement from many, I knew that relocating to China, which was a "jump" in and of itself, would be a chance for me to take the skydiving plunge. I figured that New Zealand was the place to go, and I set my heart on "one day."  

A few months ago, not long after I moved to China, I enrolled in a Groupon mailing list for Sydney, Australia. I had considered going there for Christmas and New Years, and as Sydney is a really expensive city, I thought checking out the offers on Groupon might give me a few more opportunities to do some things I'd not ordinarily spend the money on.  

Low and behold, in late September or early October, I saw a Groupon for skydiving with Adrenaline Skydive in Goulburn, about two hours from Sydney. I tried to purchase the Groupon shortly after seeing it posted, but it had already been removed from the site.

I emailed the company and they told me not to worry, that there would be more offers soon. I waited to see if anything else would come up, and it did, but when I saw it, I realized that the offer would expire before I'd get to Australia to use it. Again, I emailed the company and asked what they suggested. I told them it was a dream of mine to jump and that I would be bringing a friend along with me, hoping that would persuade them to help me out.

I didn't get a lot of friendly assistance from the company, but they told me to hang in there, that something else would come up. Again I saw an offer, and this time the expiration date would work. I tried immediately purchasing two (I had convinced my friend Molly to join me). Once the Groupon had been purchased, I thought the process for scheduling our jump would be an easy one...but I thought wrong.

I called Adrenaline several times (my ACN digital phone allows me to call anywhere in the world for a low, low price of $32 a month). I tried the number three or four times over the course of a few days and I was never able to get through. I called other numbers in Australia just to make sure it wasn't my phone. I called my phone provider and had them try the number, but no one ever had any luck. 

I began to worry that I'd purchased these jumps (a $370 value) and that I'd not be able to use them.  I emailed, Facebooked, and called again and FINALLY got through to someone, although I was aggravated by this time because the one response I got from the email was that there was "nothing wrong" with the phone and that "people call all the time."  I could have used a "we're so sorry for your inconvenience," or a "how can we help you," but that's not the Aussie way (see the next blog for more info here).  

Once the jump had been scheduled for December 30 (although we agreed on December 29), I felt better. I was excited to have that part sorted and all I had to do was figure out how I'd get from Sydney to Goulburn. This of course wasn't a big issue as I simply had to rent a car. 

I had been craving a good drive since I only get chauffeured around in China (that sounds great, but trust me, it's not as wonderful as it seems). Molly and I hired a little car on the Monday night before our jump and I drove us home, excited to be behind the wheel, even if it was on the "wrong" side of the car. My practice in Ireland prepared me for this so it wasn't an issue. Molly really wanted to try driving too, so she got behind the wheel later that night and then she and I split the trip to and from the skydiving site.  

On Tuesday morning, we got up really early so we could leave Bondi Beach (our awesome accommodations just outside of Sydney) and drive to Goulburn. We headed out of town by 6:30 a.m. as our jump was scheduled for 9.  I drove us down, Molly using the GPS on my phone to navigate from the passenger seat, and we pulled into the airport at 9:02. I was so worried we'd be late and not be able to go. 

When we arrived, there were several other cars parked in the lot and the doors to the place were closed. A gentleman by the name of John came and opened the door, apologizing for it being locked. He said he had to do that because the wind was so bad it was blowing the door open. Hmmm, come to think of it, it was pretty windy. The next thing he said was, "Did you get my message?" I looked at him sideways and responded, "No." Was he kidding, I'd tried countless times to reach them, when had they tried to reach me?

"I don't think you have my Australian number," I said, "I gave you my Chinese line and my email." After checking all of those (and having no messages or missed calls), I shrugged it off. "It's too windy today," he said, "we can't go up in this weather." Molly, who had been a bit nervous on the way down, looked relieved. I was pretty bummed.  

John told us we could wait around and see if the weather died down, to see if the wind would perhaps slow. I think Molly and I sat there two hours waiting, and the wind gusts continued to blow up to 30 knots. Even the professionals weren't going up with that force. 

I was pretty disappointed as the airport was to be closed the next two days for New Years and I knew I'd be leaving at the end of the week so there would be no rescheduling for me. I got a little jealous when John asked if Molly wanted to come back since she had more time in Sydney. I don't think she'll go without me at this point, but I think I might have been upset since it was something I really wanted to do.

In the past, when I've gotten upset, I've shed a few tears. That's actually an understatement as I recall losing my camera on my first trip to Europe when I was 15 and I distinctively remember hyperventilating on the beach in Italy. That may or may not have happened a few other times in my life, but the older I get, and the more I travel, the less things like that get to me. 

Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to jump. I'm upset I didn't get to, but there were no tears and there was no anger towards the people at Adrenaline or the weather forecaster or anyone. I truly believe all things happen for a reason, and for whatever reason, the Lord didn't want me jumping that day. I can't promise it's the end of my skydiving adventure though. I still have the Groupon, which John said he'd honor if I come back to Australia, and I still have the "itch" so to speak. I also got to play dress up in the jumpsuit so I'm thinking it'll be something I try to do in the future...I looked kinda cute in that thing. ;) Sorry Mom, no matter the situation in Sydney, I'm still ready to jump!