i miss home...i miss volleyball..

i've been here for two weeks!! it's been a good ride, but i'm itching to get out of sydney (already!)...i think it's mostly cause the only contacts i've had here since i've gotten here are my uncle, aunt, and 3 cousins (and my dad). they're really good people, and i enjoy their company, and we do lots of stuff and everything, but it's one of those situations where they don't do enough things. like, volleyball, for instance. and you know me (those of you who do know me)...i like to do things...everything, actually. and meet people...my cousins don't hang out with their friends. so..i've met no other australians. i'm crying on the inside. BUT, i leave for whitsunday (a resort type town up the east coast on the great barrier reef) tomorrow with my dad, and then right after that i head to heron island with...PEOPLE FROM SYDNEY UNI. WOOOOOOT! how happy does that make me? wow. trust me...really happy. so this means you won't get another posting for 2 weeks...unless i manage to get into an internet cafe or something weird like that. but, that's almost normal for me, so i'm sure you guys won't mind the wait...and HOPEFULLY, i'll have some REALLY exciting news for you when i get back. and fun pics!

so in the past few days i've gone to the Jenolan caves, which is a range of really large caves that you can take tours through (and do adventure touring too...i may go back and try that out..). unfortunately, my camera is a piece of CRAP, so most of the pictures i took just look like brown fuzziness..but the cave was quite amazing. when we left the caves we saw a huge lizard on the sidewalk...when i asked if i could pick it up the australians looked at me like i was crazy...it's not like in canada, where all reptiles and amphibs are fair game...things here bite and are poisonous. there was lots of excitement on the way up to the blue mountains (where the caves are located)...my uncle is a bit of an INSANE driver (as they all are here...there are quite a few cases of road rage...and pedestrians DEFINITELY don't have the right of way), and there are roads leading up to the blue mountains similar to those going up to tremblant, for those who know...but worse. infact, they are 2 way streets with one lane and a big sheer drop on one side. and, my uncle takes these turns at like, 80km. so, in addition to wanting to hurl because i'm insanely motion sick, i also want to throw myself out of the car because i'm scared out of my wits. my dad kept saying subtle things to make him slow down. fortunately we came up behind two REALLY slow cars and had to follow them most of the way up the treacherous part. *phew* oh, we also visited katoomba...wonderful scenery atop a cliff...i've never seen so many trees, it was awesome. oh, and there's a rock called the three sisters that has three peaks...apparently they are part of the seven sisters, but i think they might have been mistaken because i sure didn't see the other 4 sisters. that night we watched terminator...one...does anyone remember that movie?
the next couple days were filled with aimless shopping at random places...a huge market that's like our flea market in ottawa, but a million times better. then only thing i bought was a clippy thing to go into my hair...i got home and found out that it doesn't work. buh.
yesterday i went to my cousin's christian church. it was like a concert. we sat in a theatre in cushy seats and there was a stage and people playing guitars and drums and there were four singers and the words were displayed up on a screen karaoke style. people were singing and dancing and waving their hands. there were powerpoint presentations made by various people...two were ads for youth-type groups in the church, another was a presentation made by a couple who was in thailand in a hotel by the coast when the tsunami struck, and a couple others. then, there was more singing and clapping. and then the reverand spoke, complete with powerpoint presentation and clip art and background music (Provided by band) and all. and every once in a while he'd break out into song and everyone would join in. it was the most fun sermon i've ever seen. and a huge congregation, mostly of younger people. the older generations have a church upstairs (the building is HUGE..and inside a shopping centre...which is new to me) which is more traditional...there were like, 4 people in there when i walked by. i'm still not sure what to make of it...
after we went to lunch at a family friend's house...they were all pretty religious and were making testimonials and we watched a video about reverend daniel, who was supposedly dead for 3 days and then came back to life with the help of prayer. i'm sure some of you have heard of it...i think it was quite a famous case. also brought up was the asian culture of praying to everything (trees, houses, spirits, etc etc etc), which apparently invites spirits into your own body, and a whole multitude of things. it was all very interesting to listen to for a while. then my cousins and i decided to go ice skating.
it cost me 16 freakin' dollars to skate on a rink that melted really fast (though it was indoors...in a mall, as everything seems to be). damn lack of ice here...i haven't been in quite while, but i managed to teach john and dan how to stand up and do some things...and though i've lost all my stellar skating skills (i blame the really bad rentals), a good time was had by all.
today i pack (living out of a suitcase is really quite unpleasant.. i can't wait to have my own drawers), and prepare for scuba diving and beaches and sun :D booyah.