For
the past week and a half I have not been a free man, but rather a prisoner. Unlike
most prison sentences however, my term was not based on a set duration of time
but rather on the completion of a duty. It was not a forced imprisonment, and
yet, no matter how hard I tried to break free, I quickly found that my
conscience would not let me. What then were the terms of my release? The
completion of two large essays and a rather aggravating accounting assignment.
And
thus, I have spent the past week and a half of my life locked within the
confines of my dark room, toiling away for hours without end. It became
unbearable to withstand the sun’s taunting rays of light that shined through my
window, so I kept the curtains shut. I would only emerge from my dungeon on
rare occasions to eat or use the restroom, and the few human interactions I had
seemed completely alien to me. It was as if I had forgotten how to socially
conduct myself from a lack of human contact. Essentially, I was a shadow of a
man. And then, Friday September 26th at 4:00 o’clock p.m., I earned
my freedom!
Sorry
for the exaggeration, but it’s really hard to do work in Australia…I always feel
like I should be at the beach! Regardless, I am done with my work, and am now
free to update my journal. I can’t hope to write down everything that has gone
on the past few weeks (before my imprisonment), so instead I will give a brief
update:
The
weekend of August 22nd, my friend Justin took a group of us to his
family’s farm out in Tamworth. It was a great weekend. We went hiking,
horseback riding, car racing, 4-wheeling, sheep herding and had a fajita eating
contest at a Mexican restaurant in town. The farm food was probably the best
part! His parents cooked a feast for us every meal.
The
weekend of September 5th, I went on a surf trip with mojo-surf. I
was a little nervous going into the weekend for 2 reasons. (1)I didn’t know anybody
going on the trip(but I quickly found out that I knew 5-6 people once the trip
started), and (2) I had only surfed once in my life prior to the surf trip.
There was about 40 of us in all. The bus picked us up from Newcastle and drove
us four hours north to a beach house. The weekend was a blast! It was fun meeting
new people and surfing! The beach we surfed on was beautiful and we pretty much
had it to ourselves. Also, I learned that surfing is like riding a bike
Finally,
the weekend of September 12th, my friend Dan took me home with him
to Orange. Orange was a lot like Tamworth in that it was a country town with a
lot of farms. All of Dan’s family was home for the weekend (which I was told is
a rare occasion), so it was fun hanging out with everyone. Like Tamworth, I had
the privilege of enjoying some great home cooked meals. The highlights of the
weekend were motor-biking, 4-wheeling, Kangaroo hunting, and having a massive
cookout.
And
now, Monday September 29th, I am about to leave for two weeks on
holiday as a free man. My friend Nick is taking me to the airport at 12pm (my
flight leaves at 6am the following morning), where my adventure will begin. The
plan is to sail around the Whit Sunday Islands for a few days, scuba dive the
great barrier reef, and head down to Fraiser Island where I will meet up with
my friend Abraham for some more adventures. I have to go pack now, but I’ll be
updating in a couple weeks!
