February 13 - Australia: Cairns, Queensland
OWSI - Open Water Scuba Instructor Course - Day 6
Our Last Day!
We woke early to go for our runs and were at DSDD by 9:00 AM. It was so nice to have three days off, and I actually feel sorry for the seven people who took the optional "Pro Pack" part of the course. This means they were in class for the last two days instead of relaxing with friends and studying on their own. For a while, we wondered if we should suck up the money and do the Pro Pack, but eventually we decided against it.
And as soon as we got to DSDD, we felt reassured in our decision. Everyone was exhausted and brain dead. And very, very sick. I'm not kidding. There was more sneezing and coughing in that room than in a doctor's office. Jon, Ray, and I were other healthy people in there. I'm not a germ-obsessed person, but I could practically SEE the little germy buggers flying around, looking for healthy cells to land on. The ventilation in the room was terrible, and Elli (who was in a rotten mood in addition to being ill) had moved her seat to be right underneath the fan. Brilliant. I wanted to turn and run.
The first chance we got, Jon and I dashed to a chemist to buy Echinacea.
Morning Sessions
For the morning session. we did our last Knowledge Development presentations. Mine was "Streamlining" and Jon's was "Intro to Recreational Dive Planning". For one of my required "Training Aids", I'd done some research on paper airplanes. And I ended up using the design for the 1994 World Record Holder by record-holder Ken Blackburn (Here's the website, in case you're looking for some excitement in your life: http://www.workman.com/fliersclub/download.html) Unfortunately, all of last night's practice was for naught. My trusty little plane flew up, hit the light, and did a wonderful nose dive into the floor. So much for world records! It was pretty funny, though.
After the presentations and our Echinacea break, Vic gave us a lecture on the "Business of Diving" which I might have found interesting if I hadn't been studying physics at the time. In fact, I'm not sure if anyone was really listening. We were all reading physics, physiology, and the recreational dive planner for our Theory Exam this afternoon.
Theory Exams
The same was true after lunch. We were all studying and not really listening to the lectures. Well, except for Jon, that it. The boy has barely studied and doesn't seem to care to. We settled in around 2:30 to take the five 20-question exams. About two hours later, we were all done. Of course - Jon did just as well as (if not better than) I did. And I'm the one who's been studying my buns off. Figures.
The last part of the evening was spent talking about Friday's IE (Instructor Exam) and finishing up paperwork. We also completed the course evaluation forms, on which I wrote a small novel.
Quiet Evening At Home
We went home for dinner and I worked like crazy to get caught up on the journals. SO excited to have our laptop back!!! And this consumed our evening - typing away on email and journals and watching TV. At 9:30, the season premier of "Third Watch" came on, which was an incredibly touching episode about September 11. It brought back a lot of memories about how we felt that day, but it also showed us what it was like in NYC during that time. Sent chills up my spine all over again.