The recent days over in Bali have been jam packed with new and rewarding experiences both in and outside the water.
To start with, I spent my first ever Christmas away from home. I figured I may be eating Nasi Goreng instead of turkey this year but we had the most incredible Christmas dinner over at Blue Season Bali complete with all the fix ins; turkey, gravy, potatoes, stuffing and everything else you could hope for. In total there were about 30 of us who all had to unbuckle the belts by the time it was all said and done. To make the
occasion a little more special we had a secret Santa present exchange which filled the childhood void of tearing open a present on Christmas morning. All in all, even though I was a long way from home, friends and family, it was truly the best Christmas a guy could hope for. If you ever plan to do an internship with BSB over the Christmas holidays, not only will you be in under the paradise sun and palm trees but you will get that warm Christmas feeling complete with quite the feast!
Now for diving and the PADI instructor experience.
Last night another fellow MSDT instructor and I took part in a night dive speciality training session. Accompanying us was Course Director Thomas Barrett, staff instructor Tom Mckenzie and new to the BSB team eco internship instructor/marine biologist Neils. We dropped in just off the beach in Sanur at around 7pm following a beautiful sunset and within 5 minutes we saw 2 juvenile harlequin fish, 2 eels and a Spanish dancer! Absolutely stunning! We carried along and by the end we saw so many eels I lost count, a couple more harlequin fish, 2 snakes, several crabs and loads more nocturnal critters which come alive at night. Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera along with me or what great footage I would have captured to show you guys! What a great way to end a 4 dive day in beautiful Bali. Yes, there was some rain, but nonetheless
A couple days prior to the night dive I started my first ever open water course. I had a 10 year old boy who luckily, was a natural little fish in the water. Although full of enthusiasm and energy, I was faced with the challenge of working with this kids 10 minute classroom/workbook attention span. Of course we have structure to the open water course following along with difficulty progression and different things that must be done before moving on to the next however, the order is somewhat flexible and allows us as instructors to slightly modify a course plan. With this guy I really had to be on the ball. All the planned intentions I had more, less went out the window. Luckily the training and lessons I learned during the IDC came into practice and I was able to roll with the punches no problem ensuring that while learning, this kid never stopped having fun! He was a joy to teach and reminded me much of myself in the water when I was young. He also taught me a lot about my own teaching abilities of how patience is the key when dealing with new divers and how you must be able to modify lesson plans while still sticking to a time frame. In the end once we surfaced from that final open water dive and I told him he was now open water certified, the look on his face said it all. The feelings of achievement and satisfaction he felt and knowing I helped achieve that with him was a great feeling and one I will never forget. His parents had been diving for years and long awaited the day where their son could dive alongside them and helping make this families dream come true was truly a rewarding experience.
A thousand thanks to Blue Season Bali for not only giving me the opportunity to become and live out my life here in Bali as a PADI instructor but also for the incredible teachings you have provided me with that allow me to go out and interact with people from around the world and experience the rewarding feelings of teaching people how to dive and have the pleasure of introducing them to the wonders of the underwater world!!
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