Even since I was a kid, I’ve had the desire to get in a car with a full gas tank and then see how far it would go until it ran out of gas. I know that this would be an incredibly senseless, absolutely idiotic, and completely inappropriate act of ultimate stupidity. But it sure would be fun! However being the sensible person that I am, (ha ha) I doubt I would ever do anything to that extent without a qualified professional at my side (and I’m not talking about the type that says things like “hey hold my beer and watch this!”) Since I can’t safely do this, I have decided instead to run a marathon. Made the connection? Although we marathoners don’t really want to admit it, it’s basically the same type of idea. You start out with a full tank of “gas”, and you see how far that gets you. For me I hope that’s the full 26.2 (43.3K for all you Aussies) miles. I have decided to do the Great Ocean Road marathon in Australia which will take place in less than….. 2 days! I’ve done the training these past couple of months and will see if I have enough “gas” to finish it. So wish me luck!
Other than training for marathons’ I’ve been pretty busy. Since I’ve last written in here (it’s been ages) I’ve been back to Texas to visit. I knew immediately that I was home when I heard things like, Ma’m, Sir, Mr. and Mrs. It felt even more like home when I began to hear phrases like, “man you should really try these fried green beans because they’re amazing”, “now Hannah if this cow charges you don’t worry because you just run and I’ll put my hand on her head to stop her (my dad), and “I made bacon cookies!” It was great to hear the Texas accent again, shoot guns, ride 4-wheelers, go to my church, have Mexican food and buy things that were under $5. The most exciting and surprising was probably going to the nursing home. Seriously! I went to visit my lady nursing home friend back in my college town. But she wasn’t in her room and her name tag had been removed from the door. Uh oh. Seeing these types of things make one awfully nervous in a nursing home. However, I breathed a sigh of relief when I was told that she had switched rooms. When I found her sitting in her room I was surprised that her roommate was a man. Upon further inspection I realized that this man was my other nursing home friend I used to visit. Then I saw her give a big smile and utter the words “we done went and got married!” And she’s 93! Then she proceeded to show me photos of their wedding. It was the sweetest thing! I was incredibly happy for them and it was amazing to see the positive change in both of their moods. It was also slightly funny with phrases like “We don’t fight b/c I do what she tells me too and I’m scared of her” or “well he had another lover but…….she died!” It was great to see my family, friends and of course Stephen but it went incredibly fast. And I never saw one single person as much as I wanted to! I spent three weeks at home. This means that I was jest lagged a total of five weeks! As soon as I got used to being home, I got on an airplane (23+hours) and flew back to Australia where it took me another 2 weeks to recover. It was bearable due to the fact that I absolutely love flying. I love airports, layovers and the long 16+ hour flights. You meet so many neat people and what other time are you able to sit down for 16 hours with nothing required of you but to read a book or watch a movie? And you don’t even have to get up to get your food because people bring it to you. I love it! I had a 6 hour layover in L.A Airport but I loved every minute of it (except for whenever I almost tripped over my chair)
I’m still at “uni” and I enjoy what I’m learning. Uni is the name Australians call college because they call high school college so it can get quite confusing. On Wednesdays I have a 6 hour Christian theology class! 6 hours! When I first heard about having to sit in class for 6 hours I wasn’t exactly happy. However, over the weeks this class has become one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken and I actually look forward to Wednesdays. The Christian theology here is so much more liberal than back home and I have some issues agreeing with the professors about particular things. But I still enjoy looking at different sides of an issue and it’s been great to learn about. I would be more at ease if the professor wasn’t always making negative comments about those “Southern Baptists from Texas”. He has no idea that this is where I come from. I also have one class that I find hilarious because when I look around I find that I’m an American, at an Australian college, surrounded by majority Asian students, listening to a Germen talk about British Christian Theology. Talk about culture exposure! By the time that I’m done with all my college courses I should have an Associate’s degree in ministry. I’m not too sure what I’ll do with that back in the states but who knows where God will lead?!
The youth ministry stuff at the church is going great! I finally feel completely at home with everyone at the church. They’re like my family away from home. The thing that really took off these past few months is something I started a while back called “girls group” (mainly because my creative juices weren’t flowing when I created the name). It is…. well you guessed it…. a group for girls! It started out 8 months ago as a failed attempt to get kids from a non church background to come to my meeting. I was in charge of it and expected over 20, maybe 30 youth to come to the initial get together. I had all this stuff set up and all these games prepared. I was pretty excited and nervous about it but only 2 girls from the church came. I did my best to stay positive although I was honestly a bit discouraged. Actually quite a bit. Something kept telling me to just continue with the group although there were only 2 people doing it. Well it wasn’t something but someone and more specifically God. Long story short I decided to just make it a group for girls where we cook, study the bible and have fun. Then they started inviting their friends and now it’s grown quite a bit but more importantly there have been some of the best relationships formed with myself, each other and most notably God. It’s been so great getting to know all the girls. Girls from a non-church background started to come and it’s been amazing to see their curiosity and growth. It’s awesome what God’s doing there and splendid the way it arose out of an apparent disappointment. I think that’s sometimes like life and the way God works. He has a lot of neat plans but a lot of times it isn’t exactly the way we think it’s going to go. In fact it hardly ever it. We just need to remember that and keep plodding along in the midst of seemingly obvious “set backs” to see what happens! If there’s any doubt over God’s power I think all you need to do is look at stuff like this, where you have ill-equipped leaders (speaking of myself. I’ve never even so much as led a mini small group before plus I typically burn all the food we cook), bad circumstances, and set backs all around. Anybody with a brain can see that it’s an obvious fail but somehow, and it still amazes me, it all works out and big things happen.
Funny thing of the week: The following is a conversation I had with a lady at the fruit shop I work in.
Mother: Oh you have such a different accent where are you from? (every other customer asks me this)
Me: Texas
Mother: Oh that’s nice. My son was born there.
Me: Oh really! Wow! And have you ever made it there yourself!
Epic fail. BTW this happening actually made it in the daily Australian newspaper in a section titled “Overheard” where people write in to report all the dumb funny stuff that they overheard people say that say. So I’m famous b/c I made it in a newspaper!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Falling out of planes and Australian sponge cake
If someone told me that exactly 6 months after entering the country of Australia I would be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, plummeting to the earth at 150 mph, depending on a mere piece of material to open up at the right time and stop me from hitting the ground, then I would have probably said, “stop this planet now. I want off!” While, admittedly, this might have been my thoughts as the plane slowly gained the elevation that would take us to our so called “destination” of nothingness in the sky, it wasn’t my overall thought and most certainly not the summary of this experience. The best description of how I felt about my overall experience with skydiving is a bit less complex and is more like this: “ahhh ahhh Aaaaaahhhhhhhhahhahhah ah ha hah ha **** ahhhhh jfdkjfkdfj.” So in short it was amazing, terrifying, amazingly terrifying and extremely fun. However, after all these descriptions the only thing I could manage to think when I finally touched ground was “I’m glad my parachute opened”. The fact that I decided to skydive is showing me how much this whole experience of living in Australia is changing me (and hopefully for the better). The main thing that has happened during the course of this 6 month experience has been that I’m less afraid to try new things (within reason and morality of course). I’ve done a lot of things that I would have been too terrified to do before and it’s all worked out just fine. So when I decided to get my boyfriend Stephen a skydiving gift certificate for Christmas (it’s something he’s always wanted to do) I had no intention to join him by jumping out of a perfectly good plane. Yet the thought that I was going to sit on the sidelines and watch started to slowly creep in until I couldn’t take it anymore. Although the idea terrified me I wanted to go too! I couldn’t just stand around and watch while he had all the fun so I worked a few extra shifts and bought myself one too. But I have to admit that giving him the present was probably the best part. I made a “gift certificate” with a picture of us both jumping out of the plane but my little stick figure didn’t have a parachute and therefore wasn’t looking too happy. He had no idea and was like “is this for real?” “Yes Stephen but hopefully I’ll have a parachute in the real thing.” Probably the most fun I’ve ever had giving somebody a gift. Well…. I went skydiving but unfortunately didn’t go rocky mountain climbin’ or 2.7 seconds on a bull named “Phu Mon Shoe”.
Other than skydiving we were able to do many other neat things during his brief stay here. For one we got to experience Christmas Australia style. If somebody told me last Christmas that I would be spending next Christmas in Australia with my Texas boyfriend going to my South African friend’s house for lunch, then having Christmas dinner with New Zealanders, while only actually spending it with one Australian in the whole bunch then I would have laughed. But that’s what happened! Momma’s always said that life is stranger than fiction (as well as a box of chocolates. He he) and now I believe her. Life is weird.
The way Australians celebrate Christmas is a bit different than what I’m familiar to but if I were to describe it all on here then we’d be here all day. For one thing, on Christmas day in Australia, every member in the family isn’t compelled to bring 5 different dishes of food for everyone to eat just in case they run the risk of starving. As we all know Texas Christmas’s are a different story. I remember my dear great grandmother saying “do you think we need to open a can of spam” when she saw a centimeter of free space on the table. In Australia, we had some meat, a side or two, and a dessert. This is really all that you need and it most certainly keeps you from gaining 5 pounds (or kilos) during one single meal! However, the dessert we had was a bit interesting. Apparently, eating sponge cake that has been soaked in an overabundance of liquor overnight is quite a Christmas tradition in Australia. I have to admit it had quite an interesting taste but I don’t remember much after that. Just kidding :)
Other than our highly unusual but fun Christmas experience Stephen and I also had an interesting New Years experience. We went into the city to watch the big firework show. However, we ended up walking around the city in the pouring rain; cold, wet and lost. And having the best time! Absolutely nothing worked out according to plan but we were too busy laughing at the situation going from bad to kinda bad to worse that we didn’t even care. We just had fun. In a nut shell we got lost in a building and couldn’t find our way out for nearly 40 minutes amidst a crowd of crazy intoxicated people, got out and realized that it was pouring down rain, got lost outside and missed our tram stop by 100 miles, ate french fries under a tram stop in place of our planed nice dinner, missed the fireworks because the trains left right before the show, and witnessed a domestic on the streets (the man bit the women!). To make matters worse the streets were so crowded with crazy people we could hardly walk. New Years in Melbourne, Australia!
Honestly, Australia seems to be full of weird, scary people that tend to make themselves known around the holidays. Other than witnessing the domestic, Stephen and I encountered a seemingly high number of bizarre people who were a bit scary at times. This might be due to the fact that we used public transport almost everyday. However, it seemed like rarely a day went by that we didn’t witness something alarming or slightly disturbing. The biggest scare came when we decided to go hiking in the Australian mountain ranges. We got on the train to go home and noticed that aside from 2 other men, nobody else was on the train with us. We were still waiting on the train to leave the station when out of nowhere this big, scary looking man gets out and starts yelling at me and Stephen. All his attention was directed at us. He had the craziest eyes! I can’t remember everything he said but he kept telling us that we “were one person who split into 2 people”. I’m serious. Apparently he witnessed Stephen grow a beard out of nowhere. I thought he said something about us being the descendents of Cain and how God will judge us because we are evil. Oh and Jesus has come back and is sitting on Uluru rock in Australia. He just kept yelling at us until he finally walked off. Whew! Then he got back on and continued to yell at us while the other 2 men are just sitting there. He finally sat down and tried to have a nice friendly chat with one of the men on the train. It got completely silent until he looked at us and said “I don’t feel safe with these 2 evil people in here (meaning us!). I’m leaving.” Yeah it was a bit weird but I’m glad nothing happened. For the most part, Australians are nice, friendly, obliging down-to-earth folks who have welcomed me into their lives quite easily. However, you do get a few crazies here and there that have helped me decide that I’m not riding the trains at night anymore.
Many other exciting things have gone on since I’ve last written but if I tell it all then nobody would want to read this! I’ll try to update more often so I won’t have to cram it all in here. Thanks for all your support in reading this!
Other than skydiving we were able to do many other neat things during his brief stay here. For one we got to experience Christmas Australia style. If somebody told me last Christmas that I would be spending next Christmas in Australia with my Texas boyfriend going to my South African friend’s house for lunch, then having Christmas dinner with New Zealanders, while only actually spending it with one Australian in the whole bunch then I would have laughed. But that’s what happened! Momma’s always said that life is stranger than fiction (as well as a box of chocolates. He he) and now I believe her. Life is weird.
The way Australians celebrate Christmas is a bit different than what I’m familiar to but if I were to describe it all on here then we’d be here all day. For one thing, on Christmas day in Australia, every member in the family isn’t compelled to bring 5 different dishes of food for everyone to eat just in case they run the risk of starving. As we all know Texas Christmas’s are a different story. I remember my dear great grandmother saying “do you think we need to open a can of spam” when she saw a centimeter of free space on the table. In Australia, we had some meat, a side or two, and a dessert. This is really all that you need and it most certainly keeps you from gaining 5 pounds (or kilos) during one single meal! However, the dessert we had was a bit interesting. Apparently, eating sponge cake that has been soaked in an overabundance of liquor overnight is quite a Christmas tradition in Australia. I have to admit it had quite an interesting taste but I don’t remember much after that. Just kidding :)
Other than our highly unusual but fun Christmas experience Stephen and I also had an interesting New Years experience. We went into the city to watch the big firework show. However, we ended up walking around the city in the pouring rain; cold, wet and lost. And having the best time! Absolutely nothing worked out according to plan but we were too busy laughing at the situation going from bad to kinda bad to worse that we didn’t even care. We just had fun. In a nut shell we got lost in a building and couldn’t find our way out for nearly 40 minutes amidst a crowd of crazy intoxicated people, got out and realized that it was pouring down rain, got lost outside and missed our tram stop by 100 miles, ate french fries under a tram stop in place of our planed nice dinner, missed the fireworks because the trains left right before the show, and witnessed a domestic on the streets (the man bit the women!). To make matters worse the streets were so crowded with crazy people we could hardly walk. New Years in Melbourne, Australia!
Honestly, Australia seems to be full of weird, scary people that tend to make themselves known around the holidays. Other than witnessing the domestic, Stephen and I encountered a seemingly high number of bizarre people who were a bit scary at times. This might be due to the fact that we used public transport almost everyday. However, it seemed like rarely a day went by that we didn’t witness something alarming or slightly disturbing. The biggest scare came when we decided to go hiking in the Australian mountain ranges. We got on the train to go home and noticed that aside from 2 other men, nobody else was on the train with us. We were still waiting on the train to leave the station when out of nowhere this big, scary looking man gets out and starts yelling at me and Stephen. All his attention was directed at us. He had the craziest eyes! I can’t remember everything he said but he kept telling us that we “were one person who split into 2 people”. I’m serious. Apparently he witnessed Stephen grow a beard out of nowhere. I thought he said something about us being the descendents of Cain and how God will judge us because we are evil. Oh and Jesus has come back and is sitting on Uluru rock in Australia. He just kept yelling at us until he finally walked off. Whew! Then he got back on and continued to yell at us while the other 2 men are just sitting there. He finally sat down and tried to have a nice friendly chat with one of the men on the train. It got completely silent until he looked at us and said “I don’t feel safe with these 2 evil people in here (meaning us!). I’m leaving.” Yeah it was a bit weird but I’m glad nothing happened. For the most part, Australians are nice, friendly, obliging down-to-earth folks who have welcomed me into their lives quite easily. However, you do get a few crazies here and there that have helped me decide that I’m not riding the trains at night anymore.
Many other exciting things have gone on since I’ve last written but if I tell it all then nobody would want to read this! I’ll try to update more often so I won’t have to cram it all in here. Thanks for all your support in reading this!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas!!!
For the past few weeks I’ve been wondering what that something is that’s keeping me from getting into the Christmas spirit. Then I realized it’s not a specific something but a lack of. No Christmas lights! No Christmas music on the radio stations! No overabundance of high fat packed Christmas desserts! And…… no fat Santa’s! Not to mention I have a sunburn. And I’m sleeping in a 94 degree house (only once or twice) Hot houses and a blaringly hot sun are not the first few things that come to mind when one thinks of Christmas. But as somebody famous once said, I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore. Or Texas. However, with Christmas only one day away I think I’m finally getting into it and I’m ready. I’m pretty excited to experience Christmas in Australia. Even without the proper amount of Christmas lights I still find it great. Just yesterday we went to a huge Christmas concert in Melbourne were all the famous Australian singers performed. It was great fun except for the fact that we had to wait in line for two hours during the hottest part of the day just to get in. The sun never gave us a break and it was absolutely the hottest, craziest, most resilient sun I’ve ever experienced. We walked right by a girl who had passed out ahead of us from heat exhaustion. Then the other day the youth and I went all around to different nursing homes and got to sing Christmas carols. In short, I’m ready for Christmas! Oh and the best thing about Christmas in Australia is that it comes a day earlier!
One great thing about the hot weather here is that I can finally go swim in the ocean. Unfortunately the ocean harbors many sea creatures that are not my friend. Especially the Australian ocean. I learned this the hard way. A few days ago a friend and I wanted to see how far we could swim in the ocean even though the waves were really bad that day. Normally the water is almost crystal clear which make it great for spotting the sea creatures that I would like to avoid. However, since it was very wavy that day we were not able to see any of those unfavorable water villains. Then I got stung by a jellyfish, caught a cramp, started panicking, and kept choking on the waves. I eventually regained my composure and swam the 10 minutes back to shore. I think that’s how people drown. Why is it that the first time I go swimming in the Australian ocean I get stung by a jellyfish whenever my friends here have been swimming for all their lives and have never gotten stung? Good thing I can swim with one leg. Ha!
The other day I had to do a “children’s talk” in front of church which consisted of getting in front of the church and talking to the kids during the Sunday morning service. It would have been great except for the fact that I got silent stares whenever I asked them questions. Tough crowd. I wrapped up a plastic baby Jesus and then told them that the best present God ever gave us was under the wrapping paper. Upon opening it they just stared at it. Then I was like “a plastic doll! God gave us all a big plastic doll for the entire world to have! How exciting!” Of course I explained everything later but I couldn’t resist.
Not too much else has gone on except for work, Christmas shopping, babysitting, teaching RE and youth stuff. All youth programs are officially over for a whole month. Stephen will be here tomorrow so I have a feeling I might not be writing in my blog as much. Sorry! I’ll do my best though. The church just hired a new, official youth minister. It’s a great thing because we’ve needed one for a long time. So it’s been a big prayer answer for the church. Other than that I’m just ready for Christmas tomorrow with friends and….. friends! Merry Christmas!
Funny Moment of the Month: I had to do a sermon a few weeks ago in front of the church. It all went well except for the barrier in communication that sometimes happens. One of the points I was trying to make was that Jesus was so perfect that when you think of a dart board he would be in the "center". His example is hard to follow much like hitting the center of the dart board. It's almost impossible at times. This was all great and fine except for the fact that throughout most of the service everyone thought I kept saying that Jesus was the "sinner". "Everybody Jesus it the sinner. We can't ever be like him." Eventually they got it and we all had a good ol' laugh afterwards.
One great thing about the hot weather here is that I can finally go swim in the ocean. Unfortunately the ocean harbors many sea creatures that are not my friend. Especially the Australian ocean. I learned this the hard way. A few days ago a friend and I wanted to see how far we could swim in the ocean even though the waves were really bad that day. Normally the water is almost crystal clear which make it great for spotting the sea creatures that I would like to avoid. However, since it was very wavy that day we were not able to see any of those unfavorable water villains. Then I got stung by a jellyfish, caught a cramp, started panicking, and kept choking on the waves. I eventually regained my composure and swam the 10 minutes back to shore. I think that’s how people drown. Why is it that the first time I go swimming in the Australian ocean I get stung by a jellyfish whenever my friends here have been swimming for all their lives and have never gotten stung? Good thing I can swim with one leg. Ha!
The other day I had to do a “children’s talk” in front of church which consisted of getting in front of the church and talking to the kids during the Sunday morning service. It would have been great except for the fact that I got silent stares whenever I asked them questions. Tough crowd. I wrapped up a plastic baby Jesus and then told them that the best present God ever gave us was under the wrapping paper. Upon opening it they just stared at it. Then I was like “a plastic doll! God gave us all a big plastic doll for the entire world to have! How exciting!” Of course I explained everything later but I couldn’t resist.
Not too much else has gone on except for work, Christmas shopping, babysitting, teaching RE and youth stuff. All youth programs are officially over for a whole month. Stephen will be here tomorrow so I have a feeling I might not be writing in my blog as much. Sorry! I’ll do my best though. The church just hired a new, official youth minister. It’s a great thing because we’ve needed one for a long time. So it’s been a big prayer answer for the church. Other than that I’m just ready for Christmas tomorrow with friends and….. friends! Merry Christmas!
Funny Moment of the Month: I had to do a sermon a few weeks ago in front of the church. It all went well except for the barrier in communication that sometimes happens. One of the points I was trying to make was that Jesus was so perfect that when you think of a dart board he would be in the "center". His example is hard to follow much like hitting the center of the dart board. It's almost impossible at times. This was all great and fine except for the fact that throughout most of the service everyone thought I kept saying that Jesus was the "sinner". "Everybody Jesus it the sinner. We can't ever be like him." Eventually they got it and we all had a good ol' laugh afterwards.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Read this
Well it’s been quite a while since I’ve written. The excuse I’m going to use this time is that I was savagely attacked by a wild Australian animal and was near death in the uncomfortable hospital bed with both my hands and feet rendered useless making me completely inept to write a single ingenious word on my blog. But… that’s not true. In reality, I’ve just been busy. It’s a much less exciting excuse but nevertheless true. The hospital bed was comfortable and the animal wasn’t wild. JK
Anyhow much has gone on since my last posting. Gentle spring has become hot, dry crazy summer which is solely to blame for all the sunburns I have had the pleasure of receiving. Flys and mosquitoes quite enjoy my company and on occasion thrill me with an impromptu visit to my room, and upon finding it quite cozy decide to grace me with their presence all night. Thanks to the food packages I’ve received in the mail (thanks Shelia and Jesse!), the American food store by my house and mom loading her whole suitcase up with food I’ve had many opportunities to cook good ol’ Texas food for all the people here. Most of my cooking has not ended up in disaster but there’s always those few times. Yet, most of these people have never tasted that type of food before so I can always say “hey this is how it’s supposed to taste”. “Um… it’s just an acquired taste”. Except for the time when I attempted to cook hushpuppies for the youth. I got the oil way to hot, put the dough in, and immediately the entire church filled up with smoke smelling of burnt hushpuppy. There was to be a wedding ceremony the next day. Ugh. Just blame the American.
Mom came to visit me for two whole weeks! We both had such a great time. Except when I made her hike up a “mountain” that led us to the wrong place and then tried to correct it by making her take a shortcut in the snake infested woods. Or when she went on a bike ride with me and came back unable to sit. Or when she had to walk 2 miles back home with just one flip flop. Or when we got super sun burned at the beach. Or when I yelled at her for missing the train because she didn’t run fast enough. Just a dandy ol’ time. But it really was. We got to go to the zoo, the beach, a day hike in the Australian wilderness, the $17 movies, the huge mall (2nd biggest in the southern hemisphere), the Victorian markets, Wine tasting, Melbourne Christmas parade and heaps of other places. It was hilarious how shocked mom was whenever the youth continually referred to her as “Kristi” instead of Mrs. Wagley. It was such a great experience taking my mom around Australia and showing her all of my favorite places. Oh and she got to see my “sermon” in church at the young people’s service. I told them I would talk for the service but 2 weeks leading up to that I began to get extremely nervous. I had to talk for a whole 30 minutes! But I’m glad mom was there because she helped me with what I was going to say and got to see it all. I’m very blessed because we made great memories and will always go back to that time we were in Australia together. It’s not every day you get to show off Australia to your mom and show your mom off to the Australians (“oh Hannah she looks like she could be your sister?”)
Since mom has been gone I’ve had a lot of down time. All the youth programs are coming to an end for the summer holidays so there will be a while when I won’t have any youth events to help out with. During the holidays the only thing going on in the church is the Sunday morning service. All other programs are put on break. It’s really strange. The past few months I’ve been extremely busy and now that I have more time I’m lost. A lot of the youth and their families go away during this break so it won’t be until the end of January when I see them again. What will I do with all the youth gone? Well, I won’t have to dress up in a koala suite for church anymore (yes I had to do that. It’s a youth thing). I won’t have to be manager for the under 16 boys basketball team while being continually asked if I’m dating one of the players (do I really look that young?). I won’t be burning hushpuppies. I won’t be told that my accent sounds just like a Canadian accent. I won’t have to do skits up in front of church. And I won’t be continually asked by the youth what a Twinkie is. I’ll miss them. But Stephen will come to visit quite soon. And guess when he’ll get here? Christmas day! That certainly gives the “All I want for Christmas” song new, heightened meaning. He’ll be here from the 25th to January 13th. So we’ll try to do a bit a traveling and site seeing.
Funny experience of the month: I teach RE to 3rd graders a few times a weeks. RE stands for Religious Education and in Austria the school system allows the church to come in and tell the kids about Jesus. Well the other day I held up a drawing of Jesus. It was obviously supposed to be Jesus. I then asked the class who they thought this man was. They quickly and confidently replied, “Your daddy!”
Thanks everyone for your support. And thanks to all of y’all who sent me many kind words and food in the mail. It’s all very much appreciated.
Anyhow much has gone on since my last posting. Gentle spring has become hot, dry crazy summer which is solely to blame for all the sunburns I have had the pleasure of receiving. Flys and mosquitoes quite enjoy my company and on occasion thrill me with an impromptu visit to my room, and upon finding it quite cozy decide to grace me with their presence all night. Thanks to the food packages I’ve received in the mail (thanks Shelia and Jesse!), the American food store by my house and mom loading her whole suitcase up with food I’ve had many opportunities to cook good ol’ Texas food for all the people here. Most of my cooking has not ended up in disaster but there’s always those few times. Yet, most of these people have never tasted that type of food before so I can always say “hey this is how it’s supposed to taste”. “Um… it’s just an acquired taste”. Except for the time when I attempted to cook hushpuppies for the youth. I got the oil way to hot, put the dough in, and immediately the entire church filled up with smoke smelling of burnt hushpuppy. There was to be a wedding ceremony the next day. Ugh. Just blame the American.
Mom came to visit me for two whole weeks! We both had such a great time. Except when I made her hike up a “mountain” that led us to the wrong place and then tried to correct it by making her take a shortcut in the snake infested woods. Or when she went on a bike ride with me and came back unable to sit. Or when she had to walk 2 miles back home with just one flip flop. Or when we got super sun burned at the beach. Or when I yelled at her for missing the train because she didn’t run fast enough. Just a dandy ol’ time. But it really was. We got to go to the zoo, the beach, a day hike in the Australian wilderness, the $17 movies, the huge mall (2nd biggest in the southern hemisphere), the Victorian markets, Wine tasting, Melbourne Christmas parade and heaps of other places. It was hilarious how shocked mom was whenever the youth continually referred to her as “Kristi” instead of Mrs. Wagley. It was such a great experience taking my mom around Australia and showing her all of my favorite places. Oh and she got to see my “sermon” in church at the young people’s service. I told them I would talk for the service but 2 weeks leading up to that I began to get extremely nervous. I had to talk for a whole 30 minutes! But I’m glad mom was there because she helped me with what I was going to say and got to see it all. I’m very blessed because we made great memories and will always go back to that time we were in Australia together. It’s not every day you get to show off Australia to your mom and show your mom off to the Australians (“oh Hannah she looks like she could be your sister?”)
Since mom has been gone I’ve had a lot of down time. All the youth programs are coming to an end for the summer holidays so there will be a while when I won’t have any youth events to help out with. During the holidays the only thing going on in the church is the Sunday morning service. All other programs are put on break. It’s really strange. The past few months I’ve been extremely busy and now that I have more time I’m lost. A lot of the youth and their families go away during this break so it won’t be until the end of January when I see them again. What will I do with all the youth gone? Well, I won’t have to dress up in a koala suite for church anymore (yes I had to do that. It’s a youth thing). I won’t have to be manager for the under 16 boys basketball team while being continually asked if I’m dating one of the players (do I really look that young?). I won’t be burning hushpuppies. I won’t be told that my accent sounds just like a Canadian accent. I won’t have to do skits up in front of church. And I won’t be continually asked by the youth what a Twinkie is. I’ll miss them. But Stephen will come to visit quite soon. And guess when he’ll get here? Christmas day! That certainly gives the “All I want for Christmas” song new, heightened meaning. He’ll be here from the 25th to January 13th. So we’ll try to do a bit a traveling and site seeing.
Funny experience of the month: I teach RE to 3rd graders a few times a weeks. RE stands for Religious Education and in Austria the school system allows the church to come in and tell the kids about Jesus. Well the other day I held up a drawing of Jesus. It was obviously supposed to be Jesus. I then asked the class who they thought this man was. They quickly and confidently replied, “Your daddy!”
Thanks everyone for your support. And thanks to all of y’all who sent me many kind words and food in the mail. It’s all very much appreciated.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Crazy Aussies
Total months here: 4
Months to go: 8
Total Magpie attacks: 11
Total Jokes I didn't Get: 5
I have decided to devote this blog to some of the seemingy crazy things I’ve discovered about Australia. Things that will probably seem bizarre to an American but completely normal to an Australian. However, my disclaimer before delving into some of these absurdities is the fact that I think Australia is great and am in no way trying to “bag” (as Aussies say) Australian culture. I’m merly pointing out the differences and lightly poking fun of some of their craziness. I would expect nothing less of them to do the same to me. They’re doing a pretty good job at it.
First up is summer in Australia: I’m a little concerned about the upcoming summer here in Australia. Actually the word little is an understatement. Let me explain: In Texas, I’d say 90% of people have an air conditioner of some sort. In Australia only about 40% of people have air conditioner. Unfortunately, the house I live in isn’t in that lucky percent. This doesn’t mean Australia is any cooler in the summer than Texas. In fact, believe it or not, Australia is hotter. Melbourne got up to 117 last summer. And I can not figure out why, for the life of me, Australians don’t just go out and buy an air conditioner. Yet, they are quite environment friendly and many believe that an air conditioner would have a negative effect on the environment. I’ve noticed that instead of running the air conditioner in the car, the majority of Aussies will just open their window instead. But to be honest, when I’m in bed at night sweating my butt off in 110 degree weather the environment is the last thing on my mind. And that’s exactly how hot it gets inside. Karen, my host, said that last year it got up to 45 degree Celsius inside our house. This didn’t mean much to me when she said this number but I later converted the number and found that it is 113 degrees! Inside the house! 113 degrees! How do you not die? This is absolutely mind boggling to me and I have no idea how I will ever get through the heat of this summer. I’ve come to the conclusion that Aussies are either A.) Crazy or B.) Tough. My hosts told me, in an annoying nonchalant manner, that due to the heat there will just be nights that I won’t sleep because I can’t. Joy. In fact, the schools don’t even have air conditioner. It is a government rule in Australia that when it gets over 95 degrees inside the school they must let it out early for the health of the kids. I’m thinking snow days would be much more preferable.
During the summer at night many Aussies leave their windows and even doors open in hope of catching the tiniest amount of breeze to ease them into a semi sleep. As you can imagine, this brings up a new set of problems: robbers. It’s quite common in the summer months for robbers to come inside and take things. They aren’t being deterred in any sense because in Australia robbers can sue the house owner if the owner injures the robber in any way whatsoever. There have been many cases of this. My host has advised me to leave the house if a thief comes in because I could get in serious trouble if I injure him/her. I can’t even begin to describe how absolutely crazy this is. In Texas was have the castle Doctrine and robbers know they are risking their life when they unwelcomingly enter a home. I think I’ll take wearing gloves inside during winter or running from magpies in the spring anytime over some of the craziness that this summer will bring.
Answer this question- Hint: this is a place in Australia: Name the place where it’s extremely crowded with many people but you’re well advised to keep your head down, not look anybody in the eye and basically pretend that nobody around you exists. Small talk is not welcome and you might find trouble if you try to engage in it. If somebody bumps into you, you most likely won’t get an apology. This place has a high level of assaults and is known for common violence. People are more concerned with getting in, getting out and getting it over with. Where is this?
A.) Australia Prison
B.) Australian Train system
C.) Church
Well if you guessed church then you are wrong! It’s the Australian train system. I found it hard to deal with the first few times I had to use it. During rush hour it is so saturated with people that some literally can’t get on. Forget a seat. Getting on is an achievement. That is if you view success as being neck and neck with sweaty smelly people whose names you don’t even know. It was so weird to me at first how everyone associated with everyone else. Imagine a group of complete strangers elbow to elbow in such a small space for an extended period of time. How does one act? Well apparently the answer is to pretend that the person next to you doesn’t exist and keep to yourself. When I’m on the trains during rush hour I almost want to say “oh hello there! Now somebody forgot to brush their teeth this morning didn’t they? Well since you’re way past my space bubble I thought I’d let you know these things. In fact, you’re closer to me than anybody has gotten in a long while. Sir do you mind not singing out loud to your Liza Minelli song on your Ipod?.” It’s a bit scary too because there’s many incidents on the news where somebody got mugged, hit, slapped, harassed, etc on the train system. I must admit I’m quite proud of myself for a adjusting to this system. Being extremely close to all these people is an accomplishment for a small town girl like me. When in Rome….
I actually experienced a semi scary time on the train a few days ago. I have to take the train to college. I go to college from 9am until 10:30 pm on Tuesdays. It’s a long day and I’m exhausted by the time I get on the train to go home. I put on my ipod and tune out. Yet I begin to notice something that is rare on the train. Somebody talking to somebody else (I’m over exaggerating a bit). It didn’t take me long to realize a man trying to talk to anybody he could in an overly loud voice. There was something not quite right about him. He was being really loud and aggressively sought out people to talk to. People kept getting off at their stop and soon enough I was one of the only ones left on the train and the man had nobody else to talk to. Great. Soon after most the people left he turned to me and tried to get me to take off my headphones. Should I pretend to speak only Spanish? No que? Etas loco. No that wouldn’t work. I decided to do what I do best: I pretended I was in my own little world and was totally clueless (actually most the time I’m not pretending). It worked and he soon gave up. Great! Well except for the fact that he then started to rock back and forth and talk to himself in a very loud and angry voice. Since it was late at night and I still had to find a way home from the station in the dark by myself I was becoming worried. I ended up giving my hosts a call to come pick me up from the station. Even though they don’t seem to mind at all I hate putting them out too much. But I thought it was worth it this time.
Trees. Now you might be asking what can be so weird about a tree. Well it’s not so much the tree that’s strange but rather, it’s the arms that go around them. Better said, it’s the people that hug them that can be a bit on the bizarre side. And Australia seems to have a huge amount of so called ”tree huggers”. In Australia you can not cut down a tree. Simple as that. It doesn’t matter if that tree is on your land. You still can’t cut it down. It doesn’t matter if the tree in your yard is getting old and the loose branches are becoming a danger to your family. You can’t cut it down. In fact, there is a $20,000 reward for catching somebody who is cutting down a tree. Not to mention that there was only about a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of somebody who almost assaulted somebody to death. These people are serious about their trees. To be completely fair, there are ways that you can get a dangerous tree removed from your yard. You have to send in a request to the council and they have to decide if it is ok to cut down.
More:
~ Most parents here tell their kids to walk to school. They don’t drive them. It’s a pretty good thing I think because I rarely see any overweight kids. The kids don’t complain and the system seems to work out well. At 9:00 every morning there is a huge rush hour a kids walking by my house on there way to school.
~ People don’t eat out half as much as we do in America. Dinner at home with the family sitting around the table is commonplace. It’s no surprise because eating out is extremely expensive here. I was riding my bike the other day and came across a sign that said lunch special: $15. Ha!
~ People are crazy about their pets here. But rules for the pet owner are very strict. For one, you can’t walk your dog without carrying a “poop bag”. If you are caught without your bag then you are heavily fined. But who do they send to regulate this? The poop police? I just can’t imagine having that job. “Ma’m I just need to check if you have a certified poop bag. No this will just not do. I’m sorry.” In some areas they have a cat curfew. This means that your cat is required to be inside at a certain time in order to reduce newborn complaints about cats.
~ According to my observations there seems to be very few obese Australians. My theory is that A.) It’s too dang hot to eat B.) The temperature in the houses are more uncomfortable than the outside (either really hot or cold). Therefore many Aussies choose to be outside doing stuff than inside watching t.v and eating. That’s just my theory.
Months to go: 8
Total Magpie attacks: 11
Total Jokes I didn't Get: 5
I have decided to devote this blog to some of the seemingy crazy things I’ve discovered about Australia. Things that will probably seem bizarre to an American but completely normal to an Australian. However, my disclaimer before delving into some of these absurdities is the fact that I think Australia is great and am in no way trying to “bag” (as Aussies say) Australian culture. I’m merly pointing out the differences and lightly poking fun of some of their craziness. I would expect nothing less of them to do the same to me. They’re doing a pretty good job at it.
First up is summer in Australia: I’m a little concerned about the upcoming summer here in Australia. Actually the word little is an understatement. Let me explain: In Texas, I’d say 90% of people have an air conditioner of some sort. In Australia only about 40% of people have air conditioner. Unfortunately, the house I live in isn’t in that lucky percent. This doesn’t mean Australia is any cooler in the summer than Texas. In fact, believe it or not, Australia is hotter. Melbourne got up to 117 last summer. And I can not figure out why, for the life of me, Australians don’t just go out and buy an air conditioner. Yet, they are quite environment friendly and many believe that an air conditioner would have a negative effect on the environment. I’ve noticed that instead of running the air conditioner in the car, the majority of Aussies will just open their window instead. But to be honest, when I’m in bed at night sweating my butt off in 110 degree weather the environment is the last thing on my mind. And that’s exactly how hot it gets inside. Karen, my host, said that last year it got up to 45 degree Celsius inside our house. This didn’t mean much to me when she said this number but I later converted the number and found that it is 113 degrees! Inside the house! 113 degrees! How do you not die? This is absolutely mind boggling to me and I have no idea how I will ever get through the heat of this summer. I’ve come to the conclusion that Aussies are either A.) Crazy or B.) Tough. My hosts told me, in an annoying nonchalant manner, that due to the heat there will just be nights that I won’t sleep because I can’t. Joy. In fact, the schools don’t even have air conditioner. It is a government rule in Australia that when it gets over 95 degrees inside the school they must let it out early for the health of the kids. I’m thinking snow days would be much more preferable.
During the summer at night many Aussies leave their windows and even doors open in hope of catching the tiniest amount of breeze to ease them into a semi sleep. As you can imagine, this brings up a new set of problems: robbers. It’s quite common in the summer months for robbers to come inside and take things. They aren’t being deterred in any sense because in Australia robbers can sue the house owner if the owner injures the robber in any way whatsoever. There have been many cases of this. My host has advised me to leave the house if a thief comes in because I could get in serious trouble if I injure him/her. I can’t even begin to describe how absolutely crazy this is. In Texas was have the castle Doctrine and robbers know they are risking their life when they unwelcomingly enter a home. I think I’ll take wearing gloves inside during winter or running from magpies in the spring anytime over some of the craziness that this summer will bring.
Answer this question- Hint: this is a place in Australia: Name the place where it’s extremely crowded with many people but you’re well advised to keep your head down, not look anybody in the eye and basically pretend that nobody around you exists. Small talk is not welcome and you might find trouble if you try to engage in it. If somebody bumps into you, you most likely won’t get an apology. This place has a high level of assaults and is known for common violence. People are more concerned with getting in, getting out and getting it over with. Where is this?
A.) Australia Prison
B.) Australian Train system
C.) Church
Well if you guessed church then you are wrong! It’s the Australian train system. I found it hard to deal with the first few times I had to use it. During rush hour it is so saturated with people that some literally can’t get on. Forget a seat. Getting on is an achievement. That is if you view success as being neck and neck with sweaty smelly people whose names you don’t even know. It was so weird to me at first how everyone associated with everyone else. Imagine a group of complete strangers elbow to elbow in such a small space for an extended period of time. How does one act? Well apparently the answer is to pretend that the person next to you doesn’t exist and keep to yourself. When I’m on the trains during rush hour I almost want to say “oh hello there! Now somebody forgot to brush their teeth this morning didn’t they? Well since you’re way past my space bubble I thought I’d let you know these things. In fact, you’re closer to me than anybody has gotten in a long while. Sir do you mind not singing out loud to your Liza Minelli song on your Ipod?.” It’s a bit scary too because there’s many incidents on the news where somebody got mugged, hit, slapped, harassed, etc on the train system. I must admit I’m quite proud of myself for a adjusting to this system. Being extremely close to all these people is an accomplishment for a small town girl like me. When in Rome….
I actually experienced a semi scary time on the train a few days ago. I have to take the train to college. I go to college from 9am until 10:30 pm on Tuesdays. It’s a long day and I’m exhausted by the time I get on the train to go home. I put on my ipod and tune out. Yet I begin to notice something that is rare on the train. Somebody talking to somebody else (I’m over exaggerating a bit). It didn’t take me long to realize a man trying to talk to anybody he could in an overly loud voice. There was something not quite right about him. He was being really loud and aggressively sought out people to talk to. People kept getting off at their stop and soon enough I was one of the only ones left on the train and the man had nobody else to talk to. Great. Soon after most the people left he turned to me and tried to get me to take off my headphones. Should I pretend to speak only Spanish? No que? Etas loco. No that wouldn’t work. I decided to do what I do best: I pretended I was in my own little world and was totally clueless (actually most the time I’m not pretending). It worked and he soon gave up. Great! Well except for the fact that he then started to rock back and forth and talk to himself in a very loud and angry voice. Since it was late at night and I still had to find a way home from the station in the dark by myself I was becoming worried. I ended up giving my hosts a call to come pick me up from the station. Even though they don’t seem to mind at all I hate putting them out too much. But I thought it was worth it this time.
Trees. Now you might be asking what can be so weird about a tree. Well it’s not so much the tree that’s strange but rather, it’s the arms that go around them. Better said, it’s the people that hug them that can be a bit on the bizarre side. And Australia seems to have a huge amount of so called ”tree huggers”. In Australia you can not cut down a tree. Simple as that. It doesn’t matter if that tree is on your land. You still can’t cut it down. It doesn’t matter if the tree in your yard is getting old and the loose branches are becoming a danger to your family. You can’t cut it down. In fact, there is a $20,000 reward for catching somebody who is cutting down a tree. Not to mention that there was only about a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of somebody who almost assaulted somebody to death. These people are serious about their trees. To be completely fair, there are ways that you can get a dangerous tree removed from your yard. You have to send in a request to the council and they have to decide if it is ok to cut down.
More:
~ Most parents here tell their kids to walk to school. They don’t drive them. It’s a pretty good thing I think because I rarely see any overweight kids. The kids don’t complain and the system seems to work out well. At 9:00 every morning there is a huge rush hour a kids walking by my house on there way to school.
~ People don’t eat out half as much as we do in America. Dinner at home with the family sitting around the table is commonplace. It’s no surprise because eating out is extremely expensive here. I was riding my bike the other day and came across a sign that said lunch special: $15. Ha!
~ People are crazy about their pets here. But rules for the pet owner are very strict. For one, you can’t walk your dog without carrying a “poop bag”. If you are caught without your bag then you are heavily fined. But who do they send to regulate this? The poop police? I just can’t imagine having that job. “Ma’m I just need to check if you have a certified poop bag. No this will just not do. I’m sorry.” In some areas they have a cat curfew. This means that your cat is required to be inside at a certain time in order to reduce newborn complaints about cats.
~ According to my observations there seems to be very few obese Australians. My theory is that A.) It’s too dang hot to eat B.) The temperature in the houses are more uncomfortable than the outside (either really hot or cold). Therefore many Aussies choose to be outside doing stuff than inside watching t.v and eating. That’s just my theory.
Friday, October 16, 2009
I can't think of anything to put here
So great news! Mamma’s coming in on the 8th of November and staying until the 24 of November. I’m really looking forward to it. Knowing her though she’ll bring her own helmet and a tennis racquet so she can be protected against magpies. Other great news! Stephens’s coming on the 25 of December. Yes I know that this is on Christmas day and almost all transport from the airport is shut down that day. But he’s the one who booked the tickets. I might just bike the 100 kilometers to the airport if I have to so he won’t be stuck at the airport alone all day on Christmas. Who can say they spent Christmas day biking to the airport on the free way, dodging cars just to reach an airport where they’ll willingly spend the whole night there singing along to the off pitch Christmas carols that come on over the speaker and drinking cheap machine made stale coffee ? But I’ve always said it isn’t the place but the company that’s important and in that case it will be the coolest Christmas ever. More great news! I get to come visit America on March 24 through April 14! Yes this has been a time of intense airline bookings but has ended in success.
Now the bad news. I actually removed this in my previous blog because I wanted to make sure it was completely out in the open before I reported it. So some of you might have gotten it before I removed it but for those who have not: my pastor, Pastor John will not continue with being the pastor at Beaumaris Baptist. He is a very kind man and will be missed. I’ve enjoyed his friendship during my time here and wish him the best. On April 2010 he will leave Beaumaris Baptist to follow wherever he’s called.
When reviewing this week I can’t think of anything else out of the ordinary that I can write about. This week was busy (won’t bore you with the details) but went about in typical fashion. My highlight was getting a free salmon sandwich from work, singing hymns with a few blind elderly people at the nursing home and telling a hopefully inspirational devotional to the basketball team that took a while to plan. The devotional started with the Joke: what did the fish say when he ran into a huge concrete wall? Dam! But I tied it into the fact that you can’t control what happens to you sometimes but you can control how you react. Then I told the story of Joseph in the bible and then had to relive some of my athletically lacking days by telling them the story of how I kept shooting the basketball in the other team’s goal. But at least I don’t call the referee the umpire like a lot of people here do!
Work has been going well. Except that my boss continues to get frustrated with me because I have so much trouble understanding him. He speaks very fast in an Asian accent and very low. He then walks away. I’m always left standing there with my dish towel trying to figure out what he wanted me to do. Was it sweep the floor? Shut the door? Close down the store? Stand on my head and sing? Well it wasn’t the last one because he looked at me funny when I did that. JK. Other than a few minor communication difficulties work has been going well.
It’s been rainy and cold here as usual in Melbourne. I’m wondering when it will begin to get warmer. A month has gone by and it seems like it hasn’t gotten any warmer. I’m beginning to wonder where they got the term “sunny Australia” and I hope that it will be warmer by the time my mom comes. The good thing about spring here is that most trees don’t lose their leaves and therefore don’t have to grow them back. So no pollen and no allergies! The big thing to do here in the spring is go to the Melbourne cup. It will be coming up soon very soon I think. It’s a series of horse races that are apparently so important that all of Australia shuts down for a day to see them. It’s a national holiday!
Now the bad news. I actually removed this in my previous blog because I wanted to make sure it was completely out in the open before I reported it. So some of you might have gotten it before I removed it but for those who have not: my pastor, Pastor John will not continue with being the pastor at Beaumaris Baptist. He is a very kind man and will be missed. I’ve enjoyed his friendship during my time here and wish him the best. On April 2010 he will leave Beaumaris Baptist to follow wherever he’s called.
When reviewing this week I can’t think of anything else out of the ordinary that I can write about. This week was busy (won’t bore you with the details) but went about in typical fashion. My highlight was getting a free salmon sandwich from work, singing hymns with a few blind elderly people at the nursing home and telling a hopefully inspirational devotional to the basketball team that took a while to plan. The devotional started with the Joke: what did the fish say when he ran into a huge concrete wall? Dam! But I tied it into the fact that you can’t control what happens to you sometimes but you can control how you react. Then I told the story of Joseph in the bible and then had to relive some of my athletically lacking days by telling them the story of how I kept shooting the basketball in the other team’s goal. But at least I don’t call the referee the umpire like a lot of people here do!
Work has been going well. Except that my boss continues to get frustrated with me because I have so much trouble understanding him. He speaks very fast in an Asian accent and very low. He then walks away. I’m always left standing there with my dish towel trying to figure out what he wanted me to do. Was it sweep the floor? Shut the door? Close down the store? Stand on my head and sing? Well it wasn’t the last one because he looked at me funny when I did that. JK. Other than a few minor communication difficulties work has been going well.
It’s been rainy and cold here as usual in Melbourne. I’m wondering when it will begin to get warmer. A month has gone by and it seems like it hasn’t gotten any warmer. I’m beginning to wonder where they got the term “sunny Australia” and I hope that it will be warmer by the time my mom comes. The good thing about spring here is that most trees don’t lose their leaves and therefore don’t have to grow them back. So no pollen and no allergies! The big thing to do here in the spring is go to the Melbourne cup. It will be coming up soon very soon I think. It’s a series of horse races that are apparently so important that all of Australia shuts down for a day to see them. It’s a national holiday!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
At least the Candle doesn’t have 3 ends
So this is bad. Really bad. I haven’t kept up with my blog for a while and in the words of Larry the Cable guy I apologize. I went through a mini homesick stage and then got incredibly busy. So I’ll try to recap everything that has happened. So here goes……
Two New Zealanders, an American and an Australian go on vacation. You might be waiting for the punch line but there is none. This is actually what we did. During school holidays all youth programs take a break. My college was also out for holidays so I had a good opportunity to go with my hosts, Barry and Karen who are New Zealanders, and my friend Kat, who is Australian as well as half Asian, around the countryside of Australia for a week. The mix of nationalities and backgrounds were amazing :) (Interesting fact: Kat, whose whole name is Katrina was born on September the 11th . Katrina. Sep. 11. Yes I give her a hard time.) We stayed in Tacoma, NSW for a few days and drove to Euchuca, Ballerete and finally back home to Beaumaris. Throughout the vacation I have found that there are a few essential rules one must know before partaking on an Australian adventure. I did not know these so I am bestowing my newfound wisdom on you just in case you ever find yourself in the incredibly exotic place know as Australia.
Rule number 1: Do not leave a perfectly dry and warm house to go camp out in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. You will just return to that house 3 hours later soaking wet, injured and in a bad mood.
Rule Number 2: Waterproof tents are never waterproof
Rule Number 3: Never try to chase an Alpaca who is foaming at the mouth.
Rule Number 4: If one plans to go on a week long camping trip there is a 97.3% chance that a cold front will come in the form of heavy, never ending rain.
Rule Number 5: Wear sunscreen in Australia. It rained more than not on the trip but I somehow managed to get a tan. Think how that will be in the summer when it never rains and the sun always shines.
Rule Number 6: Kangaroos are not scared of cars! Drive slow.
Rule Number 8: When milking a cow do not stand directly behind it or it will pee on you.
Rule Number 7: Wear a helmet when you ride bikes. This isn’t so much to protect your head if you fall off your bike but to protect your head WHEN magpies attack you.
There is a story worth telling based on Rule number 7. One day during the vacation Katrina and I decided to ride bikes around the area. Five seconds after we left we were attacked by the most viscous magpie I have ever encountered. Do birds get rabies? Actually I’m not too sure if even rabies could explain this bird’s behavior. It first ran smack into my helmet with its beak and continued to chase me down the road. If someone was looking out their window at that time they would have seen a girl screaming bloody murder riding down the road and a rather large bird in hot pursuit. I tried to cover my eyes with my hand because I was told they go for your eyes. I continued to scream for my friend who was riding beside me as if I expected her to heroically dive off her bike and tackle the bird. Fortunately, it soon left me and went for her. One minute later we’re almost on the ground because we’re laughing so hard. I now understand why it’s illegal in Australia to not wear a bike helmet. Since being in Australia I’ve had to endure 9 or 10 magpie attacks. According to the locals these numbers are unusually high for one person. Go figure.
The other day I saw a dead magpie on the side of the road and I must admit that I was not moved to tears.
Other than being attacked by magpies I was able to partake in an assortment of good ol’ Australian fun. We visited an Alpaca farm, went wine tasting, milked cows on a friend’s farm, set up tents (but never actually camped out!), went in a gold mine, attempted to pan for gold, spotlighted for Kangaroos, went on a boat ride down the famous Marry river, went to heaps of random museums, played random Australian card games, visited a strawberry farm and paid $6 for a milkshake there. Part of the time during our journey we stayed at the house of Karen’s cousin where I joyfully cooked good ol’ Texas chili and told them they were eating ethnic food. Of course they liked it.
In other news I managed to get a job. Yes I know I’m already busy but here in a few weeks college will be out for a total of almost four months. I decided that I’ll replace the day that I usually go to college with a job. It will be only one day per week and since it will replace college day I shouldn’t be any busier than I already am. The only problem is that I actually got the job three weeks too soon and now for 3 weeks I’ll have a job and college. So if you have wondered why I haven’t posted in a while here’s your answer. I work at a restaurant and coffee shop called Geleontos in the mall by my house. It is the toughtest job I’ve ever had because for 7 straight hours I don’t sit, eat, drink and I get limited time to breath. All day long I serve coffee, make food, work the cash register, bus tables and take orders. Actually to be more accurate I spill coffee, mess up the food, make the cash register go crazy, knock over tables and mess up orders. Of course I’m exaggerating but find that if you can’t exaggerate and learn to laugh at yourself then life gets hard. I actually do ok for someone who’s never had a restaurant job before. In the words of my boss I’m a “fast learner, a hard worker, and have a way with people”. Ha! Oh well I’ll take it. He must have not seen me spill that coffee or trip that customer. The customers are patient because they love my accent! “Oh I’m so sorry ma’m I just spilt coffee all over you. I’ll get that cleaned right up for y’all. No sir I don’t think we serve “servias” here. Oh. A servia is a napkin? Um… yeah I’ll get that napkin for y’all then.” I’m learning now more than ever the differences between Australian and American terminology and accents. I have the toughest time taking their orders in a loud crowded place because I can’t understand what they are saying and if I do I sometimes don’t know what in the world they are talking about. But I’m learning and I think this job will serve to make my Australian experience even richer. I’ve only got 9 more months here and I want to make the most of this experience. It’s funny because the day I came in for training the only people on staff we’re Asians that spoke in very hard to understand English. They were the ones that were supposed to train me. I forgot to mention that training day was on a Saturday during holiday which was one of the busiest days. So all day during training I had to learn 1 million different things but had the added difficulty of understanding what I was being told. But all the workers were so patient with me and I’m thankful that they showed me great kindness.
Other than going on vacation, being attacked by magpies and getting a job I’ve managed to stay busy with other activities and projects such as painting the youth house (bright red, orange, green, blue, yellow), managing the boys basketball team, writing the church newsletter turning in my college essays, starting a youth bike riding group, growing the young girls bible study I do, visiting the nursing home, going to classes, helping out with band practice, planning my “sermon” for the youth church service, building relationships with the youth, making friends, working to promote a new youth study group, and becoming incredibly addicted to caffeine. Of course I also find time to relax, run, keep in touch with God and talk with a few back home. Although there are many I miss that I am not able to talk to. I can’t believe I’ve already been here for over 3 months now. It’s sad to think that in 9 months I’ll have to leave this place. I’ve already gotten comfortable here but can’t imagine how much harder it will be in 9 more months when I have to say bye. As always thanks for reading my blog. I’ll try to post more frequently so I don’t feel like I have to cram in everything.
Two New Zealanders, an American and an Australian go on vacation. You might be waiting for the punch line but there is none. This is actually what we did. During school holidays all youth programs take a break. My college was also out for holidays so I had a good opportunity to go with my hosts, Barry and Karen who are New Zealanders, and my friend Kat, who is Australian as well as half Asian, around the countryside of Australia for a week. The mix of nationalities and backgrounds were amazing :) (Interesting fact: Kat, whose whole name is Katrina was born on September the 11th . Katrina. Sep. 11. Yes I give her a hard time.) We stayed in Tacoma, NSW for a few days and drove to Euchuca, Ballerete and finally back home to Beaumaris. Throughout the vacation I have found that there are a few essential rules one must know before partaking on an Australian adventure. I did not know these so I am bestowing my newfound wisdom on you just in case you ever find yourself in the incredibly exotic place know as Australia.
Rule number 1: Do not leave a perfectly dry and warm house to go camp out in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. You will just return to that house 3 hours later soaking wet, injured and in a bad mood.
Rule Number 2: Waterproof tents are never waterproof
Rule Number 3: Never try to chase an Alpaca who is foaming at the mouth.
Rule Number 4: If one plans to go on a week long camping trip there is a 97.3% chance that a cold front will come in the form of heavy, never ending rain.
Rule Number 5: Wear sunscreen in Australia. It rained more than not on the trip but I somehow managed to get a tan. Think how that will be in the summer when it never rains and the sun always shines.
Rule Number 6: Kangaroos are not scared of cars! Drive slow.
Rule Number 8: When milking a cow do not stand directly behind it or it will pee on you.
Rule Number 7: Wear a helmet when you ride bikes. This isn’t so much to protect your head if you fall off your bike but to protect your head WHEN magpies attack you.
There is a story worth telling based on Rule number 7. One day during the vacation Katrina and I decided to ride bikes around the area. Five seconds after we left we were attacked by the most viscous magpie I have ever encountered. Do birds get rabies? Actually I’m not too sure if even rabies could explain this bird’s behavior. It first ran smack into my helmet with its beak and continued to chase me down the road. If someone was looking out their window at that time they would have seen a girl screaming bloody murder riding down the road and a rather large bird in hot pursuit. I tried to cover my eyes with my hand because I was told they go for your eyes. I continued to scream for my friend who was riding beside me as if I expected her to heroically dive off her bike and tackle the bird. Fortunately, it soon left me and went for her. One minute later we’re almost on the ground because we’re laughing so hard. I now understand why it’s illegal in Australia to not wear a bike helmet. Since being in Australia I’ve had to endure 9 or 10 magpie attacks. According to the locals these numbers are unusually high for one person. Go figure.
The other day I saw a dead magpie on the side of the road and I must admit that I was not moved to tears.
Other than being attacked by magpies I was able to partake in an assortment of good ol’ Australian fun. We visited an Alpaca farm, went wine tasting, milked cows on a friend’s farm, set up tents (but never actually camped out!), went in a gold mine, attempted to pan for gold, spotlighted for Kangaroos, went on a boat ride down the famous Marry river, went to heaps of random museums, played random Australian card games, visited a strawberry farm and paid $6 for a milkshake there. Part of the time during our journey we stayed at the house of Karen’s cousin where I joyfully cooked good ol’ Texas chili and told them they were eating ethnic food. Of course they liked it.
In other news I managed to get a job. Yes I know I’m already busy but here in a few weeks college will be out for a total of almost four months. I decided that I’ll replace the day that I usually go to college with a job. It will be only one day per week and since it will replace college day I shouldn’t be any busier than I already am. The only problem is that I actually got the job three weeks too soon and now for 3 weeks I’ll have a job and college. So if you have wondered why I haven’t posted in a while here’s your answer. I work at a restaurant and coffee shop called Geleontos in the mall by my house. It is the toughtest job I’ve ever had because for 7 straight hours I don’t sit, eat, drink and I get limited time to breath. All day long I serve coffee, make food, work the cash register, bus tables and take orders. Actually to be more accurate I spill coffee, mess up the food, make the cash register go crazy, knock over tables and mess up orders. Of course I’m exaggerating but find that if you can’t exaggerate and learn to laugh at yourself then life gets hard. I actually do ok for someone who’s never had a restaurant job before. In the words of my boss I’m a “fast learner, a hard worker, and have a way with people”. Ha! Oh well I’ll take it. He must have not seen me spill that coffee or trip that customer. The customers are patient because they love my accent! “Oh I’m so sorry ma’m I just spilt coffee all over you. I’ll get that cleaned right up for y’all. No sir I don’t think we serve “servias” here. Oh. A servia is a napkin? Um… yeah I’ll get that napkin for y’all then.” I’m learning now more than ever the differences between Australian and American terminology and accents. I have the toughest time taking their orders in a loud crowded place because I can’t understand what they are saying and if I do I sometimes don’t know what in the world they are talking about. But I’m learning and I think this job will serve to make my Australian experience even richer. I’ve only got 9 more months here and I want to make the most of this experience. It’s funny because the day I came in for training the only people on staff we’re Asians that spoke in very hard to understand English. They were the ones that were supposed to train me. I forgot to mention that training day was on a Saturday during holiday which was one of the busiest days. So all day during training I had to learn 1 million different things but had the added difficulty of understanding what I was being told. But all the workers were so patient with me and I’m thankful that they showed me great kindness.
Other than going on vacation, being attacked by magpies and getting a job I’ve managed to stay busy with other activities and projects such as painting the youth house (bright red, orange, green, blue, yellow), managing the boys basketball team, writing the church newsletter turning in my college essays, starting a youth bike riding group, growing the young girls bible study I do, visiting the nursing home, going to classes, helping out with band practice, planning my “sermon” for the youth church service, building relationships with the youth, making friends, working to promote a new youth study group, and becoming incredibly addicted to caffeine. Of course I also find time to relax, run, keep in touch with God and talk with a few back home. Although there are many I miss that I am not able to talk to. I can’t believe I’ve already been here for over 3 months now. It’s sad to think that in 9 months I’ll have to leave this place. I’ve already gotten comfortable here but can’t imagine how much harder it will be in 9 more months when I have to say bye. As always thanks for reading my blog. I’ll try to post more frequently so I don’t feel like I have to cram in everything.
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