Lost in the Bush...no really.

At the time it seemed like a simple and fun plan... A “no worries” overnighter at the beach complete with a bonfire and teaching the “Ozzies” how to make a delicious s’mores, right? Wrong. After piling into three cars, nine Americans and three local Australian students head off to the beach for a night of good fun and snags (sausages/hotdogs). I started to realize I had no idea what I was getting myself into about two hours into the car ride when it was getting dark and I had yet to see any signs of a beach. We pull off on the side of the freeway (literally) and there is nothing around us except for the road and the bush on both sides of us. I thought for sure we must be lost so I was just waiting in the car to find out what was going on until I realize that we’re getting out of the car apparently at our destination. We grab our bags and the groceries and start walking towards a sign that apparently at one point in time was where a trail to this mystery beach was. We all dive in ready for adventure thinking that the beach is about a fifteen minute walk on the other side of the bush.

Once again, wrong. We start walking and we quickly realize that not a single one of us is well equipped for this little journey we’re now on. It was pitch dark and there was one flashlight among us. The rest of us had to use our cell phones for some sort of light source. Flip flops were the most popular foot attire, a couple skirts, shorts, and mostly tank tops were worn. I luckily was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt so was for the most part protected during our impromptu hike. As we walked, or more accurately plowed, through the bush we definitely found no trail but plenty of spiders bigger than quarters and giant biting ants that you had to literally pull out of your skin. Pleasant visual image yet? Using the great tool of hindsight, I can see now that we probably should have realized that our plan had lots of holes in it and maybe we should make new plans for that night, but of course we didn’t. We were ready for an adventure and we definitely got one. After wandering through the bush for about two hours and after we were thoroughly creeped out, exhausted, and ripped to shreds by the trees and thorns the strategy turned into “Everyone be quiet and listen for waves!” Thankfully, the tactic eventually worked and we plowed in the direction that we heard the ocean. I’m pretty sure right before that moment I was praying “Dear God please let us find at least a clearing for the tent and don’t let a killer spider get me!!” But alas, we victoriously emerged on a beach and we all quite literally cheered then quickly collapsed after our two and a half hour hike through the Australian bush!

We quickly set up a little camp and in no time the guys had a bonfire going and we all busted out the food that survived our little evening stroll and chowed down on hamburgers, snags, chips, Tim Tams, and Pub Squash. As I said earlier, snags are just sausages that are comparable to our hot dogs back in the states and Pub Squash is similar to lemonade. Tim Tams, however, are my new Australian weakness. There are chocolate Tim Tams, vanilla Tim Tams, honeycomb Tim Tams, and most importantly caramel Tim Tams. Oh the deliciousness of caramel Tim Tams! They are a bit like a cookie sandwich. There are two wafer cookies, or as they call them, “bikkies” that are each dipped in chocolate with caramel in between them and then the whole thing is dipped in chocolate again. Words cannot describe how delicious caramel Tim Tams are. I’m pretty sure I ate almost a whole package of them by myself (but no Shayne and Dwayne I’m not going to gain thirty pounds here!)

A group of us went for a walk/jog/skip/cartwheel down the beach at about 2am and we discovered the best jellyfish ever! There were “heaps” (more Aussie lingo!) of jellyfish that washed up on shore but we didn’t realize they were there until we accidentally stepped on them and they glowed in the dark! Everyone compared them to Avatar and they were absolutely awesome looking in the dark. We were also within reach of the local light house’s beam which was really pretty. The night was beautiful and one of our Australian friends (Alex) pointed out the constellations to us, one of them being the Southern Cross, and we saw at least four shooting stars. At this point the crazy hike was already well worth it.

When we went back to our little camp some people crashed in the tent and then others of us huddled around the fire because for being in Australia I was surprised how chilly it was! I woke up right around dawn and when the sun came up I could barely remember that I had to hike two and a half hours to get here. Looking around we could see Birdie’s Island in front of us and a few freighters way out in the ocean and then the sun started peeking out from behind the clouds and it was absolutely gorgeous. I took so many pictures it was beyond stunning. We hung around the beach for a few hours some people playing rugby and just hanging out and talking and then headed out around noon. Thankfully, we found a path further down the beach because we noticed people down the beach. My favorite quote from the night might just have to be one of the guys in our group going up to a couple walking along the beach and asking, “Uh, excuse me but how did you get here?!” We were determined to not walk through the bush again!

The trip back to the cars was a lot easier and took a lot less time for which I was extremely grateful. It was quite an adventure that the scrapes and cuts all over my feet, face, and neck will attest too but the view the next morning was beyond worth it. I can now say from the safety of my bedroom that I am so glad I went because I had such a great time and definitely got to know some people a lot better after having to help each other get through the bush and snuggling for warmth around the fire. The Australians were not worried at all during the whole hike which is a tribute to their genuine “no worries” attitude that they approach life with. Was it crazy? Yes. Scary at times? Yes. Worth it? Completely.

Tall Poppy Syndrome and One Who's Made It

One of my assignments for my class "The View From Australia" was to write a blog and my catergory was music so here's my blog:

Most Americans assume that since Australia has great cities like Sydney and Melbourne that living in Australia must be the same as living in America. I have found that to be untrue in more ways than one including the music scene. On the weekends I have noticed that ninety-nine percent of the music played at pubs are Australian musicians playing American songs. I find that interesting because I assumed that Australia would have their own set of popular artists and hits. I say that this is different from America because they are American songs because of something I learned that is called the “tall poppy syndrome” which is an Australian slang term.
In Australia tall poppy syndrome is a term used to describe people who have distinguished themselves from the rest because of their talents or achievements. According to Urban Dictionary.com tall poppy syndrome is defined as, “Australian slang for the tendency to criticize highly successful people (ie, tall poppies), and 'cut them down'.” Here in Australia, people do not want to distinguish themselves from the rest because of the resentment that others feel towards them and the instinct for others to cut them back down to their level. Because of this, there is not an abundance of Australian musicians living here in Australia. I have found that most go to the UK or the US in order to become famous and make themselves known. Even musicians coming here to Australia have a harder time pleasing the crowd because audiences can generally be harsher in their judgment of a performance.

A recent example of this was Whitney Houston’s concert in Sydney which got ripped to shreds by Australian fans on television and in the newspapers. The Daily Telegraph also thinks this may have to do with the tall poppy syndrome. In an article on the concert journalist Jamie Campbell says that it was a mixture of wanting to tear someone down who has had huge global success (tall poppy syndrome) and that reviewers deciding that because of her widely known drug problem that she would not be up to it. This is just one example of how Australians can be critical and hard to please but there are of course musicians who become big in this country. For example, AC/DC got their start in Melbourne Australia when the Young Brothers migrated from Australia from Scotland.

Another musician who is one of the most famous singer-song writers of Australia and is less known to Americans is a man named Paul Kelly. Rolling Stones magazine said in a review of his CD “Under the Sun” that “Nobody who writes as many topdrawer songs as Paul Kelly does should be as unknown as he is” and gave the CD four out of five stars. Paul Kelly didn’t always start out big of course. Born in Adelaide, South Australia Paul Kelly traveled to Melbourne where he settled in 1976 and began playing gigs in pubs becoming involved in the pub rock and drug culture. Paul Kelly was part of music groups including Paul Kelly and the Dots and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls (which later got changed to the Messengers). From 1992 on Paul Kelly did mostly solo work with collaborations with other musicians. He has even currently worked as a composer for film and television scores. Paul Kelly has also done a lot of song writing for other musicians including Marilyn Manson. He was quoted in 2008 saying, “Quite often, I'm trying to write a certain kind of song and it's more ambitious than what my voice will get to. That's how I started writing songs with other people in mind.”

Paul Kelly has been writing songs for the Australian people for thirty years. His songs are a mixture of rock, folk, bluegrass, and country and he is a talented musician who sings, plays guitar, and the harmonica. He has captured the hearts of the Australian people with his lyrics about his countries landscape and culture and his life has been told throughout his songs. Paul Kelly has been nominated for fifty one awards and has taken home twenty four of them. The most recent win was in 2009 for Vocal Collaboration of the Year at the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) Awards for the nominated work “Still Here”.

While there is definitely an underlying sense of the tall poppy syndrome pulling Australian musicians down, there are still musicians who make it. AC/DC is an example of a band that went internationally pulling fans from all over the world while Paul Kelly is an example of a musician who charmed the hearts of his own people and beat the tall poppy syndrome.

Lovin' Life here in Aussie :)

So far Australia has met and exceeded all my hopeful expectations. The people and the land itself are both incredibly open and lovely. I am so blessed to be here! Every day is an adventure and so much is packed into twenty-four hours. The general experience so far has been jump on board or get left behind! I am trying to take enough pictures to remember my experience, but not view everything behind the lens of my camera. I’ve learned that the majority of Australians are so helpful and friendly and even being on public transportation systems or walking home late at night is not in the least bit scary!

Last week was my first full week of classes and I must say my schedule is pretty fantastic. On Mondays I have no classes but I usually go to the school to use the internet and try to talk to people from back home. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I only have one class each but on Wednesdays I have class from about 1030am to 7pm. It’s a very long day but it’s the day that all my worship and theology classes are so I don't want to change it. My first day of my Christian ensemble we lead worship at the Gathering and I learned that my teacher is Darlene Zscech’s music program director of Hillsong or something along those lines and he tours with her so he is definitely the real deal! He oversees my ensemble and he also teaches my Music in Leading Worship class and he is very chill but really knows what he is talking about. I think I am going to really like the class. I’m also taking a New Testament class, a Visual Communication in Culture class, and two classes about Australia’s history and it’s indigenous peoples with the rest of the ASC students.

Saturday was my first real day of my service placement at Hillsong Street Teams. I was put on a the “Towers Team” which is a team that goes to a local apartment complex in Red Fern and literally goes door to door seeing if we can assist the residents in any way. It is definitely a rougher apartment complex and my team found needles in the stairwell. I quickly learned that there are two starkly contrasting reactions to seeing our smiling faces and green Street Teams shirts. The first is the ever so appreciated smile and genuine happiness to see us. The other reaction is not nearly so inviting. There is one resident in particular who gets infuriated if we even knock on his door. The cool thing is that even if they don't want our help people take one look at our green Hillsong shirts and there is total respect. At one apartment lives two older gentlemen who had been looking forward to our visit all week so that we could help them clean their bathroom (or toilets as all restrooms are called here) and help them vacuum the living room. They are residents whom my Hillsong team knows quite well and they are always excited to see the team every Saturday morning. Another resident we got to visit that morning was an elderly Russian lady named Helena who lives with her husband Boris. In contrast to some of the other apartments we visited hers was neat and tidy and it was clear that she took pride in her home. We passed her apartment to visit another resident and I saw her get out of her chair and watch us go by and on our way back to see her she was waiting at the door hoping we would say hello to her. She invited us in and we sat down on her couch and talked to her the best we could in spite of the language barrier. She knew most English words and as long as we kept terms simple we could have a lovely conversation. I could tell she enjoyed having visitors and offered us cookies (bikkies) and tea. I really want to go see her again this upcoming weekend because something about her struck a chord in me. I just felt like she was someone I was supposed to be praying for this week so every night I shoot up a prayer for Helena. She was having some problem with her leg and her calf and ankle were swollen dreadfully. My group leader told me that many of the Russians living in Australia were quite rich in their home country being doctors or lawyers but here in Australia their qualifications don’t mean anything and they live in poverty. I felt so blessed talking to the people in the Towers and being able to serve them. Since it was my first day I followed the lead of my leader in conversations and just tried to soak in as much details about the residents as I could so when we go back on Saturday I can greet them by name and ask questions so that they know they’re not just a face to me.

This weekend I got to experience my first Australian Mardi Gras here in Sydney which was absolutely crazy!! The streets were so packed with people you could barely walk anywhere. It was a gay and lesbian Mardi Gras so the crowd was quite diverse to say the least! I went with three other people to the parade after spending the day at Coogee beach (absolutely GORGEOUS with rocks to climb and a lagoon area which blocks all the waves). It was quite an adventure just to get to the parade itself and once we made it there it was so crowded it was pretty hard to see. We did get to see several floats as we walked through though and they were quite interesting! It appears that everyone showed up to party in Sydney that night!

Sydney is so much fun to roam around in because there is ALWAYS something t o do. There are fun bands and street musicians and delicious food everywhere. I’ve been to two amazing beaches, Manly and Coogee, and I’ll hopefully get to go several more times this semester! A couple of us girls even managed to find a store on George St. (imagine Michigan Ave in Chicago) that we can afford to shop in!! My list of things I want to do before I leave is quickly growing. I have only been here about two weeks but I already feel like I’ve lived here forever and if I feel the same one in four months leaving is going to be so hard! My ASC class on Friday is usually trips into the city which is nice because we learn firsthand about Australia instead of sitting and reading a book about it. Last Friday we went into the Rocks which is a historical district of Sydney and got to see a lot of buildings and areas that date back to when the Convicts were transported here from England and Ireland. Australia’s history interests me so much. I read a historical fiction book about an Australian convict when I was about thirteen and since then the history and Australia has interested me so I am soaking everything up like a human sponge!

I miss everyone bunches but am enjoying every minute of my experience!!!
Xoxoxoxo!!!

Caitlin

p.s. No I haven’t seen any kangaroos yet ;)