Aussie Adventures: 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!