a day at mt. tamborine

Yesterday, Emma, Vivian, Dale and I drove up to Mt. Tamborine. It is, as the name suggests, a mountain (albeit a small one) and it has great views of the coast and beyond. It's only about a half hour drive from the coast and there's a small town with shops, vineyards and such. I took a few pictures that I thought I would share with you. As we were about to go take pictures of the coast side, it began raining so I don't have views of that side. However, as soon as we drove to the other side, the rain stopped and I got some good pictures of the countryside. Not much else has gone on here but it is New Year's Eve and I don't know what I'm doing for it but will do my best to take pictures to share. I did manage to finish my last module for the online courses so, yeah me! And without further ado, the pictures: (warning, there are a few...)

the first of many view shots

note the rain just past us

as we were standing there, it began to clear

Emma and Vivian on top of the world

the grass glistened in the sunlight, wet from the rain

the glistening grass and the town below

this one speaks for itself...

stunning

just thought someone might ask about the elevation

After we took some pictures, we went to see a train tunnel that had been built in WWII but was only used for a few years before they shut it down. It was dug through the side of the mountain. Here's what it looks like:

a ghost gum - my new favorite tree

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Christmas in Summer:

Well, I did it. I made it through Christmas away from all of my family and the people I love most. While I definitely missed everyone and would have loved to be there to experience it first hand, I did have a good few days here. I guess the Christmas celebrating began on Tuesday night when we had our house Christmas party. Sue and Dale invited a few friends and we had a barbecue and played games. Emma and Vivian had to work until 9pm but we waited for them to have dessert and games. We played Pictionary and had a blast. Then Emma taught us how to play a game called 7 Level Pig and we played a round of that too. After a few hours of games, (literally, it was past midnight) we exchanged gifts. Emma got everyone little Pez-like candy dispensers that look like Wii remotes. Sue gave me a pretty journal and Dale gave everyone Mr Men/Little Miss stuffed toys - mine is Mr Strong. I just gave a house gift for everyone to enjoy...a Mario/Sonic Summer Olympics Wii game. Needless to say, we had to try it out before going to bed. I think it was about 2:30 before we called it quits and went to bed.
Christmas Eve Eve: I had planned to go home with Sue to her mom's house and spend Christmas with her family. However, on Christmas Eve Eve, I began to feel that I would be better off staying here so that I could get some school work done (or at least have the ability to get work done). I also just started thinking that it may be easier to not be with a family on Christmas - that way I wouldn't have a reminder of what I was missing back home. So, I decided to stay here. Emma, Vivian and Dale were all going to be here too so I wasn't going to be alone or anything. Also I had a frusterating day dealing with cell phone companies and was just getting to the stressed point where you feel like you can't have fun. I felt that going away for a few days might just add to that stress and I didn't want that. Sue ended up not leaving that day because she was planning to leave after work but ended up staying later than planned.
Christmas Eve: Anyways, so Christmas Eve I did manage to get a few hours of studying in and get some work out of the way. Then I ran some errands with Dale and went to the store for food since I hadn't been planning to be here for the next few days and was precariously close to having nothing to eat as the stores would be closed Christmas Day. While we were in the grocery store, Dale saw hard taco shells and asked me if I knew how to make tacos. So we decided to buy stuff for tacos/burritos and have that for dinner. I was, sadly, very excited about the prospect of Mexican food and got everything needed to make it work. I also decided to make a Christmas quiche because it is my favorite part about Christmas brunch with the Gaws - Jay's quiche. I had some trouble finding pie shells and ended up with two small, shallow flan pastry shells. I figured they would work fine. So after shopping, we just went back to the house to deposit the groceries and watched some Arrested Development. Around 6ish, Dale asked me if I had been out to the Spit yet. I said that I hadn't and so we drove out there. The Spit juts out into the ocean and you can see the city scape of all of the Gold Coast. (sorry no pictures of it now but I will take some and post them later) There were people out fishing and we just walked around for a bit. When it was dark we went back to the house and had a dinner of cheese, crackers, sliced ham and turkey, grapes and wine while watching Elf. It was a completely different Christmas Eve than I have ever had but that was nothing compared to how different Christmas was.

On to Christmas Day: I tried to sleep in but my brain woke me up at about 7:30 and wouldn't let me go back to sleep. This was disappointing as I had not gone to bed until 2am. I went ahead and got up and made the quiches because I figured, why not just do it now since I'm up. While they were baking, I read my Jesus Calling for the day. I spent some time reading the Bible and had some time to myself. The quiche was soon ready and I had no idea if it would taste good or not - I hadn't so much followed a recipe as I had just made up quantities and thrown stuff together. It actually did taste pretty good. I took a picture to share with you all:  

my attempt at Christmas quiche

I spent the morning eating quiche and playing Wii. At some point in the mid morning, I talked to mom, dad, Christopher, Nina & Jared on skype for a while. I was sitting in the living room while I talked to them so they were able to meet Dale and see Emma and Vivian in the background. Emma & Vivian were preparing for their friends to come over for games and a Chinese Hot Pot (I'll explain that later) and were chopping and prepping food so they didn't meet the fam. Their friends came over around 1:00pm and we played boys vs girls Pictionary because there were equal numbers. It was interesting playing with them because several times we had to explain what words meant and you never realize how hard it is to explain the concept of a word until you have to tell someone what it means and how they could draw it. It was also interesting because it is, obviously, the Australian version of the game so I hadn't heard of a lot of the places and sometimes, I would be saying what it is in American English and didn't know what it was in Australian English. One that I remember was when Emma was drawing a kiddie pool and I kept trying to guess different ways of saying "kiddie pool" and the answer was "paddle (or maybe paddling) pool" because that is what they call them here. Yeah, never would have guess that one. It was really fun though and the game lasted for about 2 hours. We played another game called Warlords and Scumbags and then played Mafia (or Killer, as Emma & Vivian call it) for a bit and then we were all getting hungry. They set all of the food up on the table outside and we sat down for my first Chinese Hot Pot. They had two pots of stock boiling on burners with herbs and spices and some veggies - one was not spicy and the other was. They had a large array of foods - prawns, beef, noodles, pork balls, corn, cabbage...etc. Then you put whatever you want to eat in the pot to cook it. They had an appetizer of sashimi (raw) salmon - which I ate, by the way. It always takes me a few minutes of using chopsticks to remember how to use them but I think I held my own. I also took some pictures of the hot pot dinner so you could see what I am talking about:

the Hot Pot spread

Dale, Emma and Vivian just before we began eating

Matt and Charlotte

Fiona and Jeff

playing cards

After dinner we played a few more games and then everyone went to play the Wii. I was getting tired as my previous two nights of staying up til 2am were catching up to me and I was going to be getting up again at 2am to skype in for Christmas morning at home so I went to bed around 9:00.

Christmas morning at home/Boxing Day here: I got about 4 hours of sleep before waking up at 2 for family Christmas at home. I was able to skype in and see what everyone got and I opened my box that mom and dad had sent and my box from Catherine. I hadn't mailed anyone's gifts that I bought but I showed them what they were getting. I stayed on skype until about 5am and was able to see/hear everything so it was like I was really there - except for the fact that I couldn't move myself. I was stayed on until I saw all of the Gaws too so that was really nice to see everyone. I went back to sleep for another 3 hours (after having a piece of leftover quiche for an early breakfast). I woke up and was hungry again and had second breakfast while I talked to Boothe, Paula, Nina, Mom, Selly & Emerette over at the Blantons while the guys were at the Titans game. It really made me so much less homesick to be able to see and speak with everyone I would usually see on Christmas. Whoever invented skype might be my new favorite person. After talking to everybody, Dale and I decided to get out of the house for a bit and we went down to the outlet shopping center, Harbour Town, with apparently every other person on the Gold Coast. It was a mad house. While we were out Dale bought an Aussie movie called The Castle so we watched that in the afternoon. I made beef tacos along with Lori's salsa & guacamole for dinner. Some friends of Dale's stopped by and they had dessert with us. Dale had some bananas that needed to be used and had asked me if I knew how to make banana bread. I said that I did but neither of us had flour to make it with. I thought about other banana things and came up with Bananas Foster. So, after I explained what it was, we went out to by the rum and brown sugar to make it. I made my first ever Bananas Foster last night and, thankfully, didn't burn the place down when lighting it on fire. It was really good and everybody liked it so I was pleased. All in all, a good Christmas and Boxing Day. It really made it so much easier that I was in a place that is nothing like home and that it's summer and to be around people who aren't with their families either. Now I just have to tackle the rest of my school work. My goal is to finish before New Year's - yeah, we'll see if that happens...

i know it's been a while...

First of all, yes, I realize that it has been a week since my last post. Secondly, I spent the majority of last week working on school work so I didn't really have much to update. Since I don't want to bore you with the day-to-day studying details, I will do a "recap" of sorts of things that have happened over the week.
(this list is in no particular order and in no way reflects the importance of the events)
In the past week I:
1. received my Christmas package from Mom & Dad!!! (and no, I haven't opened it)
2. received my first mail (woohoo!) from both the Knights and the Woods on the same day
3. discovered a health foods store that sells black beans! (they are dried but, at this point, I don't care)
4. went to see fireworks on the beach (which, by the way, were great)
5. got a REALLY great video message from my niece!
6. got a Christmas package from Catherine! (also haven't opened and literally just came as I'm writing this)
7. ate at a Teppanyaki restaurant (like Kobe's or Shogun or Fuji)
8. tried (and liked) kangaroo steak
9. had a lazy day of watching about half of the first season of My Name is Earl
10. got Dale to rent, watch and fall in love with Arrested Development (about half way through season 1 so he doesn't really know how much he loves it yet)
11. set a record for the advanced ski slalom on Wii
12. bought a Christmas gift for our house/"family"
13. went to church
14. finished half of my course work for both courses (and now for the other half...)
15. talked to the Farleys on skype and
16. got to see Emerette walking!
17. finally talked Jenny into getting skype and talked for 3+ hours (thank goodness it's free!)
18. made a really great playlist on my itouch
19. got a card in the mail from Phyllis!
20. tried a "Tim Tam Implosion" - a cookie (like a twix without caramel) that you bite the ends off of and use as a straw to drink hot chocolate (or coffee) through and then pop the entire cookie into your mouth, thus the "implosion" bit. Emma and I actually tried it at the same time & it was really funny because as soon as she put it in her mouth she said (or tried to say with cookie in her mouth) "too sweet" and had to spit it out.
21. went to see Avatar in 3D in a VMAX theater (apparently bigger than IMAX)
22. bought a few Christmas presents for the fam...that they won't get by Christmas (sorry)
23. learned a few Aussie words for hicks or hillbillies: yabbo or bogan (not so sure of the spelling on those)
24. did some more studying/reading/answering questions
25. bought (and ate) peaches and cherries because they are in season here!
26. tried (and am now obsessed with) mints called Fisherman's Friends - they are stronger than Altoids
27. went for a swim in our pool
28. had my first rainy day in Australia
29. discovered a place that sells fish tacos but haven't tried it as I was not hungry at the time of discovery
30. bought Elf, but have not watched it yet
31. updated my blog

So, now you see what you missed during the last week (not too much) and also how little it takes these days to get on my "this is something exciting that happened to me" list. I am going to leave you now with a picture of the sun setting while I was waiting at the bus stop the other day:

happy birthday brother!

Well today I had my first cry since being in Australia. Yesterday was Christopher's 21st birthday here and today it is his birthday at home. This whole time difference thing is hard because I thought about it all day yesterday and now I am thinking about all day today because it is just now happening for all of you reading this. I realize that may have come out confusing but it makes sense to me. I didn't realize that missing Christopher's birthday would hit me as hard as it has. It's hard because I know that I am here for a reason and I know that God's timing is perfect but, man, I would LOVE to be there for just this one day. Mom and Dad emailed some people for advice for turning 21 but I didn't get it in time to get it to Christopher before they celebrated, so I decided to put what I have to say on here, even though I'm not sure he reads this. So here it is: Turning 21 is a big deal, not because of what you can do as a 21 year old but because of who you are becoming. 21 comes in the second half of the college years and is a factor in realizing that you won't be in school forever and you begin to really think about the future in what you think is an attainable sense but is more of an idealistic sense. You have a short period of time to live in the dream-future you see yourself in before the reality hits. It's a hard time and, honestly, not one I would go back to. I've not been the biggest fan of the early twenties though. They are rough. One of the hardest things is coming to the understanding and realization that you cease to be on the same page as the people around you. When you are in school, everyone is working towards a common goal but when you get to the end of school, everyone's goals have changed. It is a difficult time because no one tells you how hard it is to watch seemingly everyone else around you get things that you want. Honestly, it sucks. The only thing you can do is walk with God and trust Him. The walk is not easy and it's not fun. It's uncomfortable and it hurts and you get tired of walking and sometimes you want to turn around and go back. Don't give up. It's okay to flounder. It's okay to "fail". It happens to EVERYONE - not necessarily at this point in life but at some point. Turning 21 could be the best year of you life but it might be sticky and messy getting there and you might not realize that it was great until you look back years later. Just stay strong in who you are, as you've always done, and put your trust in God. He is leading you but sometimes you may lose sight of the path. It happens. Just keep your eyes on Him and don't underestimate the importance of family. We will walk with you as far as we can but sometimes you do have to go it alone. Two things I pray that you do in your 21st year: 1) Trust God and, 2) Take a leap of faith. Both are scary but are so worth it. I love you always!

Is the first "homesick hurdle" the worst? I really hope so but, somehow, I don't believe it. Thankfully, yesterday I had plenty to keep my mind busy...

Yesterday was the brunch barbie day. Dale had gotten so much food; eggs, bacon, pancakes, mini-burgers, fruit, drinks...etc. It ended up being not as many people as he had planned for, however. Several of the people who had told him that they were coming did not and some people had to work so it ended up being about 10 people. It was fun though. There was great food and some Wii playing and friendly competition. We do have a lot of left overs and said that we should just keep having parties until all of the food is gone. Everyone left by about noon so just Dale, Sue and I ate the burgers for lunch. Then we all played the Wii for a few more hours.

Tonight is church and I am looking forward to it. I just have to remember all of the people I met last week - which may be hard. I'm still trying to chip away at my school work and it is slow going. I've got a lot to do and a little time to do it. I may have to just study for entire days this week to make a dent. Speaking of, I should probably hit the books now since I have a few hours until church.

THE man...

Something really exciting happened to me today. I woke up thinking that I was just going to have a regular day but little did I know, it was to be much more. I had seen a shopping center when I was on my way to another shopping center (called Pacific Fair, for those who care) that I thought might be fun to go to. I have, as you may know, been making my way 'round the shopping centers here because it is a great way to get out and get to know the different areas of around. So I decided that today I was going to go to a shopping center called Oasis, which is in Broadbeach (just down from Surfer's - where I went to the beach). I took the bus and after getting a little turned around and taking what I will call the "scenic route" I arrived at the mall. At this point it was around lunch time and, as I had left the house in a hurry in order to catch the bus, I had not remembered to bring a snack as I had planned. So I went into what was called the "International Food Court" and lo and behold, something exciting was just waiting for me. I won't tell you what it was...I'll show you what I saw. Yup, I took a picture. Several in fact. This is what I saw:

...does everyone know now why I was so excited? It's THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER!!! I couldn't believe it - especially since I am not exactly close to Snowy River. Needless to say, it made my day. AND, on top of that excitement, I made sour cream enchiladas, Lori's salsa and guacomole for Dale, Sue and me for dinner. Oh man, Jim Craig AND Mexican food...could this day get any better? I think not.

Last night (I'm going to back-track a bit now) Dale came home and had bought the Shaun White snowboarding game for Wii. We played it for, I would guess, maybe 1 1/2-2 hours. In other news, Dale has invited some of his friends over on Saturday for a barbie and swimming and wii playing. My first Aussie barbie...I was told there wouldn't be any shrimp...and that they call them prawns anyways. I think it started out being only a few people but now I was told it has erupted and that a friend of his sent a text out to all of the young group at church. So I guess there will be a few more. I will try to take some pictures and I will absolutely post back about it. Well, just wanted to let you know about my fun day today and the promise of a fun day on Saturday. I will let you know if anything else exciting happens...Lord willing it will!

a day at the beach...and church

I decided this morning to that I needed to go to the beach. I've been wanting to go since I got here but I just hadn't been yet. I decided to go today because I thought it would be nice to sit somewhere along the beach and read my Bible and spend time with God. I was really excited about putting my plan into action. I took the bus to Surfer's Paradise (one of the main beaches around) at about 10 o'clock this morning. I was thinking that it would be really crowded still because of Schoolies but it really wasn't as bad as I had expected. I guess the majority of them were probably still asleep. Anyways, I told myself that I could only walk on the beach for half an hour because I hadn't really prepared and didn't have sunscreen or a hat or anything. I figured I would be ok for a bit because I've done it before and been fine as long as I only stay for a minute. I had my worship music on and just walked along the beach loving the aesthetics of the Destin-like quality of the sand and the cool water lapping against my feet. I walked for about 10 -15 minutes down the beach and then walked part of the way back on the beach before switching to the more shaded walkway. I took some pictures during my walk that I thought you might like to see:

the beach at Surfer's Paradise:

my feet found the sand...                                                    ...the ocean found my feet

the skyline at Surfer's - the big building is the Q1, the tallest residential building in the world, so I've been told

    a surfer at Surfer's

the entrance to the beach

Being at the beach made me feel more at home, oddly enough. It felt so much like Destin that it seemed familiar and made me a little less homesick. I'd woken up feeling homesick and knew that I needed to do something to make me feel at home. Who knew that the something would be the beach. I instantly felt at peace just being near the ocean. It has such a calming affect on me. I love it and am so thankful that the beach is like the beach I am used to. One of my first thoughts when I asked about the beach was what the sand was like.

After I went to the beach I walked around a bit in the area. I tried to stay out of the sun because I could tell I had gotten some and didn't want to get burned. I ate lunch (sushi again) at a place that was in a sort of courtyard of a shopping center. There was a trio of guys playing some quite interesting music. It was...different. After I ate I decided that I probably needed to head back and get out of the sun for the day. I never did find a shady spot to sit and read my Bible (other than while I was eating lunch but, I dare say, the "music" was a little distracting) so I guess I'll have to bring an umbrella next time. I took the bus back home and, after catching up with Sue (who was out of town this weekend), hopped in the shower to rinse off the sand and salt. Dale also had just arrived home and he said that he was going to go to church at 4 so I said I'd join him.

Despite my efforts to keep tabs on my sun exposure I, of course, managed to get a bit too much in some areas. My face and neck got a bit more than I'd like. Not a bad burn but one of those that looks red the day you get it but you know by the morning it will be toned. It definitely looked worse than I'd prefer it to. (As I write this, it is the morning after and the redness has mostly gone out of my face.)

Anyways, I went to church with Dale and was able to meet some more people. After church they were having the 18-30 year old group meet and the guys I'd met (Daniel and Jordan - Jordan is the one who helped me find a place to live) said they could find someone to take me home if I wanted to stay. (Dale didn't want to stay because he had just gotten back in town from the weekend and was tired.) I decided to stick around and meet some more people. They had tables set up and people were eating and visiting for the first bit. I ended up sitting at a table with a girl, Anna, and her husband and another married couple (I don't remember their names) and Daniel. We were able to visit for about 20 minutes or so before the meeting began. The meeting was set up as a sort of forum and Garry, the senior pastor, just had a few people come up and tell their stories. Some were funny and some were more serious. It was the first time they had done it like that but it was good and interesting. I enjoyed it. After it was over, Daniel helped me find someone to take me home. I realized about half way through the meeting that I only knew the address and probably wouldn't be much help giving directions. Thankfully, someone overheard us talking who knew where Dale lives and she said she would give me a ride home. I was able to meet several more people before I left and really enjoyed talking to a girl, Bell (sp?), who works as the media coordinator for the church.

I got home from church and Emma and Vivian had several of their friends over to play the Wii. I sat in the living room and watched them with Dale. It was really entertaining. They all got really into it and were very funny playing the games. Dale had gotten two more controllers so four people were playing at a time. It was fun just watching them play.

It is Monday morning now as I wrap this up and I am thinking that today will be a study day. I need to read my school work and get that under control. At least, that is my plan...

McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut...

Did anyone else used to sing that song? I think it was some song we learned at Otter Creek maybe? Anyways, the song has been in my mind lately. I've gotten to a point where I get really excited to see a McDonalds. It's not because I like the food - I actually wouldn't mind never being subjected to it again. And it's not because it's American. It's because McDonalds has free wi-fi. If I am at all lost or wondering what time a bus leaves or how to get somewhere, I just look for those golden arches. The other day I used the free wi-fi to skype with Chels and Meagan. I sat in a really nice mall and was able to catch up a bit with them. The past few days have been basically the same. I have been going around to the different shopping centers in the area and every day I've gone to at least one. There just isn't a lot that occupies time that one can do alone quite like shopping. I haven't been buying a lot - just the necessities and a few Christmas presents.

I really like it here so far but there are a few things that I know I will miss, other than people. Mexican food ranks pretty high on that list. One of the others is also food - black beans. I could live on them! However, I have not been able to find them, canned or dried, as of yet. I guess I will have to find another bean to eat instead. There is definitely an Asian influence here. There is every kind of Asian food imaginable. Asian food is their Mexican. I have had sushi 6 times in the past week. That is more than I had in the previous 6 months. I like it though and it seems to be the easy, cheap option. Instead of a taco, you grab a sushi roll. Works for me. Good thing I like Asian food (Christopher and Carter take note that there is a lot of sushi here...you'll be able to eat it a lot when you come visit me!)

I went to a market today that was the kind of market I'd been looking for. The previous days I had gone to what are basically malls. They were fun to go to but very much like what we have at home. This market was more like a flea market. I had fun just wandering around and seeing what was out there. It was a little hot though and after a few hours I decided to head to air conditioning. Now, for those who don't know, air conditioning is not available everywhere. I decided to head back to where I knew there was air conditioning and food - it was lunch tim and I hadn't eaten. I went to yet another shopping center. This one was about half outside access and half indoor. It was quite large. I was out all day and then came back to the house just before dark.

During my time this week, I have made some pretty great discoveries. One of the (sadly) most exciting was the discovery of Target. Yes, folks, there is a Target in Australia. It isn't exactly the same but it is similar enough to be exciting. As I write this I am watching Titanic on TV (I don't think I've seen the whole thing since 8th grade) and a commercial just came on for Glee. The last episode comes on tomorrow! It really is the little things.

Maybe sometime I'll actually make it to the beach...I guess it's good to leave something to look forward to.

a few pictures

my room as seen from the doorway

my room as seen from the closet

what you see out my door: the toilet to the right and the bathroom straight aheadthe bathroom

 down the hall are sue's room (closed door) & the laundry room

to the left is emma & vivian's bathroom and around the corner is their bedroom

the living/dining/kitchen area as seen from the hallway leading to the bedrooms

the dining room and through the door straight ahead is dale's area. to the left is another bedroom that is vacant at the moment

the pool/deck area - to the right is the carport

eat. play. shop

So yesterday (Monday) I decided to just hang around the house and recooperate from the flight and try to get over my inevitable jet lag. My plan was to get some reading done and that proved more difficult than I thought. Not that the reading itself was difficult, it just seems that during the past 4 years of not reading for any purpose other than pleasure has seriously shortened my attention span for reading comprehension. I'm willing to blame that all on jet lag though. I managed to read a bit of what was required before I realized that I also needed to be taking notes and underlining and such. This proved to be quite difficult as I had no paper or writing utensils of any kind. I considered writing in blood but I thought it might weaken my mind more so I opted out of that.
I spent an hour or so talking to the people who love me enough to download skype (mom & dad and the Blanton/Drimmel household). I heard all about the Titans victory (dun dun dun-dun dun dun...Go Titans Go!) and caught up with the fam.
Last night for dinner we had a flatmates dinner. Two of my flatmates (Emma and Vivian) are Chinese and they both (I think both) work/are chefs in a Sushi restaurant. Emma cooked several Chinese dishes for us including sweet chili prawns, a really great chicken and potato dish with coconut milk and yumminess, corn and chicken soup and a chicken and veggie dish. Vivian made a huge platter of sushi and also white rice. It was amazing! It smelled like Pei Wei in my house (Kari and Catherine I thought of you). Sue was going to make a chicken curry dish but as we already had enough to feed at least double the amount of people we had, she decided not to. For dessert we had a fruit salad of peaches and crushed pineapple that Vivian made and then Dale had gone to the store and brought back ice cream. It was a feast, to be sure. We all ate a lot and we still have a lot of left overs. It was really nice to all sit down together and talk and have dinner. Oh, before dinner Emma and I played the Wii. She is really funny about it because she keeps saying that she is fat and that she is going to do the Wii to get in shape.
Today (Tuesday) I decided it was time to venture out into my new home of the next several months. I walked down to Uni (yup I'm picking up the lingo already) to get my student card. I walked because a) I wanted to see how long it would take, and b) because I didn't have cash to pay for a bus ticket and without a student card it is twice as much. I guess it took about 25 minutes or so (I forgot to pay attention to the time when I left). Anyways, after I got my student card and some cash I hopped on the bus to Australia Fair, a shopping center, as per Sue and Dale's recommendation. I was told not to go into Surfer's Paradise this week because of something called Schoolies (sp?) going on. From what I understand, all of the recent high school grads come to Surfer's to party for a week or so after school. Apparently they come from all over the country to booze it up on the beach. Needless to say, I took their advice and stuck with the mall, which is basically what Australia Fair is. I was able to find all of the necessities I needed to get such as notepads, pens and clothes hangers. I spent a few hours wandering and then came back to the house with my goods. I guess not having a car will be a money saver in more ways than one because I didn't buy several things because I was able to carry it. Overall, I'd say that I had a very productive day. Now I can finally unpack all of my clothes because I have hangers and work on my school work with my new pens and notepads! Woohoo!
I am going to have to remember this day as a triumphant one not because of my productiveness but because I took the bus twice without getting lost, getting off at the wrong stop or taking the wrong bus and essentially making the trip an hour and a half longer than it would have been walking. Jenny, (or anyone who read my emails from Italy) you know the incident of which I speak. Well, I think the time has come for me to unpack. Maybe I'll just play some Wii and eat some delicious Chinese food...

Australia or Bust!

After 24 hours of consecutive travel, I finally made it to AU! The trip, thank you Jesus, was fairly uneventful. I think the worst leg of it was actually the Nashville-LA portion. For some reason that flight seemingly lasted forever. I had a bit of a heartattack in LA I arrived. I went to get my bag (because usually when you fly internationally, you have to recheck your bag) and after all the luggage was out, my bag was missing. I tried to control the panic welling up inside of me and went to tell the baggage service people about my missing luggage. After standing in line for 20 minutes or so, I was finally helped and told that my bag was checked all the way through - a nice surprise after thinking that I would be luggage-less in Australia. Just before I boarded the plane I began to get panicky and so I popped a Xanax (thanks Dad!). I slept for the first 5 hours or so and then just watched movies (Harry Potter and Julie and Julia) and 30 Rock.
Landing in Australia was surreal. I felt totally at peace and kept thinking "This should feel weirder than it does" but was glad that it didn't. The customs people were really nice and the man who stamped my passport talked to me for about 10 minutes. I had no problems going through and then just had to find my ride.
I found Dale and Dot with ease because they had a sign with my name on it. They were both extremely nice and instantly put me at ease. For those of you who don't know, Dale is the one who manages the house I am living in. Dot is a woman from the church and she came along with Dale to collect me from the airport. The ride from Brisbane to Gold Coast was about an hour long and we all just talked the entire way. I was very comfortable being with them and that can clearly only be attributed to God. We got to the house around 10 in the morning and after a quick tour, I headed to my room to unpack a bit and force myself to take a nap so I would be able to stay awake during church at 4. My roommates (flatmates, I guess) were not around when I arrived but I met them later. I will post some pictures of the house later but it looks just like the pictures I was sent so if you saw those, you know what it looks like. The front of the house is where Dale and his wife live. The kitchen and living area connects to two areas of the house. There is a bedroom just off the kitchen that is vacant but will be filled in January I believe. My room is off the living area and is next to the bathroom and toilet. Sue (my flatmate) has a room across from mine. The two of us share a bathroom. My other flatmates, Emma and Vivian, live in the garage that has been converted into two bedrooms. They have a separate bathroom.
I went with Dale to church that afternoon. They were showing a movie called Expelled, by Ben Stein. It was very interesting and dealt with Intelligent Design vs Darwinism in the context of the creation of the earth. I would recommend seeing it. I met a few people at church, including Jordan, the guy who set me up with my accomodation. We didn't stay long after church because I could feel the jetlag setting in and was feeling a bit wobbly. I don't remember feeling this way from other flights but it was as if I had my sea legs and hadn't gotten used to being on stable ground again. Anyways, we got back to the house a little after 6 and I was in bed by 7:30 or so. I slept pretty soundly and did wake up at 4 am but was able to make myself go back to sleep until 7.
I have been awake now for about 3 hours and have yet to accomplish anything. I have considered wandering around and may still do so but for now I think I am going to force myself to get some work done for my online classes. I have some reading to do...

PS: I have Skype so if anyone wants to download it (for free) we can chat! My name is baileykgaw

So Long, Fare Well, Auf Wiedersehen...

To my family and friends: Thank you for your love and support during the months leading up to this moment.

The goodbyes have begun. I have now said goodbye to many of the people who are dearest to me and this is just the beginning. The next couple of days will be difficult to say the least. They may break me. I have said goodbye many times and for many different lengths of time. For some reason, this feels different. Maybe it's because I am going much further away. Maybe it's because I am leaving everyone I know and have ever known. Maybe I'm going to be gone longer than expected. I don't know. I just know that this time is different. I am excited but am still mentally packing and checking off lists. I don't think that the reality of the magnitude of what I am doing will set in completely until I am on the plane to Brisbane. I have three days left in the US...I expect the next few days to be somewhat of a blur but I am trying to soak up every moment.


Please continue to keep me in your prayers because I will need them! Specifically, pray for the courage to leave all of you. I know it is His will and I have a peace about leaving but that doesn't make it easy.