Does Vegemite have veg in it?

So, this may be the final post that you, my readers, will be interested in. This post will be about New Zealand, where Eden is, I'm convinced of it. But after this blog post I may or may not blog more trying to process American life and worldviews. So, unless you want to go down that rabbit hole with me, you can stop reading after this post (just trying to prepare you...but don't get your hopes up).

New Zealand! Oh gosh, what can I say to equal the beauty God placed there? Not much really...
We landed in Auckland in the afternoon and only had time to drop our bags off and then walk to the wharf for dinner. I split a Buffalo Chicken Salad and Lamb Roast with my friend Joann. Both were excellent, especially after plane food. The wharf was beautiful in the sunset. Ah! Gorgeous!

The next day we headed out to Whakatane (pronounced: Fa-ka-ta-knee). There we stayed in a marae (ma-ri)which is a traditional Maori meeting house. There was a lot of ceremony surrounding entering the marae. We were called onto the marae by the oldest woman and then we had to proceed with caution up to the elders where we were looked over and then we were allowed to sit down. From there our three eldest males had to make a speech and the rest of us "agreed" with what he was saying by singing. We sang Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright...and two others that I have completely blanked on.

Anyway, then we proceeded to have an amazing dinner. We had a traditional soup that was made of pork, but not just the bacon bits that we think all pigs are made of, but I actually ate the vertebrae...I'm sorry, what?! (That's what my mom just said, haha). It was a very salty soup.

The next day we left for Rotorua, which is apparently the tourist destination of NZ. None of us are sure why, it smells like rotten eggs. See, Rotorua is built over hot springs, so the temperature is higher here, but it smells of sulfer, which invades all your clothes and makes you stink...bad. While there we went to a tribal show where they pretended that the Maori were still living in huts. The food was ok, and entertainment was alright. Not my fav.

The following day, we went to Te Puia (don't know how to break that down linguistically, just ask me later). There we saw people making traditional Maori carvings, baskets, and skirts. We also saw the largest gyser in the Southern Hemisphere. It was very large and goes off every 20-30 minutes. They also had boiling mud which I thought looked like the Bog of Eternal Stench (see David Bowie in the Labyrinth for reference). I also saw two kiwis. They are bigger than you think. So cool.

We went back to Auckland Wednesday night and I saw HP7 at midnight. So great!! The next morning we went to a small Bible college that is actually the largest Bible college on the North Island (if not all of NZ, but I can't remember). We heard a lecture about the settling of New Zealand by the English. Typical learning stuffs. After that we climbed two volcanos and learned about a traditional village that used to live on these extinct volcanoes.

The following day I went kayaking with a few of my friends. We kayaked across the harbor to some island...I forget which one. There we climbed another volcano. This one was merely dormant! So, in total, I climbed 3 volcanoes in 2 days. Checked that off my bucket list! haha!

Anyway, then I flew to Sydney to spend 17 hours of my life stuck in the airport until my next flight. So, yes, I have slept in an airport. Again, bucket list: check. Then I finally flew home and saw my baby brother, Mommy, and Dad at the Atlanta airport on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Thanks for reading this folks! I hope that you got a slightly ok picture of two of the coolest places in the world. Both are beautiful in their own ways. Oh, and if you ever want to go and need a guide...well, here I am!

PS I went to the marae in the picture. It's in Rotorua.

I can tell that we are going to be friends...

http://www.australiastudiescentre.blogspot.com/

This is our ASC Blog. If you want to read what people here are talking about. There may also be one familiar face...hmm...who could that be?! Haha!!

Like Swilling Spider Juice (Courtesy of Tracy McDaniel)

So, I haven't posted in a while because not much has happened. But I was subtley reminded by Miss Sarbar that I haven't posted...and she wanted a post...so then I racked my brain to think of what you wanted to know about. Then I decided to tell you about the worst day ever. (PS you all should go and read Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. It's inspiring.)

So last Friday we went on a walkabout in the Blue Mountains. Which was fine, at first. Kimberly (director) was concerned about one girl because of her knee problem, so she didn't go. But hearing about that did not deter me at all. I was so ready to bush walk (Aussie for hike) and tell everyone that I had done that! Woo hoo!

So we meet our tour guide who is going to take us to sacred sites for Aboriginals on our bush walk. That's cool, but then Kimberly asked for the slow people to gather 'round. Instead of encouraging us, she put us at the very front so that we were the cruise control. Yeah, that's cool. I got to know Evan our guide pretty well.

So we walk, downhill, and we end up in this rainforest gulley. Very cool. I slipped on a rock and one foot fell in mud...so I may need new tennis shoes because they smell. Well, we get to a cave and we're painting ourselves in ochre and we look very cool. So then we move on, but now we're climbing up. Which is ok, we're in no rush so we're going very slow (I was in the very front). We sit down and learn about funnel webs and tree grubs and stuff. Then Kimberly realizes that we have 20 minutes to finish climbing Mount Everest and get back to the train station.

Pause: you miss a train in the Blue Mountains, you wait for another hour and might miss out on dinner. Also, there are 33 ASCers, 2 staff, and Evan (36 total if you missed that).

Resume: Evan begins to book it up the last leg which was ok, but soon became straight up hill on slippery rainforest rocks. Not cool. Plus the air was thin and dry, so my asthma picked a very inconvenient time to kick in. Sweet. So I stopped for a breather and then finally made it out alive. But then we had a 10 minute walk to the trains...crap. So I'm trudging along when I hear a train bell ring. Crap. Kimberly and I are booking it (as fast as two huffing and puffing people can).

Thankfully the train-man held the train for us, but I was exhausted and my lungs were burning. Also, I'm covered in face paint...yeah.

So, the next morning I got out of bed and got dressed etc to get ready. Then I went for breakfast and couldn't sit down. My legs has frozen, stiffened, and were in constant pain. I couldn't climb the stairs to get to the train, going down the stairs was the worst. And yesterday was the first day that my legs moved with little to no pain.

Other than the tremendous agony experienced on Friday, I had a great time. We learned a lot about Aboriginal Dreaming and native animals. It was fun.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. We leave for New Zealand in 3.5 weeks!! So exciting!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree...

Ok, so first random thought: I will miss Australian music on the radio...so good!

Ok, so for the meat of the blog: Outback.
I loved the open spaces, the wide sky, and the red dirt that went for miles and miles. The isolation that I felt out there was overwhelming. The station we stayed on was called Trilby and they owned land that was roughly the size of Rhode Island. Not really that big, but only two people run the farm...yeah now it's HUGE!! But we talked about the land a lot while we were out there and one thing that hit me was that in Australia you approach the land on its terms.

When the British first came here, they thought that it was the dry season (boy were they wrong...) so they cut down tree after tree and decimated the land thinking that they will grow back. Yeah, in like 200 years. The soil is so nutrient deprived that even native vegetation can barely survive. Side note: there is one species of gum tree that can only reproduce when set on fire...yeah. The land is harsh which makes the people and life harsh. Our hostess, Liz, said that if one of her working dogs killed a chook (chicken) then she would shoot it. No second chance, just BAM dead.

Ok, so back to the land, respect is a big thing and something that British had to learn from the Aborigines. They couldn't just cut trees and bushes down, they had to plan around the land. There was a thick line of trees in the distance where the river was because life was always near a water source. Interestingly enough, kangaroos are not endangered as that congressman's wife thought, but they are actually becoming pests because people are finding underground water sources and putting them above ground (creating more sources). So roos are everywhere and destroying fences and bothering the sheep and goats by eating all of their grass. So, there are kangaroo hunters that shoot them and sell their meat to people and it is quite tasty! Kind of like venison, but not as gamey...yeah something like that.

But (stay on topic!) native animals like roos are much more suited to this harsh land because they only need one handful of water a day to survive. Sheep, goats, and cows need tons and tons of water. Also, the soft pads of a kangaroo's feet are much more suited to the dusty fragile soil. The hoofs of other animals just tear the ground up! Not good. Also, some idiot decided to import foxes and rabbits to hunt and they got loose and are now pests destroying Australia...way to go. Foxes have nearly depleted certain small native animals, and rabbits are eating everything to the root tip so that it takes longer to grow back. Foxes are being controlled with poisoned meat and rabbits are being shot with diseases that only affect them, and also sterilizers.

This place is harsh and hard, but the outback was one of the most beautiful places I've ever set foot in. There was so much beauty in the emptiness and you couldn't help but see God's finger prints everywhere. I can't imagine looking at that vastness without God on your side, I would have fainted from desperation. Anyway, the outback is gorgeous and I want to go back so bad!!! Who wants to come with me?

There's a Bathroom on the Right...

For one of our classes we have to go to 4 different kinds of churches: Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, and Assemblies of God. I love and hate this assignment all at once because I feel like I'm intruding on the Catholics' mass or the Assemblies of God make me uncomfortable (I grew up in a church where we didn't pray out loud or sway to music). The Anglicans I love, but I haven't gotten around to visiting them yet.

Yesterday, however, I went with a larger group than I thought to a Catholic mass. Now, I know that you don't take Catholic mass unless you are Catholic (respect and all that jazz), but this large group I was with was unsure. So we walked in late to the service and sat in a front row (there were several sections to this gigantic church). Anyway, when the time came for mass, the little usher man was looking at me to get the line started, and I'm avoiding eye contact...I know, I'm mature. But as I sat there watching all these people take mass right next to me (in my bright green jacket), I was wondering what they thought of us. No one came to talk with us after the service, but do the Catholics feel like we're observing them, like monkeys? If so, then why do people insist we go to a Catholic mass? Is it the liturgical side of things? I don't know, but I feel like I'm intruding every time I go to a Catholic service (which has been all of twice in my life).

On the other hand, I do like to see what the differences are between Catholics and Anglicans. Such as the invocation of the Saints and Mary. One of the passages read during the service was from Hebrews and it said something about how our journey in life is being aided by saints (I tried to look up the passage, but couldn't find it...but it was in there). The whole sermon then was about how we ought to pray to the saints because that's where our help comes from. Um...I think not, but I was not about to stand up in mass and declare my Protestant beliefs...no. Then during a prayer they asked for God to remove faithful saints from Purgatory. I didn't say amen at the end of that one.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Australian Christians are in church because they truly believe in what they are there for. Unlike in America where you go because your family goes and that's just what we do. It's so much easier to find true Christians here than in the States, I can tell you that. But one thing we've been talking about in my View from Australia class is that Australians feel vulnerable (as a nation) and like having a protector state (currently the US). So if they feel vulnerable all the time and like having a big protector, then why is it so hard to talk with people about God here? Not just about God, but what He's done for us.

My director, Kimberly, has lived in Australia for 5 years and goes regularly to a Bible Study where nothing gets done. She said it's more like gossip time. But Australians are afraid to let you into their world and be completely raw and vulnerable to you. But then how do you learn from people? How do you see the goodness of God in people's lives? How do you mourn with you brother or sister or rejoice with those who rejoice? To me it seems like a very closed off society where no one would want to talk with you. But in actuality, Australians are the most friendly people on the planet (well, right next to Southerners). They smile, say hey, and always ask how you're doing. People here at Wesley really want to get to know "The Americans", but not in any deep/meaningful way. I don't know, seems contradictory to me.

Well, on that note, continued prayer for my stay here is quite welcome. If you could lift up my host family as well that would be amazing. Sue and Peter Bock are some of the nicest people who want to share with us and feed us chocolate bikkies until we puke, but Sue is the only Christian in the house. So, prayer that our lives would reflect positively on the Bock family and not discourage Peter, Oskar, and Carl (the two sons who live with us) from loving God as much as Sue does.

Oh, and mail is quite welcome here ;)!!

Fun Fact:

I actually learned that a "gone walkabout" is when something or someone gets lost. So you are looking for the TV remote and Dad says, "Oh, it's gone walkabout again." i.e. it's lost. But a walkabout is what Aboriginals do to get back to their roots. So they walkabout, they don't go walkabout. Get it? distinction made?

So shout out to Alyssa Fiske for helping me tell my Mom that I am lost...whoo hoo. (Which I've ironically done quite a few times...hehe).

No Drama...

Well, I think that I've finally begun to gather some slang words and I would like to share a few Aussie-must-knows with you.
1) Vegemite is actually made from what was left after they made beer. Now, Aussies love this black, salty jam put on toast with butter, but it can also be used to cure zits and cold sores. I'm skeptical and avoiding it at all costs.
2) Coffee: I like a long black. Some like white cows. Still others like it with sugar (I forgot how to say that). But the best kind of coffee is plunger coffee!! This is just French Press coffe under a cooler alias. I love calling it a plunger!
3) Everyone is your mate. Not just that bloke in your phone, but also the woman next to you on the train. "No worries, mate." is the most common phrase I have heard yet.
4) Attempting to look like an Aussie has yet to work for me. I even bought the leggings! (I keep getting people who ask me where to go though, which is funny becaus I was about to ask them the same thing!) So, here are some dresscode rules to live by: skinny jeans, long shirts or cut off shirts, but they have to be oversized, straight hair and with your makeup done at all times, boots or keds are acceptable but no tennis shoes (tourist you are), also wearing all black is not gothic or strange, but quite an acceptable norm, oh and being an American gets you a free pass from all of this!
5) There is no supper. My Grandma has breakfast, dinner, then supper. Here it's brekkie, dinner, then tea. And what do you drink at tea, but tea. I have had so much tea that I could float away from it! But you never tell your host parents that you'll be back for dinner because that's like 12 or 1, always tell them you'll be back for tea.
6) Everything here is super expensive! The AUD and USD are about the same right now, but for some reason everything is quite expensive. A candy bar from the vending machine was about $2.60, but at school it's less than $1. Going to a restaurant is quite the ordeal and costs more than you bargained for.
7) There are no koalas in the city.
8) I have spotted cockatoos and larikins in the trees. This place is tropical bird paradise. Go into the nearest pet store, find the brightest bird, and it lives near me. I walk around in contsant terror, but c'est la vie.
9) There is a difference between a Native Australian and an Aboriginie. Natives are simply people that were born here and refers to mostly the "white fellas" while Aboriginies are people (use your Latin skills!) who were here before time (ab: before; origin: time...maybe). So, having said that: 60% of Sydney is Asian immigrants. There are so many people here who barely speak English, but consider themselves Australian. And everyone here is from an immigrant family, except for the Aboriginies.
10) When Aussies are shocked that you have not eaten, drank, or seen something, rest assured that before the week is out you will have eaten, drank, or seen it.