The sad part about mission trips is that once exciting things start to happen, the time available to write about those events disappears. Since four days have gone by since I’ve written anything at all, and now six days have passed since I’ve posted, we’re going to resort to bullet points and photo captions to document experiences in no particular order. Enjoy!
First, I have to introduce you to my host family. Paul and Fiona have four kids – Tim is 17, Joel is 15, Keren is 13, and Alyssa is 10. Tim is a prankster, and always laughing; Joel is more quiet and is also a fantastic cook. Keren is sensible and girly, but her tomboy side shows itself every once in a while. Alyssa is so much fun – very generous and all-around cute. She reminds Sarah and I of Lucy from Chronicles of Narnia.
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| L to R: Tim, Keren, Alyssa, Fiona, Paul, and Sarah. Joel was working at the restaurant tonight. |
I may have mentioned that food in Australia is expensive. Even though this is true, Sarah and I have discovered that it is often worth the money. The next several paragraphs are all about Australian food.. it pretty much puts America to shame. Paul and Fiona took us to a café for lunch earlier this week, and everything was delicious and surprisingly fancy. The table we sat at was outside, and would have been a little chilly had it not been for the heater suspended above our heads. This is a picture of our drinks… totally classy. Interesting fact - when you order coffee in Australia, you don't order just coffee. You choose between a latte, a cappuccino, etc; brewed coffee is not very popular.
Dampers. Dampers are rolls of dough that you wrap around a stick and hold over a campfire (or in our case, a woodstove) to bake it. After the bread is done, you put butter, honey, or jam into the hole where the stick was. Simple and delicious.
Believe it or not, pumpkin is a popular vegetable here in Australia, just like peppers, tomatoes, or zucchini. So far, my Aussie family has made pumpkin soup and a pasta with pumpkin sauce – similar in composition to a homemade marinara sauce. As Paul, my host dad, would say: “Scrumptious!”
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| Nomming my first Tim-Tam!! |
I’m considering moving to Australia for the carrot cake. It is extremely popular here, and is always SO GOOD.
Americans eat raisins; Australians eat raisins, sultanas and currents. All three are made from grapes, although my opinion is that raisins are the worst of the bunch. The other day, we were served muffins with sultanas inside. Yum.
McDonalds, called “Macky’s” by the locals, is so much classier than American McDonald’s. Just take a look. They also have food that American McDonald’s don’t have yet – like chicken McWings and McBites. Unfortunately, as I've said, food is expensive in Australia – it costs at least seven or eight dollars for even a small meal.
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| Aussie McDonalds |
SO MUCH tea time. I'm pretty sure I have been on a constant caffeine high since arriving down under. We were offered tea and coffee three times on Monday - once at the school we sang at the the morning, once after lunch at the church, and once at the nursing home we visited later. I could get used to it.
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Now to talk about some of the other things we’ve done here in Australia. The Victoria markets in downtown Melbourne have EVERYTHING. You can find authentic (and not-so-authentic) boomerangs and didgeridoos, homemade candy, t-shirts, jewelry, and even change purses made of kangaroo scrotum. No, I’m not kidding. They also have a section of fresh produce and a truck selling the most delicious hot jam doughnuts you have ever tasted.
Pucker your lips and give it a shot / Didgeri-didgeri-doo. For those of you didn’t catch the Cinderella reference and/or are unfamiliar with the didgeridoo, read on. A didgeridoo is an instrument fashioned from a tree branch with a tube in the middle that makes a low, mostly-singular-pitch drone sound when you vibrate your lips inside the hole. The tube in authentic didgeridoos is made by termites rather than with manmade tools, creating a more wholesome sound. Beginning players can only play a note for as long as they can hold their breath, but talented players who have been didgeridoo-ing for years have generally mastered the technique of circular breathing (in through the nose, out through the mouth) and can play one continuous tone. Aaron and Sarah both bought didgeridoos at the markets, and our host family owns one as well. It is harder to play than it looks; but hey – it’s fun.
Paul and Fiona took Sarah and I (along with Alyssa and her friend Trinity) to the Werribee Mansion. The mansion itself is an old, well, mansion decorated to its historical period and furnished just the way it was way back then. The grounds surrounding the mansion are beautiful; Paul and Fiona actually had their wedding there. After we went to the mansion, we went to a place called Serendip Sanctuary where Sarah and I saw our first kangaroo - exciting, even though it was from quite a distance. Little did we know that we would be hanging out with kangaroos later in the week...
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| The view from the top of Werribee Mansion |
Allie and Ali’s host, Annisa, plays in a rec league for an Aussie sport called netball. Netball is essentially a cross between basketball and ultimate Frisbee; the goals are basketball hoops with no backboard, and you are not allowed to move while holding the ball. The players also wear short pleated skirts instead of shorts like an American basketball team would. Even though we weren’t sure of all the rules, we still had loads of fun cheering. GO PINK!
Have you ever felt like you’re living in a movie? The other night felt like that. The young adult ministry at Suburban is quite active, so we've made some good friends here in Melbourne. Five of us from the OneVoice group met a few of our Aussie friends and hung out in a jacuzzi on someone’s covered porch for a few hours. We almost froze when we got out, but the cold was so worth it.
We sang at a nursing home earlier this week. I’m never quite sure what to do at nursing homes, because conversing with the elderly for long periods of time is not my cup of tea. I fumble through awkward silences and am never sure what to say, what they are saying, or how much of what I say they understand. But I LOVE singing for them. Most nursing home residents are familiar with old hymns – Darris sang a medley that totally blew me away – and any music coming out of our mouths brings a smile to their face. God always uses those situations to teach me that even little things can bring joy, despite initial discomfort.
Oh my goodness. Kangaroos. We went to a wildlife reserve to see some Australian animals – emus, koalas, wombats, kangaroos, and more. I expected a zoo setup, where the animals are behind a fence curled up sleeping as far away from the people zone as possible. This was not the case, particularly with the kangaroos. Kanga, Roo, and all their friends were roaming free around the park. You could pet them, feed them, and just hang out with them – which is exactly what we did.
Australian countryside is beautiful. The oldest boy in my host family, Tim, is on his way to receiving his pilot’s license. When we picked him up from the airfield one day this week, I could not believe how beautiful the sky looked. The sunset and the silhouettes of the trees looked like a screenshot straight out of Lion King.
Manual cars are popular here in Australia; I have met only a few who drive an automatic. One such car owner, Ab (one of the college students at Suburban Baptist) was kind enough to allow Aaron, Sarah, and I to drive his car and get “experience” driving on the left side of the road. Everything is mirrored, including the position of the windshield wipers and turn signal levers. Most roads have traffic circles instead of traffic lights or four-way stops, cutting down on traffic backups. Some Australian side streets also have “traffic islands,” arched medians which act as speed bumps by forcing you to drive in a tight curve. I’ll try to remember to take a picture of one.
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| Aaron driving Ab's car! |
On Wednesday night, the OneVoice group helped out with Suburban Baptist’s childrens and youth programs. I was assigned to the kids, and had a blast. We played a game called “Indians-Tepees-Campfires” that involves teams of three and running in a circle. I was on Alyssa’s team, which was great fun. The OneVoicers who were there also led some songs – namely I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N, Father Abraham, and the Spongebob theme song. After that, we played an epic game in the gym (which doubles as their sanctuary); the lights were off and you had to crawl on the floor to retrieve items that got points for your team without being caught by the flashlights or hit with the huge glow-in-the-dark balls. Taylor, Wayne, and I all had sore knees and dusty clothes by the time it was over, but we had a good time. After that, the kids learned about the story of Noah over carrot sticks and cheese. They asked lots of good questions, and we all amazingly attentive. It was a good time.
Thursday afternoon, I went shopping at the High Point mall with Brittany, Charmaine, and our Aussie friend Natasha. One of the stores there is called Cotton On, where all their products – shirts, shoes, dresses, scarves, etc. – are all made of cotton. I found a jacket, which I’m quite excited about.
Thursday night, part of our group played basketball with some college students from the church hosting us. It was Olympic style – USA v. AU – and so much fun. It really reminded me of how much I miss playing. Some of the girls also played Pacman tag (line tag) on the other side of the gym; can we say flashbacks to fifth grade? Speaking of flashbacks to fifth grade, we had a few hours to kill and spent it playing on a playground by the beach area in South Werribee. Something about college students and playground equipment just clicks.
Friday was our day at the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is essentially a scenic route along the Australian coastline with stopping points to get out and walk around. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves; I have never seen scenery so beautiful.
Friday night, Sarah and I went out with Brandon and Wayne to downtown Melbourne. Our original intent was to go to a jazz festival Wayne had heard about, but it cost a whopping $22 to get into the club. Brandon’s plan B was sushi; I had never had it before, so I was excited! We found a Japanese café, split two rolls of sushi, and followed up with coffee and chai at Starbucks. We found our way back to the train station, and after a little exploring and a run-in with a homeless women, we hopped on the train back to Werribee. Our first night out on the town in a foreign country: success.
Today (Saturday), we sang at Werribee Plaza (a mall). We arrived and set up all our equipment, only to be told as soon as we were finished to move everything to a different part of the mall. As Charmaine and I said, flexibility… flexibility. Lots of people stopped to watch; we were there all day long and performed three sets of music. It was a good time.
The students at one of the schools we sang at made cards for us!! This is my favorite one.
Saturday night, Justin encouraged us all to stay at our host homes to hang out and minister. Sarah and I decided it was time to bring a little taste of America into our Aussie household, so we bought the ingredients to make s’mores and made them over the woodstove. Australian grocery stores do not carry graham crackers or Hershey bars, but we found substitutes that tasted pretty close! And what can I say – they loved them.
Time to wrap it up... we found out that we are officially singing at Hillsong church next week when we are in Sydney. We also found out that all nineteen of us will likely be staying in the same house, at least for a few days. This trip is flying by so fast, and so much happens every single day. We only have one more day in Melbourne, yet it feels like we just arrived. God has been doing great things; please pray for his continued protection and guidance!
To round it off, here’s some Aussie slang for you…
- University = Uni
- Hoodie = Jumper
- Gasoline = Petrol
- Take-out / to go (food) = Take-away
- Napkin = Serviette
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