As promised to my sister, this is my new home in Wasilla, Alaska! Don't judge me for the poor video skills :)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Another novel by Andrea
I apologize for again blabbering on and on in these posts, but my blog doubles as my journal -- kill two birds with one stone ya know?
I wrote this while I was flying to Tasmania:
Differences between Australian airports and American airports: I never once showed any identification, I didn’t have to take off my shoes or my jacket, I took liquids in containers larger than 3 ounces, I was allowed to take aerosols on, they didn’t confiscate my little nail scissors.
Surfing experience: I went surfing for the very first time on Saturday April 10. I almost didn’t go because I was sick and had only slept about 4 hours the night before, but I ended up going anyway and am SO glad that I did. It was an absolute blast. I woke up at 6:30 and took the bus into the CBD and then the ferry over to Manly. The surf guide picked a group of 4 of us up at Manly wharf in his beat up van (totally surfer style) and drove us over to Dee Why beach. The other 3 people were lovely – I can’t remember their names for the life of me, but I enjoyed spending the entire day with them. One was a cute boy from Georgia who is living here in Australia for the next year working for the Neilson ratings company. The other two girls were here from Canada for a conference. We got to the beach and the surf guide provided us with wet suits and surfboards, and we headed to the sand. Our instructor was a 19 year old surfer dude who grew up surfing at Dee Why. I quickly realized that (a) I would get more help with surfing and (b) it would be more fun if I worked it with the kid a little bit. Don’t judge me J. So anyway, the walk from the van to the beach carrying the surfboard felt like a mile, but it was probably only a couple hundred meters. My arm felt like it was going to fall off by the time we set the surfboards down though. Not the best start J. I was using a soft longboard that was freaking heavy. We then practiced paddling and standing up on the beach. MUCH, MUCH harder than I expected and I wasn’t even in the water yet. You have to be pretty quick to pop up onto the board, and it is a pretty narrow board! If you have never been surfing try this – put a line of tape on the floor and lie on your stomach on it. Then jump from your stomach to your feet in one smooth movement without stepping more than 3 inches on either side of the line. All four of us kinda started to break a sweat just practicing. Then we headed into the water and started catching some waves. Again, WAY harder than I expected – standing up on such an unstable surface takes talent! We were catching waves that weren’t very big at all, thank goodness! The surf instructor (I think his name was Tom) would push us into the wave from behind as we paddled and then we would try to stand up. I caught on pretty quickly, but I found that I had to get to my knees first and then up to my feet – not the most effective way to do it. And I definitely ate A LOT of salt water, or “stacked it” as the Aussies say. Interestingly, it is a quite effective remedy for a cold—clears your sinuses right out. It was so fun. I got along really well with the other people there and I tried to be really friendly and cheer everyone on and create conversation as we waited for the good waves. We were out there for 2 hours and then we came in for lunch. The surf guide provided us with stuff for a gourmet sandwich and some Cadbury eggs. After lunch, we took a little 20 minute snooze and then it was back to the ocean for some more lessons with a different instructor. This one was named Jemma and older than the first, and definitely had the cute surfer thing going on. Still probably younger than me, but a girl can’t be too picky. However, I did find it rather annoying that he had better hair than me. Dang you surfer dudes with pretty hair. We went back and surfed for 2 more hours, in which time I think I digressed in my surfing abilities. But the water was beautiful and it turned out to be a nice sunny day and it was just a good time. Then our surf guide took us for a little driving tour of the area and showed us different beaches and lookout points before taking us back to Manly wharf! I then walked to Manly beach and rested my weary little head for 2 hours til the sun went down.
The night before I went out with my coworkers after a management meeting and it was the WORST night ever. The meeting was after work on the 11th floor, which had views of the Harbor and the Opera House and all of Eastern Suburbs. I would never leave the office if I had a view like that! The meeting wasn’t too bad because I got to hear all of their marketing and business strategies. However, at one point they started taking about the clinical education program and wanted my feedback and I got so flustered cuz they were all looking at me and I turned bright red and I literally started sweating. I was so embarrassed. But I couldn’t help it! It just happens – I can’t control the redness! The meeting started at 5:30 and at 6:30 they brought in the wine and I had to tell about 3 people that I didn’t want any, and then the secretary asked if I wanted beer or tea or coffee or coke, which I didn’t want either and they just thought that was so bizarre. The meeting lasted til 8:00 and my stomach was imploding by that time! I’m usually starting in on my post-dinner snack by then! We all headed over to a Japanese restaurant, at which point I again had to repeat that I didn’t want anything but water to drink. No. No. No. Everyone was just making sure that I was taken care of, but I got tired of saying no. No I don’t want coffee either. Water is fine. No I’m not just being polite, I really just drink water normally. No I don’t want a coke. No, Mormons are allowed to drink caffeine, I just don’t think it tastes good. Then they started passing around the food plates (we were all just sharing a ton of different dishes), most of which were sushi, which conveniently, I don’t like either. Mormons aren’t allowed to eat sushi? No, fools, I just don’t like it. So I ended up getting fed up with saying no and eating some of the freaking sushi. I literally had to gag it down. I have this talent where I can plug my nose without actually touching it, so I did that and chewed each piece maybe twice and practically swallowed the stupid thing whole. The rest of the evening was spent telling drinking stories and telling dirty jokes. Andrea why are you being so quiet? Because I have nothing to contribute to this conversation and I feel completely out of place! And the dinner went on and on and on…. And I’m thinking, I hope my bus runs this late. I didn’t end up getting out of there until 11:00. Luckily, my bus runs every 20 minutes until midnight. Now, I really like all of the people that I work with and they have been very kind to me and I think they are great people, so don’t get the wrong impression. But it is just difficult to be so different from everyone else. They just don’t understand why I don’t drink even coffee, why I don’t have sex, why I wear weird white underwear, etc. It isn’t that I wish that I could participate in the drinking or that lifestyle or whatever, it is just frustrating to feel on the outside because of your beliefs. And I’m getting really tired of hearing the F word.
Other random notes: The short shorts for boys fashion is much more popular here. The Aussie men like to show a little leg. This can make for some very awkward moments when you are in a physiotherapy clinic and ask them to bend in different directions to assess their injury. But, there seem to be a lot of awkward moments since modesty is apparently not a concern for most of our patients. You would think that if you knew you had a physio appointment and you knew they were going to have you take your shirt off, you would AT LEAST wear a bra that isn’t see through. Apparently that is just me though.
The Australian’s know how to do mayonnaise. That is quite a compliment coming from me. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m kinda a mayo connoisseur. Their mayo isn’t as thick as American mayo and they have tons of different flavors. It just makes sandwiches that much better. I won’t be bringing many souvenirs home from Australia, except for food items: chocolate and mayonnaise.
That is all the randomness I have at the moment.
I wrote this while I was flying to Tasmania:
Differences between Australian airports and American airports: I never once showed any identification, I didn’t have to take off my shoes or my jacket, I took liquids in containers larger than 3 ounces, I was allowed to take aerosols on, they didn’t confiscate my little nail scissors.
Surfing experience: I went surfing for the very first time on Saturday April 10. I almost didn’t go because I was sick and had only slept about 4 hours the night before, but I ended up going anyway and am SO glad that I did. It was an absolute blast. I woke up at 6:30 and took the bus into the CBD and then the ferry over to Manly. The surf guide picked a group of 4 of us up at Manly wharf in his beat up van (totally surfer style) and drove us over to Dee Why beach. The other 3 people were lovely – I can’t remember their names for the life of me, but I enjoyed spending the entire day with them. One was a cute boy from Georgia who is living here in Australia for the next year working for the Neilson ratings company. The other two girls were here from Canada for a conference. We got to the beach and the surf guide provided us with wet suits and surfboards, and we headed to the sand. Our instructor was a 19 year old surfer dude who grew up surfing at Dee Why. I quickly realized that (a) I would get more help with surfing and (b) it would be more fun if I worked it with the kid a little bit. Don’t judge me J. So anyway, the walk from the van to the beach carrying the surfboard felt like a mile, but it was probably only a couple hundred meters. My arm felt like it was going to fall off by the time we set the surfboards down though. Not the best start J. I was using a soft longboard that was freaking heavy. We then practiced paddling and standing up on the beach. MUCH, MUCH harder than I expected and I wasn’t even in the water yet. You have to be pretty quick to pop up onto the board, and it is a pretty narrow board! If you have never been surfing try this – put a line of tape on the floor and lie on your stomach on it. Then jump from your stomach to your feet in one smooth movement without stepping more than 3 inches on either side of the line. All four of us kinda started to break a sweat just practicing. Then we headed into the water and started catching some waves. Again, WAY harder than I expected – standing up on such an unstable surface takes talent! We were catching waves that weren’t very big at all, thank goodness! The surf instructor (I think his name was Tom) would push us into the wave from behind as we paddled and then we would try to stand up. I caught on pretty quickly, but I found that I had to get to my knees first and then up to my feet – not the most effective way to do it. And I definitely ate A LOT of salt water, or “stacked it” as the Aussies say. Interestingly, it is a quite effective remedy for a cold—clears your sinuses right out. It was so fun. I got along really well with the other people there and I tried to be really friendly and cheer everyone on and create conversation as we waited for the good waves. We were out there for 2 hours and then we came in for lunch. The surf guide provided us with stuff for a gourmet sandwich and some Cadbury eggs. After lunch, we took a little 20 minute snooze and then it was back to the ocean for some more lessons with a different instructor. This one was named Jemma and older than the first, and definitely had the cute surfer thing going on. Still probably younger than me, but a girl can’t be too picky. However, I did find it rather annoying that he had better hair than me. Dang you surfer dudes with pretty hair. We went back and surfed for 2 more hours, in which time I think I digressed in my surfing abilities. But the water was beautiful and it turned out to be a nice sunny day and it was just a good time. Then our surf guide took us for a little driving tour of the area and showed us different beaches and lookout points before taking us back to Manly wharf! I then walked to Manly beach and rested my weary little head for 2 hours til the sun went down.
The night before I went out with my coworkers after a management meeting and it was the WORST night ever. The meeting was after work on the 11th floor, which had views of the Harbor and the Opera House and all of Eastern Suburbs. I would never leave the office if I had a view like that! The meeting wasn’t too bad because I got to hear all of their marketing and business strategies. However, at one point they started taking about the clinical education program and wanted my feedback and I got so flustered cuz they were all looking at me and I turned bright red and I literally started sweating. I was so embarrassed. But I couldn’t help it! It just happens – I can’t control the redness! The meeting started at 5:30 and at 6:30 they brought in the wine and I had to tell about 3 people that I didn’t want any, and then the secretary asked if I wanted beer or tea or coffee or coke, which I didn’t want either and they just thought that was so bizarre. The meeting lasted til 8:00 and my stomach was imploding by that time! I’m usually starting in on my post-dinner snack by then! We all headed over to a Japanese restaurant, at which point I again had to repeat that I didn’t want anything but water to drink. No. No. No. Everyone was just making sure that I was taken care of, but I got tired of saying no. No I don’t want coffee either. Water is fine. No I’m not just being polite, I really just drink water normally. No I don’t want a coke. No, Mormons are allowed to drink caffeine, I just don’t think it tastes good. Then they started passing around the food plates (we were all just sharing a ton of different dishes), most of which were sushi, which conveniently, I don’t like either. Mormons aren’t allowed to eat sushi? No, fools, I just don’t like it. So I ended up getting fed up with saying no and eating some of the freaking sushi. I literally had to gag it down. I have this talent where I can plug my nose without actually touching it, so I did that and chewed each piece maybe twice and practically swallowed the stupid thing whole. The rest of the evening was spent telling drinking stories and telling dirty jokes. Andrea why are you being so quiet? Because I have nothing to contribute to this conversation and I feel completely out of place! And the dinner went on and on and on…. And I’m thinking, I hope my bus runs this late. I didn’t end up getting out of there until 11:00. Luckily, my bus runs every 20 minutes until midnight. Now, I really like all of the people that I work with and they have been very kind to me and I think they are great people, so don’t get the wrong impression. But it is just difficult to be so different from everyone else. They just don’t understand why I don’t drink even coffee, why I don’t have sex, why I wear weird white underwear, etc. It isn’t that I wish that I could participate in the drinking or that lifestyle or whatever, it is just frustrating to feel on the outside because of your beliefs. And I’m getting really tired of hearing the F word.
Other random notes: The short shorts for boys fashion is much more popular here. The Aussie men like to show a little leg. This can make for some very awkward moments when you are in a physiotherapy clinic and ask them to bend in different directions to assess their injury. But, there seem to be a lot of awkward moments since modesty is apparently not a concern for most of our patients. You would think that if you knew you had a physio appointment and you knew they were going to have you take your shirt off, you would AT LEAST wear a bra that isn’t see through. Apparently that is just me though.
The Australian’s know how to do mayonnaise. That is quite a compliment coming from me. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m kinda a mayo connoisseur. Their mayo isn’t as thick as American mayo and they have tons of different flavors. It just makes sandwiches that much better. I won’t be bringing many souvenirs home from Australia, except for food items: chocolate and mayonnaise.
That is all the randomness I have at the moment.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Too many possible titles
Title #1: If you can't beat em, join em.
So I've been complaining about the apparent lack of deodorant here in Australia for the past couple of weeks. It seems like there is a disproportionate number of people here that skip that morning step. Perhaps it is because there are so many backpackers in the area. Well... this weekend I stayed at a hostel in Manly on Friday night and I...uh... kinda forgot my deodorant. So I was the smelly girl all day long!! Good thing I just spent the whole day at the beach :)
Title #2: Don't hate cuz you ain't.
Australians are pretty friendly people. They seem to like everyone -- very open. But there have been a few derogatory comments made about America. Just a few people on the bus or some random place like that. Not very many at all. In my mind, my response to these people is this: if you are gonna be watching American movies, listening to American music, going to America to buy clothes cuz it is so much cheaper, etc. then stop dissing on America! Don't hate cuz America freaking rocks.
Title #3: Swear words
So apparently the curse word da** isn't considered a swear word here in Australia (I can't bring myself to type it out). It would be comparable to an American saying crap or something. This caught me quite off guard for a little while before I realized that it wasn't considered swearing. It is quite disconcerting when people are saying it as they teach a lesson in church or making a spiritual comment.
Title #4: Nudie beach
I went to Palm Beach today, which was about a 2 hour bus ride from downtown Sydney. It was a perfect day again and I had the best time. However, about half way into the day, I look up from my book only to find the beach has turned into a nudie beach. Okay that may be a slight exaggeration, but I look up and 10 feet to my left is a group of 2 girls and 2 guys and the girls are just sitting there with no tops on! A few minutes later, I hear a ruckus to my right and there is a man running through an obstacle course that culminates in a slip-in-slide into the ocean, wearing nothing but neon yellow suspenders that hold a narrow strip of fabric in front of the gentleman's private parts. What the heck? This is a family beach people! I do not wanna be seeing that!
Title #5: Heather would be so proud.
I've tried sushi twice since I've been here. That's right TWICE! That brings my grand sushi-eating total up to 3 times in my entire life. I'm really branching out here and going a little wild. I would still never order it if I was by myself, but I actually thought it tasted okay.
Title #6: Crazy bus lady.
I sat next to an old lady on the bus the other day and she just started yakking away, telling me her life story. You always kinda cringe when that happens cuz you know you are going to have to talk to that person for an entire hour cuz you are trapped on the bus. But this lady was actually pretty entertaining-- she led a full life to say the least. She spent all of her younger and middle age years traveling the world, and on one of her plane flights she met her future husband-- only he was already married. So they started an affair and he left his wife for her, then as she puts it, they "lived in sin" for 2 years before getting married. Then when she was 65 years old and he was 70, they backpacked around Europe for 4 months. Full out backpacking -- as in staying in hostels, having nothing but what you can carry on your back, days without showering. 65 years old!
Title #7: My redlight experience
My CI set up an experience for me to go watch some surgeries at a local hospital. They told me to be at the hospital at 7:30 am. Since I was unfamiliar with the area, I decided to give myself extra time to get lost. To get there, I had to take a one hour bus ride into the city, then get onto the subway, then walk about a quarter of a mile to the hospital. Well, they failed to mention to me that the hospital was in the freaking redlight district of Sydney!! I get off at the stop and there are ladies of a certain type standing on the sidewalks -- they may not have actually been prostitutes, I'm not sure if it is legal here or whatever, but almost every store along the street was an adult shop or gentlemen's club. In addition, there were lots of homeless people sitting on the side of the street. Not exactly the place a young female wants to be wandering around at 6:30 in the morning! And of course, I get lost on my way to the hospital! But I finally found it, went inside only to find that no one seems to know I'm coming or where to send me. So I basically wander around the hospital, opening doors and walking in. I finally find what appears to be the operating rooms, which they call 'theatres', so I just walk into the bathroom, get some scrubs off the shelf, walk into the operating room and tell them I'm here to watch the surgery. The lady that knew I was coming didn't get there for another hour or so. So I literally just walked into the operating room! I could have been anybody! They didn't know me from Adam -- I could have been deranged!
Oh boy, there are just so many things to tell, but not enough energy to keep typing them all. Suffice it to say, I'm having a great time out here and really enjoying myself. The only thing that would make it better is if I had someone to share more of these things with! I'm making new friends and everything, and have had people to go do things with, but crazily enough they have real lives and can't drop everything to come tour Australia with me. Weird. So I do end up doing a lot of things alone. Better to do them by myself than not do them at all. But as the great Whitney Houston says, "What's the sense of trying hard to find your dreams, without someone to share it with, tell me what does it mean?" I find that people want to go do fun things, not hear me tell them stories about me doing fun things. But, hey, I spent the entire day at the beach, so life ain't really that bad :).
So I've been complaining about the apparent lack of deodorant here in Australia for the past couple of weeks. It seems like there is a disproportionate number of people here that skip that morning step. Perhaps it is because there are so many backpackers in the area. Well... this weekend I stayed at a hostel in Manly on Friday night and I...uh... kinda forgot my deodorant. So I was the smelly girl all day long!! Good thing I just spent the whole day at the beach :)
Title #2: Don't hate cuz you ain't.
Australians are pretty friendly people. They seem to like everyone -- very open. But there have been a few derogatory comments made about America. Just a few people on the bus or some random place like that. Not very many at all. In my mind, my response to these people is this: if you are gonna be watching American movies, listening to American music, going to America to buy clothes cuz it is so much cheaper, etc. then stop dissing on America! Don't hate cuz America freaking rocks.
Title #3: Swear words
So apparently the curse word da** isn't considered a swear word here in Australia (I can't bring myself to type it out). It would be comparable to an American saying crap or something. This caught me quite off guard for a little while before I realized that it wasn't considered swearing. It is quite disconcerting when people are saying it as they teach a lesson in church or making a spiritual comment.
Title #4: Nudie beach
I went to Palm Beach today, which was about a 2 hour bus ride from downtown Sydney. It was a perfect day again and I had the best time. However, about half way into the day, I look up from my book only to find the beach has turned into a nudie beach. Okay that may be a slight exaggeration, but I look up and 10 feet to my left is a group of 2 girls and 2 guys and the girls are just sitting there with no tops on! A few minutes later, I hear a ruckus to my right and there is a man running through an obstacle course that culminates in a slip-in-slide into the ocean, wearing nothing but neon yellow suspenders that hold a narrow strip of fabric in front of the gentleman's private parts. What the heck? This is a family beach people! I do not wanna be seeing that!
Title #5: Heather would be so proud.
I've tried sushi twice since I've been here. That's right TWICE! That brings my grand sushi-eating total up to 3 times in my entire life. I'm really branching out here and going a little wild. I would still never order it if I was by myself, but I actually thought it tasted okay.
Title #6: Crazy bus lady.
I sat next to an old lady on the bus the other day and she just started yakking away, telling me her life story. You always kinda cringe when that happens cuz you know you are going to have to talk to that person for an entire hour cuz you are trapped on the bus. But this lady was actually pretty entertaining-- she led a full life to say the least. She spent all of her younger and middle age years traveling the world, and on one of her plane flights she met her future husband-- only he was already married. So they started an affair and he left his wife for her, then as she puts it, they "lived in sin" for 2 years before getting married. Then when she was 65 years old and he was 70, they backpacked around Europe for 4 months. Full out backpacking -- as in staying in hostels, having nothing but what you can carry on your back, days without showering. 65 years old!
Title #7: My redlight experience
My CI set up an experience for me to go watch some surgeries at a local hospital. They told me to be at the hospital at 7:30 am. Since I was unfamiliar with the area, I decided to give myself extra time to get lost. To get there, I had to take a one hour bus ride into the city, then get onto the subway, then walk about a quarter of a mile to the hospital. Well, they failed to mention to me that the hospital was in the freaking redlight district of Sydney!! I get off at the stop and there are ladies of a certain type standing on the sidewalks -- they may not have actually been prostitutes, I'm not sure if it is legal here or whatever, but almost every store along the street was an adult shop or gentlemen's club. In addition, there were lots of homeless people sitting on the side of the street. Not exactly the place a young female wants to be wandering around at 6:30 in the morning! And of course, I get lost on my way to the hospital! But I finally found it, went inside only to find that no one seems to know I'm coming or where to send me. So I basically wander around the hospital, opening doors and walking in. I finally find what appears to be the operating rooms, which they call 'theatres', so I just walk into the bathroom, get some scrubs off the shelf, walk into the operating room and tell them I'm here to watch the surgery. The lady that knew I was coming didn't get there for another hour or so. So I literally just walked into the operating room! I could have been anybody! They didn't know me from Adam -- I could have been deranged!
Oh boy, there are just so many things to tell, but not enough energy to keep typing them all. Suffice it to say, I'm having a great time out here and really enjoying myself. The only thing that would make it better is if I had someone to share more of these things with! I'm making new friends and everything, and have had people to go do things with, but crazily enough they have real lives and can't drop everything to come tour Australia with me. Weird. So I do end up doing a lot of things alone. Better to do them by myself than not do them at all. But as the great Whitney Houston says, "What's the sense of trying hard to find your dreams, without someone to share it with, tell me what does it mean?" I find that people want to go do fun things, not hear me tell them stories about me doing fun things. But, hey, I spent the entire day at the beach, so life ain't really that bad :).
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Australian word of the day
Word number 1:
Naughty. For example, "I was very naughty today." These Aussie's use it all the time.
Naughty. For example, "I was very naughty today." These Aussie's use it all the time.
Monday, March 1, 2010
So this is what it is like to have a wife…
I’ve always been jealous of my classmates who have these fantastic meals prepared by their wives or lovely little sack lunches. Well, now I get to experience the joy of having someone prepare my lunches for me – the sweet lady that I am staying with here in Australia offered to make me a sack lunch for work. And when I got home from work today, dinner was waiting for me on the table! How awesome is that? I’m probably more excited about that than I should be, but seriously, coming home after a long day of work or school and having to either cook something or eat frozen microwave bleckiness is not nearly as much fun as having a warm, tasty meal on the table when you walk in the door!
Going back a little bit, I arrived in Australia on Saturday morning at 7:15 a.m. The trip over was quite brutal (2 hours early at SLC airport, 2 hour flight to L.A., 2 hour layover in L.A., 14 hour flight to Sydney), but luckily I had a great book that took me about 6 hours to read, so that helped the time go by much faster. At the airport, a lovely girl from one of the wards named Anna picked me up (after I spent about an hour going through immigration/customs). Thank goodness for Annie, a lady in my parent’s ward, who helped find accommodations and a ride from the airport for me! I’m staying with a wonderful family in Castle Hills – it is a young couple with two boys (ages 3 and 2). They have been so amazingly kind to me so far. I have my own room and everything.
It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees, quite humid, sun shining, smell of flowers in the air, so they took me to Collaroy beach and we spent the afternoon playing in the surf and eating fish and chips. I also had my first Australian hamburger, which consists of everything pretty much – bun, hamburger, lettuce, tomato, egg, onion, pineapple, and barbeque sauce. Very delicious.
I went to church the next day, which was pretty much the same except for crying babies. I’m going to a family ward because there is only one singles ward in the whole area and rumor has it that it isn’t very good. Plus it would take me an hour to get there every Sunday. It sounds like most young single adults go to the family wards. They have a young single adult Sunday school class, but I’m not a huge fan of it so far – everyone is very nice and the teachers were absolutely fantastic, but it just kinda had the feel of being back in seminary again rather than an adult. The funny part is I have had the same Sunday school lesson the past 3 Sundays-- once in my parent's ward, once in the 37th singles ward, and once here. Each class focused on a totally different part of the lesson out of the manual though, which was interesting to me. I went to a young single adult fireside that night as well, which was fun.
I’m getting a tad bored of typing, so here is a summary of the rest – rode the bus into Sydney this morning, went to my internship (very modern, high tech place), wandered around a bit, rode bus home, had dinner (missionaries came over), read the kids bedtime stories, and here we are. I’m going to enjoy my internship a lot, maybe I’ll write more about that later.
Being in a different country, staying with a family I’ve never met before, starting a new internship, and having to make new friends is a little bit overwhelming, but I’m enjoying it already. There are so many things that are done differently here and it has been fun to learn them! The language is actually giving me more problems than I thought it would. They use the same words, but they have totally different meanings. For example, instead of napkin they say serviette and I’m 80% sure they use napkin to mean diaper-- or maybe it is nappy. They love to abbreviate everything too – Feb instead of February, Macker’s instead of McDonald’s, Uni instead of University, etc. Rock up means to show up (i.e. my boss told me to rock up at 9 am). Those are just a couple of examples, but seriously, sometimes I have no idea what people are saying. I either have to have them repeat it a couple times or I just smile and nod like I know what is going on.
The driving on the other side of the road thing is kinda trippy too. It is the turns that are the weirdest. You wouldn’t think it would be that complicated, but to break the habit of 24 years of driving on the right side of the road is kinda difficult. I’m still trying to figure out which side of the sidewalk I’m supposed to walk on.
Anyway, off to bed I go! It is only 9:00 p.m., but I’m still a bit jet lagged. It is a 19 hour time difference.
Going back a little bit, I arrived in Australia on Saturday morning at 7:15 a.m. The trip over was quite brutal (2 hours early at SLC airport, 2 hour flight to L.A., 2 hour layover in L.A., 14 hour flight to Sydney), but luckily I had a great book that took me about 6 hours to read, so that helped the time go by much faster. At the airport, a lovely girl from one of the wards named Anna picked me up (after I spent about an hour going through immigration/customs). Thank goodness for Annie, a lady in my parent’s ward, who helped find accommodations and a ride from the airport for me! I’m staying with a wonderful family in Castle Hills – it is a young couple with two boys (ages 3 and 2). They have been so amazingly kind to me so far. I have my own room and everything.
It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees, quite humid, sun shining, smell of flowers in the air, so they took me to Collaroy beach and we spent the afternoon playing in the surf and eating fish and chips. I also had my first Australian hamburger, which consists of everything pretty much – bun, hamburger, lettuce, tomato, egg, onion, pineapple, and barbeque sauce. Very delicious.
I went to church the next day, which was pretty much the same except for crying babies. I’m going to a family ward because there is only one singles ward in the whole area and rumor has it that it isn’t very good. Plus it would take me an hour to get there every Sunday. It sounds like most young single adults go to the family wards. They have a young single adult Sunday school class, but I’m not a huge fan of it so far – everyone is very nice and the teachers were absolutely fantastic, but it just kinda had the feel of being back in seminary again rather than an adult. The funny part is I have had the same Sunday school lesson the past 3 Sundays-- once in my parent's ward, once in the 37th singles ward, and once here. Each class focused on a totally different part of the lesson out of the manual though, which was interesting to me. I went to a young single adult fireside that night as well, which was fun.
I’m getting a tad bored of typing, so here is a summary of the rest – rode the bus into Sydney this morning, went to my internship (very modern, high tech place), wandered around a bit, rode bus home, had dinner (missionaries came over), read the kids bedtime stories, and here we are. I’m going to enjoy my internship a lot, maybe I’ll write more about that later.
Being in a different country, staying with a family I’ve never met before, starting a new internship, and having to make new friends is a little bit overwhelming, but I’m enjoying it already. There are so many things that are done differently here and it has been fun to learn them! The language is actually giving me more problems than I thought it would. They use the same words, but they have totally different meanings. For example, instead of napkin they say serviette and I’m 80% sure they use napkin to mean diaper-- or maybe it is nappy. They love to abbreviate everything too – Feb instead of February, Macker’s instead of McDonald’s, Uni instead of University, etc. Rock up means to show up (i.e. my boss told me to rock up at 9 am). Those are just a couple of examples, but seriously, sometimes I have no idea what people are saying. I either have to have them repeat it a couple times or I just smile and nod like I know what is going on.
The driving on the other side of the road thing is kinda trippy too. It is the turns that are the weirdest. You wouldn’t think it would be that complicated, but to break the habit of 24 years of driving on the right side of the road is kinda difficult. I’m still trying to figure out which side of the sidewalk I’m supposed to walk on.
Anyway, off to bed I go! It is only 9:00 p.m., but I’m still a bit jet lagged. It is a 19 hour time difference.
Monday, February 15, 2010
I'm on a roll...
... Two blog posts in less than a week.
People are so nice.
If I stop and think of all the nice things people do for me every day, I am overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the people I'm surrounded by. For example, this weekend my mom, dad, and brother came and helped me move all of my mounds of stuff to my parent's house. That same Saturday, one of my patients at work gave me a little box of chocolates as a Valentines Day gift. My roommate Red also got me a little something for Valentines Day. My sister is always sending thoughtful little notes and thank you's, and this V-Day she sent a little card from my nephew. It is always the little every day things that mean so much -- when you come home from an awful day at work and you get a little card in the mail, or your friends sit and listen to you whine incessantly.
It reminds me of a story I recently read in the book My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging by Rachel Naomi Remen, the author of Kitchen Table Wisdom. If you haven't read KTW, I HIGHLY recommend it. Anyway, here is a cut and paste version of the story (my book is packed away, so I had to pull this story from different websites) ...
Dr. Remen told a story about Molly, one of her former patients who had been hospitalized with fractures of both elbows. She had been in an automobile accident as she was driving to the airport in a city 2,000 miles away from her home. When she awoke in the hospital, her arms were encased in rigid casts that went from her shoulders to her wrists. She could become dangerously ill if she inadvertently ate the wrong things. It was critical that her food needs were addressed while she was in the hospital.
Soon after she was settled in her bed, a dietician took more than an hour to document carefully her unusual food needs. "The questions that she asked were so thoughtful," Molly told Dr. Remen, "she really knew her stuff. In all of these years, no one has ever asked me some of those questions or understood so quickly and completely how things were with me. I was really impressed."
Within a few hours, special food was ordered for Molly. Three times a day, this food was served to her by food service staff that brought it to her bedside, put it on her bed table, and left it on a tray. Then they left. The first time this happened, she told Dr. Remen, "I just sat there looking at the food unable to feed myself. I was certain that someone would come in to help me, but no one did. After a while, the woman in the next bed noticed that I could not eat. Trailing her own IV lines, she got out of bed and fed me my dinner." That same thing happened at every meal in the 4 days that Molly was in the hospital without the use of her arms. No one on the staff ever offered to feed her. Day after day, the right food would be bought in and the patient in the next bed would feed it to her.
In Hell people are seated at a table overflowing with delicious food. But they have splints on their elbows and so they cannot reach their mouths with their spoons. They sit through eternity experiencing a terrible hunger in the midst of abundance. In Heaven people are also seated at a table overflowing with delicious food. They, too, have splints on their elbows and cannot reach their mouths. But, in Heaven, people use their spoons to feed one another. Perhaps Hell is always of our own making. In the end, the difference between Heaven and Hell may only be that in Hell, people have forgotten how to bless one another.
People are so nice.
If I stop and think of all the nice things people do for me every day, I am overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the people I'm surrounded by. For example, this weekend my mom, dad, and brother came and helped me move all of my mounds of stuff to my parent's house. That same Saturday, one of my patients at work gave me a little box of chocolates as a Valentines Day gift. My roommate Red also got me a little something for Valentines Day. My sister is always sending thoughtful little notes and thank you's, and this V-Day she sent a little card from my nephew. It is always the little every day things that mean so much -- when you come home from an awful day at work and you get a little card in the mail, or your friends sit and listen to you whine incessantly.
It reminds me of a story I recently read in the book My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging by Rachel Naomi Remen, the author of Kitchen Table Wisdom. If you haven't read KTW, I HIGHLY recommend it. Anyway, here is a cut and paste version of the story (my book is packed away, so I had to pull this story from different websites) ...
Dr. Remen told a story about Molly, one of her former patients who had been hospitalized with fractures of both elbows. She had been in an automobile accident as she was driving to the airport in a city 2,000 miles away from her home. When she awoke in the hospital, her arms were encased in rigid casts that went from her shoulders to her wrists. She could become dangerously ill if she inadvertently ate the wrong things. It was critical that her food needs were addressed while she was in the hospital.
Soon after she was settled in her bed, a dietician took more than an hour to document carefully her unusual food needs. "The questions that she asked were so thoughtful," Molly told Dr. Remen, "she really knew her stuff. In all of these years, no one has ever asked me some of those questions or understood so quickly and completely how things were with me. I was really impressed."
Within a few hours, special food was ordered for Molly. Three times a day, this food was served to her by food service staff that brought it to her bedside, put it on her bed table, and left it on a tray. Then they left. The first time this happened, she told Dr. Remen, "I just sat there looking at the food unable to feed myself. I was certain that someone would come in to help me, but no one did. After a while, the woman in the next bed noticed that I could not eat. Trailing her own IV lines, she got out of bed and fed me my dinner." That same thing happened at every meal in the 4 days that Molly was in the hospital without the use of her arms. No one on the staff ever offered to feed her. Day after day, the right food would be bought in and the patient in the next bed would feed it to her.
In Hell people are seated at a table overflowing with delicious food. But they have splints on their elbows and so they cannot reach their mouths with their spoons. They sit through eternity experiencing a terrible hunger in the midst of abundance. In Heaven people are also seated at a table overflowing with delicious food. They, too, have splints on their elbows and cannot reach their mouths. But, in Heaven, people use their spoons to feed one another. Perhaps Hell is always of our own making. In the end, the difference between Heaven and Hell may only be that in Hell, people have forgotten how to bless one another.
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