Sydney is great, the area i live in is great...trouble with work though has made it difficult though. I'm really tired of talking about it, but it all boils down to me wanting to learn a lot more than I think I will be learning at work. The end of this week will really tell and it might even include a move of internship. but we will see.
In other, better news, Sydney has been great this week. IT IS FINALY WARM! Though the good thing is that while it is warmer, I am still a cold kid so my new jacket and uggs (which say what you will about them, but those things are comfy and warm...but should never be worn with a mini skirt. I’m just sayin.) have gone to good use. I just didn’t realize it would be so cold, and I did not bring any, so I had to purchase. Went to the Blue Mountains and seriously did not realize how much I missed trees and green stuff! it was so good to walk outside and see flowers and nature! I feel silly, but I just didn't realize how different it is to go from a green area to a city. I want to go back and go rock climbing there. My coffee folks (the folks that serve the best coffee and a place I go to all the time) showed us pics of when they climbed halfway up this face and then ate lunch and then kept on climbing up. I wanna do that, haha! Randomly met a lady with a BAMA sweatshirt this week (right after Clemson had played them) and I bout scared her to death because she had just walked out of her apt and it was like 8 at night (which here means is it already dark and has been for about 2 hours) and I was like “HEEEY, are you from Alabama!” She literally jumped, haha. Random, but she was an Aussie that had gone to BAMA for basketball for a few years.
Overall I feel like I am getting in the swing of living here. I don’t feel incredibly uneasy walking home from the bus stop, or the grocery store, or walking back from church. Not saying I think that I am totally safe here! I am just saying that every twig that cracks doesn’t make me jump, haha. It’s interesting to see myself, not as a student, but adjusting to a completely different area as a member of society. Weird being a big kid, haha.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
A New Week
Today i went off to work without my daily coffee because remy and lee's is not open on mondays and apparently that was a a real bad decision for me to skip out on that coffee because i could not focus what so ever... literally, I spent like the whole day writing two articles. As interesting as the fact that i had no attention span today, i more want to tell you about the little things that were good today.
1.Listening to the Newspring evangelism service: I finally downloaded the podcast and listened to it on the bus as i went to work. Well i completely didn't realize that i missed newspring church that much cause all of a sudden i am so into this podcast that i am laughing out loud at the weird jokes Perry Noble makes and i look like some crazy lady laughing in the streets of some suburb (kingsford). I couldn't stop listening to this podcast though, so from the bus to work and to the bus to my house i kept doing the "pretend like your not laughing but only coughing" the entire way.
2.We listen to the their public radio at Belinda's (work) and as i am writing i get sucked into this interview with Douglas Kirkland (who currently has a show going on in Brisbane) and let me tell you...I want to be able to have these crazy cool photography moments that he has had. They focused a lot on his pics of Marylin Monroe (the one with her only in a sheet) and the way he was just talking about the celebrities and the way his photos are...he just captures people. I want to capture people as a photographer. This pic, and the story he told about Judy Garland as an adult being sad and overworked just really showed the effort he took into getting the people inside the he worked with. I loved it.
3.I finally am feeling like i am slowly going past encouraging comparative conversations and I am so glad about that. Since i am obviously American that is an easy go to topic in a conversation with new folks (like the weather) and i didn't realize that i wanted to be over it, until tonight. i met my friend's housemates and watched x factor with them (by the way Natalie Imbrulia looks crazy good these days) and then they got talking about some drama that really doesn't concern me...but it was so nice to talk about normal stuff! It felt good not to compare tv shows, or music, or politics, or money, or culture, but just talk about normal 20 something year old stuff. I think it is the sign of good things to come.
Australian translation of the day:
Bogan (Bo-gin): a hillbilly
1.Listening to the Newspring evangelism service: I finally downloaded the podcast and listened to it on the bus as i went to work. Well i completely didn't realize that i missed newspring church that much cause all of a sudden i am so into this podcast that i am laughing out loud at the weird jokes Perry Noble makes and i look like some crazy lady laughing in the streets of some suburb (kingsford). I couldn't stop listening to this podcast though, so from the bus to work and to the bus to my house i kept doing the "pretend like your not laughing but only coughing" the entire way.
2.We listen to the their public radio at Belinda's (work) and as i am writing i get sucked into this interview with Douglas Kirkland (who currently has a show going on in Brisbane) and let me tell you...I want to be able to have these crazy cool photography moments that he has had. They focused a lot on his pics of Marylin Monroe (the one with her only in a sheet) and the way he was just talking about the celebrities and the way his photos are...he just captures people. I want to capture people as a photographer. This pic, and the story he told about Judy Garland as an adult being sad and overworked just really showed the effort he took into getting the people inside the he worked with. I loved it.
3.I finally am feeling like i am slowly going past encouraging comparative conversations and I am so glad about that. Since i am obviously American that is an easy go to topic in a conversation with new folks (like the weather) and i didn't realize that i wanted to be over it, until tonight. i met my friend's housemates and watched x factor with them (by the way Natalie Imbrulia looks crazy good these days) and then they got talking about some drama that really doesn't concern me...but it was so nice to talk about normal stuff! It felt good not to compare tv shows, or music, or politics, or money, or culture, but just talk about normal 20 something year old stuff. I think it is the sign of good things to come.
Australian translation of the day:
Bogan (Bo-gin): a hillbilly
Friday, September 10, 2010
Collection of the last few days
The longest day ever (aka they ride there)
I began in Charlotte, NC and left at 3:50 where I was then transported to Dallas, TX then to Los Angeles where I boarded the plane at 11:50pm (yeah that is 2:50 east coast time…and I was very sleepy). On the plane I sat next to a Sydney native named Mark who informed me that he had originally been on a plane to Sydney that had been scheduled to leave the previous day, but one of the engines had blown up on the way and it forced them to have to turn around and head back to San Fran where they were they stayed the night then eventually were sent to LA to board my flight. A woman sitting behind me got paid $500 dollars for the photo she took of the broken engine. Overall the entire plane experience was great, everyone was nice and I ended up meeting some Clemson people in Dallas and LA, haha. The only downfall to the experience was the ride international department in LA and that my carryon bag that was checked in Charlotte is missing, which is really scary.
I landed in Sydney and then was taken to my house in Surry Hills, where I was expecting to fine my Real World-esque house with 5 other people. In actuality the house is more like a “Hey Arnold” type deal only my neighbors when I excitedly say “Hi” to them at 8 in the morning just stare at me like a crazy person. I don’t know if anyone else who lives here is from my internship program (IEP), but I did meet a guy who lives a few houses down from IEP and it is really nice to have someone who will explore the area/city with me. I keep leave my door propped open when I am in my room so I can meet people, but it is turning out to be actually a really big feet seeing as how that door problem weighs as much as I do and the little plastic chair in my room is not very strong. The most I’ve gotten out of that is the passerby speedily saying hello as they dart out the door. Apparently there are at most ten people that live in my house, but I am really only aware of around four. My room is nice though; there is a microwave, refrigerator, tv and dvd player included. The only draw back to my room is that it is the closest room to the street and the windows do not entirely seal at the bottom (they lock perfectly, so they are safe) so the sounds of the street (along with the cold air) enter through the room and I had to sleep with a playlist playing last night so that I could fall asleep.
It is actually really cold here. I knew that it was spring going into summer (though summer doesn’t really come into being really hot until December) but I still had in my mind that it would be a warm mid 70 and sunny throughout spring. In reality it has been more of a dreary (as in rainy) 65 and I am seriously considering purchasing an everyday jacket since I really don’t want to wear my work blazers all the time and my big hoodies are both in the carry on bag that is lost.
Side note: I bought some Tim Tams and they truly are all they are brought up to be. They are these chocolate covered cookie (or biscuit as they say here) sandwiches and they are tasty.
Day 2
I woke up at the crack of dawn, partially because of the time difference and partially because I am pretty sure someone was drag racing outside my window (and they say the speed limit is more heavily enforced in Australia…). This is good though because I was afraid I would sleep through 9:00am which is when I needed to get up so I could be read by 10am to go with Andrew (my fellow IEP man) on our search to find the place where we are having out meeting at 11am. So I watched about three episodes of the office and then decided to go on a search for a coffee shop and more importantly wifi (since in the states they are pretty much synonymous). I guess people here actually want to get away from working on things in the morning because apparently Surry Hills does not have cafes with wireless. I have yet to tell anyone that I have made it here to Australia and I wish that it wasn’t the case, because A: I like being connected to the loved one and B: to ease the any worry (which is mainly from my mother, haha). This coffee place has good coffee is good though and I like the décor, so I might consider coming here again before work on Monday. Australia seems to be a pretty decent meld between Britain and America, the look of people is mainly European, but it has a more laid back feel like America. The buildings are pretty trendy in Surry Hills and I feel like it has a Little Five Points (in GA) feel, and while I don’t recognize all the brands there is the periodic Ben and Jerry’s and E channel add on the side of a building or bus.
The Weekend
I clump the weekend because A: I have no idea what day it is here most of the time because of the skipped day and B: because jet lag hit me worse here and I find myself sleepy around, let’s say…3…pm, haha. I started buying room needs like 3m hooks, food, duster stuff (my room is in MAJOR need of dusting)…pretty much all the necessities of my existence here. On Friday we met the other interns in the area (3 other girls) and they are all really nice. We hung out with them during lunchtime and then separated for a little then met up for dinner again.
Sunday I went to Hillsong church and I knew that it was relatively close by (20 to 30 minute walk) and since I was up early (2am early) I went and had breakfast around 8 or so and got directions (well directions that got to me the area Hillsong was in) from the restaurant I ate that morning. I left nice and early and headed straight on crown street to where it meets dank street…I followed crown street until it ended and never came across dank street (this is most likely due to the fact that the street are not always labeled). At that time a Hillsong bus drove past me and then I decided to follow it in hopes that it would lead me to Hillsong…I was wrong. The Hillsong buses go pick up at random spots and the next thing I know I am on a street at an intersection that is about ten minutes from my house…in the opposite direction of Hillsong. It took me two hours to get there. The weird thing about it is that I really did not mind getting lost. I didn’t even know when the services started or where it was before I got to the restaurant I ate that morning, but I was just walking to there to get there and if I could not get there this week then I would get there next week. I got to see a lot of the city and that I liked.
First Day at Sheinspires.com.au
The first day of work was also my first day using the bus and I was told to take the M10 bus to get to Kingsford. I took the M10 bus and ended up in the Lanchester…40 minutes on the opposite side. I called Belinda to let her know that I was on the wrong side town and that I would be there in about 40 minutes and she instead came to pick me up and ended up showing me around the city so in the end it worked out well (Lanchester has a lot of great cafes and I found a gluten free place where I chatted with the owners daughter about Disney land). Work was less about work and more about seeing the city and getting introduced to being at Belinda’s house and being with Belinda. Belinda seems nice and outspoken, and she is really great on giving me information about the culture or the area(s) of Australia. I think we are going to get along really well.
After work I rode the bus home (and thankfully found myself back home after asking a stranger how to get to a street near my house) and walked there as quickly as I could because by that time the skin on the tops of my toes was being rubbed raw by wearing heals all day (or so I thought). I got home took of my shoes to find my pups actually ok, but just a little soar from the wear and a baby blister getting started on my left ring toe, and then called the airport about my missing bag. The airport told me that my bag would be here between the hours of 8 and 11...I am not completely used to the time difference so the time gap might as well be from midnight to 3am. So to help me stay up I decided to walk to the grocery store and pick up some band-aids for my poor rubbed toes. At the time this felt like a smart idea because it was only 7:30 and the area I live in is pretty trendy and well traveled, but it ended up being a very big awakening for this Clemson gal that she is in a large city and needs to be considerate of that fact. Nothing bad happened, it just that as I was walking I found myself to be the only girl on the sidewalk and on top of that there was a large presence of the loud, drunk, wanderer roaming the streets either peddling the street for change or trying to intimidate the lowly pedestrian. What I forgot when I was walking, was that the grocery store was actually a ten minute walk away and the street it is on is not the most heavily trafficked street…it is the next street. So I finally got to the store, purchased my things and then started to walk home, but then as I was about to cross the street I saw a group of loud, drink wanderers and decided to take another way home. The walk, again, is not a dangerous one in the daylight, but at night when you are a small girl from a small town it is not trafficked enough by people and not lit enough to ease any of the scary scenarios that were running through my mind. From now on I am bringing people with me if I am walking at night.
Google The sick rapper (I think that is his name). He is some Ausi sounding man (I am realizing that I can not tell Ausi accents from Kiwi accents from even some British accents…pompous American? Maybe. But they aren’t as distinctive as say a southern accent from a Californian accent so, whatevs) and he survived living in quarantine with TB and during his recovery he rapped (I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the America’s rock hip hop and rap…everyone else’s is not as good in my opinion…MY OPINION) his experience and became a myspace phenom. Well now he is out livin it up and he is doing this thing for charity called “30 days hath September” where, from my understanding, he gets people to sponsor him and for the entire month of September he is doing something he has never done before. One day he and a friend went down to Bondi beach dressed up as cows and allowed kids to go cow tipping, and another day he went around washing folks windows for free…the point of it is is to just live life to the fullest and learn a few things a long the way. I think it is just a really cool project and I love the idea for mad support for the sick rapper.
p.s. I head about this guy from his radio interview on the abc radio which is pretty much one big college-esque radio station (as in it is an alternative station that only plays new up and coming, mainly Australian, stuff that isn’t in the top 40 yet…like a song called “Barbra Streisand” <-Google that too) that is nationally put out. The US needs to jump on that bandwagon and make a national college-esque radio station.
Powerhouse at Hillsong church
Every Wednesday starting at 7:30 is this thing called powerhouse which is a service for 18-25 yr olds and it was actually really nice because there were people my age and really that was a major part of my desire to go to begin with, because I just want to get all the set things of fun normal life set already, haha. I know that I just got here and it takes a while to meet people and such, but I just want it all done already! So I went to Hillsong powerhouse and asked a girl from church who I had met on Sunday if she would go with me (poor thing, I never saw her the entire time I was there because I was late due to trying to find a cab and then couldn’t find her once I got in). Well when I walked in I met a girl and she introduced me to some really nice people and the whole thing was really great but the meeting of those people is not really what I want to stress at this moment, what I really want t talk about is just the difference in worship people have here.
The music of course was great (it is Hillsong after all) but what really was nice is that it wasn’t the same Hillsong songs that I am used to hearing back home, they were new and different and while I know they weren’t new and different to everyone else there (because they were all singing the words and if you are reading the words on the screen it is literally really hard to do because all the words are on one screen and that screen is directly behind the entire band…and it ain’t real big) I just loved having the difference. What also struck me as crazy was that people weren’t just waiting for the worship leader to cue the next verse; they also came in at their own time and created one big harmonious song that really showed that they literally were worshiping in their own way. What struck me more was that during the final worship song, after the sermon, people not only were worshipping, but they were going up to people around them or people they knew and just praying for people. They just walked up, asked ‘em if they needed anything to be prayed over and then either laid a hand on them or hugged their neck (addin a lil South Carolina in there) and prayed for them. To me this just reads a good degree of care for people and their needs and just plain interest in what is going on in people’s lives. Sometimes it’s easier for us (or me at least) to get stuck in my head that worship is just about God and I, and while yes it is to some extent, I think it’s also important to consider the fact that you are worshiping with others too and in that you realize that you are not going at this Christianity thing alone and you have like minded folks who just like you have flaws and you can build each other up to ultimately make you and them a better follower of Christ.
I realize that many of you are probably wondering if all I did during the praise and worship time was just people watch, but honestly praise and worship for me while I was there partly engaging in worship and partly realizing that in this case there is no wrong way to eat a reeses. Realizing that while I may find comfort in my back home ways of worshiping, changes in culture bring in different ways of worship and…and I just have a lot to learn about the vastness of God and his creation and all of our difference. Today was just a really long day for this college yank (any American is a yank here apparently), and this Hillsong trip was just a good (aka reminder not the sweat the small things) ending.
Also, I miss the black fellow (it’s PC to use that term here)…and the brown fellow (they don’t have lots of brown here, so I don’t know if it’s PC to say this, but I’m using it).
There you have the last few days in a series of highlights! And trust me, even the Aussies think it's funny that "Sidni is in Sydney"
I began in Charlotte, NC and left at 3:50 where I was then transported to Dallas, TX then to Los Angeles where I boarded the plane at 11:50pm (yeah that is 2:50 east coast time…and I was very sleepy). On the plane I sat next to a Sydney native named Mark who informed me that he had originally been on a plane to Sydney that had been scheduled to leave the previous day, but one of the engines had blown up on the way and it forced them to have to turn around and head back to San Fran where they were they stayed the night then eventually were sent to LA to board my flight. A woman sitting behind me got paid $500 dollars for the photo she took of the broken engine. Overall the entire plane experience was great, everyone was nice and I ended up meeting some Clemson people in Dallas and LA, haha. The only downfall to the experience was the ride international department in LA and that my carryon bag that was checked in Charlotte is missing, which is really scary.
I landed in Sydney and then was taken to my house in Surry Hills, where I was expecting to fine my Real World-esque house with 5 other people. In actuality the house is more like a “Hey Arnold” type deal only my neighbors when I excitedly say “Hi” to them at 8 in the morning just stare at me like a crazy person. I don’t know if anyone else who lives here is from my internship program (IEP), but I did meet a guy who lives a few houses down from IEP and it is really nice to have someone who will explore the area/city with me. I keep leave my door propped open when I am in my room so I can meet people, but it is turning out to be actually a really big feet seeing as how that door problem weighs as much as I do and the little plastic chair in my room is not very strong. The most I’ve gotten out of that is the passerby speedily saying hello as they dart out the door. Apparently there are at most ten people that live in my house, but I am really only aware of around four. My room is nice though; there is a microwave, refrigerator, tv and dvd player included. The only draw back to my room is that it is the closest room to the street and the windows do not entirely seal at the bottom (they lock perfectly, so they are safe) so the sounds of the street (along with the cold air) enter through the room and I had to sleep with a playlist playing last night so that I could fall asleep.
It is actually really cold here. I knew that it was spring going into summer (though summer doesn’t really come into being really hot until December) but I still had in my mind that it would be a warm mid 70 and sunny throughout spring. In reality it has been more of a dreary (as in rainy) 65 and I am seriously considering purchasing an everyday jacket since I really don’t want to wear my work blazers all the time and my big hoodies are both in the carry on bag that is lost.
Side note: I bought some Tim Tams and they truly are all they are brought up to be. They are these chocolate covered cookie (or biscuit as they say here) sandwiches and they are tasty.
Day 2
I woke up at the crack of dawn, partially because of the time difference and partially because I am pretty sure someone was drag racing outside my window (and they say the speed limit is more heavily enforced in Australia…). This is good though because I was afraid I would sleep through 9:00am which is when I needed to get up so I could be read by 10am to go with Andrew (my fellow IEP man) on our search to find the place where we are having out meeting at 11am. So I watched about three episodes of the office and then decided to go on a search for a coffee shop and more importantly wifi (since in the states they are pretty much synonymous). I guess people here actually want to get away from working on things in the morning because apparently Surry Hills does not have cafes with wireless. I have yet to tell anyone that I have made it here to Australia and I wish that it wasn’t the case, because A: I like being connected to the loved one and B: to ease the any worry (which is mainly from my mother, haha). This coffee place has good coffee is good though and I like the décor, so I might consider coming here again before work on Monday. Australia seems to be a pretty decent meld between Britain and America, the look of people is mainly European, but it has a more laid back feel like America. The buildings are pretty trendy in Surry Hills and I feel like it has a Little Five Points (in GA) feel, and while I don’t recognize all the brands there is the periodic Ben and Jerry’s and E channel add on the side of a building or bus.
The Weekend
I clump the weekend because A: I have no idea what day it is here most of the time because of the skipped day and B: because jet lag hit me worse here and I find myself sleepy around, let’s say…3…pm, haha. I started buying room needs like 3m hooks, food, duster stuff (my room is in MAJOR need of dusting)…pretty much all the necessities of my existence here. On Friday we met the other interns in the area (3 other girls) and they are all really nice. We hung out with them during lunchtime and then separated for a little then met up for dinner again.
Sunday I went to Hillsong church and I knew that it was relatively close by (20 to 30 minute walk) and since I was up early (2am early) I went and had breakfast around 8 or so and got directions (well directions that got to me the area Hillsong was in) from the restaurant I ate that morning. I left nice and early and headed straight on crown street to where it meets dank street…I followed crown street until it ended and never came across dank street (this is most likely due to the fact that the street are not always labeled). At that time a Hillsong bus drove past me and then I decided to follow it in hopes that it would lead me to Hillsong…I was wrong. The Hillsong buses go pick up at random spots and the next thing I know I am on a street at an intersection that is about ten minutes from my house…in the opposite direction of Hillsong. It took me two hours to get there. The weird thing about it is that I really did not mind getting lost. I didn’t even know when the services started or where it was before I got to the restaurant I ate that morning, but I was just walking to there to get there and if I could not get there this week then I would get there next week. I got to see a lot of the city and that I liked.
First Day at Sheinspires.com.au
The first day of work was also my first day using the bus and I was told to take the M10 bus to get to Kingsford. I took the M10 bus and ended up in the Lanchester…40 minutes on the opposite side. I called Belinda to let her know that I was on the wrong side town and that I would be there in about 40 minutes and she instead came to pick me up and ended up showing me around the city so in the end it worked out well (Lanchester has a lot of great cafes and I found a gluten free place where I chatted with the owners daughter about Disney land). Work was less about work and more about seeing the city and getting introduced to being at Belinda’s house and being with Belinda. Belinda seems nice and outspoken, and she is really great on giving me information about the culture or the area(s) of Australia. I think we are going to get along really well.
After work I rode the bus home (and thankfully found myself back home after asking a stranger how to get to a street near my house) and walked there as quickly as I could because by that time the skin on the tops of my toes was being rubbed raw by wearing heals all day (or so I thought). I got home took of my shoes to find my pups actually ok, but just a little soar from the wear and a baby blister getting started on my left ring toe, and then called the airport about my missing bag. The airport told me that my bag would be here between the hours of 8 and 11...I am not completely used to the time difference so the time gap might as well be from midnight to 3am. So to help me stay up I decided to walk to the grocery store and pick up some band-aids for my poor rubbed toes. At the time this felt like a smart idea because it was only 7:30 and the area I live in is pretty trendy and well traveled, but it ended up being a very big awakening for this Clemson gal that she is in a large city and needs to be considerate of that fact. Nothing bad happened, it just that as I was walking I found myself to be the only girl on the sidewalk and on top of that there was a large presence of the loud, drunk, wanderer roaming the streets either peddling the street for change or trying to intimidate the lowly pedestrian. What I forgot when I was walking, was that the grocery store was actually a ten minute walk away and the street it is on is not the most heavily trafficked street…it is the next street. So I finally got to the store, purchased my things and then started to walk home, but then as I was about to cross the street I saw a group of loud, drink wanderers and decided to take another way home. The walk, again, is not a dangerous one in the daylight, but at night when you are a small girl from a small town it is not trafficked enough by people and not lit enough to ease any of the scary scenarios that were running through my mind. From now on I am bringing people with me if I am walking at night.
Google The sick rapper (I think that is his name). He is some Ausi sounding man (I am realizing that I can not tell Ausi accents from Kiwi accents from even some British accents…pompous American? Maybe. But they aren’t as distinctive as say a southern accent from a Californian accent so, whatevs) and he survived living in quarantine with TB and during his recovery he rapped (I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the America’s rock hip hop and rap…everyone else’s is not as good in my opinion…MY OPINION) his experience and became a myspace phenom. Well now he is out livin it up and he is doing this thing for charity called “30 days hath September” where, from my understanding, he gets people to sponsor him and for the entire month of September he is doing something he has never done before. One day he and a friend went down to Bondi beach dressed up as cows and allowed kids to go cow tipping, and another day he went around washing folks windows for free…the point of it is is to just live life to the fullest and learn a few things a long the way. I think it is just a really cool project and I love the idea for mad support for the sick rapper.
p.s. I head about this guy from his radio interview on the abc radio which is pretty much one big college-esque radio station (as in it is an alternative station that only plays new up and coming, mainly Australian, stuff that isn’t in the top 40 yet…like a song called “Barbra Streisand” <-Google that too) that is nationally put out. The US needs to jump on that bandwagon and make a national college-esque radio station.
Powerhouse at Hillsong church
Every Wednesday starting at 7:30 is this thing called powerhouse which is a service for 18-25 yr olds and it was actually really nice because there were people my age and really that was a major part of my desire to go to begin with, because I just want to get all the set things of fun normal life set already, haha. I know that I just got here and it takes a while to meet people and such, but I just want it all done already! So I went to Hillsong powerhouse and asked a girl from church who I had met on Sunday if she would go with me (poor thing, I never saw her the entire time I was there because I was late due to trying to find a cab and then couldn’t find her once I got in). Well when I walked in I met a girl and she introduced me to some really nice people and the whole thing was really great but the meeting of those people is not really what I want to stress at this moment, what I really want t talk about is just the difference in worship people have here.
The music of course was great (it is Hillsong after all) but what really was nice is that it wasn’t the same Hillsong songs that I am used to hearing back home, they were new and different and while I know they weren’t new and different to everyone else there (because they were all singing the words and if you are reading the words on the screen it is literally really hard to do because all the words are on one screen and that screen is directly behind the entire band…and it ain’t real big) I just loved having the difference. What also struck me as crazy was that people weren’t just waiting for the worship leader to cue the next verse; they also came in at their own time and created one big harmonious song that really showed that they literally were worshiping in their own way. What struck me more was that during the final worship song, after the sermon, people not only were worshipping, but they were going up to people around them or people they knew and just praying for people. They just walked up, asked ‘em if they needed anything to be prayed over and then either laid a hand on them or hugged their neck (addin a lil South Carolina in there) and prayed for them. To me this just reads a good degree of care for people and their needs and just plain interest in what is going on in people’s lives. Sometimes it’s easier for us (or me at least) to get stuck in my head that worship is just about God and I, and while yes it is to some extent, I think it’s also important to consider the fact that you are worshiping with others too and in that you realize that you are not going at this Christianity thing alone and you have like minded folks who just like you have flaws and you can build each other up to ultimately make you and them a better follower of Christ.
I realize that many of you are probably wondering if all I did during the praise and worship time was just people watch, but honestly praise and worship for me while I was there partly engaging in worship and partly realizing that in this case there is no wrong way to eat a reeses. Realizing that while I may find comfort in my back home ways of worshiping, changes in culture bring in different ways of worship and…and I just have a lot to learn about the vastness of God and his creation and all of our difference. Today was just a really long day for this college yank (any American is a yank here apparently), and this Hillsong trip was just a good (aka reminder not the sweat the small things) ending.
Also, I miss the black fellow (it’s PC to use that term here)…and the brown fellow (they don’t have lots of brown here, so I don’t know if it’s PC to say this, but I’m using it).
There you have the last few days in a series of highlights! And trust me, even the Aussies think it's funny that "Sidni is in Sydney"
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