Birthday!

What a wonderful week I am having!

It's been a different birthday than normal... it's not really California May weather. However, it was still nice, with a light sprinkling a few times yesterday.
I spent some of the day housecleaning (normal Wednesday activities) but Skype with my family for an hour or so before hand, where I learned some very exciting news! On my way home from Australia in Sept/Oct, I'm planning on stopping in New Zealand and meeting my parents for some awesome traveling and touring of a beautiful country! YAAAAAY! It took me a few minutes to process this information, but after Skyping, I was giggling/crying and hopping around the house like a crazy person. I really needed to clean something. I also received a wonderful  package of goodies and gifts from family!
That evening, I went to my bible study, where my group had a lil celebration for me. Cake and all! It was marvelous!
Tomorrow, I am leaving for the long weekend with the young adult ministry from church for a sports retreat! Yes, sports! Of course, I signed up for things like... well... dodgeball! That will be a blast! The sport center we are staying at is 2-3 hours drive south of us. I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend!
So, I think it's safe to say that I had a lovely day!
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I feel very loved and supported from everyone back home, as well as everyone here in Australia!

A World Of People

Current mood: joy-filled! Also current mood: Oh my, I am going to miss all of these wonderful people!
Apologies for being so lazy in updating this blog. I kept waiting for something extra exciting to happen for me to write about... as if just being here isn't enough. (It is, by the way. Thus, I am now writing.)
This month of May has been the best so far, since I left home nearly 3 months ago! 3 months! Yikes! I don't know if I ever officially posted this, but I'm planning on coming home in August. Which is 6 months in total, which means that I am about halfway through my travels.
The time has flown by so quickly. I'm equally excited and sad; I can't wait to be home and see everyone I am missing, but at the same time, I'm already dreading missing everyone I have come to know and love here in Perth. And that seems to be a pretty long list. I'm definitely going to have to plan a reunion trip in a couple years.
My relationship with my host family has grown, I feel, over the last month, probably because I feel more comfortable and am opening up, and really love spending time with them. I no longer find it difficult to communicate, and feel completely able to speak my mind about anything and everything. I love Sarah! This little girl is hilarious, sweet, and so much fun! She's been really getting attached to me recently (calling "Emily, Emily, Emily" all the time) and I've had fun taking her to the duck pond, playground, music class, etc. I'm going to be sad to say goodbye to her.
Something that I've noticed about Perth, no scratch that, something that I've noticed about Modesto... we are so stinkin' un-diverse that it's ridonculus! As limited as I am from places I have lived in my life (at this point, two), I really don't know how diverse other cities are in relation to this one, but I have met so many different people from different cultures and countries and backgrounds in the short time I have been here! And each time I do meet someone new, and not from Perth (there's a lot), I suddenly feel a sense of connection to that distant place, like I could go there and be able to find some sort of community within it. I hold a knowledge that I could somehow travel to Singapore, Korea, Germany, China, South Africa, France, and several places in the US and Australia, and be okay. Not that I will, I mean, that's a lot of traveling. But I know people who have lived there or grew up there, at that makes it really feel like it could be a home, not for me to live in, but possibly to visit.
All this diversity makes me aware of how minute cultural differences are in the big scheme of things. Humanity is all in this together. County allegiances don't matter. Culture doesn't matter. Language doesn't matter. All that matters is that we are all human, and all marvelous creations, made in the very image of God, and He has set all of our lives in motion, giving us the very breath in our lungs. This may not be a very patriotic thing to say... oh well... I'm not that patriotic of a person anyways. I do love my country, but I also love other countries! I love this whole, giant planet of people!
We are all connected (in the great circle of life)!

Hah, sorry. I wasn't planning to write that last part, but my fingers were faster than my brain, apparently. Three cheers for Disney references!

Caversham Wildlife Park

I haven't posted anything on my blog since just after Easter. Whoops. Sorry guys! The last couple of weeks just flew by so quickly that I really didn't have time to think up anything interesting or fun or exciting to write about. But you are in luck, dear bloggies of mine, because yesterday I did something. Something interesting, fun, and exciting. Something that made me feel like I had officially arrived in Australia.

 

This is Caversham Wildlife Park! I came here yesterday, a Saturday, with a couple of friends.The park was about 30-45 minutes away from my house, and nestled in a beautiful, green foresty area. There were LOTS of birds...

 This is a cassowary! And it made me feel like I was in Jurassic Park, for some reason.

 There were lots of owls...

 

 A GIANT ostrich. I really didn't realize how big these birds are. They are HUGE!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

merry merry king of the bushels, he

laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra

gay your life must be.

And a whole bunch of parroty-type birds... seriously, they were all over the place! They also are flying around in the wild here, which is really really neat to see. The birds here are all so colorful! And I loved seeing them up close and personal at the park. But this was not my favorite part...

 

 Apart from all the wonderful birds, I also had the joy to pet this cute little possum! Not opossum. Possum. Big difference. Opossums are ugly and scary. Possums are cute and fluffy. However, I have heard that they are kind of pesky and can do quite a bit of damage if they get in the roofing of a house. But at least they are cute!

 Wallabies... (didgeridoo... Hugh Jackman)

There were several different varieties of wallabies, hopping all over the park. They were really like little kangaroos, but I think I liked the kangaroos more. (We will get to that later. Can't wait!)

Flying foxes! These were very fun to watch. I like this picture a lot though. This particular bat is named Dracula.

(I don't actually know that, but he reminded me of Dracula.)






Aaaaand Australian Dingos! They really looked just like Aussie cattle dogs or heelers. I doubt they would be as cuddly, though. I didn't really get good pictures of them, but they were very pretty.

Now comes the good part!


The koalas! They were very cute and soft! We were able to go up to them and pet them gently with the back of our hand. And they were the best at posing for pictures.

  So basically, the park had about 30-40 kangaroos, just hanging out, laying around, and we were able to walk right up and pet them! It was amazing! Now kids, don't do this in the wild. You will get kicked. But at Caversham, they must be handled from birth. All the kangaroos were very gentle, even friendly! Food was provided to give to them, and they would hop up to you and put their little hands up and take to nibbles very lightly from your hands!

 Lookit that face! Super adorable!

  

And yes, this is, in fact, a picture of me holding a joey wrapped in a blanket! I was very excited! This just may have been the highlight of the trip!

So, the lessons learned, if anyone is ever in Western Australia, go to Caversham Wildlife Park! The experience is easily worth the $25 entry fee! The memories will last forever!

My Away Easter

So, yesterday marked two pretty significant points. One. My first Easter away from my family. Two. Exactly two months since I left home. All in all, I feel that I handled Easter pretty well! Going into the day, I was a little bit anxious, picturing myself having an emotional breakdown in the Sunday service (which was beautiful, by the way!). It really didn't seem much like Easter, for several reasons, the main one being that I am away from family. Also, the weather is backwards. Easter normally doesn't come after summer in CA. Aaaalso, we had no cinnamon rolls or sticky buns. But we did eat some pretty scrumptious Hot Cross Buns! I may just need to bring this tradition to the States! (But can they compete with homemade cinnamon rolls? Hmmm...) And while I probably was a tad more sensitive this weekend, comparatively, I am so thankful for my host family and my new friends who have made this transition not only bearable, but gave me the opportunity to actually have fun and not dwell on my homesickness.
Good Friday was the hardest. An emotional time already, I may or may not have had to wipe my eyes during that service. I was, however, so glad and grateful that I was able to go! I got a few hugs, and that made me feel a little better. It's amazing, when you are out on your own, how much simply saying hello and having a quick chat with people, even random strangers, can totally make your day. Before this trip, I realize that I really wasn't great at talking to new people. Sure, I would introduce myself in school classes, but those people I would be sitting next to and seeing several days a week for the rest of the semester, so I might as well learn their names. But ever since coming to Australia, I love meeting people! Even if it's someone who I probably will never see again, I have come to greatly enjoy starting up a conversation with them. It brightens my day. And I'm sure it makes there day all that more interesting. They are able to go home and tell their family that some random girl with a weird accent kept talking to them in the line at the grocers. Point of this lesson: talk to people! Because it's fun!
Easter Sunday was quite eventful and entertaining! After going to the later service at the church, I hung around for about an hour past the sermon's closure, just saying hi to people I had met before, meeting a few new faces, and generally just passing the time. I've gotten quite good at time-passing. And can I just take a minute to brag on this church! I can't even imagine being here without having found Lifestreams! It is the highlight of my weekend to go on Sundays, and the highlight of my week when I get to meet church friends for lunch (I've been doing that quite often, just about every Tuesday since I've arrived). I definitely believe it was a God thing that I stumbled across it. I was planning on doing some church-shopping to find the perfect fit, and this one was further away from the house than I thought at first (about 25 minutes). But my first morning, I met so many wonderful, welcoming people that I instantly felt connected! So I never had any need to leave! Truly a huge blessing! Anyways, Easter Sunday. After standing around in the cafe chatting until 1pm, a large-ish group of young adults went to have lunch, so I tagged along for some yummy Eggs Benedict (yeah, breakfast for lunch! Cuz that's how I roll) and some fun conversations. Afterwards, I went back to my friend's house and we watched a movie with her housemate. Then, I came home and relaxed for a short time before some of my host parents' friends arrived and we proceeded to have "steamboat," a dish in which everyone sits around a table and dips uncooked food into bubbling soup in the center, until such food is cooked! It's kind of like fondue + soup. Uhhh yum!

To top it all off, this next week is three-day work week! Easter Monday is today, and not many people work, then Friday is a national holiday, Anzac day. (A memorial day for Australian wars, if I'm not mistaken.)
Anyways, it's a pretty easy week!
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!
xoxo

Surfing Lizards at Coogee!

A couple days ago, I had a me party at Coogee Beach. I had been dying to go to the beach for several weeks, just lacking the motivation to actually turn my desires into actions. But one exceptionally unbusy day, I summoned up the courage to venture out.

 As soon as I pulled into the car park, I knew I had come to the right place! It had been slightly overcast when I left the house, but by the time I got to the beach (a mere 15 or so minute drive!) the sky was blue and the sun was shining! It was perfectly warm, but not too hot, and the ocean water was lovely and cool.

 Apparently people don't come to the beach too much on a Tuesday at 11:00. I had much of it to myself. A few people were off in the distance, swimming or sunbathing...

... like that person with the feet, there.

 There was an awesome looking slidey-thing out a ways from the beach. I didn't swim to it, but I probably would have if there were more people in the water.

 The ocean was sooo calm! It felt like I was swimming in a very giant lake instead of the sea. And so clear! I was able to wade out to my hips, look down, and see my toes!

 I took a lot a pictures of the beach. I was really happy that I brought my camera.

 Okay, story time! (Everyone's favorite words, right?)

So, because there were so few people around, I was a little hesitant on going swimming, even though the water was perfect for it. But I was already in my swim suit and really felt the ocean calling me, so I waded out a ways, just deep enough to wear I could pick up my feet and float, and swim along the shore a little. It really was like swimming laps in a pool. It was that calm! As I swam, I had my eyes glued on the horizon and scanned the water constantly for ominous fins sticking out of it. And I think, looking back, I would have been kind of strange if I didn't see anything, staring that intently at the ocean. But anyways, I'm very cautiously watching the water when I see a big dark shape out a ways ahead of me. EEEP! Then I hurry back onto the beach and look back. I see a dark fin... aaaaand it looks to me like a dolphin. And it moves like a dolphin. But I can't see it great, so I stand there for a while longer, watching. After about 5 minutes I haven't seen the creature, so I ever so slowly head back into the water. I swim for only a could minutes when the shape pops up again, this time very close to me! Probably only about 20 yards or so. Well, you can imagine that I was up on the beach lickity split. Looking back, I saw a couple dolphins playing out in the water. A few other people walked by, and we all stood there and verified that they were, in fact, not sharks, and I edged my way back into the water and continued my swimming!

 After the beach, I walked over to this adorable little cafe! As soon as I sat down, I really wished for a notebook and pencil so I could do a bit of imaginative writing. The creative juju was really flowin. Plus, the people there were so wonderfully nice! I actually just went back an  hour ago. When I walked in, they looked up and me and said "Oh, hi, Emily!" That was great.

 My very yummy chicken-avocado sandwich.

The Surfing Lizard Cafe!

'Cause what else would it be called?

So, there you have it! My love for Aussie beaches is now very well established.

Ordinary Life Continues

It's been awhile since I wrote my last post on here! Oops. I guess I got a little bit sidetracked. I also really didn't know what to write about that would be relevant to my blog. Things are pretty normal here! As an example: today I went grocery shopping, did some laundry, and made some dinner. For some reason, it's not quite what I expected.
I'm not sure exactly what I was predicting ... In all honesty, before I left home I daydreamed about huge adventures out in the wilderness of Australia happening every few days, give or take. Don't know where I got that idea. (It's probably safe to blame the media.) Overall, life down under is very similar, if not the same, to life in the States. People get up, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, go to sleep, and start it all over again the next day. It's all very ordinary. Which is nice, in the sense that it makes it feel very home-like, what with the normal routine and everything. There is enough differences, however, to make it not home.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not disappointed or anything. I adjusted my adventure-thinking pretty soon after I arrived, I just couldn't place exactly what was different than I expected. Turns out "normal" is kind of difficult to spot. And this trip is still an adventure. A leaving home, meeting new people, and generally branching out kind of adventure! That's basically all an adventure is, right? Every good (or possibly bad) adventure story usually followed those basic plot lines. Character leaves the familiar. Character meets new people. Character learns new things. My adventure just isn't as dangerous as all those we read about! (Thank goodness!)
Every time I meet someone new, I get so excited! I don't know why, but I do. They are adding little bits to my story and making it more interesting or enjoyable or fun. And every time someone meets me, they usually are a little taken aback that I am here, of all places, by myself, working in a strange country half a world away. It's funny... If anything else had been different, if I had gone somewhere else on this huge, magnificent planet of ours, or if I had chosen not to come at all, I would never have met any of them! And they wouldn't have met me. But this applies to life in general. If we meet some random stranger at the grocery store (I've gotten to talk to the same cashier just about every week) we now know them. They are part of our life, even if it's a very small part. If we had gone to the store even five minutes earlier or later, we would not have met them. Things would be different.
Everything, huge or not, happens for a God-given reason. We don't know what it is, and that's the amazing beauty of it. I always picture an author writing a story. The author knows exactly what is happening with every single one of the characters, and know the ways they are connected, even if the characters themselves never find out. And if it's a good story (preferably one with a happy ending) the characters are grown in ways they never could have imagined or done by themselves, without the help of that unnamed someone in the grocery store.

Answered Prayers

I have officially been in Australia for one month, and it is so incredible how the time has flown by, despite the stress and homesickness and huge adjustment period (which, I think, will continue on for a few weeks more). I feel like I just got here, but I also feel like I have been here a very long time, especially when I think about home. However, I am still meeting wonderful people every week and having a great time getting to know them!
This post already feels different to me. It seems more deep than the previous ones. And I am doing that on purpose. It's a good thing to be deep and contemplative some of the time, even though I am not good at talking about it in the least. Thus the blog!
I've been thinking a lot this week about just how amazing God is about answering our prayers. Over the last few months, I have seen this again and again, and it wasn't until recently that I actually sat down and realized what was happening.
It started a few months ago. I had the typical 20-year-old wanderlust going on. I prayed and prayed that God would send me on a trip or and adventure of some kind, so I could grow in myself and Him, and see some of His marvelous world before I had to settle into some unknown career. It took a little bit of time, but suddenly I was preparing for a journey to Australia! But it didn't stop there...
I prayed that, somehow, God would provide the finances for the trip. It was relatively expensive, what with the plane ticket and the visa and the insurance. But suddenly, my cinnamon roll business (which I expected to be very small) boomed and I made heaps of money selling cinnamon rolls! (Lol, I said heaps. How very Aussie of me.) But it didn't stop there...
I prayed for a safe flight, and God delivered.
I prayed that I wouldn't be overly emotional and crying the whole flight (It was a legitimate fear), and God delivered.
I prayed that I wouldn't lose my luggage or any of my belongings, and God delivered.
Once I arrived, I found that I was a bit overwhelmed by the change in culture and lifestyles. I prayed many times a day that God would help me do my job to the best of my abilities, and be able to connect with my host family. Now, even though we are different in how we do things, I feel much more adept at communicating with them than I was when I first arrived, and I have learned to do my job in a way that they accept and I am proud of. But it didn't stop there...
My first time going to church, I prayed God would show me whether or not this was the one I was supposed to be at. I had initially planned to search around to find the one that suited me. First time there, arriving an hour late, I connected with several people who knew my church from Modesto, knew a few of my pastors, and knew my friends. The connection was instantaneous, and I never felt the need to search for another church. This was the one. But it didn't stop there...
For the first few weeks, every time I went to church, or to a church-related event, I prayed to God that I would meet new friends, connect with people, and generally have a good time. Which seems a funny thing to pray, but it's really not when you're going in blind. Every single time I went to one of these events, I left with several new phone numbers and invitations to come back! The welcoming nature of everyone was a little overwhelming.
Now, that's about all I can say for now, but I am completely positive that it won't stop here... God's answer to prayer is incredible! I can't wait to see what else He does while I am here!


On another, less deep note...
It was a relatively slow week. I did go to a birthday party yesterday (Saturday), which was very fun, and gorgeous!

Our view from the park that the party was at! Right next to the Swan River, overlooking the city!

 The sky was absolutely amazing! It was a wonderful night to be out, enjoying God creation!

Hope you all are having a good week, and to be in contact with you soon!