Two Yanks In Oz

Robin got a very wonderful present at her office's Christmas party.  It's a Guide to Australia. She came up today for my graduation and brought it with her, so we've just been pouring over it.  It has maps of every city, and ideas on where to go and what to see, and this will be over an hour that we've been looking at it.  There are some really cool pictures- like the one she's looking at now of a huge fish almost eating a man ( "Whoa, look at that grouper!  Wait, it's a Giant Potato Cod- and it says it expects to be fed and stroked...I don't think that sounds very entertaining").  We've also looked over the map of Sydney to figure out where we will be living and studying.  

The problem with this guide is that EVERYTHING looks cool, and we've decided we have to see EVERYTHING, when in reality, we're going to have basically no money and will not be seeing ANYTHING.  So the Australian Open, the Opera House, wind surfing, tours of the outback, sailing, hot air ballooning- all expensive and therefore all erased from our to-do list. But, I guess it's fun to dream.  And there are plenty of things in Sydney, according to the book, to keep us occupied.  Coffee houses, beaches, arts festivals, parks, outdoor markets, a very cheap light-rail system and according to the book, free roaming lemurs.  I'm all for the lemurs!

A few quotes from the book:

"The weather can be very changeable.  Desert influences may be felt one moment with searing dry wind and high temperatures giving away suddenly to cold and wet air from the ocean to the South.  If you don't like our weather, say, just wait a minute.  It's bound to change."  This kind of sounds like Texas.

"There is no shortage of places to drink in Sydney.  The basic hotel or pub is still much in evidence, while others have been renovated and offer a more varied experience, which might well extend to food and entertainment."  I'm glad the pub MIGHT extend to food- I assume a customer may want something in their stomach before going on an alcohol binge.

Here's a bird I hope not to meet, ever:

" Cassowary ( a bird):  A flightless bird related to the emu who's thuggish habits include a grunting cry, kicking to kill with it's sharp toe and an ability to head-butt it's way through the densest undergrowth."

"Black is beautiful:  the lightning ridge black opals are not unique, but this is the only place they are produced in this quantity.  It has been described as combining the iridescence of a dew drop and the colour of a rainbow.  Set in the blackness of night, the biggest stone every found was named Queen of the Earth."  Sounds like some Earth Queens I know.  :)

It all seems very interesting, especially the section on Aborigines people.  They believe in something called "Dreamtime," a time before time where the sacred ancestral beings created the land they live on.  The land is part of the spiritual realm of all creation, in which all creations, living and dead, have their being.  The land is populated by large family clans with certain places having a particularly intense meaning.  Their spiritual ceremonies have been lost over time, but some of their visual art has been retained.  There were over 200 different Aboriginal languages at one time, and some people could speak 5 or 6.  I can barely speak English sometimes.  Having just lived in Oklahoma for four and a half years, I have been exposed to a lot of Native American culture.  It's sad how the same Europeans who pushed native people out of the way over here pushed native people out of the way over there, too.  I don't know much about this part of Aussie history or culture, but I'd like to learn more once I'm over there.

In other news, we have found a website that offers extremely cheap tickets to Oz from the US:

http://www.vaustralia.com

Our goal is to purchase tickets by January 31st.  I've been really worried about the financial aspect of all of this, so I've been praying that God helps me to rely on his blessings and to trust more in him.  After a particularly discouraging week in which no principals called me back and no one seemed interested in hiring me, I got down on my knees two nights ago and asked God to help me lean on Him and to show me His plan.  The next day, my roommate's mom gave me $200 in cash to help with the plane ticket.  He is so good, and I need to remember that from here on out.  My first goal is that ticket- after that is purchased, I can work on raising/ earning the rest of the money needed.  We're also working on setting up a link on this blog where you can click to donate to our training for ministry, if you feel so led.  But right now, directly after graduation, I can just rest and be thankful that He blessed me with that $200- and more to come, so my parents tell me (apparently there are envelopes on the counter at home).  And, I can rejoice in my favorite season of Christmastime, and wait for Him to be born once again.  

Today my verse for meditation is Psalm 37:4- "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."  

O Lord, help me to delight myself in you.  Help me to know that you have great plans for me; that you have set this desire in me to travel to Sydney and meet you there, and to learn how to lead your people in worshipping you.  Thank you for the gifts you've given me and the people who are blessing me and loving me.  I love you, love you, love you.  Yours,  Aislinn