Religion... in general

Religion

Joshi asked us if we wanted to go to church on Sunday. Both Cole and I, neither of us religious, were very skeptical. With some thought, we decided to give it a go. YOLO (you only live once)! It was very surprising to see how laid back everyone was. People were jumping over the pews, everyone was dressed in this or that, half the people had beanies on, and it was a very relaxed scene. The service was… well, a service, but the cookies and the company made up for it! Afterwards everyone chills and talks for half an hour to an hour. Every person was so friendly and wanted a good, casual conversation. We’ve continued going, but really only for the people and to hang out after.

...in general

It’s interesting how many people seed themselves in religion. I’ve met some people that I NEVER would have guess were extremely religious. The viewpoints I use to have are different now. I see why people go to church and pray. I’m still not religious, but I understand why people are. It’s constant. It’ll always be there. It’s like that cigarette in the middle of work. Life is chaotic, customers are annoying, and other workers are bugging the shit out of you. On your five minute break you are able to slip out of reality and into relaxation with every puff. It is always the same and it’ll always be there for you. It’s the little bit of hope that you need to get through the shift. (Don’t worry Mom and Dad, I haven’t started smoking, but it’s a great analogy.)

Religion gives people a purpose and it explains the unexplainable. Even if you have the power within yourself, sometimes you need think the power in someone else’s hands to be able to retain it. That’s God’s will. The strength will always be within you, you just have to find it. Don’t take the bible literal for it is just guidelines to be a better person and to better your life. Religion helps people see the good in others even when they mess up every once in awhile.

Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times. Develop from the negatives and if things don’t work out, just take another shot.

~someone that I should quote, but I don’t know who that someone is

Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends : )

Talk about new friends.. Ron, Joshi, Jono, Crispin, and Chelsea

New friends! Wahoo, I have some new Aussi friends! A lot of people who study abroad get caught up hanging out with only internationals, especially American. Cole and I have thankfully found our own crew of Australians! The first we encountered was Ron. He lives in our Castle with us and is a super nice guy, almost too nice at times. He’s very down to earth and always up for anything. He’s shown us some hot spots and we’re hopefully going to his hometown next month!

Then, there is our adventure crew! On our trip to Phillip Island (through The Real Australia Tour), we hung out with the tour guides the whole trip. We were invited to kick it with them after so we took them up on it. There’s Joshi the half Indian with dreads. Jono is the manager of the tour and his little brother is Crispin. Crispin is one of the goofiest and weirdest guys I’ve ever met which is so COOL. Chelsea was the chill little hippie who never wore shoes when she was at Uni (short for university aka the Aussi lingo). They are all so nice and welcoming. They have introduced us to so many people that our friend circle has doubled after knowing these guys.

Last weekend Chelsea even brought us up to her hometown. We stayed with one of her friend’s families. They are constantly hosting people and have enough room for 10 people to sleep! WOW! There were at least three beds to each room. The family was very hospitable and let us borrow surfboards and a car the next day to go surfing! We drove to the beginning of the great ocean road and surfed on a small beach. Thank goodness we brought wet suits because damn, it was cold! It’s about the same temperature as central California in the winter. When I came out of the water, my jaw dropped. I was surrounded by cockatoos! I’d never seen a wild one before and now there was 15 eating all around me!

Traveling is amazing because you get to meet so many people. You share stories and create experiences. It’s crazy how quick you connect with people because your time is limited. The clock is clicking every second and so it’s hard not to think you need to be doing something or making new friends every minute. It’s good to just relax every once and awhile and know that some people you’ll see again and some people you won’t. Even in this day and age where technology is mind blogging, you can’t always stay in contact with everyone. It’s impossible. That’s life; some stay and some go. Don’t be scared or sad of not seeing another person again, just remember what you’ve learned from them for you can always learn something from everyone.

No longer homeless!

I’ve been here for a for three weeks and am still finding excited and new things. For the living situation, I moved into the house with the two brothers and the mom. The mom was out of town for another week so it was really chill with the three of us in the house. Another roommate moved in who was a nice guy from Saudi Arabia. The day Cole moved in downstairs things turned upside down! Cole wasn’t the only one to move in; A baby moved into the house!!! The brother’s sister came to visit and turns out ‘visiting’ means she and her 10 month old son were staying for a month, leaving for a month, and coming back for a month. The next day the mom came home and the house was an animal farm! I talked to the brother/landlord and he was very understanding of the whole situation. In a few days Cole and I packed our bags and moved into a castle!

This is the Castle! We have to share a room otherwise rent is out of this roof (and it’s a tall building!), but now it’s much cheaper than the first place. It is dorm style lodging. There’s an upstairs and a downstairs hall filled with rooms on either side (about 20 or so). The place has a total of six bathrooms. The rest of the castle includes a sitting room, a living room with four couches, a dining room, and a kitchen. The kitchen is like Noah’s Arc and everything comes in sets of two: two sinks, two dishwashers, two stoves, and two ovens. Then, we have a room filled with fridges and a freezer.  All of this is only 1/3 of the castle! The family that owns the castle lives in the other 2/3. I hope to get a tour of the other side before we leave! That side has the porch and the bell tower and the garden!

My life has been filled with exotic animals. I took a tour to Healesville sanctuary where I saw all of the local animals including kangaroo, wallabies, dingoes, bats, parrots, ect. The next weekend I saw a possum in the park. My normal instinct was to see how close I could get. Only about two feet away, we stared at each other until I reached out to touch it on it’s back! I got some fur but it ran up the tree in terror. Possums are much cuter here. They do not have the beady eyes or the naked tail. This last weekend I took a tour to Phillip Island. We saw pelicans be fed fish, surfed down the sand dunes (pronounces “junes” here), and watched little penguins sail into shore and maneuver to there nest stopping to pick twigs and grasses along the way. ADORABLE!

Even though I’m still in an English speaking land, the language barrier is ridiculous! Doona is a comforter, jumper is a sweatshirt, spanner is a wrench, singlet is a tank top, and so on. If you want the whole list, check out http://www.statsci.org/smyth/ozus.html . Sometimes it sounds like we’re speaking different languages. It’s not just us Americans who can’t understand the Aussies, but many Australian can’t understand us too. I’ve also been trying to get the Australian accent down. Whenever I try it, I start speaking in a British accent by the second sentence. I’ve resorted to watching YouTube videos and repeating after the Aussies in hopes of getting better.

Everyone needs to travel...

Ready or not, here I come!

Melbourne, I’m hereeee!! 

Wow. Weather shock! I’m in the winter again! It’s cold and rainy… I like it though : ). Nice to snuggle up inside and in the sun it’s not too bad. Now that I’m  here, it doesn’t surprise me, but before I came I didn’t  think about the huge Asian influence. Everywhere you go there’s sushi and noodle places. There are also cafés on every corner and Aussi’s are known to be coffee snobs. Soooo since I don’t have the first idea about coffee and don’t even drink it… I think I’m going to change my job plan. Instead of working at a café, I’ll hopefully fine myself behind the bar! I’ve always wanted to be a bartender, and I can’t start as a bar back because there’s no such thing here.

Since it’s so chilly here and I packed 40 degree Greek weather, I was in desperate need of a jacket! I’ve been wearing three T-shirts, a flannel, and my windbreaker everyday. Today my host’s roommate offered me a coat. She warned me before she gave it to me that it’s very dorky and she apologizes. I imagined a jacket with yellow strips, reflectors, and some red blinking lights. She brought it out of her closet and it was a black ski jacket! Whattt?! Dorky?? I where that every day when I’m in Colorado!! My winter wardrobe consists of only ski jackets! It’s pretty funny how style is very important here. She told me if I wore it out, I would be the only one, but people wouldn’t really look at me differently. In Sydney, that’s a different story. If you’re not wearing what’s ‘in’, you’re weird; end of story. I’ve heard that Sydney is pretty ‘soulless’ from multiple people. A great place to visit, but I’m very grateful I’m not living there!

The hunt for an apartment continues! I’ve looked at three places. One dump, one beautiful house with two brothers and a mom, and one that’s unfurnished. They all have their ups and downs. So far the family one is the nicest, but it’s funny how it was advertised. Two male roommates (21 & 23) and a female roommate (38), not two brothers and a mother that’s actually 44! We’ll see what else Melbourne has to offer before I make the decision.