Day 4

Welcome to Day 4.

This past week has been information overload. We've had orientation for classes every day since we got here, and to be honest, most of it has been fairly useless. It will be really interesting getting used to writing papers here though. Most classes don't have tests, just papers, and Australian writing styles are 100% different from American.

On Thursday we went on a cruise of Sydney Harbor and saw the Opera house and thousands of sailboats! It was so beautiful outside. Here are a couple pictures from that, but my camera card was filled up, so I didn't get to take very many.



Here is the Opera House - look how close we were!



Corrie and I by the Harbor Bridge - if you look closely, you can see people climbing it.


Roommate Sarah and I on the boat


So...
Friday we actually had class, but again it was more informational and less academic. We meet with our service project groups, and got to know more about where we will be working. I'm serving at a place called Newtown Mission - which is a soup kitchen type thing for homeless/mentally ill/etc. They have a church service and then serve food once a week, and then 3 other times a week it's just a drop in lunch. I think it's going to be good. Then on Friday night I went to an outdoor Opera with my roommate Sarah and Gail (our Aussie Mum). It was AMAZING! Tiff, if you're reading this, I promise I'll come watch Marcus when I get back in the states.





Yesterday I went to Manly Beach with about 13 ASC kids. It was so beautiful and fun! We spent most of the time in the ocean jumping waves. I'm so used to the Pacific Ocean but swimming here was really different. The waves are huge and there is a really strong undertow, so it takes a lot of effort. We all had buddies :) I had to leave the beach early with 2 other ASC kids so we could go down to Newtown for a volunteer meetings. We got a little lost on the way home, so we ended up having to take a cab back to our houses. Apparently cab drivers in this area don't really know the streets either. We got down to Newtown and met the pastor and quite of few of the other volunteers. The church there is wonderful and I'm actually going to their service this morning. It's pretty small, very missional, and a lot of the homeless people from the mission actually come to servies there. I think it will be a good place to get plugged in to. After our volunteer thing, New Friend Jon and New Friend Michelle and I decided to wonder around the Newtown (it's similar to Hawthorne in Portland or Capitol Hill in Seattle). We found a good thai place (there is TONS of thai food here, I am so happy!) and then took a bus into the city. Once in the city we walked to Darling Harbor for some nightlife. We ended up just laying on a dock looking at the stars, and then BOOM - there was a giant fireworks show right in the harbor! We were seriously 50 feet from this barge, it was amazing! After that we went into a bar to check out the "local scene," it was loud and not very exciting. We had water and this thing called "lemon-lime and bitters," which is a fancy non-alcoholic drink. Much like a Shirley Temple, but not cherry flavored. Anyways, we caught the train home around midnight and got home safe and sound.





Today I'm going to church and then to the Burwood Mall - hopefully to find a few staples I forgot when I came here. Thanks for reading my update! Once I get a computer here I will be able to write more often! I love you all and thank you for your continued prayers.

Love,
Kristin