Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

Hello from Australia!

(This blog is about Wednesday the 25th. Also known as Ash Wednesday.)

I woke up and had a very slow start to the morning. I did some blogging and then Ellie and I were off to mail her package to Tim. We caught the bus from HH to the post office which is about a mile-ish away from HH. After dealing with the Post, we scurried next door to the Morialta Bakehouse where we purchased our lunch for the day. I got a pastie and this apple & raspberry drink that turns out to be disgusting. It tastes like your grandmother’s old perfume. The lady at the bakehouse asked us what our opinions were on Barack Obama and the new government. We told her that we really couldn’t give her a substantial amount of information since we were only there for 6 days after he was inaugurated. She knew we were Americans because of the way we were looking at the money, etc. Seriously, the coins here are harder to deal with than the ones back home, but the paper money is a hell of a lot prettier than our ugly green money. I like the purple ones. :)

We then journeyed to the Magill office where Morgan was freaking out because she didn’t know where we were. She had gone off to playgroup at Glynde in the morning without letting either of us know where she was going. She just assumed that we knew. Remember that assuming makes an ass out of both you AND me. That was just for future reference to anyone else who assumes anything. Anyway I ate my lunch and decided not to worry about her. Then I helped set up for the training that we were having in the afternoon. I helped arrange the tables, set up the chairs, get the power projector going and other things. Wayne Maddox was the facilitator of the Safe Place Training. It also was his birthday today – which we celebrated later with chocolate cake. The training was supposed to have about 14 people in it, but only 8 showed up. One of them we already knew: Tanya (pronounced TAN ya. Make the A shorter and like you’re going to go get a tan) and she was also in our Child Safe Environment training. She also works at Ingle Farm two days of the week as the receptionist. So we’ve gotten to see her around and it was nice to see a friendly face. The training lasted two hours and I once again had a difficult time staying awake. I like Wayne, but it’s so hard to stay awake when he talks in a monotone voice the entire time. Plus the heater was accidentally on instead of the air conditioner, which made the room a lot hotter and me more tired.

The training was over the Lutheran Church of Australia’s policies and procedures in regard to Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment. Needless to say, I feel that the US covers this stuff at a younger age or something because I knew all of what the training was over already. I am not Lutheran, but the policies and procedures are the same in work places and in other contexts as well. It was a nice refresher though.

After the training Helene dropped us off back home and I took a nap before it was time to get up for the Ash Wednesday service at Glynde. The service was very good, but very solemn. There were a lot of older people at the service than younger people, which Helene said to expect. We did the ashes on the forehead ritual, but thankfully it wasn’t chalky because Glynde was using olive oil in the mixture this year to make it less chalky. I think it worked since my ash cross was on my forehead all night long. The pastor said my name as I went up and then he said the mumbo jumbo that goes a long with it that I’ve heard every year since I can remember. We also communed and then there was time for chit chat. After the service Morgan went to the café with the small group people while Jeremy dropped us (as in El and I) off at his house with Helene. We were going to catch the bus back from Helene’s since we were really tired and had to get up early the next day to catch the train to Noarlunga to get to Calvary.

Our plan didn’t work out quite as well as we thought since we ended up having some tea and then playing Helene in a few rounds of table tennis. She’s ridiculously good too! I now know where Jeremy gets it. At least she didn't hit me with the bat. I played for a bit, but then decided that Helene and El could have a rather good go at the game. I watched for a bit before Simon and I played lawn bowling, only it’s actually called carpet bowling since we were inside the house and that’s what the box said. I am neither very good at carpet bowling or table tennis. Carpet bowling is similar to lawn bowling, which is huge here in Australia. I see plenty of lawn bowling clubs when I’m in the city and on my way back to HH. Morgan showed up later with Jeremy and then she played Helene in a few rounds while I still tried to make a decent attempt at carpet bowling. Simon kicked my butt a lot. For every 10 minutes it took me to bowl all the balls, it took him about 30 seconds to get rid of all of them during his turn. I chalked this up to growing up with carpet/lawn bowling versus where I had never heard of such a thing. Did you know that they call regular bowling here ten-pin bowling? I mean you have to have some way to separate all the different kinds of bowling you can do while you’re here.

After playing a quick round of kings corner, we headed back to HH. On the way back to HH, I ruptured an ovarian cyst. We hit a bump in the road and then it was all over from there. I arrived back at HH and called my mother to inform her of what was going on. She took my symptoms and then called my doctor back in the States. Ellie and Morgan kept checking in on me and trying to cheer me up. I am thankful for their efforts even if I wasn’t in the mood for some jokes. After some phone tag from my mother with the doctor’s orders, I was finally able to sleep with the help of medications to ease the pain.

Connie (my doctor) concluded that my diet was not very nutritious (since all I eat is really rice and more rice and then some veggies along with peanut butter sandwiches for lunch) which led to my cyst not getting the nutrients it needs to not burst. Along with exhaustion (which stems from not having a good diet and the fact that I feel like I am on the go all the dang time), a bit of dehydration (from my sunburn that I had acquired over the weekend) and that it all really stems down to the fact that I am not getting what I need food wise. Thank God we’re moving so now I can make my own lunches, buy my own groceries and make sure that I am eating the right amounts of foods. Now where did I put that food pyramid?

I was kind of worried about what the next few days would look like since I am supposed to be going to Renmark for the weekend and off to Noarlunga tomorrow. I guess I will find out in the morning. I want to still go, but I know that my health comes before anything else.

Cheers.

Table tennis IS a contact sport!

G'day mates,

In America we would call today Fat Tuesday. Not Shrove Tuesday. I will get to this point later on in my post.

This morning I woke up with enough time to get dressed and run down for brekky before being outside to wait for Yvonne. Yvonne showed up at 8:45 instead of at 8:15. So I could have showered, and looked decent before she arrived. Oh well, I was going to be in the back of the hot storeroom anyway.

I bet you can guess what I am going to write next: we got lost AGAIN on the way to work. Ellie had to pull out the street directory this time and then Yvonne knew where we were at. We headed to Sefton Park to meet with Belinda who runs Calvary down south. Ellie was having the meeting with Belinda; I was going just to have some Milo and for the ride until we got to Blair Athol. Ellie's computer crashed this morning so she also was trying to deal with that. She brought the computer along so that Trevor (the IT guy at SP) could have a go at trying to fix it. We met Belinda briefly and then we were off to BA with her.

After arriving at Blair Athol, I headed back to the storeroom and started sorting. I learned the difference between 'sweet' biscuits and biscuits. Sweet buiscuits have flavoring and are usually crackers. Regular biscuits are cookies. I separated nappies (diapers) into packs of tens. I learned the difference between day and night nappies and then girl and boy nappies. I sorted through milk, other donations and then put washing powder (detergent) into containers for easier use. In the same time of doing all of this, I got to know Peta a lot better. She lives across the road from BA and has a rabbit. She is going to a Pink concert soon and likes Miley Cyrus. I informed her that I was not a huge Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus fan, but that I had indeed watched a few episodes of the show. I mean who hasn't?

After finishing with everything, I had lunch with Ellie, Audene, Sharon Goode, and Polly Perkins. I was suppose to spend some of my days with Polly, but she resigned today so that won't work now. Ellie and I had some good laughs at lunch because we tried to open the door to eat out on the patio and it wouldn't budge - no matter how hard we pulled. Then when Audene tried to open the door to let us in after we'd walked all the way around the building, it wouldn't budge for her either. You had to have been there. We ate and then I headed off to the op shop to spend the afternoon sorting clothing. There were twice as many people there as there are on Mondays. Vida was there and she had her birthday last Monday. I worked with her and Pam. Lets just say that I don't enjoy being told what to do when I already know what I am supposed to be doing. I said 20 times (and I am not exaggerating on this one) that I do the same thing on Monday that they were doing today, but they still thought I needed to be trained. Gah. They did enlighten me on movies that I should watch that are Australian. They all thought The Castle was top notch too.

Ernie and his wife work in the op shop on Tuesdays. Ernie and I got into a discussion about politics, the economy, stimulus packages, travelling and then Africa. He's been the US a few times, but never to Iowa which is disappointing. He really missed out man.

After finishing in the op shop I headed over to the office where I chatted with Robyn for a bit before Helen came to say that she was taking us back to the Magill office since she was headed that direction. Ellie and I got ready and we were off. It was good to be around Helen again since I really hadn’t seen her in a while. You know how once you get in a routine and you’re used to seeing the same people everyday you just feel really thrown off and feel like the wind has been knocked out of you? That’s somewhat how I have been feeling about the move from Magill to SP. I like everyone at the Magill office and I feel like I know them heaps better than those at the SP office. I know the people at SP, but I just haven’t had time to create those bonds. We arrived at the Magill office and I did a bit of blogging before heading off to HH.

While we were at the office I found out that I am MOVING! YES! I will be living a block from Helen and near Concordia College. (Concordia College is actually a high school.) We will be living in a parsonage (they call them mans? here) and it has a washing machine! No more rice for me!!!! Or hearing Eminem or Rihanna blasted through the stereo system at 2am.

I ended up going to the Young Adults’ game night that was at Helene’s house. I wasn’t sure during the day if I would be going to game night or out with Matt and the two German students that are staying with him. Turns out that I made the right choice by going to Helene’s. Ellie and I took the bus from HH to Red Rooster. Red Rooster is an Australian chain and is 100% Aussie. At least that’s what the sign in the store said. It also referred to American chains as in “flocking” to Australia. I enjoyed that pun (even if it wasn’t intended) since the company is a form of a bird.

After indulging ourselves in greasy food (we ordered fish and chips) we were off to the Schulz’ house. I met Liz (whom I’d met before and she’s pregnant too), Shaun, Nathaniel and Charlene. I played Blokus with Simon, Liz and Jeremy. I never won, but my game improved over time. Simon left to go make some pancakes so Katarina took over his spot.

I then indulged in a few pancakes since I won’t be able to eat them until Lent is over. They were rather flat pancakes and were more on the side of their relative – the crepe. The pancakes in the US are quite fatter and more buttermilk-ier. This is also were people picked apart Morgan’s strange eating patterns. After this everyone left except the three of us and the Schulz family who live there so obviously they wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

So this lead to a fun game of table tennis – now let me tell you this before hand: Jeremy is a pro. (Not really, but compared to the rest of us – he is.) And he was my partner for the first round of doubles. Second thing you should know: the ping-pong paddle is actually called a bat. Third thing: I am pretty rubbish at playing table tennis.

I incurred the wrath of the bat from Jeremy. Let’s just say I didn’t move out of the way and the bat got the best of my arm. The bat flew out of Jeremy’s hand and down the stairs. I ended up on the floor laughing to the point where I had tears. Jeremy kept apologizing and I felt bad because he felt really bloody awful about the whole ordeal. Then we decided that El and I should switch teams. So that left me with Simon and you’ll never guess what happened next. That’s right, I got hit AGAIN by the bat only this time it wasn’t as bad or as hard. I seriously thought I was going to have a bruise, but I didn’t (thank God since I get queasy at the sight of bruises). Who knew table tennis was such a contact sport?

Then I ended up playing Jeremy one-on-one and I improved my game a little. I just have this habit of hitting the ball off the table, when it should be on the table. Whenever Jeremy would smack the ball really hard, I would just move out of the way or stand still next to the wall so that I wouldn’t get hit. Taking a hit from the bat does a lot to a girl. :)

We played until about 1:15am and then we were off to HH so that we could be up and going for work the next day.

Cheers.

Vibes of the Constitution

Hey everybody,

Today was an exceptional Monday in the fact that I was thrown off my routine and did not enjoy it one bit. I woke up to find that I needed to be ready so that Yvonne could pick me and the other 2 girls up at HH. I scarfed down my breakfast and was outside ready to be picked up. However, Yvonne didn't come until about 30 minutes after she was suppose to be there. That's what happens when you get caught up at the Magill office (or just have too much fun there) and have early morning traffic.

So we hopped in her red car and were off to Blair Athol. Or so we thought until we discovered that we were lost in Gilles Plain. I knew (and so did El & Morgan) that we were lost when we were headed in the direction of Ingle Farm. Which is definitely not on the way to Blair Athol. So after getting out the street directory Yvonne realized where she was and determined that we should go to Sefton Park first since it was closer. So we ended up at the office and there I got some energy to kick-start my morning by drinking MILO! It's the chocolate powdery stuff that you either put in milk or with milk and hot water. I prefer the milk and Milo over the one with water. It makes the Milo crunchier on top and it gives me a boost of energy! It even says energy on the can it comes in. BAM! I needed that - and lucky for me I will get Milo whenever I go to Sefton Park which will be a great deal coming up.

While at SP, we had our meeting with Yvonne and Sharon Davis (whom we refer to as Sharon Bad since there is a Sharon Goode at Blair Athol). We basically outlined our days through the end of March. We will be working out of the SP office instead of the Magill office now so that the women at Magill can get their work done. I will be with Andrea except for the days I am at BA.

After figuring out all of our schedules, Kendall (who is pregnant, but doesn't look pregnant and is due in June) talked to us for a bit and then drove us to BA. Morgan and Ellie had meetings with people at BA so I just wandered off to the op shop to work. I got there about half an hour before lunch time so I worked with Merrilyn until then. Mel was gone today which was a bummer because I really enjoy her. They said that she was sick and couldn't make it in today. She is 90 something and has all this energy. She has been working at the op shop for the 40 years it's been open and her stories are great.

Natalie was back this week. And she surprised me (although I already knew about this) by delivering me: DR. PEPPER! There are only 3 stores in Adelaide that sell it and she happens to live by one. Dr. Pepper is $2.99 a can at this place and others have it priced at $3.50 a can. She got me three cans - originally she had 4, but she tried one herself and thought it was nasty. Coke is a big thing here so she'd never had Dr. Pepper before. She also got me some Pop Tarts. Thank God for Natalie because I have been going through some serious Dr. Pepper withdrawls!!

I ate lunch with Gail, Carl, and Merrilyn. Merrilyn had to help me with the microwave because all of the numbers were in celsius. So I wasn't sure what buttons to push or how to even use the timer. Thank goodness she was there or I might not have had lunch. Gail and I discussed the death penalty at lunch for about half an hour. She doesn't support it, but thought that Iowa did. I informed her that we didn't have the death penalty. She said she thinks that hard labour is better for those who have done crimes rather than death. This led to the American prison system and how it's portrayed on television (which is where Gail gets all of her info). And then this led to how a pair of twins joined at the head are in surgery and that I should watch it on FoxTel. I told (for about the 20th time) that I don't have a tv. I'm not sure how we got from one topic to the other, but it's always interesting when Gail's around.

After this I just sorted more clothes for the op shop and then cut rags. When the shop closed I headed over to the office where I did hung out with Morgan, El and Jill the receptionist. She then took me to the back room of BA where I met Audene (whom I'd met before, but she was in a hurry then so I didn't actually get a proper greeting) and Peta. I thought Peta's name was actually Peter and that people were just not pronouncing the 'r' on the end because that happens a lot here. Imagine my surprise when Peter turns out to be a female named Peta. They were sorting the food pantry and I will be helping them tomorrow. This made me happy because I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I followed Jill around the office to the back room. Turns out that God has funny timing and planning. And He knows that I like working with food pantries so it made me feel a little bit more like I'm at home.

After waiting a bit more, Yvonne showed up and we were then off. We got to have some of Katarina's chocolate chip cakes (we Americans were refering to them as muffins) that were in the car. YUM! Yvonne dropped us off at HH and then El and I decided that we needed something to do tonight. Sure enough, Helene was willing to watch The Castle with us. So we walked to her house at about 8ish. Helene thought it would be about a half an hour walk - it took us one hour and fifteen minutes to get there. That was fine though since about 80 percent of her household was watching an episode of Top Gear. It was a special Vietnam episode and they were not to be bothered until after 8:30. After arriving at Helene's we waited for Morgan and then started the movie.

I don't think that I really enjoyed The Castle. I might watch it again, but some parts I was just like "what the hell is going on here?" It is a very Australian movie and most say it is iconic. Even though it was made in the 1990s. And it only took about 2 weeks to film and was very low budget. I won't give away any of the plot incase some of you readers are so inclined to watch the movie yourself. I would recommend it if you want to get a sense of Aussie humour and where my subject title of my blog came from. :) I'm getting vibes...

After this I chatted with Jeremy and Simon a bit and then we were back off to HH since Yvonne was picking Ellie and I up at 8:15am (which we translated to about 8:30) at HH. Stay tuned for more fun times! :)

Cheers.

The blasted ozone layer here - or lack of it!

G'day.


Sunday I woke up to find that I could not walk due to the sunburns that I had acquired on my legs from Saturday's romp at the beach. It took me five minutes to get down the stairs for breakfast. It took about 10 minutes (or more) to get back up the stairs after I finished breakfast. And by then my legs hurt so much worse that I said I couldn't go to church. Plus the fact that I was flaming red didn't help either. So I crawled back into bed while Morgan and El got ready and headed off for church with Helene's family.

My internet wasn't working or I would have blogged while I was in bed. I slept off and on until about 3:45pm. This is when I get a knock on my door from Morgan. She wants to know if she can come in - and that Helene and Simon were with her and Ellie. I woke up to find that Helene had been very adement in the fact that she was going to come over to HH to check up on me. She needed to know if I needed to be taken to the emergency room. Well, she checked out my face, arms, neck, and legs and determined that if the burn on my face was a little darker that I would be whisked off to the ER. I didn't tell her that I have KP (keratosis polaris - it's a skin disease) and that it was inflamed and would only last for about 48 hours. I honestly was a bit disgruntled at being woken up and wasn't making completely coherent sentences. I am not a morning person unless I want to be. :) So Helene then went through all of the what I should do and not do like medical wise (you know - aloe, solarcaine - which she had never heard of before and I think would be highly useful here in the Southern Hemisphere - wet washcloth, plenty of fluids, etc.). I found it slightly humourous because I brought my own sunburn kit because I knew that at some point in time on this trip I would be sunburnt. Lo and behold it was today.

I was very grateful that she showed up and decided to be motherly. It's nice to know that while I am studying abroad in another country someone cares enough to drive out of their way to check up on me. Plus this was a chance for her and Simon to see how we actually live here at HH. Needless to say, Simon was definitely not impressed and said so. But anyway, it was nice to have some unexpected company even if it was because I look like a lobster.

After this I stayed up and watched one of my favorite movies: Under the Tuscan Sun. It made me feel more at home here because in the movie the lead character, Francis, is living by herself in a villa in Italy. She's in a country she's unfamiliar with, knows hardly anyone and buys a villa and in the end she perseveres and has the time of her life. So it made me feel better about my stay here in Australia. After the movie it was suppertime which consisted of rice and eggs on toast. Then it was back to bed for me. I'll let you know how my Monday goes since we're meeting with the director of LCC.

Cheers.

Sunnies, Cossies and Sunscreen

Bonjour!

On Saturday I ventured to the beach after sleeping in of course! Morgan and I planned to leave at about 12:50pm to catch the bus into the City. We did that and then caught another bus to Henley Beach. I have to say that I was mildy amused when the boys from Rostrevor College on the bus were discussing Napoleon Dynamite and rattails. You never know what you will hear at the bus stop or while you're on the bus. While we waited for ages at the bus stop - Morgan worked on her tan. Which means she didn't have to work too hard since she was turning brown literally on the spot.

We finally caught the 110 bus from North Terrace and were on our way. We rode for approx. 20 minutes and then got off near the beach. It was so nice because you could feel the beach in the air and on your skin. We walked to the beach from the stop and then walked for a mile or so on the beach. We ended up at Grange Beach which I have to say is quite nicer than Henley Beach although there aren't any restuarants or bathrooms available.

As we were walking, we saw all of these people running into the ocean and swimming. So we thought there might have been a triathalon going on, but we were wrong. Some man informed us that this was lifeguarding training. I thought that was a bit ridiculous seeing that they are swimming in the freakin' ocean and that four year olds are out there. There were a lot of people there and they were all dressed alike too which was slightly disconcerting. It reminded me of cults - only these guys are learning to lifeguard instead of whatever it is cults are brainwashed into.

So after this we found a good location to stop and tan at. I didn't tan - I burned - but I didn't know this until after I left the beach. I slathered sunscreen (SPF of 45) on me at least six times so I was a bit shocked when I discovered I was burned. There is no ozone layer here so I should have known that 10 times would have been more sufficient instead of 6 times.

We ran around in the ocean and collected a bunch of seashells too. They were quite pretty as there were so many different coloured ones. I am bringing some back with me - yay!

These are some photos from the beach. Enjoy! :)
(All photos by Hilary Wieck unless noted otherwise)

I was being Superwoman with my towel.

Morgan and I at the beach

(This photo was taken by a man whose friends from Canada had just arrived.)

We also were invaded by some seagulls whenever Morgan took out the rice cakes she had brought with her to eat. Here is a video clip of a bit of what she was doing. And mind you, there is only one seagull in this video, I don't know where all the masses of his friends were at the time. They might have made the video more funnier or scarier.

Morgan Feeding the Seagull Video

After lollying through the ocean all afternoon, we walked about two miles to find the freakin' bus stop. It was across from this gardening centre that looked really drab because of the drought. Poor plants. We grabbed the bus and met Ellie in the City. We journeyed around (I found a shop that sells Dr. Pepper!) ended up dining at Cafe Primo. Excellent Italian food with complimentary pancakes. Yum! And the LemonLimeBitters drink is amazing!

My complimentary pancake with cream and syrup

LemonLimeBitters!

(This is from Ellie Rogaczewski's camera)

Ellie with our LemonLimeBitters

The three of us with my pancake (they got their own too!)


A bit of the beach of all the freezing folks at home!

Cheers!

Lazy days & Supermild Nights!

Hello to all you fine readers :)

Today (Friday) was a really good day. I got up and got ready for work - translation: Hilary got up, changed clothes, brushed teeth, ate brekky and then headed off out the door to walk a mile by 9:30am. I arrived at the Magill office to find that Helene had set up a surprise day for us. She had basically given us the day to journey around the city and gain a historical background on South Australia.

So we started off at the Magill Interpretive Trail just south of the office. There was a little walk way set up that helps provide historical information about the Magill area and the Kaurna people who lived in the area before the White people settled it. It was a really cool to be able to learn about things and areas and line them up with what I know. I love the feeling of understanding something and just gettin' it - ya know?

The Magill Interpretive Trail sign with me next to the only area that wasn't birdpoop stained.

I will admit it, I am ridiculously proud to be a Methodist - so I take pictures of Methodist things whenever I can because Methodists don't exist in Australia.

I thought I would have some fun trying to climb this wagon wheel.

This is what part of the trail looked like - these stumps were painted by local children.

After the trail, we went off to the Pepperstreet Museum only to find it was closed until noon. So we walked across the road to the Magill Shopping Centre. I bought a Hawaiian pizza at Baker's Delight along with a White Bap. They were delicious! Then we journeyed to this coffee place where Morgan ordered a cup of nasty smelling coffee. After this it was back to the museum which had opened. We walked through to find a small shop where local artists sell their jewelry, paintings, etc. There is also a coffee shop inside the museum, but we didn't take advantage of that. The paintings were absolutely goregous! They were by a South Australian artist and were in watercolour or oils. Beautiful. If only I could paint like that.

We returned back to Magill for lunch at about 12 something and then were off again to the City to see the Migration Museum. I took in so much info at the Migration Museum that I had to stop and ask the others if we could come back another day. There was just so much information I couldn't take in anymore - and I wasn't even done with half of the museum.


I learned this at the museum:

That the United States annexed the Phillipines and the Phillipines fought back. And there was a war (Phillipine-American War) over it - I never learned about that in history class. If they left this out of history class, what else is being left out? A lot actually. Take the time to actually research where you come from. It's heaps helpful so that when you go to museums you aren't sidelined with knowledge you didn't know or when people at the Casino quiz you about George Washington.

That the Phillipines have a woman President right now: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (and she is the country's 2nd female President).

Aboriginals were considered black. This shocked me because they don't look black to me and weren't slaves. But then again I was associating with American history as I read this section of the museum.

Possums are considered a sacred animal by the Aboriginals. They made fur coats out of them for the winter time. Only 15 are left in the world and I've seen one.


To get into Australia - you had to be British. Many others were sent back home because they were Irish, German, etc. If you were applying to come to Australia to live - you would have been required to take a test (and it wouldn't have been a language you know) and you would have failed. Thus you would not be admitted to the country. Sorry 'bout that.

When people were choosing where to emigrate to you know what they sat and debated: America? or Australia? Over 32 million people migrated to America; only 3 million came to Australia. Just think about your ancestors and the decision they made. Australia or America? You could have been Australian. Fancy that.


The way you take your tea says a lot about you. (This makes me wonder about the way that I take my tea and the way people percieve me.)

The Bible was a big foundation for those coming to Australia and specifically Adelaide. Adelaide is known as the "City of Churches" as you will find one (or five) on a single block. And I really am NOT over extending the truth.

The Aboriginals were treated just like our Native Americans. If you would like me to expand on this later - write a comment and I will post a blog about it specifically. And just last year on February 13, 2008 the Australian government FINALLY apologized to the Aborigines for everything they had been put through. And don't think that our government is any better just because they apologized earlier or gave compensation. An apology doesn't erase the years of pain, torture, loss of family and friends, rejection and other numerous traumatic events that can damage a person forever.

There were plenty of other things that I learned as well, but these were the things that stuck out in my mind the most as I am sitting here writing this.


After the museum, El and I caught a bus back to Magill. Morgan was catching a bus to Blair Athol. We stayed at the office for a bit and then journeyed back to HH. There I called my friend Matt to see if he could recommend any good places to go to on a Friday night. Lo and behold, he wasn't doing anything tonight so he offered to come pick us up and show us around. Hell yeah. Nothing like a local to ease your worries. So I got ready and then we went to find Matt. He had parked out on the roadside, and was waiting for us. (Our driveway to HH is quite big and therefore we never actually know where someone is going to pick us up - front, middle, back or road? So many options.) I rode shotgun and listened to some Joshua Redman - a jazzist. It was quite relaxing and thus I missed out on a good portion of the conversation in the car. But I really don't mind when the music is extremely good.

We parked (finally - parking takes forever in Adelaide) and then walked to this bar called Supermild, but it didn't appear to be open yet. So we went next door to this bar called Elysium. It took me forever to decide what I wanted to drink - but I ended up ordering a Strawberry Stripper. The guy didn't know how to make it, but luckily I do. This was the BIGGEST Strawberry Stripper I have ever had in my life. Amazing!

Me with that ridiculously huge Strawberry Stripper!

(All photos by Hilary Wieck)

After chilling at Elysium for a bit, we decided to venture next door to Supermild. It was "supermild" to say the least for the first half hour. We went to order and this lady walked in and bought us all (there were like 9 of us total including the bartenders) a round (or two) of French Pussy shots. Yuck. But who refuses a free shot? I didn't think you would either. We met some of Matt's friends - I swear you can't take anyone anywhere around here without them knowing someone and this city has 1.1 million people. Geesh. :) I ended up having another Strawberry Stripper at this bar and I was done for the night. Drinks are expensive, even though I didn't pay for the shots or the last Strawberry Stripper. And the funny thing is, I really don't even drink when I am back in the States. We danced some at Supermild and just chilled some more. I learned quite a bit about Matt and was excited to get to know him more. He's a 3rd year jazz saxophonist at Adelaide University and is graduating this year. He's really interesting and just knows loads of stuff about Adelaide, uni, etc. It was a nice night.

After deciding to leave Supermild, we headed for the car and found parking again. We were off to The Fringe. It was the second day it had been opened. It was a mass of people which I was not too thrilled about since I don't like crowds. At all. But I just kept thinking of Moulin Rouge just on a lighter scale and with no prostitutes (that I know of) around. There was the twirling sticks shop, the freak show, the pot smokers, the crazy candy shops, etc. And it was cold and I was walking around in the grass in 4 inch high heels. So you can expect that I wasn't extremely happy even though I've walked further in my heels. So after spending some time just people watching we were back off to the car and on our way back to HH. Then I hit the sack.

Cheers.

When the mouse is away, the children come out to play... and swing dance!

G'day.

Today (Thursday) was the day the three of us journeyed to Ingle Farm which is quite a jaunt from where we live. Karen (the director of Ingle Farm) picked us up from HH and we were off at about 8:30am. We arrived at Ingle Farm and had a quick cuppa to get the day started off right. The three of us had the option of going to Move 'n' Groove or the Afghani support group. I choose to go to Move 'n' Groove as did El. Morgan went to the support group.

Move 'n' Groove is on Thursdays at 10am and consists of parents and their children singing songs together. It is run by a man named Laddie. We were told that he was "a bit of a Richard Simmons" and was very "in your face." All untrue! He was very welcoming and NOTHING at all like Richard Simmons. (If you're wondering how I know about Richard Simmons (since I am so young) - we used to have to watch videos of him when I was younger at school and senior year of high school we did Richard Simmons' Disco Sweat video every other day.) Laddie has hair, just not curly and not excessively big (it's really not big at all - quite flat).

After the Move ‘n’ Groove session Laddie approached Ellie and I and we got to know him a lot better. Laddie is from Czechoslovakia and he graduated college with a computer engineering degree. He doesn’t get paid to do the Move ‘n’ Groove sessions – he just volunteers as a parent. He's been doing it for 18 months now. Originally one lady was doing it, then she got a promotion in her job and had to move. Another parent picked it up, but since she was walking to Ingle Farm it was harder for her. So that's where Laddie comes in. He didn't want it to stop so he continued the program. Which I thought was really cool. Parents helping other parents. Laddie's family was there during the session and they are so cute!

Move ‘n’ Groove consisted of singing songs such as the Hokey Pokey, Little Green Frog, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the Wheels on the Bus and other little kids songs that I didn't grow up with. It was a lot of fun to see the parents singing along with their kids. You want to know the most amazing thing? In one room we had 58 people (this includes the kids) and EVERYONE was doing the actions and singing. There was a girl next to me who was probably about 7 or 8 months and she was the cutest little thing! She kept staring at Ellie and I, then she would be off to try and find some toys. I would say that the class was for children 3 or younger.

It was a really neat experience because of the fact that I don’t think that there is a lot of this that goes on in the United States. A lot of the time, parents just drop off their child at daycare or a child center and head to work. There isn’t as much interaction as there could be between the parents and children. We’ve been to a playgroup also since we’ve been here and it was where the parents stayed and played with their children too. It seems that things are focused more on parenting too.

After this I just kind of mulled around the office as there wasn't anything else to do. There was supposed to be a support group (Mummy and Me), but we were told they weren't coming in. And then some of them did come in. But they just liked interacting with each other and that was the extent of that. I did some sudoku and then Ellie and I played on the equipment since the kids were gone. It was fun! Dianne took us home after that. I arrived home and rested up a bit before getting ready to go hear some 40s swing music. We decided to eat at HH tonight and I was pleasantly surprised to have some egg drop/corn soup. I really miss corn, it isn't eatten much here. And coming from the corn state, I just am used to eating a lot of it. (I am actually eating corn cakes with peanut butter as I write this.)

Me inside one of the tunnel cubes at Ingle Farm.

Me with the wombat in the outside playground area.

Did someone say trampoline

(The top photo and bottom photo are from Ellie Rogaczewski's camera)

After this we caught the bus, and met up with Simon (actually he just caught the bus at a different stop.) and we were off to the casino! We got off and then hoofed it to the casino which was only a few blocks from our stop. We got ID'd - and the Americans had to use our passports to get in - driver's licenses don't make the cut to get in. The guard was quizzing me on who was in the passport and other random stuff that I was just like "come on and just let me in - I was never good at history anyway." That's kind of a lie - since I did like history and was somewhat good at it. I just didn't want to get quizzed on George Washington. So after getting through that obstacle course, we journeyed on to try and find the Balcony Bar in the Casino. After a bit we discovered the location and were a bit early. I met Matt (Simon's friend who befriended me on Facebook - so techincally he is my friend?) and he's the alto sax player in the band.

Thus Morgan and I headed for the bar. We've frequented pubs and other locations that don't serve cocktails. So this was our chance! I asked the man if he knew how to make a strawberry stripper (my favorite drink) and he said no. Then he asked what was in it - and I whipped off the list of ingredients. And he made it for me and it tasted pretty good - for my standards anyway (which are set ridiculously high for those who don't know). So I had my first strawberry stripper in Australia tonight!

Me and my 1st Strawberry Stripper drink in Aussie!

The four of us found some seats and chatted for a while. Did you know that chat in French means cat? (You will probably begin to see my thought process throughout all the blogs - and this is one of those times.) Then the band, Lucky Seven, took the stage and I forgot how much I love jazz/swing music! It was a great show! They even played some songs I knew so that was an added bonus! And then people took to the dance floor and let me just tell you: people in Australia (or Adelaide, at least) know how to dance! My goodness gracious, I just sat on the sidelines and enjoyed everyone else's dancing. They don't need my skill-less bum out there on the dancefloor trying to have a go at it.

Morgan, Ellie and I at the Lucky Seven show.

Lucky Seven in action!

Morgan and Ellie having a go at swing dancing - only not in public!

When Lucky Seven would take a break, Matt would come and talk to us. That was a lot of fun because I got to know him a little better and see him and Simon interact together. They are best mates, but are completely polar opposites. I was informed by Matt that Adelaide is just like Iowa and that's why people come here. I didn't quite agree with that since I haven't seen any corn or pigs (except the gold statues at Rundle Mall) around lately. But they say the city is set up like a country town, which once again I don't feel this - or yet anyway.

On the flipside, while we were getting to know Matt - this annoying couple was teaching swing dancing lessons to the masses. They were just too chirpy for 9 o'clock at night if I say so myself. Next time I go I think I will attempt to learn because... you get a free drink for trying. Why not when drinks cost $15?!

The four of us debated on whether or not we should catch the bus and leave the show. Or stay for the show and catch a cab. We opted for the cab, but were soon disgruntled when the band quit playing at 11:30pm. The bus left at 11:20pm. Grrrr. We were invited to go to the opening of The Fringe with Matt and his bandmembers, but we declined since we do have jobs and have to go to work the next morning.

Then the four of us (Ellie, Morgan, Simon and I) hailed a cab and got ready for the time of our lives! Not really actually. The cab driver didn't go the way Simon told him to go and thus causing Simon to have to pay more. Then when we dropped Simon off at his house, the driver asked if we wanted to continue on with Simon's fare or erase it. I said "NO! Start over." Simon already paid and I was not going to pay again for his ride. Stupid cab driver. Then when we told him where we wanted dropped off and he had no idea how to get there. Then Morgan gave him the beginning of the directions and he didn't follow them either. Needless to say, we were sure as hell happy to pay our $13.30 taxi fare and get the hell out of dodge. He asked if we were Americans - and I said yes. He said that he knew that from when we started talking, therefore, he was being dodgy as all get out and trying to rip us off. Asshole. So I don't think I'll be hailing a cab ride anytime soon. After that it was hitting the hay time for me.

Here is a video that I took of Lucky Seven performing the song 'Last Dance'

MY MOM IS THE BEST!!!!!!

HEY MOM! (and hello to everyone else reading as well:)

So my mom is the BEST mom ever! (quick fact: here in Australia, it's not Mom, it's Mum.) She sent me a package that weighed almost 17 pounds and cost a small fortune to send. But it was well worth it because now I have the ability to eat more than just rice! Thanks Mom! :)

In the package:

10 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese (Creamy and Regular) (AND AMERICAN - the mac'n'cheese here doesn't taste quite as good and it's because the cheese is different) (And props to my sister - she helped pick out some of the mac'n'cheese)

1 box of Nilla Wafers (my favorite!)

1 box of Scooby Doo Snacks

1 box of Cookie Dough Bites

2 boxes of Sunbelt chocolate chip granola bars

2 boxes of Crayola crayons

A red circular container that has candies in it! (Hershey's, Tootsie Rolls, York's Peppermint Patties)

A heart PEZ dispenser :)

JIF peanut butter

A bag of Valentine's Day Tootsie Rolls

A bag of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups

Some more earth/eco-friendly bags for me to use

My Zebra purse

2 boxes of Band-aids (blisters hurt!)

After-Bite bug stuff for El (who the mosquitos love and she has the proof to show it.)

4 folders

1 power strip cord

and last, but definitely not least: 3 Sudoku books

And my church family sent me a Valentine and a Heavenly Stress Kit (which will come in handy.) So thank you to everyone from DUMC! :)

Here are some pictures that I took of the package and El & I's enjoyment of it!

The box on the floor in my room before opening it.

Australia Post (the mailing system here) checked my box to see if there was anything in there that shouldn't have been sent. Australia has STRICT quarantine laws that have fines up to 10,000 AUS dollars plus jail time. So luckily, everything made it through to me! They even packed the box back up the way my mom had done it. Yay!

Discovering what was inside!

Everything that was in the box on display.

Me and the Nilla Wafers! YES!

Ellie applying her After-Bite excitedly! Stop the itch!

MACARONI & CHEESE!

The Valentine's Card and kit from my church family.

Everything on my bookshelf - I feel like a fully stocked grocery store at the moment!

Thanks again Mom! You are the best!! :)

Cheers.

Monotonous Meetings

How you goin'? Fine I hope. :)

Today was the day of the big DFC meeting!

Andrea picked me up at about 8:30am and we were off. We outskirted the city and made our way to Marion. Originally Andrea said that I might have to go leave the meeting at some point, so she thought I might want to go shopping at Marion Mall. The mall is HUGE!!! Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to go because I got to stay the whole meeting. Which was fortunate for me. :) But I will have a chance to visit the mall another time during my stay here.


We arrived at the meeting at 9:30am and we promptly got started after a quick dedication of the Kaurna land and what we were doing on it today. (The Kaurna people are the Aboriginals that originally were living on the South Australia land before the white settlers arrived - sound familiar?) The meeting was held at the Families - SA district office which is at Marion and also has the Housing - SA district office there as well. We went in to the meeting expecting there to be a workshop and then the meeting. Nope. The workshop was cancelled (which we didn't know that) and the meeting was taking place instead. Thank God we started when we did or I might still be there.


The meeting ended a bit before 2pm. And we had one 15 minute break and ate lunch around the table so we could continue our discussion. At this meeting there were other foster care providers and some district people. Some of the other providers were: Anglicare, Uniting Care, Baptist Care, and then a bunch of names that I couldn't either hear or couldn't pronounce. I sat next to Andrea and Gayle - who plays a very important role in Families - SA. And she's quite funny to top it off.

The people from Anglicare were a pain the entire day. They argued every little thing to the ground. And then argued some more. Others could hardly get a word in edgewise. I could tell that the lady from Anglicare does not like LCC. All the organizations had to go around and say what they are doing. When it was Anglicare's turn, this lady was mentioning how they had to learn to work with a "new service provider" that is coming into their region and she just wasn't sure how that was going to work out. (Mind you, she said this in such a snooty way!) The thing is, everyone single person in that room knew she was talking about Andrea, LCC and I. We aren't stupid. And you know the worst (or best - depending on your outlook) part: she used to work here back in the 90s. And what I found humorous about the whole thing is that Anglicare was being called out for not returning wanna-be carers' phone calls or doing follow-ups to see how people were coming along in the carer;s process and assessment. The lady made every single excuse in the book for why they hadn't called back - and one of them was their phones were being funny. I had to stop from laughing at this point because at the Magill office (LCC) we had been having phone issues to the extent where we were changing handphones and having to put one hand on the computer and keep one on the phone to actually hear the other person on the line. There is a history behind LCC and Anglicare - and basically Anglicare stole LCC's foster care program and funding (from the government) back in 1997 in which LCC had to shut down their entire program. Anglicare doesn't like to work LCC at all now - or any other agencies really. Hmmm...

Anyway, the meeting was very interesting because I was able to get an inside look at how the foster care program is run and how non-profit organizations fit into the scheme overall. The different policies and procedures was interesting because they change quite a bit and each organization has to adhere to the new policies. Which means a lot of restructuring or complete demolition of a program. I did have a difficult time at first because there were terms like (DC, SI, JNO, CP) that were being thrown around and I had no idea what they stood for. I do now after Andrea and this lady named Claire explained them to me. I'm really glad I got to go to the meeting because it was a chance to see how all the providers try to work with each other (or don't - Anglicare!) and how that plays out in the bigger picture. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I took a lot of notes. :)

After the meeting Andrea and I took a different route back to Magill and she went off to Sefton to work on the budget. Yuck. I ended up doing some odd things at the office and then it was back to HH.

El and I decided to forego supper at HH (we would've had rice - again) and instead hopped the bus back to the city at 7:50pm to go to Subway near Rundle Mall. I got a pizza sub - I know this isn't experiencing something new, but it's Subway for crying out loud! The sub was toasted instead of microwaved which made it a bit tougher to eat. And poor Ellie got a veggie sub and it wasn't the best - plus it didn't help that we couldn't really hear the girl behind the counter when she was asking for our orders. And they don't have $5 foot-longs, they are $7 foot-longs here.

After eating our supper we journeyed down Rundle Street and just explored the night life. We were going to go to the Universal Wine Bar because my friend Matt was playing there, but it was awkward because we didn't see a band when we arrived. So we just continued on down to the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Which is where "The Fringe" (Adelaide's HUGE art/visual/music festival) is being held at. It wasn't open since opening night is tomorrow night. We did stop at this shop called Cold Rock Ice Cream, and I thought it smelled bad. We didn't get anything. Then we hopped the bus back and I went to bed.

Cheers until my next post!

Sleaze Attacks!!!!!!

Hey everyone,

So today I woke up and got ready for work. It was nice, I got to wear sweatpants to work. :) Emily (one of the counsellors at LCC) and I went to the domestic violence shelter's class for this term. It was held at this Uniting Church - which excited me because everything inside was Methodist. Anyway, I am learning a mix of martial arts and knowledge to combat sketchy men and their dirtball moves on women. Skeeze bags.

Emily and I arrived a tad bit late because Emily locked her keys in the boot this morning. The boot is the trunk of the car. After that fiasco we arrived to find everyone else had already arrived. That was fine. I was introduced to the women in attendance and the lesson began.

First things first: The women in this class have gone through some form of domestic violence/abuse. This class is about teaching women how to stand up for themselves in positive ways while also helping them to change their lives at the same time. The instructor, Sharon, takes knowledge and applies it so that women can feel positive and in control of their lives.

Week 1: The first week they learned about walking. The way a women walks (or men too I guess) is how she/he is percieved by others. The women were taught to walk with their shoulders pulled down, back straight and head looking up and forward. Women told stories about how the walk has changed their perception of themselves and how others view them. One woman was able to wear a skirt and hasn't worn one since she was 18. Other women just commanded the room when they tried the walk.

Week 2: Here the women learned how to poke out a man's eyes, kick him in the groin correctly, jabs to the juggular and then the heel-of-your-hand thrust to the juggular or chin. They still continue their walking, but also learned how to say NO in an assertive way. One lady said she's been standing up for herself more now and that some people think that because she is saying NO more often now that she is a bitch. But she said they don't want her to change and therefore are viewing her as a bitch because they don't understand. Which is completely true. People (both men and women) mistake assertiveness for aggressiveness in situations. Get a dictionary and read the definition - I had to, but I don't have one here to look it up for you. Do it yourself.

This week: We learned how to be confident in who we are and the way we talk about ourselves. Today's lesson was on SLEAZE ATTACKS. And how to get out of those types of situations. You know the disgusting men that try to put their arm around you or touch your thighs? Yeah, those dirtballs. I learned how to get up and walk away from a situation. Sharon taught us voice tones to use to indicate what you want. "Take your hand off my shoulder!" "Remove your hand from my thigh." Then I learned how to dislocate someone's middle finger; then Sharon taught me how to dislocate the pointer finger. This is incase someone is trying to touch me inappropriately. I then learned how to crush someone's windpipe to escape and also how to hit them in the groin area with my fist.

I just have to say that the next time I go up to The Bottom's Up (this is a bar in my hometown for those who don't know) and Paulie tries to hit on me and I continue to tell him no let's just say that... he's gonna get one of these manuevers on him. And I am going to enjoy doing it to that poor bastard. He's older than my mom and is a family friend. Plus, his son is a year younger than me. Disgusting.

Anyway, this program is a holistic approach to educating women on abuse and how to protect themselves against it and the situations that may occur. It is a way of empowering women and letting them know it's okay to be who you are. There is no other program like this is all of Australia. I was talking to Sharon (the instructor) and we were comparing cultures. In Australian culture women are taught to be submissive and not stand out or up for themselves. I think that in America women are assertive and are taught to stand up for themselves, but that can also be looked down upon and most women are labeled as bitches for this. It can be looked at in many different ways, but this is just one of the aspects that Sharon and I discussed.

Some of the women asked about certain situations and if they have ever happened to me. I did discuss how in America I do get a lot of men that stare at my chest. I HATE THIS! And my response always is, "My eyes are up here. If you want to have a conversation, you look up here." The women were actually surprised and one lady said this doesn't happen much here. Another lady said thank you because she has this happen to her a lot and she didn't know what to say. Now she does.

After class, I went back to the office with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. I ate lunch in which Helen, Di, Helene basically presented their dissertation on the types of ants here and their conversations with them. Lunch is never dull around here. :) Later on I had a meeting with Helen in which we discussed what I want to do, how things are going, etc. I did some more work for Andrea and then I came back to HH.

WE HAD PIZZA AND STEAK FOR SUPPER! Yeah! No rice for me tonight.

We had a power outage right after supper. It was back on by midnight which was nice, because it was dark before that. And it doesn't help that when I went to the bathroom, Ellie started talking about bloody Mary! I ran out of that bathroom so quickly! I ended up calling Helene and asking if we could watch a movie that we had at her place. So Ellie and I (Helene probably thought we were crazy because we had this red sugar juice at supper and we were extremely hyper) watched Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa with Katarina, and then watched it again with Simon and Jeremy. So that blew my plan of going to bed at 10:30pm out of the water and I didn't get to bed until 12:30am. Which stinks cause I had to get up at 6am to be ready for Andrea to pick me up at 8:15am.

Well, I'm off to this meeting and will tell you about it when I get back!

Cheers!

Mountainous Monday/Religion = Geography

G'day folks,

Today was a typical Monday. Actually, only part of it was typical.

I started off the morning feeling like crap. I went to bed last night not feeling well and awoke feeling the same way. Thank God Ellie called me this morning or I wouldn't have gotten up since I was sleeping hard and didn't hear my alarm go off. She called at 8:30am which gave me about half an hour to get ready for work. El and Morgan went to breakfast which left me to get ready. About 15 minutes later Morgan came back up to inform me that they were leaving because someone needed to get to the office so that Helen and Helene knew that we were coming. After this, she asked if it as okay that they went ahead. Well, you just told me that you were going so I guess it's okay. And that fact that you don't want to wait another 10 mintues for me. I was miffed because I had woken up feeling dizzy and lightheaded and had informed them of this. I don't think that it is safe for someone to walk a mile to work in the heat by themselves when they feel like that.
[An exert has been removed from this blog. We have since cleared up the miscommunication that had occurred on this morning.]

Anyway, I journeyed to the office by myself. I arrived in the middle of devotions. We ended up talking about different work wages and how they compared here versus the US. So after that we piled into the car and were off to Blair Athol. I was slightly taken back in the car ride because Helene was talking about how it was okay for me to talk to her or Helen if things didn't feel right and about what I wanted to do. It felt like it was coming out of the middle of no where and I just kind of let it pass. I later found out that the girls had discussed communication issues with Helen and Helene. I just hate when everyone else knows what is going on and you're the person left out. Which seems to happen quite a bit here. But whatever, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

So we arrived at the op shop and I decided to have a cuppa (translation: cup of tea) with Mel, Carl, Merrilyn and Morgan. I was wearing the Wartburg BSU shirt from last year that has Nelson Mandela's face on it with a quote from him as well. Carl was trying to read it and this sparked quite the interesting conversation. We discussed racism in elementary schools, and how by the time kids are in 8th grade they've been socialized to be racist. I found Carl's arguments interesting and somewhat true. Then we discussed where people are buried when they die and what happens to your body when we die. I don't think Morgan enjoyed this topic, but it's something to think about ya know? Worms or cremation? Take your pick!

Then we discussed how religion is basically geography. If Carl was born in Afghanistan then he'd be Muslim, but if he were born in India he'd be Hindu. This launched us into the topic of how Australia really isn't a "churchy" country, but that America is a Christian country. I just find this humorous because most of the time I don't associate Christianity with America since we have Muslims, Hindus, Christians (conservatives and crazies), Jews, atheists and whatever else. Mel said that most people think this because of the way that the US is portrayed in movies and the media that is shown. But I hear this comment about US being a Christian country a lot. Just something to think about. Which got me thinking, if I lived in Iraq would I be a Sunni or a Shiite? Or if I was born in China - what would I believe in? I pondered my conversation with Carl for the rest of the morning. And again even as I am writing this.

After this, I worked sorting clothing and other odd items in the back of the op shop. We started with a MOUNTAINOUS pile of bags and boxes and got it down to nothing, when ANOTHER huge mountainous pile was formed. I found some 70s clothes which I might wear for the 70s dance night at FUEL which is a young adults retreat that is coming up. After a couple hours of intense work, it was time for my ritual of eating peanut butter and butter sandwiches that I had brought for lunch. El, Morgan and I had eaten outside. It is here that we discussed the conversation that they had had earlier that morning when they went to work ahead of me. We discussed how we are being defensive a lot. Not only with each other, but other people as well. I will admit that I can get defensive. [An exert has been removed from this blog.] I don't appreciate being talked to in a manner or tone that is condescending. Also, the way things are worded to me have a big impact on how I take them. I was verbally abused a lot as a kid by my biological father and so when people talk to me like that, I get defensive because it is one of the only ways that I know how to protect myself. [An exert has been removed from this blog.] So yeah, I get defensive. Take it or leave it. So we discussed this and ways that we can deal with this. We are ALL defensive, [An exert has been removed from this blog.] and we all have different communication styles so it will be a struggle to try and meet in the middle.

After lunch I worked hard again until about 3:30 which is when the op shop closes. Then the three of us caught a bus into the city where we did some afternoon time shopping. I bought a pink and white summer dress. I need to find an occasion to wear it now. I then got to see the infamous "balls" at Rundle Mall. Adelaide's got balls! Haha. We've seen 'em now Jeremy and Simon!

Here are the balls which can be found in the middle of the street at Rundle Mall.

(Photo by Hilary Wieck)

Then we made our way to CitySoul where we offered to help pack bags for O-Week which is coming up next week. We arrived about an hour early, so El and I got out some books and sat on the ground and read. People probably thought we were squatters which was humorous to us. When we saw Nate (the vision leader at CitySoul) carrying some boxes and we helped him out. We then set up the line and everything in it. Americans are efficient is all I have to say. He wouldn't have had any idea what to do if we hadn't have been there. Other people showed up and the only one I somewhat connected to was JenJen. She is from Mt. Gambier and is studying teaching (grade 3 through 9) at uni, but staying at ALS. We rolled posters for the bags and I was working so hard I had papercuts on my thumb. And it was hot and sweaty. Tim, the pastor at CitySoul, offered us a ride back to HH, but then informed us he had a scooter. Haha. Ah well. After this we then caught a bus back to HH.

Possible Meeting!

Hey all,

I am so excited! I might be able to go to a Foster Care reference group meeting on Wednesday with Andrea! This is huge because this will be the first time that all the other agencies will be told that LCC will be a recruiter. So it will be interesting to see the reactions of those in attendance. Also, there is a workshop after the meeting. I am just really excited that Andrea invited me to attend! Pray that DFC (Department for Families and Communities) lets me go!

My internet is not working still, so Ellie is kindly letting me borrow her internet for a bit to post my exciting news!

Cheers mates!

Stupid Internet

Hey everyone,

I have been busy all weekend and finally have time to write, but alas my internet is not working when I need it to. HH's internet availability is inconsistent and I'm sick of it. I am using Ellie's computer to quickly write a note saying that when I have time AND the internet is fully accessable I will blog more indepthly. But I am going to bed now because I don't feel well.

Later.

Difficulties with Blogger

Just so you know,

I have been updating, but the things I am posting are not getting put up or saved. So I am going to try to figure this out over the weekend - if and when I have time since our weekend is pretty jam packed too. So please bear with me.

Cheers.

Feast at CitySoul

Hello,

So today, I woke up and got ready to head to work. I had to look nicer than I normally do because I was working at Sefton Park. This is the more "upscale" of the offices - even though they have just as much fun there as we do at Magill.


So I walked the mile to work and then hopped in Helene's car to head to Sefton. Helene is hilarious. So that made the ride to work quite fun and enjoyable. El and I are going to look into seeing if we can get a visit at one of the uni campuses - either in the city or at the Magill campus just down the road.


I arrived at Sefton and started work immediately. Andrea had me read the proposal that LCC sent in to the government and then she gave me some other things to read up on. I spent all day doing research on the background of the South Australian foster care system as well as on different types of counselling, programs, etc that we can use in our proposal for our system at LCC. And I did that all day until about 5pm. There was a lunch break in there in which I discovered that Melitta is a comedian - not literally, she's just THAT funny. I also spent some time talking to Ian who works in the same office space as Andrea. Ian asked where I was from and in the middle of this phone conversation he looks over at me and goes "Radar was from Iowa." And I said, "You mean Hawkeye?" And he goes, "No, Radar. You've seen M*A*S*H right?" To this I replied, "Yeah! My freshman year roommate watched it all the time and I watch it from time to time myself."


The conversation continued as follows:


Ian: "Then you know who Radar is. And he's from Iowa."
Hilary: "Are you sure you don't mean Hawkeye?"
Ian: "Radar had the funny hat..."
Hilary: "And he was always on the phone ringing people."
Ian: "Exactly. Hawkeye's nickname was given to him by his father. It's from the book - The Last of the Mohicans."
Hilary: "I learn something new every day. And did you know that Iowa is known as the Hawkeye state?"
Ian: "No. Because of Hawkeye?"
Hilary: "No. Because one of the unis in Iowa are called the Hawkeyes. You either love them or hate them."
Ian: "Uh huh."


And then we proceeded to discuss 18 ft and 26 ft long crocodiles that live in billabongs in the northern territory. Ian informed me that I need to watch this show on Saturday night at 6:30 called something with Mike... so that I could learn more and see more of the country through the tv. I told him I didn't have a tv to which he just exclaimed that was too bad. I agreed to an extent, but then again a good chunk of the shows on tv we have in the US and have seen like two years ago.

By the end of the day, Andrea gave me a lot of info to take home so that I can work on the next section of the proposal - therapeutic services. I am excited! Homework! :) Secretly (which isn't secret anymore) this makes me feel like I am actually doing something worthwhile while I am here. And it gives me something to actually do which is quite nice.


After work I went to Andrea's house and met her roommate Shin Shin. I think that's how you spell her name. She is from China and is very quiet. But her food looked and smelled amazing. Andrea and I watched some news on tv - which was probably boring for her - but lovely for me since I don't have a tv. I really miss the show Cash Cab on Discovery. Anyway, I learned that one of the Australian Navy divers was bit by a shark in Sydney Harbour. I also learned more about the Victorian bushfires. It seriously just blows my mind that people would stoop so low to light a fire on purpose knowing that people could possibly die and that there was a burn ban in effect. As of right now there are still 20 fires burning in the state. Officials are worried that the 20 fires could possibly merge and create an even bigger problem. Prayers are welcome and needed for this catastrophe!


After the bushfire reports there was a story about this seventy year old man who was in trouble with the law. He had been drinking at his son's home and became angry thus leaving the party he was at. He did a five minute burnout in some section of a town - I don't think this was in Adelaide. He tore a chunk out of the road and also destroyed his rubbers (tires) in the process. He cannot drive for a year and has to pay $450 dollars in damages to fix the road. They refer to this kind of driving as being "hoon." This launched Andrea and I into a conversation on whether or not hoon driving existed in the States. I said yes, but that it was usually in the younger population and not the older. We then discussed the process of getting your license in Australia versus the United States. We determined that you can get your license at quite a young age in the US.


We left Andrea's house and headed downtown to CitySoul. It's this new church that was just formed in April of 2008. It's an offshoot (this reminds me a lot of the verse in the Bible that talks about the offshoot of David - I think or maybe it is Jesse - check the Old Testament) of the Uniting Church of Christ. I will give you an overview of the Uniting Church later because I find it quite interesting and compelling and it's worthy of it's own blog entry. Anyway, Uniting Church gave money to fund CitySoul. CitySoul is incredible with the types of hands-on ministry that they offer to their members, visitors and to the city. They actually go into the city and are noticable in places where you might not think to find Christians.


O-Week is coming up this next week and this is where CitySoul is trying to make an impact. O-Week is filled with a lot of drinking and then more drinking and more. So those at CitySoul are going into these parties and hanging out with the kids who may not want to drink, but feel peer pressured to. They are saying that it's okay to not drink, it's okay to stand on the wall and it's okay to be who you are. This coming Monday night they are packing backpacks for the new students at Australian Lutheran Seminary and at Lincoln College. El and I are going to go and help with that and it's also a chance for us to get to meet some more new people. YAY! I'm not sure if Morgan is planning on going with us or not. We'll see.


The service was good. I knew as soon I arrived that it was going to be a good night because I felt comfortable. I haven't really felt that yet at some of the churches I've been to here. To have others be comfortable that your beliefs might be different and to engage in conversation about that is really nice. I hung out with Andrea while we ate dinner. We waited for Morgan, Helen, Yvonne and Ellie to show up. I met Naomi, her sister, Dave, and a few other people as well.


After dinner it was time for the service to begin. We moved from one side of the room that had couches and part of a bar set up to the other side that had a few couches, tables and chairs. There was a time of announcements, prayers and chatting with people around you to introduce yourself. Then Naomi was invited up and asked 5 questions about her faith walk - this is part of CitySoul's way for people to get to know each on another level. The sermon followed that and I have to say that it was interesting and was one of the best sermons I've heard here thus far. It wasn't anything new or that I hadn't heard before, it was just spun in a different way that really gets people thinking about issues and other things. The sermon was over what type of Christian you are in relation to other religions (there were three sections): the exclusive, the inclusive, and those who are in the middle. The exclusive believe that Jesus is the only way to God and aren't really very tolerant of other religions (I actually know plenty of people who are like this). The inclusive are those who believe in God and Jesus, but are very open-minded when it comes to other religions and their beliefs. The middle riders are those who believe in God, etc., but don't really know what they think of other religious views. We ended up breaking up into little groups and discussing what was said in the message. After that it was communion (they had the best communion wine I've ever had!) and a bit more chatting before we headed off back to HH.

Andrea dropped Ellie and I off - and Ellie double seat belted herself in the backseat. Andrea and I both had tears running out of our eyes because we were laughing so hard. Good times y'all.

Cheers.

AUSTRALIA BEATS NEW ZEALAND!

How you going? (This is the first thing I usually hear when I get to the office in the morning and everywhere else that I go.)

So today was the Child Safe Environment training day at Magill. Magill is where I go everyday so this is nothing new to me. There were ten other people in training including the trainer (facilitator or teacher). It was a long training session lasting from 9am to past 5pm. There was a morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea break. I felt a little lethargic throughout the entire day. I was just sitting and listening and sitting some more. The training was over child abuse and to work with children in any state in Australia you have to take this course. So this makes me a Mandatory Notifier (or Mandatory Reporter) of any time of child abuse - emotional , physical, sexual or neglect. I didn't really learn anything new or enlightening except for the fact that in the US you report child abuse whether you're on the job or not and here in South Australia, it's only if you're at work. When you're off the clock it's considered your moral responsibility, but you're not obligated. And if you're at work and you don't report and they find out you didn't report - $10,000 fine. Overall, not much to report that is new or that was really thought provoking.

After the training, we hopped in Helen's car and she stopped at the Magill shopping center so that I could try my ATM card out again. It worked!!!! I looked like a boxer who had just won running from the ATM machine back to the car with my money in my hands. Helen was laughing at me. After this we called John Kupke (an avid cricket fan) and told him we were on our way to the Adelaide Oval.

We arrived at the Adelaide Oval which is where cricket and footy (Australian Rules Football) are played. I was here for the cricket. I went to the international game that was between Australia and New Zealand. It was great - we got in for $10 AUS dollars because the rate had gone down because we had missed the first inning and because all of the proceeds from the game were going to support the victims of the Victorian Bushfire. We arrived to see the inning in which the Australians were the only ones batting.

Many people have been asking me about cricket so here's the breakdown of the game:

It was started in Britain a long time ago and now is played in almost all of the places where the British colonized. Except the US - which I think is a shame. Cricket is played between two opposing teams. One team bats while the other fields. There are batmans and bowlers. When I was learning about the game I thought people were saying "ballers" and I thought this was funny. Until they spelled the word for me. The bowler is from the fielding team and throws the cricket ball towards the batsman in hopes of hitting his wickets. But the batsman has a wooden cricket bat in which he defends his wickets. Wickets are the yellow posts that stick out of the pitch. There are always 2 batsman on the pitch - one is the striker (the one hitting the ball) and the other is the non-striker. When the ball is hit (and isn't caught so they're out), both batsmen run between the wickets unless they choose not to and then they can just stand there, but this makes the game quite lengthy. When running the two batsmen exchange ends and thus each completed exchange of the ends scores one run. So if they ran 3 times and completed each exchange - that's 3 runs. Then there are the boundaries. When a batsman hits the ball and sends it sailing through the air to land outside the boundary of the ground (like a home run in baseball), he automatically gets 6 runs. This is called a "six". If the ball rolls along or touches the ground before crossing the boundary, he gets 4 runs. This is called a "four". When a batsman hits a four or a "sixer", he doesn't have to run. The bowler bowls the ball in sets of six deliveries (or "balls") and each set of six balls is called an over. There are 50 overs in a game. Do the math. Oh, and this was a one-day match. Some matches (depending on what kind of cricket you're playing) can last up to five days.

Here is the bowler about to get rid of the ball and the batsman getting ready to swing.

There are more rules - but I don't feel like giving an in-depth analysis on cricket any longer.

So basically, I learned about the game and then became engrossed in it. As well as watching all the activities that were occuring on "the hill." We sat at the West End Hill and it was mass chaoticness. Some guy climbed the scoreboard, people fighting, tackling each other, throwing sheep (New Zealand's known for their sheep) and other stuffed animals in the air and then the long train of beer cups. And the police were involved for a good portion of it. I felt like I was back in America at a sporting event for a minute - you know how you feel when you sit in the nose-bleed section? Australia won 4/247 while New Zealand had 8/244. This means that Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets in the fourth one-dayer to square the Chappell-Hadlee series. YEAH!!! I also forgot to mention that I had a hot dog and then some chips (which are french fries in America) and that it was amazing to have normal food again. :)

The guy that climbed the scoreboard.

Morgan, El, John and I after the victory!

So after the game Vivien (John's wife) picked us up and then drove us back to HH. It was a nice drive and they are amazing people! Well, off to bed now since I have to be up early for work tomorrow.

Which brings me to another thing - it will be my first day away from Ellie and Morgan. YAY! It is nice being with them, but I love having my own thing to do, you know? So I will be with Andrea working on the new foster care program through LCC. The government has specifically asked LCC to set one up and I get to be in on the planning!

Cheers until later!

Morgan and I enjoying some hot dogs and chips!

The money that was raised during the game for the Victorian Bushfires- it was televised nationally.