zzzzzzzzzzz....

Lessons after an NZ experience:

#1 - I can't deal with boys who snore. This whole trip I've tried to stay as feminine as possible, feeling like I need to counter the overdose of testerone I've encountered after two weeks with JUST boys. As much as I love Edwin, Suarez, Nereus and Bokyo, their rhythmic sleeping sounds have left me sleepless this whole holiday... so yeah... *sigh* So much for going home feeling more relaxed ay?

#2 - New Zealand is mighty beautiful. It's landscapes are fantastic, it's animals are funny and it's cities are so much fun. Mountains disappear and reappear behind mist and clouds... and the view from the ferry when we arrived at South Island. *WOW!* breathtaking stuff mate!
(Remind me to show you all a video of the massive bunch of cows we found on the road on our drive from Picton when Edwin and Boks stopped to pee... NZ scenery - what an amusement!)

#3 - Travelling with Boks has been awesome coz his poses crack me up and he's not afraid to walk around, explore a place's lifestyle and culture, and chat up shop assistants and absolute strangers just for the sake of having a good time.

#4 - Vegetables and fruit are integral to one's diet.

#5 - New Zealand ice cream is worth it - even on days when you are sporting a massive jacket, a scarf, a pair of gloves and a white beanie.

#6 - It is possible to enjoy and appreciate a rainy day - so long as you're in Hanmer Springs and up the road from hot thermal springs and have access to a private spa room.

#7 - Fancy schmancy hotels aren't all that worth it after a few weeks in hostels. A bed, clean sheets and a place to shower is all you need. I've learnt that you don't even need a TV - not in Christchurch anyway. Besides, you meet more people and hear more languages when you're in a hostel with travellers who don't have any money... :p

#8 - KFC tastes the same - no matter where you are in the world.

#9 - Peacocks are snobby. We went to the zoo today, and I got snobbed by a Peacock. Far out... talk about depressing. And then Edz fed the giraffe and I got rejected... (I still reckon it's only coz the giraffe knew it was his birthday)

#10 - NZers in Christchurch don't know what Gloria Jeans coffee is. We asked a store assistant if he knew where the nearest "Gloria Jeans" was, and he replied with, "Hmm... I don't know if there's one of those around. But there is a Just Jeans just up the road...?"

And with that... I'm gonna go pack. See you soon Sydney!

backpackers paradise

It's been over a week since I've touched the keyboard. I love being able to walk into a youth hostel, pay $2 and jump on the net for half an hour. Might mean nothing to most people, but for me (who happens to be in a different country right now) it's mighty exciting.
At the moment I'm checkin my mail, Boks and Eddoes are playing Connect Four in the lobby of Base Backpackers in Wellington, New Zealand. I love the feeling of being in a new city. This gives me faint memories of London and our arrival in Athens.

Have been in NZ for over a week now. Last week was pretty action packed - visited some geothermal rocks that were pumping out steam in Te Puia, went white water rafting, lugeing, Zorbing, bungee jumping... had a nice relaxing wkd in the Bay of Islands in a fancy shmancy studio unit and took a (cold) cruise up to Cape Brett... had a pretty dreary day exploring Auckland yesterday, and today was a 9 hour drive down through the North Island to Wellington. Edwin - what a hero. Drove down with only 3 hours sleep coz we dropped off Nez at Auckland airport at 6:30am.

Hmm.. so what now? I'm loving the laid back lifestuly of everyone I've met here. I'm one of those ppl who walk the streets of Sydney trying to get people to smile (man ppl in Australia seem so depressed) but here in NZ, everyone smiles at you - or smiles back when you acknowledge their presence on the road. Had an interesting conversation with Boks about how NZers have adopted (and overtaken the quality of) the calm, accepting and welcoming Australian culture. Come on Aussies? Where's the hospitality? Everyone's so nice to tourists here, but in Oz they're all uptight and critical. Gargh.

I miss home, but I'd seriously move to NZ. Wellington at night reminds me of our nights in Europe in August last year, and I've totally lived up the experience of living with Suarez, Nez and Eddoes for a week. Hahaha... and we saw about 30 Australian YFCers in Sky Tower yesterday, so it was like I didn't miss out on going to conference - we may as well have asked Brian Musa to pull out a guitar at the top of Auckland's tower and start a worship.

I've also realised the value of the PSP coz Boks had the live Jack Johnson concert on a UMD, so we drove down to Wellington listening to him live.... *sigh* Jack Johnson to me is what John Mayer is to my sis Roanne. Only Jack's better... (hehehehe... yeah what? You know it's true).

Man it's late. 11:43pm, but our hotel is just next door (again, somewhat fancy shmancy... with really funky carpet that vaguely reminds me of my Nagle uniform and Eddoes' chucks).

ryan, jonna, jane, roanne, rina, caitlyn, mark, jean, annabelle, mum, dad, anj, kamella, gerry, ian, sav, amardeep and cobes... missin you all at the moment.

Angela's graduating! Wow I'm mega proud of her!! YAY! *sigh* we're all growing up damn it. becoming police officers, travellers, mums, wives, dads, and the whole shebang... it's a bit crazy. And here I am - I haven't even applied for graduation. Hahaha... whoops.

Oh well - I've discovered a new mantra while I've been on this trip - TAKE IT AS IT COMES. Ehp... living life by the day baby...

See ya'll back in Syd soon! Only 6 days to go. Wellington, Hanmer Springs and Christchurch... watch out!

**PS sorry for the typos - Í've got 3minutes left.**

Atm I should be doing my essay for CAEC. I'm leaving this house for NZ at 4am tomorrow, so it better get done before I go to bed at night. The annoying thing is, my computer crashed and lost my notes after 3hours of working on the stupid thing. I got up early this morning just to get started... and suddenly it was all over at 1pm because all 1,683 words disappeared after the blue screen of death ate them up. Stupid blue screen.

But that doesn't take away the cause of celebration. HAPPY EASTER to the world! And especially to Caitlyn, whose happy chubby cheeks always seem to make everyone in this house to warm and happy every time she comes to visit.

Meanwhile I was browsing through my e-journal again and found a snippet from what I was talking to my sister about about 4 months ago. So true... soooo so true.

***

The fact that I want him to fight for me… and if he doesn’t, it’s his loss. I want him to prove to me that out of all the men in my life right now, I’ll be making the right choice choosing to be with him.

It’s natural to want the guy you’re attracted to to be your hero. And it’s natural to hurt when he fails that expectation. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to expect a hero. A woman’s heart deserves to be won. And the warrior fighting has to realise that the higher the risks, the more opportunity there is to be brave.

it's what i do best...

Sitting in my room at the mission house.

I see:
* Garnier Fructis Style Smoothing Milk
* Dove Essential Nutrients Protective Tinted Moisturiser
* Codral day and night tablets
* Box of Pink Kleenex tissues
* WYD Germany picture display
* Pic of SPY kids from the 2004 City to Surf
* I-zone camera
* White fetish slip-on shoes
* A fat purple cushion
* Bottle of Cool Ridge water
* My Christian Leadership notes (guilt trip... DO YOUR ASSIGNMENT JOY!!)
* Green side bag
* Book shelf containing the following titles: The Courage To Teach, Introducing the New Testament, The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Incurable, A Lineage of Grace, He Chose the Nails, The Purpose Driven Life, Harry POtter and the Half-Blood Prince, Passion and Purity, Love and Responsibility, The Five Love Languages of Teenagers, 1000 Questions and Answers, Chocolate Heaven, and The Women's Weekly Best Food Collection.
* The blue sky

I hear:
* "Softer to Me" by Relient K
* The tapping of my fingers on the laptop keys
* People walking around, shutting and opening doors down stairs
* A faint breeze
* Sniffling
* A car driving down the street

I keep:
* All my letters
* Finding pointless things to do that will help me procrastinate
* Checking my email

I really should:
* Stop blogging and do my work. =p

feels like home...

I just:
- Finished 1/4 a tub of Nutella.
- Got out of the shower after rinsing purple paint off my arms (thanks Gemma...)
- Fell off a ladder about 3 hours ago. =)
- Printed out the final pages of the book I'm making.

Currently:
- Typing away at my home PC.
- Wearing my sky blue PJ pants and a towel on my head.
- Listening to Third Day - "Turn Your Eyes"

Currently in love with:
- All the volunteers who helped paint the SPY house today (esp. all those parents who were sooo thoughtful enough to bring fried rice, fried chicken and ICE CREAM!!! YEAH!)
- Autumn sunshine (especially the moments when it romantically streamed through the CYS sisterhood room and the chapel every morning for the past week).
- My neighbourhood. Nothing beats living out west - no, not even the beaches and the Eastern suburbs.
- John Butler Trio.

Jittery and excited because:
- I pack my bags and go road-tripping around NZ in less than ten days! YEAH!!
- I'm going bungee jumping.
- This year is flying.
- The best is yet to come...

*****

There are days when I feel like a nomad with no place to fit in, or feel at home. There are days when I'm neither here nor there and I wonder where it is I'm supposed to belong, who my real friends are, and what is I'm supposed to be doing and why God seems so far away.

But today I found home amongst twenty or so volunteers and a couple of buckets of blue paint. God bless the people in my Parish...

can't be bothered to think of a title

Got home from class today and walked straight to the laundry to hang my clothes (hoping it doesn't rain tonight, coz what psycho - other than myself - hangs clothes at 9pm?). It was the class for term at the CAEC, and thank God it was because all I did for the last 15 minutes was scribble pictures of the lecturer all over the margin of the book. He's not the most lively fellow... but he's very interesting. It's just that... I'm absoluely knackered and have been for a quite some time now.

So today I breathe a sigh of relief that there is a pause in our schedule, and there's no major retreats happening for a while.

People ask me how ministry's going, and all I can do is beam and say "GREAT!" And it is great - but it's still tiring. And ministry of any sort will stay hard. But the satisfaction and fulfillment at the end of everyday is unbeatable... and that's why I'm glad I'm doing it.

Atm I'm in the offices listening to old tracks... like stuff from the Dawson's Creek album, and some John Butler Trio tunes. Atm John Legend is... well... a legend (current favourite is "So High") and I'm so totally grateful that Sarah and Joe appreciate Jack Johnson as much (if not more!) than I do.

Tonight was my first truly proud moment as a chef. For the first time, I cooked something that didn't taste funny, and people actually complemented with sincerity. No cheating either - it just goes to show that experimentation with cream, mushrooms, cheese, oregano and beef works. Sesame honey carrots and sugar peas are a good addition to such a dish. We left the house feeling very satisfied... or at least I did. And Joe paid a high complement as we were driving to Lidcombe, so I am feeling very loved right now.

I realised I haven't been blogging much because there's nothing to procrastinate from when you're a missionary. Usually my blogs (including this one!) are written because I'm procrastinating and because I want to use that time procrastinating trying to think of something insightful to contribute to the public sphere... but it's all usually random gibberish (hence the title).

Hmm... so what's been making me so tired lately? Well I went for a swim on Sunday - that was awesome fun. I accomplished my goal of 15 laps in half an hour (for many people that's not that big a deal, but a scrawny amateur swimmer like myself, I feel it deserves a mention!). That's five laps more than the week before, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Monday was one of the funnest days I've ever had!! It deserves to go down in the history books, and it's a shame I didn't take any photos... but it was such a perfect day - not a cloud in the sky! The team went to Centennial Park and had a sports day with the Trojan team and some of the CYS ex-teamies. Sports day for us means random innings of continuous cricket, a puffed round of ultimate frisbee, and then pausing the energy burning day with some lunch and a game of Cranium under the shade of a weirdly shaped tree that Joe insisted on climbing... until he freaked out after finding a spider web further up the branches.

Late afternoon is my favourite time of Autumn days. The shadows stretch along the ground and I love it. Joe and I kicked around a soccer ball for at least an hour, and talked about nothing and everything while the rest of the team played Cluedo. We didn't stop until our feet got sore -but it was worth it - I haven't had a full day of major physical activity in ages!

And then today came along and I was reminded of what it was like to be in year 9 at an all girls school.... (hmmm... no nostalgia... just cringe-feeling - year 9 wasn't the best of years) All I really recall from that year was a lot of petty fights, teenage angst, and bad attitude. Thank God we were over pouting at the camera. The girls I met today weren't much different to what my grade were... but the difference was we got to tell them that judging each other wasn't going to do anything. The greatest people are the ones that build people up - not tear them down. I'm really grateful I got to do a testimony about being able to see myself through God's eyes. Girls get fed so much crap about needing to prove themselves, but I know we don't have to. God made us the way he wanted us to... and that's we should walk around with pride, knowing we're clothed in his dignity.

So yeah... life in the CYS house has been mad fun, and I'm learning heaps (including how to play drums!) I am also learning and resdiscovering the greatness of seeing things through the eyes of a child. But more on that later... for now... I gotta look up NZ accomo.

Oh yeah... I'm going to New Zealand!! 13 days!!! YEAHH!!!!!!!