Five Years and One Week

It's been just over five years since I returned from spending a semester in Rockhampton, Australia at CQU.  I never would have guessed how much that experience would have transformed my life.  So instead of digging out my suitcases to start packing for my next trip there, I'm going to postpone that by sharing some of the lessons that stuck out and ways that trip continues to impact my life.

My favorite picture outside my dorm with friends. 

Lessons:

1.  The decisions to sacrifice the ability to graduate a year early by not going and a semester early by not taking a super challenging class, I've never regretted.  It gave me the four years I needed to easily complete my major, get a jump start on my Master's to finish it early, and learn what job I wanted.  

2.  I learned to connect with the local culture and make friends with people with different backgrounds.  Most of the friends I keep in touch with are Australian, not other study abroad students (although I do keep in touch with a few).  

3. I learned so much about hospitality as I was welcomed into my friends lives, and my friend's friends, and people who kinda knew someone that I kinda knew.  It gave me a living example of Christ's description for how Christian community should work.  

4.  I got to be an international student, realizing how important that first ride home from the airport and every one of the first communications is.  Little things like translations (yes, Australian has slang that I did not know) and proofreading are and were simple things that made a big difference.  Now I can relate as I work with International students to minister how they need it.  

5.  I engaged in life in new ways: getting outside of my comfort zone to do adventure sports, appreciated nature more deeply, and learned to build fun time into my schedule (Thursdays at 8pm, at a minimum).

Opportunities:

1. The chance to be called Ranga all summer at a camp just after returning and to share my Girl Guiding experience with Girl Scouts.  

2. The ability to experience the party atmosphere in a safe, legal way which enabled me to better empathize as an RA.  

3.  A chance to discuss a modern day conquistador (for God, not glory or gold) during student teaching and to have 36 5th graders interview my Australian friend over Skype.  

4.  When students study abroad from campus, or think about it, I can offer my experience.  I also get to go back to Australia with the Study Abroad Office to help train the students there now to use their time missionally.  

5. I have a learning attitude and patience when working with people of other cultures, realizing that white American is not the best or only culture, but that there are great things to learn from the people around us and across the world.  Plus lots of their food rocks!

That's not all that I learned, or all of the opportunities that have opened up due to having something to compare my life to, but there are so many I can't list them all.  I wonder what God will teach me when I arrive there in a week and as time continues.  

I guess it's time to start packing to leave in two days for a return visit after taking a few minutes to look around my walls at the beautiful pictures captured from the last trip down under.  

Launch Weekend Opportunity!

I have the opportunity through InterVarsity to revisit Australia, gather all of the students who are studying abroad in Australia or New Zealand and help train them to use their time for missions.  The goals will be to build connections between other US InterVarsity members, train in cross cultural relationships, and send the students out with the mindset of reaching the campuses they are at with the gospel.  I'll also work to connect them with other student movements on at their unis.  If you know of anyone who will be studying abroad in August 2013, please let me know.
A launch weekend like this would have been a huge blessing as I struggled to meet other Christians in Australia and I know the definitive moment when I got connected.  Other stories from study abroaders also count their first encounter with a fellow believer as a turning point in their time abroad.  Join me in leading the first Australia/NZ weekend as only Europe has hosted launch weekends so far.

Home

Well,
In case you were wondering I did arrive home safely from Australia. I spent my final weekend in Australia in Sydney before a few days hanging with friends in Rocky. At the end of the trip I toured around the north island of New Zealand for about 8 days. I got home Monday night June 22nd. On Saturday I went to training for camp. I've got to head back to camp now :) G'day!
Kathryn

Practicum

Quick update on Australia: I've been working for 5 weeks 2.5 days a week in a Year 1/2 classroom at a nearby school. It involves a 2.5 km bike ride both ways which will become longer tomorrow as they close the entrance to college. My class has about 24 students with 20 there on a given day. The school is one of the best in the country technology-wise and I love working with both the students and my Mentor Teacher. Next week is my last week of it, making up about 19 days of it, but I will be there all four days that week (Wednesday is a holiday). I've been teaching a lesson every day recently and working on my flexibility skills as many things change with a short amount of notice. Tomorrow is Under 8's day so about 150 students will attend for two hours to do activities. The other 1st year Prac students and I are doing two booths which will be exciting. Although I have lots of information on the daily visits because I have to keep a working portfolio with reflections, the long days limit my time to update people. Also, on Thursdays my Arts class is presenting a program (currently dance) for Year 4 and 5 students focused around Beef. Rockhampton is the Beef Capital of Australia and had an international Beef Expo a few weeks ago that happens every three years. That's all for know but I'll hopefully eventually get a chance to update more.

Mt. Tamborine: Connexions Weekend

I wrote this on April 5th about the March 27-29th. It follows the camping post pretty well.

I arrived at the service station just before our scheduled 8:00 departure. I knew that Connexions (an Expedition like camp except the whole state of Queensland was there) started at 7 so I wondered how long the trip would be. The six of us left at 8:20 after our second car arrived and headed south. One problem: Just outside of Rocky is a roundabout with two paths going south. One is a coastal route while the other is inland. Wes (my car's driver) took the coastal route while Rudgy took the inland. Wes ended up cutting through to the inland path adding another hour to our trip. However we got to see lots of beautiful scenery driving through the mountains past all of the small towns. Our entertainment was switching cds constantly, chatting, and taking pictures. Finally, we arrived in Toowoomba where we met friends of our leaders who had met at the past conferences. After eating at Maccas, losing another car as we followed the USQ girls (who knew the way to the camp), we arrived at the camp about 8:30. In case you weren't paying attention that means it was a 12 hour trip... a long time for a weekend. We joined in at the bible teaching and worship, registered, then the girls moved into Thailand, our room for the weekend.
The evening was spent meeting new people and playing cards. After a late night and a shower sleep was very welcomed for the few hours before breakfast. Most of CQU (4 of the 6 of us) were assigned breakfast clean-up. This ran smoothly until we got some trays stuck in the dishwasher. In the end, we were late to worship again. Following worship we slip into our different tracks.
I was able to skip the first few tracks and take Personal Disciplemaking 1. The twelve of us were led by two full time Student Life missionaries, one from Asheville, NC, the other from South Dakota. We learned the power and importance of follow-up of new believers as well as continuing to disciple mature Christians. Lunch followed then free time to explore the view at the look at and to lay in the grass praising God as the clouds moved above. Dinner led into an adventure game of reaching different campuses through completing challenges and teamwork. We were split by our majors for these and I believe Education Team 2 did very well. More worship then free time to eat fudge and hang out. The fudge was from one of the three fudge hops on the mountain and Pauline (from UQ) invited me to join her and a few others for cards and fudge. Note: Most of the campuses have a U and a Q in them : QUT, UQ, CQU, USQ.... Something about living in Queensland. Pauline and I ended up sitting outside talking for another hour or so post lights out. Since UQ is in Brisbane and I had a plane ticket booked for the following Saturday (but nothing else set) she invited me to stay with her. At home this would be unusual but in Australia it is common. I agreed to stay with her for a few reasons. 1. An apartment with three Christians is safer than a hostel alone. 2. She was willing to show me around the city and travel with me. 3. She is friends of Owen's family and shares a flat with one of Owen's brothers. Very good reasons in my mind and they worked out very well.
Sunday was similar to Saturday except no free time. After eating lunch, cleaning, and saying good bye or see you at Easterfest, we headed back to onto the road for another 11 hours of driving (coastal route this time). The first few hours I took picture after picture of the beautiful sunset. Since we drove north the sun set for a long time. By dinner, my 2G memory card was full from the weekend. I borrowed Dan's card and continued the journey in the dark: talking to Wes, singing to the music, and snapping pictures of Meagan as she slept in the back. Arrival back to college at one meant bedtime after a long and God filled weekend.

Adventurous Weekend

This will soon be published in the Leader at Fredonia.

A class at CQUniversity solely for non-award students (i.e. international exchange students) teaches us how to scuba dive, sail, canoe, and kayak. It encourages us to get involved physically with the different environment by providing us with opportunities to explore with the class and supporting us on our own adventures. After a few sessions of pool dives and theory, I was finally cleared for open water dives. The guys from Chicago and I took a bus over to the nearest harbor last Saturday. We started on the slowest boat in the harbor which took over 2 hours to make it to Outer Rock. This beautiful rock is near the end of the Great Barrier reef and was home to many wonderful creatures. As my dive log states: we got the chance to touch the backs of wabbygong sharks while watching them feed and hold a feathered starfish during the first dive. The second dive we saw a tawny shark swim nearby. The corals and fish that surrounded us were beautiful to watch when I wasn’t concentrating on staying at the correct level to not run into the coral on the bottom. Despite trying to not get injured during the dives, I left both dives with scratches and cuts below the knee and bloody noses. Even though we only went 12 meters underwater, a bloody nose still turns the water in your mask green. This is a very interesting thing to notice and confused me a bit. (Red light is the first to be absorbed by the water.) A few hours later we arrived back at the harbor after seeing a dolphin and turtle on the ride. After returning to college we raced to dinner then for me off to church youth group.

At the end of youth group my friend and I decided instead of returning to College to study or do something productive, we would ride his motorcycle up Mount Archer. This took about 5 minutes. The look out was a beautiful place to see Rockhampton at night time and to attempt to see a word written out of the street lights. A hour or so later it got cold enough to return to College but not for long. Since I left my cell phone on the mountain we convinced another friend to drive us up then explored the residential areas on the mountain.

Sunday afternoon: While doing some of the required work for the week I was offered the chance to go rock climbing. It’s been awhile since I went for a climb and I’ve never gone outdoor climbing so I jumped at the chance. We grabbed the ropes, harnesses, and gear the headed over to Mount Archer. The area was on the other side of the mountain as the look-out and provided an amazing view. After two awesome climbs each on trails set-up by our “guide’s” friends we returned. I loved the opportunities to explore the area both above and below sea level this past weekend and look forward to additional dives. My leg scratches and bruises as still a reminder of the wonderful times. Well more adventures await: This weekend I will try caving.
G’day,
Kathryn

Last few weeks in brief format

The last month has been very busy with weekend trips, Easter break, and many fun adventures. I hope to write more about each of these things in more detail later but don't have time right now.
After the camping trip I traveled with friends to Mt Tamborine for Connexions, a weekend conference with Student Life (part of Campus Crusade for Christ). It was similar to Expedition but for the whole state of Queensland. This blog is handwritten just needs typed... but that was Friday-Sunday in March 27th-29th.
The next week I turned in my first assignment. It was for my Science Education class and I received it back today...I got an HD (High Distinction...A).
That weekend I flew down to Brisbane to stay with Pauline, who I met at Connexions. After arriving we shopped around in downtown Brisbane and went out for Korean (she's from Singapore). On the way home I got a night time tour of UQ (University of Queeensland where Pauline and friends go to Uni).

Sunday: Owen's brother, Dave, (who stays in the same apartment as Pauline) drove us to church then Pauline and I went to Cleveland (2 hours train from the city). Owen's grandmother picked us up to take us out to a nearby island in Moreton Bay. After returning "home" Pauline, Dave, Dave's girlfriend Anna, Pauline's friend's brother who was visiting from Singapore, and I went up to the mountain overlooking Brisbane. Great view and awesome time.
Monday: Pauline had class so her friend Janelle took me to the free art gallery and museum on the South Bank of Brisbane. Then we met up with Pauline and another friend for lunch at the Pancake Manor. Afterward, Pauline and I met Owen to go to the artificial beach in Brisbane and hung out in the city. We left Owen at the bus then got kangaroo meat for dinner. It was very yummy. That night we watched a movie then Owen spent the night with his brother.
Tuesday: Pauline and I took the train down to the Gold Coast where we were supposed to go Sea World but went to a Wildlife Sanctuary for the day cause it rained. Very cool place. Once returning home Dave, Anna, Pauline, and I did a bible study then Dave and I watched a movie while my laundry washed for over two hours.

Wednesday: I took the bus up to the Australia Zoo (I survived hours of public transportation on my own). On the way back I stopped for two hours to view the Glass House Mountains. I couldn't get to any of the mountains but got good pictures of them in the distance. That night I joined Pauline and a few of her friends/housemates for Nandos. The movie of the night was Robin Hood Men in Tights (a great movie to watch which neither Dave nor I had seen for a long time).
Thursday: After an Easter service with the Christian group at UQ, Pauline gave me a day time tour including counting all 12ish colleges around the Uni. We then grabbed my stuff so I could catch the bus over to Toowoomba to continue my trip at Easterfest. Two hours after arriving in Toowoomba I got picked up to be driven to the campsite to start the nationwide Christian music festival.
Friday-Sunday: Camping in a tent surrounded by lots of people, good Christian music, and lots of friends from Rocky, Brisbane (Griffith people not UQ), Toowoomba, etc. Rain and mud added to the mix for the weekend.
Monday: After packing up the tents, we started the 8 hour trip home. Nothing productive happened once I got home but it was great to catch up with my college friends.
Tuesday-Friday: Typical college days filled with little study but lots of fun. For Tuesday night randomness ask me for pictures.
This past Saturday: I had the first two of my scuba dives for class. Despite getting bloody noses, scrapes, and sea sickness I was able to see and touch sharks, see turtles and dolphins, and explore the Great Barrier Reef. I have two more dives left before I'm fully certified. I returned home just in time to grab dinner and be late to Youth Group. Thankfully Owen waited for me: we biked over then went up to Mount Archer afterward. Since I left my phone there Josh drove the three of us back up about an hour.
Sunday: Church with Vanessa, schoolwork, then Milko asked if I wanted to go Rock Climbing. Of course I did so he, Josh, Kyle and I went back up to Mount Archer to climb. Great fun but added even more scars/bruises to below my knees. I returned in time to bicycle over to church with Owen. That was enough biking for me.
Monday: Shopping for groceries for my field placement. Milko dropped me off to get a 1 hour back massage while Sarah got her hair dyed and cut. Then we returned to campus so I could veg out for the next few hours (dr.'s orders). Then homework for the night.
Tuesday: Woke up really early to go to my first day of practicum at Parkhurst State School. I'm working with a Year 1/2 classroom. I get plenty of exercise biking the one and a half miles there and another back. The practicum is going really well and my teacher is wonderful. After prac, Sarah and Owen distracted me from doing my work which ended up being a huge mess in my room (bike helmet pieces some of which still remain after the cleaners came today), my sheets in the hallway, towels all over, and pillows in wrong rooms. O well the bruise from the pillow/towel fight looks wonderful in addition to my legs (I'm wearing pants not shorts anymore even if it is hot). Then we watched Around the Twist: an Australian tv show from the 90's with ghosts in every episode.
Today I had half a day of prac in the morning then class in the afternoon and Student Life at night. On Friday, I am going sailing for class, then Saturday is ANZAC day (labor day mostly) and a Great Aussie BBQ/Volleyball tournament between houses on college. Sunday I'm going with other international students (probably with a few other people added) to the Caves to go caving. That's all for now folks!