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Published: February 10th 2008
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Hey Everyone!
Sorry I didn’t write last week, but there wasn’t really much to report. Plus, I have been trying to get things done for my classes in advance, since my trips are coming up! I’ve been working on a presentation, a dietary analysis report, 2 group projects, and two 3,000 words papers! 😞 Last Tuesday for my Early Childhood development class, I had my first day of observations! I went to a daycare behind the uni and got to observe the little toddlers! They are soooo cute and at the end of the semester, I will be doing a presentation on the little boy that I am observing. Little babies are so fun to watch. They are about 1 and 2 years old, and they just look at you and smile…or cry. Haha. One of the little ones just walked right up to me, plopped down in my lap and handed me a book to read. Precious.
I actually decided not to do the mission trip, but instead I went on the Bond campus ministry retreat this weekend. We drove about an hour to Tamborine Mountain to a place called Camp Panorama. It is so unspoiled and absolutely
gorgeous. Getting off campus for a while and out of all the tourism was a REALLY nice change and I definitely want to go back before my trip is over. It was sooo fun and I learned a lot. The first night there I met all sorts of different people from places such as Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, China, Kenya, Thailand, and India! For once I was the one who was in the minority and it was a blast! There were only 5 white Americans out of like a 30 person group. I kept trying to remember where everyone was from (in Asia) and they said to me, “Don’t feel bad. We are Asians and we all look the same”. Funny.
On Saturday morning we got up for an early breakfast and had some devotionals. Then we went outside to play cricket and AFL (Australian Football League). Cricket is crazy and I still don’t understand the point, but it was sure fun to try. The “bat” is like this thing that looks like those paddles they give you when you join a sorority or fraternity and the pitcher “bowler” hurls this ball at you in this strange, spinning motion. If
you get a hit, then you have to run with the bat, which really makes it a lot harder. So when I hit the ball, I instinctively threw the bat (like I was playing softball) and got laughed at big-time. 😊 Oops. After cricket, I played soccer for a while, which was sooo fun! I haven’t played like that since middle school.
After the Aussie sports, we had lunch and went for an hour hike that turned into more of a 2 ½ hour hike. We were in this rainforest, which was beautiful. The scenery standing at the top of the mountain looking down was amazing. I was in the middle of asking someone what kind of huge bugs I might see, when I saw an enormous spider in an enormous web. I took pictures of it, but it kept coming out blurry. I was “lucky” enough to see a fair few of them this weekend. Last night, I even had a smaller one sitting on my shoulder. It was about the size of a quarter. Comforting, isn’t it? Anyways, after the hike or “bushwalk” as they call it, we were all exhausted, dirty, and sweaty. (Today I am
SO sore!)
Later, we had an amazing supper and then we had a worship service. It was a really amazing to experience all of the culture clash. Things kept getting lost in translation (at least for me) because of all the Asian accents. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when a girl from Singapore came up to me and asked if I liked spots. I was like, “What? Yeah sure, I guess so”. I thought she was talking about spots on a Dalmatian or like the freckles on my face or something. Well it turns out she was asking if I liked spoRts….. NOT SPOTS!!! Bahahaha!
After being here for over a month now, I started to notice some things. For example I was grocery shopping today and they seem to think that it is okay to store dairy products just out in the open without refrigeration. They have eggs sitting out by the bananas, string cheese over by the strawberry jam, and cartons of milk that don’t need to be refrigerated. I mean seriously, what kind of cows and chickens do they have around here anyways? I was always taught that that stuff spoiled if
it was left out, but hey- what do I know? 😊
Lastly, I must say that I finally figured out why I kept feeling sick every single day. I was dehydrated. After the 20 + hour flight, I was dehydrated to begin with and then there is the heat and humidity, so unless I don’t always have a bottle of water on me, I have a headache and feel nauseas. I have tried to go running outside a few times, but mostly I have to do it on the treadmill because I overheat every time I run outside. Kinda stinks because then I can’t explore and see the scenery! Luckily, this is not the time of year that they have to be conserving water!
Well, it’s time for me to stop procrastinating and do some more homework. I hope all is well back home in the States.
Love,
Kelly
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Kevy
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Asian Adventure
Well played on the travels with the great Asian horde. You're right, there is nothing better than a gaggle of Hello Kitty fans to travel with, and their comment "Don't feel bad. We are Asians and we all look the same".....priceless. Keep the adventures coming Baby Kelly.