These past few days have been a blur with so much to see, do and learn. After arriving in Australia, the 30-ish of us Americans studying at Wesley Institute were taken through a 3-day orientation where they introduced us to the campus, the course-work/teaching style, the Australian culture, as well as what to expect during our time here. Talk about information overload when jet-lagged!! The first couple days were definitely a struggle to say the least. However, after a few nights of solid sleep, I felt much more confident about being in Australia.
Believe it or not, I was not too excited to come here. My last few days at home were spent wishing I had a little more time before leaving. Going to Australia felt like it was just dropped in my lap (even though I had known I was coming here for quite some time). But now that I'm here - experiencing the culture, meeting the people, and beginning classes - it feels right. I can already tell that God has so much in store for me this semester - so much to learn, experience, and grow from. Regardless of how I felt just a few days before, I can honestly say that right now I am very excited to be here.
Anyway, back to what I've been up to my first few days in Australia....
To finish off orientation, the leaders took us on a scavenger hunt in downtown Sydney followed by a cruise of both the Sydney and Darling Harbour. Even though it was a bit cold outside, especially on the water, it proved to be a great introduction to the area. I must say, this is quite the beautiful place. I'm not normally much for cities, but I'm definitely warming up to this one. Hopefully the weather will begin to do likewise! I'm fine with cold weather outside, but here there's no internal heat. Let me tell you, the temperature feels a whole lot cooler when you're bundled up inside! I have to get used to the idea of dressing warm for both indoors as well as outdoors...
This past weekend we were free to do whatever we wanted before classes started on Monday. Most of us went back into the city to do some more venturing around - checking out shops, beaches, harbours, and spending a LOT of time on public transportation (buses, trains, and ferries - my favorite are by far the ferries). So far, we haven't gotten too lost....but there's still a lot of time left in the semester for that. Getting completely lost somewhere in Sydney or the surrounding suburbs is something I'm looking forward to over the next few months. Who knows what incredible adventures and little hidden treasures will be discovered when you have no idea where you are :) Back to public transportation - I've never really used it before, so this is a whole new experience for me. Relying on bus routes and schedules is a whole different mindset to get into when you’re used to just hopping in a car and driving wherever you want. Even though this is a big change, I'm surprised at how quickly I've become accustomed to it. It's really not that tricky even though it feels very overwhelming right off the bat.
Sunday evening some of the girls and I went to one of the services at Hillsong (not the original one - we went to the one in the city which is just as big as the original in the Hills. Hopefully I'll make it out to that one while I'm here as well...). Let me just say, Hillsong Church is incredible - great worship, great sermon, the whole works. They were suuuper welcoming too! It hardly felt like a big church because everyone was so friendly. After the service they gave us free hot chocolate with biscuits to say welcome, and many people stopped to say hi and strike up a conversation.
As I've mentioned before, I'm living in a home-stay with three other girls from the program. The apartment we're staying at is right off the Parramatta River, just a few minutes walk from the Canada Bay. It’s such a beautiful area and a wonderful place for early morning walks. The woman we're living with (Gail) is awesome. She’s such a sweet, welcoming, gentle-spirited grandma-type personality :) It'll be a joy getting to know her better over the next few months.
Well, that's about all I have for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few photos up here soon :)
