Being Active in Receiving

Throughout this past month, I've been seeing more of God's blessings. He’s been doing SUCH a healing work, not just in me physically over the past week but also in areas of my life that have been waiting redemption for years. (Be sure to ask me if you’re curious!)  Our God is a God that doesn’t just give us what we need, but He also desires to lavish us with an unmatchable love that we definitely do not deserve.  I don’t deserve to be here experiencing these things, but God’s letting me do it anyways.  Now that I’m here, I shouldn’t waste it!  I want to experience more of the world around me, because God has given it to me to experience.

And I don’t mean just Australia; I want to fully exercise and use the gifts that He offers me back at Berkeley to their full extent, because He has put me in that specific university at that specific time. He wants me not just to do all I can to further his Kingdom at Cal, He wants me receive all the blessings I can while I’m there too.  But what this requires is action. Just as I am planning my trips around Australia, I can’t just wait and expect things to fall into place.  I look up plane tickets, places to stay, things to do…in essence, I plan in pursuit of a goal. I’m sure I can have fun just sight-seeing around Melbourne, but if I want to experience all the Australia has to offer, I need to be active in finding all those things.

The same goes for Berkeley/LA. Those places have so much to offer, and I need to find and see/do/experience those things while I can!

Most importantly, the same goes for my Christian walk. I need to be active in doing all I can for Him, but I also need to be active in receiving all I can from Him too.

February 20th and on

Hello mates!

This past week has been another up and down one.  I started it off by going to Planetshakers Church, which is about half an hour away from the Uni. I also didn’t know they were quite famous until I looked at my iTunes and saw that a friend from Cal had already given me their music. Churches here tend to run a bit longer than most at home; they tend to run over two hours.  There’s also a slight difference in feel and attitude than what I’m used to, but I think it’s due to their location in the heart of the city rather than their cultural background.

On Monday, I went to the Melbourne Aquarium.  It’s quite small with only three levels, but hey, I got to see more animals! The best part was the penguins, especially because this one ran at me and I'm pretty sure it was saying, "COME AT ME BRO!":

I spent the first day of Orientation Week (which was the 21^st – 25^th) in bed because of a horrible stomach pain. The remainder of Monday was spent at the emergency hospital for a gastro-intestinal infection and the rest of the week pretty much in my room.  Long story short, I am slowly but surely getting better.

Every Wednesday night in the summer, Melbourne has a Queen Victoria Market festival where they sell food and drinks from all over the world, stuff from local artisans, and have free concerts from Australian bands. The highlight of it all is that I tried a kangaroo burger!

Roo meat doesn’t taste like beef or chicken. It’s not as meaty as beef either, tasted quite salty, and felt a little mushy.

On Saturday we went back to St. Kilda beach, a half-hour tram ride from outside the Unilodge. Despite the scorching-hot weather (about 93 degrees F), the water was crystal-clear and refreshingly cold.  We swam next to schools of tiny fish and walked on the sand bar in the middle of the water. =]

Today was the first day of class.  Judging from today, I’m going to have to do a lot of independent work.  My Neuroscience and the Mind class is going to be quite difficult; I thanked God today that I’m dating an MCB nerd. I guess all the independent studying is a trade-off, being that we only have three months of school and this is my weekly schedule (it's not finalized and I might not have to take Music Psychology!):

Speaking of school, good luck on midterms my Cal friends! I hope you do ace!

School Starts Tomorrow!

BLEH.

What's up with this Weather

It is currently 8:17 PM,
and 33 degrees C. That's 91 degrees F.


I have no air conditioning.

A few random thoughts:

Degrees to Celsius. Feet to Meters.

Something I have to get used to. I often wonder why America is pretty much the only country that decided to not use the metric system. Talking about weather and distance is quite literally a conversation breaker when talking to locals. I had a conversation with one Filipino-Australian that I met on a train, and when I asked her how hot it got in Melbourne, she told me upwards of 35 C. I nodded slowly and said, “Ooohh…oh yeah see I don’t know what the means…” And there the conversation ended, until I saw a wild kangaroo and jumped up in my seat.  She asked me what happened, and after I told her she asked how far away it was.  When I told her about two hundred feet, she stared at me blankly, said “Oh. Kayy,” and put her headphones back on.  If it wasn’t for this cultural difference, we could have found out we were cousins, and I would have further confirmed my theory that I’m somehow related to every Filipino. But now, who knows.

“You’re one born in a bootcar in Sheppardton.”

That’s something my professor said, and it basically means, “you’re special.” I hope to have this catch on in America; it’s so fetch.

Alcohol

Is a big thing here.  People have a drink with lunch, maybe one in the afternoon, another with dinner, or a few while hanging out.  And if they go to the bar (which they often do during a weeknight), they down some more.  But then again, alcohol isn’t such a big deal here. Granted, this isn’t every person; I’m sure there are tons of people who have certain goals in mind when drinking. But simply put, it’s part of the culture here to drink…it’s kinda like drinking coffee.  In contrast, at home and in many of my friend groups such as InterVarsity this issue is sometimes so big it becomes divisive. I’m still processing my thoughts on it, so I think that’s another blog for another time.

Unilodge

Don’t be fooled by the modern black and red façade in the picture I posted. I live in a single room that’s less than half the size of my room in Berkeley.  At first I thought it was really small, but since I’m the only one occupying this room it actually fits quite nice. Thank God I’m small too.  It has its own sink area, a sizeable closet, and enough drawer space to fit everything I need.  My floor shares the kitchen facilities and a laundry/garbage shoot. All the girls on my floor share three shower stalls, one of which has been out of order for a few months now, and four toilets that, because of their weak flushing capabilities, often endow you with lovely little surprises if you’re lucky. It’s like the world’s worst game! In other words, I’m not living in the lap of luxury (although you’d think I would be with how much I’m paying) but it works.

Vegemite

Looks like nutella, so I tried it. The Ingredients? Concentrated yeast extract. Imagine my surprise. But apparently it’s an Australian favorite, so maybe one day, when my traumatized taste buds have calmed down, I’ll give it another go.

The weather

is highly unpredictable. The day after I arrived here, it was hot and windy, then pouring rain, then extremely cold…all in about two hours. The next day? Beautiful and sunny.  Locals often say that it’s the place with four seasons and one day, and they weren’t kidding.  And to think I complained about the bipolar nature of Berkeley weather… But here’s a bit of the my week looks like:

Alright, time to do some studying about wine regions in Australia. Cheers!

Summing Up the First 3 Weeks!

Hello everyone! Sorry for keeping you in the dark these past 3 weeks (wow does time fly!), but with all the hectic schedules and lack of good Internet, I haven’t been able to update! Things are finally calming down, but so much has happened in these last few weeks that I’ll try to sum it up as best as possible without too much overload. But if you want to hear more don’t be afraid to email me, or better yet write me a letter! My address is:

746 Swanston Street

Unit 812

Carlton, VIC 3053

Australia

Anyways, on to better things…

I arrived here on Friday, 3 Feb. The plane ride was pretty smooth coming over.  Virgin Australia canceled my first flight, so I had to wait a day and a half for another, but at least they bumped me up to premium!

One of the first things I noticed was how nice Australians are.  It’s definitely been stated before, but it was a pretty big culture shock to me when I first started interacting with them. While waiting in line, I met a guy who offered to take me around Melbourne and show me the sites; on the plane I received phone numbers and business cards from people who offered to show me around their cities if I ever traveled.  I was rather taken aback by their willingness to help, and the over-cautious side of me is preventing me from taking up any of those offers.  But on the other hand, I think it’s sad that we live in a world where people can’t be trusted. That’s not the way the world was created to be.

The first few days

The first few days here were pretty hard to adjust to. Figuring out housing, phones, and banking was a stress overload!  Finding my way around the second biggest city in Australia by myself two weeks before any other exchange students were to arrive made life a bit lonely too. But the city was incredible; it has everything! The CBD, as it's called, basically works like a grid, and you have trams, trains, and buses that can take you anywhere, and if you buy a ticket for one you can ride any transportation system. The trams and trains are pretty similar to the metro, so it didn't take long to get used to. The feel isn't anything like NY; it has a very laid-back feel with an enormously diverse life. There's a Vietnamese pho place right next to an Indian restaurant that's across from an Italian one. Melbourne definitely has the best food culture and the most amazing coffee, too. And the people dress so well here...my usual white Target V-neck and jeans pin me as an outsider. All in all, getting lost in the city for a day was a great experience to have.

Australia in the Wine World

Two days after arriving, I took the V-line train two and a half hours away to the countryside for my Australia in the Wine World course.  Along the way, I saw a lot of sheep and beautiful scenery, but the most exciting thing was the kangaroo I saw hopping around!  The course was extremely intensive: lectures started at 8:30 until lunch around 12, then from 1 PM till dinner we had practicals and more class, and after dinner another practical that would end around 9 PM, then we studied until lights out.  In the lectures, we learned about the history of wine, wine regions of the world, which places grow the best variety, winemaking practices, and all that kinds of stuff. During practicals, we tried 10-14 different types of wines and assessed them for appearance, smell and taste. Kinda like this:

7 glasses of wine, each refilled about two-three times in each practical. The gray, ugly cup in the back was for spitting out the wine after tasting it, just so we don’t get too drunk.

We also took a tour of different wineries throughout the countryside. My goodness they were beautiful!

The final at the end of the week consisted of trying 5 different kinds of wine and naming their variety, age, and characteristics.  For never having alcohol, this was quite an adventure!

Melbourne Welcome Week

After the Wine course, I went straight to the Melbourne Welcome week for Study Abroad/Exchange students. I stayed at Queen’s College, which is a residential living arrangement that’s a cross between dorms and frats/sororities.

One the first full day, we went surfing. First time ever! It was hard, and I could barely stand up on the board, but I still loved trying it all out!  At night we hit the city on a bar crawl, where we went to 3-4 different bars around town. For a person who doesn’t drink or go out, I must say that the nightlife in Melbourne’s still incredible!

My first drink ever! A glass of wine bought by this here Akin.

The next day, we took a tour of the university. It reminds me a lot of Berkeley, what with all the foliage and greenery everywhere, and the old buildings mixed with more modern ones.  Afterwards, we went to the Queen Victoria Market, which as pretty much everything you want to eat, and it also sells clothes and souvenir-type stuff.  It basically is an extremely helpful flea market!  We also went to the Eureka Skydeck, which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and has 360-degree views of Melbourne and everything around it.  A few of us went into “The Edge,” a cube typed room that moves itself 3 meters out from the building and over 250 meters up. The walls and floor are clear glass so it looks like you’re standing in mid-air in the middle of the city! One of the scariest things I’ve ever done.  We also took a tour around the side streets the city offered, exploring their plethora of hipster cafes, chocolate and dessert stores, souvenir shops, hundreds of cheap boutiques mixed with upper-class boogie department stores, and graffiti-ridden laneways. Like I said, the city life is amazing!

On the last day, we went to the Melbourne Zoo! We saw a whole bunch of kangaroos, koalas, penguins, etc. in their “natural” as can be habitats. If anyone knows me, I love animals! They are just so interesting and such a testament to God’s creativity and beauty.

A group of us also went on the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) tour and explored Australia’s most famous sports stadium, where they’ve hosted the Summer Olympics. The ground is being constantly used, either for Australian Football or Cricket. They have a library that has information on every sport, including Quidditch, and an entire section on the Olympics. They even have some of the torches!  The MCG also has a “Game On!” section, where I sprained my finger playing interactive Australian football. The wait to become an MCG member is about 20 years. I’m not too into sports, but this place was so cool!

The St. Kilda Fest. It's an annual music festival that lasts about a week, with free live music from local and [famous Australian] bands, a carnival, film screenings, exhibitions, dancing.  It's by the beautiful St. Kilda beach, and best of all it's home to a colony of wild penguins! They're apparently the world's smallest penguins and live in the rocks by the harbor. Shoshosho cute =]

Here’s a few more pictures from the first two weeks:

My apartment building and view from my room!

The Valentine's Day surprise I got when I came home one night! <3

That’s all I want to write about my adventures for now. I’ll post in a bit about more random things!

HI EVERYONE! I'M ALIVE!!

Sorry for the lack of posting; finding internet or time to write has been horrible! But I will update soon!

I&apos;m on the plane!

Pray for me. I'm so scared yet excited for the adventure!

Love that Casts Out Fear

I’m sitting here two hours before boarding time.  The waiting and sitting idly by only heighten the feelings of anxiety that are settling in. And I worry. Did I forget something extremely important? Did I make all the right arrangements? Did I not grab everything I need?

These initial thoughts filling up my brain leads me to deeper fears:

-       what if I’m not responsible enough to handle everything by myself?

-       what if I don’t pass my classes?

-       what if I make the wrong friends?

-       what if I’m lonely?

And just like that, my excitement about the next six months has turned into nervousness.

But not an excited-nervous, no. The excited-I-can't-wait-for-the-unknown-nervous is the type of nervous I want to be feeling; the holy-crap-what-was-I-thinking-nervous is the unwelcome type of nervous that has so easily tied knots in my stomach and throat.

Why do I feel this way? I think God has been opening my eyes to the insecurities I see in myself and questioning the false foundations in which I’ve decided to place any security I do have. And I know that He is calling me forth, in this journey, to come to terms with all of this.  However, to surrender those things - and more importantly myself - in order for Him to work is frighteningly painful. I don’t want to do it, and I’m too scared to.

Yet as I sit here typing and worrying, His clear voice rescues me and reminds me:

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Give no opportunity to the devil. I will never leave you nor forsake you. In your lacking I will more than fulfill your every need. Set your hopes on me, for I will provide you with everything to enjoy.

And just like that, His perfect love for me casts out all fear.

A cobber is a friend.

*Addendum: my flight was canceled, so this was actually during that wait period before they told me to go back home, and not before boarding. Praise Jesus I didn't get on a plane that had an engine problem!