Sydney Part I

So I last left off with my life saying I was going to the rain forest. Ya that was cancelled due to the unending rain in this part of Australia. But with that being cancelled I was able to plan my trip to Sydney. We booked our trip leaving Wed. night and staying till Monday morning. We decided to take the train down and fly back. So after over packing for only four days my bag was full and ready to sit on a train for 12 HOURS! I have grown quite patient on this trip, and knowing 12 hours was my flight from LA to Australia, I was trying my best to stay cool. My friends roommate dropped us off at the bus stop and from there we road the bus from Lismore into Casino where we caught the train. I found my seat 28 B, and twenty mins after taking my seat a crazy lady tried to accuse me of stealing her seat. I tried to prove her wrong by showing her my ticket, but that still was not good enough for her. So she took out hers and then realized that she was looking at her bus seat number. GRRR While my two friends are laughing at me accusing me a being a seat thief. The train does not travel to fast, and makes a hundred stops, making it a painful trip. What else makes it painful the seats are not comfortable and they recline to about 95 degrees. So I tried various ways to try and sleep but non seemed to be successful, until I but my tray table down and slept with my face in my pillow breathing out the cup holder. Then I'm woke up by a crazy man on the train who is fighting with the train attendants. "I paid for my ticket" "You can't push me around and treat me like a piece of shit." So while this man is having a freak out the attendants are trying to shut him up, which makes him madder and then it was time to get rid of him. We stopped the train at the next stop and the police had to escort him off. That was truly entertaining. Being around 3 in the morning I slammed my face back in my pillow and tried to sleep some more. I managed another 2 hours of sleep and was woke up by the load speaker that we were running 35 min behind. I managed another 2 1/2 hours of boredom and finally arrived in central station in Sydney. We hopped off the train ready to explore!

The Bible Talks (TBT)

Wow! I can't believe I have been here one whole month already. Time really does fly. In two and a half months I'll be home already. I'm not really home sick, just missing my family and my Adam. But that will change soon, over Easter break my man is getting on a plane for the first time to fly all the way over here to see me! Can't wait for that!

But until then; I have found some lovely ladies that I hang with. One right down the road at Eau Claire and one from Cali. During Orientation week we were browsing the plaza and we found a guessing game. How many jelly beans where in a jar? The group sponsoring the contest was the Christian organization on campus looking for some new members. Not knowing if either of the other girls were practicing Christians(cause I've only known them for a couple days) I said I would love to learn more and they did as well. Well since then we have done multiple things with the bible talks organization. They have taken us to the beach, we have dinner nights at people's houses, weekly meetings, mass, and bible studies. I'm meeting so many amazing people and building friendships that will last once I go home. The group is very excited to have some Americans in the group and our input.

This past weekend they took us out in the countryside to stay at someones house to just chill and have a good time. We arrived Friday night and enjoyed a delicious BBQ. We then proceeded to play multiple rounds of mafia and everyone suspected we(as in the Americana's) were the Mafia every rounds. (I think they just like to pick on us at every opportune moment.) The flowing morning we had two long talks about Jesus plan for our live and how we plan on listening to our calling to live in a Christian lifestyle. We broke down into small groups and discussed further how Jesus sacrifice has such an impact on our lives. Sorry if this sounds a bit cultish but I've come to the conclusion Christianity really pulls people together. I'm over 9,000 miles away from home but I have a Christian family here who is looking after me and taking care of my physical and spiritual needs. Honestly, that's just as good as being home. I'm glad my faith is deepening and I'm becoming a better person because of that.

My lovely mother sent me a package last week and I was so excited to get it. It was filled with all sorts of goodies. Not forgetting the classic cheese in a can spread. My roommate had never seen such a sight before and tasting it was something he did not want to do again. I soon realized customs took my popcorn out of my package because my mom sent me ready to pop popcorn kernels that could single handily germinate and take down the entire Australian Eco-system. So I will not be getting my favorite popcorn while I'm here.

By the way it has rained here for 2 weeks straight. No lie! It rains here constantly and it's a bit aggravating. The wallaby was outside my window was bouncing around in the heavy rain and I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to get a pic though.

I'm off to the rain forest this Saturday, I'll be more diligent about writing more. Promise