Experiences from Down Under

Yesterday I went to Mt. Tamborine with Arcadia! I originally wasn’t sure if I could go since my essay was due that night, but I wrote most of it by Thursday (because I had nothing else to do). People also dropped out last minute so there was room for me on the bus :). Mt. Tamborine is up in the mountains near the Gold Coast, so it took a forty-minute car ride on top of the train ride to get there. The road is windy like Highway 17 going to Santa Cruz, but the view on the way was amazing! We could see all of the Gold Coast from inside the van. Because of last week’s rain, the mountain was very green, and we gradually drove into the rainforest! Our first stop was the glow worm cave (Note: glow worms are not fireflies. Glow worms only live in caves in Australia and New Zealand, and the adult insects cannot fly and do not glow.). Mt. Tambourine has a man-made cave where visitors get to see glow worms without destroying their habitat. They spin delicate webs that tra...

"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,  'If you abide in my word,  you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth,  and the truth will set you free.'"  -John 8:32 It’s Week 13! And I technically have a five day weekend, except I have an essay due Friday so I’m not really having a super long weekend; dead week just started really early. I had my last Australian lectures on Tuesday, and we did a short review of the material this semester and talked about the exam. One of the instructors said the exam will be tough. In order to separate the 7s from the 6s (their grading system is from 7 to 1, where passing is a 4 (50-64%)), there will be difficult questions on the exam where only one or two students will be able to solve. That got me quite excited but also nervous. I love challenging exams but not when they’re worth 50% of my grade.  SCU Winter Quarter class schedules came out! I spent over an hour trying to figure out what ...

"The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" -Psalm 50:23 Yup triple digits! (Oz = Australia. Try saying the first three letter out loud.) I was thinking about writing a top __ highlights, but I won't bore you with things you've already read about in previous posts. I'll just tell you highlights of this week.  On Tuesday, I went to Unit Discipleship instead of ultimate pickup (it was raining and I didn’t want to get sick), and we talked about being an emotionally mature Christian. I guess it’s not taught a lot in church or it just never occurred to me, but Christians need to mature not only spiritually but also emotionally. We took this quiz in preparation for the session, and I was kind of struck by some of the questions. It definitely showed me that I still have room to mature emotionally. I wouldn’t (don’t want to) say that I’m a very emotional person, ye...

Just came back from an Arcadia weekend excursion at Straddie (North Stradbroke Island) with other US students studying abroad through the same program. It was interesting hanging out with Americans again; I’m not sure what to say. Straddie is an island just off the coast of Brisbane, and the Aboriginal Islanders call it Minjerribah, meaning “the land of many mosquitos.” It is the second largest sand island in the world and home to classic Aussie animals! Most of the island is protected land, and there are places with no cellular service. After riding an hour to the Cleveland train station, I was picked up by the Arcadia team and we drove onto the vehicle ferry (see picture), which takes automobiles, along with people, onto the island.  Vehicle Ferry Once we got on the island, Matt, an Aboriginal islander, welcomed us through traditional song and dance. He even painted out faces and taught us a some of the dances his people did. Once we finished the session, we drove...

"Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." -John 16:24 You’d think three months would be enough to adjust to a new place, but I’m still adjusting, three months into studying abroad.  The past few days have been hot humid, and I discovered how sweaty one can get walking home from uni, even when it is cloudy. It has also been raining, but it’s still warm enough to wear short sleeves and shorts, which is new. But without October showers, there wouldn’t be November flowers (aka April showers -> May flowers in the Northern Hemisphere).  Week 11 has also been an adjustment. I overslept this morning and was late to class. I went to bed at 10pm last night thinking that I would naturally wake up early enough to get ready, but I didn’t. I got up at 8.40am (10+ hours of sleep! 😀 I’m tired), my tutorial was at 9am, and it takes 20 minutes to walk to uni, so even in my still-waking-up ...

"For it is God who works in you,  both to will and to work for His good pleasure."  - Philippians 2:13 I finished Week 10, and if this was SCU I’d be 100% done with the quarter and heading into finals. But this is QUT and I have three more weeks of lectures and one study week (aka real dead week) before final exams. I’m getting restless and impatient; unfortunately, I don’t have the attention span or long-term memory for anything that lasts more than 11 weeks. It also doesn’t help that the weather is getting warmer, and Jacaranda Trees are blooming! They are so pretty (but I'm never in the right position to take a good pic), but rumour has it that if a flower falls on your head, you will fail an exam. Help.  Jacaranda Tree (from Pinterest) It’s been a mentally and spiritually challenging week, but it’s been good 😃 . I wrote a report on Discrete Fourier transforms, and this was the first time I went to the library and used a textbook. It reminded me ...

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you,  asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will  in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him:  bearing fruit in every good work  and increasing in the knowledge of God;" -Colossians 1:9-10 I haven’t posted in a week because I haven’t done anything too exciting. It was mid-sem break, and after Monday’s Moreton Island trip I just stayed home (my leg turned out worse than I thought. I need to stop toughing it out every time I get hurt) and studied/pretended to study. I’m trying to get as much done now so I don’t have to cram in the last month, and I can show my mum around when she comes in November! 😃 There are just four more weeks of lectures, then exams. I don’t know what to think. I’ve never had such a long semester and I don’t feel stressed. Yet. That’s a good thing?...