Reflections #3 America

This was my third trip to America, trip 1 was when I was 5 years old, trip 2 was when I was 15 years old, and now, 9 years later!

Family: Seeing my family again, and having a significant amount of time to spend with them, was wonderful.  It’d been 18 months since I’d seen the children, and a year since I’d seen Michael and Laura.  It was so nice to be together!  We’d made some plans to do different things, but I realized that it didn’t really matter what we did, it was just awesome to be together!  I loved Jacob’s curiousity (up until the seventeenth question, then I’d lose my patience), I loved Eli’s sincerity (until he got frustrated), and I loved Rachael’s enthusiasm (I was so proud of her when she sat still for a full 7 minutes).  It was so great to spend quality time with Michael and Laura, chatting about life and everything!

Travels: While I was in the US, we visited Pittsburg, Washington DC, and Philadelphia, with other random stops along the way.  I got to catch up with old friends, Mr and Mrs Alouise, try out almost every single restaurant in America (of which there were many), enjoy beautiful weather, and see some awesome history.  It was so surreal seeing such famous places and things in real life!!  I loved Philadelphia the best of all the cities.  There was something about the old buildings, history, grey miserable weather, and lovely parks and gardens, that gave the city this amazing charm!  I really loved it!

Home life: I got to experience family life with three little people for the few weeks I was with them.  It was great to see the way Laura organizes her home, and does school with the children, as well as organizing special experiences for me!  It was also nice to just have chill out time, whether that was reading (swallowed down three books), running or playing in the backyard.  I also loved time to spend with my brother, who I love!  I know I used the line “Yet another reason to never have children” (joking of course) many-a time, but despite the craziness, the children were awesome, family life was awesome, I loved it!

Christianity: I don’t know what you call it, but there is Christianity everywhere!  Down the main highway, there will be billboards with Scripture quoted on them.  The Churches are big and obvious (especially the one with the giant statue of Jesus out the front).  The secular bookstores have a whole section for Christian books. This was significantly different from society in Australia.  It could just be an obnoxious Amerianism, but then again, it could be a solid effort to be a witness.  Not sure!

People: The best way I can describe my impressions of people, is to speak about the time we went to a College Basketball game.  This was realistically, my only experience out in society.  Michael and I sat down, and it wasn’t long before a lady sat down next to me.  She was everything you would imagine from a classic American lady!  Within seconds, she’d pulled out her snacks and offered them to someone seated in front of her, that she seemed to know.  Naturally, she offered some to Michael and me as well!  Before half time, she and I were great pals.  She was the grandmother of the star player, and loved to tell me all about him.  Many times in the conversation, she’d kind of stop, look at me, and then say ‘oh I just love you!’ in her ultra American accent (this is what I mean: Americans LOVE Aussies!)  Probably five minutes before the end of the game, the people three rows ahead of us had given up on the game and turned around to have a chat with the Australians!  Haha, it was so funny!  I couldn’t believe the ‘shrimp on the barbie’ line was used!  They were so outgoing in their conversation!  It was awesome!

The military: Having a brother in the military, means I got a first hand experience on how America values their military.  In Australia, there seems to be more ignorance and apathy, whereas, in America, they have a genuine respect and appreciation for those who serve.  Many stores have a military discount, they are represented at sporting events, and in Church, they intentionally pray for those serving.  I was glad to grow to appreciate the importance of our military and understand the seriousness of the fight for freedom.

Other things to ask me about if you care: my Chick-fil-A experience, my opinions about the American Revolution, my thoughts on airports and security, foods – likes and dislikes, and my developing opinions on war.

To see some pics: http://www.tripcolor.com/user/50783/trip/49369-North-American-Adventures

Reflections #2 Canada

6 months ago, I never would have thought Canada would be the kind of place I would find myself visiting, and yet, I left, realizing that I would probably never be in a place so magical again!

All the reflections in #1 apply to my time in Canada, but here are some more!

Landscape: Alberta, where I was staying, was remarkable.  There I was, coming in to land, wondering (only for a few seconds) what all the white stuff was!!  Within minutes, I’d seen the Northern Lights (something I’d barely hoped to witness), and been blasted by the minus temperatures.  I saw my first frozen river, walked on a frozen lake, driven through the Rocky Mountains, toured the flat prairies, eaten an icicle off the side of a cliff, seen a frozen waterfall, admired the sunsets, and loved the snow on the forest trees!  It truly was a beautiful place!

Weather: Well, Dad had been laughing at me for days about the Alberta weather.  James had said things like, “Your gonna die”, and I’d spent ages figuring out survival tactics.  In the end, I thought the weather was definitely manageable!  It turns out they had a warm spell while I was visiting!  I absolutely LOVED the fresh air and the blast of cold that you get when you go outside (and hang your head out of the truck window), but I learnt to appreciate the heated seats very quickly!

People: The first thing I noticed about the people, was that I found it harder to understand Canadians than Americans.   Of course, everyone is different, so it’s had to describe my impressions of people without generalizing, but here goes!  I was blown away by how genuinely kind people were to a stranger.  I truly was a stranger and felt like it (knowing pretty much only one person in the whole country), but people were so generous to me!  Not just with a place to stay, but with their time, and their lives!  I really loved the people I was living with, and found them so genuine in their welcome of me!

Culture: One huge stand out when I thought about the culture of the place (and this will be somewhat limited to the people I met), was that family was a huge influence.  My experience in Australia, is that you would graduate school, move to the city, and go to uni/work – the family plays a part in your preparation for that.  In Canada, the family seemed to play a far more significant role in the life of a young person, in terms of decision making and life choices.  This obviously is a great thing, but seemed to have big pressures attached.

There are other things I would like to comment on, but I fear to generalize or misrepresent things.  I would, however, be happy to chat about my impressions of spirituality, the state of the Church, the influence of the government and other such things.

Finally, some quirky food: dutch salty licorice, powdered iced tea, chocolate milk (they drink it all the time), applesauce on chicken (best ever), double double (coffee with double cream, double sugar)!

Photo journal here: http://www.tripcolor.com/user/50783/trip/49369-North-American-Adventures

Reflections #1 Holidays

Over the next few posts, I’ll be writing about my reflections from my time away on holidays.  I wrote them all at the same time, and they are al quite long, so perhaps make a cuppa first! 

For starters, holidays for me, is a difficult concept.  It’s difficult to set aside the time in the year.  I really love my life, so it’s difficult to be away for a significant period of time, knowing that you’ll miss out on the special events, as well as the day-to-day events.  It’s also difficult to prepare for – being super organized and having everything done in advance, plus catching up on everything once you get back.  Despite all that, as holidays were drawing near, I knew I was ready for it, and needed it!  I was feeling exhausted, drained (in more ways than one), and ready for a break!

There were some things I figured out over the last three weeks.

Fear: I had to face so many experiences, where I felt so nervous, to the point that I was afraid.  Whether it was fear of things totally out of my control – airport dramas – or fear that I would make a mistake and end up spiraling into disaster!  Of course, everything always works out (something Biblical about that, right!) and I have no need to fear, but it was good to be able to work through all that, and get to a point where I could say, “It’ll be alright” … till the next thing!!

Experiences: Something that I noticed that was interesting, was my emotional reaction to new experiences.  On day 1, in Canada, I could not get over how amazing the snow was.  By day 5, I didn’t even notice it, because I’d been wow-ed by the Rocky Mountains.  And yet, I felt the same way at every new experience! “It’s AMAZING!”  Also, I was thinking one day, how can the same girl, get so excited over a frozen lake, a basketball game, and the Declaration of Independence.  It’s weird how the different things I experienced were so broad, one individual couldn’t possibly be interested in all of them, but I was so excited about all of them!  Then I realized, it’s probably less about my love for the outdoors, sports and history, and more about this intense excitement over experiencing something new, something so out there, I felt like I was in a movie!  “This doesn’t happen in real life!!”

Church: I could not believe how refreshing it was to attend different Churches while I was away.  It’s not just that they were new, and different, but I was so encouraged and refreshed to be able to just attend.  As I thought about it, I realized that there is something amazing about following someone into Church, being welcomed as a visitor, worshipping and learning, meeting new people, without the burden of ministry.  Of course, all of life is ministry, and it’s possible to minister even as a visitor, but to go to a Church where you didn’t have to serve, to welcome or to work was so wonderful, and just what I needed for holidays!

No phone:  I haven’t had access to my phone since I’ve been away.  While I’ve been checking and responding to emails, not being able to use my phone has actually been amazing.  A few people have emailed asking to call me, and had I had my phone, I know I would have done that, despite being on holidays.  But not having access to my phone has been pleasantly isolating!

People: This relates to all the places I went to, and is not meant to be negative in any way, it’s just my initial reflections!  I have been to a few different countries by now, and there is no doubt about it, I find Aussies to be the best relationally – I’m not sure what it is, but my guess is that we see people as mates from the start – and I think there’s genuine interest!  In my travels, I found Americans to be so good socially, (I think they really just love the fact that I am Australian!) excited to put themselves out there to meet an Aussie (see #3).  Canadians, I found less so, but I thought they were far more practical in the way they related (see #2).

My day by day journal is here: http://www.tripcolor.com/user/50783/trip/49369-North-American-Adventures