I've arrived!

I finally made it to Sydney!

I've been here for about a week now, and while that week has already presented a few struggles, they've also presented just as many joys.

I've...
*seen old friends
*made new friends
*met the CYS team I am part of
*gotten to know them, both the good and bad
*"learned" a bit more about what we'll be doing - and not entirely understood it
*unpacked and mostly settled into my room
*wondered where to fit my stuff in that room
*gotten lost in the city (big surprise)
*had dinner with the Cardinal
*stared at the ocean. which is right outside the window.

I landed pretty late last Friday night and a few friends from last semester (Jovina and Elise) met me at the airport and we all headed back to Jovina's house to catch up a bit. I had Elise stop on the way and get marshmallows, because I had brought graham crackers and Hershey bars ~ guess what we made?! Most of the Aussies (if not all of them) have never heard of s'mores, so I brought the ingredients they're missing down here so they could see what a piece of heaven tastes like :)

I only got a few hours sleep that night between the talking til 3AM and the waking up at 6AM unable to fall back asleep. Jovina dropped me by the CYS house, where I'll be living for the year, to drop off my stuff, even though the team (the rest of the people I'll be working with) were still off at drama training. It's a shame I missed the bonding time, but I'm pretty sure I don't need the actual training too much considering I studied it for 2 years. and then some.


I was a bit nervous about meeting the team and since they weren't there, and weren't going to be back at the house for like 8 hours, I tagged along with Jovina to an event she was helping with entitled "Walking with Love: Alternatives and Responses to Abortion." The symposium was not only an interesting distraction, but it kept me awake for the day as I attempted not to succumb to jetlag.


When I finally met the team and began settling in, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I immediately liked all of them. It's a diverse group - all are Australian except one, but within their Australian identities they have deeper ethnic backgrounds which are apparent in how we look and talk. One girl is English and she's 22, another pure Aussie and 21, and another Tongan and 22 also. Two of the boys are Samonan and both are 17, one is Peruvian, 19, and another is Vietnamese, and he's 25. So as you can tell it's a broad age range between us, which makes for a broad range of maturity. This will probably be our greatest struggle - especially mine. We all get along pretty well individually, but we're still working on unity as a whole. I've seen that our relationships aren't always going to be easy, but I'm sure that as the year goes on we'll continue to develop new ways of working with each other's little quirks. If nothing else, it will teach me patience and reserve.

On Monday we'll be going out to do our first retreat - nothing like jumping into the deep end upon arrival! This week we've been preparing that retreat, working on the schedule we're going to use and sorting out who will do what job. We're praying a lot together, which is important for our line of work of course, but we're also trying to eat meals together and have fun together, in order to really build the sense of community and our relationships.

The other day, I played cricket! I said I wasn't going to play, but you know I can't just sit there and watch something, especially since it's that close to baseball! I think with a little practice, I could be alright! :)

Thursday night, we had dinner with the Archbishop of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell, at his house by the Cathedral in downtown Sydney. It is a beautiful residence and the food and service was very nice. It was also wonderful being able to speak with the Cardinal, especially rregarding his thoughts on World Youth Day. It was quite a nice evening!

The weather, while it's in the 70s, has actually been quite crap, because it's rained nearly every day. Today was the first day it didn't rain too much, but it was still overcast. Ironically, the only day it was actually fairly nice during most of the day was Ash Wednesday! Very fittingly, a priest explained that the seasons down here do not match up to the liturgical celebrations. When Easter comes, so will Fall! Just one more thing to adjust to.

Overall, it's started off well. It's hard to believe that I'm down here, again, and I feel so much a part of Aussie life, I wonder where this year will take me, especially regarding my identity as an American! However, for now, my natural culture is still in tact - the English girl, Rachel, was telling one of her friends, "She's so very, very American." Quite honestly, that makes me very proud. :)

Until I write again, may God bless you!