The last couple of days I seem to not be able to get enough rest. I have been sleeping poorly and have been incredibly tired. I think the time difference is really kicking in now. I never feel like the clock is right.
Classes have been going pretty well. Next week I have a bunch of new material that I will be covering so I will be spending much of the weekend preparing for this.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Heat... It is hot... too warm... and sweltering
Last night I slept terrible. Seems like if you are too cold at night it is easy to get warmer but when you are too hot you just cannot cool off. I think there was something wrong with the air conditioner because even though it was fully cranked up to5 degrees (c) and it ran all night the room was so hot. It was even hotter outside though. I got maybe a total of 1 or 2 hours of sleep. Plus, the mozzie (mosquito) bites from this weekend had fully progressed to the point of full-itchiness. I got a couple on the top of my left hand that are driving me crazy. I forgot to mention that when I was in the bush this weekend I got a leech on my butt. Yeah not fun.
Leech bites are worse than mozzie bites and they are all over the grass waiting to grab a hold of you and crawl up your leg. I saw a few of them on a branch and they walk along using each end of their bodies as a leg of sorts. They find the nicest warm spot they can and latch on. When they bite you they inject some sort of blood thinner so that they don't even need to suck the blood out of you like a mozzie would, your own heartbeat just fills their little bellies for them. The wound they leave itches soooo bad. The photo below is about what they look like.
Leech bites are worse than mozzie bites and they are all over the grass waiting to grab a hold of you and crawl up your leg. I saw a few of them on a branch and they walk along using each end of their bodies as a leg of sorts. They find the nicest warm spot they can and latch on. When they bite you they inject some sort of blood thinner so that they don't even need to suck the blood out of you like a mozzie would, your own heartbeat just fills their little bellies for them. The wound they leave itches soooo bad. The photo below is about what they look like.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Adventures this weekend
This weekend was quite busy. I started things off with a morning of sleeping late on Saturday. Then I did a bit of shopping and got sick on a chicken sandwich. I went to church with a guy from work (James) where the sermon was quite good.
I taught James how to make "Judgment Burgers" (a favorite college meal).
Sunday night I swam at Newcastle beach.
Monday was a public holiday so I went with Mic and his family to the bush. See video below.
I taught James how to make "Judgment Burgers" (a favorite college meal).
Sunday night I swam at Newcastle beach.
Monday was a public holiday so I went with Mic and his family to the bush. See video below.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Crickets for Lunch
For lunch I sat down with a bunch of the guys in the office to watch a cricket game. This is a game that gets played for 5 straight days up to 8 hours a day. One game. I really do not understand what they see in this game. :)
Greetings from one of my classes!
Here is one of my classes saying hello. Especially to my wife. I shot this at the end of one of the class coffee breaks.
The Trip is Getting Long...... It is well with my soul.
Well, right now it is Friday morning here. I have nearly completed 1/3 of the entire training program for Australia. My voice is tired so I will be looking forward to the weekend. My feet are very tired too, standing all day for training then walking to the train station and then from another station to my hotel is quite a bit of exercise. The weather has been very humid lately. Looks like it might rain today. This humidity reminds me of being in the Dominican Republic.
Last night I went over to Mic's house and had dinner with his family. His children are very sweet. It is so cute to hear his 2 year old girl talk with an Australian accent. She likes all the same things that my daughter likes, she has Dora the Explorer on everything. Their 4-year old son reminds me of my son Braydn. He even got his Cars (movie) toys out and showed me all of his collection.
They served pumpkin as part of dinner, it is baked and quite good. Turkey was the main dish and I think they went out of their way to make me feel at home. I really love them. My wife would be instant friends with Mic's wife. They have a lot in common. For dinner they got a special Australian treat. I think it is called Pavlova. Basically it is a crispy meringue that is baked until it is nearly the consistency of a cookie, then there is a custard put in it after backing and it is covered with exotic fruits. It was amazing. The meringue melts in your mouth. It was awesome.
A minute or two after I stepped into their house, I saw a photo of Wess Stafford (Compassion President) with their children displayed on their wall. My family has known Wess for some time now so it felt as if even through his we were friends already.
I just found out this morning that I missed hearing Dawby say "DADA" - his first word. I cried when I heard about this.
If you are reading this blog please lift my wife in prayer as I could tell she is feeling discouraged about my being gone. She is working on enrolling Braydn in a kindergarten today. There wasn't anybody available to watch the kids for her so she is having to run all over town with the kids and get the paperwork finished.
It is hard being home but I know God is building me through this experience. I continue to get great feedback on how the training is going and I know God is using me here to further his kingdom.
Well I have been in the office now for nearly a half hour and I am still pretty much the only one here.
One thing I rally like about this place is they start every morning off with prayer groups, I have been assigned the team that refers to itself as, "The Sons of Thunder." We read a passage from Mark each day and then lift one another and this ministry in prayer. This has been a time of strengthening for me.
Last night I went over to Mic's house and had dinner with his family. His children are very sweet. It is so cute to hear his 2 year old girl talk with an Australian accent. She likes all the same things that my daughter likes, she has Dora the Explorer on everything. Their 4-year old son reminds me of my son Braydn. He even got his Cars (movie) toys out and showed me all of his collection.
They served pumpkin as part of dinner, it is baked and quite good. Turkey was the main dish and I think they went out of their way to make me feel at home. I really love them. My wife would be instant friends with Mic's wife. They have a lot in common. For dinner they got a special Australian treat. I think it is called Pavlova. Basically it is a crispy meringue that is baked until it is nearly the consistency of a cookie, then there is a custard put in it after backing and it is covered with exotic fruits. It was amazing. The meringue melts in your mouth. It was awesome.
A minute or two after I stepped into their house, I saw a photo of Wess Stafford (Compassion President) with their children displayed on their wall. My family has known Wess for some time now so it felt as if even through his we were friends already.
I just found out this morning that I missed hearing Dawby say "DADA" - his first word. I cried when I heard about this.
If you are reading this blog please lift my wife in prayer as I could tell she is feeling discouraged about my being gone. She is working on enrolling Braydn in a kindergarten today. There wasn't anybody available to watch the kids for her so she is having to run all over town with the kids and get the paperwork finished.
It is hard being home but I know God is building me through this experience. I continue to get great feedback on how the training is going and I know God is using me here to further his kingdom.
Well I have been in the office now for nearly a half hour and I am still pretty much the only one here.
One thing I rally like about this place is they start every morning off with prayer groups, I have been assigned the team that refers to itself as, "The Sons of Thunder." We read a passage from Mark each day and then lift one another and this ministry in prayer. This has been a time of strengthening for me.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Australian Pizza, Trains, Toilets, Cash and The Date
Last night I stumbled on a "ma and pa" pizza shop. I ordered an "Americana" pizza. It had ham and onions on it. The ham was shredded as if it had been run along a cheese grater and was practically the same texture as the onions. After putting the sauce on the crust they put nearly an inch of ham and onion shreds on the pizza, then they add a think layer of cheese that becomes browned and crusted. The cheese doesn't even make contact with the crust except for at the edges. The result is an almost sandwich like pizza experience. Oh yeah, and the large was the size of an American small.
I have been riding the train to work, you can tell that the train system is really meant for locals. There really are no signs or anything telling you which train goes where you are going. I find myself asking locals which train goes to Warabrook in order to get on the right one, and you'd think it was the train on a certain platform, that is never consistent either. The ride is nice. I am rather surprised to see the graffiti on the walls in the train track areas. It looks like it was lifted directly from Los Angeles suburbs.
Toilets here tend to have two separate flush buttons. One does a half flush the other does a full flush. I have not had the courage to ask anybody yet but I am assuming this is for when you have differing levels of need. :) I guess if you do a number 1 you use handle number one, a number 2 would call for handle number 2. Most public toilets seem to have walls that have no cracks where people can see through, they are very private with higher doors etc. Also, they mostly seem to have an indicator that changes on the door to tell people that the stall is occupied. I wish we had that.
The paper money is not made of paper here. It is made of plastic, Nearly all of the cash seems absolutely pristine. It lasts forever and even if you fold it it takes it's original shape again after a short time. The smallest note is a 5 dollar bill, they have coins for everything smaller and there is no penny coin, everything is charged to the nearest 5 cents. this makes it very easy to deal with the change. The 2 dollar coin is about the size of 3 dimes if they were glued together. The one dollar coin is the size of two quarters if they were glued together. there are no quarters but they have 20 cent coins and 5 cent coins and none of the sizes make any sense at all.
The system for writing a date here is different from the US. I knew this coming here as many other countries use the same system. I think I prefer this format now that I am used to it.
I have been riding the train to work, you can tell that the train system is really meant for locals. There really are no signs or anything telling you which train goes where you are going. I find myself asking locals which train goes to Warabrook in order to get on the right one, and you'd think it was the train on a certain platform, that is never consistent either. The ride is nice. I am rather surprised to see the graffiti on the walls in the train track areas. It looks like it was lifted directly from Los Angeles suburbs.
Toilets here tend to have two separate flush buttons. One does a half flush the other does a full flush. I have not had the courage to ask anybody yet but I am assuming this is for when you have differing levels of need. :) I guess if you do a number 1 you use handle number one, a number 2 would call for handle number 2. Most public toilets seem to have walls that have no cracks where people can see through, they are very private with higher doors etc. Also, they mostly seem to have an indicator that changes on the door to tell people that the stall is occupied. I wish we had that.
The paper money is not made of paper here. It is made of plastic, Nearly all of the cash seems absolutely pristine. It lasts forever and even if you fold it it takes it's original shape again after a short time. The smallest note is a 5 dollar bill, they have coins for everything smaller and there is no penny coin, everything is charged to the nearest 5 cents. this makes it very easy to deal with the change. The 2 dollar coin is about the size of 3 dimes if they were glued together. The one dollar coin is the size of two quarters if they were glued together. there are no quarters but they have 20 cent coins and 5 cent coins and none of the sizes make any sense at all.
The system for writing a date here is different from the US. I knew this coming here as many other countries use the same system. I think I prefer this format now that I am used to it.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Classes and Such
Thought I would post an update on how classes are going. I have held a total of 2 of them so far. To me it is lunch break on Tuesday right now. I am getting ramped up to teach another session this afternoon. Overall, everything is going pretty well. I was worried that all of my silly little jokes that I tell during class would not translate. I like to keep my students laughing because they learn and stay engaged at the same time. Well, lets just say that not only do most of my "jokes" translate well (and by jokes I mean that I just kind of make fun of things as I go, it is not like I have a comedy routine I use each time or anything) but I am finding that a lot of the things I say that were not intended to be funny come off as funny. My only concern is that sometimes I think it is funny in a bit of a off-colored way. Oh well, all in innocence.
I am having a good time teaching over here. Honey, can I apply for a job here? Feel like moving to the other side of this planet? :)
I have a really cool office here (better than in Colorado). I am posting a video of the classroom I am teaching in and my office below.
My Australia office (notice the solid glass wall that joins the patio, I love this feature).
The classroom
I am having a good time teaching over here. Honey, can I apply for a job here? Feel like moving to the other side of this planet? :)
I have a really cool office here (better than in Colorado). I am posting a video of the classroom I am teaching in and my office below.
My Australia office (notice the solid glass wall that joins the patio, I love this feature).
The classroom
When God Shows Up
I just got back from a jog on the beach. I ran nearly a mile up the coast hoping to see the sunrise. When I got up to Nobby's beach I stood in the surf (my shoes are soaked) and had some amazing quiet time with God. I think that the sunrise was probably one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen.
God is so good.
God is so good.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Clip of the beach my first morning in Australia
The cool moist breeze felt very good on my face. It was too cloudy to see the sunrise but I am sure I will catch one one of these mornings. I found a good place to go for a morning swim. They call them the ocean baths and it is basically a seaside pool that is ocean water. The point is that it protects you from the waves.
There were a few people out walking and running on the seaside walkway. I ran into a guy from work (in Colorado) who was out for a run.
Off to head to work in just a bit.
There were a few people out walking and running on the seaside walkway. I ran into a guy from work (in Colorado) who was out for a run.
Off to head to work in just a bit.
In Newcastle...
I got into Sydney and was immediately impressed with how nice everybody is. People do not relate to each other here the same way people do in big cities.
I went with Mic up the "mountain" here in the area. A quick hike but I got a couple of great photos. I also ran into a couple of the kids friends while I was up there.
More tomorrow.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Mr. Monk, Don't Panic! Your Tickets are Confirmed.... Sort of...
So I stop over by my supervisor's desk at around1:45 or so and tell him that I will be trying to scoot out of the office a bit early so I can get started packing etc. and he wishes me well. Then, I get back to my desk and realize that the itinerary for my trip that I had in my OneNote notebook is the wrong itinerary. I scramble to get a hold of the... corporate travel agent and eventually get a photocopy of the ticketing information... Problem solved right?
Wrong. I just got off the phone, (literally half way through writing the last paragraph the phone rang) it was the corporate travel agent. "Boy is God watching over you, Matthew!" she said. Sooo, somehow some sort of a mix-up made it so that my flight/tickets got canceled. Now I will be leaving earlier about 6 hours earlier, and getting there 2 hours later than originally planned. Plus one of my connecting flights goes through Vancouver now too. Thank God for a travel agent who catches this sort of thing before it is too late.
Wrong. I just got off the phone, (literally half way through writing the last paragraph the phone rang) it was the corporate travel agent. "Boy is God watching over you, Matthew!" she said. Sooo, somehow some sort of a mix-up made it so that my flight/tickets got canceled. Now I will be leaving earlier about 6 hours earlier, and getting there 2 hours later than originally planned. Plus one of my connecting flights goes through Vancouver now too. Thank God for a travel agent who catches this sort of thing before it is too late.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
View from across the harbor
I just found this great photo of central Newcastle as seen from across the harbor. It was posted on Wikipedia. I am pretty excited to see this beautiful city.
2 Days... Houston...
Actually, Los Angeles, Sydney, then on to Newcastle. I cannot believe all of the preparations needed to get ready for a trip like this. You got to get prescriptions early, (thank the Lord I remembered that) get bills taken care of ahead of time. Find a proxy for meetings that will be missed...
Thought I'd share something I am planning on doing for my kids while I am gone. I cam going to take one of each of their small stuffed animals on the trip with me. I may be including them in some of the photos and stuff you will read on this blog. That way each of them has a friend who has traveled with Daddy even when they could not.
This morning my friend Richard called me after having read through the book "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger" it is a really great read if you have not read it before. It is a fictional story of a man in modern day America who gets an invitation to supper with Jesus. The conversation between them is intriguing as most Christians and even many non-believers have thought it would be amazing to have a conversation with Jesus face-to-face.
Thought I'd share something I am planning on doing for my kids while I am gone. I cam going to take one of each of their small stuffed animals on the trip with me. I may be including them in some of the photos and stuff you will read on this blog. That way each of them has a friend who has traveled with Daddy even when they could not.
This morning my friend Richard called me after having read through the book "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger" it is a really great read if you have not read it before. It is a fictional story of a man in modern day America who gets an invitation to supper with Jesus. The conversation between them is intriguing as most Christians and even many non-believers have thought it would be amazing to have a conversation with Jesus face-to-face.
Monday, January 14, 2008
4 days and counting...
This Friday I embark on my trip to Newcastle NSW. I am heading over there to hold a training event for 3-weeks. This blog site is where I plan to write all of the details on what I am doing and stuff.
Stay posted!
Stay posted!
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