China:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031141&l=b450b&id=168300063
Japan:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031143&l=86ab5&id=168300063
New Zealand:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031144&l=564a4&id=168300063
Australia:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031160&l=d28b4&id=168300063
Hawaii:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031071&l=9fc4f&id=168300063
I'll post more when I get them up!
Sunday, December 21
Saturday, December 20
Groundhog Day and Beautiful Beaches
(I'm writing this from home, but I didn't want to leave out Hawaii from this blog, leaving it unfinished.)
Tuesday, December 2nd was the longest day of my life. And I mean that literally. We took off from Sydney at 9pm on December 2nd, flew for 10 hours and landed at 7am...December 2nd. Fortunately, the weather was foggy and rainy so we had no problem going straight to our rooms to nap when we landed. A few hours later we got up and relived Tuesday by walking around the streets surrounding our hotel to orient ourselves. We found the International Marketplace and got a bunch of great souvenirs then went down to the beach a block from where we were staying to enjoy the 75 degree water at night.
Being back in America was a strange adjustment for all of us. The entire time we were in Hawaii we would find ourselves asking, "What's the exchange rate? Oh, wait, that's REAL dollars!", "You have mustard and American cheese?!", or "You mean, we get free refills?" I think it was a good time for us to slowly move back into American life before we got all the way home. We were mistaken for foreigners here and there because of our excitement or confusion around everyday American places and things, but it was fun and we took it as a compliment because we had seen the world and we were coming back with new eyes.
We spent most of our time in Hawaii in Waikiki where our hotel was, but we also took a trip out to Pearl City to see the USS Arizona Memorial and thank the veterans that were there for their service to our country. It was such a unique experience for us because only 2 months ago we were at Hiroshima seeing the other side of this war. The USS Arizona Memorial was established to honor those men that served and died, while the Hiroshima Memorial seems more informative about the events and discouraging of future nuclear research and warfare. Interestingly, both memorials highlighted the hesitancy of the opposing country to go through with their actions.
Another evening we went to a luau and had a really fun time. They had several booths set up to make your own bracelets or headbands, get temporary Polynesian tattoos, or try your luck at spear throwing. Throughout the night they also held demonstrations for fishing, hula dancing, and coconut tree climbing to show the techniques and meanings behind these Hawaiian traditions. As the sun set, we went to watch them pull the pig out of the ground where it had been cooking for several hours and sat down for a delicious buffet dinner of luau pork, fish, and several kinds of salad. While we ate they did a show of several different Polynesian styles of dance and pulled people from the audience to come up and dance with them. On the way back to the hotel our guide kept us all entertained telling stories and coming up with ridiculous games for us. I'm sure the other group in the bus with us (a wedding party also from Oklahoma!) had their doubts when they first got on the bus with 24 college students, but they had fun laughing with (or more likely AT) us singing along to the radio and practicing our best Maori haka faces.
The next day a smaller group of us went up to the North Shore area to visit the Polynesian Culture Center for the day. It was great to see some of the other small islands' traditions in one place since we couldn't visit all of them on our trip. We watched the Fiji warrior dances, the Samoan fire dances, the Tongan drums, the Tahiti quick knee-shaking dances, and the Hawaiian hula, and the New Zealand poi dance. All of the cultures are known for their unique skills in certain areas, yet they have so much in common based on their environments and backgrounds. We had fun making our way around the center all day seeing as much as we could, getting fake tattoos, and eating Macadamia ice cream with fresh fruit.
The rest of our days in Hawaii we spent on the sand: soaking up sun, holding devotionals, and for some testing their balance with surfing lessons. It was a wonderful conclusion to our long adventure, and a great time for all of us to recap all we had done these past three months. Going home was hard for all of us because we knew we would have to be apart, and as much as we all have gotten on each others' nerves during the course of our time together we have become a family. We have learned to rely on each other so much in such a short span of time, and leaving feels much like we felt three months ago when we left our families back home. We had a tear-filled last church service together Sunday morning as we finished packing our bags to begin our day of flights back to Oklahoma.
Getting home was such a wonderful experience. We got more anxious as our flights took us closer and closer to home: Waikiki to Las Vegas to Denver to Oklahoma City. Monday evening we landed in Oklahoma City and still had to go through baggage claim and a bus ride back to campus, but there was so much energy in our group. As we boarded the OC bus we started singing anything and everything that came to mind as a way to let some of the excitment out. We started up a loud round of our Alma Mater followed by whatever Christmas songs came to mind while watching the Christmas lights on familiar buildings as we drove closer to our friends and families waiting to welcome us home. I feel like I might have tasted what it feels like to be a celebrity as we drove up to find a huge group of friends waiting outside for us, cheering as we drove up, holding up posters and gifts for us. Mom and Nana came up to OC to see me when I got off the bus, and it was so good to see them right as I got home. A ton of my friends also came to tell me how much they missed me, and I was so glad to get to see so many faces that I've been missing from so far away.
And like that... we were home. We slowly picked up our individual bags and headed our different ways. Three months together and now one month completely apart. We've already reached out to each other exchanging phone numbers, funny stories by email of reverse culture shock, and uploading hundreds of pictures to share with our friends and families but mostly with each other. Trying to hang onto every memory for as long as possible while also readjusting to life at home is a struggle, but we have each other to encourage and laugh with. This experience has changed every single one of us in many different ways, and it is a time in our lives we will never forget.
Tuesday, December 2nd was the longest day of my life. And I mean that literally. We took off from Sydney at 9pm on December 2nd, flew for 10 hours and landed at 7am...December 2nd. Fortunately, the weather was foggy and rainy so we had no problem going straight to our rooms to nap when we landed. A few hours later we got up and relived Tuesday by walking around the streets surrounding our hotel to orient ourselves. We found the International Marketplace and got a bunch of great souvenirs then went down to the beach a block from where we were staying to enjoy the 75 degree water at night.
Being back in America was a strange adjustment for all of us. The entire time we were in Hawaii we would find ourselves asking, "What's the exchange rate? Oh, wait, that's REAL dollars!", "You have mustard and American cheese?!", or "You mean, we get free refills?" I think it was a good time for us to slowly move back into American life before we got all the way home. We were mistaken for foreigners here and there because of our excitement or confusion around everyday American places and things, but it was fun and we took it as a compliment because we had seen the world and we were coming back with new eyes.
We spent most of our time in Hawaii in Waikiki where our hotel was, but we also took a trip out to Pearl City to see the USS Arizona Memorial and thank the veterans that were there for their service to our country. It was such a unique experience for us because only 2 months ago we were at Hiroshima seeing the other side of this war. The USS Arizona Memorial was established to honor those men that served and died, while the Hiroshima Memorial seems more informative about the events and discouraging of future nuclear research and warfare. Interestingly, both memorials highlighted the hesitancy of the opposing country to go through with their actions.
Another evening we went to a luau and had a really fun time. They had several booths set up to make your own bracelets or headbands, get temporary Polynesian tattoos, or try your luck at spear throwing. Throughout the night they also held demonstrations for fishing, hula dancing, and coconut tree climbing to show the techniques and meanings behind these Hawaiian traditions. As the sun set, we went to watch them pull the pig out of the ground where it had been cooking for several hours and sat down for a delicious buffet dinner of luau pork, fish, and several kinds of salad. While we ate they did a show of several different Polynesian styles of dance and pulled people from the audience to come up and dance with them. On the way back to the hotel our guide kept us all entertained telling stories and coming up with ridiculous games for us. I'm sure the other group in the bus with us (a wedding party also from Oklahoma!) had their doubts when they first got on the bus with 24 college students, but they had fun laughing with (or more likely AT) us singing along to the radio and practicing our best Maori haka faces.
The next day a smaller group of us went up to the North Shore area to visit the Polynesian Culture Center for the day. It was great to see some of the other small islands' traditions in one place since we couldn't visit all of them on our trip. We watched the Fiji warrior dances, the Samoan fire dances, the Tongan drums, the Tahiti quick knee-shaking dances, and the Hawaiian hula, and the New Zealand poi dance. All of the cultures are known for their unique skills in certain areas, yet they have so much in common based on their environments and backgrounds. We had fun making our way around the center all day seeing as much as we could, getting fake tattoos, and eating Macadamia ice cream with fresh fruit.
The rest of our days in Hawaii we spent on the sand: soaking up sun, holding devotionals, and for some testing their balance with surfing lessons. It was a wonderful conclusion to our long adventure, and a great time for all of us to recap all we had done these past three months. Going home was hard for all of us because we knew we would have to be apart, and as much as we all have gotten on each others' nerves during the course of our time together we have become a family. We have learned to rely on each other so much in such a short span of time, and leaving feels much like we felt three months ago when we left our families back home. We had a tear-filled last church service together Sunday morning as we finished packing our bags to begin our day of flights back to Oklahoma.
Getting home was such a wonderful experience. We got more anxious as our flights took us closer and closer to home: Waikiki to Las Vegas to Denver to Oklahoma City. Monday evening we landed in Oklahoma City and still had to go through baggage claim and a bus ride back to campus, but there was so much energy in our group. As we boarded the OC bus we started singing anything and everything that came to mind as a way to let some of the excitment out. We started up a loud round of our Alma Mater followed by whatever Christmas songs came to mind while watching the Christmas lights on familiar buildings as we drove closer to our friends and families waiting to welcome us home. I feel like I might have tasted what it feels like to be a celebrity as we drove up to find a huge group of friends waiting outside for us, cheering as we drove up, holding up posters and gifts for us. Mom and Nana came up to OC to see me when I got off the bus, and it was so good to see them right as I got home. A ton of my friends also came to tell me how much they missed me, and I was so glad to get to see so many faces that I've been missing from so far away.
And like that... we were home. We slowly picked up our individual bags and headed our different ways. Three months together and now one month completely apart. We've already reached out to each other exchanging phone numbers, funny stories by email of reverse culture shock, and uploading hundreds of pictures to share with our friends and families but mostly with each other. Trying to hang onto every memory for as long as possible while also readjusting to life at home is a struggle, but we have each other to encourage and laugh with. This experience has changed every single one of us in many different ways, and it is a time in our lives we will never forget.
Monday, December 1
So Much To Be Thankful For!
This week we spent most of our time in Gosford, a town out in the countryside outside of Sydney. We took a train on Thursday about an hour to meet with the Browns, a family that has been organizing the Pac Rim stay in Gosford for the past 10 years. They took half of us to their house and half of our group to the grocery store to search for Thanksgiving appropriate food. The group did great and came back to cook our delicious dinner. The only major difference from home was the turkey. Since turkey isn't in great supply in the 20+ pound variety in Australia right now (or ever as far as I know) we had to use turkey roasts in a box. It took about 5 of them at 6lbs each to feed our group, but once it's all cooked and cut up, it's all the same to us. We had fun watching TV and napping while the food all cooked, and I helped with all my usual tasks -- filling cups with ice, chopping walnuts, and taking finished dished out to the serving table. Haha!
Thursday night we went home to meet out host families for the weekend. Hailey and I stayed with Dave and Joy Mowday and their daughter Laura. Laura spent 3 months last year touring around the US, and she spent about a week in Edmond with a friend that goes to OC. It was fun sharing traveling stories and common experiences with her while we sat around watching American TV.
Friday, some of our group went out deep sea fishing and caught 27 fish altogether. The rest of us went to the Reptile Park, which in my opinion is not quite accurately named. It's like a small zoo that has all kinds of exhibits -- wallabies, wombats, platypus, dingoes, and tons of local birds. My favorite part though was the kangaroo area where we could walk around petting them all and taking pictures with them. One of them was really interested in my sandwich when we sat down to eat, but I managed to eat most of it myself while I fed him some of it to him by hand! Friday night we hung out with some of the Gosford Church of Christ youth group and young adults eating a big spaghetti dinner and playing games with them.
Saturday we went out to Pearl Beach with the youth group and young adults and had a blast! One kid, Tim, and I dug some holes in the sand and connected them trying to make an underground tunnel. After a while the top started crumbling in so I climbed in my hole to show how far we had gotten. A bunch of people pushed all the sand back on top of me and very quickly buried me. Since my body was under the sand they had fun building a little midget body for me and making fun of me stuck under so much weight. For those of you that watch Grey's Anatomy, I think I know how that kid felt that was stuck in the cement. They left me there, watching to see if I could get myself out and after a couple minutes I was finally able to push through and climb out. Since I was covered in sand I didn't have much choice but to go wash off in the cold ocean water. It had been overcast in the morning, but as the day went on the water warmed up some. Unfortunately, I also got a pretty good sunburn that day, but it's gone down pretty well so far. Hopefully by the time we get to the beach in Hawaii it'll be mostly gone.
Sunday we went to service at the Gosford Community Center where the church meets then stayed for a potluck lunch. We had all our stuff packed up, so from there we left to catch our train back to Sydney. For dinner I went with a group to find Hard Rock Cafe, but it wasn't until we got there that we realized it's been closed for over a year now. We decided to try a place up in the Rocks that we'd passed a few times before, so we went to Rockin Burger. Some people tried the Kanga, which is made of kangaroo meat, but I just couldn't do it after petting some just a few days ago.
Today has been a slow day again. Our last day in Sydney and our last day truly abroad. Tomorrow we will get into our time machine back to America as we arrive in Hawaii earlier than we leave Sydney. I'm looking forward to the longest day of my life, but I also know that jet lag is going to hit pretty hard so I'll have to make myself sleep some instead of running straight out to the beach. We'll see how well that works out.
Hard to believe it's just one week left, but I'm ready to get home! I just found out that the packages I sent home from Beijing and Xi'an just made it home yesterday, so I'm really excited to get home to pass out all my presents!
I love you all! See you SOON!!
Amy
Thursday night we went home to meet out host families for the weekend. Hailey and I stayed with Dave and Joy Mowday and their daughter Laura. Laura spent 3 months last year touring around the US, and she spent about a week in Edmond with a friend that goes to OC. It was fun sharing traveling stories and common experiences with her while we sat around watching American TV.
Friday, some of our group went out deep sea fishing and caught 27 fish altogether. The rest of us went to the Reptile Park, which in my opinion is not quite accurately named. It's like a small zoo that has all kinds of exhibits -- wallabies, wombats, platypus, dingoes, and tons of local birds. My favorite part though was the kangaroo area where we could walk around petting them all and taking pictures with them. One of them was really interested in my sandwich when we sat down to eat, but I managed to eat most of it myself while I fed him some of it to him by hand! Friday night we hung out with some of the Gosford Church of Christ youth group and young adults eating a big spaghetti dinner and playing games with them.
Saturday we went out to Pearl Beach with the youth group and young adults and had a blast! One kid, Tim, and I dug some holes in the sand and connected them trying to make an underground tunnel. After a while the top started crumbling in so I climbed in my hole to show how far we had gotten. A bunch of people pushed all the sand back on top of me and very quickly buried me. Since my body was under the sand they had fun building a little midget body for me and making fun of me stuck under so much weight. For those of you that watch Grey's Anatomy, I think I know how that kid felt that was stuck in the cement. They left me there, watching to see if I could get myself out and after a couple minutes I was finally able to push through and climb out. Since I was covered in sand I didn't have much choice but to go wash off in the cold ocean water. It had been overcast in the morning, but as the day went on the water warmed up some. Unfortunately, I also got a pretty good sunburn that day, but it's gone down pretty well so far. Hopefully by the time we get to the beach in Hawaii it'll be mostly gone.
Sunday we went to service at the Gosford Community Center where the church meets then stayed for a potluck lunch. We had all our stuff packed up, so from there we left to catch our train back to Sydney. For dinner I went with a group to find Hard Rock Cafe, but it wasn't until we got there that we realized it's been closed for over a year now. We decided to try a place up in the Rocks that we'd passed a few times before, so we went to Rockin Burger. Some people tried the Kanga, which is made of kangaroo meat, but I just couldn't do it after petting some just a few days ago.
Today has been a slow day again. Our last day in Sydney and our last day truly abroad. Tomorrow we will get into our time machine back to America as we arrive in Hawaii earlier than we leave Sydney. I'm looking forward to the longest day of my life, but I also know that jet lag is going to hit pretty hard so I'll have to make myself sleep some instead of running straight out to the beach. We'll see how well that works out.
Hard to believe it's just one week left, but I'm ready to get home! I just found out that the packages I sent home from Beijing and Xi'an just made it home yesterday, so I'm really excited to get home to pass out all my presents!
I love you all! See you SOON!!
Amy
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