My first week....

Wow...I don't even know how to begin describing this past week. Exciting, scary, emotional, amazed...I attended my first church service at the infamous Hillsong Church and although not exactly what I pictured, it was without a doubt an incredible experience. It's so refreshing to see people so full of the spirit and free to worship and experience God with no hesitation or care. I am continually amazed by the Australian people and the city of Sydney.

I celebrated Australia Day on the 26th. Its similar to our Independence Day...We went down to Hyde Park in Sydney where they had the Sydney Festival which included various venues, concerts, and a really cool vintage car show. We then went down to Darling Harbour where they had concerts going on the water which was really neat. We got to see a street performer who swallowed a balloon and then brought it back up an hour later...as well as put himself in a straight jacket with chains wrapped around himself and then proceeded to free himself in 3 min...it was pretty neat to watch. After walking around for a while the night festivities got on way which included a parade of various boats that use the harbor and speeches from the NSW Governor and her second in command, a performance by a group of aboriginal dancers, and concerts from various Australian artists including their Australian Idol winner :) They really like Beyonce songs down here haha. It was really neat to hear about the history and just how serious and important they take their history and the aboriginal culture. Unlike America, they recognize their past mistakes and faults in how they came to establish Australia and their treatment of the aboriginal people, but today have formed a very close bond with the culture and include them in everything they do. Sydney is a very diverse city-with people from all over the world residing there and the people have so much pride in that. They welcome diversity and take pride in it. They presented 5 people who recently got citizenship and gave them an opportunity to share their stories and just took so much pride in it! Another really neat thing was their Australian of the Year award. They have 4 categories, Australian Citizen of the Year, Young Australian of the Year, Australia's Local Hero, and Australian of the Year. Its an opportunity for people to nominate an average Joe who is making a difference in their communities...The winners were presented at the festivities at the Harbor. Its so easy to see why people love this place!

The festival ended with an incredible fireworks show...In the water they had about 10 floating platforms that the fireworks were shot out of. They also had a parade of white sailboats circling the platforms-it was so beautiful-words can't even describe, and it was so fun to be right there in the middle of it all. We got to hear the national anthem and they had music that went along with the fireworks. All in all it was a total blast.

Wednesday was College Orientation. We heard from the Principal of the school and the Vice President-both very powerful speakers and leaders. We also got to meet and hear from the youth team...pretty fun group of people. Thursday was enrollment day-a lot of information from PowerPoint's...oh so fun :) But I am now officially enrolled :) We are off until Tuesday and then start two weeks of intensive intro classes and then after two weeks we will start our regular classes that relate to the stream we have chosen. Although I was planning on doing youth ministry, I have felt God pushing me toward young adults. The way school is set up we are split into course streams- worship or pastoral leadership. All of us will take basic leadership classes including Chapel, Church and Ministry, Old and New Testament ect. Then in our streams each person chooses a pathway-in pastoral they include youth, kids, church ministry, pastoral care, young adults, social justice, and community action. Based on the pathway chosen you are split into classes that are centered around information pertaining to that pathway. It sounds a but complicated but I am starting to understand it all :)

I am finding this city to be very expensive so I am on the hunt for a part time job :) There are tons of coffee shops around that I am hoping to get into one. Its nice to see real coffee and not hundreds of Starbucks on every corner...there are actually only 3 and they are all in the city :) I have been surprised to see similar restaurants and stores from the states including Target, Dominos, Pizza Hut, McDonalds(not really a surprise :) Burger King, K-Mart and Walmart (they call it Big W) I have yet to try an authentic Australian dish...I will say though, Outback Steak House-NOT Australian....although they do love to BBQ. They do say all the crazy words we hear in the movies...and the driving is crazy! I have almost been hit by a car a few times...getting used to them driving on the opposite side has been challenging when crossing the street. They also love to use their horns...its quite obnoxious sometimes :)

Well I have just realized how much I have written so I will come to a close for today...I hope you are all doing well! Miss you


Brittany