Since the trauma of my last camping trip, the weather around here has significantly improved and I decided that before I give up camping forever, I should probably give it one more chance, this time a fair one. I admit that I was not excited about going: in fact, it was out of sheer self discipline that I went at all. But since camping kicked my butt last time, I was hoping to kick camping's butt before I said goodbye to it forever.

The team consisted of me, Lauren (not the Lauren from previous posts: the Lauren who accompanied me camping this time is a new employee from England), Mark, and his friends Shaun and Kelsey. Unlike my last camping trip, our short 2.5 mile hike to our campsite was soaked in sunlight instead of rain. It was a comfortable 75 degrees, and our campsite was only 3.5 miles from home, rather than the 8 that we traveled last time. By the time we reached our campsite around 7pm, things were already shaping up to be better than last time. We all helped set up camp and find branches to make a campfire (I have pictures to prove that I personally contributed!), and soon we were laughing around the campfire eating smores, which is by far the best part of camping. Our campsite was beautiful--we selected one at Cascade Lake, a beautiful lake near canyon that is both accessible and scenic. When it got dark, we walked to the lake (a quarter of a mile away) and watched the night sky that was covered with bright stars and an eerie full moon. Mark was kind enough to loan me his army-issued, 3-layer sleeping bag which, along with the 5 layers of clothing I was wearing, kept me very warm indeed, and I slept all through the night. The next morning the weather was beautiful, but the lake was simply stunning. After breakfast, we packed up, hiked back out, and made it back to Canyon by lunchtime. I should probably add that, as pleasant as it was camping the second time, I still don't know that I am cut out to be a camper. As much as I love being outdoors, I'm partial to sleeping in my own bed, among other luxuries camping can't afford. Regardless, I'm so grateful for these experiences and memories that I'm making here in Yellowstone. I'm delighted to be so constantly challenged and stretched beyond what I thought I was capable of accomplishing. I'm grateful for my friends here who are patient with me, and my friends in Springfield and elsewhere who are patient with my snail mail and kind enough to reply. Since I'm at it, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my friends imparticular who have been in regular (though primitive) touch with me all summer: Becky, Glori, Trisha, and Jacob, you are the best!

Other than my camping trip, my recent adventures have included swimming in "firehole" (a river near Old Faithful warmed by hot springs), rafting down the Galletin River, and horseback riding along the canyon. In addition, I have completed my 100 miles of hiking, attended several employee sport league basketball and softball games, had dinner at the historic Old Faithful Inn, sang in the employee talent show, hitchhiked on the back of a motorcycle (sorry mom), saw a grizzly bear, and came close to death by bison. Needless to say, I have been very busy, and let's not even start talking about work.

Well, okay, just for a minute. Besides working lots of hours, I'm being slowly promoted to server (finally). It has involved extra hours of training and server classes. Work is going pretty well, except that we are extremely busy at the restaurant everyday. It is normal for guests to wait longer than an hour for a table in the evenings for dinner. This means that I am able to make pretty good money for dinners, but it also means that there are times when we are too busy and many customers get angry. I have never worked in a restaurant before, so I don't know if this is normal, but I will say that some of the people that come in are far too impatient and unhappy to be satisfied with any dining experience, anywhere, much less at our restaurant. We servers and server assistants work very hard to try to keep everyone happy. My parents sent me a pedometer to use for work, hiking, and running, to log miles traveled. In one dinner shift, I walk a total of 6 miles on average. This doesn't surprise me, either: I'm completely exhausted after shifts. I'll end my work schpeil with this: I urge you to please tip your server well at restaurants. Hourly wages are nearly non-existent, and if your server has a busser or assistant, he or she only receives a small percentage of that tip.

::edit-- 7.28.09::

Per my dad's request, I have removed the final paragraph of this original blog (but I really hope you got to read it first!). Perhaps it is indeed better for me to maintain a morsel of maturity and professionalism on my blog, even if a morsel is all I am able to muster. Dad, I hope this better meets your standards. Thanks for always looking out for me!

::end edit::

The Month of July remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Allow me to clarify that there is nothing or no one at Canyon from whom I need to escape; on the contrary, I love Canyon and everyone with whom I live and work there. However, anyone who has experienced community living would know that it provides neither privacy nor silence in anything more than miniscule amounts. Not only does this weekend mark nearly the halfway point of my stay here in Yellowstone, but tomorow is also Independence Day. For these two reasons I chose this weekend to celebrate my very own independence and get away for a few days. After visiting Lake last weekend with my friends' families, I thought, what a lovely place to stay on vacation. I'd love to stay there someday. It occurred to me only later that I could stay there whenever I wanted, and at no charge to me, other than the amount taken out of my paycheck every week for regular living expenses. I was eager to take advantage of such an opportunity, and a week later, I find myself here. Lake Village is situated literally yards from the beautiful high-elevation lake, surrounded by mountains. The hotel itself is a huge, summer-yellow wooden structure that resembles a 1950s country club, probably because during that time, the hotel's hay-day, it was the vacation spot of elite socialites who would be entertained nightly by the hotel's string quartet, dancing and drinking wine all the while. Although tourists no longer typically arrive in Yellowstone prepared with their cocktail dresses and tuxedoes, a string quartet still plays for guests in the lobby every evening, and Lake Yellowstone indeed still bears the faintest aroma of perfume and cigars I imagine it did all those years ago.

So, what exactly have I done here? Well, last night after dinner, I took a long walk around the Lake and a mile down the road to Fishing Bridge, a popular tourist site and photo-op. I got up early today and went for a run around the lake, enjoyed breakfast, and then read and drank coffee all morning in the comfy lodge, something I don't usually make time for. This afternoon I finished my book in the sunroom at the hotel and, after writing this blog, I plan on taking a nap and perhaps writing some letters. I'll spend the evening enjoying the string quartet, and will head back home to Canyon tomorrow morning. Despite my intentions, I have managed to meet several Lake employees, who are so nice and friendly. Contrary to what seems to be the popular opinion back at Canyon ("Won't you be so bored!?"), I instead wish I were able to stay here a few more days.

Admittedly, I had more reasons than just silence and the holiday to spend my weekend all alone here. I have had a lot on my mind recently and no time or place to let these thoughts be fully manifest. You see, since arriving at Yellowstone, I have been careful to take in every new experience that I can, even the ones that I'm not so excited about: I have been hiking almost daily; I have gone camping (without success- see blog for 6.22.09); I have not worn a stitch of makeup for a month, and I'm in dire need of a haircut, among other necessities whose accessibility I used to take advantage of. The way I see it, all of these things that are out of my typical range of experiences are giving me the opportunity to to make informed decisions about who I want to be, and who I don't want to be. After all, how can you know if you will identify with something if you never get out of your comfort zone and experience it? However, in my open-mindedness, I'm afraid that I may be neglecting some aspects of myself that make me me. Just as I don't want to miss out on activities or people who can enrich my life, I need to be cautious that I don't withhold any qualities I posess that could potentially enrich the lives of others, if only by the sheer diversity that these qualities contribute to the community as a whole. Furthermore, I have been patting myself on the back a lot recently for being so adventurous and open to new people and places, but I have forgotten that, unless I am changed for the better because of the people I have met here and the things that I have done, and unless I add these experiences like ingredients in the mixture of who I am, making them part of me, then they are mere expenditures of time and money, photographs mere records of aquaintances and activities rather than memories. I have failed to properly process much of what has happened since I arrived in the park. So, to speak candidly, I now give myself permission to not enjoy something; to not blend in with my surroundings when my true character does not encourage me to do so. I permit myself to forfeit self-imposed obligation; and, most importantly, to not let my independent nature prevent me from accepting kindness and love.

Also, I have recently felt like never before an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am so undeserving of all that has been bestowed upon me. Who am I, that I get to live in arguably one of the most beautiful areas of North America? Who am I that I have attained so many friends here from all over the world, having made no effort to speak of with which to qualify myself for such a gift? Who am I to have a family who not only encourages me to see the world, but supports it in every way, flying me across the country and putting up with my unpredictable and too-infrequent calls from the dorm payphone? And for free (in fact, I'm paid!), I get to explore these mountains, canyons, lakes, and waterfalls, and see sunrises, sunsets, and night skies blanketed with more stars than I have ever laid eyes upon. Everyday I thank God for this beauty he created with me in mind, and for all of us to enjoy. I have wanted to write about this overflow of gratitude for weeks now, but have had neither the time, nor quite the words to say. I read the following passage today in a book by Elizabeth Gilbert, and it seems to perfectly encapsulate how I feel:

"In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world [and God, I'd like to add] who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices."

So world, because it is all I can do, I say thank you. I really do wish I could do more, but my meager existence (which the mountains surrounding me magnify) offers me no resource with which to adequately do so. My voice, my most potent of weapons, can't even stand a chance. It is blown away over the lake, or lost in echoes through the mountains. Perhaps this is God's way of letting me know that my fortunate circumstances are not of my doing, but because of His Grace shown to me everyday through others. Maybe this is a clue to the only way any of us can appropriately express gratitude: by offering the same grace and kindness that is shown to us, whenever the opportunity presents itself.

My Independence Day remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Thursday, my friend Mary's best friend was flying into Jackson Hole from Missouri to visit Yellowstone for a couple of days, and she invited me and Cara to accompany her on the nearly 3 hour drive there and back. The ride to Jackson Hole takes you through the Grand Tetons, a majestic mountain range right outside of Yellowstone. The weather has improved greatly over the last few days; it is starting to look like the sun might be here to stay. We had the most perfect sunny day for our roadtrip, and we had a blast chatting, basking in the sun, and listening to music all the way. When we got to Jackson Hole, we had some free time before Mary's friend Caitlin's flight was in, so we of course seized the opportunity to pick up some essentials at K Mart. I will never again take for granted the convenience of going to the store to get whatever I need, whenever I need it. Also, on a side note: unless you have ever been living in a remote place for a month, then go unprepared to K Mart for only 15 minutes, you will never fully understand what I was thinking as I walked into the store, trying to account for all that I would need, possibly for another month or two. I considered just buying everything in the store, but then I calmed down and settled on my items, including but not limited to: shampoo and conditioner, fabric softener, bugspray, headbands, and wheat thins. Like I said, essentials. Ironically, as soon as we walked into K Mart, we saw several girls who work with us at Canyon! And do you want to know the first thing they said to us? "Hey, guys! Guess what? Michael Jackson died!"

After that, it was time to pick up Caitlin at the airport. The drive back was faster due to less traffic and more company. We stopped at Old Faithful to watch the sun set. Amazingly, it was still 65 degrees, even at 9:00pm. We all enjoyed seeing the geyser errupt on such a beautiful evening. After grabbing a cup of coffee and further exploring Old Faithful a bit, we headed home under a blanket of night stars.

The next morning, I was given the privilege of going to Cody, Wyoming, to see the Cody Rodeo with my friends Lauren and Keri, and their families who had come to visit. Total, there were 9 of us crowded into a minivan the whole day: Lauren, her mom, dad, and brother, and her boyfriend who works with us at Canyon, Lance, Keri, Keri's mom and dad, and me. We started the day at Yellowstone Lake, which is about 16 miles south of Canyon. The historic Lake Hotel is a beautiful area of the park: it is the second largest wooden structure in North America and is situated right on Yellowstone Lake, the largest high-elevation lake in North America. The Lake Hotel is definitely the most sophisticated area of the park, with large, expensive rooms, and a 5-star restaurant. We spend some time exploring there. Lauren and Keri's dads were planning on fishing there at the lake, but unfortunately the weather didn't hold up like it had the day before: it was very cold and a little rainy. We proceeded to Cody slowly but steadily, making frequent photography stops. We arrived in at around 3:30. Cody, home of the Buffalo Bill Historic Center and "the greatest rodeo on earth", is a very interesting town that is dominated by cowboy culture. There are lots of shops that sell everything from cowboy hats and boots to camping gear to Yellowstone souvenirs. By this time the sun had decided to show its face, and we spend the late afternoon shopping. After eating dinner, it was off to the rodeo! In Cody, during the summer months of June, July, and August, the rodeo happens every night. We enjoyed watching the cowboys and cowgirls on their horses, riding all around the arena. By the way, I can attest that Wyoming sunsets are just as incredible as you have heard. Around 10:30, the nine of us began our 2-hour trek home; under the stars, I drifted slowly off to sleep.

Each moment of this amazing weekend, I found myself reflecting on how lucky I was to be in my position. I have met some incredible people and gone on so many adventures thus far. It amazes me to think that the decision to spend the summer in Yellowstone has enriched my life in so many ways. First of all, I was introduced to a whole world of culture that is found in my own country, yet I was unaware even existed. Camping, fishing, and even hiking are not activities that I frequently participated in before this summer. Many people I have met here live very differently than I am used to living, but that does not mean that one of us is wrong and one of us is write. That is the thing about culture: to truly experience it requires humility, patience, and often a complete re-evaluation of ideas upon which you may have previously based your life. Unless I am willing to close my mouth, open my ears, and take the opportunity to learn about their lifestyle, I will go on believing misconceptions. Not only that, but I will have likewise forfeited an opportunity to clear up possible misconceptions about my lifestyle. There is so much to be gained from saying no to your own insecurities and comfort zone, and diving head first into new experiences, knowing that it might bruise your ego. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, weak, and inexperienced; sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl alive. But throughout the emotional mountain peaks and valleys of the summer, I'll maintain an attitude of gratitude for the people and experiences I have had here. And the best part?

The summer has only just begun.

Anna Meets the Wild Wild West remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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When Keri, Emily, and I left in the pouring rain to hike the 4 miles to Wranger Lake, we hardly thought twice about the weather since it rains daily here. We were going to meet Adam, Lance, and Tommy, who had ventured to our campsite and set up camp the day before. Having never been camping, Emily and I were anxious and ready to get to the campsite. So, with at least 10 pounds of gear and provisions on each of our backs, our rain gear donned, and a ride to our trailhead, we were on our way.

Immediately we encountered our first challenge which, in hindsight, I think we should have considered more seriously as an omen: a hail storm. Hiking through the marsh due to a recent abundance of precipitation is hard enough without fighting 30 mph winds and hail hitting you in the face. Yet, we traveled on. (For me, this was more because we got a ride to the trailhead. Therefore, it would have been a longer hike back home to Canyon than to the campground.) We kept ourselves distracted by calling "Hey, bear!" every 5 seconds, and hoping aloud that the guys had a fire going at the campsite despite the weather. Along the way, we passed our first bison of the journey (very common everywhere in the park), but we failed to give it nearly as much room as we should have. So sue us, we were a little preoccupied fighting a hail storm.

Before leaving for the camping trip that day, I received an echo of a warning from the backcountry office that I had heard from the boys the day before: that warning was that there was a river, Sour Creek, which we would have to treck across to get to our campsite. Well, after about a mile (by this time the hail at fortunately ceased, but it was still raining), we came across what I would describe as a decently-sized stream, one that we could easily leap over. I, the least experienced camper of us all, was optimistic that this was the river about which we were warned. But as a group we came to the concensus that when we got to the infamous river, there would be no doubt in our mind that it was the one. So, after another mile or so when we came to a river that was too wide for us to leap, we were positive this had to be it. We came prepared with sandals to wade through it, but opted instead to go straight in with our hiking boots, since they were already soaking wet anyway. On the other side, we congratulated one another on our successful crossing of the river and kept moving.

Another very chilly mile later, we realized just how sorely mistaken we had been: here we came face-to-face with a river that made the previous one seem like a trickle of a stream. We had no doubt whatsoever that this was the river about which we were cautioned. Having no other option and greatly anticipating the warm campfire that we hoped was waiting for us, we trecked across the 5-foot wide, 2-feet deep river, squealing like girls all the way.

We finally arrived to our campsite a half hour later, soaking wet, but happy to see our friends, and even happier to see that they had managed to get a fire started despite the weather. When we got there, the guys confessed the bets they had going that we would turn around and go home when we saw the river, and us girls couldn't have been prouder. The rain had stopped at this point, but it had gotten colder, about 40 degrees. Regardless, we had a great time around the warm campfire, eating smores and laughing into the night.

Upon awakening the next morning from perhaps the worst night of sleep in my life, we found that it had been raining for hours. Even though I had managed to stay relatively dry, most of our clothes and shoes were soaked. My sleeping bag for one did an inadequate job of keeping me warm all night, as did the 5 layers I wore all night. It was a frigid morning, not much warmer than the overnight low had been. After breakfast we took awhile to get the wet gear packed up, and in low spirits our crew started its long, soggy treck home.

As high as the water had been along the trail there, it was certainly much higher on the way back due to the rain. This meant that (you guessed it!) the river we had crossed had risen significantly. When the guys valiently volunteered to cross first, we saw just how deep it was: closer to 3 feet than 2. The brave girls I was with crossed fearlessly even though the water reached their hips. I'm not sure if it was the pitiful look I was wearing on my face, or just the air of dread that was inevitably encompassing me, but whatever it was, my friend Tommy who had already crossed came back and carried me and my heavy pack across the river on his back.

I will refrain from going into much more detail about the trip back. Aside from a few bison detours, another stream mishap, and the return of the rain, it is probably pretty predictable. To be fair, I should mention that the rain had cast a mystical blanket of fog upon the mountains, and I managed to enjoy the beautiful view in spite of my discomfort. Also, we received a ride from a friend from the trailhead so that we didn't have to hike another 4 miles home. We went straight to the EDR to eat, of course, and our friends who saw us inquired as to why we looked like we had been through hell and back, to which we replied simply, "Don't ask."

For your statistical pleasure, I have compiled a feature entitled:

My Camping Trip By the Numbers

Number of campers- 9
Hours total- 19
Miles traveled- 8 round trip
Detours due to bison- 3
Inches of rain- approximately 3
Rivers forged- 6 (3 there, 3 back)
Smores I consumed- At least 4. I lost count.
Layers of shirts I wore- 5 (plus scarf, hat, and gloves)
Hours of sleep- 3 very cold hours. maybe.

Needless to say, it will be awhile before I'll be able to make a return overnight trip to the backcountry. I have been reassured that I have been through the worst, and that most camping experiences are much more enjoyable. I am proud that I made it through (seriously, I didn't know I had it in me), but I will likely think twice about camping again: as of right now I have no intention to do so whatsoever. Stay tuned to see if my friends are able to convince me to camp again for the rest of the summer. I much prefer the warmth and comfort of my own bed, and really, can you possibly blame me?

NOT A Happy Camper remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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My running shoes have a completely different effect, but they are equally powerful. Rather than planting my feet firmly and rationally on the ground, my running shoes seem always to be scheming and daydreaming. They are happiest in mid-air. When I put on my running shoes, it's like my feet grow wings and fly me wherever I tell them to go. My running shoes feel more like an extension of my legs than the unattached, inanimate objects that they are. Light as air but ruthless as the elements, they seem to taunt me, pushing me to go farther than the day before. My running shoes are hopeless dreamers, and the more I tell them to shut up and let me rest in the reality of my own inadequacies, the more they prove to me that I am not inadequate at all. Don't be fooled: my running shoes are anything but soft. They work me to breathlessness, sweat, and exhaustion. They wake me up early in the morning and don't listen to any of my excuses. They are trainer, friend, enemy, travel companion. In fact, it is they to whom I credit my love of the great outdoors. Although I met them while traveling, our (admittedly somewhat dysfunctional) relationship showed me that beauty is all around me no matter where I find myself. All I have to do is go outside and open my eyes.

Although my hiking boots teach me that my strength is indeed limited, my running shoes show me that it is far more than I think. While my hiking boots tell me to accept my role on the earth, my running shoes challenge me to take the initiative to define that role myself. When my hiking boots (in their humble way) remind me of the youth of their influence in my life, my running shoes assure me that there is a first time for everything. My hiking boots take me to mountain peaks, while my running shoes elevate my mind and spirit to new heights of euphoria. Both gently help me breathe more deeply. Both take me to places I would have otherwise never seen. Both make me a stronger woman. But most of all, both challenge me to be a better person: my hiking boots, by keeping me down-to-earth, and my running shoes, by teaching me how to fly.

Shoes remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Another opportunity available exclusively and free of charge to employees are educational seminars on various topics. An interesting one I attended recently was on bear safety. I figured this would prove to be useful in case I ever do confront a bear, and since most of my friends and family made a comment before I left that resembles something like the following: "That's great that you're going to Yellowstone. Don't get eaten by a bear!" (um, thanks guys?) I was looking forward to learning at this seminar how exactly to go about doing that; that is of course, not getting eaten by a bear.

The first and most crucial thing I learned was that bears hate confrontation and will avoid it at all costs. Contrary to popular belief, bears are not evil and murderous creatures that roam about seeking humans to devour. Bears are omnivores, so they eat plant foods as well as other animals, depending on what is available to them. Human is not a bear's ideal dinner, and as long as you are not perceived by the bear as a threat, they don't want to deal with you at all. The best way to be perceived as non-threatening is to make yourself known when you are in the back country: clap and make lots of noise, so that if a bear is nearby he will have the option to avoid confrontation with you, and 99.9% of the time, the bear will. It is common to hear people yell, "Hey, bear!" loudly and frequently while on a hike through the woods to announce to a potential bear his or her presence. Whatever you do, do not surprise a bear. Trust me, they do not like surprises.

Let's say that you are out hiking, and despite your best efforts, you end up face to face with a bear, let's say 10 or 20 yards away, certainly a dangerous distance. What you DON'T want to do at this point is run. Talk about counter-intuitive! If you run, the bear will chase you. I think of it kind of like getting pulled over by the police for a mundane traffic violation: if you just cooperate, you'll probably be just fine. But if you "run" and refuse to pull over, the police justly assume that you have a reason to be running, and you probably do. Then you're really in trouble. It's like that with the bear: cooperate and you'll be fine. So don't run. Got it? Also, don't scream or speak loudly or quickly. Instead, speak to the bear softly, calmly, and slowly as you slowly back away from the bear.

If this doesn't work, then you move on to plan B, which is to stand up to the bear. Yeah, that's right. Stand your ground! This is getting almost humorous now, isn't it? Don't run, stay calm, and then stand your ground? I know it's crazy, but if you don't want to be some bear's dinner entree, you'll do it. Look him in the eye and alter your speech from calm to firm and assertive. Spread your arms and legs out, using the aid of a jacket if possible, and try to look as big as you can. Show this bear that you are not an easy target. From what I gathered, bears don't exactly love a challenge.

Let's say that you are camping and a bear tries to approach your campsite (probably because he smelled food, not because he smelled human). This is no time for soft baby talk: this bear came for food and will destroy whatever is standing in its way, i.e.- YOU. This is a circumstance where you would instead immediately stand your ground and try to get the bear to back down. If executed correctly (which is far easier said than done, I would imagine), the bear will almost always avoid that confrontation and leave. But if at this point, the bear still doesn't leave and starts to pursue you, you move on to your last resort: lay on the ground on your stomach, covering your neck with your hands and ideally wearing a backpack. Do not get up until you are absolutely sure the bear is gone.

Fortunately, there is a more promising option for those of us who would rather not take the chance of the bear winning that stand-off. The alternative? Bear spray. At $45 a can, the stuff isn't cheap, but can one really put a price on safety and peace of mind? I think not. Bear spray is basically super-strength, industrial-sized pepper spray. If you are planning to do any amount of backcountry hiking in Yellowstone, the rangers recommend you get some. I haven't bought mine yet, but it is a worthy investment considering the length of my stay in the park, and the amount of hiking I'll be doing. It has an insane spraying range (30 yards, if I'm correct) and can buy you more than enough time to get out of a bear's way. Just don't spray into the wind. I have a feeling you'd regret it.

I attended another seminar about wolf safety, which is exactly the same, with one very important distinction: if a wolf wants to eat you for dinner, do NOT lay on the ground and play dead. If you do, you soon won't be playing anymore. You'll actually be dead. and whatever you do, don't get the two mixed up!

There. For those of you who kindly advised me prior to my departure not to entice a bear to eat me, I hope you can see that I'm doing my very best. I hope you learned a lot about bear safety, too! All you have to do is go against every instinct that you have, and you'll be fine.

Easy as pie.

"Hey, Bear!" remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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As some of my new friends and I were at an early breakfast in the EDR (employee dining room, to refresh your memory) discussing what we were going to do with our day, we lamented the fact that we lived so near to Old Faithful Geyser and none of us had actually seen it yet. We decided then and there that we had to go explore Old Faithful that day. There was only one problem: it is 40 miles away from Canyon, where we live, and none of us had a car. Fortunately, in Yellowstone, that is not a problem at all. Within the park, hitchhiking is a pretty efficient means of getting around, especially for us employees who live here all summer without a car. So, at 10:00am and not really knowing what to expect, with our thumbs up on the roadside, we were on our way.

The first man who picked us up was a Mexican truck driver from Idaho Falls who was hauling a huge semi-truck of firewood to West Yellowstone. We rode in the truck cab with him and heard all about his family and his kids. He said he didn't mind picking us up because it gave him some company on his trip to West Yellowstone, a trip he has taken 5 times a week, beginning at 5:00am, for the past 3 years. He dropped us off at Madison Junction, about 16 miles from our destination, Old Faithful. It was a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to go on a short hike at National Mountain, and visit with the rangers at a small but scenic ranger station in the area. While there, we were followed quite closely by a herd of bison, after which we learned all about being a ranger in a national park from the park rangers there. We were on our way again on foot, but it was no time at all before a wonderful family of four in an RV invited us on board. Bob and Terry are from Colorado Springs and have two twin 11-year-olds, Shannon and Connor. Bob is a traveling speaker on the topic of Biblical archeology. He travels most all the time, speaking all over the country. He has an speaking engagement near the park next week, so he and his wife bought an RV just 3 weeks ago to spend some time in Yellowstone before his speaking function. They were beyond hospitable: they offered us drinks and snacks; we ate sitting around their RV dining room table. Before arrival at Old Faithful, we stopped a couple of times and caught some amazing pictures of bison herds and thermal features galore (geysers, hot springs, mud pots, etc.). It turns out that Shannon, the daughter, is a singer, and I was able to talk to her a bit about studying voice. She will be featured on an AIDS benefit album that is set to be released in July that features the likes of such Christian artists as Bebe and Cece Winans. Before getting pictures with the family and saying farewell, Bob was kind enough to give us one of his DVDs, on which he speaks about the search for the archealogical remnants of Noah's Ark.

We spent the day exploring the Old Faithful Area which, compared to Canyon Village, is a Metropolis. Rather than our normal hikes, we spent this day exploring the historic Old Faithful Inn, Snow Lodge, and of course, seeing Old Faithful errupt in its normal reliable fashion. I think I must have been expecting something that more closely resembled a fireworks show rather than a geyser: I thought it would be loud and interruptive, but in fact it was rather graceful and lasted about 3 minutes. I think it really says a lot that the geyser is not famous because of its large size, although it is large. There are larger geyser eruptions within the park. I'm told there is one nearly twice the height of Old Faithful somewhere in Yellowstone, but it is incredibly unstable and unpredictable. There are probably cooler-looking eruptions, too. However, Old Faithful's defining and famous feature is its mere, well, faithfulness. I think this says a lot about the rarity of faithfulness in this world in all realms. That's all I'm sayin.

Of course we had to sample the Old Faithful Employee facilities. We ate in their EDR (it was better than Canyon's) and visited their employee residence halls.I think our's are better- regardless of whose is better, I personally prefer Canyon in general. Old Faithful Employees don't know that no matter what, we got the better deal, because we have the beautiful Canyon!

At around 4 in the afternoon, we began heading back. Unfortunately, a cold front had begun to move in (one which, unbeknownst to us would produce a significant amount of snow the next morning) and, if you recall, we had no real ride for the 40 miles back to Canyon. We were picked up after a little mile walk or so by a wonderful caravan of Louisiana natives. There was no room for us in the cab of their pick-up truck, but they let us chill with their ice chest in the bed of the pick-up. They too offered us as much soda as we wanted, but warned us not to touch the beer. We were of course happy to oblige and grateful for a ride. While riding the15 or 20 miles in the open air, me and my two partners in crime, Jonathan and Alexandra, marveled at the freedom of the open air, the unpredictable nature of our adventure, and how lucky we were to be experiencing it.

Our ride dropped us off only 16 miles from home, but the last stretch was a bit less carefree. We walked probably two miles with no luck. By this time it was cold and starting to rain. My travel mates weren't worried, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned. Suddenly a man in a pick up truck who was going to opposite way yelled to us, "I got ya'll!" woo hoo! We didn't know who this was, much less why he would turn around just to pick us up and shout so confidently, but who cares?! When we got to the pull-out after the truck made a U-turn, we found out that this was no stranger: it was our friends Jason and Kara! They offered us a ride back to Canyon, with one catch: they were driving to Old Faithful, where we had just been, to have dinner at Old Faithful Inn, and then watch the sunset. We were more than welcome to come with them. We wouldn't be getting home for several hours, but we would have a guaranteed ride, with someone we knew. Not to mention, we wouldn't be in our current discomfort of walking in the cold rain. Pause if you would; what would you do in this situation? I was tempted to go with them back to Old Faithful, but my group wouldn't budge. They said I could do whatever I wanted. But after a brief internal debate, I thought, what the hell? We've made it this far.

Only seconds after Jason and Kara pulled away, another car pulled in and waved for us to get in. When we opened the door, Jonathan realized it was another familiar face: a girl with whom he went to school, and a parks employee headed south of Canyon, right through our home! So, our fourth and final "ride" of the day was less dramatic than the rest, but it was the perfect ending to an incredible adventure. And to boot, we arrived back at Canyon only 20 minutes before the EDR stopped serving dinner for the night. I was happy to be home.

Tons of other amazing events occurred over my weekend, but this entry is too long, and anyway, they can't compare to my first hitchhiking experience 80 miles or so round-trip to Old Faithful and back. I'll save the other stories for another blog, or perhaps just write them on my heart instead as a reminder to never, ever stop experiencing all the adventures life has waiting for me, often just a couple of miles down the road.

My Amazing Weekend, Yellowstone-Style remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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As you can probably imagine, life in Yellowstone is very different from living life in the city. Having never lived in a rural area myself, I probably require more of an adjustment than other people here. However, those employees who are used to living in a more natural setting than a city still have to adjust to the isolation of the national park. For starters, I have not the conveniences and accessibility that I do at home. In fact, not even close. The nearest Wal Mart is 2 hours from here. The nearest clinic is in the park, in Mammoth Hot Springs 30 miles away. and I can't even TELL you where the nearest mall is. (wow, my friends and family probably never thought I would live for 3 months in a place like this! and VOLUNTARILY, no less!) Also, as I already mentioned, most people's cell phones don't work here, and the internet is not reliable or fast. To communicate with one another, we must do it the old-fashioned way: go visit. This is obviously more time consuming, but since we don't waste all of our time on facebook, we have lots of free time. This factor is a huge part of the culture at Yellowstone: lots of free time means that when we are not at work, we are most likely either reading, hanging out at the employee pub or just around the canyon, or (most of the time) out for a hike. At first it is a little unnerving to find that you have such an excess of free time. You wonder how best to spend it in a place with which you are still somewhat unfamiliar. But the best thing to do in those times is to put on your hiking boots and just go. Take a map, a bottle of water, an apple, and a rain jacket (just in case!), and take yourself on a hike. When you're not up for depleting energy, for instance after work or before a long shift, it's great to just sit and read, indoors or out.

Hiking and camping really is the culture here. I have always enjoyed the occasional hike, but I can't say I get much of an opportunity to do it in the city. It is a nice alternative to my favorite cardio activity, running: it works different sets of muscles, engages nature more, and requires a completely different mindset (not to mention a completely different set of gear). When you are around employee quarters or in the EDR, most people who are not in their work uniform are wearing hiking boots. We have no choice to be very in tune with nature here. Recall that to most of the people in the park at any given time, this is a "vacation culture": think beach culture, Disneyworld. But to us, this is our home for the entire summer. This is where we live. This IS our culture. The grand mountains, waterfalls, and canyons make us yeild powerlessly to nature: my workplace and dorm room has no central heating and air; there are frequent power outages, sometimes lasting days; traffic is completely dependent upon herds of elk or buffalo that cross (or just stay put) in the middle of the road frequently. They know that this place is theirs first, and we are merely spectators in awe of nature's authority.

In addition, Yellowstone and its employees make every effort to minimize the amount of waste produced by the tourism industry here. Aside from separate recycle cans for glass, aluminum, and plastic all over the park, we as employees also divide the trash we create into two trash bags: the white trash bag consists of "compostables": paper and food products, while the blue trash bag is everything else: the trash of the trash, if you will. In the kitchen and dishroom, we also utilize as little water as possible. Also, I will not drive a car all summer while I'm here (many employees don't), and this significantly decrease the carbon we emit into the air. In many places (perhaps where you live, reader), governments, NGOs, and individuals are realizing the need to be good stewards of our resources to make this world a better place both for us and for future generations. Still, where I live, many people are unaware that their carelessness toward the environment is daily contributing to the further deterioration of our planet. The good news is, places like Yellowstone and, many cities and college campuses are being empowered, knowing that their positive habits will contribute to a better tomorrow for the animals, the planet, and our children. So, while I'm on the topic (and since it is my blog, after all), allow me just to place a plug for environmental awareness: recycle. buy reusable grocery bags. walk the mile to the store on a sunny day instead of drive. And then, enjoy the outdoors, knowing that YOU contributed to its largely self-sustaining beauty.

To sum up the YNP employees a little bit, I thought I would compile a list of the top 10 topics of interest here in park employment based on one week's worth of informal sociological study (i.e.- hanging out).

10. art/writing
9. family and friends back at home
8. books people are reading
7. environmental concerns and interests
6. running
5. camping
4. "life stories"
3. work/dorm life
2. getting drunk (or maybe this is number 1?)
1. hiking

This same list from my normal, everyday life would look MUCH different. and that's ok. The diversity to which I'm being exposed is already making my life so much richer, as I gain knowledge and appreciation for people and their varied interests.

Yellowstone Culture remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Canyon Lodge Birthday Song
(to the tune of "Home, Home on the Range")

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Happy birthday to you,
From the Canyon Lodge crew,
Have fun and enjoy your big day!

Nuff said.

The Best Part About My Job remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Most of the people that I met and that I live with work in food and beverage in Canyon Lodge. The Canyon Cafeteria, Emplyee dining room (EDR), and the Canyon Dining Room (where I work) are the three parts of food and beverage here, and they all share one huge kitchen. The jobs in the kitchen are anywhere from serving and assistant serving (my job), to dishwashing, food prep, cooking, hosting, and bartending. Some of my friends have been cutting onions all week, while others have been serving me breakfast in the EDR. It has been fun learning about each others' positions and seeing each other in the kitchen. Sometimes, the cooks give us servers "tastings", where we can sample the restaurant's meals. Me and my roommate, Lauren, asked her boyfriend, Lance, who is a dishwasher, if he ever got to participate in tastings. He said he only got to taste the food that flew into his mouth from the dishes he was cleaning. As you can see, there is a wide range of jobs offered here. As for me, my job consists of pouring and refilling water throughout the meal, clearing plates, and finally busing the whole table, cleaning and resetting it. I have never worked in food service before, so this is all new to me. Xanterra, the resort management company that runs the Canyon Lodge, maintains extremely high standards for their employees: they run a tight ship! I suppose they have to, since our restaurant is considered the consistently busiest of all the locations here in the park. Today and yesterday, I spent my mornings practicing carrying a huge tray with water glasses on it. I managed not to break any, but tomorrow I might now be so lucky! Tomorrow is the last day before we are open for the season. As such, we are using this day for something that the restaurant calls "shakedown." For breakfast, the servers and assistant servers will break into two teams and serve each other our actual menu, practicing our newly aquired skills (and sampling our restaurant's cuisine!). For dinner tomorrow, we will invite all of Xanterra's Canyon Lodge employees (about 300 people) and serve them dinner, just like we would our guests. Then that's it! We open on Friday to the public at 11:30am for lunch.

Despite how it must sound, I have managed to do other things besides job training. A few days ago, me and a dozen other employees decided to take a hike down to Cascade Lake, a two and a half mile hike down the road from our employee housing. We knew that at least some of the trail was covered in snow, and early on, it wasn't so bad. We were beginning to think we were hot stuff out in the wilderness. However, as we progressed, the snow got deeper and deeper, coming up to our ankles, then coming up to our knees. At times, I was so deep in the snow, and so tired from hiking through it, that I just sat down in the snow, my lets stuck in place under 2 feet of snow. Then, you couldn't even find the trail because there was so much snow. Because you couldn't see beneath the snow, you didn't know when you were stepping in a stream of melted snow, essentially ice water up to your ankles. Suddenly, we were feeling less and less capable of making it to the lake without potential frostbite. In addition, it was getting late, and it was only an hour until the EDR closed for the night. We decided to turn back, and take a different way that would take us through less snow. The problem was, this would put us breaking the golden rule of tourist hiking: STAY ON THE TRAIL. oops. but no need to worry; we eventually found the trail, found our way back, thawed out our wet, frozen feet, and made it to dinner with time to spare.

As you can see, my summer so far has been characterized by impromptu outdoor adventures. Being an employee means never running out of stuff to do or people with whom to do it. Just last night, a group of us was sitting around, chatting about work and listening to music, when someone mentioned a fire pit they had seen while out exploring nearby. They suggested we go out and have a bonfire. Someone wondered aloud if it was legal to set a fire here without some kind of permission. "...hm...I don't know..eh, I'm sure it's fine!" Naturally, with such a confident reply, we set out on a little nighttime adventure. The bonfire wasn't very big (and thus not warm enough on a very cold night!), but the night was gorgous, the sky blanketted in stars. I was overcome with the beauty that surrounded me. I have never before felt so small and subject to the whims of nature as I do here. I have said little directly about the landscape, but it is totally different from what I'm used to. The park is covered in mountains; since the last of the snow is melting, there is a massive amount of water running off the canyon and the mountains, creating pretty little streams virtually everywhere. The sky is bigger and bluer than I have ever seen before, accentuating the evergreen trees that are so green, they remind you more of Springtime than Christmas. The air is brisk but gentle; it is cool most of the time, and I change clothes a hundred times a day, since the day starts off at 40 degrees, increases to above 70 in late afternoon, and back down to the 30s at night. Oh, and it rains nearly everyday; you'll be out hiking on a perfectly sunny day, and then all of a sudden, you're in a downpour. But then, as quickly as it came, it goes, leaving you wondering if it ever really happened at all.

If that all sounds magical, trust me: it is.

Settling In remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Friday afternoon, I flew alone to Bozeman, Montana, the nearest airport to Yellowstone. The next morning, I was to be at the Bozeman Greyhound Bus Station at 7:00am, where a Yellowstone shuttle bus would pick up me and the other future Yellowstone employees to take us the 75 miles to the park. When I arrived there that morning, I was overwhelmed: more than 50 employees, most of them my age, were there waiting for the buses as well. Many of them came alone, like me, but even those who came with someone they knew were friendly and eager to make acquaintances. Waiting in the cold (it was probably 45-50 degrees that morning) and riding on a bus for an hour and a half, I got to know lots of people very quickly. Everyone is so nice and friendly! People have come from all over to work here, and most of us for the same reason: to escape the mundane, to pursue adventure, to meet new people, and to experience the great outdoors in a whole different way. Upon arrival to employment check-in, located outside the park, we waited in line all morning to fill out paperwork, verify identification, and have our employee name badges and ID cards assigned. After that, we waited some more to be assigned our work uniforms: my server assistant ensemble consists of khaki pants, a black and white checked collared shirt, and an apron. Now, this doesn't sound all that bad if you haven't seen it. But let me just put it this way: in my wildest dreams, I couldn't have imagined my uniform any uglier. I think my friends and family would be proud. Then, finally, it was off to Canyon, my home for the next 3 months. It was at least a half hour drive to Canyon from the north entrance to the national park, but our eyes were wide open the whole time: I couldn't have imagined this place being any more beautiful. The whole place looks like a postcard: majestic mountains surround you. A photo opportunity is around every corner. I don't feel like I'm even in America. The national park is its own world indeed. I am overwhelmed by the sheer size of this place and of its features. The animals seem not to know we are here, going about their business everywhere from 5 yards from the Mammoth Springs Post Office, to right in the middle of the road, causing traffic to sometimes back up for miles. On our way to Canyon, I even saw my first bear, only about 50 yards from the road.

After checking in with human resources and having dinner, we went to our dorm lobbies, where a group of us found out that there was no more room in the area where we were intended to live. So, we were being placed temporarily in Big Horn, the senior citizen employee dormitories. (Did I mention this dorm has 24-hour quiet period?) By this point, it was after 7:00 pm, and we had been going non-stop since at least 6:00am. All I wanted to do was move in and unpack, and go to sleep, since we had work orientation at 8:30 the next morning. But since this whole experience for me is about being flexible and breaking away from routine, I managed to take my circumstances in stride. I'm rooming (for now) with a girl named Lauren, a college student from Georgia.

This morning, we had breakfast and attended a long and tedious orientation session for work, where we met new people and learned about all of the boring, common sense parts of our jobs. And now here I am, sitting in my dorm room, about to hike to the huge canyon for which my village is named, and wondering how I am lucky enough to live in such a beautiful place, AND get paid for it.

I though I'd take a few minutes and try to answer some questions that I anticipate someone reading this might have. First of all, Canyon Lodge, where I work, does not open until Friday, and this week will be busy with training and further hiking/getting to know my area. I will be working five days a week all summer, hopefully as close to 40 hours weekly as possible. No, my wi-fi is pretty much useless and I have resigned to only rarely getting on the internet this summer (facebook is impossible to upload, so I'll do my best). No, my cell phone doesn't work at all. Tonight I will probably turn it off for the remainder of the summer. I'm actually looking forward to it. I will miss my friends and family terribly, but will be able to call home via payphone. Sorry, guys, but there is no way Skype is going to work here at the incredibly slow rate the internet moves. Yes, it is very cold here. It warms up during the afternoon on sunny days, but the nights are in the 30s. The employee cafeteria food is not bad at all; it's very similar to school, with a main course, a great salad bar, soups, bread and cereal, and drink fountain (the coffee is surprisingly amazing, which is handy since it will apparently be some time before it stops being so cold) at every meal time. During my downtime, I will probably be doing lots of hiking, camping, rafting, kayaking, and sightseeing. There is no TV here, not much cell reception, hardly any internet, so I brought many books to read. I'm having fun "roughing it", although it's clear I'm not as good at that as some. Despite this, I can't wait to learn to live yet another completely different way than I am used to; so far I'm loving every minute of it.

My first 36 hours in Yellowstone remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I know, it has been wayyy too long. SO much has happened since I last updated you. For starters, I went with 8 other girls from the ASC program on a vacation for Spring Break to the Great Barrier Reef! It was so amazing. We stayed off the coast of Queensland (northeastern Australia) on Magnetic Island. Somehow we managed to get this INCREDIBLE beach house literally a block from (in our opinion) the best beach on Magnetic Island. We flew from Sydney at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning into Townsville airport on the warm, sunny coast of Queensland. From there, we took a 20-minute ferry to the island. Most of the people vacationing there that week were families and such, but we met a couple of Canadian backpackers on the ferry, and there turned out to be lots of backpackers there staying at the only 2 hostels on the island. Magnetic Island, by the way, is probably not what you're imagining. I say that because it was not at all what I was expecting, but it was actually perfect. It was very small with surprisingly few tourists (considering it was Spring break) and even fewer residents, so much so that we actually ran into our Canadian friends again randomly on one of the beaches even though we were staying on opposite sides of the island. Since our amazing beach house had a kitchen, we had planned on buying food to cook, and maybe eating out a couple of the nights. However, we soon realized when we got on the island that there weren't really any good restaurants, which is pretty unusual for a tourist spot, right?! So the only thing to do on the island was to go to the beach all the time. Fortunately, that's exactly what we wanted to do the whole time. A couple of days after arriving on Magnetic Island, we took a day trip on a boat to go snorkelling on the Reef! It was about 2 hours out, and we spent it (of course) sunbathing on the boat. We could hardly wait to arrive, and when we did, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was SO beautiful! Even before going in the water, it was incredible. Next came the snorkelling part, which I had never done before. I was kind of freaking out for a second in the water, but it only took me a second to get used to breathing through it. HAHA It was pretty funny though. We snorkelled for 2 or 3 hours; I was endlessly intrigued. The coral was amazing. It was so crazy to think that it is so huge, and it's living. It's all different colors. I'm not usually a nature person (to say the least, haha), but this was...supernatural. The fish were every color you can possibly think of: yellow, turquiose, pink and purple, neon blue and green...it was insane. It's exactly like the pictures that you see, or what you might see in the Sydney Aquarium, but they are right there in front of you, so close you can touch them. In addition, I saw a stingray, a sea turtle, and starfish. I even saw Nemo and Doree! Seeing this amazing wonder of the world made me think of our beautiful God, and how this is just one of the thousands of pieces of art He created for us to enjoy, perhaps just to show just how big and incredible He is. I felt so privilaged to have the opportunity to snorkel on the Reef.

Favorite (Favourite) Aussie-isms Volume 2 + SPRING BREAK rec remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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My Trip to the Australian Outback remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Got it?

An Australian Vocabulary Lesson remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Until now.

I can't say that it was by choice or inspiration of my own that I started wrestling with these tough topics. ASC students at Wesley are required to take a class called View from Australia. The class requires lots of political reading and processing. Although we are learning quite a lot about Australian politics, we are mainly focusing on seeing American politics from a global perspective, specifically from an American Christian's worldview. Coming into this semester, I knew nothing about it and no one to tell me what to expect, so this blunt discussion of topics I've trained myself to avoid was alarming at first. I had taken the side of not taking a side, but the more we discussed the issues, the more I realized how important they were, and more than that, how important it was for me as an American to be proactive rather than passive. I'm learning so much about America's role in global affairs and how what we do affects places where I have never been or even considered. In the past I have chosen ignorance when information is abundantly available to me. Now, I realize that by not having an opinion, I was only hurting the situation.

This is where religion comes in. I am learning here that, as Christians, our allegiances are primarily to God. This makes it especially essential that we know what is going on in the world, and make sure that we are supporting programs and policies which align with what Christ stands for. Admittedly, this is where it gets controversial, because even within the body of Christ we disagree as to what we actually does align with what Christ stands for. Neither I nor the ASC program endorse specific opinions on politics which we believe are the "most Christian" opinion. It's probably not news to you that American Christians have opinions all over the chart on political issues. And personally, I think that's ok. Just like being a Christian means something slightly different for every person, Christ's main social causes (love, mercy, justice, and peace) mean something different to each of us as well. However, two things I find true for the Christian: first, we are responsible to be informed and active in politics, and secondly, it is impossible to divorce one's religious convictions with one's political ideas. This is because Christ taught a change lifestyle, surrendering every part of us and holding nothing back.

Christianity is pretty different here. It is far more appealing to me. I guess I should explain.

I am in a unique position being an American Christian in Australia studying politics, culture, and religion. I say this because the discrepancies between Australian Christians and American Christians make a lot more sense when you understand the juxtaposition of the two cultures. Australia is a generally egalitarian culture, valuing all people the same. Those who have an air of superiority about them are quickly chopped down to size (this is called the Tall Poppy Syndrome). This directly effects Christians here: they don't seem to have even a hint of the 'holier than thou' attitude', because culturally it wouldn't be tolerated. Also, the 'unspoken rules of Christianity' are nearly non-existent in Australia (this obviously comes from the more relaxed way of life here). At Hillsong the other day, I saw a woman attending the service who might as well have been wearing only a bra, because her loose shirt covered nothing. Now, I'm not saying that one should go to church that way, but I am saying that there was no usher escorting her out, and there was not even a disapproving glance shot in her direction. Church is not a country club where even those with the courage to attempt to join are weeded out if they don't meet a list of criteria.

I'd like to illustrate another element of Australian Christianity with an example of something that was said by a theology student preaching the sermon in chapel last week. In reference to admitting one is a sinner: "Just say, 'Jesus, I am a bastard. Forgive me.'"

whoooooaaa murmur murmur.. [looks of disapproval]

...now that we have that out of our system:

Before passing judgment, please first consider the Australian culture. Profanity is not a unofficial tell-tale sign that you do not attend church, as it unfortunately (and unfairly) is in America. In Australia, everyone curses: Bible students, professors, men, women, small children, and yes, even pastors. Likewise, drinking is common in the Christian church in Australia. These things do not carry the connotation they do in America. Australians don't really put on a facade when it comes to Christianity. If they felt that cursing was inappropriate from the pulpit, that would mean it is inappropriate all the time, for there is no difference. I find it refreshing actually. Instead of picking the piece of dust from each other's eyes, they are worrying more about getting rid of the planks Jesus was talking about: selfishness and pride, social injustices, hatred of one's neighbor. In my opinion, let's tackle these issues about which Jesus obviously felt strongly, and then we can worry about more trivial things.

Thanks for reading. You are a really good friend (either that, or you're my mom) if you have made it this far in this blog entry. I'd love to get some feedback so let me know what you think about it. I love you guys!

Politics & Religion remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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There is a misconception of Hillsong in the states. It seems so glamorous, and honestly it kind of is. There are tons of different campuses, and they have cutting edge equipment and the cream-of-the-crop in every single ministry you can think of- children's and youth ministry, worship, audio/visual, outreach, etc. The main Sydney campuses are the City church (the one I attend), and the Hills, which is a long train ride outside of town. The latter is the biggest, and it is where most of the recording for the worship albums takes place. Hillsong City Church, however, is in the middle of the ghetto of Sydney, where mostly Aboriginals live in utter poverty. Their kids are often neglected and likely malnourished, as alcoholism is such a problem in modern Aborigine culture.

With the Australia Studies Centre, we are required to complete 35 hours of volunteer work at our service placement; mine is a ministry of Hillsong, called Impact Kids. The program goes around to the poorest neighborhood in Sydney on Saturday mornings and picks up children with whom Impact Kids has been networking already, and takes them to nearby parks. There we play with them, feed them, and have a short Bible lesson with them before we take them back home around noon. My job is to help pick up kids on the weekly routes, play with them, and, if the opportunity arises, talk to them about Jesus. The apartments where we pick up the kids are so run down. One woman, a child's grandmother, inquired as to when Hillsong would be supplying their groceries again. I had a great time playing with the kids and getting to know them. They are wonderful kids, but they do come with all sorts of issues usually related to neglect and other family problems. There actually aren't very many kids at the parks on Saturday: maybe 15 or so at each park where we minister (Impact Kids ministers at about 3 any given Saturday). However, what we do makes a huge difference. You see, the ministry of Impact Kids is based completely on consistency; this is a point that the Hillsong leadership mentions a lot. The fact that these volunteers are there EVERY Saturday, and come to the kids' home to pick them up when they say they were going to, is what ministers to these kids because they are often made empty promises; as the hands and feet of Christ, we must represent He who never breaks a promise.

This type of real ministry was not what I expected from Hillsong, an internationally renown school of ministry. Perhaps I was wrong to expect anything less. I realize that most churches don't have the sheer man power of Hillsong, but I have seen many a church turn a blind eye to huge problems that exist in their own backyard, or worse, in their own congregation. Hillsong is one of the most well-known Protestant churches in the world, yet they are not too good to do whatever it takes to reach out to the poor and hurting right at their doorstep. If you think about it, a congregation of Redfern residents would not be convenient for Hillsong. To begin with, the children at Impact Kids are not your average church kids: they smell bad, hit each other, and curse like sailors. Furthermore, residents of Hillsong could not give the church money even if they wanted to. The fact that Hillsong would rather have a church full of the poor and hurting rather than the glamorous and clean is, to me, a testimony in itself. This is what I mean when I say that it was not what I expected.

Sunday was my first time actually attending Hillsong Church. It was the kick-off to a month of creative arts services that will be taking place Sunday nights through the month of August. This part was about what I expected: it was larger than life. It was perfect. The music was incredible, and the message, depicted through visual art, illustrated sermon, film, and awesome visual effects, was a feast to my senses as well as my spirit. Worship was led by Brooke Fraser, a well-known singer/songwriter and worship leader. One might think (well, at least I thought) that Hillsong only does the newest, loudest, coolest songs all the time. If the song was written a week ago, it's too old. Well, you can imagine my surprise when I heard "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord" and "This Is My Desire", in the most simple arrangements. Now, you might think this is silly, but to me, this suggests that Hillsong's passion is less about impressing man, and more about pleasing God. Of course, I was impressed. I was impressed by the heart that they have for people.

Hillsong remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our eventful day began with a tour of the New South Wales Library downtown. It was completely gorgeous. It looked like the library in Beauty and the Beast (haha). The library has 7 or 8 floors, and interestingly does not loan books out for patrons to take home. After breaking for lunch, we resumed in our meeting place at Sydney Harbour and found out that our next "adventure" was a scavenger hunt. There were probably a dozen landmarks for us to walk to, and take a picture with. Now, don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun on our scavenger hunt, and we ended up winning! (yay, team 3!) But it was SOO cold and wet. By this time, all of us had had wet, frozen feet for hours. The temperature certainly didn't exceed 55 or 60 degrees (Fahrenheit, haha) all day long, plus the cold rain and wind made it feel even colder. But here's the thing: not only were we outside all day doing our 1.5 hour scavenger hunt, but there is literally no place to go to get warm and dry. It is very rare to find a public place with central heating. Most stores and restaurants do not have it. I don't even have it at my homestay. I don't mean to go on and on about this, but I just have to add a funny exchange I had with my roommate, Marygrace at our homestay the other night.

Marygrace: Mmm, these Resee's pieces are so good when they're cold! Did you put them in the fridge?

Me: ...no.

So there you have it.

Perhaps one of the best parts of the day, though, was that for some reason a popular gelato chain here, Gelatissimo, was giving out free chocolate gelato between 2 and 4 in Sydney Harbour. Actually, I didn't need to know why they were doing this. All that matters is that we all got amazing gelato for free. For those of you who have never had it, it kind of tastes like...heaven. Even though we were cold, the gelato made us so happy, that we forgot how cold we were. It probably put a few warm pounds on us, too. It was then that we boarded our cruise ship for a beautiful (did I mention it was cold?) cruise around Sydney Harbour. What an amazing time! We got some of the best views of the harbour, the opera house, and the Harbour Bridge. I tried to take a ton of pictures, but I was never able to get the camera to capture exactly what I was looking at so that I could show you all. Instead, you'll have you imagine it, and promise to plan a trip to Sydney sometime very soon to see it yourself. You won't be sorry.

We finished the night with one more bus ride to Darling Harbour, another harbour with tons of restaurants, bars, and a shopping center. It was so alive at night. At least 2 or 3 times a day, I still think, 'wow, I cannot believe I'm here!' Tonight I probably said that a dozen times. We had dinner at a Mongolian barbecue restaurant on the harbour. There is so much incredible Asian food in Australia, because Australia is comprised of about 40% of Asians. The food was great, and the company was even better. I love all of the American students, and I can't wait to get to know them all better. After dinner, we were tired, cold, and soggy, but at least we were stuffed and happy. Despite the rain, the day was so bright with friends and all the exciting potential that this new city holds for all of us.

This is going to be one amazing semester.

A rainy [wonderful] day in Sydney remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Today was my first "View from Australia" class, which is that Tuesday-Friday class that all the ASC students take, and it is taught by our director, Kimberly Spragg. If you are like me, you judged the class by it's name and nature, and figured it would be an easy class, but it's not. Part of me is disappointed that I'll have to work hard, but another part of me is excited to learn as much as I can about Australia and get the most out of my semester. After all, it IS a SEMESTER, not "holiday", as they call it here. After receiving our first assignment, I and some others from the class decided to mentally prepare for it by taking a bus downtown and exploring all of the great shops all afternoon (haha). We were able to visit the Queen Victoria Building, a shopping center with about 200 shops. Built in 1898, the building accommodates beautiful stained glass, detailed architecture, and royal paintings. It has been described as "the most beautiful shopping center in the world."

Now, I'm at my homestay about to eat dinner. I just have to note something though: my homestays are AMAZING cooks. Dinner is such an event around here, and I can totally see why they never eat out. Every night, dinner is prepared from scratch, and always includes freshly cut vegetables. I have also tried some new authentically Australian foods here, including this merengue and sugar desert topped with fruit, and vegemite (which I don't recommend). Also, I should mention that I haven't yet met an Australian who enjoys Starbucks. This is because Australians drink their coffee much stronger than Americans, and although there are Starbucks here, I think they're pretty much for tourists. Personally, I'm trying not to go to Starbucks, and instead have enjoyed a couple of Australian lattes. A latte is kind of cheating: it doesn't taste much different than an American latte, but I think it's a start.

Wait...You Mean I'm NOT on Vacation? remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So, even though it is 4am in America, it is 7pm here in Sydney. Today (Friday) was our first full day in the city and I feel like my life has totally changed in such a short amount of time! I can't believe I'm here! I'll give you guys the rundown:

Our group left LA on Tuesday night at about 10:30pm pacific time. The group has taken to one another so quickly, and I knew from just the airport that we would all get along very well. I know that God this particular group together for a purpose and I can't wait to find out what it is. After a comfortable but grueling flight for 12.5 hours, we finally arrived in New Zealand to watch the sun rising over the beautiful hills (we were a little too jet lagged to enjoy this). Four hours later, we arrived in Sydney, greeted of course by Australia customs, and then by the much friendlier ASC staff. Kimberly, Melanie, and Bethany are so great! They were patient with all our questions, and very glad that we were here. As we drove for the first time through Sydney to Wesley Institute, we saw many of the sites briefly, and pinched ourselves making sure that we were actually here! I was surprised at how close my school is to the downtown area of Sydney. I can't wait to go into the city!! One of the first things we did at Wesley was take a tour of the school. It is very small: I usually tell people that Evangel is "very small", but this was probably a quarter of the size of Evangel! Wesley reminds me a lot of Classen, where I went to highschool. For those who don't know, Classen is an eclectic performing and visual arts school. Wesley was similar because it was covered in art by students past and present; also, there are dance studios like at Classen, and it just has the overall feel of being really relaxed. Then again, all of Australia is pretty laid back. actually, that's sort of an understatement.

Finally, after more information sessions (also, having not slept or showered for...a really long time haha), our host father, John, picked us up to take us "home." Our homestay is just WONDERFUL. We are staying with the Pilatos' family, and even though they have lived in Sydney their whole lives, they are Greek, and they make wonderful fresh Greek food for us every evening. The 4 of us girls who are living here (me, Marygrace, Laura Lynne, and Vanessa) have the whole upstairs to ourselves, and our own rooms. The are much like small dorm rooms with twin beds, and a common area (with TV and couch) and a bathroom in the middle. The Pilatos' family has hosted international students for many years, and they have thought of EVERYTHING that we might possibly need, some of which was left by the other ASC students they kept only a couple of months ago: a hairdryer (with the correct aussie voltage), travel converters, and other odds and ends. Our rooms had towels, a laundry hamper, an alarm clock, and some cute Australian souvenirs, including Tim Tams, a chocolate wafer cracker that is very popular here. Of course since they have hosted students before, they already had everything figured out to tell us. They thought of everything! The Pilatos, John and Lisa, have 2 daughters and 1 son: Dannielle, Jasmin, and Jason. The girls were at a friends house, and are again tonight, so we have yet to meet them, but we did get to meet Jason briefly last night. He is 11 and plays soccer, and we just think he's so cute! haha We cannot wait to meet the girls tomorrow.

There are a lot of differences between the US and Australia. Maybe one of the biggest is that Australians like to bring the outdoors indoors. In other words, the windows are always open (even though it is 40 degrees right now!), and there is no central air or heat. We have one miniature radiator in the common area upstairs, and fans for later in the semester in each of our rooms. It's pretty cold even indoors. Australia is very energy conscious; they don't use electricity unless they need it. They are also conscious of their water supply and we try to take shorter showers and such. They even have "half flush" and "full flush" buttons on toilets (invented in Australia) to conserve water. Australia is also in a drought. The other more apparent difference is that Australians drive on the left side of the street. It gets a little confusing with catching a bus and walking across streets, but don't worry, mom, I'm looking both ways!

This morning, John took the bus with us to walk us through the route we would be taking to school daily. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get to school by bus. I'm definitely still getting used to the area and bus routes. We arrived at the school early, so we went to the coffee shop across the street to get something warm to drink (it is cold in the morning and gets to about 55-65 in the afternoon). We must have looked clueless staring at the menu (Aussies order their coffee a bit differently: "flat white", or "long black" for example), because a business man who seemed to be a regular at that coffee shop told the barista, "Get these girls anything they want! It's an Aussie treat!" What a great way to start our first morning in Sydney! The rest of the day was just orientation. I am very pleased with my service placement: I will be completing my 35 hours of volunteer work at Impact Kids, a ministry of Hillsong Church that ministers to young, neglected Aboriginal children in the city. I and 9 or 10 other girls will work there on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to about 12:30.

Well, like I said, it's the weekend and we have it all to ourselves. Since it is winter here, it is already dark outside, so we decided that we would stay in tonight and eat dinner a little later with our host parents. This weekend is World Youth Day, which is the biggest Catholic annual youth meeting in the world. There are literally hundreds of thousands of extra people in Sydney because of it, not to mention the pope is in town for it. Yeah, the POPE! So because of all the extra people and hype in the city this weekend, many of the bus schedules will be different than usual, and me and my roommates opted to stay out of the greater Sydney area for this weekend. Instead, we will probably spend the day exploring around our neighborhood. Nearby is a beautiful lake, a beautiful park, and a great little shopping/eating area in a very nearby town called Westfield.

Ok, well dinner's ready! I'll update soon,

No worries.

First Impressions remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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For those of you that don't know, I'll give a little bit of information about my semester and try to answer some FAQs. I'm leaving on July 15 from Oklahoma, then meeting with my group of 33 American students in LA. We will fly from there to Australia. I will be returning to Oklahoma on November 15, and will return to Springfield for the Spring semester in January. My program is with a study abroad group for the Christian Coalition of Colleges and Universities: the Australia Studies Centre. Frequently in blog posts I will use "ASC" to refer to this program. I will be attending the Wesley Institute, which is located in a suburb of Sydney called Drummoyne, which is in New South Wales, Australia. I encourage you to visit their awesome website here: http://www.wesleyinstitute.edu.au/wi/
I will be staying in a different suburb of Sydney called Concord in a homestay with 3 other American girls from the program. The couple that I'm staying with also has 3 kids: 2 girls and a boy, ages 14, 12, and 10, respectively. I can't wait to meet them! I'm also looking forward to lots of cool trips, including trips to the Australian bush, the outback, Canberra (the capital city: no, Sydney is not the capital!), and New Zealand.

Throughout the duration of my semester, I will post as many pictures and videos as I can. You can get in touch with me through this blog, which I hope to check and update very regularly, or through e mail at: wickham4520@evangel.edu. I will also still be on facebook. So if you have facebook, that may be the best way to contact me. Also, I will be connected to my parents and the rest of the US via Skype, so if you have it, add me!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Please keep me in your prayers, and I'll see you in November!

Days Until Departure: 7 remains copyright of the author aewickham, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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