Yellowstone

Well, I have arrived safe and sound. As I type this, I'm in my temporary dorm room, Big Horn, in a great part of Yellowstone called Canyon. I'm looking outside my window at the beautiful snow-peaked mountains, the evergreen trees, and, occasionally, some deer or bison. I guess I should back up and explain the couple of days which brought me to this point.

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.

Sus- 1. adjective- gay. 2. verb- to "feel it out", or try. "sus it out."
Sweet as- That is, "sweet." It's a simile...minus the second half. It really works with any adjective, such as "boring as" or "tired as".
Reckon- verb this is a big one. Used conventionally: to think or supposed.
Thank you- used interchangeably with "please": "that'll be $3.70 thanks."
Daggy- Trashy or dressed down.
Diary- Planner.
Fouro- Florescent.
Torch- Flashlight
Rubbish/rubbish bin- Trash/trashcan
Buggard- bired or perhaps just relaxed.
Mobile- pronounced MO-byle; used instead of "cell phone."
Jumper- jacket.
Singlet- tank top, camisole.
Hey- used as "huh" ("nice day today, hey?"), "what?", or "right?"
Capsicum- Red pepper
Rock melon- canteloupe
Thongs- flip-flops BAAAAAA
Sunnies- sunglasses.
Pash- french kiss wooo

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.

At 6:30am on Friday, the ASCers were off to the Australian Outback. We arrived after an 8-hour bus ride at the sheep shearing farm where we were staying. But the thing is, it was about ten minutes after Kimberly, our director said, "we're here!" that we were actually there. The farm is 35,000 acres, so needless to say there was a great deal of land to explore. The people that owned the farm are homestay parents for the ASC program, and they took good care of us, feeding us all the time and making sure that we had everything we needed. The nights were pretty cold, and the cabins where we stayed were certainly not heated: in fact, the walls were paper thin, and the doors didn't close all the way. Although I didn't sleep outside like many of the brave students did (without a tent, might I add) I felt like I was sleeping outside because of the complete lack of protection from the night air. The outback looked about like what I expected: mostly desert-looking, but with tumble weeds and random thorny shrubs. I guess the outback's most distinctive feature is that it all looks exactly the same; it just goes for hundreds of miles across the whole center of Australia. If you were to get lost in it (which would be very easy to do) you are virtually powerless to find your way out. I considered again and again that the outback looks exactly this way for hundreds of miles around me. In this way, it is not like the desert plain parts of North America, because in the outback, there is no one. While I was there, I felt for the first time that nature did not care about me at all. It was going to do its own thing, and whether or not I was comfortable was my problem.
Unlike the ASC's last "field trip" to Canberra, the outback was a time midway through the semester for us to get away from the stresses of our schoolwork and constant cultural adjusting, and relax. Much of our time was spent sipping tea around the campfire learning about each other. At night, the Townsends (the people on whose farm we were staying) would take us out with a high-powered spot light and use it to spot kangaroos. We saw several, they are SO cute when they just hop around! During the day, we went riding around on the farm property on the back of trucks, and went rowing up the creek and such. Of course, no ASC trip would be complete without at least an hour or two of class discussion a couple more hours of "processing" our experiences. Fortunately though, much of our time was ours to do with what we pleased. We were blessed with wonderful weather. It didn't rain the whole time, and although it was cold at night, it was rather pleasant during the day.
Since the farm was a sheep shearing farm, there were heaps of sheep, fluffy and ready to be sheared. The Townsends do not shear them themselves, but instead bring in a team of sheep shearers who arrived Sunday night. They were kind enough to give us a run-down Sunday night of what their job involves, and then Monday we had the opportunity to watch them shear the sheep. It was a really interesting experience; many of the students got a little lesson and a go at shearing themselves. I had never really been around sheep before, and seeing them was pretty hysterical to me because they are SO dumb. I mean, they are dumber than dumb. They would all just follow each other around the pen, for no reason other than that one sheep was moving, so they all followed. That's about the only thing that sheep can do: follow. This is why they need a shepherd. Some of the students and I were reminded in a very real way of how Christ repeatedly refers to humans as his sheep because, as dumb as we thought they were for following blindly, humans are infamous for doing the same thing. We run around sometimes, confused and not knowing north from south, when we have a patient Shepherd all the while guiding us in the right direction, if only we would follow Him.
Before we got to the farm to begin with, Kimberly asked us to join her in an optional challenge not to shower while we were there. This is becuase water is particularly scarce in the middle of the ouback, and the water that was available to us was brought into the farm on big trucks especialy for us. Now, this was no short trip. We arrived Friday evening, and left Monday morning, and this doesn't even include the 16-hour round trip on a bus of 40 people. Needless to say, I was not up for the challenge to start with. I am proud to say that, now that all is said and done, I did not shower once during our outback trip! I had better hurry and correct any misconceptions: I am glad that I was able to conserve water, but I can't honestly say that that was my primary reason for refraining from showering while I was there. Most people in the ASC group met the challenge as well (it was a pretty stinky ride home if you can imagine), but no one believed that I would be able to go without showering. SO, being as stubborn as I am, I simply did it to prove them all wrong. There were other reasons too, of course. It was pretty cold at night and it wasn't exactly warm during the day, either, so I can't say I was excited about freezing to death to get clean. Also, the dust in the outback is so thick and constant, it wouldn't have done me all that much good to shower once. So now, I can say that I went 4 days in the outback without a shower. I never plan on doing it again.
So now, here I am, safely back in Sydney. I had a memorable time in the outback, and I am so thankful for the experience, but I am so happy to be back "home".

Servo- Service station
Heaps- Used like an American might use the word "tons"; the first Aussie-ism you will hear.
Ta- Thank you
Salvo- Thrift store, as in Salvation Army
Far out- man, this sucks. Real life example brought to you by my host familiy:
-Jason: "Man, Jasmin, you didn't have to push me so hard! Far out!"
Fully- Rather than "totally", as in, "That party was fully awesome."
Uni- from the word "University"; a rather ambiguous term for college.
Muso- Musician
Dodgy- shady. ex.- "You better stay out of that dodgy part of town."
Bloke- Guy
Stuffed- Screwed. As in, "I didn't study for the test. I'm stuffed!" or, "stuff this!"
Footie- Short for football, but refers to a different game depending on where you are in Australia. In Sydney, footie is Rugby League.

Got it?

As is the cliched etiquette rule, I have succeeded in avoiding talking about politics and religion, at least in the company of those who might challenge my opinions. I am a Christian, and I love talking about Jesus and my faith, but intense religious discussions have not been my preferred type of conversation. I have remained blissfully ignorant of US foreign affairs, even as opinions raged on either side all around me. Even in the midst of the presidential campaign, I have remained contently apathetic.

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!