Sheep in NZ

Iconic sheep in NZ. See more videos I took in NZ here

Back Home

It's definitely hard to believe, but our time in Melbourne has already come to an end. After a LONG, but very manageable flight from Melbourne to LA, I am home (yes, everyone is happy to have me back--including our cats). It was an incredible two weeks!

Thanks so much for praying for and with us. God indeed has done "immeasurably more". Before we arrived, we only had one appointment set up. Suffice it to say, we have had a lot more since then. And as was the case last week, our meetings this week also were very fruitful. We continue to be amazed at just how promising our developing partnerships seem to be.

Our time here has also greatly benefited Student Life (the campus ministry of Campus Crusade here in Australia). Our conversations with Christian Union have paved the way for a partnership with them for postgraduate ministry. However, it also helped significantly build the relationships and unity between Student Life and Christian Union. It has been a beautiful development to observe and be a part of.

Our time here has also helped Student Life develop inroads to a very strategic space on campus. For years, Student Life has wanted to be able to minister to the students at Melbourne University's Trinity Residential College. Unfortunately, they have been flatly refused that opportunity.

On Friday, we met with graduate students involved with the Christian Union (CU) grad/staff group at Melbourne University for lunch. Guess where? Yep--Trinity Residential College. It turns out that the Conference, Catering, and Hospitality Manager of Trinity (Mark) is involved in the CU grad staff group. So, he hosted everyone for lunch. While there, Mike (our host from Student Life) talked with Mark. Afterwards, Mark gave Mike and Student Life the freedom and invitation to pursue whatever ministry God put on their heart for Trinity. How cool is that?!

So, you may be wondering what our next steps are for helping to build a grad movement in Melbourne. Great question. We have been asking the same one. Right now, it seems that what the movement there needs next are a few key student or staff (by the way staff=faculty in Australia) leaders that we could help resource and coach. As of now, the CU staff in Melbourne don't know of any people that could fill that role. Please pray with us for the Lord to surface those individuals.

While you are praying, please pray for Jared and Tracy as they continue our travel. Jared is spending the week in Perth (Western Australia) and then returns home. Tracy is in New Zealand this week before returning home.

Thanks again for going with us to Melbourne. I am already thinking about our next trip.

Want to come?

Day 2 NZ - Arataki Honey Center

I awoke this morning at 9, having had the best night's sleep since I left home. After about an hour of puttering around I drove out to Havelock North, passing numerous vineyards, orchards, and fields filled with fluffy sheep greedily tearing up the luscious green turf. I caught sight of the pacific. It shone iridescent-blue, lapping gently against the grey pebbled shore.

On my agenda today is a visit to the Arataki Honey Center, one of the largest beekeeping operations in NZ. As I drove through the lovely countryside I ached to be outside rather than tied to meetings and schedules. However, the Arataki Honey Center did not disappoint. After being shown around their fun and very educational honeybee learning center, I sat down with John, their beekeeping manager and chatted about small hive beetle and beekeeping in NZ.

I learned a lot of interesting stuff about kiwifruit. Did you know that they are dioecious plants (male and female flowers are on separate plants)? Did you know that they only have viable flowers for 4-5 days? That the flowers do not provide nectar? That the pollen is nutritionally poor? Did you know that it takes 70-80 honeybee visits per flower to get full-sized fruit? Basically, it's one of the hardest plants in the world to pollinate. Kiwifruit growers have done everything they can to make pollination happen. They saturate the orchards with bees for the 4-5 days that they are in flower. They hand-harvest male flowers and spray the pollen over the orchards and the bees.

I also learned a lot about New Zealand's miracle honey plant - Manuka. Apparently they still don't really know what makes one batch of Manuka highly antimicrobial and the next batch not as antimicrobial. Each batch has to be tested as it comes in and after it is packaged before it can be certified antimicrobial. Activity seems to increase with storage up until a certain point. The honey produced from Manuka can be light or dark, and it always darkens with age.

I had the best honey in my life at the taste-testing center. It's called Pohutukawa (poe-HOOT-uh-kaw-uh). Fill a chocolate truffle with creamed Pohutukawa honey and I'd subsist on that alone for the rest of my life if necessary.

I learned that there is poisonous honey in New Zealand. It's made from the honeydew of a vine-hopper feeding on the Tutu plant. So now every batch of honey in NZ has to be tested for the neurotoxin called Tutin. It has caused many beekeepers to cease production of comb honey since you have to be able to show that each individual cell of honey is Tutin-free to be able to legally sell the comb honey.

After Arataki, I went into Havelock North to have some lunch, then decided to visit Te Mata peak. It was a scary drive all the way up to the top in my little car, but I and all the drivers, mountain bikers, and hikers that I met on the way survived. I was rewarded with another view of the pacific, of Napier, Hastings, and Havelock North, and of the surrounding country. My Elvish eyes spotted mostly sheep.

Descending from Te Mata, I drove into Hastings and visited the grocery store. A woman was offering wine samples in the aisle. There are so many wineries in this place they're practically pouring the stuff down your throat at every turn. I found a yarn store offering me a selection of yarn from NZ sheep and a "bin shop" offering me everything from almonds to window cleaner in bulk. The place definitely has the feeling of a popular holiday-spot on the off season. Ice cream parlors and posh cafes stand open but few patrons enter. The only other people walking around are the Kiwi school-kids wearing their regrettable school uniforms and fancy purses that play music. Why you would want a purse that plays music, I wonder?

I returned home to my luxury accommodations, greeted by a calico cat and a brand new television. As I ate two kiwifruit, I thought about the 140-160 times that a bee touched a flower to bring me my dinner.

For my NZ pictures, see the new Picasa Album here

Onward to NZ

Our stay in Australia over, I have traveled to New Zealand. How can I describe it? It's a land that I would like to marry and settle down with, filling the rest of my days exploring all the little sheep-dotted hillsides, pebbly beaches, and rich green mountains.

I haven't even really been here very long. I spent the first night here in a cheap motel in Auckland run by an Indian family. They were lovely and it was reasonable for the price, but it was definitely not a place that inspired rest. Early the next morning a shuttle driven by a woman named Ngaia took me to Hamilton and I disgraced myself by falling asleep. Fortunately, I am both a discreet and fetching sleeper. I was deposited at the AsureQuality office and met with Byron and chatted a bit over some needed coffee. Drip coffee this time. Kiwis apparently aren't as picky about their coffee as the Aussies. We drove over to the Plant and Food Research Apicultural division and I met Byron's wife Michelle who works on varroa-resistant bees and her boss Mark who gave me his opinion on everything bee-related and un-bee-related, particularly Australia, USA, and why New Zealand is superior to those countries.

I had almost run out of brain power by the time we got back to AsureQuality. I was ready to go to bed, but I still had a 4 hour drive to Napier ahead of me. Byron kindly drove me to the Airport to pick up my car and reminded me about the unique Kiwi road rules such as no left on red and yield to oncoming right-turners when you're taking a left. They love the roundabout in this country, too. Every intersection spins you like a merry-go-round, exits shooting off the center circle like so many bicycle-wheel spokes.

I got on the road by 4pm, driving an exceedingly cheap Australian-made car. I found out that the kiwi definition of "highway" apparently is "lonely two-lane track through nowhere." So strange to drive so far without the comforting presence of other drivers. I guess that’s what I feel like I’m doing here- striking out on my own despite the fact that I don’t really know anyone in this country, don’t know if I can get a job in this country, don’t know where I’m going in this country on this little highway in the dark. No one driving my way to encourage me, to say, “Yup, you’re going the right way!” Strange stars hang in the sky as I stop to take a look around in the dark. They are useless to navigate by. But I see a shooting star, and think, with a sigh, that it’s not a bad road that I’m on anyway.

I arrive after some delay finding my hotel in Napier. The hotel manager offers me "trim milk" and a newspaper. Then he has me park my car in a tiny little spot on the corner of the hotel. He crosses my own personal courtyard and opens big French windows to a small efficiency apartment, complete with mini-range, mini-fridge, mini-bar with mini-stools, mini-sink, mini-cupboards, mini-microwave, mini-tv, etc. He stashes the milk in the fridge for me and bids me goodnight. Everything in my room is tastefully selected from Ikea. Clean, simple, warmly well-lit. I open the door to the bathroom and I am greeted by a large, lavatorial refuge, soothing colors, a new shower, and multiple mirrors. There are premium soaps. There is an abundance of nice towels. I am in heaven. Then I walk out and notice that there is something hanging from the side of the bed. The controls for my electric blanket. How far did I have to come for this? It doesn’t matter.

The Joy of Reunion

One of the things I was most looking forward to on this trip was all the friends of mine that I was going to get to see again. I arranged to spend the night at three different houses during my stay in Melbourne too, as I've wanted to spend time with as many friends as possible.

My first hosts were Joel & Rosey, in the eastern suburb of Blackburn, just a stone's throw from the Laburnum train station (just two stops closer to the city than and on the same line as Nunawading, where Tracy's been staying). I met both Joel & Rosey in the Christian Union group at Monash in 2004. Rosey's currently on staff with CU, and Joel's working in pest control while trying to find an engineering-related job. They're probably the friends I've kept in most frequent contact with since I left Australia. They're both nerdy (love to play Starcraft and watch Stargate), and Joel is fairly reserved, but Rosey is quite possibly the most outgoing person I've ever met (right up there with Heather H., anyway!). They gave me a key to their house and loaned me their car (more on that in another post coming soon), and also had a package of Tim Tams and my favorite Aussie cereal (Just Right) waiting for me. :-)

On Friday night last week they volunteered to host a get-together of people from the Monash CU group back in 2004, and that was an awesome, awesome time. Not everyone was able to make it, but still quite a few people showed up. Of course while I wasn't able to talk to everyone quite as much as I would've liked, it still was a great time. And perhaps the neatest thing about the evening was that I provided an excuse for all of my friends to get together with each other too. Because they live in several different suburbs, and because of everyday life getting in the way, it'd been several months since some of them had seen each other. I've missed all those people quite a bit.

Then on Saturday night my friend Paul (from Monash CU) took us to the Geelong-Collingwood footy match. Tracy wrote a lot about that a few days ago, but I will add that Paul was so excited (then again, Paul's just about always excited, hehe) that I was able to explain pretty much all the rules of Australian football to Ash & Tracy, and that I already had a Geelong Cats footy scarf and t-shirt. Paul has commissioned me to go forth and spread the footy gospel in the USA, hehe.

My second hosts were my friends Rob & Simone (and their 1 1/2-year old daughter Hannah), who live in the northern suburb of Brunswick East, a short tram ride from the city center. Again, I know them both from Monash CU; we had a Sunday night Bible study in their house, and they've since both been on staff with CU part-time a bit, though neither are currently. They're both taking courses at Ridley (a seminary), and Rob's also working full-time with The Backyard Bard, the same Biblical storytelling group that Simon Camilleri is with (those in State College may remember Simon performing "Elijah" in 2008). Because we had appointments in the city on Sunday, Joel & Rosey kindly brought my luggage to Christ Church in Hawthorn in the evening, where Rob was performing a storytelling of the entire book of Revelation. Seriously, he memorized the entire book, and it was amazing. Hearing the whole book read/performed in one sitting helped it make more sense, and the performance helped me picture it in my mind's eye much better, without overwhelming or overriding my mind's picture in the way that a film would.

Rob & Simone are planning to move to the Middle East to work with a deaf ministry in about a year and a half, and they hope to move to the region permanently eventually. They have a heart for Middle Eastern culture (perhaps partly because Rob's mum is Lebanese), and as such much of their cuisine and even the furniture in their house has a Middle Eastern feel. For instance, instead of having a couch in the living room, they have a muffraj (sp.?), which is basically some cushions or pads laid on the floor and against the wall. I'd even drag the muffraj into the study at night to sleep on it, so it's quite portable.

On Tuesday night Rob took Ash, Tracy & I to a Yemeni restaurant in the suburb of Ascot Vale. Coincidentally enough, the restaurant is called Yemeni Restaurant. Rob & Simone visited Yemen (and other countries) last year, so Rob was showing the restaurant owner some photos on his iPad -- and the owner even spotted his former house in one of Rob's photos of a city in Yemen (Sa'na?). Anyway, eating at the Yemeni restaurant was quite a neat cultural and culinary experience. First off, the food was excellent. We sat on the floor, and the dishes were all laid out for us on the floor as well. For the various bean, meat and rice dishes, we'd scoop it all up with pieces of Yemeni bread (much like naan bread in Indian cuisine). We were all dipping and scooping the bread on the same plates, so we really were sharing a meal together, not just eating our own separate dishes while happening to be at the same restaurant or table. We all felt like it gave us a much better insight into what it means in Middle Eastern cultures (and meant, in Biblical times) to sit down and share a meal with other people. It really is more of an experience, and one in which you have to trust the people you're eating with, because they're dipping bread into the same bowls or dishes as you.

On Wednesday I toted my suitcase along with me down the tram to the University of Melbourne for my next research seminar, and from there on the tram and train out to Mt Waverley to go to my friend Jillian's house for dinner -- she'd invited several CU folks over for burritos. They weren't quite Mexican burritos, but rather an Australian take on burritos. First, in addition to the usual marinated chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and onions, there also were sauteed mushrooms, pineapple chunks, and either sweet chili sauce or bbq sauce (there wasn't any salsa). And the tortillas were lightly crisped in the oven before serving. They were still really good, but not quite like burritos I'm familiar with from, say, Qdoba. ;-) Anyway, it was great to have another evening hanging out with my Monash CU friends.

My third hosts on this trip are my friends James & Alison, who live in the far southeastern suburb of Hampton Park, about a five minute walk from the Hallam railway station. Alison is a primary school teacher, and James currently is a chaplain in a local public high school (the relationship of the Australian government and schools with religion is worth another post by itself), though until a year ago he was the national youth director for the Christian & Missionary Alliance church in Australia. I met them a few days before I went to Australia in 2004 because they were visiting the States, and Alison's parents know my parents (her parents, who are Australian, spent a few years pastoring a small CMA church in western Minnesota), and they were pretty much my adoptive family while I was studying at Monash. They even stopped by Penn State for a quick visit last April when they were visiting some family and friends in Michigan and Pennsylvania (and yes that photo was taken at The Creamery at PSU).

Ali came to pick me up on Wednesday evening following the dinner with my CU friends in Mt Waverley, and it's been great to be at their place again. They have several pets, including a couple rabbits (Fudge and Bubbles), a sugar glider (Cookie), a shingleback lizard and a couple bearded dragons (they're in accidental hibernation for the time being because James forgot to plug in their heat lamps). I was told that if Bubbles woke me up during the night by making a racket in the next room that I should just say, "Bubbles, stop!" and he'd stop, haha. On Thursday night they had all three of us over for dinner too, for which they grilled kangaroo steak, beef porterhouse steak, sausages and prawns (big ones). We were all sated, to say the least. :-)

And then this afternoon (Friday) the three of us went downtown to the banks of the Yarra River to the Melbourne Aquarium, where my friend Emily (again, from Monash CU) works. She wasn't able to get us discounted tickets (but our Penn State student IDs saved both Tracy & I about $12 each!), but she was able to give the three of us a guided tour, telling us all about the various fish and marine creatures in the tanks. The Melbourne Aquarium is really quite nice, and has been rated as the best tourist destination in Melbourne. They're also home to the world's largest species of stingray, and croikey were those massive! The penguins were also really fun to see and watch, but really, just about everything at the aquarium was neat to see. It was great to see her again and hang out a bit (she wasn't able to make last Friday night's reunion thing, but was at Wednesday night's dinner).

I guess the bottom line is that, for me, the friends that I made and still have here are one of the primary reasons why I continue to be so drawn to Australia. It's important to have a community when you live someplace, and they welcomed me into their community back in 2004. Things aren't exactly the same as they were six years ago, but I wouldn't expect them to be. It's been great fun to come back and see and hear how everyone's doing, to laugh and recall good memories, and to make new ones. I've definitely felt like I've been able to get reconnected with them on this trip, which has been great. And because of that, I have no doubt that I'll be back in Melbourne again someday, whether for a visit or for something more long-term.

Partnerships

As Tracy and I saw earlier today on their website, "Don't Go It Alone" is the slogan for the Monash University Postgraduate Association. It's not a bad slogan either when exploring grad ministry in Australia as Americans living quite literally on the other side of the world.

We would love to see thriving graduate student (postgrad) communities built here where the gospel is powerfully transforming lives. We would love to help build those communities. While it seems that God is calling us to do so, it is definitely clear that we can't do so by ourselves. And so, we have been primarily praying that God would lead us to individuals and groups with whom we could partner.

He is definitely answering our prayer! On Wednesday, (our first day here) we met with Malcolm and Sandy, two staff members with Christian Union (CU) at Melbourne University. On Friday, we met with Graeme, a staff member with CU at Monash University. Yesterday, we met with Peter, Matt, and Chris, staff members with CU at LaTrobe University, and last evening we held a Skype conference call with Lewis, the National Director of Postgraduate Ministry for AFES, the parent organization for (you guessed it) CU. Can you see a pattern emerging? I don't believe that there is another Christian Union staff member in Victoria working with postgrads that we haven't met.

In every one of those meetings, we shared our desire to see the gospel come within arm's reach of every postgrad on their campus, to see Christian postgrads thriving in their relationship with God, to see a new generation of Christian scholars raised up and mobilized, and to develop partnerships with existing Australian campus ministry organizations to see those three dreams become a reality. They shared with us their vision for postgrads on their campus as well as the current status of their ministries. We shared some more about what we have been learning as a ministry at Penn State. And then we talked about the ways a partnership might mutually benefit both organzations.

We left each of those meetings so encouraged, excited, and hopeful. We share with the staff from Christian Union the same vision for building a gospel-centered movement among postgrads on their campus. We share with them a Kingdom perspective, that is the desire to see God's Kingdom built, not Campus Crusade or Christian Union. And we share with them a lot of like-mindedness in how that might happen. It is so beautiful to see the Body of Christ function as Christ intended it to do.

Please continue to pray. Tomorrow I (Ashley) am meeting with Simon, a faculty member at Monash University who coordinates the CU postgrad ministry there with Graeme. On Friday, we are all meeting with Malcolm, Sandy, and some of the postgrads involved with the CU ministry at Melbourne University. Hopefully, I will also be able to talk to Lewis, the National Director, via Skype before we leave.

In each of these meetings and in conversations that follow over the coming weeks, we hope to figure out more specifically what these partnerships will look like and what next steps to take.

A ministry update!

After a delightful time shopping and eating delicious new things at the Queen Victoria market early yesterday morning, Mike picked up Ash and Jared and I and drove us out to LaTrobe University to meet with the Christian Union team there. Ash will be writing a little bit about that meeting and another meeting with a national staff member with Christian Union working with graduate students. Suffice to say, the eyebrows wagged in our favor and we had a couple of really productive, positive meetings yesterday.

Today I hopped on the bus to Monash to meet Ash and Mike there for the undergraduate Student Life (Campus Crusade in Australia) weekly meeting, which was delightful. Then I wandered upstairs to the Monash Postgraduate Association, an office which serves the Post-grads (Graduate students) at Monash with seminars, socials, support, and advocacy. Here they have 4 full-time staff devoted to helping graduate students to cope with grad school problems and find community. Jenny, executive officer of MPA, sat down with me and happily answered all my questions about how the MPA works. Basically, the university funds the MPA to increase the completion rate (graduation rate) of post-grads by providing advice and support. In the case of conflict with supervisors (advisors) or problems with intellectual property rights, the MPA can act as an independent advocate for the graduate student, explaining their options and even going with them to help sort things out. I'm not sure if there's really anything like it in the 'states.

Ash joined us later and we continued a great discussion about the perils of graduate school and the role that a group like ours, devoted to meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of graduate students could play. The MPA provides a lot of inspiration for our work in the future at Penn State and in Melbourne. The mission of the MPA to support graduate students is very much like ours in PSCG. Their website even uses the slogan "Don't go it alone" - which we've discussed using in the past. Perhaps they would like our Top 10 reasons to get involved with PSCG, including "Your advisor is not your God" and "The late-night library raves are getting old."

P.S. It has come to my attention that our Slideshow gadget up on the right-hand side seems to be broken, hopefully temporarily. In the meantime, click here to visit our gallery

The problem with being in the city

Today I'd like to highlight one of the major problems with being a tourist in the city. Carrying things. Yesterday we went to the Queen Victoria Market in the pouring rain, necessitating a raincoat along with my fleece, gloves, and scarf. This raincoat ended up stuffed inside my large purse which was already weighted down with the following:

• Water bottle - hydration, clearly important
• Notebook - for all the info and blog notes
• Granola bars - for snacks
• Wallet - for money and cards
• Knitting and knitting book - for the train ride
• Sunglasses - in case the sun comes out
• Pens - for writing stuff
• Phone - for calling people
• Mp3 player - also for the train ride
• Tissues - for my sniffles
• Cough drops - for my throat
• Map - for finding my way
• Banana - for lunch
• Camera - for photo-documentation
• Alfalfa sprouts - also for lunch

Then we went to the Queen Victoria market and I added to my burden:

• A heavenly 20-cent orange
• A passionfruit
• Numerous souvenirs

Unwieldy to say the least. The boys opt to carry their bookbags everywhere. However, they do not appear to be immune from the "but I'm going to be in the city all day so I should bring this also" problem. Jared went to pay at a restaurant the other night and the following items had to come out of his pockets before he found his money.

• Wallet
• Large ipod
• Chapstick
• USB drive
• Mints
• Pen
• Notebook

All this makes me think that it would be truly useful to be a marsupial and have a nice little built-in pouch for carrying all my stuff around.

Make-a-plan Monday

Today we made a plan for the rest of the week. We set up meetings with Malcom, other post-grads in his Bible study, and with other leaders in Christian Union. I also set up an academic meeting with a researcher at the Division of Primary Industries. I also got to go to Sandy's women's post-graduate bible study, where we examined Daniel 1, a great study for graduate students.

One of our concerns so far has been getting information about grad student life. Mike gave us a research tool called "Decoding Your Campus" - a guide to finding out all about the geography, demography, social and spiritual landscape of an undergraduate campus. We looked it over and decided that there would be a lot of value in finding out this sort of thing for the post-graduates. However, we recognized that every lab or program would probably differ, at least on the social and spiritual landscape areas.

So yesterday while Ash went back to work on some other stuff, Jared and I walked down to the botanical gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance, then walked back up into town to catch a bite to eat at a cafe with good seating for working. We fashioned a new survey, one that would hopefully tell us what we need to know about post-graduate life and spirituality. We also hope that this survey will get us into some good conversations with post-graduate students. The plan is to set up a table in a central area with a sign that says "Post-Graduate Student Survey." Candy will be provided.

Today we will visit the Queen Victoria Market - a large open-air shopping facility that's been around since 1878.

Lyrical Lyrebird

Tracy mentioned the other day that we were privileged to see and hear a lyrebird at the Healesville Sanctuary on Saturday afternoon. The male lyrebird, in addition to some rather impressive plumage, has the ability to imitate just about any sound. You name it, from car alarms to saws to other birds to people talking, if it makes a sound, the lyrebird probably can and does imitate it. In this video below, the lyrebird can't get the song of some other bird at the sanctuary out of its head. And obviously it's not working on the female, because she's not coming over to him. She must prefer some other station!

Lazy Sunday

Sunday we had another relaxing day. We didn't do much, so there isn't much to report. From my side of things, the most blog-worthy thing about Sunday was the public toilet I used near Flinders St. Station.

Think about what "Public Restroom" means in the 'states. When I hear "Public Restroom" I think dark, fetid, costly restrooms not much better than a port-o-let. When I hear "Public Restroom" I think, "better off finding a bush somewhere." Public toilet (they don't use the word restroom here- they call them toilets just like Britain - Australia's a very British place, really) in Melbourne apparently means "palatial personal lavatory and grooming center."

The signs for public toilets in Melbourne look like signs for tiny subway stations, pointing toward a stairway that leads to a large sub-level bathroom. It was impeccably clean, the polished pink terrazzo floors gleaming in the low light. The sink area was spacious, with heaters mounted over the sinks to keep you from catching a chill while washing your hands. A friendly "NO SPITTING" sign was also mounted to the wall near the sinks to remind you to keep your saliva in your mouth while washing your hands, thank you.

Most incredibly, opposite the sinks, a shallow countertop ran around the wall, the mirrors above it providing the most convenient place to check one's makeup or hair. They had even provided little stools for you to sit at the small counter. Though I had no need to adjust my makeup as I wasn't wearing any, I sat on one of the stools and marveled at the quality of the lighting and what a gift this little haven would be to any woman walking around Melbourne.

Best of all, a large sign near the entrance proclaimed "No Charge." In the 'states, often maids will stand at the entrance to public restrooms with a tip jar, or, in the worst-case scenario, they will actually put a price on your use of the restroom. Here anyone, be they homeless or wealthy could take advantage of the sweet asylum offered by the public toilet.

I emerged to the street, bubbling with joy. The boys were saddened. Apparently the men's public toilet wasn't anywhere near as nice.

Aussie Rules Football: Geelong-Collingwood match

A few months ago, when Jared informed us that we would be attending a "footy" match in Melbourne, I didn't know what that meant, though I could have made a bad joke about Aussies flirting under the table. Apparently footy is another Aussie nickname - in this case footy means football, specifically Aussie Rules Football or AFL. (By the way, my checklist of cute Aussie phrases has really grown. Favorites include "brekky" (breakfast) and "bikkie" (biscuit aka cookie))

Jared told us that his friend Paul was going to get us tickets so that we could enjoy this quintessential Victorian (that's from the state of Victoria, not necessarily from the time of the reign of queen Victoria) pastime. It sounded like it would be a cultural experience, but never being much of a sport-lover, I didn't know if I would really be able to get into this so-called footy.

Later, as Paul revealed, Jared had the same thought. "I don't know how excited she'll be about it, but she probably won't bring her knitting," he had said to Paul.

Well, friends, I definitely didn't need my knitting at this event. Aussie rules is a much more fast-paced game than American football (call

ed gridiron here). There's very little stopping for the entire game of 4, 20-minute quarters. The ball is constantly in motion, sailing smoothly from player to player, punted or punched with knuckles. If a kick is caught cleanly, you get to "mark" the ball and essentially take a free kick where the defender cannot pass a certain point to attack you. The object is to kick or push the ball through your opponents goalposts on either end of the field. Getting through the outer goalposts scores you 1 point, the inner goalposts 6. Defenders can tackle you when you have the ball, but instead of everything grinding to a halt when this happens, as in American football, when you are tackled in Aussie rules the goal is to get rid of the ball while you're being crushed by other players. A player goes down in a pile and the ball squirts out like a big yellow egg to be snatched up by another player who keeps the play moving. Simple in its rules, elegant in its execution, AFL is infinitely watchable.

As we climbed to our seats in the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG),I noticed that Aussies from all walks of life attended footy. There were tiny boys and girls with their faces painted, many elderly fans, as well as a large number of mid-twenties people like us. I noticed the girls were dressed smartly, as if they were going out to dinner somewhere nice. Girls who watch football in the 'states are by no means inelegant, but usually a football match calls for more masculine attire than a night out on the town. I wondered what drew them to the games.

As the game started and I watched the players begin to run around, I have to admit there was but one question on my mind. Why are their shorts so tiny? I asked Paul, our resident AFL expert. He had no answer. I looked again- weren't they cold? There could be any number of good explanations for the size of their shorts. Perhaps it was so that they didn't lose them when they were tackled. Perhaps it was difficult to punt successfully in longer shorts. But as I watched further, the game seemed to be full of innuendo. Scoring a point was known as a "behind," the official spanking the goalpost enthusiastically when one was scored. The most frequent word shouted by the crowd was "ball," referring to when a player failed to get rid of the ball when they were tackled. Perhaps this explained why so many women were fans of this full-contact sport.

The match was a nail-biter, but in the end the Geelong (pronounced "Jah-LONG") Cats, reigning champions and our team, failed to scratch out the Collingwood Magpies, the number two team this year. Even though we lost, there was an atmosphere of good fun for all. As we filed out of the stadium, some boys started a kick-the-coke-bottle game which followed us all the way down to the riverside. Australia is always up for a good game.

Day 4 - Recreation

Yesterday we had a great day going out East of Melbourne to Marysville and Healesville. Our intrepid Aussie expert, Jared, drove us out of the city traffic and into a country populated by sheep and horses still shaggy with winter and endless vineyards, their closely pruned vines stretching in parallel lines over the hills. We passed so many vineyards, I wondered if they ever ran out of pretentious-sounding surnames to call them by. Climbing further, we encountered gum tree forests carpeted with soft green ferns. Large tree ferns filled the understory like palm trees, their armored, reptillian stems making us feel as if a velociraptor might pop out into the road at any moment. The bark peeled from the gum trees like they were giant brown string cheese sticks.
Further on, we crossed into a different sort of forest. This was the area where in 2009, brush fires had raged through, killing 173 people and destroying whole towns like Marysville. We pulled into Marysville, new houses everywhere, and marveled at how much they had rebuilt in a year. The forests are recovering curiously, the gum trees covered in a furry layer of new growth.
We turned around and hit Healesville, where we stopped at a bakery and had pies, a very traditional Australian treat like a pot pie but with lots of different options for fillings. Good Aussies like Jared squirt tomato sauce (ketchup) on theirs. There were also a large variety of sweets. I picked one at random off the menu- a "beesting." Jared had something called a lambington, which, as he promised, contained no lamb.

After lunch, we headed for the Healesville wildlife sanctuary where we got to meet all the most popular Australian animals: kangaroos, emus, koalas, wombats, platypus, tasmanian devils, snakes, echidna, dingoes, and numerous birds. Among the birds, we were especially privileged to see and hear a lyrebird singing. There are videos and pictures better than mine, so be patient, they will soon be coming to a picasa album near you. In the lyrebird enclosure we met a delightful sanctuary volunteer named Leigh, who also showed us the secret nest of an eastern yellow robin in the bushes.
Running out of time now, Leigh implored us to visit the dingo puppies instead of running off to make it to the footy match. I could have lived there all day, but, alas, Jared's friend Paul was waiting for us. Perhaps we will have time to hit up the zoo later.

The footy match merits a post all to its own, so I won't get into it right now. Suffice to say I stumbled home around midnight, incredibly tired after such a full day!

Day 3 - A Day at Monash

Our first couple of days in Australia have really shown us just how dependent we've become on mobile phones. I mean, we've had to arrange specific meeting times and places with people hours in advance, or -- gasp! -- even the day before, just because we had no way for other people to reach us. It was so quaint, and like we were stuck back in 2002. So we were all thrilled yesterday (Friday) when Mike was able to give each of us a mobile phone that we can use for the rest of our time here in Melbourne. The Campus Crusade summer project undergrads from Va Tech and UVA returned to the States yesterday morning, and so we're using some of their phones that Cru loaned them. Now we'll be able to communicate much more effectively with each other, with the contacts we're meeting, and with my friends here, especially since Ash, Tracy & I are staying at different homes and I'm occasionally off doing other things. Anyway, it's great to have a phone again. If nothing else, now that I have a mobile phone I no longer have to wonder what time it is, since I don't have a wristwatch!

Anyway, after spending the first couple of days in the city at both Melbourne Uni and RMIT, yesterday we stayed out in the eastern suburbs and took the bus from Blackburn Station down to Monash University in Clayton (I walked to Blackburn Station, but Ash & Tracy barely arrived on the train in time to catch the bus). At Monash the three of us met up with Mike and then also Graeme Chiswell, the campus director for the Christian Union group at Monash. [CU is affiliated with AFES, the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students, which is in turn affiliated with IFES, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. In the States, InterVarsity is affiliated with IFES.] In my semester at Monash I was quite involved in CU, but Graeme arrived the semester after I was here, so this was the first time that I met him. Our meeting today went really well, and he seemed keen on exploring some sort of partnership with us and Student Life to reach graduate students (or post-grads, as they're called here). The part of the meeting that didn't go well was the coffee we got, which was passable at best. Tracy's latte was basically just hot milk!

CU already has a bit of a ministry going with post-grads and staff, through some "prayer triangles" or "prayer squares," groups of three or four people in the same department or building who get together every fortnight or so to pray with and encourage one another. Once or twice a semester these groups then all get together for a potluck or other sort of campus fellowship event. In the recent past there have been Bible studies as well, but the primary students who've been organizing those have gotten busy with their studies and other things, so that's kind of gone dormant for the meantime. At any rate, there's at least something going on with post-grads here at Monash that can be built upon, and something that's actually not dissimilar to some of what we're hoping to do at PSCG.

I'm sure Ash or Tracy will have a bit more to add about the meeting with Graeme yesterday morning, because I had to duck out in the middle of it. I had to leave because I gave a seminar on my research at noon today at Monash, in the Monash Weather and Climate group in the School of Mathematics. Only about 15 people or so attended my seminar (apparently quite a few folks are out of town this week), and I thought it went fairly well. One of the professors and research scientists took me out to lunch afterward. Having a glass of shiraz and a latte at lunch is definitely something different for me -- I think I could maybe adjust to the Australian university setting. :-) I met briefly with a couple of other faculty members after lunch as well. One of the main questions I got from people is, "Why are you here in Australia?" So I decided to tell them that my primary reason for being here now was to investigate some ministry opportunities with post-grads here in Melbourne. "Ministry? Is that a church thing?" someone asked. "Yep, a church thing." It was of course way too early for them to have any idea what sort of post-doc opportunities there might be two years from now, but I think it certainly helped to get my name out there, so that if I do apply in another year or two for something, they'll hopefully remember me and think positively of me. That's the goal anyway, and is what I hope comes of my other upcoming seminars at the University of Melbourne and the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre next week, where I'll also be "selling my wares," as the Monash folks called it. I'm glad seminar #1 of 3 down here is in the bag!

After I was done with my post-seminar meetings, because Ash & Tracy had already gone back to the city to meet someone at Melbourne Uni, I took some time to wander around the Monash campus, including taking a walk back to the dorm that I lived in back in 2004, Roberts Hall. It was a nice little trip down memory lane.

Day 3 - TGIF

We had a really good Friday today, so we thank God for it, not because it is the last day before the weekend, but because it was pretty awesome. Things contributing to the awesome of this day:

• Waking up at 7 instead of 5. Jet lag almost just a memory now.
• Sun.
• Not missing the bus taking us to Monash Uni this morning with Jared.
• Getting something not quite, but almost entirely unlike a latte.
• Encouraging meeting with Graeme, Monash Christian Union staff member.
• Getting cell phones.
• Jared's new nickname: Julie.
• Eating lunch with Campus Crusade Australia staff.
• Caramello Koala - a Cadbury chocolate bar shaped like a friendly koala and filled with caramel.

• Beta-testing new iphone app for the "How to Know God Personally" booklet produced by Crusade.
• Figuring out how to adapt a sociology tool for decoding geography, sociology, mission, and spiritual life of people groups to grad student ministry.
• Meeting with a real, live post-grad at Melbourne Uni with a great story and a beautiful heart for ministry to post-grads and faculty.
• Getting home and not feeling utterly spent already.
• Delicious chicken, steak, potatoes and salad made by our lovely hosts James and Jane.
• Brainstorming creative ways to tell your brother or sister that they should really work on their hygiene. Ideas: get someone else to do it, surprise-you-stink parties, anonymous please-brush-your-teeth ecards, candygrams delivered by a dancing and singing bear.
• Looking forward to a day off tomorrow to maybe see some critters.
• Geelong-Collingwood Aussie Rules Football game tomorrow night. Holding tickets to this exciting matchup has made us the envy of every person we have met so far, even random strangers on the tram.

Day 2 - Vegemite, Getting the hang of things, Federation Square, Simon

A good, long sleep did us well last night. In the morning it was raining but I went for a walk anyway. Our hosts served us toast and offered us vegemite. How can I describe the black butter that is vegemite? It is a spread for crackers or bread, adored by Aussies for its dark, salty flavor and incredible levels of B vitamins. It sounds great, nutritionally, which, according to the universal laws of flavor and nutrition, something that's good for you like vegemite really shouldn't taste very good. This is undeniably so. Think about concentrating down a nice, yeasty soy sauce into a thick, chocolaty paste and then spreading it thinly over your buttered toast and there you have vegemite.

Anyway, we started the day by sitting down and talking to the crusade undergrad summer project team that was getting ready to leave the next day. They explained some things to us, like the key differences between Australian and American students, the Tall Poppy Syndrome and false humility. They also warned us against eating pizza in this town saying "it's like spaghetti-o's." Noted.

Jared, Ash, and I then wandered toward the Yarra river and saw some sights. Melbourne is a real cosmopolitan area, so picture for yourself New York City and then widen the sidewalks bit. Innumerable shops, restaurants, coffee bars line the streets. Coffee in Australia is always espresso. Drip coffee, which, it may be argued, built America and is still largely responsible for the alertness of the the US population, is unheard of in this country.

We also met with Mike again and set up our schedule for the next day at Monash Uni. There was more coffee, some postcards, and a tour around Federation Square before we met up with our friend and world-famous Biblical Storyteller, Simon. Simon picked us up in front of the national gallery and drove us to Lygon st. for delicious eats. Italian, no less- the very thing we had been warned against this morning by the undergraduate cru team. Fortunately, this was not the same canned Italian they had sampled earlier. I had gnocci with black olives, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and avocado in a cream sauce that was divine. We stopped at a gelati place down the street and chilled ourselves to the bone eating exotic gelati flavors like caramelized fig.

As Simon drove us home, we were fading fast, but I managed to stay awake long enough to hear an Australian's view on Australian psyche. Bottom line: it's complex. Paradoxically, the humility of "tall poppy syndrome" is rooted in pride. People may not talk to you on a very personal level about their beliefs, but they will tell you personal stories and listen to yours. It was encouraging and I hope that we can learn more in the next days.

First day of Australia

We arrived in Melbourne this morning, travel-weary and bereft of Tuesday. Mike Shepski, the state director for Student Life (Campus Crusade in Australia) and a Penn State grad, collected us from the airport and took us to his home so we could shower off the stench of 16.5 hours on a plane, nourish ourselves with coffee, and email our loved ones, thus regaining much of our humanity lost on the long journey from LA.

We squeezed back into the car to head to Melbourne University campus. As far as I can tell, Melbourne University is a cross between Hogwart's, Harvard, and Penn State. Later, we headed over to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) to hang out with the Crusade undergrad summer project team doing an outreach in front of the RMIT 'caf' (Cafeteria). Blood sugar levels dangerously near zero, we walked across the street to Melbourne Central, a train station/mall. There we were fortified by delicious Malay cuisine before moving on to our next meeting at University House to meet with Malcom and Sandy who are involved with post-grad (grad student) ministry at Melbourne. University House is a private club for faculty and staff at the university with a fine sitting room where we sipped tea and hot chocolate and felt much like Britons.

(Parenthetically: Ash and I have just determined that we have been awake or engaging in what passes as sleep on a plane for the past 48 hours. Our insanity has begun to thicken and solidify like pudding. If this entry doesn't seem very coherent, that is why.)

Malcom and Sandy were delightful and we really enjoyed meeting with them while the rain began pouring down in earnest outside. Dodging the rain, we met up with our hosts James and Jane, at the train station. As the day closed we found ourselves running on fumes, and used our train ride to learn how to use Aussie phrases like "No Worries" inappropriately to random strangers. Now our kind hosts have fed us and tried their darndest to keep us awake with conversation. However, motor skills and language are beginning to fail me and I must go to bed, even though it's only 8:24pm. Look forward to more interesting/less erratic updates tomorrow.

Introductions: Tracy

Hi all, I’m Tracy! I am a 4th year graduate student in Entomology at Penn State. I’ve been involved with Penn State Christian Grads since I moved here from the warm wonderland known as Florida. I study bees, beetles, yeast, and pollen. I like MacGyver and I live with student of cosmic mysteries and member of the A-team.

I’m going to Australia because I like going places, but also because I have a strong conviction that grad students are a truly unique group of people with emotional and spiritual needs which might be considered a bit strange by “normal” folks. Take for instance, a common problem among grad students known as the Imposter Syndrome. This mental deformity causes very bright, very accomplished students to think to themselves “I don’t belong here. I’m not actually smart, I’ve only gotten this far by chance.” There is a deep fear of being unmasked, of someone finally finding out that they aren’t actually mensa candidates¹. I’ve felt like this at various points in my graduate career, as have most other grad students I’ve encountered. The focus is on our performance – about keeping it together. With God, the focus is on grace – extravagant grace, in which each of us is completely known and completely loved despite our performance or lack thereof. It’s a beautiful message for tired grad students, or anyone who is weary of wearing a mask.

Another thing I enjoy about being in graduate student ministry is discovering the endless diversity of geeks out there. Everyone in grad school is really into some specific area of study. Ask them about it, and you will be treated to a beautiful lecture, enthusiastically delivered as if you were discussing the only truly interesting topic known to man. After your initial lecture, if your eyes have not become too unfocused, the graduate student will treat you as one of them. You now belong to a secret society of those that know just what is so absorbing about their particular topic. Sometimes I am at a loss to understand such erudite and diverse topics as neurophysics, glaciers, computer security, atmospheric chemistry, Abelard, and cosmic rays. But I am delighted to have friends who “geek out” on me when one of these topics is mentioned. Grad students are unapologetic specialists. In their specialties, I see that God has given each of us gifts, talents, and interests unlike those of any other person. In some cases, very unlike those of any other person. C.S. Lewis puts it nicely when he says “…each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some aspect of the divine beauty better than any other creature can. Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently?”²

So my best hope for this trip is to see a few more imposters ditch their masks and plant flags on their own particular corner of geekdom. The world’s got enough perfect, normal people.

1. Laursen, Lucas. 2008. No, you're not an imposter. Science Careers.
2. Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain. New York: Macmillan, 1962.

Introductions: Ashley

Hi there. My name is Ashley Holleman. I'm on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at Penn State University where I help to direct and coordinate Penn State Christian Grads (PSCG), Campus Crusade's ministry for grad students at Penn State.

I began grad school in 1998 at the University of Michigan where I pursued a Ph.D. in Chemistry. That year I also met my future wife, Heather Brown, who was pursuing a Ph.D. in English Literature. We met through Michigan Christian Grads (MCGrads), the grad ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of Michigan. We became increasingly involved in MCGrads where we saw the Lord draw us to one another, powerfully transform our lives, and use us significantly in the lives of our peers. In June 2000, we married and I left my grad program with a M.S. in Chemistry to be able to spend more time in ministry. While Heather continued her grad program, I worked full time at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and we both continued our involvement with MCGrads as Associate Staff (part-time volunteers) of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Heather successfully completed her Ph.D. in December 2002, and in June 2003 we began ministering full time to grad students at the University of Michigan as staff members of Campus Crusade for Christ. In August 2007 we moved to State College, PA to direct Penn State Christian Grads.

Several years ago, God began putting on my heart the desire to develop international mission trips for grad students to give them a cross-cultural ministry experience, to expand their vision for reaching the world with the gospel, and to help launch grad ministries on campuses outside the U.S. When we arrived at Penn State we kept meeting students involved with PSCG who had an interest in a trip like this and who also had some prior connection to the University of Melbourne. Encouraged, I spoke with Campus Crusade's staff team in Melbourne and found out that they were very interested in partnering together to launch a grad ministry on their campus. The more we prayed and looked into the possibility of going to Australia this summer, the more it seemed that the Lord was orchestrating such a trip to take place.

So, I couldn't be more excited as we sit here in Los Angeles waiting to board a 15 hour flight to Melbourne. And I couldn't be more grateful if you would take a few minutes to pray for us and our trip. In particular, please pray for two things. Pray that God will lead us to those who are eager to help launch a grad community in Melbourne and/or to those who are searching for Him. And pray that as the Lord leads us to these people, He will "pull back the curtains" so to speak and allow us and those we meet with to see Him and His glory a little more clearly and fully.

Introductions: Jared

[On location in Los Angeles International Airport]

G'day everyone! Let me briefly introduce myself for those of you reading this blog who might not know me. My name is Jared Lee, and I'm about to start my sixth year as a grad student in Meteorology at PSU. (Is this really my SIXTH year?!?) I've been involved in Penn State Christian Grads and State College Evangelical Free Church ever since I arrived in State College in fall 2005. I've served on the leadership team for PSCG for four years and playing piano/keyboard at SCEFC for four years as well.

Now that we're sitting in LAX and well on our way on our journey to the Land Down Under, I finally have some time to write an entry for this blog. So g'day! Life's been pretty busy for me this month, with a week-long trip to Colorado a couple weeks ago (for work and pleasure), moving out of my apartment last week, and going to a wedding in Indiana this past weekend. But now my attention can finally turn to things Australian!

In fall of my senior year of undergrad at Gustavus Adolphus College (July-November 2004), I also spent a semester studying abroad at Monash University in suburban Melbourne, Australia. In my time there I got involved with a really great group called Monash Christian Union. I just felt at home from the first time I visited CU, and I really grew in my faith quite a bit there. I made quite a few friendships in CU, and I still keep in touch with several of those friends. And now I'll get to see them again!! I've been talking about going back to Australia just about every summer since I got back, and I'm excited it's finally happening for real.

One thing that I hope to see come from this trip would be some sort of partnership between Campus Crusade (or Student Life, as it's called in Australia) and Christian Union, if possible, for the purposes of building or fostering some sort of ministry and community for graduate students, both at the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Perhaps my connections with the folks at Monash CU can help that come about.

But the ministry work isn't the only thing I'll be doing in Australia. I also have the opportunity to give three seminars on my PhD research: at Monash University (Fri 6 Aug), the University of Melbourne (Wed 11 Aug), and at the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (Thu 12 Aug). I already gave this same seminar at the PSU Applied Research Laboratory this past Friday morning. It went pretty well but there are still some minor tweaks I need to make before I present it in Australia. It would be pretty neat if a post-doc or job opportunity were to arise down the road a bit as a result of these talks and contacts I'll be making.

And then after the ministry portion of the trip is over, I'll be flying to Perth for a few days to go visit my friend Bob, who just moved from State College to Perth about four weeks ago to take a job as a forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology. I've never been to Western Australia before, and I'm looking forward to seeing that part of the country and also the Indian Ocean for the first time -- I've already been to the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans, so that'll leave only the Arctic Ocean to check off my "visited" list. :-)

Well, we paid for a day-pass of wireless internet access here for just one computer, so I should let Ash and Tracy use it for a bit. See y'all on the flip side of the Pacific!