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 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.

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!