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.

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.