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!

Packing up the library

Notable among the items crammed into my suitcase are yarn and knitting needles for making a knitted kiwi bird, a bee veil, and numerous Penn State items to be given away to my gracious hosts, and not a few books. I always seem to want to carry around a library wherever I go. This time I have packed the following books:

• Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra by C.S. Lewis – because these books are awesome traveling stories, small and paperback. Why not complete the set with That Hideous Strength? Because that book is scary, kids.


• Manalive by G.K. Chesterton – This is another small book about enjoying life that I find myself reading over and over again.


• Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis – I read this a little while ago while on a solitary retreat and I’m still digesting it.


• The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith – Another mystery in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series set in Botswana, always a fun read.


• A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith – A friend sent me this memoir, which might be more suitable for the hard-core Austenites out there, but sounded pretty interesting.


• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson – I gave this one to Ash to read and now have enjoyed several hours of listening to synchronized giggling as Ash and Jared are both reading this book on the plane.