Bondi Beach

Seeing as we don't start school till Tuesday (tomorrow), we decided to trek out to the famous world Bondi Beach. On the way there, we discovered it pays to be a student here. First, we had to get on a bus that normally cost $4.30, but after whipping out our Hillsong ID's, the fare went down to two bucks! When we got to the train station, Stephen and I managed to get our "Day-Tripper" pass (a ticket that is good all day for ferries, buses, and trains.)  which normally cost $20.00 for only $10.00 after waving our laminates.
I have noticed the more I travel and learn about different cultures and lifestyles, I learn equally as much about my home country.  My conclusion? I deduct that there is not a single greater nation on this earth that can compare to the opportunity given in United States.  I'm willing to bet that any American who says differently, has never been fully immersed in another culture and left to marinate for awhile. If they did, I'm sure their tune would change from unpatriotic slander to something more along the lines of "Yankee Doodle".  This is all brought up today after listening to a man on the train rant about how 9/11 was a giant hoax put on by our Government. The sad part is that there is people in the U.S. who actually buy into these ridiculous conspiracies.

 Now, although I love the states and am proud and privileged to live there, I must give Australia her dues. There is not a city on this earth that I love more than Sydney. I have loved almost every minute that I've spent here and I' not at all homesick. But as it stands now, Australia is my 2nd  favorite country in the world.

 This is a  a video of a show we were watching them film today. I had watched a few episodes last time I was here. 

(clever title)

 Well, orientation is over. We are officially Hillsong students, with envelopes full of info forms and lamented ID cards to prove it.
I'm sitting next to our hissing George Foreman, watching two chicken breast turn from pasty white to  golden brown. Tonight's menu: Chicken Alfredo.  What little skills we have learned while helping in the kitchen back home, is truly being utilized now in our own house.

We just got back home from Hillsong.  A lot of people back home wonder what the church is like, so I'm going to try my best to describe it....The auditorium is not set up like in any traditional style one will see back home. Imagine a darken stadium set up for a concert with throngs of people pouring in and fanning out into movie style flip-up seats. Over the stage hangs mammoth size projection screens so those sitting way in the back can clearly make out the pastor's facial expressions. Once the music starts, floods of people charge up to the front and form a crowd around at the threshold of the  fog and light filled stage.

Tomorrow we are getting out of the house and going to Bondi beach! Classes (they call them Intensives) start Tuesday  and go through Thursday for the next few weeks. We have been told the are more or less church services that last all day (8:30am-4pm), but we don't mind cause we are anxious to get out of the house and get busy.

Food, Water, Shelter...and Wi-FI.

It's Australia Day here. The natives tell us it's the equivalent to our Independence Day....minus the independence.  Everything is closed down for the most part and there is no school orientation today. So we are spending the hottest part of the day sprawled out on couches, sweating tapping away on our Macs and listening to music. Tonight we are going to grill out some chicken and rice, but I think that's as far as our festivities will carry us.

Our entire way of life has had been to be altered since living here. Our lifestyle has had evolve to such extents,  that even the core levels of basic survival have been affected. 

FOOD: Things are pricey down here. If some thing is say, 5 bucks back home, it's about 9 dollars here for smaller quantities. We have had to adapt. We honestly don't eat any snacks, only meals. We put away bread and kool-aid like it's going out of style (a whole loaf in one day). Nutella has become our new source of protein. We slap that stuff on anything that it'll spread over. I think we'll be tightening our belts before long.

Water: Apparently you have to pay to use it. The concept really doesn't make a lot of logical sense, seeing as  76% of the earth is literally covered with it. We no longer brush our teeth with the water running or let a jammed toilet (flushing) handle stay that way for very long considering it's money draining right out of our pockets. Though lately, we have spared some water to the plants and trees on our patio, seems we aren't the only ones suffering from the heat.

Shelter: For what you expect from five guys living under one roof, we actually keep this place pretty clean.  Apart from the occasional spoon or butter knife, dishes don't normally get to comfortable in the sink. The cost of running A/C is astronomical, so we keep all the windows down and most of the doors open to keep air flowing through the house. We have also been told that it cost so much to run dryers over here, that most people don't even own one (we don't), and just hang the clothes on a line, Little House On The Prairie style.

Walk-About in Sydney.

Right now we are sitting around on our laptops with sore feet, gulping on Kool-aid waiting for our George Foreman to warm up to cook hotdogs. It's been a long day of sight seeing.

Yes, we saw the Opera house, the Sydney Harbor Bridge ("The Coat Hanger"),  and Manly Beach.  Josh, Stephen, and I had already seen these sites before, but we revisited them because it was Bearden's first time. Which was quite fine by me, because Sydney is by far my favorite city in the world.

We also managed to get connected and rub shoulders with some others students today. We met so many new people and exchanged so many names I can only hope that when I run into them at school/church that I can match the name with the face. VERY few of the students are from Australia. We met people from Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Germany, Korea, and the good ol' U.S. We only met one guy going into the TV/Media program, which isn't really surprising seeing as there is only 16 people enrolled in the class (so we were told today).

Tomorrow at 9, is orientation. The more musically inclined members of the household are now busy practicing for their "auditions" they have tomorrow afternoon, apparently it's to decide which classes they will be put in.

First Sunday at Hillsong.

I'm guessing most of you read the title....it's pretty self explanatory, but I'll elaborate for the sake of this new blogging endeavor I'm taking on. Hopefully this will keep everyone at home up to snuff on all the happenings here on the island.

I can honestly say I have never been to a church like Hillsong. The energy and passion of not only the people on stage, but in the crowd as well, is amped up to levels higher than I have ever witnessed attained at any other assembly. It's hard not to feel like a stick-in-the-mud  standing still with my hands at my side, while the lady in front of me (probably old enough to be my mom) is holding her own dancing even while surrounded by a vast majority of young people.

One of my favorite communicators, Louie Giglio spoke as a guest speaker. I had heard him at a few Student Life Camps and only a month ago on Christmas Eve at Passion City church. I'm convinced that man never has an off day on stage.

Tomorrow, we are going out to tour Sydney with other students. I'm guessing it's kind of like a "Get to know each other/get to know the city" type thing. Josh, Bearden and I are leaving early to get money at the bank (which doesn't open till 9:30), then getting to the school by ten. Thankfully everything is relatively close together.

Also, in between services we filmed a video showcasing our house. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2TnZ7elHp4&feature=player_embedded

Maiden voyage of my first blog...

Ok, so apparently blogging is the cool artsy thing to do these days, so let's just get this over with as painless as possible. I just moved out of my parent's house and to Sydney Australia to study film/media at Hillsong United Leadership College. God has sent me on some crazy adventure before in remote areas of the earth, but this is by far the furthest and biggest one to date. I think this might be a running theme through my life, only time will tell.

Anyway, I'm going to try writing a little bit each day about what's going on over here. Hopefully people back home might take the time to read it, but even if they don't, I'll probably keep posting because I think I'm starting to like it....