Good bye Aussie land….

                So here I am, 4 months older with longer hair sitting here in cold Minnesota.  I have learned more in the past 4 months than I ever thought imaginable.  I learned some things about myself that I never would have expected.  The world is a big place and there are so many great people and fun experiences that I never even thought about.  For example, I had never thought about what people are like in Norway, but I now know that Norwegians are some of my favorite people (elske du).  I also never knew what a true German acted like until I became good friends with Max and Thomas.  I have made some lifelong friendships and some memories that will never be forgotten.

               There are certain things that I would love to take away from Australian culture.  First off, I think all Americans need to take on more of the “no worries” attitude.  Another thing that I noticed after returning to America is that everyone seems to need to be constantly doing something.  For example, I love my parents, but I recently noticed that they almost always need to be doing something or getting something done.  I have noticed this with almost everyone since I have returned home.  People here love their laptops, I Pad, and phones.    This can be both a good thing and a bad thing and I am in no way insulting my parents.  I have noticed this for most of America.  On my way home I found that I was perfectly content just sitting on the plane and thinking the whole time.  In fact, I spent a total of around 24 hours actually on a plane and barely any of that time was spent doing anything.  I think I watched one movie, but other than that I was perfectly content just sitting there and reflecting on what I have been given in life.  I have actually really learned to enjoy my moments of silence. 

                I have also noticed that a lot of people are very serious and sometimes stresses about their job.  For example,  once I arrived in LAX airport, I encountered many overly serious workers.  One of the first people I saw in America was an extremely angry and loud security woman.  She started yelling at me while I was on crutches.  I wanted to yell at her, but I controlled myself.  It was just interesting because I did not experience that type of thing the whole time while I was in Australia. 

                I hope that this trip has permanently changed my attitude.  It is so easy in life to stress about things that do not really matter in the long run.  Life is short, spend it doing the things you love with those you love remembering who has given you the ability to love.  Unfortunately, I love surfing, but my parents have told me that moving is not an option. Haha No worries, I am going to keep working on it…

                In the end, I love you Australia and I am so grateful for all the friends and memories I have made.  “Cheers and G’day mate!”      

     

2 weeks of being an only child in OZ land…

                Stepping off the bus to see my parents may have been one of the most exciting moments of my life.  I have absolutely loved Australia and I was so grateful to have an opportunity to share the experience with the  two of the most important people in my life, my parents.  There was definitely a lot of “frothin” going on well they were here…  Let me provide some examples.

                Unfortunately the first day they arrived in “paradise,” I was busy spending my time in a classroom attempting two of the hardest finals of my life.  But after finishing those brutal exams (Econometrics and Portfolio analysis and management), it was time to start having some fun.  The next week on the Gold Coast involved some beautiful beaches, surfing, body boarding, pools, hottubbing, sauna, home cooking, movie nights, magic nights featuring good ole Scotty Flom (I think my friends changed their mind about who the coolest Flom was), and cliff jumping which unfortunately came with a trip to the hospital.

I was frothin off my chops the whole week because I had the opportunity to show my parents the amazing life I had built while living on the other side of the world.  For the first time in my life, I was not able to rely on anyone.  If I wanted food, I had to cook.  If I wanted to make friends, it was my job to start the friendships.  I was able to actually apply a lot of the knowledge my father has told me over the years.  I was able to be whoever I wanted to be.  It was an absolutely incredible feeling to see how proud my parents were of me.  I learned how to live alone.  Whether it was memorizing all of the buses and bus times or figuring out how to live in the Australian culture, I was the one who was able to inform my parents.  For the first time in my life, my father looked and sounded like the “clueless outsider.”  Lets just say this, when ordering food my father asked for a “chicken sandwich, a pop, and extra ketchup….”  Aimee, one of my good Australian friends, did not even understand what he just asked for.  Also, it took a while for Scotty to figure out that people in Australia do not say “no problems mate….”  He is still working on his Aussie accent, but it has definitely improved.  It all added to the fun of the trip.

Next, we decided to travel all around New Zealand for a week.  Heaps of hours were spent driving.  I was very proud of my dad for his ability to drive on the “wrong” side of the road.  We were lucky enough to see some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen in my life.  A few of the highlights were: Milford sound, Queenstown, bungy jumping, jet boating, Arthur’s pass, and hiking the ice glaciers.  I think pop and I will always have a special bond considering the fact that we jumped 15 stories off a bridge together.  I was proud to call him my father.  I was also quite proud of my mom for her ability to adapt to every situation.  Most women would not hop in a jet boat and risk their life, but my mom was more than willing to “take one for the team.”  New Zealand was one of the most incredible and beautiful places I have ever seen in my life.  Pictures will never do it justice.  Just standing in the midst of some of the landscape made me so grateful for everything God has created and all the amazing opportunities that he has given me. 

In the end, the past two weeks have majorly “filled my cup.”  I will always remember what my parents did for me and I will always be grateful.  It may sound stupid, but those were definitely two of the most memorable weeks of my life. (ignoring my little injury)  To end this blog, I would be extremely grateful if you did me a favor, next time you see my father, ask him to say “no worries mate” in his incredible accent. THANKS!

 

Weekend with the Grommets

I recently when on a surf trip with about 12 awesome Australian mates down at Lennox Head.  This is one of the best places to surf in the world.  I did not initially know it, but it was actually with an organization called Christian Surfers.  The weekend was amazing!  Not only did we surf almost the whole weekend, but I was also able to experience what it is like to hang out with a bunch of grommets.  You may wonder what I mean by “grommets.”  A grommet is a teenage Aussie who can just rip it on a surf board.  They make Johnny Tsunami look like a stupid bloke.  They were a blast to hang out with!  They always seemed to be “stoked” or “frothin off deir chops” the whole weekend.  Although I admit it was a little embarrassing trying to surf with them. 

 This weekend helped teach me a lot about the Australian culture and they way they deal with certain things.  First of all, they really do have a “no worries” attitude towards almost every situation.  They also love to joke around.  Even during a situation where an American would be really serious and stressed out, they seem to just throw around jokes and laugh about it.  For example, we were struggling to get a car started the day that we were trying to head home and multiple grommets just came up to the driving and started making jokes.  A group of American would normally be really concerned and serious about this situation, but the Aussie’s were definitely not serious.  “Oi! I know what’s wrong with your car mate…. It is a piece a crap, aye!” one grommet said.  Followed by another grommet saying “No mate, I know what da problem with your car is mate….  You’re gay!!!”  Followed by an adult Aussie saying “Well mate, sounds like you got a big lizard stuck in your carburetor.  So what you godda do is catch yourself a croc and put him in dere to eat the lizard, aye..”  Ultimately, none of these comments helped start the car.  Luckily, my American mate Pete Dougherety was smart enough to convince them to push it down the hill and try starting it.  It worked like a charm even though there was a fence that almost got run over. 

Ps I wish I was a Grommet!

Twelve apostles (Great Ocean Road)

This last weekend I was lucky enough to travel to Melbourne.  While in Melbourne, four of us decided to rent a car and drive the Great Ocean Road.  This is a road that literally goes along the ocean all the way until you get to the Twelve Apostles at the end.  This was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever experienced.  We were constantly pulling the car over just to try and soak in the amazing view.  After five hours of driving, we arrived at the Twelve Apostles.  The Twelve Apostles are basically twelve huge rocks that are surrounded by water.  It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  No picture can even do it justice.  This experience just reminded me of how amazing the world really is.  I am so blessed to be experiencing things like this.

Shout out to my little sis Janelley!  I wish you could have come on this trip to help take amazing pictures!  Love ya

Language of a 'stralian....

I thought it would be good to write this blog because it will help me remember some of these words or phrases once I get home.  These are all things that I have heard well here in Aussie Land.  There is more, but some of those phrases are innapropriate. haha

·        Mate (Yes, everyone uses it and it is awesome.  And I will probably accidentally say it many times when I get back home.)

·         Hows ya goin? (No one says how are you.  Even I say “hows ya goin mate?” without even trying.)

·         No worries (Australians actually do say this quite a bit.  I have replaced “don’t worry about it” and “you are welcome” with “no worries.”)

·         G’day mate (whats up dude?)

·         Arvo (This means afternoon.  For some reason they think arvo is short for afternoon, but it definitely isn’t.)

·         Mum (the say mom like mum and they also spell it mum.)

·         Brekky (breakfast)

·         Sunnies (obviously sunglasses or shades)

·         Boardies (swimsuit)

·         Fancy (like)

·         Gun (refers to a guy who is a stud)

·         Tea (If you ask someone to tea that actually means you are asking them to dinner.  And supper means desert or something strange like that.)

·         Hey? (Some Australians finish their sentences with “hey.”  At first I thought they were saying “aye” like they were Canadian, but it is actually “hey.”  It is their way of turning a sentence into a question by just adding “hey” at the end of it.)

·         Petrol (no one says “gas” here.   Trust me… haha)

·         Cheers mate (thank you)

·         Bloke (refers to a guy.)

·         Beaut (great, fantastic)

·         Have a go (give it a try)

·         Kangaroos loose in the top paddock (intellectually inadequate!!  Love this one!)

Shout out to the beautiful Swedish Girl below.  Your awesome Hanne!

Past couple weeks...

A lot has happened since my last blog.  I went to Byron Bay, land of the hippies and amazing swell.  This trip was terrific and it was really fun to experience a totally different culture.  I went with Mitch, Chris, Natalie, Nicole, and Katie.  Mitch and Chris are my fun surfing buddies from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  No, the one from Massachusetts is no gay. lol  They are for sure two of my closest friends here.  Natalie is just a ball of sunshine right out of California.  Nicole and Katie are both always fun as well due to their worry free attitude.  Katie is actually from Augsburg college in MN which makes me soooo happy.  We will continue to have great times even once we get back to the frozen tundra. 

Byron Bay was definitely not as big and luxurious as surfer’s paradise, but that is why it was so fun.  The hostel we stayed at was sweet.   Let’s just say there were rainbows and hippies everywhere.  I do not agree with everything these people think or do, but I do appreciate the fact that they know how to have a "no worries" type of attitude.   Most of these people are walking around with barely any money yet a lot of happiness.  They appreciate the journey in life.   Sometimes I think that Americans can be overly uptight.  People are so concerned with making money that they forget to enjoy the journey of life. 

Another fun thing I did was go to a true Australian Rugby game.  I watched the Brisbane Reds play the Melbourne Rebels.  The reds stomped them 50-3, but it was still fun to experience a true rugby game.  The environment there was incredible and it was different than your typical American football game.  Hmmm what else did I do?  Rock pools!  These were awesome!  Mom, dad…. We are definitely doing these once you get here.  You can jump off these cliffs or you can go down this natural waterslide.  It was awesome!  I have already talked to some of my Australian friends about taking us!   Although it is not better than bridge jumping at the cabin in the summer… : )

There are a lot more stories that I hope to tell all of you one day, but unfortunately I am a little too overwhelmed with homework to tell you all of them now, but I will update you again soon!  I am going to Melbourne this weekend so I will definitely try and bring back some great stories. 

Who am I? Who should I be? What do people want me to be? What does the Lord want me to be?

WHO AM I???  This is a constant debate.  The world (friends, family, “the media”, etc.) tells me and makes me feel like I should be a certain way.  But how do I know that they are correct about who I am supposed to be?  What if I want to be something completely different, but I cannot be “myself” due to their judgments or criticism?   Maybe I am the only one who struggles with this, but I doubt it.  Self identity is a huge issue in this day and age.  I speak from experience.  I have always been overly concerned with what people think about me.  This has given people the ability to dictate WHO I am.  I realize that I am only supposed to listen to the Lord when it comes to these types of things, but it is easier said than done.  I know that people in my life do not purposely try to limit who I am.  It is my fault for giving their opinion so much power.  The first month in Australia I absolutely loved it because no one expected a certain behavior out of me.  This gave me the ability to determine what or who I want to be.  Most of the time it is about little stupid things, but that sense of freedom makes a big difference.  It may be as stupid as “am I a long hair or short hair type of guy?”  Or maybe “am I funny person in the group or am I the serious one?”  I know there are certain characteristics that I want to have, but that definitely does not mean I have them.  I realize I probably do not look as good with long hair, but it is something that I wanted to do.  It is hard for me to do something other than what people expect of me, but it is important that I learn how to be my own person.  Or better yet, the Lord’s.  I do not have all the answers to these types of questions, but I am working on finding the answers.  As I sit here reading my Bible, I come across many verses that talk about giving ALL of myself to the Lord.  I constantly pray that I can do this, but the truth is that I have failed at it.  I am going to do the best I can to base my answers on the Lord and not worldly opinions, but I can use all the prayer I can get. 

I had an interesting thing happen to me recently while I was spending some time with the Lord.  Those close to m know that I have recently been going through some tests of faith.  I recently had some sort of allergic reaction and it was not very good on my body.  Sometimes when you least expect it, bad things happen.  The question is, where are we going to turn when bad things happen?   While I am proud to say that I actually quickly turned to the Lord in this particular situation. In fact, something pretty powerful happened to me.  I was holding my Bible and praying harder than I have probably ever prayed.  I prayed that the Lord could work in my life and that I would stop giving Satan so much power of my life.  At that very moment while I was praying these words, I noticed a drip of blood hit my Bible.  I felt my nose and realized that I had a bloody nose; in fact, it was probably the worst bloody nose that I have ever experienced.  I realize this could likely just be a random coincidence, but I am not going to look at it that way.  I am going to look at it as a reminded that Lord is at work in my life.  It may not always be easy or visually appealing, but He is there and He is at work.  The Lord is “refining me through the fire.”  He has my complete attention.  I hope that in the future I am able to constantly keep my attention on the Lord so I do not have to struggle so much.