exactly one month in Australia

Okay so this week was a bit more mellow. I went into the city with my friend Luc and we had some Indonesian food which was really good and it wasn't very expensive. Just my style! Then we went and looked at the city all lit up at night. It was beautiful. Then a couple days later I went with Luc to this party his friends were having. We had hamburgers that tasted really good. I met some other guys and I really enjoyed meeting new people. Simon his friend that I met my first day here was there, so we chatted. Then they invited me to come play basketball with them this week so hopefully I can remember how and keep up with them. I don't think I'm in the best shape. Oh well it will be fun. Then I went into the city on Saturday. I went to Queen Victoria's Market which is where you can buy practically everything you can imagine. Vegetables, fruit, meat, clothes, shoes, souvenirs, trinkets, boomerangs, Australia stuff and even desserts. It was really fun just wandering around. Then I went to the store Something Aussie. Then I ran and caught the bus back and Christabelle picked me up to go watch the AFL game at Linda's house. We cheered on Hawthorne who ended up winning Geelong by 30 points. It was a fun game and it seems to go by much quicker than American football games. The rules are different and there is so much more movement going on. Anyways, it was really fun. Then I went home and I started reading the Eclipse book. Sorry these aren't the best pictures but everyone tells me I need to post more pictures, and with me in it. Well its difficult getting pictures that are good, because I'm taking them all of myself. Anyways, the weather is absolutely beautiful here and you walk outside and you can smell the flowers. There are so many beautiful flowers, they are a bright colors and I absolutely love spring. Anyways, on Sunday I went to church and then my friends picked me up and we went to the fireside. I met a few more people there and then we left. We drove to look at this place where the water comes out of a cave. It was quite dark so I couldn't see that much but it looked pretty cool. Anyways, love and miss you guys, but I'm doing great and the time is speeding by.

Galleries

Well after finding a nice pathway to jog on and a succesful fall down the stairs I managed to make it out the door and I caught the bus to downtown Melbourne. I had to then get off and catch a train in order to go to Federation Square. When I was on the bus I didn't hear my stop so I ended up getting off and I didn't exactly know where I was but I ran into the State Library of Victoria so I went inside and then I read for a little bit in the reading room. Afterwards I left and eventually found the train station. When I went to get on the train I had lost the paper of the directions saying what train I was supposed to take but I thought I vaguely remembered so I hopped on that train. Luckily I was right and I made it to Federation Square. I went to the National Gallery of Victoria and I looked at tons of art done by Australians and even an exhibit displaying Aboriginal art. Then I went and had lunch at a little cafe. Then I went for a walk and ended up at the NGV international. I saw art done by artists from all over the world and they much to my suprise had a great exhibit with greek, roman, and egyptian artifacts. Then they even had furniture from different styles and time periods.

Then I went and walked around. I croseed the princess bridge and I saw the shrine of remembrance, saw a little bit of the gardens and walked along the Yarra River. It was a beautiful but breezy day. Then I decided I better try and find my way back before it got dark. So I hopped on a train back to Parliament house because I knew that the bus I needed stopped there. I waited and walked around because it didn't come for another 45 minutes. I went to 711 and bought a Cola and looked in a few of the stores. It was really fun being out in the city. I think I am going to spend more time there on the weekends. Oh and today I went to my offical ward for all three meetings. Everyone was fairly friendly but by the time I walked there and back and had church it was kind of a long day. Oh well, church was nice. I even met one of the elders and apparently we went to high school together. He is in the same ward in PG as Wendy's sister Kristen. His last name was Dulcos or Dlucos or something like that. Anyways, I'm still having a blast here.

Ballarat, Cranbourne, Research, Research, and More Research

On Monday we went to Ballarat for an alcohol forum at the bowling center. There were 7 kids there and it was freezing it was raining, hailing, the wind was so cold I almost froze to death. We caught lunch at McDonalds which they call Mackers and I was so excited to have a fountain drink my first one here. Then we went to a coffee shop and I had some hot chocolate. Its about a two hour drive and it is darling, because the town was built during the gold rush so they have really pretty old buildings. I really want to go back and explore there and go to Sovereign Hill. Oh and on the way there I saw my first kangaroo. The only unfortunate part is that it was road kill and it looked pretty stiff. The countryside was pretty and we passed some vineyards. We even went and had KFC for dinner. We even met with the electorate council in ballarat and Mary spoke to them about what she does and anwered their questions. They are quite concerned about how seniors will have to purchase 5 bus tickets now instead of 1. Then they asked a lot about teenagers and drinking. They are concerned about outsourcing, and crime and punishment. One guy said that when he got caught drunk driving, he was beaten by the police then once guy piped up and said yeah but that was in south Africa. It was really funny. And he said no it happened here. Everyone there was over 65 and there were probably about 10 people there. It was in a hotel but it was connected to a bar so there were drunk people we could hear singing and sometimes it was hard to hear Mary. The guys kept waving to me and stuff so I didn’t want to go get a cola outside cause I thought they might talk to me. I was kind of embarrassed. The people were really friendly and asked me about the US and the upcoming election and what I thought about Sara Pallin as VP. There was a lady there with a cute country old lady shirt on with a funny collar and stuff on it and then she had like flamingo lipstick on. It was cute but funny. We were no longer in the city, but I really did like that town. Except that it was freezing.
On Tuesday I watched question time on tv, researched, read, went to Cranbourne with Mary and they were discussing the methane and garbage dump problems and how its going into houses. Everyone refers to them as bogans (White Trailor Park Trash). Everyone was really upset which I understand but they were like yelling and saying their opinions and telling some of the councilman to sit down, because they didn’t like what they were saying, there was swearing, one guy was yelling as he walked out and talking about rotting animals and hes a garbo man (garbage) and he had a Collingwood AFL sweatshirt on. It was very entertaining. Oh and at lunch we went to a book store at Donvale Shopping Center and I got a book called the Bronze horseman. Hopefully it will be a good one. Oh and I finished the book Twilight. Oh and on the way back I explained to Mary what a temple was and how it differs from a chapel and what we do there. I hope she understood what I was trying to say. I have never had to explain my beliefs before, because I’ve always been in Utah, its hard and a lot of the time, I am afraid they will ask me something I don’t know the answer to.
Wednesday, I researched assisted reproductive technology for the upcoming bill dealing with homosexuals and ART and I also looked at womens affairs stuff for the upcoming policy. I looked at past media releases. By the way, no one seems to really like my rootbeer barrels. Christabelle says they taste like medicine and Linda said it was okay, but Luke really likes them and Mary didn’t want to try any. They are completely crazy. They are the bomb. Oh and I found out who Buddy Franklin is. Hes a really hot AFL player for Hawthorne. He is really good at it, beautiful aborigine with blue eyes, and he just bought a house in Donvale so maybe I will see him around. Wink wink

Box Hill

Okay sorry its taken me a while to get my next blog up. I was planning on doing it over the weekend but it went by to quickly and I cant believe its almost Thursday. Okay so on Friday I babysat and got $75 for one child for 5 hours and he was asleep for half of the time. It was the easiest money I've ever made. Then Saturday I went to the Moon Festival. It was a Chinese Festival in Box Hill which is the next major suburb over. Oh and I even bought a cute black jacket that will even be functional when it gets warmer outside. Oh and a new shirt, so I am excited to wear it. I was so excited to be able to shop and look around. I hope I get to babysit more often. It was pretty fun, but I was ready to leave. I have never stuck out more in a crowd than I did that day. It was like being a giant at the small people convention. Anyways, then that night I went out with the girl I live with Mel to Sofia's restaurant. It was good Italian food and then we watched a chick flick. On Sunday I didn't have a ride to church so I walked for an hour to get there but it was fine. I found it and went to church. I missed most of sacrament meeting though, so I ended up going to the other two meetings and then catching the sacrament meeting of the ward which I really am supposed to go to at 1:00. I think I will go to that ward even though there are more YSA in the 9:00 AM ward. Then I caught a ride home and did a few things for a while and then I went to the CES firside and this girl named Heather picked me up which is nice because I lived out of the way. We had fun and I got home late. The only thing is because they have treats after the fireside and everyone chats for an hour. I quickly run out of stuff to talk about so then I feel like a hoverer. I am the foreigner that doesn't know anyone. I'm working on it though. Anyways, I hate chatting time after firesides.

So far a lot has happened since I packed up and came to Australia. I was picked up by my future coworker and taken to my apartment when the owners happened to be in Sydney. I soon got settled in and found my way to church. I was able to make some friends and I even went to a fireside that night. The next day I went to work and I got to go to a briefing at the Parliament building downtown. Then I got to go to Geelong and went with my boss and coworker to some meetings. The next day I rode the bus into the city and went to an annual conference on womens affairs and the focus was on women in the workforce. It was really quite interesting. Then I went with my work to a fundraiser at a local Greek restaurant. The food was really good and I have never been so full. Then on Saturday I went on a motorcycle ride to the hills and got to take a walk through the bush (or rather I would call it a forest). I didn't get to see any wild kangaroos or pandas but it was beautiful. There was an absolutelly beautiful lookout over Victoria. Then I was able to go up to Dandenong which is also in the bush and I got to ride on Puffing Billy the steam engine train. My boss's three year old son had a lot of fun. Being around a little kid again made me feel less homesick for my 12 kids. I cannot wait to see what awaits me in Australian adventures this weekend. I think that I will try to hit a few museums or something.