In which I ignore my summer sabbatical from blogging to talk about the weather

Rainy season never ended in Jakarta this year. Normally by September, I'm breaking a sweat two minutes after I walk outside into muggy, thick heat. But this year, month after month has brought thunderstorms or plain rain up to several times a week. Someone told me it's El Nino or La Nina, but I'm not complaining. I've always loved a good thunderstorm, and rain in Jakarta beats down the pollution, cools the heat, and leaves us with blue skies and fresh air.

Of course, enjoying rain is a something of a luxury, one that I usually enjoy from indoors or inside a taxi. For many people, rain is a inconvenience and a hassle that does more than just snarl traffic beyond ordinary wretchedness, but I love the ingenuity and preparedness that I see in Jakartans. If you're out driving when the first drops start to fall, you'll see lines of motorbikes pulled over on the side of the road while riders retrieve rain jackets, ponchos, waterproof pants, or even large garbage bags from their storage compartments. Street vendors stretch tarps over their carts, and people find any kind of roof under which to wait out the rain.

I was not so prepared last week. When I decided to make a quick trip to the grocery store last weekend for some last-minute ingredients to round out a salad for a potluck, I knew that I was flirting dangerously with the growly-looking weather. I would have stuck an umbrella in my purse, but somehow I've lost both my umbrellas. I made it to the mini-bus before the heavens opened, but by the time I needed to get off, I knew that I couldn't avoid getting very wet. I dashed into the grocery store, getting some laughs from the security guards, who laughed again when they saw me walk out.

My grocery list?
2 yellow peppers
1 candy bar
1 umbrella

Australia (alternatively titled: "What has taken me so long?")

Australia was not the trip that I would planned for myself (that is amply demonstrated by the numerous times we went shopping, the lack of museum visits, and the vast numbers of photos of students that I took, photos that I will not be showing you because I think it would be weird if pictures of me popped up in my teacher's blog), but it was still a great trip, not least because I got to see some of my students outside of the school context.

And it was Australia, where I felt surprisingly at home and started playing the "where would I live in Australia?" game (answer: Melbourne).

Brief chronology:
Sydney--We arrived Tuesday morning after an overnight flight and left Saturday morning. We spent some time visiting our "sister" and "brother" secondary schools and touring the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales.

Brisbane/Gold Coast--We arrived late Saturday morning and stayed in a tourist town called Surfer's Paradise. We were here for pure theme park pleasure: DreamWorld and MovieWorld. We left early Monday morning.

Melbourne: We visited two more universities (Monash University and the University of Melbourne) on Monday and Tuesday before flying back (via Sydney) on Wednesday.

Ok, so you knew these pictures were coming, so I'll just get the Opera House out of the way right from the beginning. It's an incredible structure, and we saw it on a beautiful day, so I had way too much fun experimenting I've spared you from many of the "playing around with these cool functions on my camera," but forgive me if I still have too many favorites.


Here's what I mean when I said that it looks kind of funny from close up. Please ignore the tilt.


And my postcard perfect picture?

Thank you "vivid blue" function.

I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but Sydney Harbour (should I include the "u" in harbor or not?) is really big, much bigger than it looks in Finding Nemo.

This is the Harbour Bridge (to get into your best Australian accent, trying dropping your "arrrs" when you say "harbour). It's not on quite as many postcards as the Opera House, but it's definitely a city landmark. If I'm ever in Sydney again, I want to do the Bridge Climb to the top.

Isn't it cool? When deciding on a print to buy as a souvenir, I wanted to say "I was in Sydney" not "I WAS IN SYDNEY!" so I went for the Bridge and not the Opera House.
I would like to explore Sydney more. It has modern skyscrapers and office buildings.


But also beautiful older buildings.


And it has Bondi Beach, where I was able to spend a whole afternoon. When the kids wanted to go shopping for the umpteenth time, our tour guide let me stay at the beach for a couple of extra hours. Reading, walking on the beach, people watching, sunbathing, swimming in the ocean, and playing in the waves made for a beautiful afternoon.

Again with the tilt. I'm sorry. My head must have been on crooked.

I don't have many pictures from the theme parks on the Gold Coast because roller coasters are pretty much the same the world over, but I had encounters with Australian wildlife in DreamWorld. Here's the baby koala I held. It had some cheesy name like "Pepper," but it was very cute and soft.

I'm pretty sure that I petted a kangaroo, but I actually don't remember. They were really placid, trying to stay cool at midday, so I saw no bouncing, only this slow, strange way that kangaroos move when they're not bouncing, which kinds of looks like a swing set or the wheels of a locomotive.

I have no good pictures of the Melbourne sights. For example, this one has runner blur and bus glare, but I really did like Melbourne. It seems like an interesting town with a strong arts and culture scene. It has a good public transportation system, and it actually has coolish weather, so I got to wear a jacket. If Sydney is a cool place to visit, then Melbourne is where I would actually want to live.


Here's the place where I had the yummy Vietnamese soup pho and where I laughed at the sign on the window.

And then, just like that, we were back.

Overall? A beautiful trip.

Dah-ling Hah-bah
(Darling Harbour)

It's not you...

Dear blog,

I have neglected you sorely lately. Ever since I got back from Australia, I've had grand plans to put up beautiful pictures of the sights I saw to show the fun I had. But you know what coming back from a trip is like. There's dirty laundry to wash and souvenirs to distribute to friends and then there's work to catch up on.


Ah yes, the work. It seems like a mountain of work was waiting for me when I got back, and I'm still not out from under it. It seems like no matter what I do (waking up early, staying late at school, clearing my weekend schedule), the work doesn't go away or get any better. And frankly, this month has been a long stretch of feeling like I'm not cutting it. I'm behind on grading, and when I get stressed, my apartment goes to pieces, and I forget to buy groceries and decide that popcorn for dinner isn't such a bad idea--again, and then the procrastination starts and then I'm swamped again, feeling like I'm failing my students, feeling disappointed with myself, feeling like I'm just not good at life right now.


I'm hoping that I've turned a corner. I'm hoping that April showers bring May flowers. I'm hoping that the women's retreat I'm going to this weekend will be a time of refreshing, a time of feeling the Savior's love and encouragement, a time of renewal.


I'm hoping.


Warmly,
Laura

Australian Ode

Oh what a joy,

To drink water from the tap.

Australian Lament

The trouble with coming to Australia
in autumn
is that they are all summer brown,
while I
(an indoor creature in Jakarta,
who moves from air-conditioned space
to air-conditioned space)
am white white white,

until I got sunburn
on the backs of my legs.

Surprises

When I asked one of my students what was surprising about Australia, she said PDA (a newly aquiredand quickly adopted acronym for her) and prices.

Yes, Australian boyfriends and girlfriends are more demonstrative than their Indonesian counterparts, and yes, stuff is much more expensive, but for me, Australia feels comfortable. I understand people (how exciting to eavesdrop again!), and I can make myself understood. I don't have the constant nagging feeling that I'm doing something wrong to offend someone.

So beside the theme park and getting to hold a koala, besides visiting Bondi Beach, besides meeting with Australian teachers, besides the good food and lovely hotel, it's been nice to feel a little bit closer to my cultural home.

Of course, I broadcast my "not-from-hereness" as soon as I take out ridiculously large bill, fumble with change, or open my mouth and let forth my Midwestern accent. But when I apologize or say thank you, I hear that wonderful Australian expression in reply:

"No worries."

Sydney, briefly

It's impossible to describe any trip without resorting to cliches like amazing and incredible, but so far, this one has been pretty good, particularly because it's a treat to interact with my students outside of school. We've done a little too much shopping and not enough museum-going for my taste, but I only have my parents to blame for my taste. I'm taking pictures of all the things you would expect me to photograph (Opera House, students, city at night, waterfront), and some of them have even turned out well. We still have a few days left in Sydney and a bit more free time, so I'm hoping to see more and find some souvenirs that are better than a koala keychain. I have seen some items for sale made from unmentionable parts of a kangaroo, but I don't think those will make it into my suitcase.

Just a snippet that made me laugh today: Outside the Queen Victoria Building (shopping center), there's a majestic statue of the lovely queen, and a few yards away, there's a much less majestic but much more entertaining fountain that features Ivan, the queen's beloved Scottish terrier. The money tossed in goes to charities for deaf and blind kids. If you stand nearby, every couple of minutes you'll hear a recording say:

"Hello, my name is Ivan. I was once the companion and friend of the great Queen Victoria. Because of the many good deeds I have done for the deaf and blind children, I have been given the power of speech. If you cast a coin into the wishing well now, I will say thank you. (Pause.) Thank you. (Woof! Woof!)

And if you're like me, you'll laugh a lot and then whip out a notepad to take notes.