Not in the "Right" State of Mind and Snowmen Building 101

I feel like such an American. The whole time I have been here I have been learning small differences between the Aussie culture and the American culture. Some are obvious like the fact that they drive on the other side of the road (and the car, the drivers seat is on our passenger side) and learning that its safest to look right-left-right (instead of left-right-left) before crossing. But today I realized something I should have picked up on a while ago. This whole time I have gone down the stairs on the right side, walked on the sidewalk on the right side, stayed to the right at the mall, through the hallways on the right. Its just something we always did, I remember being told in elementary school that we are meant to stay to the right. Well, not in Australia. Even though I was constantly finding that I was walking directly at people and either they would go around me or I would go around them, I didn't catch on to this. Finally, after class as a herd of students were coming up the steps and I was going down the thought came to mind and Bev (my cooperating teacher) confirmed it, THEY STICK TO THE LEFT! So the rest of the day I tried conscientiously sticking to the left side. It is a tough habit to break!

Now that I have shared my silly American story, I will share a silly Aussie story:

During lunch today, one of the teachers was tell us about how her cousin had purposed while on a holiday in Canada by sticking the ring in a snow man. South Australia doesn't really get snow, so many of the people here haven't ever seen it. Apparently this proposal snowman sucked cause the Australian figured you made a snowman like you make a sand castle. Those of you who have ever made a proper snowman knows that this is not the case. So I am trying to picture what all these people would do when they run into a heap of snow - they would take their sand buckets pack the snow in them and turn then upside down or they would gather and pack it all up with their hands. One teacher mentioned that you 'apparently start with a small snowball and roll it on the ground.' I just couldn't help myself but to laugh until I had tears. This was a very entertaining conversation for me! (don't worry, I told them this would end up in my blog). I explained that as you roll your small snowball that it picks up more and more snow getting bigger and bigger. and that snow men typically were make from three large snowballs made in this fashion, well a large, medium and small snowball. I had asked them if they had ever heard of the term "snowball effect" and said that this is what that term is referring to. They said they had never really thought about it that way but now that they did, they understood it. They also said that they have seen in cartoons (like The Simpsons) when someone would fall down a snowy hill and roll they would become a giant snowball but never figured that it really did work that way. HAHAHAHA! I love it here! We all like to laugh at each other.

Well, for this week the school has been pretty quiet. The year 10s and 11s have been gone the entire week at camp and then the year 8s went to a retreat Thursday and Friday. It has been kind of nice in that there aren't any lines in the dining room and that the staff room has been quiet, also with the year 8s gone I have gotten a few extra open lesson times to work on things and catch up with Cedarville friends online.

My CU friends are 8.5 hours later than here, but also a day behind, so if you can imagine their schedules are close to reverse of mine. I miss them a lot! Living off campus, while it was nice and quiet, had me sort of distanced from my friends on campus because meals have always been a good time of fellowship. I guess I realized today how much I really really do miss them! They are going on Spring Break this next week. A group of them are going to California and some are going to Florida, haha heading to the sunny weather (I still get the CU emails about delays and grounding University vehicles and it just makes me glad to be here).

My friend Krista, with some of my guidance, decided to go on the Mexico Spring Break MIS trip. I miss Mexico. I wish that I had either gone in Freshman or Sophomore year or made some way for me to go this year. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime. The Missionary Kids (MKs) were the targets of out ministries. I think that this ministry is so unique and special to them since they aren't usually the targets of ministry, they are often a part of their parents ministry and have to deal with being in the background a lot. The kids came from 3 main Christian schools and then some home schooled kids came as well. Camp was full of activities, crafts, getting to be a pirate for the week, skits, Bible studies, chapels, great conversations, and just tearing down the walls these kids had around them. It was the last full day of camp that my fellow team member's life had changed. Dan was practicing back flips for a skit and something went wrong. He ended up breaking his neck, which caused him to become paralyzed. Since then he has been through so many ups and downs, procedures, tests and adjusting to a new lifestyle. Dan was in the same year at CU as I am in, and for our class gift this year, we are raising money to help fund renovating a room on campus in the men's dorm for handicapped students. This last summer this was done in one of the women's dorms for a student coming in with Cerebral palsy. Dan is working on getting to go back to Cedarville and finish up his Law degree. Feel free to visit his blog for more of his story of the past year: http://checkinondan.blogspot.com/. Please be in prayer for the MIS team going to Mexico, for safe travels and for a strong ministry. Many of the kids will remember Dan and remember last year. His accident was a huge eye opener to these kids to realize that they needed the Lord in their lives. Please be praying for their hearts and for their walls they have built up to come tumbling down.