Much needed update, hey?

First off, my apologies... It has been a VERY long time. Our life in the past month+ has been a mix of ups and downs. Let me see if I can give you a good, brief update....



Josh and I have done a few trips outside our little Bella Vista shire. I
have the opportunity to plan a little  birthday scavenger hunt for two of my housemates in the wonderful city of Sydney. We spent the afternoon exploring, taking lots of photos, and hanging out with some great people. We then had dinner at a fabulous and fairly inexpensive Thai restaurant right on the water near Harbour Bridge. Here are a few pictures that sums up the day....

We also spent a day exploring three to four beaches with our dear friends, Cam and Sus, as well as some new friends. Cam offered up one of his short boards for Josh to try out the waves. The surf was a bit too intense for Josh but he did put in some effort. I, myself, just enjoyed the sun and napping on the beach. :) Here are a few pics from that adventure.... 

On a recent Sunday, we ended up traveling to the Blue Mountains, about an hour away, with our new friends, Shelby and Brian. (They are from Kentucky.) We hiked a few trails and got to see some awesome waterfalls. After a bit of a hike, we sat down and had some drinks at a mountain-top cafe. The Blue Mountains sort of reminds me of a Grand Canyon but filled with trees. You hike down into the valleys rather than up a mountain. Let me see if I have some pictures to show you... :)  

(hehee. Josh wanted me to show this one as he tried really hard to line this up just right.) 

Last weekend, I got my FIRST Saturday of work off! You have no idea how excited I was to be able to say I had a WHOLE weekend off!! Sleeping in was AH-MAHZING. Anyways, we were invited for that Saturday to our first "American Thanksgiving" in Australia. Josh's friend from school, Matt, invited us to his place along with 50+ other people, mostly all Aussies, to experience an American Thanksgiving. Each family had to bring a dish that was designated for them that represented a piece of an American Thanksgiving. We were in charge of bringing sweet potato casserole (the one with the pecans and marshmallows and brown sugar... Yumm). They are renting (possibly buying) a beautiful house right on the ocean in the Northern Beaches.. just north of Sydney. We had a great time and I was soooo comforted by the tastes of home. :) Smoked turkey (from a homemade smoker), green bean casserole, corn, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cornbread, and pies! I also contributed some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and the kids inhaled them! We kept the fact that they had a "vegetable" in them a secret.. otherwise they wouldn't have eaten them. We have discovered that pumpkin is ONLY considered a vegetable here and would NEVER be used in a dessert. :) Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this day. :( 

In other exciting news, we have been blessed with not one but TWO cars. They were LITERALLY given to us. This was definitely an answer to prayers. You have no idea. The first one, a '96 Hyundai two-door, was given to us by one of Josh's friends from school. It wasn't working but his friend said that if Josh could get it to work, then we could have it. Josh discovered that it was a leaky hose and so after fixing it, the car turned on right away! This car had no registration so it would cost us about $1300 to put registration/insurance/minor fixings to the car to get it on the road. We were ok with this. 

About a week later, Josh's good friend from when he lived in Australia before phoned him up and offered to us his 1988 Mazda 4-door with seven months registration on it. He and his wife are expecting their first child soon and they just bought a new car. They really wanted to bless us with a car and so we inherited their car! This one we don't have to do anything to it and it is in great condition. We are so excited and blessed beyond belief to be able to go anywhere when we please! :) I will definitely get some pictures of this one and post them for you all to see. The other one, Josh is planning on fixing up, putting rego on it, and selling it to someone else who would need it. We are more trying to just cover any of the costs that we put into the car. 

On another note, I have been having some issues with my health. Since being here, I have been having some stomach/intestinal issues that seem to be getting worse with time. It seems like everything that I eat causes me to really bloat up, get stomach pains, and and feel extremely uncomfortable. I have seen the doctors three times since I have been here about it. Because we have a private insurance for international students, we are having to first pay out of pocket for the doctors and any tests they do and then our insurance will reimburse a certain percentage of it. The doctor I am currently using sent me to get a blood test and everything came back normal... no spike in white blood cells, no allergy to celiac, iron levels were normal, etc. She has deferred on doing additional tests and ultrasounds due to the fact that she knows I have to pay out of pocket for everything first. She wants me to keep a food diary for this month and then if symptoms continue to be as they are, then I am to go get an ultrasound. I have removed dairy completely from my diet because I know that that definitely causes me pain. I took out all meat for a week and a half and noticed no difference. I reintroduced meats and then took out all gluten/wheat from my diet. This seemed to help a bit but I still tend to bloat sometimes after meals and get stomach pains. I am basically just eating fruit, vegetables, and meat. I have pretty much the most basic diet ever. I am trying to stay positive... I have heard for a few Americans that because they process wheat and dairy here so differently that they acquired an intolerance to these things. Perhaps this is what I have? Please keep me in your prayers if you think of me. I am really trying not to get too discouraged. I have never had an issue reacting to food like this before. Not too sure what the next step is. 

Hope you all are well. I think of home often-- there are so many smells that remind me of home. I am missing the Fall and wishing we could be home for the holidays. Our love goes out to all of you. 

Big hugs and kisses, 

Team Therrien 

The Regulars

The Regulars

Did you ever see that movie Harriet the Spy that came out in the mid-nineties where the girl journaled about the funky individuals she came across in life? I found it hilarious the different story-lines she put to each of the characters that she "spied" on. I  figured it'd be fun to give you my insight on some of the regulars that come into the coffee shop. (Note: I have changed their names to protect their personhood as this is a published website.)

Connie

Connie is one of my favorites. She comes in at least three times a day for coffee and a few other snacks Monday through Friday. Every morning she orders her usual coffee, toast, and a glass of water; in turn, we have labeled it "the Connie" for her coffee and "the Connie toast" for her toast. Her toast is SMOTHERED in butter and cinnamon and sugar... yet she is an absolute stick of a lady! When we asked her how she stayed so thin she said, "It's the fibre! I eat tons of fibre every day!" Shocked at this answer, I turned to one of my coworkers who has been at the shop for three years and she responded (after Connie had left), "Ya, she apparently just shits everything out." Oh I just had to laugh because of how frank her response was. I think there's more to it than just the fibre thought... Connie smokes quite a bit... She did, however, come into the cafe the other week and declared she was spending $250 on hypnosis to quit smoking. "They 100% guarantee it to work or your money back!", she declared. So... Connie is living it up with her ciggies until her October 12 appointment with the hypnosis where she will become cigarette-free... Hmmm. At least she wont be spending $20/pack on cigarettes anymore. If it does work out for her, maybe she should go back and get a hypnosis sessions to break her coffee addiction too... she mentioned to me the other day that she spends $80/ week with us just on coffee!

Kent  and Michael

Kent and Michael are two gay guys that come into the shop daily as well. They both work as financial advisors in the floor above us. They are older, flamboyant men who just love to chat it up with us girls in the cafe.... absolute hoots I would label them. One is super spunky and upbeat and keeps the mood up while the other one can get a bit caught with his "nose in his navel", always worrying about his waistline and whether he should eat one of the treats we hold in the display daily. Kent and Michael could talk for hours to me if I let them. Sometimes, if the shop isn't too busy, I will go over and chat with them about meaningless information but they get a kick out of the attention I give them. One day, (this made my day), Michael came in and asked my boss if he could steal three straws from him. He grabbed the three straws, left for about ten minutes, and then came back with Kent and his personal assistant, Jane, holding three flags that he created from printing out three state flags off the computer and taping them to the straws. The three flags represented three of the home states for the three American girls at the shop that he loves: Michigan, Washington, and New Hampshire. He comes in the door flamboyantly waving his homemade flags with pride as Kent comes behind him sighing and rolling his eyes. What a gift! The flags now are stuck into the floral centerpiece behind the cash register for all to see. :) My boss said they have WAY too much time on their hands but I smiled from ear to ear that day.

Ron

Ron makes me laugh for the sheer fact that he is obnoxiously predictable. He comes in everyday, sits in the same spot, orders the same things, and chats to me about the same stuff. He is a very nice guy and I do like him. Without fail, we chat about church and how we thought the preacher did on Sunday and whether I had a good day the previous day.  A very genuine man... just a creature of habit. I love going over to him, handing him a menu, asking him what he would like, and having him ponder a few seconds as to what he wants, and then having him repeat to me the same exact thing that he always gets! Why do you need to think about it? You should know this in your sleep!  The other shocking part is that when he comes to paying, he never can remember the cost of his meal!

Tall man

This guy I actually don't know his name but is another favorite of mine. He is very tall in stature and comes across as very intimidating. When I first met him, he had come in with a few other gentlemen and carrying a cricket bat.  It looked as though he were a part of the mafia, coming in all dressed up and proud like he owned the place. Deep down I think he is quite a bit of a softy though. He too is quite consistent, always sitting in the same spot and ordering his usual items-- a chocolate milkshake and fries with chicken salt... quite funny for the fact that he is a big-shot lawyer. One day, he came in and someone was sitting at his usual table.. He had the look on his face like... WHO MOVED MY CHEESE! I definitely used that opportunity to tease him a bit. Despite his harsh demeanor, I do think he really likes me. He has shared that I am far too smart to be working at a coffee shop and has told me he has "hook-ups in high places" and could get me a really good job working at a school. Unfortunately my visa doesn't work out for that and my credentials for teaching don't work here. Oh well. Deep down, I wouldn't mind working at his firm.I reckon it would be a pretty enjoyable environment to be in. Who knows.

I could go on and on with the characters that come into the cafe.. These should suffice for now though. Perhaps I can keep an ongoing blog about the usuals. We'll see.

Still going strong...

It's funny how life seems to keep going despite whether you are moving with it or taking a breather on a local bus stop bench. Somehow this now seems to be more real than ever.
So, as I have kicked myself in the past for not jumping on the "life bus" for a ride, I have decided to hop on and, what the heck, throw my hands out the windows too.
I really want to make the most of this experience rather than counting the days until we are back home with loved ones. I am working hard to adapt to the local quirks of Australia (what I am sure Aussies call the norms) and learn to call this place home.
At this point, the frustrations rest with the fact that food is soooo expensive! I have such a hard time spending $9 a kilo on toMAtos or $10 a kilo on peppers! I spent over $6 for just one red pepper the other day! The cheapest I have seen chicken breasts is $8/kilo (roughly $4/lb). I remember buying chicken breasts in bulk for $1.99/lb all the time!
Every time Josh and I go out to eat, it's averaging about $25/person easy. We are nowhere near big spenders when it comes to eating out.  We usually never went to a place unless we had a gift card or a coupon. We loved going to Dos Amigos at home because we could get two burritos for $8. Here, you cannot even touch one burrito for $10.
I am also having a hard time getting used to lack of food variety in the grocery stores. People say we are just spoiled as Americans to have so many options always at our finger tips. Don't get me wrong.. the grocery stores here are great... I just miss the fact that there is an entire isle in our stores designated just for ice cream. :) Can you believe that they don't sell chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream here?!? They have obviously not lived! In turn, I have adapted a bit and started buying pre-made cookie dough and adding it in. Hehe. They also do not sell Crisco, the vegetable shortening that a baker cannot live without. I have no clue what they use instead.
Another annoyance comes with the silly roundabouts. I get that they are trying to help with keeping the flow of traffic continuous but they are super intimidating for me as I am still learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road. I kid you not.. you cannot go ANYWHERE without hitting a roundabout... even if it is just to your next-door neighbor's. Seriously. Walking around one of these things is miserable too. I never know when I can cross the street.  I feel like I am in a constant game of frogger!
One of the hardest things for me to get used to is drying my clothes outside. The cost of electricity is really high so it is the norm for people to let their laundry air-dry. In the summer, it usually takes about 15 minutes so the timing isn't the terrible terrible part; It's the feel of the clothes after you wash it that's a bit hard to get used to. Who doesn't love when your clothes come out of the dryer all nice and fitting like new again! Here, you take your clean towels off the line and they are stiff like cardboard when you go to use them. I suppose it will be like Christmas when we go back home to our washer and dyer. :) Can't wait for that day!
All in all, I cannot complain too much. God has been so good to us; He continually provides for our every need and He has made it so clear that this is where He wants us right now. As long as we are in the middle of where He wants us, we are happy and can live with all these weird Aussie-isms. :)

Love to all of you! BIG hugs and kisses!  

Update!

Update!

Hey friends and family! It has been a while since we have given you an update. We truly miss you all immensely and think of you often (at least I do).

But… life has been grand and I can honestly say that we are in a great chapter of our lives. J

Josh has found a job! Hurray! He is working at a tire shop about five miles from our house in a city called Parramatta. He likes the job a lot but is not super keen on the pay. He is hoping after a few months of proving himself that his boss will give him a bit more. Currently he is biking to work and finding it a bit of a struggle. So far, he has gotten attacked by magpies (really NASTY birds), almost gotten hit by a car (the road is EXTREMELY busy), and, not to mention, his ride home is all uphill. We just found out too that he needs to find a bike helmet asap not only for safety but also he could get a $450 fine for not wearing one. Yikes! The bike he ended up getting from his buddy, Dylan, who is such an amazing friend.  For right now, while he is in school, he will be working two to three days a week.

Josh and I are now doing a bootcamp that his friend, Nathan, is putting on at the park down the street from our house. We are doing this on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights and are getting our butts kicked. It is great to have someone come up with the workouts though and all we have to do is show up.

I am also finding new and fun running routes around where we live and found a fabulous one that goes through a pretty neighborhood by a pond.

Josh also took me to Parklea Market on Sunday. This was an absolute adventure! It is an arena filled with all sorts of stands including food, meat, toys, clothing, shoes, movies, etc. We ended up going there for fresh fruits and vegetables as we heard they had cheaper prices. The experience was once in a lifetime and the produce was not bad. I am sure we will go back but probably not anytime soon. I felt like we were in an enclosed fair… filled with people, loud kids, funny smells, and craziness. I definitely would take out of town guests there so if you plan on coming to visit, get ready!

Dylan took us to Bondai Beach the other night and treated us to this nice pizza restaurant near the water. Bondai is a tourist hotspot located just outside of Sydney and is crazy-crowded during the summer. It was hard to see the beach as it was dark when we arrived but we had an enjoyable time walking the beachfront strip, eating pizza, and getting a little sorbet. (Mango sorbet is my new obsession.)

We are enjoying Hillsong Church very much. Oh how different it is to go to a church of SEVERAL thousand people every Sunday.  We attended a marriage seminar the other week done by Rob and Laura Coke from Texas… not sure if any of you have heard of them. They were quite great. All aspects of church are fabulous, not just the worship, as I’m sure some of you are wondering. The outpouring of love and service within the church and community is amazing. These people are ready and willing to help anyone with whatever they may need. I am blessed beyond belief to see heaps of new people every week encounter God in a way that they have never experienced before. For me, this church is another amazing opportunity to see how we can love the same God in various ways.

Once again, we love and miss you all!

Hugs and kisses

Little snapshot of Bondai at night 

For those of you who were interested,

a quick picture of our house 

One Month

It has been one month since we moved to Australia, a month and a half since we left home, and three and a half months since we moved out of our apartment. I cannot believe how much time has flown by.

I was chatting with a coworker the other day (she moved with her husband to Australia in January) and asked her when she really started to feel homesick. She said right around the one-month mark-- you’re finally feeling like this is no longer an extended vacation but rather your new home. I’m feeling that. It seems like everything I smell reminds me of home and I associate everything I see with past memories. The other day, I told my boss that his smell that day reminded me of home… he was kind of taken aback by this comment and thought I was a little kooky. Oh well. I know it will get better but I am just embracing these feelings while I have them.

I think we are finally getting the knack of things. Josh is right in the midst of school and really liking it. I am so happy he has found his niche. His classes are really challenging his beliefs and he is enjoying wrestling through these things. I am enjoying seeing him be so studious. He is still looking for work; he probably has applied to over 70 different places. (He is such a hard worker!) I think the hardest part is that he is looking for part-time work, his availability is very specific, and we don’t have a car so we have to keep it semi-local. We visited a local K-mart that does minor car repairs and they seemed interested so we are hoping that works out. (K-mart is a bit different here—seems more like a Sears but with not as much variety sold.)

I have been in the midst of working like crazy. I put in 46.5 hours this week. I was pretty much beat by the end of my shift on Saturday. I am happy though and I enjoy everyone I work with. I have connected a lot better with my bosses (the owners) and so that seems to make life there a bit more enjoyable.  I am also in the midst of learning how to make coffees… oh what a skill that seems to be! I hope I get the hang of it! The regular customers are great there too… there is a Frenchman that I get such a kick out of. A coworker and I convince him to try our Mochachino and he now can’t seem to get enough of it. Boss likes that I am making business for him. J

We are starting to make really great friends here as well. We have connected with our housemates very well. We have also grown pretty tight with another couple, Cam and Susannah. They are both Aussies. We seem to do at least one thing every weekend with them. Susannah took me around shopping after I got the job at the café so I could get some clothes and shoes for work. She ended up later surprising me with a beautiful silver plated leaf necklace that I saw at a store and mentioned that I loved. I couldn’t believe it. They are so generous and willing to do anything to help us out. We are definitely blessed to have them in our lives.

Josh and I checked out a connect group up the road from us this past week. The leaders are a couple that Josh knew from his previous time in Australia. He is from Scotland and she is originally from Pennsylvania but moved out of the country when she was young as her parents were missionaries all over the world.

We are also happy to have Dylan, one of Josh’s best buds, here to help us. He continues to connect us with new people and he is also willing to do whatever to help us out. We love him.

The weather is slowly getting warmer. Apparently yesterday was the first day of spring. I am definitely looking forward to days spent at the beach. Some of our housemates started a vegetable garden. I am thinking about doing the same as I think $9/kilo for tomatoes is OUTRAGEOUS. I also cannot wait for our laundry, which we hang out on the line, to be dry in a mere ten minutes rather than it’s current time of several hours.

I am sure there is plenty more I could say but I’ll keep it for another post.

Love to you all! We miss you heaps! 

Here are two photos from a double-date with Cam and Sus to 

Wowcow Frozen Yoghurt. I was stoked to finally get some good ice cream! :) 

A Few Personal Thoughts

A Few Personal Thoughts

I am still trying to process through this massive life-change. If you know me at all, you would know that I am not one for change. I am quite content to be doing the same routine, working the same job, and even eating the same things. I find what I like and I stick to it.

God clearly has a sense of humor: He gave me Josh—the absolute opposite of routine. Ha. Josh has brought so much balance to my life, though, and I am SO grateful for it. I know, if it weren’t for him, that I would have never taken this leap. 

In saying all that, this still is a push on my character. I would be lying if I didn’t say there has been times where I wanted to give up, turn around, and go back to what I know. (I can say that the Fijian airport was CLEARLY one of them!)

This evening, as I was running our neighborhood, I felt like God was trying to show me a few things. Let me preface by saying that running has become one my means of therapy in the past several years. I have used it as an endorphin release and as my outlet during times of craziness.

As I was running up one of the final hills before reaching home (the hills of Bella Vista are NO small task, to say the least) I felt such a great rush come over me. I felt like these hills were like the obstacles that Josh and I have encountered while trying to get here—unforeseen costs, my visa issue, the lack of jobs, the uncertainty of our finances – these all seem like such daunting and overwhelming issues that we have no control over but we just keep pressing through and persevering. Our strides seem smaller and our strength seems so weak yet I know that God is here to meet us and give us the strength that we need. We keep climbing, we keep fighting, and I know that we will overcome these hills. AND, when we make it to the top, everything will be in a whole different perspective and we will know that we did it only by His strength, guiding us bit by bit.

I am so thankful that I am not doing this alone. I have a husband who loves and supports me and encourages me no matter what.  He has been so steadfast.

And, we have a God that loves us through it all. I know, without a doubt, that He will take care of us. He has never left us yet and His hand of grace is so evident in our lives.

 “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 

The Cafe

The Cafe

So… I (Laura) got a job. Yay!! (Everyone should be cheering with excitement! Hehe) I work at a cafe about two miles from our house. Since we don’t have a car I end up walking to and from it, which ends up being a nice added exercise. I started working there last Friday and I really like it. It’s a very fast-paced environment so the time flies by.  As Josh is doing school, he will only be working part-time; I will end up having to get another job to supplement us. This job works out pretty great though because I only work until 1:30/2pm and so I have the afternoons free to do something else.

The café has AMAZING coffee. Australia, in general, has probably the best coffee I have ever tasted. I have heard from others that when they went home to the States, that they were so bummed to go back to the coffee there. As a perk of the job, I can have as many coffee drinks daily as I would like as well as any sandwich or wrap. What people consider a regular coffee is a bit different over here; you can either have a “flat white” or a “long black.” The “flat white” is the closest to what we would say is a regular coffee yet seems to be far more fancy; the “long black” is similar to what we call an “Americano.” Frankly, I am keener on the cappuccino but they are really all good.

For the most part, the people I work with are great. There are a lot of Hillsong students there as well as some Hillsong attendees. I work with a girl named Jess who is from Washington state and she is in the same boat as me; her husband is doing school full-time and she is working. She has been super helpful in my training process. There are a few girls that can make work unpleasant.; let’s just say that I am really learning how to show Christ’s love. J Apparently, they hate newbies because they are “annoying.” Hmm. Who knows.

My boss is an interesting character. He is only 25 but definitely looks a bit older. He comes across very serious but yet has a very sarcastic side. I am trying to find a balance of keeping work work and learning how to joke. He has come up with a new nickname for me: Laussie (pronounce Law-see)… I have NO idea where that came from. Ha.

The regulars (customers, that is) know I am new and tend to give me a bit of a hard time, yet they are still very understanding. I have gotten a few comments from some of them that I look European. One even said I look Eastern European. I have never heard that before in my life. Interesting. 

What they REALLY mean....

I thought I would try and give you a fun/funny post to read about Australian lingo. I can honestly say I have been TOTALLY American in my response to some statements that Aussies have made; I really have no clue what they are saying sometimes! But, before I do that, let me show you some pics (that really should have gone with the last post).

Here's our bedroom. Forgive the clutter but we are living on "functionality" 

and I'd rather not "accessorize" when our money needs to first go to bills 

and then to traveling :) 

Our back patio

Mal and Jenna (two of our roommates) 

My (Laura) first time sitting on the passenger side in Australia.

 (Doesn't this just feel wrong?) 

Just for kicks: our first visit to Harbour Bridge 

the night we arrived.

Sydney Opera House (Sorry for the blur.) 

Ok... so the lingo... haha! I am even chuckling just thinking about it!
So, Josh forgot to clue me in on some of these sayings but the scenarios make for great story telling. :)

The first one I heard was "no worries, mate!" Now upon reading this, I am sure you can easily figure out that this means "you're welcome" or "no problem" but within the context I heard it, I immediately though and then responded with the most serious face... "Worried?! Who's worried?! I'm not worried!" Ha! Josh just had to laugh at me.
Another one my housemate said to me was "Oh, good on you!" Of course, at first, I look down at my outfit and think that she is referring to what I was wearing... I smiled, taking it as a compliment until I realized that she was definitely NOT referring to my outfit (as I am CLEARLY out of style here) but rather meant "good for you!" (Encouraging me on the productivity of my day.)
That same roommate and I had a later exchange, after saying hello to each other, where she said, "How you going, Laura?" Now, at this point I am thinking, "How am I going? Well, let's see, I don't have a car quite yet so I probably will be going by foot around here for a while... but what does that have to do with anything!?" BUT, I was smarter than that and didn't respond with that answer! Ha! Of course I asked her to clarify what that meant and it means "how you doing?"
Perhaps you are all a bit smarter than me and don't take things quite as literal but I can honestly say I am sitting here laughing hysterically as I recount these stories.

Here's a few other words that are a bit different (some took me a little while to figure out.. sometimes I had to ask):

Chips-- french fries (Potato chips are called crisps here, much like England)
Footy-- Australian football (I'm not quite sure what this is yet but it's not rugby and it's not American                football)
the boot-- the trunk of your car
a bludger-- a slacker or someone who doesn't give a lot of effort
uni-- the term for university or college
rego (hard g)-- the term for your car registration
Ute (pronounced you-T): a pick-up truck
Postie-- a postman (here they drive around on these 50cc motorbikes...kind of funny to watch)/ or a piece of mail that you want to send out
Spit the dummy-- get angry (a dummy here refers to a pacifier/binky)

Also a "fun" fact here... damn and hell are not considered swear words here and so, therefore, are used quite often... I quickly figured this out! :)

I am also finding myself saying certain Australian things so as to not stick out like a sore thumb as an American. These would be: toMAto sauce instead of ketchup, cutlery instead of silverware, liT-Trally instead of liTERally, and capsicum instead of peppers.

I definitely have many more culture shockers to tell you about but I will space them out for you so you aren't spending too much time trying to get through my blog posts.

Living, Driving, and Jobs

LIVING

I said to Josh the other day, “I feel like we are moving backwards in our living situation.” We have shifted from living in our own little apartment as a newly married couple to now back living with a bunch of college students. Oh well. It is saving us money.

We are currently living with six other girls: a Canadian, an American, a Chilean and three Aussies. People say, “Six girls, huh?” I always respond, “Ya, well, it’s better than six college boys!” These girls are pretty settled, all 21+, and “sparkling” clean.  They all are great. Let’s just say, there is never a dirty dish left in the sink. That should say it all.

We live in a rather large room off the kitchen with sliding doors to the back patio. Furniture was included. The only things we ended up having to purchase were sheets, pillows and a comforter. We share a bathroom with Stephie, the Chilean girl. It ends up being a pretty great setup.

The house is pretty huge… definitely enough room to fit all eight of us; we are hardly ever all here though. This works out for us pretty well for now.

DRIVING

Driving has been a bit of an adjustment. They drive on the other side of the road so for the first day I was gasping at every turn as I was thinking we were turning on the wrong side. Sitting in the front seat was so weird; I kept trying to slam on the breaks and grip the steering wheel. Our Aussie friend, Dylan, had a bit of a chuckle at me.

Australia also has a thing for roundabouts; they use them instead of traffic lights as keeps the flow of traffic continuous. If you have hard time with car sickness, this is not the country for you… the roundabouts are around every corner! I am still having a hard time deciphering which way to look for oncoming traffic in those things.

Mal, our Canadian roommate, let me drive the other day. I didn’t ask, mind you… she offered! I cheerfully and nervously accepted. Josh was not keen on it. Her car is a little Holden Barina… it’s comparable to an old four-door Ford Festiva. It is a standard so that made for some extra fun. The stick is in your left hand verses your right. So, not only was I learning to drive on the other side of the road, but also had to figure out how to do stick on the opposite side. The blinkers are also on the opposite side too so every time I indicated to turn, I was turning on the windshield wipers. Ha. I did ok with the roundabouts (as there is about five of them in the half mile we took to the store) but as far as how I did, let’s just say… we made it to the grocery store and Josh has determined that I need way more practice.

JOBS

Job hunting has been a bit stressful. I need to keep in mind that it has only been a week that we have been here. As I mentioned before, we have had some issues with my visa so we are waiting on an approval from the government for me to work. Because we have no car, we are trying to keep within walking distance. I have applied to a few cafes around the area, the preschool at Hillsong Church, and a couple of other childcare places online. The most success I have had was from an ice skating rink down the road that needs someone to do birthday parties. At this point, I’ll take what I can get.

Josh has applied at a few places in the area as well. I think he is waiting until he starts classes this week to figure out what would be the best for him.

Keep us in your prayers. We have had some setbacks and we are trying to stay positive. God is still in control. 

Josh and I have both decided that we will not be flying for a bit.  We have had enough “flying adventure” to last us a while.  Packing up our life into four check-in bags and two carry-ons is really not an easy task. Can you guess whose items dominated most of this space? 

We have flown a total of five planes in mere two weeks and have had quite the “turbulence” along the way. It started with checking into LAX for our Fiji-bound flight. We spent at least an hour packing and checking… and then rechecking… to make sure that our check-in bags weighed no more than 50lbs each so as to insure no overweight baggage fee.  We were perfect. … of course we were both wearing the heaviest items we owned and probably wearing too much clothing for a tropical island but we were determined to not be over that weight limit!

Low and behold, who knew they would weigh the carry-on luggage as well! We were TOTALLY over our limit and ended up dishing out a whopping total of $180 in overweight baggage fees. (Did I mention that we trying to stick so much on budget that Josh refused to rent a cart for $5 that would help us wheel our six bags around. So much for trying to be cheap! Josh almost fell over a couple of times with all the baggage he was carrying.)

                                                                  Waiting in line at LAX

This whole ordeal cost us a great deal of time in getting to our flight and when we finally arrived at the terminal, as passengers were boarding, Josh realized he left his baseball hat back in the security check-in, waaaay on the other side of the airport. Lovely. None the less, we made it to Fiji.

Leaving the Fiji airport made LAX seem like a walk in the park.

We made sure to get to the airport with plenty of time just in case there were any hiccups with baggage, etc. Apparently that was worthless because Fijians are known for having their own pace for everything… they call it “Fijian time.” Josh and I watched the guy behind the check-in counter rearrange everything on the desk, dust the whole counter, go for a bathroom break, and then dust again for about twenty minutes before deciding he was ready to check people in.  We had to laugh. When we got to the counter, the lady serving us kept swiping our passports through the machine. She must have done this about ten times.  “Problem,” she said. Uhoh.  “There is a visa for you, Joshua, but not one for you, Laura.” “What are you talking about?!” Josh responded.  Well, apparently the visa was declined for me for some odd reason and I could not leave Fiji.

That was it! Josh was headed off to Australia and here I was left to fend for myself on a remote island in the Pacific. (Don’t get me wrong… Fiji is beautiful… but I was ready to leave.) I was panicking.

The lady assured us that we could quickly fill out paperwork for a new travel visa now and we could get on the plane. So, we went over to a free computer behind the counter that no one was using. Twenty minutes later, we finally figured out which paperwork to fill out. After we completed it, we needed to pay a processing fee. Well, just our luck, our credit card didn’t work….our debit card didn’t work… we couldn’t pay for the travel visa! Panic! We had exactly 15 minutes to figure it out, check in our bags, and race to our gate to board the plane.  

We finally discovered that we could use paypal and that saved our day.

When we raced back to the counter to check in our luggage, our weight limit was over.. surprise…surprise.  This time, we ended up paying $630 Fijian… yes, far more than what we paid at LAX… same airline and everything. APPARENTLY each “port” can charge whatever they like for baggage fees. WHAT!? Well, we had no choice but to pay it. We weren’t going to stay in Fiji any longer.

At this point, you would have loved to see the beautiful interactions that Joshua and I were having.  Ha.  Pretty sure Josh threatened to leave me in Fiji, visa or not.

I don’t think we spoke two words to each other that whole flight.

In the end, we made it to Australia. We have yet to resolve my visa situation so that I can work (to make up for all the money we spent on baggage fees).  OH, and we did discover that some Fijian airport workers decided to take home some of my undergarments from my luggage to their wives.  Lovely.

God is in control. We will laugh at this some day… just not today.