Relatively Recent Ramblings (Part 3)

The day we returned from New Jersey, I got on the South Shore Train and took it up to Michigan City. You might be asking: “Why did you do that?” or maybe “Who goes to Michigan City?” Well, I was going to visit Shane and Asha who were performing in The Wrong Turn At Lungfish at the Canterbury Theatre. They picked me up from the train station, which is much more like a bus stop than a train station. The tracks run right down the middle of the road and there are no guardrails. It was very odd. Anyways, we went to dinner and on a brief tour of Michigan City and the theatre. The area seemed like it used to be nice, but it’s not the greatest right now.  When our tour was finished, Shane and Asha needed to get ready for the show. So I waited in the lobby.

Thankfully, Ronni’s mom decided to come and see the show. We talked for a while until the house opened and then we watched the show together. I was really impressed with the production. I mean the theatre is small, the lighting fixtures are ancient, the designs weren’t the greatest, but they didn’t have to be. The script was interesting, the acting was good, and the design elements created enough of a world for the story to unfold in. It’s really amazing what you can accomplish on a shoestring budget, a small amount of time, and a bit of talent. Maybe money doesn’t make theatre good, or should it be money doesn’t make good theatre? Hmmm…

The next day, Ronni and her mom drove me back home, and I started to settle into being in Plymouth. I don’t really recall any specific events during the weeks that followed Dessert Theatre other than going and seeing fireworks. I had pictured myself going right from Dessert Theatre to my next job. Instead, I ended up reading, playing video games, and gardening. Though maybe there was a reason for I didn’t end up finding a summer job.

July finally rolled around and it brought with it the final big event of the summer, Eric and Chelsea’s wedding. One of the reasons that graduation was anticlimactic was that I knew that during the summer I would get to see people again. After graduation there was choir tour, and after choir tour was Dessert Theater, and then after Dessert Theatre there was Eric and Chelsea’s Wedding. The problem here being that there were no more events after the wedding. It was the last time I knew for sure that I was going to see my friends. That hit me pretty hard.  

I had never been in a wedding before so I didn’t know what a groomsman was expected to do. What I found is that it require very little thought or physical exertion. Basically you show up when you’re told to show up, walk when you’re told to walk, and stand where you’re told to stand. Though, I will say that standing still is surprisingly taxing. It seemed to be a very nice wedding. Everything went smoothly. No one fell going down the isle, there was no wardrobe malfunctions, and Eric didn’t accidentally set Chelsea on fire when the lit the unity candle. Anyways, it was an honor to get to be a part of such an important day in Eric and Chelsea’s life.

After the wedding was finished, I got to spend the rest of the week with Greg and the Fox Family. It took Greg and I a few days to recover from the crazy busy weekend, so we mostly just read and played games. It was a nice change of pace. Later in the week, we got to go on an adventure to the Warren Dunes. It would be our luck that we chose to go to the beach on the hottest day of the year. The temperature made being in the water just that much more enjoyable, but the sand had to be a billion degrees. It must have been quite a site watching us walk from the water back to the parking lot. Our trip to the dunes reinforced my love of Lake Michigan, as well as gave me a fun sunburn. After a few more days at the Fox Den, I left the Mishawaka area for the last time. Well at least for a little while. 

Relatively Recent Ramblings (Part 2)

The last major event of May was working on the dessert theatre set. From what I remember it was really hot that week in the shop. Although, I guess that should be expected of a giant metal building sitting in the sun. We made some good progress with painting the shops and the doctor’s house. I am very thankful for everyone who came out and helped.

Once I returned home, I began my job search. I sent out about fourteen cover letters for a variety of theatre jobs. I also filled out about half dozen or so applications for places like Sears and Kmart. Sending out cover letters can be a very depressing process. It involves hours of searching for places to send letters to, hours of personalizing letters to those places, and then hours of waiting. Job searching is a full time job in itself.     

By the time June rolled around, I finally had some success in my job search. I had a phone interview with a theatre in Florida for an internship. The Friday before I left to return Bethel, I received a phone call and was offered the internship. After thinking about it over the weekend and talking to my loan companies, I officially accepted the offer on the following Monday. Overall, Dessert Theatre week went well. The set turned out good and I had a lot of time to spend on details, which I enjoyed. The best part of the week was simply getting to see everyone again.

The week after Dessert Theatre, I got to go with Jeanne and Greg to see Drew University. There are some very beautiful places between Mishawaka, Indiana and Madison, New Jersey. Having spent most of my time in Michigan and Indiana, I’m not used to seeing mountains very often. So it was amazing to see the mountains on our trip. In some ways it is just as amazing seeing how we have managed to make roads through them. Arriving at Drew felt like quite an accomplishment after being in the car for so long. I can only imagine how Jeanne felt after having driven for fourteen hours. Drew’s campus has a lot of character. It was exciting to get to see the building of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. We went in and asked (well Jeanne asked) if we could see the theatre and they let is take a peak. It was incredible! It would be really cool to see a show there one day. As we continued our tour, I was very surprised at how many squirrels, chipmunks, and groundhogs there were. I thought that Bethel had a lot of rodents, but it really doesn’t have anything on Drew University. The city of Madison seemed to have just as much character as Drew’s campus. We ate at the Nautilus, browsed a furniture store that was selling a 10,000 dollar couch, and hung out in a comic book store waiting for it to stop raining. It was a very neat experience getting to see where Greg is going to be living for the next couple years, and I’m really glad that Jeanne and Greg let me go along with them. 

Relatively Recent Ramblings (Part 1)

Well. It looks like I failed at keeping up with my blog . . . Alright. Yes, yet again. Although, in my defense I will say that senior year was by far the busiest I have ever been. Which is really quite an accomplishment to achieve, because I stayed pretty busy while at Bethel. In retrospect, it is hard to believe that I was able to fit so many activities into one year or for that matter into four years.

This summer has been incredibly different than I pictured. I’m not really sure why though. May was the busiest month of the summer. It started off with graduation, which is a very odd day. It almost seems like an anticlimactic end to four years of hard work, sleep deprivation, and DC food. I guess it’s really not fair to force one day to become more important than the 1,460 days that came before it. It’s really nothing more than a drop in the stream of time when compared to that. Although graduation day seemed short, it really is a marker in my life. It marked the day I wouldn’t get to live with my friends anymore, it marked the day that I entered into my grace period on my loans, it marked the day I stopped being an occupational student (For now at least. Who knows? Maybe grad school will be in my future one day. Regardless, I plan on being a life long learner.) Maybe the importance of the day isn’t so much in the 1,460 days that came before it, but rather in the possible 18,250 days that could follow it. 

After graduation, I went on choir tour in Michigan. It was a very bittersweet trip. In one way it was a trip of farewells and in another way it was like a homecoming. Growing up my family would spend part of the summer in Northern Michigan at my grandparent’s cottage. “Going up north” was always a highlight of the year. For a combination of different reasons, I hadn’t been up north in five years so I was excited to see Northern Michigan. A week before graduation marked the one-year anniversary of my grandma’s death and being in a place that spoke so much of her was a challenging celebration. It’s really amazing how many memories you can have attached to a place. Every day we would go somewhere or see something that brought about a flood of memories: the bridge in Charlevoix, the water tower in Mackinac, the Wal-Mart in Gaylord. I’m sure this crosses over into New Age-iness but bare with me. The memories made the places seem almost sacred. (Yes, I know it’s weird to think of a Wal-Mart as being sacred.) I guess the reason that the places felt sacred was that they served as a tool to connect me to someone that significantly impacted my life. To the person who taught me to love games, to the person who taught me to sew, to cook, to drink coffee, and who is a missed friend.  That is what made the places important. It was a trip to remember old memories and to make new ones with new friends, Ubbie Dubbie, sitting on a breakwater, and even climbing a mountain. 

A Year Ago Today...

I got off a plane I had been on for over 14 hours and i got to spend my first day in Australia. Jetlag is an aweful thing! Staying awake was so difficult. In addition to the dramatic change in time, there was a big shift in the weather. Going right from the middle of winter to the middle of summer was definately an interesting transition. I can remember driving from the airport to Wesley going over the ANZAC Bridge for the first time. Australia is a beautiful place! It has the bluest sky. Well here's my first journal entry:

"Feb 17th

I feel like I should write something before I go to sleep. I'm so tired. I think that the title of my first blog is either going to be "No Ferbies Allowed," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "The Great Wait,"or after tomorrow prolly "I'm so Sunburnt". I left Detriot at noon and got to L.A. and hour early. I wondered around the airport trying to figure things out. I met a guy who wanted to offer me a meditaion book. That had really creepy picture inside of it. And a lady helped me but only to open a door to ask me for a donation. Eventually, I met Andrea and Trevor. They were the first ACSers I met. Then I met Maddie and her cousin Sarah. Next we got Kelly. After that I started to lose track. I know that Greg and Eddie came next. We left L.A. at 2AM eastern time. After having been couped up inside of the airport all day. The flight was the longest ever! Over 14 hours. I got to sit next to Hannah and April. I slept for most of the flight, but it didnt make a difference with all of the time changing. Everything seemed so sereal. I played Mario for a while. I was afriad people would think that i was a dork for playing it, but it didnt seem to bother anyone. On the way of the plane and older gentle man told me to remember that every Australian was worth .9 of an american. No wait. I think i switched that. either way it was an interesting point to ponder at the time. There's SO much to process. It's like being on overload. We were picked up from the airport and bused to W.I (Wesley Institute). Once we were there we unloaded our stuff and orientaion began. (Which was greatly needed because of all the disorientaion.) Oh! and on the bus ride we were introduced to the drop bear which is a fake creature that drops from trees and attacks Americans. During orientaion, we went on a tour, got a bag with a bunch of stuff in it, had lunch, and got to play a game. They kept us awake so we could get over out jetlag. I've meet a billion people since i've been here. Our host dad, Ross, could come pick us up because he was working so his friend Carrie picked Greg and I up and drove us home. Ross came home about half an hour after we got home. There's so much, but I can't get it all down right now. I'm so tired. Oh well, at least i wrote something. Tomorrow we are going into the city for a scavenger hunt. After that we're going on a cruise. So...yeah. Good Night! Later on I'll prolly wish i had written more, but oh well."

I guess that was a really long journal. Looking back It's amazing how many things are differant now than last year. I never knew so many life changing moments could be packed into 5 months. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I failed at keeping up my my blog last year. I decided that I would go back and write about what i did. I think it will be a good way for me to keep processing my trip. Although part of the reason I'm writing is selfish I hope that at least it will be kinda entertianing to read.

The long awaited update

Sunday, March 7,

I went to Boronia Park Uniting Church with Greg and Natalie. The church is right down Higginbotham road from my house. The Uniting Church in Australia is comprised of Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist denominations. They are trying to overcome divisions in the church and strive for unity in the Body of Christ, “One Church, One Congregation.” How effective they are at achieving this goal I really can’t say, but it does sound like a cause that more churches should embrace. Boronia Park is a small church it has only around 30 people, most of who were in there older years. The minister of the church is Reverend Annette Hawken. She didn’t preach because a guest speaker, Steve Estherby, from Family Voice Australia came. It was a very different church experience than I am used to. One cool characteristic of the church was that it embraced kids as kids. In the middle of the service they had a short sermon for the children, and instead of sending them off to another place in the church they set up a coloring table in the corner of the sanctuary. In many ways I think I liked Boronia Park over Hillsong, but they are absolute polar opposites of each other.

After church we went and tried to find lunch. As a group we were very indecisive so it took us a long time to pick a place to eat. At first we thought that Mexican sounded good, but the place that we thought was a Mexican restaurant was really an Italian restaurant. As a side note Mexican food is really hard to find in Sydney. Next we debated having Chinese but that was also ruled out because we had all had it too recently. We ended up deciding on going to Hungry Macs, which is small burger and chicken place. It was actually really good. When we finished lunch we headed home and putts around. Eventually Greg decided to go to Bondi Beach and I went down town to go to the NSW Library to do some homework. I never actually made it to the library but ended up sitting in a park. It was a great park with interesting trees and birds. While I was in the part I worked on my lines for the Easter show and people watched.

I had to be home by five because Ross needed help with his lawn mower. It had broken down at the bottom of the hill out back and he was having people come over and pull it back up so that he could get it fixed. Pulling it up was quite the project but it went really fast. Once everyone who had helped left, Ross made diner. He taught me how to make rice. Apparently, if you rinse the starch out of the rice it makes it better. I had never done that before, but it was pretty good. After we had finished with dinner and cleaned up, Vatali and Ilya asked Greg and I to go and see Alice in Wonderland. I don’t know that it was the right decision, but I ended up staying home and finishing up some homework. The constant battle of being responsible verses being social.

Monday, March 8^th

I am so far behind on my blog. I’m sorry to everyone who has been trying to keep up with what I’ve been up to. It was a really humid day. The weather here tends to be that way it seems. Most homes in Australia don’t have air conditioning so I’m starting to realize how spoiled we are to have central heat and air in the U.S. It’s funny how in winter when it is cold outside we make it hot inside and when it hot outside we make it cold inside. I’ve really enjoyed the warm weather here and it is going to be sad to see it go.

I started my day off by going to do my service placement. I have tended to get there like an hour early so I sit out on a bench and listen to music and try and prepare my self for the day. On this particular day, the big wooden gate that separates the waiting room from where the patients live prompted a lot of thought. The gate serves as both protector and oppressor. It keeps the patients safe so that they don’t wander away and get lost or hurt. At the same time it acts as a prison wall keeping them physically confined. So many time people ask to get out because they want to go home. What’s worse than being stuck behind the wooden gate is the prospect of being locked into the cage of your own mind. Dementia. It’s really hard to watch people struggling with confusion. There isn’t anything you can do for them at least nothing you can do to take the problem away from them. I’m getting to know sister Mary more. She keeps talking about her birthday and how she hopes that she’ll live long enough to get the queens letter. I’m also getting to know a man named James. He recently moved into the nursing home and he doesn’t quite understand what is going on. Working at the nursing home has been really interesting.

In the afternoon I had rehearsal. I think it went pretty well. I need to smile less as Jake. The director is really pushing us all to develop our characters. I feel like I’m learning heaps. After rehearsal I went out with Judy, the director, Vanessa, the stage manager, Martha who goes by Marty, she is one of the actors, and Herman, the theatre department head. This was the first time that had invited me to go out with them so I was excited that I was finally starting to fit in. It was interesting to interact with them outside of rehearsal. I’m looking forward to getting to know them more.

Tuesday, 9^th March

Today for our ASC class we talked to a panel of Australians. We covered a large range of topics Australian politics, culture, and history just to name a few. Quintessential was the word of the day. Jo, one of the acting profs and Wesley, kept using it so it ended up sticking. It was really interesting to hear what they had to say. One of the topics that the panel talked about was how Australians and Americans have different speaking patterns. When Americans talk their tone drops and the end of a sentence and when Australians talk their tone goes up at the end of a sentence. This can lead to misunderstandings because Australians take the American speech rhythm of dropping pitch at the end of a sentence to mean that their opinion is final and an American could mistake an Australian raising their tone at the end of a sentence to mean that they are unsure or asking a question. I’m glad that we learned this early on so that I could attempt to be aware of this. Talking to the panel made class go by so fast and made class interesting.

For lunch I had a noodle bowl. I haven’t really eaten many Ramen noodles since New York. I don’t think the association of the two will ever become separated in my mind. The weather was really nice again so all the ASCers at outside. After lunch was over I had rehearsal. We just keep plugging along with our scenes. I have so much work to do on Jake. He is such a complicated character and I really need to flesh out his back-story. I’m really glad that Katy told me about character journals because it has been super helpful to keep one for Jake. I feel like I tend to think about his character a bunch especially when I’m on the bus. Public transport gives you tons of time to think.

Wednesday, March 10^th

Even thought I didn’t have anything until 1pm a decided to get up and do my laundry. I looked like it might rain, but thankfully when I got home they were dry. Its funny how doing laundry seems to be a much bigger process here. I’m really glad we don’t have to use washboards and ringers any more. I went to school and worked on my New Testament homework in the library. I had lunch with Eddie at Fish Outta Water. It supposed to have the best fish and chips in the universe. They are actually pretty good. Every time I walk past there I can help but think of Elf and running in there and yelling: “Congratulations you did it. Best fish and chips in the universe.” Having lunch with Eddie was fun he seems like a good guy.

After lunch, I went to the Gathering. Hannah Harriman spoke about imagination and how she came up with the idea for the script of here IP. It was really interesting to hear how she came up with her show. Once the Gathering was over I head to New Testament class. Mark is a great prof and I feel that I am learning a lot for him. I didn’t know anything about Biblical exegesis when the class started but I feel a lot more comfortable with the subject not. I will be interesting to see how leaning about it will apply to my life later on.

Once class was over, I went out with people from the Easter Show. I feel like I’m starting to fit into the theatre department at Wesley. I know that I’ll never be fully connected with the people in the theatre department, but I am getting to know some people pretty well. I went home and chilled out for a while until Ross came home. We ended up driving up to Lyons road and we picked up Greg. Then Ross took Greg and I to the bowling club and we had dinner and played a few rounds of pool. It was a really fun time. Ross is really good at pool tho so I didn’t stand a chance. I need to work on my pool skills.

Thursday, March 11^th

Today was supposed to be super rehearsal day, however; the director was really stressed out because of scheduling issues with Wesley Mission so we ended up having the morning off to work on our characters. Working on Jake has been a lot of fun. Lisa, the theatre secretary, helped me find some really good character questions to try and answer so I’ve been working my way through them. I went to my table on the balcony outside of the library and worked. I love sitting there it’s a great spot to work on homework. Our afternoon rehearsal went by pretty quickly. All in all it was a good day. For dinner I went over to Carrie’s house and we had ham steak sandwiches. They were pretty good, but I’m not sure they were my favorite. After dinner, we watched the Blindside. It was the first time I had seen it so I didn’t know what to expect. It was such a great movie! I enjoyed the story and felt challenged by it. We have been talking a lot about belief and how it should cost you something. Our actions are what demonstrate what we believe not our words. I think that the Blindside really resonated this truth.

Friday, March 12^th

I got to sleep in today. It was really nice to get the extra rest. I feel like time is moving so fast on this trip. I really hope I don’t look back on this trip and feel like I’ve wasted a bunch of time. I left for Wesley about 11am and I ended up meeting Courtney and Natalie on the bus. We walked down to the servo together and than we went to school. Our Indigenous Cultures class was really interesting today. We learned how the clans or tribes of the aboriginals were organized. The way in which people inherited their animal totems was cool to learn about. It’s actually a really complex system that helps to bring balance to the family. Jennifer, our aboriginal teacher, is great at telling stories so it really easy to listen to her talk.

After class was over I went to Lashings, which is a chicken shop on Lyons road, with Carissa, Hannah, Courtney, and Natalie. Carissa and I shared an order of wedges. Australians eat their potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. They are absolutely amazing! We sat and talked for almost two hours. It was really funny to sit and listen to people stories. We left Lashings to go and catch a bus because we were going to Kim’s house for Family Dinner. She lives in an apartment on the other side of the harbor bridge. We had Mexican for dinner, which was great. We had chips and salsa, guacamole, and burritos. I miss Mexican food so much. I was the only boy at family dinner. This seems to happen a lot on a trip with 30 girls and 7 guys. We had some pretty interesting conversations, about movies, cockroaches, and bucket pants. The quote of the day came from Hannah when we were walking to Kim’s house. We say something on the ground so I said: “what’s that?” in reply Hanna looks down and says: “Oh God, it’s a carcass!” I’m sure that it’s one of those things you’d have to have been there for but it was the highlight of my day.

Saturday Adventure

Saturday, March 6^th is where our story continues. It was a laid back day and the weather was really nice, which made it even better. I worked on my character profile for Jake for most of the morning. I went through the gospels and tried to find information on Judas. There really isn’t much about him, but I did find some very interesting things out about him. In Luke 22:3 it says: “Then Satan entered Judas” and in John 13:2 it says: “the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.” The verses made me start to think about whether Judas had a choice in whether or not he betrayed Jesus? Was it freewill or predestination? Was Judas really that bad of a guy? I’m sure that one of my more theological friends has a better answer, but it just made me realize how we need to guard our hearts because all sorts of stuff can slip in. Judas opened himself up to greed and eventually it brought him to suicide.

After working on homework, I decided to head up to Wesley and I got on the Internet while I waited for it to be time for Hannah’s show. I met up with three ASCers, Carissa, Andrea, and Kristen who also came to see the show. Hannah is one of the third year drama students at Wesley. She wrote, directed, and designed her show. It was really good. It’s called “Absorbed in Quirktorium” and it’s about two elementary girls who get lost in a museum and go on an adventure through the different exhibits. It was meant for children, but the show was still heaps of fun for older people. The crazy colors of the set and lighting really added to the zany characters in the show. The actors were all so into their characters, which also made it fun to watch. I was really impressed by the production.

Once the show was over, I went to the Rocks with Carissa, Andrea, and Kristen. We went to the Hero of Waterloo, which is in one of the oldest buildings in Sydney. It was really impressive to see the stones that the building was made out of and then think about how convicts had carved each of them with hand tools. We all ordered Hero burgers. They were great! One difference between American and Australian hamburgers is that they put beets on hamburgers in Australia. After experiencing some Australian history we decided to go on a walk across the Harbor Bridge. I’m glad that we did. Seeing the city at night from the bridge was a cool experience. It was funny because we would sop every 10 steps it seemed to take pictures. The Harbor Bridge is a very impressive structure, and I can see why it’s a national symbol. On the other side of the bridge we went and walk around part of Luna Park, which is a famous Australian amusement park. I think there was a wedding reception going on because there were tons of people dressed up. Exploring was fun there is so much here to see. One my way back home I went through Circular Quay to catch a bus and ended up running into my roommate, Greg, and the girls that live at the homestay right by my house. Its weird that even though I’m in this big city you still can run into people you know on a frequent basis.

Sydney Harbour