I survived week 1!
I have officially been in Sydney for 1 week. I still don't love it, but I also know that it takes time to adjust and once I make friends and get comfortable with where I am and getting around, it will get better and better.
I have met a lot of really fun girls through my roommates ("housemates" because apparently here when you say roommates it means you literally share a room) so hopefully I will get to hang out with them some more and we can be friends! On Sunday I went with Corrine, my housemate, to coffee with 7 of her girlfriends before church. They were SO nice and a lot of fun! We all sat together at church, and afterward I went with a couple of them to the mall then to the "markets" - basically the farmer's market. It was a zoo in there!
People everywhere, different stands everywhere, some guy talking about different deals over a loudspeaker... sensory overload! BUT I got a bunch of stuff for only $4.60!! I am a fan. I have also heard that you can get cheap souvenir stuff there too, so I might just have to check that out. After we left the markets, we over to a couple of the girls' house and hung out for a little bit before going home to get ready for church on Sunday night. Sunday was the 4th of July and Judah Smith, an American pastor from Seattle was preaching, so when he came up on stage after worship, the band started playing "The Star Spangled Banner". Everyone was still standing, so all of the Americans in the room started to cheer and sing (shout) along... that was a lot of fun, and hilarious. Judah Smith was HILARIOUS, you should look him up. After church, I cooked hotdogs for Renee and Corrine - they LOVED them - and showed them how to make s'mores... over the gas stove! We had to improvise a little on the ingredients, but they actually tasted pretty good.
Yesterday, Monday, Hillsong Conference started and let me tell you, it is HUGE. Before I get to that, I DO have to say that I RODE THE BUS! Only for about 15 minutes to get to the mall, but STILL. It wasn't that bad, kinda lonely, but not scary. I am still not super comfortable venturing out by myself, but at least I can get to the mall. I also got a phone, which makes me feel like a citizen of the world again because I can actually be connected to people.
Ok, Conference.... Hillsong does this huge conference every year in Sydney that people come to from all over the world - 77 different countries are represented this year! They rent Acer Arena in Sydney Olympic Park for the week and this year they have over 21,000 delegates (people who paid to go to conference). The nights are free, so Renee and I went to the big opener last night and they estimated over 30,000 people were there! It was SO cool! I mean, it was cool just being in church on Sunday worshipping with this band whose CDs you own, and seeing Brian Houston preach, but seeing it in Acer was insane. Hopefully I'll get to go every night this week. Last night Brian used this video that Lanny Donoho had done during part of his sermon, and Andy Stanly is one of the speakers this week... so it ALMOST feels a little like BigStuf for grown-ups.
I have met a lot of really fun girls through my roommates ("housemates" because apparently here when you say roommates it means you literally share a room) so hopefully I will get to hang out with them some more and we can be friends! On Sunday I went with Corrine, my housemate, to coffee with 7 of her girlfriends before church. They were SO nice and a lot of fun! We all sat together at church, and afterward I went with a couple of them to the mall then to the "markets" - basically the farmer's market. It was a zoo in there!People everywhere, different stands everywhere, some guy talking about different deals over a loudspeaker... sensory overload! BUT I got a bunch of stuff for only $4.60!! I am a fan. I have also heard that you can get cheap souvenir stuff there too, so I might just have to check that out. After we left the markets, we over to a couple of the girls' house and hung out for a little bit before going home to get ready for church on Sunday night. Sunday was the 4th of July and Judah Smith, an American pastor from Seattle was preaching, so when he came up on stage after worship, the band started playing "The Star Spangled Banner". Everyone was still standing, so all of the Americans in the room started to cheer and sing (shout) along... that was a lot of fun, and hilarious. Judah Smith was HILARIOUS, you should look him up. After church, I cooked hotdogs for Renee and Corrine - they LOVED them - and showed them how to make s'mores... over the gas stove! We had to improvise a little on the ingredients, but they actually tasted pretty good.
Yesterday, Monday, Hillsong Conference started and let me tell you, it is HUGE. Before I get to that, I DO have to say that I RODE THE BUS! Only for about 15 minutes to get to the mall, but STILL. It wasn't that bad, kinda lonely, but not scary. I am still not super comfortable venturing out by myself, but at least I can get to the mall. I also got a phone, which makes me feel like a citizen of the world again because I can actually be connected to people.
Ok, Conference.... Hillsong does this huge conference every year in Sydney that people come to from all over the world - 77 different countries are represented this year! They rent Acer Arena in Sydney Olympic Park for the week and this year they have over 21,000 delegates (people who paid to go to conference). The nights are free, so Renee and I went to the big opener last night and they estimated over 30,000 people were there! It was SO cool! I mean, it was cool just being in church on Sunday worshipping with this band whose CDs you own, and seeing Brian Houston preach, but seeing it in Acer was insane. Hopefully I'll get to go every night this week. Last night Brian used this video that Lanny Donoho had done during part of his sermon, and Andy Stanly is one of the speakers this week... so it ALMOST feels a little like BigStuf for grown-ups.
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