with a digital camera you can afford to be silly

Australian still life: in this photo you will see
A) 80th Anniversary Commemorative Collectible Vegemite Glass [vegemite is a toxic war ration dark greenish-brown yeast spread that Aussies inexplicably eat like it's peanut butter. See this truly snort-laugh-worthy link for more information. go. now. you know you want to.]
B) mug of "Tasty" peppermint tea in Noah's Ark mug. Marketing is so touchingly simple here sometimes, the dear souls :)
C) money from my wallet. 1000 Japanese yen, 10 and 5 Australian dollars, 1 US dollar.
D) ZonePerfect bar. Notice the price tag, if your eyes are that good. YOWZERS!!! (or would it be "yowsers" in this country's spelling...) $3.50. Exchange rate notwithstanding (1 AUD = .75 USD) that is still really really expensive. And totally normal. This is the most expensive city I have ever been in. And you thought California was bad.

















and kids? oh yeah :) I'm going to Japan tomorrow.

some pictures

Mom wanted to see my dress.















Australia is pretty. This is Snowy River country, as in The Man From Snowy River. I went skiing for two days about an hour's drive from here.















Answered phones for two weeks at an accounting business. Supplementary income while the cafe was dead mid-winter.

Sometimes I miss San Diego. But then I realize that the occasional feelings of emptiness that make me want to go back to "my" supermarket, "my" beach, "my" traffic, existed in equal if not greater measure when I was in San Diego. How true it is that we take ourselves everywhere we go. A downer friend warned me against going to Australia, deriding what he saw as my irresponsible vagrancy, declaring how foolish it was to travel to find yourself. I actually didn't go abroad to find myself, but if I have moved in any direction spiritually since my arrival mid-April, I would have to say I have been (continuing to) find myself.

I've been very grateful for my friends this week. They've been good to me. Coming alongside in love, with grace, enjoying me for all that I am. Thank you.

Today I went into the water for the first time since June. I don't know how cold it was (remember, the seasons are switched here) but I spent a delightful 20 minutes in the water getting dragged around by the 4 foot waves and currents before starting to get chilly and lying in the cooling afternoon sun. I can say it was warmer than when I went in the ocean in Mexico last October though!

I have to figure out some effective way to turn the subject from myself when I meet new people. I've been here long enough that the instant they start asking, Oh, where are you from? Are you studying? What are you doing? How long have you been here? I get totally glazed and uninterested. It's like the questions during the first week of college, but it's been going on for almost 4 months. Actually, I don't know what I'm doing here :) but I'm interested to see what I'm doing next.

I'm ready for summer. And I swear that I can do anything when it's sunny.
SUNSHINE!!!!