The Gold Coast

September 9th, 2006 Bridgewater Apartments, Brisbane, Australia
There are times when stressful situations can cause us to perhaps exaggerate a tiny bit. I’m not saying this is necessarily true in this situation, but my two ‘tests’ Friday (the 8th) morning were not as bad as first believed. They were thirty questions and I feel fairly certain I made good grades. The aftertastes of test are always better than the first bite.
After chapel, I shared some observations with Rich and Dr. Byram over pita and humus. I pointed out the present circumstances of the students which may be stressing some out. I’m taken the most number of hours (18) out of anyone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I have more work. Several classes range in the numbers available, but the same amount of work is required for all. I told them about the need to read five books a night and begin to prepare for two projects in each of Dr. Byram’s classes, as well as a paper, presentation, and keeping up a blog for Rich’s (I am now getting class credit for this blog, which takes the place of a scrapbook; pretty schnickity). Rich smiled mischievously and said, “Guess you’re gonna be busy.” Yeah.
The first class of the afternoon was International Studies. We began by going over Bryson’s book when Rich stopped and looked at everyone.
“You all look beat up,” he said abruptly. “How’s everyone feeling?”
And then people began to express their feelings of stress and exhaustion and of the fear of the next few weeks of work. Rich then stood up and walked out of the room, calling for everyone to follow. We spent the class period walking by the river and sitting at a little café. I was standing by Rich and quietly said, “I hope none of this had anything to do with what I said at lunch.” He laughed and said it didn’t. I continued, saying, “I was just making observations to friends and professors. I didn’t want to come across as complaining.” He said it was part of his job as a teacher to ensure that we all do well and he needs to make sure everyone’s emotional status is where it should be. He said he’s do anything he can to make sure everyone does well in the classes, because he’s there to help. I like that.
The last two classes assembled outside. I must say that Missionary Anthropology yesterday was probably the best class I have participated in since we’ve been here. Rich was on target with what he said. One thing he said (which I have since written in the back of my Bible, along with many other quotes) was, “We have unbelievers in the world because they have either met a Christian or they haven’t met one.” Oh burned. We talked about ways to reach out to people while in Australia, adjusting messages to different cultures. The way we are missionaries in certain parts of America will not work in certain parts of Australia, or other parts of the world. Styles of worship and ways of interpreting what the Bible says will not be helpful in two different places. During class, Rich asked what things make us see “the awe of God.” I later told him it was the beauty of Nature and having class periods like that. I am encouraged, inspired, and every other synonym for those words by thought-provoking and deep conversations.
Australian Civ. adjourned early and I was able to complete my long run before classes usually ended. I then spent quite a bit of time reading for next week’s classes. My friends back in Searcy can testify that I have a strange habit of doing homework on Friday night. However, it does save a lot of time during the weekend.
I then walked to the ferry down the waterfront and swam (I still that word is appropriate in this situation) to Eagle Street Pier, where I sat watching the busyness of the city at night. Around fifteen minutes later, Felicity, Katie, and Lindsey met me to accompany me while we grocery-shopped. Katie and the girls made sure I had everything I needed to last the following week. I resented being treated like I was helpless. I’m not helpless…..close, but not quite. I ended up buying AUS$70 worth of groceries. I wanted to regurgitate. That’s a lot….well, more than I’m used to. All I ever buy at the grocery store is Fruit Loops, milk, and Ramen noodles. Felicity and Lindsey had some other errands to run, so Katie and I caught a taxi back across the river. The driver was an interesting character, expressing his disdain for the “yuppies at the local uni” and warned us to stay away from them. He used a few choice words which shall not be repeated, but I found him to be an interesting guy.
I ate around four bowls of Fruit Loops while our suite watched Star Wars: Episodse III. Now that’s a good way to debrief from a week of study.

Everyone gathered on the bus this morning at 8:30. As much as I would have relished sleeping to ridiculous hours of the day, I was looking forward to our little trip. I slept the hour drive to the Gold Coast in southern Queensland. It’s a beautiful city, located on the shores a fantastic sandy beach which extends for miles. The sky was clear and I couldn’t see a single cloud. I love cloudy, overcast, rainy sorts of days (perhaps it’s the British in me), but a day at the beach is a day for some blueness.
Our first stop was Q1, a towering building close to the beach. Q1, which is shaped like the Olympic torch, is 322.5 meters tall, making it the tallest residential tower in the world and the twentieth tallest building in the world. The elevator took us to the observation deck on floor 77 in 42.7 seconds. My ears popped, because that’s fast. The view was amazing from the top. It would be an interesting experience to live in a tower like this. Whenever it came time to pay the house bill, your bank account would feel a little scrawny. Half of us went up to a room where we watched a video about the history of the Gold Coast and Surfer’s Paradise (which is the name of the beach itself). We then had coffee and a very delicious cake in the shape of Q1 at the café. My ears popped again on the way down. William had me grab hold of his hands and twirl him around in circles so that his feet flew out behind him. I feel dizzy thinking about it. My brain started to bounce off the side of my cranium, so I told him we needed to stop for awhile.
Dr. Byram, Jennifer, Mrs. Byram, Derek, and I went for the beach when free time came. I wanted to swim. But we passed a kebab place on the way and we, of course, had to stop. Lamb kebab and humus: yes, that’s all I have to say. Dr. Byram was very kind and bought lunch for us, perhaps wanting to make up for giving three tests on his birthday (just kidding).
The water was cold, but oh! it was fun. The waves were huge and I was constantly being slammed against the ocean floor as I body surfed. But oh! it was fun. We spent two hours or so fighting the water and being filled with salt. I got my workout for the day. It was my first time to swim in the Pacific Ocean. My ears were filled with water, so I tried shooting it out by holding my nose and blowing. The only thing it did was make a sound like Donald Duck choking. We spent some time walking around the shops, enjoying the atmosphere of the beach life. We then drove to another shopping center where we spent an hour, which was entirely too long in my opinion.
I slept the drive back and then read Missionary Anthropology on the shore of the river. I spent some time in the Common Room surfing the web. I think the guys and I are going to watch the first Star Wars tonight.
The rugby bug has taken many of the people on the trip, and they are watching the Brisbane Broncos play the St. George Dragons. These guys are pretty stinkin’ tough. They remind me of soccer players: everyone is in shape and everyone has to be able to do basically everything. Not like football, where you’re encouraged to be 400 pounds and the game stops every few seconds. Give me a good basketball game, where you have to be skilled enough to drive and defend without hitting somebody. Give me J.J. Redick and I’ll show you a sport.