grr, Grrrrr, and GRRRRR!

Some disheartening news this morning...my work visa will not be granted by April 30. I guess they sent me a "request for further information" last month, but I am not sure where they sent that...I never got it. I need to supply police and background checks from every country I have lived more than 12 months in the last ten years.

I also need to figure out how I can leave this country in two and a half weeks without completely forgoing my visa application in process, since the "bridging visa" I currently have doesn't allow me to leave Australia (if I want to get back in and still get a visa, at least).

I am not sure what the bigger problem is ... getting a new bridging visa in the next 12 working days so I can go get married and be allowed back into Australia, or getting police reports from Greece. What little info I can find about that is that those reports are only given for residents, and that you must apply in person. Ha ha. Trip to Athens, anyone?

Tomorrow I can go apply in Adelaide for the correct bridging visa; hopefully if I pay the fee and offer my valid explanation, that could be granted right there in the office (fingers crossed). Then I'll go the Greek consulate and see if there is anything they can do for me by way of a background check that would appease immigration (fingers, toes, legs, arms, etc. crossed). I can also add fingerprinting and FBI background check to my not-at-all-busy week before the wedding when I get to Seattle.

Raaaaahhhhhhhhrrrrrgh.

"THIS is a true Adelaide summer,"

they tell me proudly, as they retreat to their darkened air conditioned living rooms and lay comatose on the couch for the better part of the day.

(We are in the 100s this week, happy January!)

Twelve Apostles

I have no idea why these rock formations have acquired the name "Twelve Apostles," especially since there were ever only nine, and two have fallen. So there are seven. Yet, I give you, the Twelve Apostles on Australia's southwest coast...

Post #800

Wow, that is a milestone.

Today I am stuck at home with a stress fractured foot. :( But here is where I was yesterday:I will post more photos very soon. There are also some on Facebook.

Remember when I first moved to Greece and was wondering what new food I would start liking there? I started liking tomatoes after eating them daily for two months in Costa Rica, and watermelon after 6 weeks in Turkey as a regular summer breakfast. I pondered whether it could be cucumbers, which I don't particularly prefer, or coffee, which is just the nastiest taste on the planet.

Well, yesterday Andrew and I had a long drive in the car and I was thinking about food. (Shocking.) It suddenly struck me what new food item I can't get enough of after my two years in Greece:Oh my goodness, I love BEETS!

Who knows how I started eating them in Greece, but the ones I got at the supermarket there were so good, so I started having them in salads, sandwiches, and looking up other new recipes. Admittedly, I don't think I ever didn't like beets, but I just didn't grow up eating them, so I never knew.

Here in Australia, they use "beetroot" in all KINDS of dishes - it's glorious! I can't get yellow mustard in my sandwich at Subway, but I can get beets.

My distaste for cucumbers has softened somewhat; I now eat them in my Greek salads disguised with feta, but I'm sorry to say, we've gotten nowhere with coffee. Blech.

What new food shall it be in Australia? Andrew's vote is capsicum, or peppers, which is a strong taste to me that I just don't like at all, but he loves them. We'll see.

P.S. happy birthday sister!

Victor

Rick and Beth went on holiday last week to a nearby beach town, Victor Harbor. They invited us down, so Andrew and I drove down for a quick 24 hour break this week. Last night his sister, in typical Aussie fashion (shortening every word possible), asked us "How was Victor?" "Who's Victor?" I thought, until I realized what she meant. Victor Harbor is MUCH too long to say in a sentence. What was I thinking?

Anyway, we had a beautiful day down there; it was too cold for swimming (although the past two days here in Adelaide have been scorching hot!), so we wandered around the little town and surrounding areas, had a coffee and a picnic lunch, played on a playground we found (why not), and had another coffee with R & B after their bike ride.

Thanks, guys

I'm not a fan of American imperialism or anything, but I have to say that this sight makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy. It happened in Greece, and it's happening here in Adelaide, South Australia as well: an increased supply of fresh and frozen turkeys toward Thanksgiving week.

Now Australian supermarkets are amping up their Christmas supplies, so it's quite likely that the increased turkeys are a result of impending Christmas dinners, but I'm choosing to take it as an acknowledgment that we exist and are celebrating a very important holiday next week. That was definitely the case in Greece, as Greeks don't really cook turkeys and there are a lot of expats in Athens, and I am going to say "Thanks!" to the Aussies too, for making me feel welcome. ;)

We're doing our best to put together some kind of Thanksgiving dinner here - none of Andrew's friends have celebrated an American Thanksgiving and are quite keen to do so! It's becoming a challenge to find a date that works for all, so we'll see if it works, but in any case I plan to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner at some point - my first turkey, and definitely the first time I'm going to be cooking everything myself...!!! I'll gladly accept any tips or favorite recipes...

6 weeks!?

I arrived back in Adelaide yesterday. It was a glorious warm spring day, which was so wonderful after weeks of rain and changing weather on my travels. We ran some errands - IKEA, Office Works, etc. and relaxed. Last night we had a lovely barbecue on the patio at Andrew's house with his housemates. I'm learning quickly about the Aussie mozzies (mosquitos) and wondering if I'm going to have to bathe in insect repellant each afternoon!? But, it was a lovely evening with citronella candles, yummy homemade burgers and wine. :)

I realized this morning that I get to be here for 6+ weeks, until we leave Christmas Eve for the States ... and that that is the longest stretch I have been in one place in 2010 without traveling. Oh my! Perhaps that is why I feel such relief to settle in, unpack, and have a normal life for a little while. I'm not complaining about the great traveling and ministry opportunities I've had, but it can get quite draining too!

So here is my big SIGH of relief and settling...... :)

"I knew you were American because of your teeth."

Chalk one up for the nazi American Dental Association!

It's been a busy week. It doesn't stop until I'm on my flight back to Adelaide on Tuesday morning! Andrew has been in Sydney for a couple of days too, for work, so it's been nice to catch up over dinner and hot chocolate in the evenings. The neighborhood we're staying in has heaps of great Thai restaurants so we've been having our fill! He left tonight and I'm off tomorrow as well for the weekend, for a missions conference and to speak in another church (and a bush walk!).

During a Skype meeting yesterday I felt the thrill of possibilities with what we're trying to do here (re: an ITeams Australia anti-trafficking ministry). Admittedly, it's one of the first times I've felt that since this whole thing began. I think it's in part to news of some potential teammates - makes me realize just how much I was NOT feeling inspired to do this on my own. Monday night, back in Sydney, we're having an important meeting with several interested people to attempt to set some vision and see "who wants in" ... I feel like a lot is resting on this and I'm feeling hopeful for the first time.

Earlier I was browsing some photos and found this from Greece:
I miss my friends - but was encouraged tonight as I had a coffee date with a couple new girlfriends here. :) Now off to bed - first time before midnight all week!

a post

I have jet lag. Sydney is a half hour ahead of Adelaide...so that is a completely ridiculous statement, but I'm going with it. I'm tired.

I flew into Sydney yesterday afternoon, was picked up and driven two hours north to Newcastle. This is Annette's home town! She's the Aussie that joined the Nea Zoi staff in Athens this summer. I got to have dinner with her family last night, stay with her parents, and speak at her church this morning. Took the bus back to Sydney this afternoon, and ready for meetings and things to start tomorrow.

It was fun to speak there ... they are doing a missions month, so it was perfect timing. I shared about what's going on in Athens and some stories of some of the girls. It was a good opportunity for them to hear specifics and see photos of what she's doing. (You can see some photos here if you want!)

After church I had lunch with her parents and her best friend Michelle and Michelle's fiance - fish and chips on the beach, complete with a bite of a deep fried Mars Bar! I am pretty sure that was the foulest thing I had ever tasted...not a flavor I desire to have anywhere near my mouth ever again. (Except the chocolate was good; I licked it out of my piece.) :)I was talking to someone the other day who was a missionary in Africa. Like, she lived in a hut and did her laundry in a barrel and cooked over a fire. That is just a whole different level of missionary. I lived in a city with grocery stores and I had electricity and my biggest hardships were not being able to flush my toilet paper and not having a clothes dryer. :) I told her, admiringly, that I could never do what she did. I'm a total crap missionary in comparison. But then she said, "Well, I could never do what you do."

Oh. Ok. To each his own. I work in the sex industry...I guess that's not really normal either. It's cool that we are all equipped for different service. We each have different gifts and can handle different things. The way different parts of the body should work!

Speaking of which, the other day Andrew introduced me to an older couple, some friends of the family, and said "This is Kelsey. She works in brothels." Sweeet. Thanks honey.

sorry in advance

Yesterday I bundled up, knowing it gets cold by the afternoon and the evenings are still downright chilly. I'm collecting Andrew's sweatshirts and socks that he's had to loan me because I left my house unprepared. Well, yesterday, I was prepared! But, yesterday it was 31 degrees - almost 90. My long sleeves and extra layers were completely unnecessary, and the night was one of those glorious warm summer nights.

Today it's raining.

So goes springtime in Australia. You have to pack your whole wardrobe for an Aussie spring, I'm told. Good thing I have five suitcases worth of clothing. ;)

Here is a new Australian (or warm climate) creature that I learned about the other night when Andrew had one on his car. Apparently they are harmless and people don't mind them running around the house at all. I find this to be quite unsettling.









Ready? Are you sure?








The Huntsman spider ... aka the "giant crab spider." It can grow up to 10 inches in some areas!
I hope you are enjoying learning about the Australian culture! Sweet dreams! ;)

this and that

Hi, I don't have much to say. I'm in Adelaide this week...sorting through suitcases, going to spin (cycling) classes at the gym, hanging out with Andrew... I could stay here. :) But it's back to Sydney on Saturday, for the second half of the whirlwind - ten more days of speaking, events and meetings.

It's trying to be spring; the mornings are warm and sunny and then the clouds and cool winds come by the afternoon. All the shops have their Christmas decorations out this week; it's weird to think that Christmas will be a summer holiday this year! (Well, until Christmas Eve - then it's to Seattle. But at least for the season leading up it will be getting hotter.)

I've commandeered Andrew's guitar and had a brief lesson today from his brother in law. I really miss playing and can't believe I led worship once upon a time - that would be frightening these days. I'm excited to work on it again.

Also there are great places to hike in the Adelaide Hills, with great views at the top and sometimes a kangaroo or two along the way. I've quit running, I think (finally); my last run was in September here ... so I'll have to press hard into the cycling and hiking. After years of deteriorating knees I am finally taking the doctor's advice (5 years later) and quitting. I think. It's an odd feeling and I miss the flexibility and just the feeling of it, but I'd like to be able to walk in 20 years. I had been holding onto the dream of just one more triathlon - even in Greece I looked into doing one - but maybe it's not meant to be. I know I don't sound very convincing, and I've tried to quit before, but I think it's for good this time. We'll see. ;)

Here I will leave you with a picture of a kangaroo I saw the other day:
Mmmm.

What should I call my newsletter? Also, pesto is a very dangerous substance.

I am working on my monthly update letter. What should I call it? Like "The Sydney Scoop!" or "Aussie Update" or something much more catchy. (But not "Kangaroo Krack-Up," which was Janell's suggestion.) I don't even know if there's a real job for me here yet, but clearly this is an important aspect of my ministry! ;) Suggestions???

Andrew finally got my stuff out of Adelaide customs yesterday. Took a whole week; they ended up charging me tax on some items that was 4x what the items were worth, throwing in a whole load of additional charges, and taking my Knorr pesto sauce mix packets. You know the powder kind that you mix with milk and olive oil? So yummy. And also, clearly, a hazard to the whole country of Australia. They were "seized for destruction." Who knew powdered pesto was such a dangerous contaminant! Thank goodness, they saved us all.

hi Mom

I am here...briefly. My first three weeks here look like this:

Melbourne > Adelaide > Sydney > Brisbane > Adelaide > Newcastle > Sydney > Canberra > Cooma > Adelaide

Tomorrow doing a workshop on trafficking at a Bible college in Sydney. Another event and many meetings in Brisbane. Then more speaking, churches, more events, and lots and lots of meetings.

My unaccompanied luggage that arrived in time for me on Tuesday is still being detained by the Port of Adelaide customs, I sure am loving them right now. So I leave tomorrow for Sydney and Brisbane with the same suitcase of clothes I kept for my last week in Greece! Ha.

For now I'm staying with a family from Andrew's church while in Adelaide; they are gracious hosts and hosting me free of charge for the next couple months. Wish I had a few more days to settle and kick the jet lag (got here last night), but off I go...

...and what I'm most looking forward to

These are the things that are going to make me feel right at home in the next few months!

English! - there might be an accent and they might say funny things, but I'll take it. Shopping in English, church in English, eavesdropping in English, instruction manuals in English, customer service in English...THANK YOU!!!!!

Driving - even if it's on the wrong side of the road. It means I am free to come and go as I please. I am not at the mercy of striking transportation workers, I don't have to carry 12 bags of groceries on the long walk home, and I can leave the perimeters of the city center WHENEVER I WANT!

Real grocery stores - big, beautiful, and almost anything I want. I can't even imagine.

English - it's a really big deal.

Restaurant variety - Thai, Indian, attempted Mexican, even Greek if I need it ... I want it all!!

And, well...
:)

I touched them. But I washed my hands afterward.

[Side note: Earlier today I was looking at a friend's photos and reliving my shock at the public urinals in Amsterdam. Just click on that link and you too can relive it!]

[Side note #2: I am not giving you answers to my quiz below until some people actually attempt to figure some of them out. :)]

And here are some photos from one day last week in Australia (I am back in Athens now), when we went to this wildlife reserve and touched weird animals.

This is Blair, the koala:Koalas are basically lethargic and sleepy all the time from eating so much eucalyptus. Except when they need more, then they're quite alert! Not so sure about touching this thing... (like my hair cut? It's as short as it looks, eek!)Dingoes:Off to see the kangaroos...These were the strangest for me. I guess I'd never really seen them before, so I felt like I was in some computer animated movie with made-up animals (like Mr. Tumnus in Narnia?). Especially watching them move, with their enormous muscly hind legs and tails, which they also use to move around. They are pure muscle. Explains why it's such a healthy meat (yes, they eat their mascot in this country!!!)...These suckers were so strange and I am admittedly not much of an animal person (not so sure about this one either) ...Andrew is a pro!Taking a load off...Tasmanian Devil:Wombat:And we ran into more kangaroos, some bigger ones and then some smaller ones. They were everywhere in this forest, which added to the whole Lord of the Rings/Narnia feel... (I was a pro by then too!)A baby joey in the pouch:Emu: (I may have chased the emu across the field, but I would never confess to such a thing.)

A fun day in the Land of Make Believe. I did try some kangaroo later, as well as crocodile and emu. All tasty! There isn't really a shortage...you have to be careful driving around dusk because kangaroos will just hop into the street (they aren't very smart). What a strange place. :)

How to speak Australian

One of the reasons I've been open to relocating to Australia is because they speak English. I mentioned this once to Annette, our new Aussie coworker in Athens, and she kind of snickered and said, "That's what you think!" I have since come to understand what she meant! Australians abbreviate everything. Any word two syllables or longer may be deemed too long, and thus given a nickname. You may have heard "barbie," short for barbecue. They also have plenty of slang words that you just have to learn. And sometimes it's just random, like all the words you can use for "tired" ... stuffed, knackered, shattered, bushed, fagged (that's not bad like it sounds to us).

To illustrate, let's play a game! :) I will give you the Aussie (that's pronounced "ozzie" with a Z sound, not S, or you will hopelessly label yourself a foreigner) abbreviation or phrase, and you can guess what it means.

I'll start with some easy examples:

brekkie - breakfast

prezzie - present

Salvos - Salvation Army

Macca's - McDonald's

Ok, you try:

bathers -

footy -

sanger -

arvo -

bickie -

mozzie -

doco (docko) -

trackies -

servo -

sunnies -

rele (rellie) -

smoko -

sickie -

bikie and biker -

greenie -

How about some professions:

garbo - garbage man

postie -

milko -

polli -

Some harder slang:

kip - nap

snag -

scratchy -

bingle -

squizz -

barney -

Any guesses on the phrase "fair dinkum"? One of my personal favorites. :)

I have heard all of these, and had to learn them already. Whoever thought it wasn't a different language was a bit mistaken! Anyone want to try? I'll post the answers after some of you do. Of course you could cheat by looking online, but why not have a go on your own?

finding rest

I think this is just about enough winter to last me for awhile. Thank you very much. There are bad winter storms at the moment, lots of flooding, and trees down from wind. I walk over this rad suspension footbridge to get to Andrew's shop, and the river underneath is overrunning its banks and quite torrential at the moment! A little wooden bridge that I jogged across in another place over the river last week is completely engulfed in raging water.

Still, I do not miss Athens. Is this a sign? I miss my friends, but not the city. And not work, either (eek). I have been away for a month, and only this week have I gotten to the point where I feel relaxed and able to process things. I realize how the work affects me, and how much more it must affect me in ways that I don't realize. I am tired and probably a little messed up from hanging out in brothels and on the streets with prostitutes, from talking and reading and hearing about sex trafficking and exploitation and horrible things. Before this week, the thought of starting with another trafficking ministry sent horror and dread coursing through my veins. This week, with the beginning of my decompression, I see that with a bit more rest and getting my head recentered, I will be ok.

It's scary to see what this stuff can do to your soul, to your view of God, and to your view of the world, in subtle but powerful ways. I have learned a few tools to take care of myself, but still feel like I fail miserably sometimes. I know there are many who have no idea what it's doing to them. This is something that's becoming increasingly interesting to me - self/soul care for missionaries or those working in fields like this one. It's something I might like to explore more in the future. After I work on it more for myself.

Well hi!

I am sitting inside as it pours rain and thunders and lightnings outside with ferocity! (I hope that is a word!) Lovely to be in a winter storm, knowing my compadres in Greece and the US are still enjoying nice warm summer weather (it's ok, I am in Australia!). :) We did have nice weather in Sydney last week though.

I am staying with Andrew's sister and her husband, and spend much of the mornings on my own while everyone is at work. As I have some down time here in Adelaide to think and pray and dream, I'm feeling good about the next couple of months. I know God has closed some doors in Greece, so looking forward, I feel excited about possibilities here. Obviously Andrew is here, which is a big draw ;) ... but also I am excited about the IT national director's heart for justice and her desire to see how we can begin to use our gifts and resources here.

As I know more, I'll fill you in, and ask for more specific prayer! For now, here are some photos of Sydney last week, including the Opera House from every possible angle, and some shots from our adventures to Manly and Bondi Beach... It's a beautiful city - and I'll be back soon...

Ha ha, Andrew hates this photo, but I love it:

(We had great weather - a far cry from what I'm listening to now as the sky unleashes its vengeance - but it's a perfect day for hot chocolate and a movie! There are good things about winter.) :)