Megali Evdomada

(That's Greek. Remember Greek?) It's holy week, or "great week" as the Greeks like to call it. I'm sitting here in Adelaide, South Australia and remembering my last two Easters in Greece. The slaughtered goats everywhere, the bells tolling for hours on end (does your head in, that), the priests in their long and severely black robes chanting (also for hours on end), lighting candles at midnight, cracking red eggs, watching the goat's head with its teeth and eyes still gleaming at you as it turns on the spit over the fire. Ah, the Greek Easter.

Fast forward ... Easter in Australia doesn't have quite the same ring to it. I am thankful to be spared the commercialism of bunnies and eggs, for the most part, but it's feeling a bit anticlimactic. An Australian ITeams coworker made the comment that the long weekend is more sacred for many Australians than is the actual reason for Easter. It's a camping weekend, or a few days to catch up with all those things around the house that need doing.

I'm startled (that says "startled," not "starting") to realize that I'm more comfortable in Greece with pagan rituals and Orthodox celebrations than in this country where there is not much happening. It's challenging my views and my perception of what is cultural and what is truly biblical as we remember Christ's death on the cross. To me, observing Aussie culture, the lack of a special Easter service at church or not having a big family dinner feels like an affront to Christianity! :) And then it nearly does my head in to realize that those are cultural things - my whole view of Easter is American.

Our church here celebrates the Lord's Supper every month with a special service. They believe we should be mindful of what Christ did on the cross every day of the year, not just one weekend. So rather than have the traditions occupy our focus, or our attention taken with making sure everything looks right for the Easter holiday, they choose not to give it special attention. It's controversial, in my mind and others' - we don't fully agree with it, for a few reasons. But it's making me think long and hard about how much of my perception of Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter are rooted in American culture. Scripture doesn't prescribe that we celebrate Easter. It does tell us to remember his death through communion, which we do regularly. In fact, Easter started as a pagan holiday, until the church decided to Christianize it and put it on the Christian calendar.

I won't lie - I've felt angry this week and even shed a few tears as I'm confronted with my cultural view of this holiday, which to me means that I feel I am totally missing out on it. It's not WRONG to celebrate Easter as we do in the States, with special services and dinners and spending time thinking about what it means. I think that's good, for the most part (though obviously the customs can usurp the meaning and value of it - like in Greece, but also in American commercialism and ritualistic traditions). But it's also not wrong to NOT have an Easter service, instead choosing to remember what Jesus did with as much weight in July or November as in April. Some might call it "bold" - not bowing to the pressure of having a special service just because everyone else does.

Like I said - it's doing my head in. I see their side yet I am still very much entrenched in my own (since, you know, I'm American). I'm bothered, and I do feel like opportunities are being missed - and that I'm missing out! :) Yet I am also thinking through what Easter truly is - and that's not American Easter, or Greek Easter, or Australian Easter. It's not about the church service (or lack thereof). Even though every American fiber in me cries out for that.... :)

I miss bananas

What a poor deprived country I live in. Because of the hurricane in Queensland in February, our banana prices have been soaring - because most of them were destroyed. I think they are about $13/kilo at my local supermarket at the moment. I can't argue with the prices as the markets try to support the farmers who lost so much of their crops. It just means that bananas are truly a treat these days.

Oh, to taste that sweet, starchy, firm ... uh ... how do you describe the taste of a banana?!

Step two...

The nice people at the Greek consulate have submitted the proper form and copy of my passport to request a penal certificate to affirm that I am not a criminal in Greece. Hurray! It was so much easier than I ever dreamed. The last thing I'll need to do is get fingerprinted in the States to have a background check and then it should be smooth sailing for my work visa. I hope I have black fingers in my wedding.

P.S. My dress came in today! It was made especially for me and it's too big. On to alterations ... better not lose any more weight ;) But, I love it! :)

(my second choice; decided in the end to go with another)

Step one...

Thanks for your prayers! I got a temporary visa today that will allow me to travel outside the country and re-enter for up to three months. After that I have to stay until the decision is made on the work visa. But YAY they are letting me go. :) We can attend our wedding!

Went to the Greek consulate as well but the guy who "may" be able to help me was out sick. I'm sure he was on strike. These are Greeks after all! :) I'm supposed to call back tomorrow to see if he's in and if I can come in and see if he can get me what I need. I also recalled Pepie my Greek lawyer friend, so she's standing by in Athens to offer assistance if needed. Hopefully we'll get this taken care of. Thanks for praying!!! (You can keep praying for the Greek police certificate if you want.) ;)

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.

Cluck.

I attended my first ever "hens' night" last night. We would call it a bachelorette party, but being in the spirit of the queen as they are here (they drive on the wrong side of the road, for goodness' sake), it was a bona fide hens' party. And it was for me! :)Andrew's mates took him out for his "buck's night" - they went paintballing and for dinner afterward. (I've never understood the appeal of being shot at and returning home with welts and bruises, but boys like it, I guess.) So his mates' wives and some of the other girls in the church, as well as some of Andrew's "rellies" decided to throw one for me as well. It was a combo hens' party and kitchen tea (I guess that's like a shower), so we got all dressed up and went to high tea. I love that, and it was so fun! They made a nice little book for me full of notes and advice and recipes, and they each had to write a poem about Andrew and I, all of which were quite amusing. Andrew's sister's note to me in the book includes "On a serious note though - if you hurt my brother ............ he probably deserved it! :)" Ha.

Anyway, it was a fun afternoon and evening, and I feel blessed to have had time with these girls here in Adelaide. It's a bit of a bummer to have to start from the beginning AGAIN in Sydney, but at least we'll be doing it together this time.

Me with Deb B, Jeannie (part of the family I live with), and Deb F

My new "in laws" - Kate (cousin), Margaret (aunt), "Mummo" (Grandma in Finnish),
and Mum Marja-Leena

Cathryn, Adele (Andrew's sis), and Amy

Deb and Cathryn attempt the "Kelsey smile"

34 days: married and staying in free missionary housing

I'm thankful God didn't let me be anxious for too long! :) We were praying about this housing last night, and this morning I called a woman whose information I got from International Teams regarding an apartment that they have for missionaries. I booked it for up to two months when we arrive at the end of May. It's fully furnished, self contained (on their property) and FREE for missionaries (that's me!). Wow, totally relieved and grateful.

waiting and celebrating

I was in Sydney for a week for meetings and planning. I caught up with a new friend who is going to Europe for several months - and letting Andrew and I house sit for June and July when we get to Sydney. A tiny studio apartment, but free rent in a great neighborhood and a soft landing as we arrive in our new city after the wedding!

Still waiting for that dang work visa to come through so I can plunge in and get to work. The fun and flexibility of working from home in Adelaide is losing its novelty - I need to get out! :)

That said, I am quite happy to still be able to be here, since Andrew is here. We had a fun week this past week here - engagement photos, engagement party - but I have no photos to share with you yet. This fabulous girl did our photos, and we had a rockin' party last night at this cool pub! A friend took photos for us at the party, so I can't wait to get both sets soon. What an odd but warm feeling to have a party in a new country and have over 100 people show up to celebrate us - all new friends to me but so many who love Andrew dearly and are so excited for him (us!).

Heading to Sydney again on Monday for more work, meetings, and a conference... I'll probably be absent here for a little while again. :)

Winter to summer.... (my spider tale)

Winter gives way to summer...and millipedes give way to spiders. I'll take the millipedes crunching under my feet, crawling through my sheets, and covering any surface during wet weather to this, thank you very much. Any day.

Winter had me grossed out on a daily basis because of those nasty things. They are everywhere, in everyone's homes, on the ceiling, on the sidewalks, in the bathtub. I was so happy to see them fade to nonexistence in the warmer weather that spring brought. Yet, as we are now in summer, I am dismayed and horrified to see that the numbers of large, disgusting spiders has exponentially increased.

Particularly in my yard.

The other night at a friend's house for dinner, we sat on the patio outside and watched a big one spin its gargantuan web right in front of us. Fascinating...from a distance. There is one in Andrew's driveway, attached to some branches, that is as big as my palm and expecting babies with the nasty white pouch that has been hanging out in its web, undisturbed (!?!), for weeks. And then there is my yard.

Our friendly neighborhood spiders spin their webs at dusk every day, and by morning they have packed them all up to wait out the daylight in hiding. My nightly walk from the car to the front porch has become quite treacherous of late. I have developed a crazy arm-flailing, karate-chopping, bag-swinging walk to get myself safely to shelter each night. I no longer care what the neighbors think. These suckers are nasty and I am NOT getting their webs on me (the strands of which are, by the way, thicker than the coarsest hairs on my head). Once they choose a place, they are likely to rebuild their webs in the same location for several nights.

I've been successful so far. A few times I've seen the spider resting in the center of its web before I walked into it, and thankfully those were nights Andrew was bringing me home so he took care of it. But tonight it was just me. Me vs. the spider. That one spider who decided to spin its web right across the stairs, blocking my way to the front door.

I froze there for awhile, completely uncertain what to do. I was unarmed; my purse was not going to be sacrificed for this one, so blatantly standing between me and safety (not to mention my bed). My flailing got me only so far, tearing down some peripheral strands. A few flimsy sticks and long pieces of grass thrown in that direction only skimmed the edge or lodged themselves in the sticky web. I was sweating bullets by then; my ammunition was not even fazing the thing and I was certain I felt webs and spiders all over me.

Just as I was about to surrender defeat and go sleep in the car, I thought to check in the boot (aka trunk; it's an Australian car so it has a boot rather than a trunk, as I see it) of the car. There I found the long rainbow umbrella that would be my savior.

I seriously poked and prodded and threw stuff until the entire web was gone, and yet still that horrible beast dangled there on its final strand of web, hanging down face level right in the middle of the steps. I waved the umbrella around it for awhile, but still it dangled, clearly ready to throw itself in attack at anyone who tried to pass. Finally I whacked it with the umbrella and watched it scurry up to the roof overhanging the steps. My flailing ritual carried me to the door, and I was soon safely inside.

Until tomorrow night...............

[Note: if you need to be reminded of what I'm dealing with, click here.]

office space

Just got back from Sydney ... I had some time in the Blue Mountains with IT, and Andrew saw a bunch of clients. In preparation for moving there soon, we looked at heaps of office spaces for his shop that he will open.

They say being a commercial real estate agent is easier than residential, because it's much less emotional. Finding a work space is quite different than finding a place to call home (which we will soon have to do as well!). But finding a place for a shop, with the right environment, the right appeal - knowing that many of the clientele will be female - at the right price, in the right location, with the right specifications and requirements ... natural light, water capability, discreet ... it's just like looking for a home.

We think we found a building we like with a couple of options in it. Something to get excited about, potentially! And I, too, am starting to look forward to being in the office regularly in Sydney, continuing to carve out my role and find my place. I've been working from home here in Adelaide, officially for IT USA until my work visa comes through, so it will be great to be able to land and settle in Sydney when the time comes.

Lots to look ahead to... :)

My boyfriend cut my hair.

If you didn't already know, Andrew deals with hair. Hair loss and regrowth and replacement and all of that "re-" stuff that has to do with losing one's hair. For men and women, whether it's from pattern baldness or alopecia or trichotillomania or chemotherapy. He has helped a lot of people. You can look at his website if you want.

Many moons ago, he went to trade school to become a hairdresser. He still does this, though most of his time is taken up with managing, sales, marketing, and consulting. The majority of his clients here in Adelaide are men, while new interstate clients (Sydney and Melbourne) are about 80% female. Still, over the past 16 years, he's cut a lot of men's hair. Not so much women's hair.

When we met, he informed me that he would never cut my hair. He didn't want my hating my hair to ever come between us. Fair enough.

Until tonight! One of his employees has been cutting my hair, but I haven't had time to get in and lately it has been desperately needing a cut. So badly that Andrew can hardly stand to look at me. (Ok, it's not that bad.) "My girlfriend has mushroom hair," he whimpered today. So that was it. We are heading to Sydney tomorrow for work and I guess I could no longer be seen in public that way. He marched me down to the shop tonight for a cut (and color, why not).

He was nervous that he wouldn't like it. I was nervous that I wouldn't like it.

But - he did great. :) I really miss my long hair so it's still a bit too short for me, but it's a really good cut. Yay for both of us - he got good practice with a flat iron and I no longer have mushroom hair. :)

blurbs

Ok, happy February. It's been a busy time, I am completely distracted and excited. But anyway, there are quite a few fun things we have done in the past few weeks. I've got photos of it all, but they're on Andrew's camera and I can't be bothered to upload them. :)

Tour Down Under ... We hung out with Lance Armstrong for a few days a couple weeks ago. We went and saw the opening race (which means we saw hundreds of riders fly past us for approximately 45 seconds and then it was done), and then we went to the final race a week later. Most days they were out riding around South Australia, but the last race was right in the city of Adelaide - a little 4 km circle that they went around and around and around (90 km worth!!). So we got the rush of air and adrenalin from a wall of 130 professional riders blowing past a whole bunch of times. Lance was easy to spot - generally in last place. Or almost. :)

Australia Day ... was January 26. We went with a couple of friends to the Barossa Valley, one of Adelaide's wine regions. Chris and Amy are a fun couple; really enjoyable to hang out with and good companions for a day under the hot sun - at a Sting concert! Mr. Gordon Sumner (AKA Sting) brought his crew and joined the Melbourne orchestra for a great concert under the stars in the Barossa. Fun day and great music!

Bike ride ... we did our own tour down under the other day; I borrowed Andrew's housemate's mountain bike and he rode his (instead of his road bike, to be fair to me) and we had a lovely ride down to the beach. Since we didn't leave until about 6:30pm, and we had dinner and caught the sunset down there, we didn't start to head back until after 9pm. It made for a bit of a long day. 40 km in all; my longest ride in quite some time. By the time we were nearing home again, it was after 10pm and I was a bit tired (and cranky, but who's keeping track). Andrew came up behind me on his bike and began to push me - it was great fun! I was going faster than I had gone all night! Only wish he had thought of that earlier. :)

Glenelg ... is another beach area here. This past weekend we drove (much appreciated this time, vs. riding bikes) down there, had a lovely dinner and walked on the beach. I love summer in January and February! We've had just a few days of unbearable heat, but for the most part it's been really pleasant.

Enjoying my days in Adelaide for who knows how much longer we will have here...

"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!)

foreign country strikes again

Adelaide 2, Kelsey 0

1. Yesterday I endeavored to take my suitcase into the city to get it repaired. It was torn on the flight from Sydney to Adelaide, so the airline is going to pay for its repair; I just need to take it to their specified shop downtown. I was feeling like getting some things done yesterday, so my goal was to drop it off and then meet Andrew at his shop for a coffee during a break at 5-5:30. I wrote down my google map directions and set off on the 40 minute journey.

I'm just going to save you all the grief and tell you that an hour and a half later I was still driving around, way out at the other end of the city, balling my eyes out and cursing this stupid city and its stupid detours due to stupid bike races and stupid food festivals. :) Andrew figured out where I was on a map (the map directory was missing from the car I was driving) and directed me to the shop, where I arrived just as his break was ending. :(

Today he ordered me a GPS navigator. :)

2. I wasn't up to a second suitcase-drop attempt today, so I thought I'd just go over to the bank, 3 blocks away, to open a bank account. I've been meaning to do this and hoped to at least cross one thing off my list. I rushed to make it there before closing, and arrived at 4:45 with documents in hand and high hopes for no more foreign transaction fees.

The bank closed at 4. What kind of hours are 9:30am to 4pm? I think I need to get a job there. Curses again, stupid stupid stupid.

You know when you move to another country, all your energy is spent on just managing a status quo in your emotional existence? So when something, possibly quite minor, happens, it upsets the balance in a major way...

Yeah, I've never experienced that either.

[P.S. For the record, I've been doing quite well, settling in well here, and I actually like it. Yesterday was just one of those days. I've gotten lost before and it was my first time driving into the city to an unknown locale alone, and I was only half certain I would get there, almost expecting something to go wrong. Oh well. One of these days I will return to being a self-sufficient human being.]

Lots of cuteness

A couple weeks before we left for the States, Andrew's sister Adele had her first baby, Hunter. We went to visit last night. George, the proud daddy, loves to capture every moment! :)

They let me back in the country.

Janell, me, Andrew, Lindy & Nate in Kirkland, WA

Andrew and I arrived back in Adelaide yesterday after our flights from LA and then Sydney. I got pulled aside in the Sydney airport and questioned about my returning to Oz so quickly after my last departure, but since I still have time on my tourist visa and ITeams is in process with my work visa it's all ok. And apparently we just missed Lance Armstrong in the Adelaide airport yesterday; he arrived last night for the Tour Down Under, which starts here on Sunday night.

It was a fabulous, although quite busy, trip! I have mixed feelings about being back...it's summer here, yet today has greeted me with pouring rain and gloomy skies. I have much to update the blog with from our adventures in Seattle and LA, and hundreds of photos to sort through! We had a great time with family and friends, a not so great time sorting through my storage unit in LA and running bazillions of errands (but thankfully it's DONE!), and many fun adventures like snowboarding/skiing and Disneyland. It is nice to be back and begin to figure out the next steps, and have a bit of downtime to recover from the madness!

Happy new year, by the way, and while I don't really make resolutions as they are pointless and not motivating for me in the least, I thought of one thing I would like to try this year. I have stacks of books on many topics (theology, psychology, women's issues, various topics in spirituality) that I want to have read but haven't yet made the effort to actually read. I'd like to tackle some of these at the very un-ambitious rate of one per month. That's doable, I think, and at the end of the year I will have read 12 books off my shelf and be that much smarter. This month I'm going to finish one I'm halfway through (fitting as we're halfway through the month). I'll tell you all about it.

And finally, I think I might change up the blog this year. Maybe retire this one and start a new one. New themes and labels (for some reason starting fresh with the labels really excites me!); this one has a lot of years and a lot of topics. I'm keeping the formerly-known-as-Greece-blog, to update with ministry stuff, and will continue to use this one (or the new one) for personal things.

Ok I have a lot of crap to unpack! Bye for now. :)

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...

From 100 degrees to...

We had a few 100+ degree days this week. It's not fair - I just had this in Greece! :) It's ok, though, I've had a good mild spring and plenty of rain here. Today we had a sudden downpour and some flash flooding, very exciting! It really reminded me of Greece where the downpours turn the streets into raging rivers. Ah, memories.
Today it dropped from 32 degrees (about 90F) to 22 (about 70F) in an hour, and the torrential storm hit quite rapidly. We had to take several detours to get home because of flooded roads. Even though summer started December 1, I guess it's not quite ready to make its appearance yet!

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.

What is it?