Day 1

Sorry, everyone, for taking so long to write! Callie and Margaret landed at 6 AM on Sunday (which would be 1 PM Saturday for all you living on the Pacific coast). It was so great to see them! Once we arrived at home, we showed them all around our Queenslander home and let them call their parents and take showers. After that, we took the CityCat, a small ferry speedboat that zooms up and down the river, to the Sunday Markets. The Sunday Markets are located in the city and host various booths that sell different objects such as jewelry or pictures. As you can probably tell by the name, they only open on Sundays! Callie and I simply strolled through the booths, but Meagan and Margaret bought many things, such as purses, sunnies, and earrings. They always manage to buy those kinds of things! Then, my dad took us to the church picnic, and somehow, we arrived an hour and a half late!! We did not bring our car, so we took the CityCat again, and then had to walk the rest of the way to the picnic. And then of course we got lost.... We did not spend much time at the picnic, but were able to introduce Callie and Margaret to some of our friends there, including the Grzesiaks (I wrote a post on them in the other blog).

Later that evening, once the girls were in bed, Callie, Margaret, Meagan, and I relaxed in our backyard hot tub. We had so much fun! Meagan brought out the chocolate-covered peanuts and macadamia nuts, and we all cranked up the tunes on our boom-box, creating a perfect atmosphere to catch up on all our happenings. Callie and Margaret even attempted to teach us how to swing dance (outside of the hot tub, of course). Many homeschoolers in Seattle have gone to swing dances lately, including Callie and Margaret, so Meagan and I want to have some idea of how to swing dance before we actually attend one! So far, swing dancing seems like lots of fun; I enjoy it more than contra dancing, which we used to do in America. A few hours later, we tumbled into one room, chatted for awhile, and finally fell asleep around midnight. I'll continue writing posts about the following days.

Callie and Margaret are on their way!!!

At this very moment, Callie and Margaret are sitting on the 13-14 hour flight from LAX to Brisbane! And around 6:00 AM tomorrow (1 PM pacific time), they will be experiencing Australia! We all can hardly wait. I can’t help but laugh when I see Marina chatting about their visit. She seems pretty excited as well!

We’ve planned a little for their trip here and there, but don’t want to schedule everything out, because sometimes we need time just to relax and chat. We have created a list of necessary activities, such as spend a few days at Twin Waters (I wrote a post on this resort in the other family blog), go to Dreamworld (an amusement park which holds the tallest vertical drop ride in the world! We spent some time there a few years ago, and even Madeline, who barely passed the height test, dared to experience all the rides Meagan, my dad, and I went on!), and pet some koalas and feed the kangaroos at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We have many other ideas (such as see the new movie “Becoming Jane” in theaters. It is based on the life of Jane Austen, and will actually come out here earlier than in America! Finally, something that comes out first here compared to the States!) I’ll try to keep you all updated on our adventures here with them!!!!

Australian Slang Term

I thought that it would be fun if I could share an Australian term on my Saturdays and your Fridays! Of course, I might not be able to post every time, and I will probably stop once we arrive back in America, but it gives me something to write about! :-) So, here’s the Australian slang term for this week:

Australian term: "ta"
American equivalent: "thanks alot"

It's kind of boring, but seriously, Australians use it all the time. I heard that the "t" in "ta" stands for "thanks," and then the "a" stands for "a lot." I'm not sure if that is true or not though.... Have a great Friday!

"Amazing Grace"

Have any of you seen the new movie “Amazing Grace,” starring Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce? It will not play in theaters here until June 6 (you may have noticed that it is two days after we plan to leave for America!), which I find extremely disappointing. I know a lot of people back home who have seen this movie and highly recommend it. How often does a movie with a respectable, strong Christian as the main character come out of Hollywood? While I can’t watch the movie until it comes out in America on DVD, I can still study the abolition movement in the nineteenth century and modern-day slavery…so, that’s what I’ve been doing. Last week, I started A Chance to Die, an autobiography by Elizabeth Elliot, about the life of Amy Carmichael. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far I am enjoying it . . . and learning a lot! Carmichael had such a devotion to God and an unselfish spirit—it’s really challenging, but encouraging at the same time. She spent fifty-five years in India—without any furlough!—as a missionary, and primarily focused on helping young ladies, who were sold into an awful form of slavery. Her life really puts in perspective how we spend our time and our lives. One of my new purposes in life is to do something to change modern-day slavery (for the better, of course). I realize I probably can’t do anything really big, but anything to do with slavery really gets me mad. In last Sunday’s sermon, our pastor suggested that we each have a focus, particularly about something that we have passion about. I haven’t completely decided what my “focus” will be (there are so many wrong things in the world that need to be changed!), but I’ll have to think and pray about it. Oh, and back to the book about Amy Carmichael, if you have the time, and the interest, I would highly recommend reading it! Elliot wrote it beautifully and included many excerpts from Carmichael’s diary, which really helps you to feel connected with Amy Carmichael.

Going back to America...

We have started to finalize our plans for our return trip to Seattle!!! We will leave here on June 4, one day after Madeline’s birthday, and two days after my last college-entrance exam for this school year. It’s relieving to know our exact date; now we can truly begin planning what we will do in America once we arrive. I’m also glad that we will have the entire summer to spend with our friends in America! But I will have to continue with some of my subjects, because I have been attempting to fit two years of school into one and a half years (the first year here in Brisbane, I attended a private, all-girls’ school, and as the Australian school year ends in December and I started homeschooling for grade 10 around January, I have a lot to finish!). But we will certainly have enough fun time in America during the summer to balance out the school!

My US History class

Earlier this morning, I dialed the Moores’ number and was put on the speaker phone for the weekly US History class. While many of my friends from Seattle gathered together in the Moores’ downstairs school room, I adjusted my headset, and prepared to listen to the class taught by Dr. McKenzie, a professor in American History at the University of Washington. I think it’s so amazing that I can participate in the same class so many of my friends in America are taking—halfway around the world too! Sometimes, I can voice my opinions in regards to certain primary documents we read and can ask questions of my own, although it is awkward talking over the phone since I have absolutely no idea what I sound like. I have always loved American History, and Mr. McKenzie is a great teacher, so I am enjoying this class (although I find some parts challenging, because he grades us as if we were freshmen in college). We are currently studying the period between the Civil War and WWI. I absolutely love the politics behind the two World Wars, so this part will be fun! I just thought I would share with you all how I take US History!

Welcome

Hello, everyone! Some of you may have read my family's blog, where I contributed a few posts, but then I decided that I should break off and have my own blog! Here, I'll just let everyone know about what's going on in my life, such as school, vacations, etc. Well, let's see how long this blog lasts! If you read my family's blog, you would realize that I am not much of a blogger, but I'll try to keep everyone updated when I have time. Thanks for reading!