I have been in the land down under for a total of about 4 days. All in all it took me about 32 hours of traveling to get here. I flew out of Charleston on Tuesday at 2:50PM, and my host picked me up from the train station on Thursday at 2:00PM local time. You could figure out the time difference from that, but I'll save you the trouble. I am 16 hours ahead here. So it is currently 8:45AM on Monday the 13th. From y'all's point of view, it's already tomorrow here! Anyways, the flights were not bad. On the flight over the Pacific I had free meals and free movies (and a pretty good movie selection I might add). For the entire 3 hour train ride, I was constantly looking out the window, absorbing all the new sights. I had to chuckle when I saw a billboard for Dexter; they love American television among many things American.
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| First look at Sydney, Australia |
Here's a little story as evidence of both how friendly the people are here and how much the Lord has been looking out for me. While I was lugging my 50lb suitcase, 70lb boardbag, and my backpack through the Sydney airport to the train station, a man and his son held the elevator (or "lift") for me. It turns out he got a degree from the College of Charleston! They helped me with my suitcase, while I steered my boards to the train, and then they led me to my platform where I would transfer onto the train to Newcastle. Gordon and Tim gave me their contact information and offered me a place to stay with their family just outside of Sydney if I were ever in need.
My host for the first 2 weeks is the captain of the University's (or "Uni") frisbee team, Ryan Davey. I met Davies through a friend named Chuck who plays frisbee for USC and who studied abroad here last semester. Shout out to Chuck: this trip would not have been the same without you, in an entirely good way! Since I timed my sleeping on the flights according to my new time zone, I felt relatively energized upon arrival. Davies took me grocery shopping with him, where I learned that peppers = capsicums, rather than ketchup they have tomato paste, and that the Lord is still showing me how much he has my back. I'll explain that last one. I have been emailing 3 other Clemson students who are here in Newcastle, and when in the check out line (or "queue''), Davies pointed out 2 other Americans behind us. They just so happened to be the 2 Clemson students who had arrived before me!
The rest of my time here has so far revolved around frisbee (hey, just like back in Clemson haha). On the first day here, Davies brought me with him to I beam's training session that afternoon. I beam is Newcastle's club team, and the name comes from the fact that Newcastle used to make lots and lots of....that's right...I beams. All I knew about this team was that they were an Australian Nationals contender each year, so I was eager to keep my mouth shut, play my best, and let them judge my abilities for themselves. It was love at first sight. All the guys were really welcoming, friendly, and funny, asking me what I thought of the place so far, and pointing out uniquely Australian birds. Since they already have too many people named Chris on the team, and apparently Christian is too long for a culture that abbreviates every word in the language, and I did not want to be called Chuck / New Chuck (no offense Chuck; I know it would have been an honor), I offered to be called by my last name...so now everyone calls me Gator :) . Davies later told me that during the deep throwing drill when I took off to receive my first deep throw, they were happy with how fast I ran, and by the end of the first training session, they were "keen" to have me on the team. There was another training session last night, followed by a barbecue, where we all watched the Australia v India Cricket match....and where I learned how the heck cricket was played! After chatting with all the guys, I found it impressive how much they know about frisbee back in the states. Davies watches "heaps" of games online and knows the names of more players than I do. He has even heard of EO, the captain of the club team I play for back in Charleston. The captain of I beam played for Truck Stop last year, and a number of the guys have played at Worlds. Last night I was officially invited to play for I beam by the captains, as well. We have our first tournament in Sydney this coming weekend!
I am only staying with Davies temporarily, until the semester begins Feb. 27th, when his roommate returns from his trip to America. So I have been diligently searching for a place to live. Newcastle is an old city filled with lots of small old houses, and if they have AC at all, it is confined to just the living room, and it is quite warm here especially since it's summer time in the southern hemisphere! There are a lot of listings, and I have called at least 20 people by now, and inspected 4 places. So far there hasn't been a winner yet, but I am waiting to hear from a guy on the frisbee team. He may be moving to Sydney and sublease me his room near the beach. At this point I only will have classes on Tuesday and Thursday since half my classes are online classes, so living near the beach would be doable, and his roommates are surfers and frisbee players, which increases the odds that we'll get along. Needless to say, I am hoping that place works out for me, but it also needs to be within my budget. I do have a backup plan, too. Two guys on the team have offered to house me temporarily if need be.
In Australia the drinking age is 18, so when they turn 18, they go out and drink a lot, but when they turn 21, it's more of a family affair. Davies, Danielle (his girlfriend), and I went to a 21st this past weekend. Everyone was dressed up, and speeches were made by the parents and the birthday girl before cutting the cake. I'm not sure if dressing up is typical of an Australian 21st, but I'm told the speeches are. So while I'm sad that I wolln't get to celebrate my 21st with my family and friends, I do like their custom here of having a rather classy 21st birthday. Oh yea, Davies and Danielle said they are going to throw me a 21st party.
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| Me, Courtney (Davies and Danielle's friend), and Kat (the birthday girl) |
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| Davies and Danielle |
Last but not least, yesterday I FINALLY MADE IT OUT TO THE BEACH!!! I was in awe of the beauty of the pacific ocean, and the cliffs that line the beach, and the houses covering the rolling hills, and the crystal clear water, and of course, the stomach high waves with a shoulder + high set breaking with good power and form when the report called for a lousy 2ft day. I want to spend more time on the beach! On the way back from the beach, Danielle and I got fish & chips, which was delicious. Actually, I should have gone ahead and looked like a ridiculous tourist and taken a picture of the fish & chips. I will next time.
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| Downtown Newcastle |
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| Bar Beach |
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| Walkway along Newcastle Harbor |
I love you all, miss you all, and may the Lord bless you all as He has truly blessed me with such an undeserved and amazing trip so far!
~Christian
P.S. They drive on the wrong side of the road here with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car and with crazy speed limits in kilometers per hour through a maze of roundabouts.
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