Tonight’s blog is brought to you by Christine! (I am still trying to get the pictures uploaded!) Before I turn you over to her, I have a few announcements. :)
1. We love and miss all of you so much! It is great reading your blog comments over breakfast.
2. Kristi, we are going to get Brad to call yet. :)
3. Matt, We miss you too! XOXO. The check book could be 1. In my purse, 2. On the desk/counter (somewhere in the kitchen), or 3. In a drawer in my desk. Love ya! MJ
Ok: on to Christine:
Well here we are again after another busy day, Our day started with breakfast at 7am with the same choices as yesterday but today nobody choose the vegemite….hmmmmm I wonder why? Everyone was also very much on time so I guess the threat of having to eat it if you were late worked.
We left the hotel about 7:40 for our first catechesis session. According to the directions we were given it should take about an hour and 15 minutes to get there on the city buses. Well about an hour and 45 minutes later we finally arrived. We were happy to note though that we were not the only late group and not the last ones there. We did arrive in time to hear a very nice talk by Archbishop Langly with additional commentary provided by Archbishop Al who were both from London and made fun of their accents.
The topic today was on the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ life. The part that probably stood out the most was a story told by Archbishop Langly. In the story he talked about a time that he celebrated confirmation in a parish on the West side of London and after the mass was over one of the newly confirmed young men asked him if he could ask a question. The Bishop of course said yes and the young man asked him where he got his “bling”? The Bishop then asked back questioningly “bling?”, because he had no idea what the young man was talking about. The young man then pointed to the cross the Bishop was wearing and the Bishop understood what he was talking about. He responded with an “ohhhh” and informed him that “the “bling” was from the Pope”. He also informed us that we each have a “God sized hole” in our bodies that we need God to help us fill.
We then had time for a question and answer session with them on various topics. When that portion of the morning was over we all celebrated mass together. This will be the basic routine for the next 3 days and we will be with the same people for those 3 day (those people being from Minnesota, Canada, New Foundland, Texas, and others from Ohio….Columbus to be exact). We unfortunately did not have time to sit down and eat with them as we took our lunch to go because we had reservations to see Father Stan the jazz playing, rapping Franciscan extraordinaire and didn’t want to be late…..which we, of course, were anyway. I am seeing a pattern in our day. Anyway, Father Stan was very flamboyant and eccentric but had a very good message which was that we are all called to activ8 God’s love.
After Father Stan’s concert we immediately got back in line in the cue (spelled queue but pronounced cue) to see Jesse Manubusan who was absolutely amazing. He did an awesome job of getting everyone involved and energized. It didn’t hurt that he was very funny and sang an entire song about Spam. The teens really seemed to get involved and he sang songs that they knew.
From there came the challenge of finding dinner, as it was not actually being served where they said it was. Because of this we decided not to go to our last scheduled concert but take the bus back into the city to find food (Jesse also talked a lot about food in his concert so we were all a little hungry). We finally got settled with dinner down at Darling Harbor right outside of where another concert was going on, so we were not completely at a loss for a later night concert and listened to it while we ate.
After dinner we all decided to head back to the hotel since tomorrow will be another early morning and busy day especially since the Pope is arriving. We had to walk through the city to where our bus route goes and decided that the State of Ohio flag was a great idea because it helped keep all of us together. Not to mention it was a huge hit with the other pilgrims because most of them had never seen it before.
Well since it is once again very late and tomorrow is going to be another busy day I am going to finally go to bed. We all hope that things are going well at home and that you aren’t missing us too much. Keep the comments coming, we love reading them!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
WYD Opening Mass!
Ok, I just read the blog from yesterday, and I realized that I didn’t even mention the flight from Melbourne to Sydney. (I think I am a little more jet lagged than I thought I was.) It was fun because most of the plane was filled with WYD goers. The excitement is catching!
We got up this morning at 6am and met for breakfast at 7am. It was a really nice private breakfast that Encore Tours put on for us. I think that the wait staff thinks we are crazy though, because we all tried Vegemite for the first time and have made jokes about it ever since. Their faces were priceless! It’s now a running joke that if you are late for anything, you have to eat an entire piece of bread with Vegemite spread on it. I’m pretty sure that no one is going to be late. It was awful!
The other two groups that Encore had staying here were both delayed because of bad weather, and their flights aren’t scheduled to arrive until later this night. I feel really bad for them, because tonight was the official opening of WYD and the beginning mass. We were really lucky with all of our flights, etc.
At 9am we met in the lobby and read all of your blog comments. (Thanks for praying for us!) We then left for our pilgrimage to St. Mary’s Cathedral. We figured out the bus system and were off. In order to get to the cathedral, you have to walk through this gorgeous park. In the park were thousands of young people from around the world. We met groups from 6 different continents today! (We are just waiting for Antarctica!) The teens were having a lot of fun swapping their hackey-sacks and beach balls and talking, talking, talking. . .we had to keep reminding them to stay with the group and not wonder off. (I can’t help it. It’s the Mom in me.)
In the park leading up to the Cathedral steps was a huge paint by number mural of the earth covered with people of all races. Each one of us got a turn to paint part of the mural. When it is finished, they will text a picture of it to anyone who wants one. It was fun to see them talking with all of the volunteers about their colors, etc. It should be really neat when done.
We finally drag the teens away from their swapping and go to the gates of the Cathedral, only to have them tell us that they let people in without reservations, and now they have to turn us away. (The police threatened to shut them down because so many people were in the building at one time.) So Erich and I went to the reservation tent and got it all straightened out. They were going to reopen at 7pm and stay open until 10pm for the pilgrims who had reservations that day who got closed out. I was upset, but it ended up being a blessing later.
At this time it was right around 12:30 and the Opening ceremonies and Mass began at 3:00, and we still had to get lunch. We decided to walk down to Barangaroo; the site of the Opening mass; and get lunch from there. (They have six different sites around the city for us to get our meals from, but it was first come, first seated for mass, and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting closed out of that too.) We ended up walking about 2 miles, but no one complained because the day was gorgeous! I stopped the group before we went into the gates and reminded them to stay with the group because they were going to give out seating assignments, and I wanted all of us to sit together. Unfortunately, they forgot, and two of them went into the wrong line and we had to go back and switch their tickets. It worked out though. We ended up sitting about half way back and to the right of the sanctuary.
After we found our section, we collected lunch tickets and Pam, Erich, Christine, and I went to get them. (You had to have 6 tickets turned in at once, so we kept having to find a group who needed one ticket so we could go up together.) The lines were crazy busy, but all of the Sydney-siders (which is what the locals are called) were so nice. We carried our meat pies, tangerines, jam filled cookie, and carbonated Passion fruit juice back to the section and ate together. After that, we walked around doing more swaps and meeting more people. Most groups had their national flag with them. It was so cool to see all of them waving in the breeze. We stopped some people just to learn what country their flag was from. (The Aussies all had a cheer that let you know they were around. By the end of the day, every group was singing along.) There really weren’t any strangers.
I wish you could have felt the excitement and the presence of the Holy Spirit that was in that park for mass. It was amazing! Hearing the song, “Receive the Power” sung by thousands of people praising God together gave us chills. Prior to the mass, a procession of the WYD Cross and Icon and the flags of the world moved throughout the crowd. Once the procession reached the sanctuary, young Catholic representatives of the Indigenous communities in Australia extended a traditional welcome dance for us. It was great. They played the diggeredo, and were dressed in their traditional tribal garb. The music was moving and they glorified God with all of their movements. It was totally mesmerizing!
After their dance, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd welcomed us to Sydney. He called a lot of different countries out, and then the young people would cheer for their nations. He skipped the U.S. We kept waiting for it, but it never came. After the Prime Minister welcomed us, Archbishop Pell stepped up and did the same. He made a huge point of welcoming the pilgrims from the U.S. and went so far as to say that we were Australia’s most important Allies. (Does anyone else think this is odd? The political leader doesn’t mention us, but the church leader did. . .hmmm)
Anyway, the liturgy of the word was done in multiple languages. We heard readings in French, Spanish, and Italian. The intercessions were done in English, Korean, Samoan, Tagalog, and Portuguese. Each of us have a Liturgy guide with all of the readings, prayers, etc typed out in English. It definitely helped the teens and I follow along. (Obviously we knew where we were in mass, but it was neat to hear parts of the mass done so everyone felt included.)
The liturgy of the Eucharist was definitely an experience. We stood, kneeled, and sat at the same times as at home, but never again will any of us complain about the kneelers being hard. We were on a parking lot (called car parks here) that needed resurfacing badly. When it came time for communion, people were pushing and shoving to get to the priests to receive Jesus. (Crazy!) When we got up to go to communion, we took all of our stuff with us and realized that my camera bag was missing. We looked for a few minutes and then got in line. I was worried, but wanted Jesus more. The weirdest thing happened. We walked two gates away to get to the priest, and right after I received Jesus, I looked down, and my bag was just sitting there waiting for me. (Thank you Holy Spirit!) When I mentioned it to the group after mass, a couple of the leaders said that they were praying to Saint Anthony for it to be found. (So maybe I should be saying Thank you St. Anthony!)
Another little cool tidbit about mass was the Paschal candle. It was made from candles brought from throughout the world. The nuns of the Benedictine Abbey at Jamberoo, NSW crafted it. (Very cool!)
After mass they served dinner and then started an evening concert. Pam, Christine, and I made our way to the catering line like a can of sardines. It was awful. I kept thinking that someone was going to get hurt. We made our way through, and got back to our group. We had some soup/stew, rolls, and a caramel slice with water to drink.
After dinner we danced a little to the bands and then left for a 2 mile walk back to the Cathedral. It was open and hardly anyone was there! It was awesome! They have a brand new painting of “Our Lady of the Southern Cross, Help of Christians”, and they offered a Plenary Indulgence if you said the prayer on the back of her prayer card, receive Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and pray for the Pope’s intentions soon after. They also had all night adoration. We stopped and prayed and then took pictures. The only blessed that Australia has is Mary McKillop. She is on track to become the first Saint from Down Under. Her relics and a really neat display on her life is in the East Transept. In the West Transept was Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. He is a blessed from Italy. They flew his body all the way here for WYD. The teens were amazed that he is interred in a simple wooden box. When we asked the nun about his life, she said that he was in a simple box because that was his wishes. He died from Polio that they think he caught when he was leading his secret life of helping the poorest of the poor. He died at the age of 24. At his funeral, his family was amazed because thousands of people showed up that they had never met. All of the people Pier had served in some way or another. The story really is fascinating.
We then took the bus back to our hotel and the teens all crashed. I think they were feeling the jet lag also. Before I close, here are a few more fun stories about today:
Carolyn met Hammish. Now we only have to get Audrey to meet Furio and the circle will be complete. (Actually, Maria the boy magnet, met him and introduced him to Carolyn. Jk)
When doing swapping with some of the girls, we came across a group from New Zealand who had little Kiwi dolls. When I handed her my swap, I mentioned that we ate kiwi’s at home. (meaning the fruit.) All three of them literally stopped what they were doing, dropped their mouths to the floor, and stared at me. I had to back peddle fast and explain that it was a fruit, not their national bird. Luckily, we all got a good laugh out of it.
Ok, it is now 2am here, and I am going to crash. We prayed for all of you this morning, and will continue to do so. God’s Blessings on your day!
We got up this morning at 6am and met for breakfast at 7am. It was a really nice private breakfast that Encore Tours put on for us. I think that the wait staff thinks we are crazy though, because we all tried Vegemite for the first time and have made jokes about it ever since. Their faces were priceless! It’s now a running joke that if you are late for anything, you have to eat an entire piece of bread with Vegemite spread on it. I’m pretty sure that no one is going to be late. It was awful!
The other two groups that Encore had staying here were both delayed because of bad weather, and their flights aren’t scheduled to arrive until later this night. I feel really bad for them, because tonight was the official opening of WYD and the beginning mass. We were really lucky with all of our flights, etc.
At 9am we met in the lobby and read all of your blog comments. (Thanks for praying for us!) We then left for our pilgrimage to St. Mary’s Cathedral. We figured out the bus system and were off. In order to get to the cathedral, you have to walk through this gorgeous park. In the park were thousands of young people from around the world. We met groups from 6 different continents today! (We are just waiting for Antarctica!) The teens were having a lot of fun swapping their hackey-sacks and beach balls and talking, talking, talking. . .we had to keep reminding them to stay with the group and not wonder off. (I can’t help it. It’s the Mom in me.)
In the park leading up to the Cathedral steps was a huge paint by number mural of the earth covered with people of all races. Each one of us got a turn to paint part of the mural. When it is finished, they will text a picture of it to anyone who wants one. It was fun to see them talking with all of the volunteers about their colors, etc. It should be really neat when done.
We finally drag the teens away from their swapping and go to the gates of the Cathedral, only to have them tell us that they let people in without reservations, and now they have to turn us away. (The police threatened to shut them down because so many people were in the building at one time.) So Erich and I went to the reservation tent and got it all straightened out. They were going to reopen at 7pm and stay open until 10pm for the pilgrims who had reservations that day who got closed out. I was upset, but it ended up being a blessing later.
At this time it was right around 12:30 and the Opening ceremonies and Mass began at 3:00, and we still had to get lunch. We decided to walk down to Barangaroo; the site of the Opening mass; and get lunch from there. (They have six different sites around the city for us to get our meals from, but it was first come, first seated for mass, and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting closed out of that too.) We ended up walking about 2 miles, but no one complained because the day was gorgeous! I stopped the group before we went into the gates and reminded them to stay with the group because they were going to give out seating assignments, and I wanted all of us to sit together. Unfortunately, they forgot, and two of them went into the wrong line and we had to go back and switch their tickets. It worked out though. We ended up sitting about half way back and to the right of the sanctuary.
After we found our section, we collected lunch tickets and Pam, Erich, Christine, and I went to get them. (You had to have 6 tickets turned in at once, so we kept having to find a group who needed one ticket so we could go up together.) The lines were crazy busy, but all of the Sydney-siders (which is what the locals are called) were so nice. We carried our meat pies, tangerines, jam filled cookie, and carbonated Passion fruit juice back to the section and ate together. After that, we walked around doing more swaps and meeting more people. Most groups had their national flag with them. It was so cool to see all of them waving in the breeze. We stopped some people just to learn what country their flag was from. (The Aussies all had a cheer that let you know they were around. By the end of the day, every group was singing along.) There really weren’t any strangers.
I wish you could have felt the excitement and the presence of the Holy Spirit that was in that park for mass. It was amazing! Hearing the song, “Receive the Power” sung by thousands of people praising God together gave us chills. Prior to the mass, a procession of the WYD Cross and Icon and the flags of the world moved throughout the crowd. Once the procession reached the sanctuary, young Catholic representatives of the Indigenous communities in Australia extended a traditional welcome dance for us. It was great. They played the diggeredo, and were dressed in their traditional tribal garb. The music was moving and they glorified God with all of their movements. It was totally mesmerizing!
After their dance, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd welcomed us to Sydney. He called a lot of different countries out, and then the young people would cheer for their nations. He skipped the U.S. We kept waiting for it, but it never came. After the Prime Minister welcomed us, Archbishop Pell stepped up and did the same. He made a huge point of welcoming the pilgrims from the U.S. and went so far as to say that we were Australia’s most important Allies. (Does anyone else think this is odd? The political leader doesn’t mention us, but the church leader did. . .hmmm)
Anyway, the liturgy of the word was done in multiple languages. We heard readings in French, Spanish, and Italian. The intercessions were done in English, Korean, Samoan, Tagalog, and Portuguese. Each of us have a Liturgy guide with all of the readings, prayers, etc typed out in English. It definitely helped the teens and I follow along. (Obviously we knew where we were in mass, but it was neat to hear parts of the mass done so everyone felt included.)
The liturgy of the Eucharist was definitely an experience. We stood, kneeled, and sat at the same times as at home, but never again will any of us complain about the kneelers being hard. We were on a parking lot (called car parks here) that needed resurfacing badly. When it came time for communion, people were pushing and shoving to get to the priests to receive Jesus. (Crazy!) When we got up to go to communion, we took all of our stuff with us and realized that my camera bag was missing. We looked for a few minutes and then got in line. I was worried, but wanted Jesus more. The weirdest thing happened. We walked two gates away to get to the priest, and right after I received Jesus, I looked down, and my bag was just sitting there waiting for me. (Thank you Holy Spirit!) When I mentioned it to the group after mass, a couple of the leaders said that they were praying to Saint Anthony for it to be found. (So maybe I should be saying Thank you St. Anthony!)
Another little cool tidbit about mass was the Paschal candle. It was made from candles brought from throughout the world. The nuns of the Benedictine Abbey at Jamberoo, NSW crafted it. (Very cool!)
After mass they served dinner and then started an evening concert. Pam, Christine, and I made our way to the catering line like a can of sardines. It was awful. I kept thinking that someone was going to get hurt. We made our way through, and got back to our group. We had some soup/stew, rolls, and a caramel slice with water to drink.
After dinner we danced a little to the bands and then left for a 2 mile walk back to the Cathedral. It was open and hardly anyone was there! It was awesome! They have a brand new painting of “Our Lady of the Southern Cross, Help of Christians”, and they offered a Plenary Indulgence if you said the prayer on the back of her prayer card, receive Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and pray for the Pope’s intentions soon after. They also had all night adoration. We stopped and prayed and then took pictures. The only blessed that Australia has is Mary McKillop. She is on track to become the first Saint from Down Under. Her relics and a really neat display on her life is in the East Transept. In the West Transept was Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. He is a blessed from Italy. They flew his body all the way here for WYD. The teens were amazed that he is interred in a simple wooden box. When we asked the nun about his life, she said that he was in a simple box because that was his wishes. He died from Polio that they think he caught when he was leading his secret life of helping the poorest of the poor. He died at the age of 24. At his funeral, his family was amazed because thousands of people showed up that they had never met. All of the people Pier had served in some way or another. The story really is fascinating.
We then took the bus back to our hotel and the teens all crashed. I think they were feeling the jet lag also. Before I close, here are a few more fun stories about today:
Carolyn met Hammish. Now we only have to get Audrey to meet Furio and the circle will be complete. (Actually, Maria the boy magnet, met him and introduced him to Carolyn. Jk)
When doing swapping with some of the girls, we came across a group from New Zealand who had little Kiwi dolls. When I handed her my swap, I mentioned that we ate kiwi’s at home. (meaning the fruit.) All three of them literally stopped what they were doing, dropped their mouths to the floor, and stared at me. I had to back peddle fast and explain that it was a fruit, not their national bird. Luckily, we all got a good laugh out of it.
Ok, it is now 2am here, and I am going to crash. We prayed for all of you this morning, and will continue to do so. God’s Blessings on your day!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Traveling to the Hotel by way of Darling Harbor
We made it from LAX to Melbourne, and it was a wonderful flight on Qantas. The plane was the biggest I have ever seen, and even in economy class we were treated royally. It started off a little shaky because they only called the back of the plane over the loud speakers and then expect you to fall in line behind them. We were sitting waiting for them to call our section like all of the other airports, and luckily, a very nice flight attendant came up to us and asked us if we were going to board. (Our pink shirts saved us again!) We scrambled on board, and took off.
We were in the middle section of the plane, and I had the honor of sitting next to an Australian Sheep Farmer and her Granddaughter. (Her granddaughter lived in the states and was going to visit her Dad for six weeks; like she does every summer.) She was so cute and really excited to see her family. (I couldn’t help but think about my family, and especially the sheep farmer who wanted to trade his livestock for my Mom when my parents visited Australia. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.)
They were very nice and asked a lot of questions about World Youth Day. In turn, they got asked a lot of questions about Australia, and it made the first two hours of the trip fly by. At this point, we had been awake for over 24 hours, and had to force ourselves to stay awake for another 4. This way, when we did fall asleep, we would be on Australian time and able to start the day off running. (Or sleep walking, depending on which one of us you talked to.)
When we got on board, they had Qantas magazines in each of our seats for us to take home that had a special “World Youth Day” section in it. They also gave us an itinerary for the flight. (Departure time, Comfort Kit: which included an eye mask, socks, etc.), our ‘arrival’ documents, Menu for dinner, Snack on Q, Duty Free shopping time, Hot towels, Menu for Breakfast, and our arrival.
The meals were salad, chicken cacciatore with orzo pasta or seared salmon with caper butter and sugar snaps, chocolate Brownie, and your drink. They had the best Hot chocolate ever! (It was Cadbury milk chocolate with huge marshmallows!) The meals were ok, but our service was excellent! Our breakfast was our choice of fruit juice, seasonal fresh fruit, blueberry muffin, cereal, or a hot breakfast of the above plus a mushroom and herb frittata with sausage and sautéed spinach. (Again the meals were ok, the service excellent!!)
Our flight attendant’s name was Bonita, and she told me that she liked our group the best and gave us all Qantas playing cards. She said that she didn’t have enough for the whole plane, so not to tell the other passengers. (I think she just enjoyed us because we kept joking around with her and didn’t make her do anything.) She even checked her schedule to see if she could be on our return flight. It would be great to see her again!
Even though they speak English here, the culture is very different. The words for things don’t necessarily mean the same as they do in the states. Here are some examples: the trunk of a car is called the boot, the hood is it’s bonnet. A mall is called an arcade, and the hallways are called lanes. A sweater is a jumper, and the restrooms are called toilets. (And they don’t use the preposition ‘the’. It is just “I’m going to toilet.”) The elevator is called a lift, your muffins are biscuits, and if you want to get your meal to go, it is called take-away.
When we got off of the plane, our Encore Tour guide, Helen, was waiting for us. She took us right to our luggage (which all showed up!) and then walked us to our bus. She said that most of the city was shut down to buses because of WYD, so she took us straight to Darling Harbour. It was awesome! Our bus driver even stopped the bus at an overlook so we could get some pictures. (I promise to post them later, but I have to be ready to go in a little while, and don’t have time to download them right now.) Our shirts drew us a lot of attention, which allowed us to meet groups from all over the world right away. When we were getting on the bus, we even met a group from the Diocese of Cleveland. (They started the O-H-I-O chant, and we yelled back. Fun!)
We drove past a lot of ‘private’ schools, which cost in the amount of $18,000 to $25,000 a year to send your children to primary school there! (And I thought some of the schools at home were bad!) The average cost of a house here (even in the ghetto) is $500,000. Nicole Kidman is selling hers for 20 million if you know any takers.
The bus ride was fun because it was just the 19 of us, the driver, and Helen. We got to ask any questions we wanted, and drive on the wrong side of the road! (Ok, the bus driver didn’t really drive on the wrong side of the road for here, it just took a few minutes to get used to.) It’s also a lot like driving in the bus at home. Nobody pays any attention, and they like to cut us off. (A little frightening!) Even the road culture is different. The signs on the road say “No Overtaking” instead of no passing. They have fun white diagonal lines to warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but it never happens. Helen told us that we were to never ever cross against the light, because pedestrians don’t have the right of way here. Speaking of right of way, the signs don’t say Yield, they say “Give Way.” It’s been fun learning these little things.
Finally, we drove around the corner and saw our hotel. The screams of joy on the bus were so fun to hear. It truly is a nice area. (I’m not sure they cared though, I think all of us just wanted to shower.)
We checked in, went to our rooms, and unpacked. The leaders and I went downstairs to get our WYD backpacks and gear. Then the teens all met so we could go over the itinerary for the week. It was fun to look through our goodies. We left for dinner around the corner, and realized that they were not kidding when they said that Australia was expensive. The 6 adults ate 2 large pizzas and water, and it came to $60. (And this was one of the cheaper spots on the strip.) We are sooooo glad that our food is included at WYD festivities.
After dinner we stopped at a local drug store (they don’t have Walgreens here. What is up with that???) and many people picked up postcards. It was $2.30 to buy and send each card. (Again, very different than in the states.) We stopped to get ice cream even though it was freezing and then walked back to our hotel. (See KJ, B, Peepers, and Goose. . .they did have ice cream here!)
A lot of the teens went right to bed, but some of them took advantage of the rooftop pool and hot tub. (Although the pool is literally only 3 feet deep the entire length, and the hot tub is about 2 ½.) I was wondering why, until I remembered them telling me on the plane that they are in the middle of a bad drought.
We took turns checking on the teens, and I went downstairs to try and blog a little. We plugged my brand new voltage converter into the wall, plugged in the lap top, and started writing. It was Erich’s turn to walk the roof, so I was by myself in front of the fire. All of a sudden we hear this big pop, and I glance at the outlet and my converter is melting. All I could think of was to save the laptop, so I reached down and grabbed it out of the wall. (Not to smart!) The laptop is fine, but my hand is a little tender. J Apparently, the laptop has a built in converter, and it messed up the voltage converter in the outlet. Nothing like coming around the world to learn that little tidbit.At 11, Erich and I checked on all of the kids, taped the doors, and went to bed ourselves. I actually fell asleep pretty quickly, but have been up since about 4:45am. (Apparently it is going to take a couple of days to get used to being on the other side of the world.) I’ll try to get online later and update you about today too. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We love and miss you all.
We were in the middle section of the plane, and I had the honor of sitting next to an Australian Sheep Farmer and her Granddaughter. (Her granddaughter lived in the states and was going to visit her Dad for six weeks; like she does every summer.) She was so cute and really excited to see her family. (I couldn’t help but think about my family, and especially the sheep farmer who wanted to trade his livestock for my Mom when my parents visited Australia. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.)
They were very nice and asked a lot of questions about World Youth Day. In turn, they got asked a lot of questions about Australia, and it made the first two hours of the trip fly by. At this point, we had been awake for over 24 hours, and had to force ourselves to stay awake for another 4. This way, when we did fall asleep, we would be on Australian time and able to start the day off running. (Or sleep walking, depending on which one of us you talked to.)
When we got on board, they had Qantas magazines in each of our seats for us to take home that had a special “World Youth Day” section in it. They also gave us an itinerary for the flight. (Departure time, Comfort Kit: which included an eye mask, socks, etc.), our ‘arrival’ documents, Menu for dinner, Snack on Q, Duty Free shopping time, Hot towels, Menu for Breakfast, and our arrival.
The meals were salad, chicken cacciatore with orzo pasta or seared salmon with caper butter and sugar snaps, chocolate Brownie, and your drink. They had the best Hot chocolate ever! (It was Cadbury milk chocolate with huge marshmallows!) The meals were ok, but our service was excellent! Our breakfast was our choice of fruit juice, seasonal fresh fruit, blueberry muffin, cereal, or a hot breakfast of the above plus a mushroom and herb frittata with sausage and sautéed spinach. (Again the meals were ok, the service excellent!!)
Our flight attendant’s name was Bonita, and she told me that she liked our group the best and gave us all Qantas playing cards. She said that she didn’t have enough for the whole plane, so not to tell the other passengers. (I think she just enjoyed us because we kept joking around with her and didn’t make her do anything.) She even checked her schedule to see if she could be on our return flight. It would be great to see her again!
Even though they speak English here, the culture is very different. The words for things don’t necessarily mean the same as they do in the states. Here are some examples: the trunk of a car is called the boot, the hood is it’s bonnet. A mall is called an arcade, and the hallways are called lanes. A sweater is a jumper, and the restrooms are called toilets. (And they don’t use the preposition ‘the’. It is just “I’m going to toilet.”) The elevator is called a lift, your muffins are biscuits, and if you want to get your meal to go, it is called take-away.
When we got off of the plane, our Encore Tour guide, Helen, was waiting for us. She took us right to our luggage (which all showed up!) and then walked us to our bus. She said that most of the city was shut down to buses because of WYD, so she took us straight to Darling Harbour. It was awesome! Our bus driver even stopped the bus at an overlook so we could get some pictures. (I promise to post them later, but I have to be ready to go in a little while, and don’t have time to download them right now.) Our shirts drew us a lot of attention, which allowed us to meet groups from all over the world right away. When we were getting on the bus, we even met a group from the Diocese of Cleveland. (They started the O-H-I-O chant, and we yelled back. Fun!)
We drove past a lot of ‘private’ schools, which cost in the amount of $18,000 to $25,000 a year to send your children to primary school there! (And I thought some of the schools at home were bad!) The average cost of a house here (even in the ghetto) is $500,000. Nicole Kidman is selling hers for 20 million if you know any takers.
The bus ride was fun because it was just the 19 of us, the driver, and Helen. We got to ask any questions we wanted, and drive on the wrong side of the road! (Ok, the bus driver didn’t really drive on the wrong side of the road for here, it just took a few minutes to get used to.) It’s also a lot like driving in the bus at home. Nobody pays any attention, and they like to cut us off. (A little frightening!) Even the road culture is different. The signs on the road say “No Overtaking” instead of no passing. They have fun white diagonal lines to warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but it never happens. Helen told us that we were to never ever cross against the light, because pedestrians don’t have the right of way here. Speaking of right of way, the signs don’t say Yield, they say “Give Way.” It’s been fun learning these little things.
Finally, we drove around the corner and saw our hotel. The screams of joy on the bus were so fun to hear. It truly is a nice area. (I’m not sure they cared though, I think all of us just wanted to shower.)
We checked in, went to our rooms, and unpacked. The leaders and I went downstairs to get our WYD backpacks and gear. Then the teens all met so we could go over the itinerary for the week. It was fun to look through our goodies. We left for dinner around the corner, and realized that they were not kidding when they said that Australia was expensive. The 6 adults ate 2 large pizzas and water, and it came to $60. (And this was one of the cheaper spots on the strip.) We are sooooo glad that our food is included at WYD festivities.
After dinner we stopped at a local drug store (they don’t have Walgreens here. What is up with that???) and many people picked up postcards. It was $2.30 to buy and send each card. (Again, very different than in the states.) We stopped to get ice cream even though it was freezing and then walked back to our hotel. (See KJ, B, Peepers, and Goose. . .they did have ice cream here!)
A lot of the teens went right to bed, but some of them took advantage of the rooftop pool and hot tub. (Although the pool is literally only 3 feet deep the entire length, and the hot tub is about 2 ½.) I was wondering why, until I remembered them telling me on the plane that they are in the middle of a bad drought.
We took turns checking on the teens, and I went downstairs to try and blog a little. We plugged my brand new voltage converter into the wall, plugged in the lap top, and started writing. It was Erich’s turn to walk the roof, so I was by myself in front of the fire. All of a sudden we hear this big pop, and I glance at the outlet and my converter is melting. All I could think of was to save the laptop, so I reached down and grabbed it out of the wall. (Not to smart!) The laptop is fine, but my hand is a little tender. J Apparently, the laptop has a built in converter, and it messed up the voltage converter in the outlet. Nothing like coming around the world to learn that little tidbit.At 11, Erich and I checked on all of the kids, taped the doors, and went to bed ourselves. I actually fell asleep pretty quickly, but have been up since about 4:45am. (Apparently it is going to take a couple of days to get used to being on the other side of the world.) I’ll try to get online later and update you about today too. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We love and miss you all.
WE ARE HERE!!!!
Oh where, Oh where did our Sunday go? Oh where, Oh where can it be?
Ok, so we are a little late updating the blog, but it is kind of like New Orleans all over again! I am exhausted but wanted to let you know that we arrived safely, and of course; we can’t blog from our room. (Guess what Kristi & Mike~ I am seriously sitting outside of McDonalds while I am writing this! It really is déjà vue!) Please know that we love and miss all of you reading this blog, and I will write more in the morning!
Ok, so we are a little late updating the blog, but it is kind of like New Orleans all over again! I am exhausted but wanted to let you know that we arrived safely, and of course; we can’t blog from our room. (Guess what Kristi & Mike~ I am seriously sitting outside of McDonalds while I am writing this! It really is déjà vue!) Please know that we love and miss all of you reading this blog, and I will write more in the morning!
Los Angeles Layover
Ok, we are in Los Angeles, but we can’t post this because of the internet access being ‘pay to surf’. (And it is way too expensive or else I would.) So you are reading this a little late. J The flight from Chicago to LA was ok. They put every one of us on an aisle seat, so we joked that if they needed to use the emergency lights that are located on the ground, they could just look for our bright pink shirts instead. A couple of us changed seats for other passengers who wanted to sit by their families and they were split up because of getting on the flight at the last minute. (With that being said, Mary Jo got to play hang man with an eight year old on the plane who used words that I didn’t even know!!!)
Thank God for our four hour lay-over at LAX. (Do you believe I just wrote that!) This airport is humongous and not very friendly. We got off the plane and headed towards baggage claim where we were told to catch the shuttle to the other side of the airport. Unfortunately, they didn’t tell us to go outside, or to look for a shuttle on the other side of the street. Once we finally got the shuttle bus, we were dropped off at the wrong spot. Luckily there was no one in line, so they told us how to get to the correct one. (We should have known this wasn’t right, because when we got to where we were supposed to go, the line was out of the Queue.) We waited for an hour and a half just to get our boarding passes. This was after we walked for a half an hour more. Not the best experience. With that being said, we have now found our gate, saw our awesome plane, got a snack, and are getting to stretch our legs before the 15 hour flight commences.
We have met more and more groups going to WYD the farther west we get. Everyone is way excited, but exhausted. This is the hard part of the trip because we have to stay up for another 6 hours to get ourselves on Sydney time. (This means we will be going to bed at 8am Cincy time, so we essentially are pulling an all nighter.)
We have had a lot of funny stories, but the best has to be Maria’s. Maria truly met Federico from Argentina. NO JOKE!!! She is not even kidding! We even got a picture to prove it! It truly proves that the Holy Spirit has a sense of humor. Now if we could only meet Hammish and Furio their predictions will come true!
We are getting ready to board. We’ll let you know more later……Thanks for continuing to keep us in your prayers.
Thank God for our four hour lay-over at LAX. (Do you believe I just wrote that!) This airport is humongous and not very friendly. We got off the plane and headed towards baggage claim where we were told to catch the shuttle to the other side of the airport. Unfortunately, they didn’t tell us to go outside, or to look for a shuttle on the other side of the street. Once we finally got the shuttle bus, we were dropped off at the wrong spot. Luckily there was no one in line, so they told us how to get to the correct one. (We should have known this wasn’t right, because when we got to where we were supposed to go, the line was out of the Queue.) We waited for an hour and a half just to get our boarding passes. This was after we walked for a half an hour more. Not the best experience. With that being said, we have now found our gate, saw our awesome plane, got a snack, and are getting to stretch our legs before the 15 hour flight commences.
We have met more and more groups going to WYD the farther west we get. Everyone is way excited, but exhausted. This is the hard part of the trip because we have to stay up for another 6 hours to get ourselves on Sydney time. (This means we will be going to bed at 8am Cincy time, so we essentially are pulling an all nighter.)
We have had a lot of funny stories, but the best has to be Maria’s. Maria truly met Federico from Argentina. NO JOKE!!! She is not even kidding! We even got a picture to prove it! It truly proves that the Holy Spirit has a sense of humor. Now if we could only meet Hammish and Furio their predictions will come true!
We are getting ready to board. We’ll let you know more later……Thanks for continuing to keep us in your prayers.
Chicago's Layover
Greetings from the Windy City! We are; you guessed it; sitting at the gate and waiting. Our first flight was good. After all of the hoopla they told us we would be flying into, it was a really smooth flight. (Thanks United Pilots!) They took some of our carry-ons and stowed them under the plane and had them waiting for us when we got off. . .of course, some of us forgot to get them and had to go back out to the tarmac. (No worries though, we have all of our gear.) Apparently it is the teens jobs to scare me. One of them couldn’t find their passport last night, and another one left there’s on the plane and we had to run back and get it. (Now we know why Lori Anne is collecting them from now on. hehe).
We are keeping busy playing cards, coloring in our coloring books (seriously! Quit laughing), reading, playing bible trivia, walking the hallways, and napping. (The people watching is fun too!)
We’ve seen another group of college aged students who are going to World Youth Day also. They recognized us by our bright pink T-shirts. (Thanks Julie!!!) We also stopped to thank some of our servicemen who were waiting for a flight at Dayton. (The teens initiated this! You can be really proud of them!)
We are having a great time bonding and I will let you know more when we get to Los Angeles…..
We are keeping busy playing cards, coloring in our coloring books (seriously! Quit laughing), reading, playing bible trivia, walking the hallways, and napping. (The people watching is fun too!)
We’ve seen another group of college aged students who are going to World Youth Day also. They recognized us by our bright pink T-shirts. (Thanks Julie!!!) We also stopped to thank some of our servicemen who were waiting for a flight at Dayton. (The teens initiated this! You can be really proud of them!)
We are having a great time bonding and I will let you know more when we get to Los Angeles…..
Saturday, July 12, 2008
On Our Way!!!
We are sitting at Dayton Airport waiting for our 1:09 flight, and I thought I would get a jump start on tonight's blog.
This morning started with a wonderful prayer service and sending forth at St. Michaels. It was so nice to see our family and friends before we left. Father John led us in prayer and we were given blessed medals of Pope Benedict and Our Lady of Guadeloupe. We then departed for Dayton.
We arrived safely, and then stood in line forever. OK, maybe not forever, but it did take a while. The poor guy at the counter was new, and he made sure he took his time to get everything right. The only little mishaps at the counter was when they forgot to put the sticker tags on Karen’s luggage, (Sure hope it makes it), and when they tried to put Caitlin and Daniel in the same seat. . .(wouldn’t that have been a comfortable ride.)
We made it through security with only one little bump, which we were expecting. (Poor Brandon.) Now we are just waiting. The group ate Cinnabon and/or Pizza for a snack/lunch, and now are double checking their boarding passes.
Talk to You in Chicago…..
This morning started with a wonderful prayer service and sending forth at St. Michaels. It was so nice to see our family and friends before we left. Father John led us in prayer and we were given blessed medals of Pope Benedict and Our Lady of Guadeloupe. We then departed for Dayton.
We arrived safely, and then stood in line forever. OK, maybe not forever, but it did take a while. The poor guy at the counter was new, and he made sure he took his time to get everything right. The only little mishaps at the counter was when they forgot to put the sticker tags on Karen’s luggage, (Sure hope it makes it), and when they tried to put Caitlin and Daniel in the same seat. . .(wouldn’t that have been a comfortable ride.)
We made it through security with only one little bump, which we were expecting. (Poor Brandon.) Now we are just waiting. The group ate Cinnabon and/or Pizza for a snack/lunch, and now are double checking their boarding passes.
Talk to You in Chicago…..
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