Damy in Sydney

Final Post from Oz

2009-01-24T15:55:00.004+11:00

Our time here in Australia is ending soon. We both finished work on January 15th and have stayed busy seeing the surrounding sights. We fly to Melbourne next week to drive the Great Ocean Road and will come back to Sydney for 3 days before flying out on February 2nd. The next 9 days are planned down to the minute! As our internet is cut off tomorrow, we thought we would make one final post and answer a few frequently asked questions.

FAQ's

When do you arrive back in the States? Monday, February 2nd

How long is the trip? Total travel time is 40 hours

Where are you flying to? Denver where Damon's parents will pick us up and take us back to Casper, WY

Where will you go after that? After 10 days in WY, we will travel to Tulsa via Lincoln, NE.

Where will you go after that? We will be in Tulsa 3 days and then will fly to CA to visit Amy's Grandma and the Huddleston's too.

Where will you go after that? Wow, you're persistent aren't you. Back to Tulsa to live with Amy's parents until we find jobs or they kick us out. There is also a trip in there sometime to Texas to see Amy's other Grandma and for Amy to be the Matron of Honor in her wedding.

Where are you looking for jobs? Damon has applied for jobs all over the US. Considering the current economic condition, we don't feel like we can be too picky.

What does Damon want to do? He wants to work with refugees resettling to the States.

Has he applied for any jobs? Yes, 11 so far.

What will Amy do in the meantime? She will probably work a temp job in Tulsa or eat bon bons.

When are you coming to OKC? We will try to come the last weekend in February.

Are you sad to leave Sydney? Yes, we are. Of course, we have mixed emotions. We had a rough start but have grown to love Sydney. This is a beautiful city and country and we feel blessed to have had the opportunity to live here.

Are you excited to see your friends and family? Of course!

How can we help? Please pray that God provides us with jobs the we love in a timely fashion. You can also let us sleep on your couch :)

I think that about covers it for now. We are looking forward to seeing each and every one of you. Until then......

Blue Mountains and Bush Walking

2009-01-18T07:57:00.005+11:00

I am behind on blogging but here is a quick update of what we have been doing. A couple of weeks ago my friend and coworker, Antonia, took us to the Blue Mountains.

Three Sisters

Here we are getting ready to ride the world's steepest railway. It was at a 52 degree angle.

Antonio and I in with the Three Sisters in the background.

We also recently went on a 10 kilometer bush walk in he Royal National Park with our friends Danie and Marcelle, friends from church who have recently moved here from South Africa.

Just starting out on the walk.

Marcelle and I

After walking through the bush an extra 45 minutes we were rewarded with this view when we rounded the corner--it was worth the wait.

Our picnic lunch.

Damon and I on Marley Beach.

We had such a great time.

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T09:03:00.004+11:00

We decided to spend New Years Eve at Mrs. Macquarie's Point in Sydney Harbour. So did 19, 998 other people. I decided to arrive at noon for the midnight show thinking that there would be no problem for me to get in.

This is the queue that I stood in for 5 hours:

Damon was very dedicated(thank goodness) and arrived at 6:30 AM! and after waiting in line 4 hours for them to open the gates he secured us a spot with this view:

When we were finally reunited at 5pm I had come armed with the esky/igloo and we settled into our comfy lawn chairs for the next 7 hours:

All of the lines and the long wait were worth it though for this view:

When the 12 minute show was over Damon asked me if I thought it was worth it. Well, 17.5 hours of waiting for Damon and 12 hours of waiting for me- hmmmmm...yes, it was an incredible experience and I am SO glad that we were there but once is enough. So, I think next year I will sit on my couch, in an unknown location at this time, and just look at the pics from last year and call it good. Hope you had a wonderful evening as well!

All The Best For Christmas

2008-12-22T22:12:00.003+11:00

Have you ever wondered what a funeral home company gives its employees for Christmas? A 12 pound leg of ham!!!

All my company gave me was this lousy hat!

So, in lieu of our annual Christmas card - which we have never sent out- print these pictures, put them on your fridge and know we are thinking of you this season. All the best for Christmas!!! Love, The Brittons

Are you Irish?

2008-12-19T14:46:00.002+11:00

Many of you know that I have a talent--some don't think it is a talent-for impersonating the accents of other countrymen. I thought that after a year of living in Australia I would have been able to perfect my Aussie accent, which really sounds more Indian and sometimes British on a good day. Well, Damon and I just got back from the grocery store and I stepped up to the deli counter and had this conversation with the women next to me:

Me: Can I have one slice of Watsonian cheddar? (Yes, I seriously ordered one slice of cheese)

The woman beside me: Are you Irish?

Me: Excuse me?

The woman beside me: Are you Irish? You sounded Irish when you just asked for the cheese.

Me: Ummmm...no, just plain American but I wish I was Irish.

In my head I was thinking: Sweet, I have now added an Irish accent to my repertoire.

Final Family Visit Post-I promise

2008-12-13T19:36:00.006+11:00

The last four days we toured the sights in and around Sydney. We had incredible weather and took advantage of it with a coastal walk from Tamarama Beach to Bondi Beach.

My brother found this perfect La-Z-Boy spot carved out of the rock.

Another family photo.

We took a trip to Featherdale Wildlife Park and found this very chilled out koala there.

We didn't seem to disturb this koala at all. It just slept right through the photo shoot.

This was as close as I got to the kangaroos that day and I stayed this close long enough for the photo. Most of you know I am not a huge animal fan and minutes before a kangaroo had leapt into the air and kicked a sweet Chinese woman in the shoulder. These are cute animals but not when their feet are flying towards your face.

This one seemed more interested in his cone than us.

My dad and brother climbed all 1400 steps of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

They had an incredible view from the top.

In the meantime, Mom, Damon and I took a ferry to my favorite bay, Mosman Bay.

While we were on the other side of the harbour we took a few more pics from this new vantage point.

We also spent a lot of time down at Circular Quay where Dad made a new friend.

We took a stroll through the Royal Botanical Gardens.

We stayed at the Quay from morning.....

until night

but we had a wonderful time!

Thanks for coming to visit us guys! 10 days and 2500 pictures later we feel like we experienced more of this great country and were blessed to have shared the memories with you.

Family Visit-Part 4 - Salties and Freshies

2008-12-08T21:35:00.004+11:00

Having completely struck out on our first croc adventure, (if you are in the Daintree Rainforest don't go on the river cruise, its a crock) we happened on Hartley's Crocodile Farm. And we arrived at feeding time!!! Here is a Freshwater Crocodile or Freshy as they are called. He is an intimidating little fellow, if you call a 5 foot crocodile little. They typically live in freshwater rivers or lakes so have a second thought before taking that refreshing dip in the cool mountain river.

Apparently, there haven't been any reported human fatalities from the Freshy. However, Zoo Guy did say they have been known to chomp a limb or two off. To prove his point Zoo Guy climbed in the cage with the little devils. There were about twenty crocs in the enclosure with him but none of them made a move for him. I wonder though, if all twenty crocs took just one limb how long would it take you to run out of limbs?
And then the real action happened!!! Here are the Saltwater Crocs or Salties. These monsters alone are worth the price of admission. Notice Zoo Guy safely behind the steel fence. When he threw the fish out the croc was about five feet away but when the croc caught it it was about a foot from Zoo Guy's hand. The croc lunged four feet in the same amount of time the fish flew one. I'm sure you math guys out there could figure the speed at which the croc was moving but let me save you some time and just say its fast!!! Obviously, these guys live in saltwater so if you want to swim in the ocean or rivers near the ocean you better be fast or at least faster than someone in your group.
Did I mention they can jump? It's really just better not to be in, under, near, around, over or next to water in Queensland.
As we were about to leave we thought about having a closer look. Somehow I angered this croc and she had a go at me. She already jumped up hit the fence, landed on the ground and is ready to have another go when this picture was taken. You can tell that I am just about to jump back and Amy's expression is just about to change. Now that's fast. She hit the fence so hard she bloodied her snout so we figured it was time to move on, for her sake, and I had to change my pants.
If you are ever in the area don't miss Hartley's at feeding time. Thanks Bill and Charlotte for the great day.

Family Visit-Part 3 - The Rainforest

2008-12-06T09:59:00.002+11:00

The next day we crossed the croc infested waters on a ferry and entered into the Daintree Rainforest and went "Jungle Surfing." The Jungle Surfing staff were an interesting crew which actually made us a little nervous to put our lives in their hands. In an effort to not remember our real names, they gave us helmets with names they thought fit us. I was spiderman. On a side note, it was almost 90 degrees and 92% humidity in the rainforest. To say it felt like a sauna would be an understatement.

Damon was Paris Hilton. As she says, "That's hot."

We were "given the opportunity" to experience the jungle upside down which Damon was more than happy to undertake.

Here is a shot of both of us about 90 feet up. I was trying to act like it was no big deal but I was really nervous every time the guy said, "Now, just push off." like it's normal to just leap into the air at 90 feet.

Finally, the whole crew together. You can barely see the ocean in the background. This is the area of Australia that they boast "Where the rainforest meets the reef." It was beautiful!

Believe it or not this was only the 3rd day of their visit so we have many more pictures and adventures to come.

Family Visit-Part 2

2008-12-04T08:37:00.006+11:00

In order to meet everyone's needs we booked a Great Barrier Reef tour with Haba. They offered snorkeling, diving and glass bottom boat options. If you are ever in Port Douglas we highly recommend Haba. Here is our boat.

We went to two dive sites so David and I went scuba diving in the morning session. It was both of our first times so we had a crash how to course on the ride out to the reef. I have to say that the first two feet under the water are a little freaky. Breathing underwater goes against everything you learn growing up but once you get the hang of it scuba diving is an amazing experience.

In order to get the whole experience I joined the others for snorkeling in the afternoon. Here Amy and I are about the jump in. Check out the sweet suits. Apparently these suits will protect you from the sting of the deadly Box Jellyfish. We never saw one so we didn't have a chance to test the suits out, but maybe that was for the best.

Everyone is climbing in. Here comes Amy on her trusty noodle.

Bill and Charlotte saw how much fun everyone was having and decided to give it a go. After a few minutes they were regular fish.

As you can see in some places the reef was only about two or three feet deep. You had to be careful not to step on the coral.

We rented an underwater digital camera and here are a few of our favorite pics we took.

Family Visit

2008-12-03T17:01:00.005+11:00

Amy's parents (Bill and Charlotte) and brother (David) came to visit. Amy and I took off about 10 days from work and we all toured Australia. It was so good for all of us. Amy and I haven't been out of Sydney hardly at all so it was great to see some new parts of Australia. There is way too much to put in one post so expect several in the next few days so check back often.

Here they are arriving after a 30 hour journey. Amy and I didn't let them rest up too long because we were on a 6:00 am flight up to northern Queensland. We flew into Cairns and rented a car to drive up to Port Douglas where we were staying.

But before we left Cairns we hired a seaplane to take us up over the Great Barrier Reef. Bill and Charlotte weren't too sure that they wanted to go out on the reef so Amy, David and I thought that a flight over the reef would be the next best thing so we surprised them with the flight. Here we are about to get on the plane.

Here is our plane ready for take off. We only flew about 500 feet over the reef so the colors were incredible.

Here is a picture of the outer reef. You can see the line on the top where the reef ends. The change in color from green to blue is pretty cool.
Here is Green Island. This is a popular snorkel and dive destination. You can see the boats bringing people to the island.

Amy and I in the plane.

Even though the flight was amazing, before we left I discovered that I didn't have the keys to the rental car so I was a little nervous about what we were going to do after the flight was over. After much searching and panic, Bill found the keys in the rubbish bin next to the car. How they got in there we will never know but who cares, we were off to Port Douglas. More about that later.

Sculptures by the Sea

2008-11-08T16:14:00.010+11:00

Lj (because you requested more posts this is just for you),

Every year, artists build sculptures on the coast between Tamarama Beach, Amy's favorite beach, (pictured below) and Bondi Beach (last picture). There were about one hundred and fifty sculptures for our viewing pleasure and we are posting seven pictures for your viewing pleasure. I know that it is not fair that we saw 150 and you only get to see 7 but you will never buy the cow if I give all the milk away for free...you have three months and counting to come visit!

Some were very cool...

Some I didn't understand...

Some were weird...

Some were fun...
Some defied gravity...

Some were very lifelike...

Some just make you go hmmm...

After a long hard day trying to make sense of the sculptures we had three choices to cool off. We could have taken a dip in the natural swimming pool...

We could have taken a dip in the Bondi Seaside Pool...

but we chose to cool off in the water at Bondi.

So, next time you have to chip the ice off your car door just to get your key in the lock, think about buying that cow...see you on the beach!

Graduation Day

2008-10-28T19:43:00.004+11:00

It is official!! Damon turned in his last paper today and has completed a Masters in International Social Development. I am SO proud of him. The last 9 months have been stressful but Damon did a great job of balancing a new country, a job, teaching a local Chinese woman weekly English lessons using the Bible, school and his wife. When he came home last night I presented him with his "diploma" and all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto while Pomp and Circumstance filled the room. The fleece doesn't look quite as regal compared to the cap and gown but hey, graduation doesn't happen until April of 2009, so we had to make due. I can't end this post without thanking Kelly B. for proofreading Damon's papers and for holding onto and e-mailing us Damon's last paper when our computer crashed the weekend before it was due! Thank goodness he had already e-mailed it to you for proofreading.

Please join me in congratulating Damon on a job well done and please pray for a job in the States where Damon can use his talents and new found knowledge to serve others. I can't wait to see what the future holds...no seriously, I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Who did swallow Jo Jo Jonah?

2008-08-18T19:59:00.005+10:00

Ever since Amy and I saw a few whales off the coast we have been wanting to go on a whale watching cruise. We finally got a beautiful sunny not so cold day and headed out. Everyone was in great spirits as we went through the harbour past the Opera House, past the Prime Minister's Sydney residence and out into open water. We were told the swells were pretty big, 10 to 15 meters, but not to be alarmed because our vessel was very sea worthy. Thinking back on the captain's comments now we should have had more reservations about our journey, i.e. very sea worthy? At what point is "very sea worthy" not sea worthy enough? 10 to 15 meters sounds reasonable until one converts it into feet, that's 30 to 45 feet people! That metric system has once again fooled us with its understated values. Here we are headed out to sea, like I said everyone in good spirits, laughing and joking with each other and highly anticipating the first whale sighting. As we went over the first coupe of swells the ship would rock back and everyone would yell in unison "Whoooa" like the first hill on the biggest coaster in the park. By the fourth or fifth swell it was more of a painful "Ohhhhh" but then there was the first whale sighting so everyone's attention turned to the reason we were there.

We followed the whales around watching them blow and I was ready with camera in hand eagerly anticipating one leaping out of the water right next to the boat kissing Amy on the cheek and covering the entire boat with the splash , at least that what I was dreaming about. But alas these are the best pictures we got.

After chasing little geysers for about an hour the captain said it was time to head back. So with all the excitement of the hunt gone we were left to think only about the hundreds of swells between us and the calm waters of Sydney Harbour. Amy found a seat out of the wind up by the cabin while I was stuck out on the back of the boat in the wind. Our first clue that the trip back wasn't going to be an enjoyable one was when the first mate started passing out puke bags. I am not prone to motion sickness so I passed on the offer but to my dismay everyone around me eagerly accepted one. About half way home as the chorus of wretching all around me was getting louder and louder and the smell was nearly suffocating me I really started regretting eating that Big Mac for lunch but somehow I kept it down. When I looked over to see how Amy was faring, she had her head between her legs singing hymns. I'm not sure why the "Sacred Selections" help motion sickness more than say Bon Jovi but apparently they are the dramamine of the music industry. We both made it without seeing our lunch again but I can't say the same for most of our shipmates. As we disembarked the boat it looked like a war zone with people curled up in the fetal position on the deck, people bent over the side, those that could walk looked like zombies staggering towards the door. Amy and I still don't know what we want to do when we grow up but we can scratch off working on a ship of any kind.

World Youth Day 2008

2008-07-26T06:29:00.009+10:00

Sydney hosted World Youth Day this year. In case you have never heard of WYD, because up until a couple months ago I hadn't, it is an every other year event where young Catholics get together for a week of festivities highlighted by mass with the Pope. A couple of years ago in Manilla there were over 4 million Catholics in attendance. This years was the smallest in the last 10 years and there were 400,000 people from overseas. It was a really cool time to be in Sydney. There were "pilgrims" everywhere and they were easily identified by there standard issue red and orange backpack. They were on every street corner singing, playing guitars and shaking tambourines. On every news station the newscasters were talking about how devoted these pilgrims were to their faith which led to discussions on faith and Jesus. In the office it brought up questions and discussions about Christianity. It was really cool for young people to be put into a positive light because until WYD the only time the youth made the news were stories on binge drinking, fighting at the nightclubs, graffiti and vandalism. Amy and I had to work most of the time so we weren't able to take part in most of the festivities but here are a few pictures of what we did see.

During my lunch break, I have a new job and work in downtown Sydney, I walked down to where the opening mass was held. They had 200,000 people at the mass. After mass there was a concert by a few christian artists and then fireworks. At noon people were just starting to show up.

Our goal for the week was to take a picture of the Pope He only made three public appearances and we were too cheap to buy tickets to any of the events so we had to be strategic.

Appearance 1:

The Pope made his grand entrance "The Boatorcade" through Sydney Harbour. He is on the white boat behind the yellow boat and there are about 100 boats following his boat.
The Sydney Ports Corp is making sure that if you have a scope on your rifle that you can't see through the mist which as it turns out is effective against cameras as well. I hadn't thought about this but the Pope is the number one target for assassination according to Mel my favorite morning show news anchor. She said, "He is a bigger target than George Bush or Kevin Rudd." Which kind of made me chuckle a little when she said Kevin, not that he isn't important but honestly Australia doesn't have enemies.
Finally,we got a clear view. You are going to have to zoom in on this one. Look at the front of the ship where the yellow flag is. The white poking out on either side of the flag, yeah that's him. It wasn't a complete loss, we got to see another part of Sydney that we hadn't seen yet and the harbor views were incredible.

Appearance 2: The Stations of the Cross

Actors reenacted the last days of Jesus' life starting with the Last Supper all the way to the crucifixion. After that was finished the Pope, in the Popemoblie, paraded around the CBD. I had the day off so I went to Lectureships at a church in North Sydney so Amy was solo on this mission. After work she ran down to where she though the motorcade was going only to find out she got bad information and was so tired by then she went home and watched it on TV.

Appearance 3: Sunday mass at Randwick Racecourse

This is the culmination of all the festivities. Like I said earlier, we were too cheap to buy tickets so we found out where the Pope was entering into the racecourse. After about an hour of walking around all the barriers we waited eagerly with about 50 other people for the Popemobile. Finally it came led by two police bikes.

We were so excited we started snapping pictures furiously but the Popemobile was going so fast we only had time to take two pictures each and then it dawned on us it was empty. We quickly reviewed our pictures and sure enough it was a decoy.

So we made one last effort to see the Pope but as you can see there was no way we could see him from this distance. He was on the red stage off in the distance. There ended up being 400,000 people at mass that morning, the largest mass in Australian history.

So we settled for taking a picture of him on the big screen but it just wasn't to be, apparently when you take a picture of a large screen white comes out a blurry purple color.

All in all it was a good week. I'll leave you with a quote from Pope Benedict XVI:

"The problems of Australia's youth can be solved with Jesus."

Saturdays in Sydney

2008-07-13T15:27:00.003+10:00

We went up to Observatory Hill yesterday to enjoy the sunshine. So here are a couple of pictures from our day.

At the observatory there were a few exhibits, this one was a cardboard ball that had a bunch of holes punched into it. When you look inside you see what the night sky looked like in 1923. I thought it looked like a cardboard ball with some holes in it, but what do I know?

An of course a Saturday wouldn't be complete without a trip to one of the many markets.

The Footy

2008-07-06T14:19:00.002+10:00

For an early birthday present Amy bought me tickets to "The Footy". In Australia, there are four types of football; Australian Rules Football called AFL, American Football called Gridiron, Rugby Union called Rugby and Rugby League called Footy. Now these tickets she bought me weren't for any ordinary game, they were for the State of Origin III. New South Wales and Queensland each pick an all-star team and play a best of three series for bragging rights. It would be like if the Pro-Bowl were a real game that meant something. New South Wales won the first game and Queensland won the second so this was the decider.

The game was at Olympic Stadium and there was a sellout crowd of 80,000+. As you can see the sign says "ANZ Stadium." ANZ is a huge bank here and just like stadiums in America they sell the stadium name every year. Last year it was "Telsra Stadium" and who knows what it will be next year.

Here is a view from our seats. I went with Dan, a buddy from church. I would show you a picture but in all the excitement we didn't get a picture and also we were sitting with the rowdy boys and I was afraid I might not get my camera back if I asked someone to take a picture of us.
New South Wale is in the blue and their team is cleverly named the Blues and Queensland in the the maroon and they are even more cleverly named the Maroons. We were cheering for the Blues but to no avail. Since Queensland won they get to fly their flag on top of the Harbour Bridge here in Sydney. If we would have won our flag would be flying on a bridge in Brisbane.
I told you they take this very seriously, it is quite an honor to play in this game. One guy broke his arm, two guys got concussions, a few black eyes were handed out and there were several fights throughout the game. This picture is just two minutes into the game. Amazingly enough there wasn't a single penalty for fighting in the entire game, even in hockey you have to sit in the box for a while.

Saturdays in Sydney

2008-06-30T10:46:00.005+10:00

Since Amy has been working so much in order for us to survive and for me to get my degree, I try to make sure my Saturday is free from working and studying so we can do something fun together. Here are a few pics of what we have been doing. It will definitely be hard to move back to a land locked state.

We went to downtown Sydney and had a picnic in Hyde Park. It is a massive park in the heart of the CBD (Central Business District) with huge trees that form a canopy. This spot has become a favorite for Amy and I to hang out.

If you are a chess master you can take on one of these guys on the gigantic chess board in Hyde Park but you better bring your A game or you will be embarrassed in a matter of seconds.

There are walkways all around the water in Sydney. This one is in the suburb of Glebe near our friend Maz's place. An apartment right behind me will run you a cool $2.5 million but the view might be worth the money.
We are now in the middle of winter and most people have hung up their board shorts but a few diehards are still out getting a little sun and why not when it is still 75 degrees out. Amy and I took a picnic lunch and watched the surfers.
Not even the dead of winter can thwart the speedo. We have just accepted the fact that if you are in Australia and you are a male over 50 then the speedo is required. Like it or not it is as much a part of Australia as kangaroos or koalas.

I have come to accept a man with a speedo, I don't like it but I accept it. I did get really nervous when I saw a speedo without a man but by the grace of God we didn't see the man without the speedo, cause that could really ruin a picnic!

48 Hours in Canberra

2008-06-21T17:39:00.004+10:00

We spent last weekend in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Canberra is a unique city in Australia because it is an entirely planned city which means that a long time ago when Australians were deciding what city would be their capital they couldn't agree on Sydney or Melbourne so they built an entire new city in the middle of Sydney and Melbourne--Canberra.

We went to Canberra with our friends Mark and Claire. They were headed there to celebrate the 21st birthday of Lydia, Claire's sister. Lydia was devastated when Damon told her Canberra was designed by an American architect. Don't worry Lydia, I am sure he was really an Aussie at heart! We enjoyed spending time with Claire's family, worshipping with the church there and seeing the sights of this nation's capital. Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Parliament House

Claire, myself and Lydia in the House of Representatives.

Posing at the Parliament

Australian War Memorial

VERY large sheep on the side of the road--I don't know why.

Visitors

2008-06-07T21:20:00.005+10:00

After time in New Zealand, Darci and Katy made a stop in Sydney to visit us last weekend. It was SO good to see friends from home. We had a great time showing them around Sydney. Here are some highlights of our time together:

Petting kangaroos at Featherdale Wildlife Park

Darci and Katy with the sleeping koala

Kangaroo and joey too!

Damon's favorite--the Tasmanian Devil, he was running around and around in circles

Group shot

Fish and chips at Doyles in Watsons Bay

Bluff in Watsons Bay

We saw whales!

Pic from our walk halfway across the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Opera House at night

Watson's Bay (sorry this one got out of order)

On our walk from Tamarama to Bondi beach

Near Tamarama beach

Katy and Darci at Bondi

Dinner at Pancakes on the Rocks

We did a lot of sightseeing, eating and shopping. Thank you guys for coming to visit us.

Run Damon Run!

2008-05-17T14:49:00.001+10:00

I was standing at the bus stop in front of my school waiting to catch a bus to go to work when a sweet little Chinese girl, I didn't get her name so let's call her Chun-Li, walked up behind me:

Chun-Li: Is this the bus stand for the 393 bus to Central Station?

Damon: Yes. You can take the 395 bus as well and it should be coming in about 2 minutes.

Chun-Li: (Her eyes lit up and she asked with amazement) Are you American?

Damon: Yes. Did my accent give me away?

Chun-Li: (With even more excitement) I've never met an American before. I am from a small village in northern China and foreigners don't come to my village. I could tell you are American because you sound like that famous movie star...um...what's his name...um...Tom...Tom Hanks...

Damon thinking: Maybe I do sound a little like Tom, in Japan people said I looked like Harrison Ford so I guess I can see why she might think I sound like Tom Hanks.

Chun-Li:...From that movie...um...the one where...um...he is always running and where he has a shrimp boat. Do you know the one?

Damon: You mean Forrest Gump?

Chun-Li: Yes. I really like that movie.

Phantom

2008-05-13T08:14:00.007+10:00

Growing up in Wyoming, getting dressed up and going to a show was putting on your best jeans and boots and attending the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo and if you were really lucky seeing the demolition derby (I love a good car crash). In Sydney, first the Symphony and now Phantom of the Opera, my eyes are being opened to a new world. When Amy called me at work and told me she got two free tickets, I tried to be excited with her but I have to say the idea of seeing an opera didn't really appeal to me, to say the least. So imagine my joy when I found out that Phantom of the OPERA is not actually an opera, it's a MUSICAL about a phantom who lives in an opera house. I think Andrew knew what he was doing when he named it, husbands are so relieved that they don't have to sit through an opera they are completely happy going to a musical, it's not the best selling musical of all time for nothing. So off we went. We had really good seats and it was really good. They had a lot of really cool effects. It definitely surpassed the other three musicals that I have seen.

There is just one thing I don't understand (if you haven't seen it stop reading because I don't want to ruin the ending for you) so if you guys could help me out I would appreciate it. The Phantom by my count kills three people, kidnaps the girl twice, nearly hangs the boyfriend and sings about you will learn to love me. Finally the girl kisses him and he got what he wanted and then he sends her away. Why?

2nd in Sydney

2008-05-10T19:32:00.005+10:00

Cafe dinner with Harbour Bridge behind us

All dressed up

Inside the Opera House

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary on May 6th with a night on the town. The day started with a dozen red roses delivered to my work-what a nice surprise! I took off work a little early and met Damon at home. We got dressed up and headed down to Circular Quay. We enjoyed dinner at an outdoor cafe that was right on the water. It was a beautiful night and we had a great view of the harbour with ferries passing by and the Harbour Bridge in the background. After dinner, we went to the Sydney Opera House to enjoy the Sydney Symphony, and four vocalists, presenting "Hits From the Movies". They played- "New York, New York", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "9 to 5", "ET", "Ghostbusters" and more. We had such a wonderful time. I think it was a pivotal moment for us. Sydney is a beautiful city that is filled with great people, food, sights and sounds. We are finally able to relax and enjoy this wonderful city that we live in. It has taken us 3 months to get settled in and back on our feet but we are making it and determined to make the most of it.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.

We thank God for the past two years and for all that we have experienced together in that time. Only He knows what the next year will hold.

Apples and lettuce and pears! Oh my!

2008-04-27T16:59:00.008+10:00

Damon is hard at work stocking those bananas.

Damon has joined the ranks of the employed. After completing an online application, a 1 hour aptitude test, two face-to-face interviews, a 4 1/2 hour test and 11 training videos and comprehension tests, Damon was hired to work in the produce department. Can you imagine the hiring process for a manager?! Damon started 2 weeks ago and seems to be settling in well. He says the job isn't too demanding which is great because it leaves him plenty of time for class and studying. The past couple of months of job hunting has been humbling but I am so proud of him for sticking with it. And hey there are perks to working at a grocery store...thanks to the 5% employee discount, our consumption of fruits and vegetables may increase this year! We are truly blessed and feel thankful to have both found jobs.

Kangaroo, not just cute but tasty too

2008-04-13T06:55:00.005+10:00

A couple days ago we went to Mark and Claire's house for dinner. They are on the left and Claire's brother Peter was in town visiting. We met Mark and Claire through Eastside Church of Christ where we all attend church.

We celebrated Earth Day by eating Kangaroo kebabs by candle light. I was amazed at how good they were. As you can see Amy sure is enjoying her kebab. We had a good time. Thanks guys.

My Wife Rocks

2008-04-11T13:59:00.004+10:00

Amy is at work right now. This is the second day of the third job she has had in the last three weeks. Confusing? Yeah, me too. She first took a job at a hotel. It wasn't good. It was in a bad part of town, she would have had to work late nights and early mornings and it didn't pay very well. And as you can see from my last post I am not contributing as of yet. So we made a deadline for ourselves. If Amy didn't get a better job by the 29th of March we were going to pack up and go home because that was the last day for me to drop classes and get my money back. This may sound drastic but the cost of living in Sydney is astronomical and we simply didn't have the money to stay and we had both been turned down so many times that the prospect of finding a job was bleak. Amy had one last interview on the 28th at a doctor's office. I was already packing because after the interview employers always have to deliberate and call you back in a couple of days. She went into the interview and wowed them. The HR lady told her she had four more people to interview so she would let Amy know soon. Two hours later she call and said she cancelled the interviews with the other people and wanted Amy to start tomorrow! This job had better hours, better pay, was in a better part of town and made it possible to stay! After working there for a week she got offered another job making more than we ever hoped for and that is where she is now. She is the Marketing Coordinator for a company who own 100+ funeral homes. I know, sounds creepy but she works in the corporate office so she doesn't see dead people. When she told me she was going to do marketing for a funeral home I immediately had this picture of her at a nursing home saying "You aren't looking so good. Here is my card. Call me." She is actually working more with advertising instead of sales so unfortunately no ambulance chasing. So thanks for all the prayers. We are definitely learning to trust God and have patience because He knows what is best.

A Bachelors Degree isn't what it used to be

2008-04-07T14:29:00.004+10:00

Did you think when you donned the square hat and the black robes and walked across that stage $60,000 poorer a great job was on the horizon? I know I did. Well after two months of tireless searching, I sit writing this blog with not a job in sight. Looking back on the last couple months I would like to share with you the best of "Damon looking for a job" in no particular order.

S - Store

D - Damon

Where: Woolworths - a local supermarket.

What: Stocking shelves at night

Reason: S: I'm sorry we have had more qualified applicants apply so we cannot short list you for this job, not once, not twice but three times!

Comment: More qualified? I didn't even make the short list? We don't shop there anymore.

Where: Local coffee shop/sandwich shop

What: Sandwich maker

Reason: S:Do you have any experience? D:Umm...I make sandwiches at home. S:I'm sorry mate I need someone with experience, I don't want to have to babysit you.

Comment: Babysit? Really?

Where: Dry cleaner

What: Cash register

Reason: S:We are looking for a woman.

Comment: Oh, so that sign on the door that says we don't discriminate is just decorative?

Where: Call center

What: Answering phones

Reason: S:We need someone with two years experience in a call center. D:I have that. S:Sorry mate we are looking for more experience.

Comment: So what you meant to say was three years?

Where: Apple Store

What: Selling Apple Products

Reason: S:What do you primarily use your mac for? D:Since I am a student now, I primarily use it for word processing and internet research. S:I'm sorry we are looking for someone with more Mac knowledge. Thanks for your time. D:How do you know what I know? I just answered your question. You didn't ask me what I know about Macs? S:Sorry we are looking for someone with more Mac knowledge.

Comment: Maybe I should have put on my resume that Amy is a member of the Facebook club "My Husband Loves His Mac More Than Me" created by Kelly Barneche.

Where: Gelato Shop

What: Dishing up Gelato

Reason: D: Are you guys hiring? S: Sorry "Champion" we don't need any help.

Comment: At least he thinks I am a champion

It isn't all bleak. I just had my second interview, that's right second interview, with Cole's, another supermarket, to stock produce. This is the final step in a three week process where I had to take an aptitude/SAT/psychological test. I passed with a 92% and so far so good on my reference and background check. Maybe I will know something more next week.

I hope you had a bit of a laugh with me. God is good and he will find me the right job. So, no worries!

University of New South Wales

2008-03-13T14:24:00.002+11:00

Well, we decided it was finally time to pay tribute to the whole reason we came half way around the world...UNSW.

Here is a picture of Damon on campus.

Damon had his first day of class this past Tuesday. Things went well and he was really impressed with his teacher. Here is his "first day of school" picture. (He is standing outside of our apartment building.) He was begging me to take this picture. He goes to class on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

This is a picture from O-Week (orientation week). There were hundreds of students of campus, plenty of free food and booths representing every club on campus.

Answered Prayers

2008-03-11T03:04:00.004+11:00

I just got off the phone with my mom and the test results were good!!!! The aneurysm has NOT increased in size. Therefore, she will continue exercising and watching her diet, planning her trip to Australia and will have another scan in a year. Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying and who has e-mailed or asked about my mom. God is good!!

White Trash or Homeless

2008-03-10T21:25:00.004+11:00

We were able to spend time with Hayli Hartman this past Saturday. It was so good to see her and great to spend time with someone who understands both Australian and American culture. She shared lots of advice with us and gave us tips on things to do and places to see around Sydney. We had several questions for her. One question was in regard to the trollies/shopping carts. We shared with Hayli our excitement about being able to wheel our groceries right up to our front door. Another Aussie friend, who lives in America, had cautioned us that we shouldn't really be taking the carts away from the store. Hayli confirmed that for us when she said that only white trash or homeless people take the carts!! Well, thankfully we are not homeless so I guess that means we are white trash. Hayli, thanks for your honesty. We will take your advice to heart about not easily being offended. :) Well, the washing machine just beeped so I better go. I need to hang up Damon's wife beaters.

Bondi Beach

2008-03-08T10:50:00.003+11:00

Here is a 15 second clip of the famous Bondi Beach. Amy doesn't like her voice so she told me that I could only post this if I told everyone to turn their sound off before watching it. So turn your sound off. (but she won't know if you have your sound on or not) We have never been beach people before but we are definitely reconsidering!

Say a Little Prayer

2008-03-07T16:28:00.003+11:00

As some of you may, or may not know, 6 months ago we found out that my mom has a brain aneurysm. She decided to postpone brain surgery for the time being and check back on the size of the aneurysm in 6 months. Well, the 6 months is up and she is having an MRA this Friday morning, March 7th. Obviously, we are all anxious to hear good results...like God has reduced the size of the aneurysm or even made it disappear!! As I said, the test will be this Friday morning and she will get the results back the following Monday morning at 8:45. So, please say a little, or BIG, prayer for my mom. I will keep you posted. Thank you!!

Do As The Romans Do

2008-03-03T07:21:00.002+11:00

We live about ten minutes from the nearest shop so we were wondering how we would be able to carry our stuff home when we bought more than a couple sacks worth. We found the answer. You just take the shopping cart with you. As we were walking around we noticed that there were shopping carts everywhere. At first we thought this was really rude of people to take a shopping cart and then just leave it in their front yard but then...

we saw this guy. His job is to drive around the area and pick up the carts. You help him out by putting your cart close to the curb for easy pick up. What a great place we live in!

My Ironman

2008-03-02T18:02:00.003+11:00

The 2008 Australian Ironman Championship took place at Coogee Beach yesterday. Damon said he was going to exercise everyday once we got to Australia and he thought this would be a great event to start with. Here you can see the competition lining up. I accidentally cut Damon out of the picture but trust me...he's up there!

Look at him riding the wave back onto shore....
and crossing the finish line. I am so proud of my Ironman!! He has come so far in just two weeks. Imagine where he will be in a year.

Maroubra Beach

2008-02-29T20:00:00.004+11:00

Here is the beach that is a 10 minute bus ride from our flat. Today was our first chance to get to the beach. Sure beats Arcadia Lake.

Just beside the beach there are some cliffs that make a nice place to ponder life.

See the posts? They are the markers for a natural swimming pool.

The "Flat" search is over!

2008-02-28T11:10:00.005+11:00

When you move to a new country you always have preconceived notions of how things will be. Sometimes you are right and sometimes you are completely wrong! Looking for a flat was one of those times we were completely wrong. The day after we arrived we went to look at a flat that we saw online. We found it a little strange that it was only open to look at from 9:00-9:15 but we caught an early bus and we got there at 8:45. Our first clue that this wasn't like America was that there were already about ten people waiting. By 9:00 we were standing around with about thirty people all wanting to rent the apartment. We herded into the tiny apartment to find a dark dirty dingy straight up crappy place. It was $350 a week and we had to compete with the other thirty people for this dump. Needless to say we were a little nervous because we were competing against employed people. But God is good. We went to church on Sunday and told people we were looking for a place. Roberto told us a friend of a friend was moving to Dubai and looking to rent his place out of for around a year or so. We went and looked at it and loved it. It was completely furnished and ready to move in. So one week after arriving we moved in.

So here is the living room complete with a sweet orange wall (Amy hates it and Damon loves it). Also notice the air con in the top left corner, not so common for the price range we were looking in.

Here is our bedroom. Basically the only thing we had to buy was the bedding and the rest was already in there. Check out the full wall closet, Amy loves that.
As you can see this is the kitchen. It is huge compared to all the others we saw and it came with the fridge and table.

Here is your bedroom. If you come we will get a bed for you.

And the bathroom with the not so good washing machine on the left that drains into the bathtub.
This is our "home sweet home". It is a 7 minute walk for Amy and a 10 minute walk for Damon to the bus stop. The bus stop is actually in front of a mall that has a Big W, Kmart, Target, post office, our bank, two huge grocery stores and various other shops. Damon's Uni is a 10 minute ride from the stop. Well, we hope you enjoyed the tour. Let us know when you want to join us in the Land Down Under.

"Granny Flat"

2008-02-27T16:11:00.000+11:00

We were blessed to have a place to stay when we first arrived. We stayed in Ted and Pam Paull's "Granny Flat" right beside the pool. It was so great to leave the frozen tundra of Wyoming and be able to lay by the pool under the palm trees that is if we had time.

Arriving in Sydney

2008-02-27T06:40:00.000+11:00

We made it!!