Surfing, Great Food, and the Return of Random Adventures

My last two posts have been about huge things going on, so I'm happy that I'm getting back to talking about the little things that happen in Australia that are so much fun. I guess they aren't all smaller, but they kind of feel that way compared to week long trips.

Surf Camp

At the beginning of the year, I looked up prices for a one day surf camp up at Lancelin beach. It was expensive, but I realized that if I didn't learn to surf in Australia, I would really regret it. Best decision I have ever made. In hindsight, I wish I would have payed more to stay overnight and attend the two day surf camp. Regardless, on Saturday morning we rucked up at about 6am, met the bus at the train station, and rode for about North two hours to Lancelin beach. If you have ever been to Florence, it is kind of an Australia version of that, with huge dunes and nice waves for surfing. I somehow managed to get my wetsuit on, (those things are ridiculous), and was completely pumped as we headed out to the beach with our surfboards. I went through a brief surfing lesson, and then went out into the waves to test my skills. Lets just say at first, it wasn't going so well. I could get my feet on the board, but fell over backwards into the waves as soon as I tried to stand up. Eventually, with some help from the instructors and after being pummeled by the water a countless number of times, I finally stood up, balanced, and rode a wave into the beach. We surfed for five hours, broken in the middle by an hour lunch break, and I was laughing and having fun the whole time. If you have ever tried running through water, or swimming for a long time, or getting thrown against the ground a lot, combine those things and you will have some of idea what is like for your body. At least at first, it takes it out of you, and I was so sore the next day. But was it worth it, and did I have a blast? Absolutely!

About to stand up (hopefully)

Taste of India at Holy Spirit Chapel


So every Sunday at 6pm I try to go to church, but last Sunday was especially great. During the mass, a church leader gave an awesome speech about working in missions overseas, and it was inspiring and full of personal stories.  After mass we had a social, where the Priest had cooked a delicious homemade meal of Indian food with a helping family. It was so good! I didn't really think I like Indian food, but it was awesome. Even better, there were so many leftovers that we were able to take home a huge bowl of rice, curries, and other things. It provided a delicious lunch and dinner for the next couple of days =)


Dance Competition

This week our Inter-hall competition was a Dance-off. Led by the genius choreography of Courtney Helmer, we practiced for two hours Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to master our dance and try to beat all of the other halls. It was really fun, and the end product turned out to be a mix between interpretive dance and gymnastics, with Megan Foltz rapping in between. Good stuff. Port Lodge ended up taking home first place, with us second, but their dance wasn't original, and not that impressive, so we all know who the real winners were =)

Singing Songs, Archaeology and Volunteering


I had a busy, full weekend. Friday night we stayed in and recorded songs for Nic for Mother's day. I know that she isn't a Mom, but she takes care of us, and we call her Mom, so we figured that she deserved it. We recorded a remake of Sweet Caroline called Sweet Momma Nic, Don't Stop Believing by Journey, and about four other popular songs. Singing isn't exactly something that I like being recorded doing, but with the girls there everything worked out. Kudos to Megan for directing everything, and I think Nic really loved the CD. Maybe I'll put some of the songs online somewhere, especially the one from Juno (Part time lover and a full time friend) that we remade.

The next morning I woke up early to go on an archaeology trip with Shane Burke, our Australian history professor. We went to the site of a settlement of Australians in 1830, basically the first white people in Western Australia who fled Britain after the battle of Waterloo, and excavated their old home sites. I learned two things while digging and sorting artifacts. First of all, archaeology is pretty cool, and we found buttons, pieces of plate, old lead shots for a shotgun, and lots of miscellaneous things. Second of all, archaeology also kind of sucks. The finding is great, but the sorting and putting into little bags, and all of the paperwork that goes on (the ugly underbelly of archaeology as I would call it), it's really that great. Nevertheless, it was a great day, and we went to a bar with Shane afterward and had a great time.

That brings me to today. Can you believe it, live updates of my life? I'm surprised that I'm actually that on top of it, or at least displaying a semblance of that. Anyway today I participated in a environmental clean-up in South Fremantle. I wasn't really excited about going, just because I kind of got roped into it by someone in film class, but I actually had a very good time. It was a very deserving area to clean, the food they gave us was amazing, and I met some cool Australian and American people. And, at the end there was a crazy flash mob dance on the Perth waterfront. All in all, a fun weekend full of a wide range of activities.

I love you all, and cheers from Australia =)

Life Lessons in the Outback

Our trip to the Kimberley, or a section in the Northwest of Australia that is part of the Australian outback, was an amazing and life altering experience. I wrote a paper reflecting on the experience, and after that paper I'll talk a little bit more about what we actually did. It's one of those things that you have to experience for themselves, so I'll just kind of explain it generally, and encourage you to find about it yourselves or make your own conclusions. 

The first meaningful part of the trip was when our group stopped at the Beagle Bay Aboriginal Community. As the bus drove through the community I could not help but notice the rundown houses, rubbish on the ground, and overall poor living situation. In the centre of this poor community we arrived at our destination, a pristinely beautiful Catholic church. The artwork inside the chapel was brilliant, with local shells inlaid in the walls and statues. Walking through, I could not help but notice the stark contrast between the poor Aboriginal community outside and the stunning artwork inside. We were required to make a donation to the upkeep of the church, and I dropped my gold coin in wishing that I were giving the money to the community where it was actually needed. Beagle Bay used to be a Stolen Generations community, a place where Aboriginal children were taken from their families and forced to learn western culture and religion. Although that practice has been stopped, the remnants of white dominance and inequality still linger.  Only half a day into the journey, it was clear to me that Aboriginal communities continue to struggle with inequality and oppression.

Throughout the journey there were many experiences similar to Beagle Bay, but I learned more from the discussions that we had with Colin, our Aboriginal guide.  The moment that I really started to connect with the Aborigines was during Colin’s first talk about the Stolen Generations. I had read about Aboriginal children being taken from their mothers, but I did not really understand the affect on the families until I heard it from someone who had lived through the experience. Colin’s mother had been taken from her family to a mission when she was only 6, and did not see her mother for over 40 years. As a result, Colin’s mother was never able to learn her culture. When she finally found her mother in a nursing home 40 years later, they needed an interpreter to translate because she could not understand her indigenous language. Relating this to my own life, it broke my heart thinking about what it would be like to not communicate with my mom. This example had a powerful impact on the level of sympathy that I feel for aboriginal people. Before, I was surprised and disappointed by the racism I had seen towards Indigenous Australians. Now I am outraged at the racist attitude toward Aborigines, and I am determined to speak up the next time I encounter blatantly racist statements.

The discussion that most greatly influenced me was about racism and the problems of Aborigines communities. At first, it seemed like the community’s problems were their own fault, but the message that I heard over and over again from Colin was that there are two sides to every coin. This means that although it might seem one way on the surface, I can learn a lot by looking deeper and asking questions about why these communities might be in bad shape. For instance, Colin explained how government bureaucracy stops Aboriginal people from receiving the majority of the funds that are meant to improve their communities. Also, racism forms a barrier that stops many Aborigines from finding jobs and improving their situation. For instance, let’s say a qualified Aborigine goes job searching. The man hiring has a poor view of Aborigines, and refuses to employ him. Discouraged, the Aborigine cannot find a job and is forced to live on the streets, or maybe even turns to alcohol. Seeing this, the white person develops a negative view of Aborigines, which starts the circle all over again. This systemic racism is almost impossible to break, and it locks the aboriginals into a lower social class with less opportunities.

(2nd highest tides in the world at the camp where we stayed)

Learning about this cycle made me think of the times in my own life where I had judged quickly without taking into account the other side of the story. I want to be someone who breaks that circle of racism instead of making it worse. Currently, sometimes I did not even pause before categorising someone or writing them off as a drain on society. From now on, I will try to think twice before I pass judgment on anyone that I meet. This also applies to listening to the ideas and opinions of others. Instead of dismissing the opinion of someone I disagree with, I should investigate why they have that opinion and try to understand their point of view. They probably have a perfectly good reason for that opinion, and by asking questions about their belief I can begin to understand how they came to that conclusion. If I can make it a habit to not judge people on a regular basis, my life and the lives of other will improve.  

(See? We walked in that area crabbing, and an hour later it was covered, and only getting higher)

The experience in Broome also made me revaluate the plight of Indigenous people across of the world, especially in America. Until now I had almost ignored the importance of Native Americans in society and not considered their right as original owners of the land. It is not that I was insensitive to their plight, I just did not spend any time reflecting on their place in society. As it turns out, Native Americans still struggle to protect their culture and secure equal opportunities for their people. The same problems with health, education, and funding for the Aboriginal communities are also found in the Native American reservations. I had thought a lot about coming back and working to help the Aborigines, but I realised that if I do end up doing missionary work with indigenous people, I should start with the communities that my ancestors brutally conquered.

Finally, I cannot write about the Broome trip without mentioning the time I spent playing with three Aboriginal children of ages one, three, and six. While having fun with these kids, it dawned on me that the smiles and laughter of these children would be enough to soften the heart of the most hardened racists.  I think that if everyone had the opportunity to travel to the Kimberley and share those experiences, racism would cease to exist. 

Camp Life

So just to explain some things about camp life, as you can see, we camped for four days out in the open. It usually is not an issue, only because it is really hot in the Kimberley and almost never rains in the summer. But, three of the four days that we slept in camp, there was a huge rain storm. The first night, we were awake, and watched as the clouds covered the starts and lighting flashed in the distance. Not really concerned, we had a good time watching the storm, until the wind hit. All of a sudden, dining dishes and other things were blowing around as the wind crashed into the camp. Soon, our guide leaders were running around the camp and putting up tarps, and all of our students rushed into action. See the tents above? Those were all moved under tin roofed shelter, except for the big three rain proofed ones, and then we wrapped tarps around the shelter to keep the water out. We woke up wet the next morning, dried out, and then had a good day. The next night, the storm woke us up around 2:00am and we had to restart the whole process of securing and protecting everything. After that, we moved the sleeping bags into a tin roofed, walled barn and stayed there for the last two night. 

So just a little bit to explain the rest of the trip. Our days would start early with talks about a topic similar to the ones I mentioned above. Then we would go somewhere, like to an Aboriginal community or to meet and elder, or do something, like crabbing or making and throwing spears. After the day was over, we would meet up around the fire, talk about the day, eat dinner, and learn more about Aboriginal culture. The weather was around 90-100 degrees every day, and the bugs were horrible. Luckily, we had bug spray and sunscreen, and lots of water bottles helped keep us hydrated and cool. If you have any specific question about the trip, I would be happy to answer, but that is all I feel I should share to a general community. 

(It was rough country)

In recent news, I just got back from Surf Camp today, so expect cool things about that in the next update. Cheers from Australia, and I love you all =)