Aussie Chrissie Part One: Adelaide

Two weeks off for Christmas.  And AirAsia opened up a new flight from Jakarta to Adelaide for about $400... so some girls and I decided to make a trip of it!  Janna and I (who were at IWU together for undergrad), Teresa (who teaches with me at SPH Lippo Village), and Michelle (who went to Uni with Teresa and now works at SPH Kemang Village) hopped on a plane the day after school ended and traveled to Australia for our first Aussie Chrissie, full of Australian culture and traditions that come with this season.

One more continent down... that makes four!

Australians abbreviate everything... so if some of my word choice seems a little off, that's why.  Side note... I feel like I work with more Australians than Americans. So, my vocabulary is changing slightly, and I find myself using words I thought were odd at first.  I don't grade papers, I mark them.  I didn't go to college, I went to uni.  I throw away rubish, not trash.  I don't use a shopping cart at the grocery store, I use a trolley.  And the list could continue on and on and on. 

A few of Janna's friends from SPH Lippo Cikarang are from Adelaide, so we stayed at one of their parent's house's while we were in Adelaide.  They welcomed us with open arms and we were able to experience everything that an Aussie Chrissie is.

It's summer time in Australia during the Christmas season, so we had planned to go cherry picking, but the cherry season was way to early this year, so we had to settle for strawberries.  Which was possibly even better.  Red, juicy, straight-off-the-vine berries that we could eat as many as we wanted.  It's been so long since I had any strawberry... especially a plump, red, sweet one.  

The next day we went to Adelaide's big market, where we saw so much delicious summer fruit... if I can't have snow for Christmas, at least I can have peaches and plums and nectarines and cherries and strawberries... which are all pretty much non existent in Indonesia.

Christmas Eve was unlike any other Christmas Eve I've celebrated.  We started out by going to the market, and then we made our way into Mclaren Vale for some wine tasting.  Nath drove us around and we got to sample some of Australia's bouquets, and try to use all the wine lingo... but I'm not so sure I quite figured it out yet.

We stopped for some food and had a picnic.  At the ocean.  On regular grass that's not actually a weed.  Under a blue sky.  With no clouds.  Can't get any of that in Indo... Maybe you can tell, that this trip was a much needed escape to the Western world I said goodbye to in July.

Now, strawberry picking, wine tasting, and  blue skies are pretty awesome and full of the feeling of summer.  But we needed something a little more Aussie for our Aussie Chrissie.  So Nath took us to a farm... which was more like a petting zoo.  But this petting zoo was not filled with goats and chickens... it had exotic birds, kangaroos, koala bears, and python snakes.  Best petting zoo ever!

Remember how in Winnie the Pooh, Kanga and Roo are the cutest little things and Roo looks so adorable sitting in Kanga's pocket. Well, in reality, the babies in the pouch is actually quite disturbing.  It's like a little hole, that stretches to hold a baby.... and the baby often sits in it with his feet sticking out, which makes for some very odd photos.  I did catch one joey sticking his head out to pick up some of the food we dropped.

Christmas Day was beautiful.  We had a brunch with Naomi's family and then headed over to the beach.  We all got a little sunburned, some a little more than others, some in a more awkward way than others... ask Janna about that one.  I got to celebrate Jesus's birth by sitting on the beach, listening to the waves and feeling the sun on my back as I dug into a good book.  

We headed back home where Nath's parents (Neil and Lea) were getting dinner ready.  Dinner on the barbie!  And not just any dinner... Kangaroo.  I petted kangaroos on Christmas Eve.  And then on Christmas, I ate some.  But it really was delicious.  

After dinner we headed to the field out back for a family game of cricket.  Having never played before, I watched for a while and listened to the explanations before getting into the game myself.  It was the perfect summer evening.  Long shadows.  Cool grass.  A little bit of exercise.  Lots of laughter.  And the feeling that sometimes, everything can be perfect.

Pavlova for desert!

I missed a few things about Christmas.  I missed getting ready by baking cookies and cooking for multiple Christmas parties.  I missed the "I graduated from something" Christmas party with some intense games of Dutch Blitz.  I missed the snow... crazy right?  But really, looking out the window after the sun goes down and seeing it fall in the light of the window.  I missed having chili on Christmas Eve and then headed to church for the candlelight service and singing Silent Night and Joy to the World standing around the sanctuary.  I missed listening to my family talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers all day on Christmas.  I missed eating vegetarian pizza with my aunt.  I missed eating the over-cooked cherry pie.  I missed watching Grandma and Mom fight over the warmest spot by the fireplace.

That sounds like a lot of stuff that I miss... and I did miss it.  But when my time is filled with gallivanting around Australia,  it's pretty easy to enjoy where I am.  I'm learning to live in the moment.  To pour myself into, and let myself be filled with wherever I am.  To make the most of each place I go, and each crazy thing I find myself doing.  These are the experiences that I'll remember and will tell my kids about someday.  Yes I miss my old home.  Yes I hate some things about my new home.  But God has given me so many opportunities to make the most of this life and see the world He's created.  And I'm loving the life that He's letting me live.

A special thanks to Janna, Michelle, and Teresa, who took some of these pictures and have let me share them here.