Day Thirteen

I should be asleep now. It is 2:32 am Texas time. But it is late evening Australian time to my body. This is going to be hard to get back on schedule. I am on the laptop in Tex's room and trying not to wake the house up. Wonder if I should turn down the radio? Rave music really helps me write and gets the creative juices flowing. I'll at least turn off the strobe light and set the smoke machine to low.

As I mentioned before, traveling to new places and experiencing different cultures is a real eye opener. Australia is a great place to live, but things we take for granted are so much more appreciated.
There are many things I admire about the Aussies: Voting is the law, very clean cities, more yield signs than stop signs, great places to eat, small stores, grocery stores in the malls, friendly people, and laid back attitude. Their love of the outdoors is second to none.

I enjoyed noticing the subtle differences in our languages. 98% the same words but just used differently: "Yield" signs say "Give Way." "Do not Pass" signs say "Do not Overtake." We say "Great Job" they say "Well Done." We say "Hello" and they say "Good Day." We say "Ketchup" they say "Tomato Paste." We say "No problem" they say "No Worries." We say "did you find what you were looking for?" and they say "How'd it go then?" We say "Let's go to Starbucks" they say "How 'bout some tea, then?"

One of the hardest things, I would have thought would have been no problem, was crossing the street. 38 years of looking left before crossing is not easily forgotten. My little brain could not get used to Aussies driving on the left hand side of the road. I have heard this has killed more than 1 or 2 tourists throughout the years.

I will say that I have a new love for the sports of Cricket, Rugby, and Australian Rules Football. But after being forced to watch 20+ hours of it, I guess that was bound to happen. Even the news programs run 2-4 minute clips of highlights from games. They are obsessed with their sports. There is a game on almost at any hour of the day. On the last day at the hotel Bill and I actually watched a "Lawn Bowling" tournament. I guess the Australians would rather watch paint dry than watch an American sport. They kept mentioning that if the toughest sport we have, NFL football, lets players wear "body armor" and take breaks and timeouts, then they will stick to real men sports of AFL and Rugby. (They have us on that one).

Their inflation seems high. Our dollars are almost the same ($1 USD to .93 AUD) but their prices are higher. They love coming to the states to buy clothes because our prices are dramatically lower. But this is because our dollar buys more than theirs does. They pay almost $4.50 a gallon for gas. Really $1.40 AUD a liter. Restaurants were fairly expensive. At first I thought their economy must be stronger (maybe it is), but after doing the math I realized that their inflation is worst than ours. It takes more of their dollars to get what we can get for less. Makes for a very expensive trip to visit them, but makes their US trips seem like dreamland.

They have broadband but it is not too broad. And you pay for it like a cell phone. A monthly fee gets you so much data but if you go over, you get charged per kilobyte. I would have a hard time choosing what websites to visit if my traffic was governed. Makes MP3 downloads not a great cost savings compared to CD purchases.

I must confess something, before Peter sends an "all user" email to IFL. One day, Peter took Bill and I to this small tea room. To be honest, I already felt a little light-in-the-loafers just walking to a place with small tables, gifts on the wall, and desserts on the counter. But such is the way of life down under. I figure if Peter could walk in then it couldn't be too bad. Having never ordered any tea but "iced," I struggled at the menu. Bill ordered hot chocolate, Peter ordered coffee. Neither sounded good to me. Since I did not see Mountain Dew or Schlitz on the menu, I thought I would see why Aussies spend 20 minutes of their day drinking tea. After reading a few selections I could not pronounce or understand (Wallybure, Wogga Wogga, Kolli Ringo, and Tauzzie Tauzzie) I decided on a simple brew titled "Fruits of the Forest." I should have known when the waitress asked me if "I was sure" that I had made the wrong choice. Five minutes later came Peter's robust mug of hot brew. Even Bill's tall glass of warm milk had some manly characteristics. But then came the most delicate, Victorian, 7-year-old girl looking, tea set you have ever seen... with its "PINK" tea and flowered tea bag.
Needless to say, I had to catch heck from Peter for almost the entire trip. Of course, a real man would have never led a friend to place that even sells pink tea. I did the manly thing and drank a little but all the while I told a story about gutting a deer I once shot, explained how to properly whittle, discussed why the 69 Camaro carburetor was better than the Vette's 78 fuel injector, diagrammed World War II tank maneuvers, and explained the infield pop-fly rule. I expect to have my man-card mailed back to me within 2-3 weeks.

I enjoyed my trip and would love to take my family there for a 2-3 week vacation. The beauty of the land and people makes this trip worth the incredibly long plane ride. As far as IFL goes, the trip was success. Meeting Peter and his family was the highlight of the entire trip. What a class act, what a man of integrity, and what a great leader (Family, Work, and Church). Nice to know God has him there and that he is on the same team as I am. I thank God that I was allowed to go on this epic journey and I thank God that I was encouraged and renewed by seeing such a dedicated team working tirelessly to make sure that solid Bible teaching is preached around the globe. They enjoy their ministry and service.
Traveling with Bill has been great. Not only is having a seasoned international traveler a real help to this Texas redneck, but wise counsel is a great co-pilot on any journey. Bill is a professional and a cut-up all rolled into one. He has a great sense of humor or he has the skill to hide anger and will terminate me as soon as he gets back to his desk and finds the right forms. Either way, he has been fun to spend almost 40 consecutive meals with and to travel half-way around the world. It will be weird to see him in the office with his shirt on again.