Study Abroad Blog

It is almost the end of July and I am pretty sure this will be my last Judson blog :( This summer has flown by and still I do not know what to do with my life. I have a diploma and tons of wonderful memories from Judson, but I do not feel prepared to move on. Part of me wishes I could just go back in the fall. I want to be with my friends. School is all I've ever known... it is a crutch of sorts. I remember one of my favorite Rob Bell sermons about change. He said that sometimes we do not want any changes because we know that with change brings loss. I find this beautiful because it reminds me that I'm sad for a reason. It is because I had such a great experience in school.  I'm losing something that has been my world for 3 years... of course there is going to be some pain. 

I know my life journey will continue, but it will take a while to heal. I feel like a child experiencing growing pains. I do not want to stay in a stagnant position, but the transitional period hurts- like a child's bones when they grow. 

I do not know what life will hold for me next. The summer has been filled with tons of post-Australia reunions. I went to Florida to visit my aunt (who faithfully reads my blogs), to Troy to visit my dad's aunts (and trace some genealogy), and  all over East Alabama and West Georgia to visit family. Most recently I spent almost 2 weeks with my sweet and patient boyfriend who put up with me being in Australia. :) 

As the summer sun begins to fade (and my pockets grow emptier haha), I can feel the weight of "real life" beginning to press firmly on my shoulders. I need to find a job, save money, and start looking for graduate programs (after I find out what in the WORLD I want to do). I am no longer protected by the Judson bubble, but rest assured that it will forever have a place in my heart. 

With love and a few tears,

Christina Lee 

P.S. If you know of a job opening LET ME KNOW :)

It has been a while since my last blog. Due to the crazy time difference between America and the other side of the world, I am still trying to get back on schedule. My habits have been completely out of whack and I have lacked little motivation to do more than sleep and eat. New Zealand was without a doubt the most BEAUTIFUL country I have ever seen. We only spent a week in NZ, but it left a lasting imprint on my mind. Everything around the countryside was green. There were sheep farms galore, but the landscape was breathtaking and of course, I loved the clouds :) Clouds on the other side of the hemisphere are different than they are at home. In New Zealand they looked like big marshmallows sitting perfectly on the sky. There was one cloud in particular that I think God put in the sky just for me. It was big and puffy and isolated from all the other clouds. Do not ask me why I am so fascinated with the sky, but it might be my FAVORITE thing to look at!

While in New Zealand, we got a crash course in Maori culture. We stayed at a Marae one night. This is a sacred space that serves both religious and social purposes. They explained to us the deep spiritual beliefs that the Marae represents. It was very honoring to sleep in a sacred space. While I felt very privileged, I also could not get over the fact that funerals are held in the Marae- including the one we were staying in that night. In fact, we were leaving in the middle of the week and then the following Friday there would be a funeral in the very room I was supposed to get a good nights rest in! The room was rather small, so I slept very close to the people beside me. Because of sheer exhaustion, I fell asleep and stayed asleep even though it was extremely cold. Sometime in the morning (when it was still dark outside), I woke to a strange sound. As I awakened from my slumber I realized that there was a figure standing in the front of the Marae speaking in a foreign language. I looked around the room (still half asleep) and no one else was stirring. Everyone was DEAD ASLEEP. At this point I panicked. I have always been a scared-y cat and this was a little too much for me to handle. Here I was in a foreign place that is used occasionally as a funeral home and there was a figure at the front of the room speaking in another language. I was scared out of my mind. Eventually, more people started waking up and I later realized that the strange figure I saw was actually a man who welcomed us onto the Marae. Then when I turned over, I realized that I was pretty much staring the girl sleeping beside me right in the face- I know my breath must have stunk! Needless to say, it was quite an eventful morning for me. HAHA!

The next day we visited another Marae and a cultural show. The second Marae we went to was not as family oriented, but the beauty of the building certainly captured my attention. I was awe struck at the intricacy of the craftsmanship.  The cultural show was just as appealing (even though it was freezing outside!) Maori culture is incredible.

I cannot possibly sum up the trip in one blog, aside from the Maori experience, we also saw geysers, hot springs, volcanoes and even passed through the town where "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed.  It was an experience that was truly beyond words!

Thursday was a day that I will never forget. Kristin (my roomie) says that it was "epic". Personally, I think I should have stayed in bed. My day would have progressed better if I got mauled by hungry lions. OKAY, I'm totally exaggerating... as I tend to do... but I DID have a pretty crappy Thursday.

We went into the city to do some last minute shopping. The girls I'm rooming with wanted to go to Max Brener's (a restaurant dedicated to chocolate). It is a chocoholic paradise. There are tubes on the ceiling that pump chocolate from mixers into a spout that the employees use to top off desserts. While my friends thought the food was amazing, they were very unhappy that the restaurant was out of their signature dish and delivered poor customer service.

While this experience put a bit of a damper on the day, we continued on. We stumbled upon a souvenir store that was going out of business. Everything in the store was between 50-70 % off (FABULOUS!) We each got some nice gifts for good prices. This would prove to be the highlight of the day.

After packing for New Zealand, we headed off to the IMAX to see Shrek in 3D. The train left at 11:05 p.m. and we were about 30 seconds late. This meant that we had to wait in the cold train station for an extra 30 minutes.... boo. While waiting Kristin had a minor emotional breakdown over a gift she bought earlier, but she felt better by the end of the night... if for no other reason she was able to laugh at my misfortune that ended the night.

So we arrived at Townhall train station at midnight (one minute before the movie started). Kristin and I walked from the station to the Imax to meet Amy and Denning for the show. As we rushed along the road, Kristin was running funny and I started giggling at her. Two random guys who happened to be walking by us started mocking us and running alongside us. Kristin told them to back off... which they chose to use as an excuse to be even more irritating and evasive. We finally got rid of them, but I was worried I might need to use my new boxing skills.

The theatre was not very packed for the first showing of Shrek 3D, but it was a midnight show. I don't think many parents wanted their children out that late! I was eager to see the film in 3D. I sat down and put on my super special 3D glasses. The movie started out great. The little donkey dragon babies were super cute and entertaining. Suddenly, about 20 minutes into the movie, I felt something warm underneath me. I reached down to see what it was and was appalled at what I found. The seat of my pants was soaked.... all the way through.... with someone else's pee. I do not know how it happened. I do not want to know what possessed a person to do something so despicable, but I had the evidence of their deed on my rear end. There was nothing I could do about it because my ride was watching the movie... I sat through the film completely uncomfortable (but I did move to another seat). When the show was over I went to the manager thinking that she would show some kind of pity on me. Instead, I got a very cold and nonchalant sorry. Maybe she didn't realize how incredibly unsanitary it is to sit in urine or maybe she had other things to do at 2 in the morning. My roommate tried to get me some kind of compensation, but it did not help much. I only got a free ticket to select shows ... which I cannot use because I am leaving the country. I did not even get reimbursed for the show I watched sitting in pee. The Imax in Sydney is in desperate need of learning about Southern hospitality. I look forward to the customer service I will receive upon my return in the United States!

So... how is that for an end to an "epic" day? I think it is worth forgetting... my roomies disagree. They found it hilarious.  :(

It was a cold and rainy day- much like most other days in Australia in the past few weeks. My roommates and I decided to go to Featherdale Wildlife Park to see the Koalas and Kangaroos. Even though we have seen Kangaroos already, we didn't really see them up close and we never saw a koala in the wild. The train ride through the Blue Mountains was beautiful. It looked like the rain was going to hold off and we would only be dealing with the cold weather. Unfortunately, the sky fell out when we travelled from the train to the bus. Even with rain jackets and umbrellas, we still got wet. Nevertheless, we continued on our journey and by the time we got to the park, the rain had stopped. My first memory of Featherdale is a bunch of cages filled with birds. On the walking path there was one little Wallaby hopping around. It was the first wallaby I've ever seen and I was elated at this new creature. As I watched it eat, I saw something sticking out of the stomach. As I examined it closer I realized it was a little joey head sticking out to get some food. It was itty bitty and it didn't stay outside the pouch for long, but it was long enough for me to catch a glimpse of my first little joey in a pouch! I was super excited.

 Wallaby mom with Joey in her pouch :)

The main reason we went to the parK was to see the koalas. It was advertised that we could take pictures with them. This ended up being less than exciting because the koala we took a picture with was SLEEPING and we couldn't even hold it. Yet, I was still pleased that I got to see real koalas. I swear you would think they were stuffed if they did not move!

  Me and the sleeping Koala

When we stepped out of the koala kingdom and into the next section, we were suddenly swarmed with tons and tons of kangaroos and wallabies. As we were distracted by all the commotion of the animals, I looked up and saw a huge Emu running towards me. Instinctively, I yelled "Ohh my God!" Everyone- I mean everyone- who was in ears distance turned around and looked at me- except for my roommates who acted like they did not know me. Since I acquired everyone's attention with my outburst and completely embarrassed myself, I decided to pull my roommates into it. I looked at them (as they continued to pretend like they didn't know me) and said with great enthusiasm, "Look at the Emu's!" They tried really hard to be enthusiastic, but I was already completely embarrassed. I later asked one of my roommates about it and she said, "I just thought Christina's being Christina... maybe I automatically knew to disassociate." Hmm... I guess I've gained quite a reputation!

  Attack of the wild EMU!

The rest of the walk through the park was super fun! We saw little penguins- the smallest penguins in the world - echidnas, the brown taipan, a Tasmanian devil, a salt water croc, and much more! It was certainly worth getting a little wet and embarrassed.