Five Years and One Week

It's been just over five years since I returned from spending a semester in Rockhampton, Australia at CQU.  I never would have guessed how much that experience would have transformed my life.  So instead of digging out my suitcases to start packing for my next trip there, I'm going to postpone that by sharing some of the lessons that stuck out and ways that trip continues to impact my life.

My favorite picture outside my dorm with friends

Lessons:
1.  The decisions to sacrifice the ability to graduate a year early by not going and a semester early by not taking a super challenging class, I've never regretted.  It gave me the four years I needed to easily complete my major, get a jump start on my Master's to finish it early, and learn what job I wanted.
2.  I learned to connect with the local culture and make friends with people with different backgrounds.  Most of the friends I keep in touch with are Australian, not other study abroad students (although I do keep in touch with a few).
3. I learned so much about hospitality as I was welcomed into my friends lives, and my friend's friends, and people who kinda knew someone that I kinda knew.  It gave me a living example of Christ's description for how Christian community should work.
4.  I got to be an international student, realizing how important that first ride home from the airport and every one of the first communications is.  Little things like translations (yes, Australian has slang that I did not know) and proofreading are and were simple things that made a big difference.  Now I can relate as I work with International students to minister how they need it.
5.  I engaged in life in new ways: getting outside of my comfort zone to do adventure sports, appreciated nature more deeply, and learned to build fun time into my schedule (Thursdays at 8pm, at a minimum).

Opportunities:
1. The chance to be called Ranga all summer at a camp just after returning and to share my Girl Guiding experience with Girl Scouts.
2. The ability to experience the party atmosphere in a safe, legal way which enabled me to better empathize as an RA.
3.  A chance to discuss a modern day conquistador (for God, not glory or gold) during student teaching and to have 36 5th graders interview my Australian friend over Skype.
4.  When students study abroad from campus, or think about it, I can offer my experience.  I also get to go back to Australia with the Study Abroad Office to help train the students there now to use their time missionally.
5. I have a learning attitude and patience when working with people of other cultures, realizing that white American is not the best or only culture, but that there are great things to learn from the people around us and across the world.  Plus lots of their food rocks!

That's not all that I learned, or all of the opportunities that have opened up due to having something to compare my life to, but there are so many I can't list them all.  I wonder what God will teach me when I arrive there in a week and as time continues.

I guess it's time to start packing to leave in two days for a return visit after taking a few minutes to look around my walls at the beautiful pictures captured from the last trip down under.