The Last of Lectures and an Unsolved Mystery

Weird Aussie terms of the day…

            So, I was going to just write “spider” as the word for this one but that would have probably confused many people (including myself). So I will just suffice to simply put this really odd explanation; what we would call a “root beer float” in the States, they call a “spider” here in Australia. Because THAT makes sense…

            “Dead Horse” – means tomato sauce.  How in the world does that parallel you ask? Because it rhymes.  If you're an American, don’t try it because the accent doesn't work (trust me, I tried it). Find an Australian to say it for you and then the idea of it rhyming will make a little more sense. Just a little. 

            It was an “American” style dinner at the lodge this past week and it was my job to bring in the flavor which I decided to be the simple and traditional joys that are cornbread, chili, and lemonade made with actual lemons. I must say that I was thoroughly surprised to learn that these are all very American things that very few of my housemates had ever had or even knew what they were. Nobody panic though, I have now amended this terrible travesty. I did have to make a rather "off the books" batch of cornbread though because cornmeal, I have found, is unbelievably hard to find here.  Palenta was chosen to suffice and I must say it worked rather well. 

 

American style lodge dinner

            From this evening stemmed the notorious ‘ice cream’ incident that to this day remains a mystery unsolved.  Dessert was Neapolitan ice cream with brownies and the first thing you should know is that there is no doubt in any of our minds that two containers of this delicious, triple flavor dairy product were purchased. One was eaten to its end at the completion of last Saturdays meal by the 14 of us, and one was placed unopened in one of the freezers for later consumption.  The last time it was seem was the morning/early afternoon that was the next day on Sunday the 25th and by that evening the container and its contents were nowhere to be found.

            Everyone was questioned thoroughly as to their whereabouts and potential knowledge pertaining to the missing ice cream to which no one claimed any knowledge of. Freezers and fridges were checked, cupboards were investigated for any potential misplacement, and trash cans and recycling bins were scrounged for tell tale signs of an empty container.  Nothing.  This could mean that either someone ate the whole thing in that one afternoon while many of us were in the lounge studying and then had hidden the container, the container had been misplaced in some way and the contents are now melted, sticky, and perhaps decomposing, or we have an ice cream thief on our hands. The mystery still remains.

            I knew I was in the clear of course as I had the alibi of going off on an ice skating adventure for the better part of the afternoon (aside from the fact that I could never put away that much ice cream in one sitting). I was reminded anew how desperately out of practice I am with the sport of ice skating and it took a little wall-hugging and a few slow turns about the rink to get my ice legs back.  I think I may have also been beyond spoiled from my days living in Alaska where they actually have Zamboni’s to smooth out the ice.  There was nothing of the sort at the rink we went to.  But it was way fun and by the end I was beginning to get some spins down and could actually skate at a reasonable clip.  I also got to hang out with some pretty awesome people and it was a great afternoon hanging out, catching up, and going on short and scenic road trips. 

Don't even ask what James is doing here; I have no idea.

            Monday marked the end of May Mission Month for the young adults Life Groups (Bible study) at Northreach and we had our social event to end it off.  Our group made it a trip down to the end of Pallerenda on the far side of the strand where we build a small camp fire on the beach and pulled out some musical instruments for campfire songs.  It was a great evening of chatting, playing in the sand, staring into the fire, and looking up at the raw beauty of the night time Australian sky.

            Wednesday I was privileged to have no class for the day and spent it sleeping in, studying, and having a hangout and catch-up afternoon with the other Julia. 

            We made our way to the North Ward/Strand area of Townsville to the Queens Garden park which, by the way, is absolutely gorgeous! They have their own miniature aviary there and it was just an all around really cool place to walk around and relax for the afternoon before the coming onslaught of uni finals. It also has a fantastic view of Castle Hill from below I might add.

            The State of Origin rugby game was on this week and of course I had to head over to the church for the viewing party to see what it was all about.  I can officially admit that I enjoy rugby a whole lot more than American football.  I apologize ahead of time to all my football savvy and supporter friends back home, but American football confuses me beyond compare and I always have a really hard time figuring out what’s going on.  I found rugby to be way more straight forward and, honestly, just much more entertaining to watch.   

             We had our final Friday afternoon Bible study meet-up this week and I have seriously been so blessed to have the opportunity to develop some awesome friendships and delve more into the Book of Romans with this lovely group of ladies.  I will certainly miss all those late morning chats and discussions!

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            I finished off the week with taking the last of my lectures for the term on Friday and taking part in the James Cook University Completion Ceremony for international student completing their degree or study abroad/exchange program.  It’s so weird to think that my time here is slowly getting shorter and shorter though I still have a couple months of travel and explore time still ahead so I don't usually like to think about it.
            This coming week will be free of classes and full of study vacation before 2 weeks of exams and then my time in Townsville comes near to a close. Not for good though I’m glad to say as I certainly have to show my parents around when they get here!  And, who knows, maybe a time of return and visit sometime in the future?