Aus Life

First of all, let me apologize for not blogging sooner but the reason for that is we have been busy, Janelle especially.  At this moment Janelle is at work and Brad is doing the housework.  Given that our apartment is approximately 180 sq. feet, the housework goes pretty quickly, so today, the housework includes blogging J  How did we get here?

We arrived just over two weeks ago and initially got familiar with Sydney as well as doing some job searching.  Janelle got hired right away as a coach.  (Janelle here … I just had to explain this one a bit!  I got hired with a company called FlipSport to go in to schools and coach sport programs.  On the first trial day, I was being driven to the school by another coach and she was giving me a quick crash course in the curriculum, coaching methods, and everything I would need to know.  In the midst of this, she informed me that for the time being we would be coaching the gym program … as in, gymnastics.  Yes, GYMNASTICS.  She must have been able to read the look on my face, that look that said, “Do you understand that I’m 6’4”, can’t do a cartwheel, and have the flexibility of a tree trunk?!?  Do you understand that this is the antithesis of everything I am?!?  Dear Lord, you really do have some twisted sense of humor!”  She assured me it didn’t matter, so I went in still not sure what to expect.  To make a long story short, I made it through, and have gone through some significant coaching and curriculum training as part of the start which has been very insightful, but very intense.  I was at a different school everyday, so it has been cool to start to see how Australian schools are run, compare them, and interact with the kids!  Perhaps I’ll share some more stories on that later … back to Brad.)

After Janelle’s first week, the schools are on a break in between quarters (year round school) and Janelle had another interview setup in an administrative role for a company called McArthur Consulting in downtown Sydney.  Due to her awesomeness (yes, it’s a legitimate word according to spellcheck), Janelle got offered that job as well and started this last Monday and she loves it.

During our first week here, we went down by the harbor and had a great time seeing the sights.  The Sydney Opera house and Harbor bridge are absolutely beautiful.  Near the Opera House is an area called the Rocks, which is essentially the historic district of Sydney where the first English settlement was established.  You can see where all the soldiers and sea captains stayed and there is also a really cool weekend market that we browsed.  That night we saw a fireworks show over Darling Harbor as well with people packing themselves in to see it.  The official reason for the show? Because it’s the weekend!  At first I didn’t believe the guy that told me, but sure enough, they do fireworks every Saturday night just because it’s the weekend.  

At the Rocks market ... why not a kangaroo nativity?

Darling Harbour

This past weekend we did some apartment hunting and then went for a cliff walk along the ocean for a couple miles between Sydney beaches and it was simply breath-taking.  Along the way, we saw humpback whales!  They were breaching and slapping their tails just barely out of the beach area and it was the most incredible sight we will never forget.

 Bronte Beach

Coogee Beach

Couldn't capture the whales ... but they were just off of here

Our church experiences so far here have also been pretty interesting and couldn’t be more different.  Our first Sunday here we attended a Uniting church in which we were 2 of 17 people in attendance.  To give a little background, the Uniting church of Australia was formed in the 1970s when the Presbyterian, Congregational, and Methodist churches of Australia joined.  It’s a fairly large denomination in Australia and we found one nearby, so we wanted to check it out.  The best way to describe the church is that it appeared to be quite eclectic.  The church was celebrating “Earth Sunday” that day so the service was filled with praise to the earth, sky, and cosmos.  Two seventy-ish year old women (one sporting a Mohawk) provided the music, playing a recorder and banjo, and the cockatoos hanging on the stained glass windows joined in.  The three kids were happy to make arts and crafts throughout the service at a table in the corner and attendees were invited to share stories about their interaction with the earth throughout the service.  There seemed to be a very broad range of people from all walks of life in attendance, and all were very friendly.  We were curious what a “non-Earth Sunday” service would be like, and we suspect that there is a wide range of styles of Uniting churches, so we hope to check out other ones in the future to compare.

Instead, the next week, we attended a branch of the Hillsong Church.  To be perfectly honest, I have always been somewhat skeptical of mega churches, feeling that sometimes the messages aren’t always that theological, and that they tend to be a bit “showy.”  (That is not to say that mega churches aren’t good or important or can’t be theological; they are!)  Anyway, we were blown away by the whole experience.  Immediately the church felt like home to us and we loooooooved it!  We were immediately welcomed/shown around by several people who then invited us to join their young adult group in the service.  The worship was like nothing I’ve ever experienced and Janelle commented that she has never been so comfortable freely and passionately worshipping God.  You could tell that God was working in that place and that every single person there was so incredibly happy to be there and be in God’s presence.  Their worship is genuine and they love each other and their church so much! In addition, the church is very multicultural and there’s quite a lot of young people there as well.  Before, during, and after the service, we met tons of the most friendly, welcoming, and warm people you could imagine and were invited out to lunch afterward with a young people’s group.  We were offered a ride home (we had walked about 40 minutes to get there) and we are already getting connected with a Frontline (young adults) group and hope to continue to make friends.    

This brings us to our big “God lesson” as of late which has really sunk in.  One of the things that hit me during the service is that worshipping God is worshipping God no matter where you are.  Janelle said that even though Australia is a very Westernized country, everything is new so nothing has made her feel like she’s at home until she stepped into that church.  A true love for God and his people is a universal that is the same everywhere.  Whether you have two song leaders on stage or whether you have seven song leaders, a band, and three big screen TV’s on stage, it does not matter.  What matters is your personal relationship with God and the place or way in which you praise and worship him doesn’t really matter as long as it’s genuine.  When the Holy Spirit is present, the most foreign place in the world can be the most familiar and comfortable.  We look forward to making Hillsong our Australia church home and are thankful that God provides spiritual homes for us all over the world.  And finally, we’re thankful for all the prayers from all of you in our spiritual homes in Washington, Colorado, and all over which have been keeping us in your prayers!  You are all important to us and we are thankful for God providing and expanding our network of spiritual homes!   

 

The Dutch do Asia

 

“How do you feel about Beijing?”  Why not?  I responded to Brad.  “How about Thailand?”  Whyisthisevenaquestion,um,YEEEAAAAAAH!  And that’s essentially how Brad and I decided to start our adventures with stopovers in Beijing and Bangkok.  While booking our flights to Sydney this summer, Brad figured that we could still use the same amount of miles to fly to Sydney and throw in extra stopovers wherever possible, just so long they weren’t more than 24 hours.  Virtually free international travel is never a question in our book.  So the 23 hour whirlwind tours of Beijing and Bangkok were born, and we were off last week.

Of course, Brad and I decided that maybe international travel didn’t quite provide optimum travel excitement, so Brad timed it nicely to get sick right before we left, and I needed to join the fun upon arrival in Beijing.  We had suddenly become THOSE PEOPLE on our flights.  Fortunately, neither of us had stomach issues, and we managed to change our seats on each flight to either exit or bulkhead seats and give our legs a break.  (We managed this in spite of the very sweet 4’10” Chinese ticket agent who-in spite of us standing right in front of her-could not comprehend why anyone would EVER give up their view in the window seats to get an exit.  The insanity!  We assured her we would sacrifice.  J)  Nonetheless, we were still able to make the most of our time in each country and enjoy it.  We’re definitely extremely grateful we had the chance to get a taste of each place.

This brings us from Seattle to San Francisco and then to Beijing.  We arrived later in the evening, and after getting through everything at the airport, we headed to our hotel in the city.  Our hotel was by Tiananmen Square, so we got to walk through on our way, which was really nice to see at that time since the outside to the Forbidden City is beautifully lit up and it just sort of instantaneously cements in your mind what your senses are screaming at you: you’re in a truly far off place.  While standing there, my mind reeled through the historic events that have taken place where we were standing, and the monumental changes and defining movements represented by that square sunk in.  What a witness to the will of a people and the seeds of democratic action in spite of violence.  Awesome. 

 

The next morning, we initially set off on our mission to see the Great Wall.  In spite of trying most every mode of public transportation, we soon realized we wouldn’t be able to make it there and back in time due to a combination of hours-long lines, sold out train time slots, etc.  Instead, we decided to tour the Forbidden City, and we were not disappointed.  The entire complex continues on and on with palace after palace, expansive courtyard after courtyard, each one grander, larger or more ornate than the last.  “Impressive” is the word that comes to mind for the whole experience.

 

After that, the Olympic junkie in me couldn’t resist a quick hop over to see the Beijing Olympic Park (Bird’s Nest, Aquatic Center, etc.) and then we were back to the airport to head to Thailand.

The varied nature of Bangkok’s city-scape, transportation, and cultural offerings were differences that we really enjoyed about Bangkok.  We spent the night by the airport, then took public transportation into town until we got to the river, where we used the river boats (and later tuk-tuks) to see all kinds of temples. 

Tuk-Tuk, i.e., my next car!  As we were frequently reminded, the air conditioning is free.  There's nothing like the promise of free things to lure a Dutch woman into a vehicle made for someone half her size.

Our favorite was probably Wat Arun, but we had to give the Thai people some credit for original temple names of some of the others we saw (e.g. “Temple of the Happy Buddha”, “Temple of the Reclining Buddha”, etc.).  We also took a tuk-tuk to the Golden Mount to climb the Golden Stupa, which provided an awesome view of the city. 

Wat Arun - extremely steep steps!

After seeing the Grand Palace, drinking out of a coconut, hearing the life stories of a variety of very friendly Thai people, and a bit of shopping, we were back at the airport to head to Australia.  Overall, we loved how friendly the Thai people were, enjoyed the sights and travel on the river, were amazed at the intricacy and ritualism of the temples, and became huge fans of Thai Airways J (we highly recommend their service!)     





Temple of the Happy Buddha

Golden Mount

I’m hoping to post in the next week or two about our first little while in Sydney, but I’ll just sum it for now.  We’ve loved the people, experienced some minor challenges, and are seeing God’s dare-I-say twisted sense of humor in our lives (read: Janelle’s adventures in gymnastics J … more to come on that later).  We’re taking it all in and thankful for this chance to experience life from a different perspective!        

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to our blog!  I’m assuming that most, if not all of those reading this are our family or close friends, but in case you do not know us, I’ll do a quick introduction.  We are Brad and Janelle Draayer, a couple in our late 20s and have been married for three (awesome!) years.  I (Janelle) am the official author of this blog, and I’ll probably be doing most-all of the writing as I enjoy it more than my lovely husband, but perhaps he’ll make a cameo. J  In effect, the specific thoughts will be more my own, but the content will also be meant to represent the both of us. 

One of the first things that you should know about us is that we love Jesus!  We are Christians and are committed to following God’s path for us in life.  Speaking of that path, it is getting a little windy lately.  We have recently taken a huge leap of faith and are trusting in God as he leads us in our new adventures abroad.  Since our first date, Brad and I have often discussed our mutual passion for travel and discovered early on that we both independently believed that God had a calling for us to live abroad for a period of time.  (I may go more into depth in a later blog on my path toward realizing this passion, but that can be another time.) 

Though we have had wonderful lives in small town Washington state for the last few years with jobs as a high school history teacher (me) and accounting controller (Brad), earlier this year we felt called to leave our jobs and commit to traveling, living, and working abroad for a while.  When we committed to this, we didn’t know where we would be going or what we would be doing (and we still don’t entirely know), but we knew God wanted us to take the leap.  At the time being, we do have some initial plans in place.  We are going to move to Sydney, Australia and hopefully obtain work.  En route, we are first going to be visiting China and Thailand.  Somewhere in there, we’d love to do some other traveling if possible.  Other than that, the details of our planners are conspicuously empty.  But I think this background lends itself to an explanation of the title we chose for our blog, “The Broken Compass”.  In taking this leap, we are not sure exactly where it will lead us, or even for how long.  In our hands, our “compass” is broken.  We do not have our path figured out; we are fully and delightfully at the mercy of our Compass, our heavenly father.  His direction and expertise is critical toward continuing on the unknown journey He has destined for us. 

Thank you for taking a few moments to at least check out our blog, and we hope that we can use this blog to stay in touch with all of you who are near and dear to us.  We covet all your prayers and look forward to sharing the all the pit stops, attractions, diversions, highlights, unexpected surprises, challenges, and lessons of our windy road abroad!