6:00 a.m. exercise and other fun surprises

So, in terms of actual events taking place there is little to update. But I've been in Perth almost a week now so I suppose I should have something new to say.

Just to give you a little idea of what my life looks like here, so far:
(By the way, newly acquired Australian vocab will be highlighted in bold. I think you can figure out the meaning from the context. If not, feel free to ask.)

I share a room with twelve other girls. Across the hall (sharing the same bathrooms are thirty more girls.) I live in a top bunk, which means I am fine-tuning my abilities to balance, climb in the dark, and turn without shaking the bed. The dorm is lovingly and affectionately called "2-2-8" because it is located at 228 Lord St. No pun intended. We have a small kitchen that is stocked with muesli, bread for toast, and milk. Thanks be to God, there is a hot water dispenser. If you don't know, I have recently recovered from an addiction to coffee by picking up a far more pleasing addiction to tea. The presence of a hot water dispenser assured me that no matter how hard things get here, I will be able to survive.


The schedule: We wake up at 6:00 for morning exercise. Now, I'm pretty sure I read the website well before applying to this program. I don't remember anything about obligatory runs at 6:00 a.m. (at which time it is still dark and very cold, remember, because it is winter here). At least, I tell myself, I was physical at some point in my life. I used to run back in the day... and not just from people, but for fun. Anway, after our fun little run we have time to get ready for our morning chores at 8:00. Sweeping, cleaning toilets etc. I whistle while I work and it goes by fast enough. Lectures fill the rest of the morning for the most part till lunch at 12:30. Oh wait, I am forgetting morning tea! We break every morning for tea around 10:00. This is a tradition I fully embrace, enjoying tea so much. The only downside is that they offer heaps of bread and pastries which have been donated by local bakeries. "Downside?" you say? YES. The secret to how this program runs successfully on the little money it has is that they receive lots and lots of donated bread. There are always free bread and pastries lying about. This isn't so bad except for the fact that lunches and dinners are mostly pasta or rice. After just a couple days here you will find yourself, willingly or not, on the all carb diet. They warned us that most girls will gain 15 pounds while in training. I'm starting to understand how.


In the afternoon we are assigned to do work duties. I have been assigned to "property," which basically means maintenance. Now, God only knows how I ended up in this group. The entire extent of my experience with maintenance and repairs is the belief that duct tape fixes anything. The strange part is that I filled out a form prior to being assinged to this group in which I indicated my TOTAL lack of handyman skills. The funny thing is that these people pray about EVERY decision they make, even which people to assign to which work duty groups, and ask for God's guidance. So I can only reasonably conclude that God is making a funny. This oughtta be interesting. (I have to say though, after the first day that I am really grateful to be in this work group. One of my new friends here is in the group and we get to learn how to repair things, tear down walls and create new things, paint etc. I keep thinking "this is how I will gain the skills to be able to compete on Design Star!")


After work duties we have dinner at 5:30. Which is a perfect time to tell you all that along with a gas, energy, and water shortage the great nation of Australia is apparently also suffering from a great napkin shortage (or serviettes as the Aussies call em). I'm pretty sure the base just doesn't have the money to buy them, but they won't admit it. So the most amusing thing about meals around here is the fact that everyone -young, old, male, female, sloppy or meticulous- uses their pants to clean their hands. It'll be even funnier when I keep doing this even after returning to the states.

Well, that's about it. I'll have more to report soon, I reckon (truly, they say this in Australia).

Pray for rest for me. This thing is a full-time gig and then some.

Thanks for stoppin by, see you again soon!