Well, we made it. Things have been busy and the settling in has taken some last minute organizing, but we seems to be pretty good...
So, it's 5:00am (Monday) in the morning here (3:00pm Sunday your time), and I've been up for about 2 hours now. I'm thinking it's the jet lag and/or the mismanagement of my airplane sleeping. However, I'm the ONLY one up right now, so maybe just my mind is going a 100 different directions. In either case, I have some time to write you. This will probably be a looong boring e-mail, but most of our last 24+ hours have been traveling, and not 'sploring, so we haven't seen to many things that you wouldn't see in America.
Travels:
Both planes went perfect. The first one was delayed slightly, which concerned us with a already tight layover in LA. However the LA to Sydney flight was delayed to, so we had plenty of time to take of business. The group has been absolutely AWESOME with sticking together, and reporting EARLY during check-in times. We got all of our luggage, and there was only 2 very minor hang-ups at customs/immigration (Joe T had to have some "data checked" at immigration which took less than 5 minutes; and Mikey declared Beef Jerky at customs so they had to find and remove it). But all in all, we had no fines, and very little delays. The actual flights were cool too, the Northwest flight was typical domestic flight (boring, but relatively short). The Qantas flight was MUCH longer, but they give you the "bells and whistles" for sleeping comfort and entertainment. It made the time go by quite easily.
Fr. Ben:
Father Ben has been outstanding!!! He must of given out 100+ of those little crosses, blessed by Pope Benedict. I know he doesn't expect anything in return, but so far it's given him a banana where no bananas were sold, Business seating on the Qantas flight (even though the TV was broke in his seat), and something else worth mentioning (but I just can't think of it; remember I've been up since 3am). Our tour director (who I'll mention next) was able to secure us extra hotel rooms (don't ask me how), but now we have a chapel in a hotel rooms. We celebrated Mass yesterday, and we are going to set up Holy Hour/Adoration times for the rest of the week, today. And, of course, he has been evangelizing EVERYONE he sees. The reaction of peoples face has been priceless after talking to him. We all know how awesome he is, but I think sometimes we sometimes take for granted how much impact he can have on our lives. Fr. Ben is a Huge Blessing to our Catholic faith, and I'm proud and Blessed that he was able to share this experience with our group.
Sanchee:
Our tour guides name is Sanchee. She also has been super. Her 4 hours through customs, was a bit over-estimated by about 3 hours and 55 minutes, but I guess that was a plesant surprise. Her biggest relief was, that she sat through the 5+ hours line for us, while we were in the plane, to pick up our WYD credentials. That save me a half of a day away from the group. As far as religion goes, see calls herself a "nothing (atheist???), but Fr. Ben is already working on her. And see wore her complimentary "It takes guts to be Catholic" hoodie yesterday at dinner. Yippee!!!
Internet:
The internet is quite accessible here, at the hotel. However, it is relatively expensive. There are 2 computers in the lobby, for $6 an hour. However, you can just through in change (like an arcade), so 10-20 minute chunks can be purchaces. Internet for your own laptop (like mine) is $12 hours (not cool), but Carrie, Toby and myself have sprung for the $99/week package. So feel free to e-mail me as much as your like. Until 3pm Sunday (your time) next week. We'll have to see where our money is at that time.
Phone Cards:
If you haven't heard from your child over the phone yet, it's because it's a huge pain in the butt. We have a bunch of different phone cards, and they all work differently, and only a few have had success. Your best bet is trying to call the hotel, and ask for they're last times (I think all of the names have been correctly assigned to the rooms). However, the youth are trying, so you might just need to give it another 24 hours???
Hotel:
The hotel is really nice. Much nicer than the preview pics that I found a couple weeks ago. We are REALLY close to a 7-11, and a MEGA-MEGA Mall is about 30 min. walk away. The neighborhood is much like Dearborn Heights. Most of the house are about 1000-1500 sq. ft., with some new build 2000+ sq. ft. houses sprinkled in. In general they look different, but it has a Dearborn-Heights comfort to it...
Weather:
Like we expected... Cool, but comfortable. Nighttime is coat weather (but just layering clothes seems to work too), but nothing like Michigan cold... Thank God!!!
MEGA-MEGA-MALL:
I would say that this is our first, cultural experience. The Mall is really cool, similar to Fairlane in size and look. However, all of the stores are different, and has a bit more of a "marketplace" feel to it. The one neat thing that I found was that one of their "food courts" was actually a grocery store in the middle of the Mall. You could buy meat, fruit, sushi, cheese, etc. right in the middle of the mall, and you can push shopping carts throughout the mall. Another thing, I'm so happy that everyone speaks English here. They make fun of our accents, but they are super-friendly. On that note, Barb, Mirinda, and of course, Fr. Ben, have been the best minglers (if that's a word) of the group. However, as we expected, the food is ALMOST double what it costs in US. Meaning "Extra-value meals" are anywhere from $9-$11... Thank God that most of our meals are included!!!
Pictures:
Some pictures have been taken, just not by me yet. I've only take video, which you probably won't be able to see until we get home. Like I said earlier, since most of our time here has been travel and settling in, we just haven't had too many kodak moments, yet. You can probably expect some pics later this evening (tomorrow morning for you). I'll try to post them to this "blog".
Today's plans:
We are going on a nature walk. It is a one-way, 4-hour hike from "the spit" to "Manly". I believe all of this is about 1 hour north of Sydney. I think this will be our first kangaroo encounter... Once at "Manly", we will be spending a couple hours there (I guess it's a "harbour town"), where we'll eat, and around 6pm (our time), we'll head back to the hotel. On Tuesday, we start the WYD festivities!!! Exciting...
I'm sure that this e-mail was relatively "all over the place", but I just typed as I "thunk it"... I will attempt to update this blog everyday at least until next Sunday. Pray that I can get the pictures going tomorrow...
Thanks again for your support, interest, and most importantly your prayers... GOD BLESS YOU!!!
~Brian Walker
FYI: We are praying for everyone here, BY NAME...
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