So, what do you want to know?

Currently I’m in Forest Hill, London, UK visiting my sister and her family for the entire month of December. This is my 3rd trip to the UK in a decade which is as surprising to me as it is to you, I honestly thought that after the visit for Mel’s wedding in 2006 I wouldn’t be back here until 2050, but parents spending your inheritance early has some perks!

We’ve more or less staying in England this time around with a weekend visit to Manchester for a Champion’s League match between Man City & Bayern Munich (2-0 BTW and it was excellent! Manchester is a surprisingly beautiful city even if it is bitterly cold), a week long visit to Norfolk staying at the Cranmer Cottages, and a 3 day visit to Berlin to see Michael & Sarah Isaak (which I know is not in England but I did say “more or less”) and we did go to Berlin Legoland which incredible! I could spend days there. I’ll put up some photos.

2011 has been a good year, we’ve successfully managed to not get cancer, lose any children, get divorced, or become destitute, “but for the grace of God go I”. Highlights have been moving Salt Youth Group to a different time and the much bigger church hall and managing growth to fill the space. Bazz is still a champion minister to work with. My friend’s are more gracious than ever. I continue to love & cherish the wonderful people of All Saints, and their generosity to me continues to highlight the generosity that God himself has displayed. On the flip side, we’ve had a number of close friends and acquaintances struggle with faith in Jesus, not a bad thing in itself but some look like they’re losing the struggle, some even giving up, and that always shakes me and Fi… I’ve had 3 valued friend’s and youth leaders move away, and that comes with mixture of joy and sadness in itself (joy for them that is).

2012 is unknown, which is a dumb thing to say because the future is always unknown… But what I mean is that 2012 is shaping up  as vastly different from the routine of life which I’ve become accustomed in the last few years. I’m heading off to Moore Theological College for 2 year to study a Bachelor of Theology. Depending on you’re opinion of Moore college (& I’m discovering people have very strong opinions), you may see that as a good or bad move. I’m obviously anticipating that it’ll be a good move in helping me further know God, his Word, his Son, his Spirit and how I can be a better minister of his gospel to his people.

In my favour, I have been given a credit for the entire first year of the course because of the Diploma in Theology I’ve already obtained through Youthworks College; I also know 3 Moore College staff personally from church and they’re really warm, wise and lovely people; All Saints is supporting me financially, I love the Bible and have 7 years of full-time ministry behind me. Not so advantageous is that I’ve never studied at degree level, I’m coming into the second year of a course that I last studied 3 years ago, and I feel mildly retarded.

You can pray for me about that.

In other news, I bought Scala & Kolacny Bros off the UK iTunes (they did the version of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ for the Social Network film) and it’s great! They cover Coldplay, U2, Alanis Morrisette, and Metallica among others. Hauntingly beautiful. And I’m listening to “Les Fleur” by 4hero on repeat as well.

For Christmas I got a remote control helicopter from Hamley’s Toy Store on Regent Street (after crashing the first one & getting a free replacement I’m getting quite pro), the Pearl Jam 20 DVD (YES!!!!!), special edition of Kick Ass on DVD, QI board game, a book, and loads of food and love.

Oh yeah and I just bought 2 motorbikes (back in Sydney from a friend of a friend), crazy! They’re both 1983 Honda CX500s. One is complete stock and registered, the other is a 95% complete cafe racer project which I’ll finish off and road register. I then plan to sell the stock one to dad and keep the cafe racer. C R A Z Y.

Thankyou, you’ve been a wonderful audience.

Need anything from the UK?

See you in the New Year!

A few weekends ago we went on a family trip to Melbourne to visit our good friend Stephen Fry. The trip down was uneventful – the baby even slept through the majority of the flight once a pillow had fixed the ol’ “seatbelt buckle digging into the back and causing tears” problem. The hotel was decent enough, and as usual, Melbourne captured my heart via my stomach (and/or tastebuds).

We started Friday in a hipster-filled laneway in the middle of the city that was home to a wonderful little restaurant that served great food and lovely coffee. I had a tomato ragout dish with a poached egg that made me whimper (in a good way). I was fairly tempted to pair it with a bottle of wine, but managed to resist the temptation and just drink ‘sensible’ coffee. We found the same place a couple of times throughout the weekend, but I can’t find it on GoogleMaps. I suspect it’s somehow related to Diagon Alley.

In the evening before the theatre we rushed through a really nice Japanese meal, which I wish I could repeat again without the pressure of realising we’d left dinner a tad late, as the show was due to start. The theatre was a similar style to the State Theatre in Sydney, which I particularly like (mainly because I’ve seen some great acts there over the years – Dylan Moran, Ed Vedder, Sufjan Stephens, and Neil Finn come to mind. I think they were all at that venue?). The show started with Mr Fry wandering out onto stage and telling us how QI had come about. He seems to be genuinely fascinated by the little facts that they dig up, and spent about 45 minutes just chatting about previous trips to Australia, various QI related trivia, and being generally charming. After that he brought the guests out one at a time, eventually bringing on Alan Davies (after initially claiming he was too ill to attend, which I almost believed, having read his tweets about being incredibly unwell.).

The Aussie guests were reasonable, but nowhere near as funny or interesting as the usual cast of the show. The only real disappointment of the night was Jono Coleman, who seemed to think that we’d all come to see him perform his ‘hilarious’ joke. He only had one joke [if you can call it that], which was to constantly link every topic of conversation to Lara Bingle. There was no context for it, and no one else on stage seemed to find it amusing. In fact, after Mr Fry had asked who Bingle was, and had it explained to him, he seemed completely confused as to why Coleman kept mentioning her. Everyone else in the room was similarly confounded. Coleman would buzz in on every question, and say something inane, often talking over the other guests who were actually attempting to make relevant jokes, answer questions, or mention a related interesting fact (i.e. play the game that they were there to play). On at least one occasion Alan Davies appeared to get so sick of Coleman that he turned his back on him and just concentrated on the other guests. That didn’t seem to phase the moron though, and he just carried on trying to segue Lara Bingle references into every question.

The rest of the show was good fun, even if most of the questions had been recycled from old episodes of the program, so we had heard the ‘proper’ answers before. It didn’t stop some great tangential conversations over the evening, and it was great entertainment that finished all too quickly.

The rest of the weekend was spent wandering around the Queen Victoria Markets (buying and eating a lot of cheese); seeing the Tutankhamun exhibition at the museum; and generally eating and drinking a lot. A particular highlight was a lovely meal in a Nepalese restaurant. We caught a train out to see Puffing Billy , but when we arrived we were told that we had just missed the last ride of the day. We compromised by having our picnic lunch (with a fairly average ‘organic’ wine) under a shelter out of the bucketing rain, and waited for the steam train to return. It did. We had some photos. I giggled at the catering girl who rolled her trolley full of dirty dishes off the edge of the platform onto the tracks. Then I felt guilty for giggling and felt that I should offer to help, but her boss got in there instead. I probably would have been a third wheel anyway.

We also got an extended holiday, courtesy of Qantas. Luckily I had been playing with my phone and found out about this early enough to contact the hotel and arrange for us to be able to stay an extra night while we found alternative transport. We didn’t actually get told by Qantas (via a text message) that our flight had been cancelled until a couple of hours before the flight. If we hadn’t known already, we would have checked out, and would have spent a night in the airport, as apparently there was some sort of horse race on in town, which meant that a lot of hotels were full. Me being a massive gambler had no idea that the race was on, and didn’t factor that into my planning. In fact, I had been impressed with how dressed up the average Melbournite got, when wandering through the city. I also feel justified now in playing with my phone constantly, despite my wife telling me that I’m disengaged, or not listening, or whatever it was she was saying while I was reading tweets. Who knows what other problems I can solve in the future…?

Richard Branson was kind enough to let us squeeze onto one of his overcrowded planes a day later, and we got home safely. Although the Virgin Australian flight attendant seemed to resent having a quiet baby on his flight, and gave us dirty looks the whole time, despite only about 30 seconds of crying over the whole flight (phew). I was able to coordinate the necessary changes to my work roster via text message with my supervisor, instead of the epic process I was used to when I was in my previous role. That decision was definitely worthwhile.

There you go, Howie. You finally dragged a blog out of one of us.

Man, that sounds awful.

For this reason I am a tad sad and disappointed.

On the up-side, some nice things are happening. Our house is about to start being built (although I believe the Howies have called dibs on at least part of the premises?). Our little one is growing up rapidly and is starting to do things. I’m really enjoying my work. The wife has been doing well with her driving lessons, and is excited to start driving in her very own car soon (I think it’s name is ‘Frog’). We’re going on a little trip to Melbourne next month to see QI being filmed live (I assume that means we’ll also be hanging out with Stephen for a day or two?).

YY?

Y wish.

I enjoy driving by myself, I went through Mudgee and then across the Bells Line of Road which is an awesome road to drive in the right car!! oh, except a couple of times I got stuck behind cars that loved doing 20-30km’s under the speed limit. Silly.

When I got to Bondi I refuelled the car and then tried to find one of those drive through car washes, not a silly hand wash where there is risk of scratching the car before I deliver it to the customer! Eventually I gave up as it seems they don’t exist over that way!

Next time I’m going to turn to the web and find a car wash before I go.

So due to the delay I hit peak hour traffic, and another slow car over the Bells road. But whatever, it was a fun day in the end…

There’s been lots of beach, ice cream, a fair amount of take away and a distinct lack of free wifi!!

So here’s my unofficial blog about all that, which, which may also be my official one on that.

So I also bought a new phone, I hate that iPhone just wasn’t really an option! But so far am happy with my Nokia E63…

Off to the movies now.

After being delayed a little bit we finally hit the road.

First I had to stop about half way to drop a parcel off to a shop in one of the small towns, I stopped in and they said they had never heard of the person I was dropping it in for. I then went to another similar shop in case I had misunderstood the directions given to me, but they had no idea either. So having no phone reception I continued on to Parkes.

Then I get to Parkes and find that cause we were running late we had to wait about 45mins until the customer could see us as they now had a client with them.

So we went for a coffee, I had a hot chocolate cause I’m not all grown up and that yet.

It was the WORST hot chocolate I have ever had, it looked the right colour under the froth on top, so all looked the part, but it had no chocolate taste what so ever!!

I vow not to return there.

So at this point I also find out that it looks like we won’t be selling the car today, yadda yadda yadda, boring… and slightly disappointing.

In the meantime I had contacted the boss man and found out where the package was to go so that we could do it on the way back, he called ahead and all was good this time, I stopped in, spoke to the same person, and now they knew what I was on about… nice work little town lady.

So I got into work at 12.30, then at 1.00 went to get some lunch after a hard morning.

That’s about it really, it was nice getting in half way through the day, although I found it hard to find motivation for the rest of it.

Watch the video here:

I just love this.

I’ve got my room set up pretty much the way I want it, with study notes plastered all over the walls and doors (as well as a target full of holes which makes me feel rather tough and cool, I’m sure) and a steady supply of snacks to help me recover from the canteen food. I’ve got a small pile of DVDs to watch at night before bed (I’m still working through the West Wing), and some little speakers for the iPhone so I have good music available.

We got issued with our uniform on Saturday morning, but we aren’t allowed to wear it until next week. My order arrived without my proper issue of cargo pants (just the ‘dress’ pants), so I have to find out what happens next week. They’re very strict on wearing the correct items at the correct time, so I might be restricted from wearing uniform at all until everything arrives. Not a big deal, but you really don’t want to stand out for any reason at all, and being dressed differently to the rest of your class is usually a fairly obvious difference. We have a lecture this evening after dinner on ‘Proper Care, Maintenance, and Wearing of Uniform’, which is going to be delivered by a stern gentleman who marches around campus carrying a swagger stick, and wearing shoes that make little ‘click click’ noises as he walks. A fairly intimidating guy, and not someone you want to have too many interactions with while you’re here, as it usually means you’ve done something against the rules.

The tribes are getting a little bit more open for the most part, with us distance ed students finally being spoken to by some of the internal students on the odd occasion. There are a few people who have made a real effort to be friendly which is nice, and some others who are just being not quite as hostile as they had been previously. I’ll take what I can get, I suppose.

There are quite a few homework assignments being issued at the moment, all of which take up valuable time in the evenings when we also need to be revising the work we’re doing in class. I find it stressful occasionally, but then again there are a lot of people who have passed through here who have been significantly less literate, so I suppose I should just count my blessings. I’m trying to get something done at the moment, but the internet’s working relatively fast at the moment so I thought I’d get a quick blog in before it all slows down later in the evening. I occasionally get frustrated at the way we are told to do certain tasks, mainly because I think that I could see a better/easier/more succinct method, but I just have to bite my tongue and try to stay under the radar. I constantly have to fight the urge to point out spelling mistakes in PowerPoint presentations or lecture handouts, but I’m assured that this is not a place for ‘intellectuals’ (which apparently includes anyone who has a vague appreciation for grammar). I think it’s best that I say no more about that sort of thing… I’m even starting to annoy myself, even if I usually keep my thoughts to myself.

The food hasn’t improved, although I must be getting used to it. I got excited today about burgers and wedges for lunch, even though the burgers were probably more than slightly undercooked, and might be seen again later this evening. I sat with a guy who’s just down here for a short course, and who isn’t as numb to the food as we are. He wouldn’t eat one of the things on his plate, but I thought it wasn’t too bad and got a second helping. If this is what I’m like after 4 weeks, I’d hate to think what I’m going to be like by the end of the course.

On that note, dinner just started, and I should probably get up there so I have time to eat before the uniform talk.

Lots of lectures, and plenty of ‘inspirational’ talks that usually involve the words “…and if you aren’t prepared for that, then you may as well go home now…”. Very helpful, I’m sure. Having said that, a number of the instructors are very good, and seem to genuinely want us to pass. They provide the necessary resources and give us helpful feedback which allows us to make progress as we learn. Some, however, appear to see us students as getting in the way of their ‘real work’ (whatever that is).

I’m fairly nervous about certain aspects, mainly the physical components, based on my previous non-successes as an ‘athlete’. For some reason no matter how often I tell myself (or am told by others) that I’m improving, and will continue to do so as long as I work hard at it, I am often caught thinking the absolute worst of myself, which in turn affects my performance. I think it’s a case of “I believe, help me to overcome my unbelief.”

My appetite has gone through the roof (so to speak), and I’m eating huge meals three times a day. I’m doing plenty of exercise though, so hopefully I won’t turn into Jabba the Hutt any time soon. I’m also finding that I’m absolutely exhausted by the end of each day. We get up pretty early, so I’m seriously contemplating bed by about 8:30 each evening. Tonight I thought I’d sneak in a quick blog after dinner(although the internet connection is very dodgy – it’s taken me quite a number of redials to get this far), before I do some study for an hour or two. I want to stay ahead of the pack in terms of my readings, and I think it’ll help me to feel more confident overall. I just have to be careful not to become too absorbed in the course, and lose perspective on what’s really important in life.

There are some pretty good guys down here, and a few of us who did the first sessions by correspondence have managed to get accommodation in the same area. We each have a little cabin with a private bathroom, desk, wardrobe, fridge, and bed. I bought a kettle, so my tea addiction will be well indulged. We’re pretty lucky, as most people are in ‘dorm towers’, which aren’t as private (shared bathrooms etc). We’ve been trying to make a point of looking out for each other, which is really helpful. So far we haven’t met too many of the rest of the class, but hopefully that will come in time.

It’s really cold here, and I’m told it gets MUCH colder than this over the next few months. We’ve been given permission to wear gloves in the mornings, as long as they look ‘professional’, so I might be doing some shopping on the weekend. We’re very fortunate that we’re allowed to make ourselves so comfortable, as I’m sure in years past they weren’t so accommodating.

OK, enough from me. I should do some reading before I fall into bed.