And for what?

It's been what could be a mentally interesting past couple of days:

Two days ago I was shopping at K-mart, looking to buy a plain t-shirt that I could use to create into a Canada t-shirt for the Canada Day celebration that is taking place this weekend at one of the popular pubs in Sydney. I was happy to find a plain shirt for just $3, but after reading the tag and seeing that it was made in Bangladesh, I couldn't bring myself to buy it. There were also $4 shirts, and even *gasp* $7 shirts, but I didn't feel good about buying any of them, so I left without. Today during lunch I went to Target and paid $14 for one, made in China. I don't know if conditions are actually better in China but for now I only know what I know and I at least have an idea of what working conditions are like in Bangladesh, as we saw what happened with the factory collapse earlier this year. It's strange how the world can operate like this: People in Asia work in unsafe working conditions and are paid so little that they can't afford anywhere near the life we have in the developed world, so that we in the developed world can buy t-shirts for $3. And like me, t-shirts that we don't necessarily need merely to clothe, but to use as somewhat of a costume. 

hmm.

Yesterday was a menial day at work and as I often do, I was mentally questioning and evaluating what I do there and why. Sometimes it seems, actually, OFTEN, it seems that the project I'm working on is kinda lacking vision and therefore value but of course it's in my best interest to keep employed so that I keep getting paid. But surely I could add value AND be paid somewhere, even somewhere within my current employer's organization, couldn't I? Anyways, I left work earlier than usual and with dragonboat land training cancelled due to the cold rainy weather we've been having, I had a free evening.  As it has been cold and rainy, I haven't been cycling or running so I thought I'd check out a gym. While trying to figure out which way my GPS was pointing me, this tall foreign looking fellow handed me a piece of paper and said something. I wasn't sure what was on the paper or what he even said, but it turns out he was simply trying to tell people about Jesus and I talked to him for a good fifteen minutes. Turns out he came to Sydney seven years ago, from Germany. According to him, he just came here to die at 25 years old. Here, he met this group who lead him to Jesus and since then he has been happy. 

His name was Yaffron (or something like that) and he works just three days a week cleaning boats at the harbour and spends the rest of the time telling people about Jesus. He lives communally with other people like him an they share everything. Even the jacket he was wearing was somebody else's. All he personally owns he can fit into a medium sized backpack. I actually appreciated his bluntness in his sharing. He firmly believes that Jesus is the only way to heaven and he said we need to let people know that, but he wasn't at all pushy.  One thing he did say to me, which I'll have to do, is "what are you doing for Jesus?"  

I think it's pretty cool how he has laid down everything. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up their cross and follow me." I don't know if I could leave my possessions like he did, but I found what he was doing interesting anyways.

And inspiring.

Here I have been spending so much energies doing and thinking about my job, my career, my living situation, money to pay for the living situation and also whether I am paying the right amount for my mobile plan and this guy works for just enough money to survive (you save $$$ when you live communally), doesn't have a mobile and therefore doesn't worry about those things and can direct his energy to spreading the Word. I asked him what his "success rate" is and he said he doesn't know but he's spreading the seeds and with that God could be happy with him but he'll find out when he is judged. (oh yeah, he said that collectively they do make more money than they need and they in turn send it overseas!!)

I think.....I wonder if I could do that. I think I could. Would I want to? Some days. Analyzing sales for a gainful salary that allows me my own room in an apartment in the second most expensive city in the world is great but some days it's so menial. Maybe I would be happier living like he does. Would that be how I could contribute maximum value?

Ministry. So many different kinds. I know mine isn't kids,  as while they can be fun and rationally they really ARE the future, I don't particularly have a passion for teaching them (and I do things like tell them Santa isn't real when they're still young). I don't really have a passion for the poor either...while I do care, I think that they are poor for more complex reasons than money alone and it's a complexity that I don't know I have the mental broadband to comprehend. And then there's overseas ministries that well, I don't fare well even in the developed world in terms of mosquitoes and last time I was in the developed Western Europe I got pretty sick, so I don't trust myself in a third world country, as I might end up as more of a liability than an asset. But every day ministry in the real world, that I CAN do and I can relate to most people in some way or the other. This requires more thought.

Anyways, we said "cya" after I got the number for the house that he is part of, in case I am interested in checking the ministry out sometime in any capacity and I continued on to find that gym. I got there and while on a tour of the facility, I saw that there were heaps of healthy, fitness-fashionable people sweating away on machines and participating in all sorts of fitness classes, all paid for with their expensive gym memberships. And for what? I'm not judging them because I don't know who they are or what else they do or why or anything about them but especially after meeting Yaffron, I thought that the place felt very pretentious and I don't think joining the gym is a good use of my resources :/

Not really sure what came out of all that but I thought I would share anyhow.

Travels

After almost four month's in Australia, I finally did some travelling outside of Sydney. And actually,in the span of one week I was in three states of Australia.

Trip #1: Melbourne, Victoria
Population: >4 mm
Area: >8,000 sq. km

Cheryl was booked to present her research at a medical conference in Melbourne, so as a good friend, I dutifully accepted the offer to be an adventure buddy in the second most populous city in Australia, just an hour's flight south of Sydney (and took advantage of the free hotel room!) A quick trip for me, as I waited until after work to fly out, so I didn't get to the hotel until after midnight Friday. A small lesson learned: some budget air carriers do not have walkways and require you to walk on the tarmac. I chose the budget flight and after the plane landed safely during a storm, we had to remain on the plane for another hour for safety reasons, as there was lightening risk on the tarmac. One hour is precious when you're on such a short trip, but oh well. I think the cheaper flight was still probably worth it, given that there's only so much you can do at 10:30PM.

The next day was free exploring day! Our hotel was short and scenic tram ride from the City (in Australia, "the city" refers to downtown only) so I purchased a transit card and loaded it up with credits and we rode the tram pretty much right to our first destination: Queen Victoria Market, a bustling setup where you can buy fresh produce, meats, clothes, housewares, etc. etc. etc. From there we checked out the things for sale, had brunch, bought some things (including raw chocolate and a bunch of fresh carrots), visited a few cafes, visited the the National Gallery of Victoria, the gardens (not so impressive in winter, but still nice) and ate way too much food. People watching was fun too, but I was surprised with how little many people we saw. It was a rainy Saturday though, so I suppose many people stayed home cuz of the rain and/or don't go into the city on a non-work day. It actually felt less populous than Calgary. Urban sprawl.

Snaps!

Cheryl, before arms got tired of carrying the stuff we bought

Lots of selection

This Almond Bread was amazing. Drool...

Flowers

Street art

There was this random change purse on the street that some giant must have dropped. No luck in getting it open to get a glimpse/pinch of the giant coins that should be inside of it.

While people-watching at Soul Cafe, protesters marched by. Shark fin soup.

Melbs has a bike share program. Its actually mandatory to wear helmets when riding.

At the instruction of a friend of a friend who we met for brunch, we visited this cool cafe for a very delicious hot chocolate at Brother Baba Budan. Possibly the best store-bought hot chocolate ever (because the absolute best hot chocolate was had when I was a kid, the times on super cold days when we'd come in the door and mom or dad would be making a pot of it on the stove. Cocoa, sugar and milk) Note the chairs hanging from the ceiling. Artsy!

Royal Botanical Gardens. I assume it's prettier in the Spring/Summer rather than now in the Fall/Winter :)

Chinatown. I always make an effort to visit Chinatowns. This one was okay. So far I still like Toronto's the best.

Pre-dinner

Pizza in an alleyway restaurant. What I found kinda cool about Melbourne was how there would be restaurants and cafes in the space between buildings, outside. It wasn't warm naturally since it's winter here now but they have lots of space heaters set up.

Flinders Station, a hub for transport. Trains, trams and buses

We also rode the train to check out a suburb called Brunswick, which was similar to Kensington in Calgary, but I don't have good pics from there, although we did go to this cafe where we at "the best" everything! We knew it would be good because it was so packed with people. 

Overall Melbourne actually felt similar to Calgary mixed with Vancouver. Not nearly as busy/hectic as Sydney but still lively and with character. The similarity combined with the cooler temps made me a bit homesick. I was eating lunch with a colleague today and we were talking about weekend plans. I kind of envied the fact that he was just going to relax at home as usual and maybe catch up with a friend over coffee.

Trip #2: Sailing in Queensland, from Hervey Bay to Hamilton Island.

My second trip was to Hamilton Island up in the Whitsundays in Queensland. I'll write about that in a second post, as this post is kinda long now, and I still need to compile and sort through the photos. But for now, here's a pic of bowline knot that I've been practicing :)

It is rainy and cold in Sydney today. Already looking forward to another vacation!