and wait for a voice to say...

Hello second week of school! It has started very gently due to one of my teachers being ill. Instead of English class, we got to watch a video about an Aboriginal school in Queensland that had a really sad history but has been transformed in the last 8 years or so. It was very encouraging for anyone thinking about teaching. We also had our first phys ed class where we got to run and jump and and skip and gallop (my personal favorite).
Yesterday I went into the city to look around Fitzroy Gardens (which has the cottage Captain James Cook's parents lived in England, a conservatory, a tiny Tudor village, and pretty fountains and things). It started raining about 2 minutes after I had gotten off the tram, but I wanted to go to a church that meets right at the edge of the gardens, so I didn't want to go home. I checked out the cottage and the conservatory and got nice and wet before spending about 45 minutes nursing a bowl of fruit salad and some hot chocolate in a cafe in the middle of the gardens.
The church I went to is called PlanetShakers City Church and its fairly new (2-4 years old I think). It seemed a bit Hillsongs-ish but catering to a slightly younger crowd. The music was awesome, with lots of jumping and dancing. (Dess, I don't know if you even read my blog, but if you're ever in Melbourne, or see that PlanetShakers is touring in the US, you've got to check them out, I think they'd be right up your worship alley.) It was really great to be in such an enthusiastic and energetic place after having no corporate worship for the last 2 weeks. I don't know if I"ll make it my home church for the year (I think the preaching style might feel too emotionally manipulative for me) but I"ll definitely be back for more awesome music.
To end, some Australianisms:
-today I heard pylons called witch's hats
-they sell rum and coke already mixed for you in a can (maybe they do this in Canada too and I just am not aware of it?)
-they pronounce 'debut' like deb-oo