Paint the Town Red, Yellow, Blue,...

Note: Sorry about the mess of pictures down there and now up here^. None of this arrangement was planned. It was randomly and stubbornly placed by the picture posting feature of blogspot! It is the most unorganized arrangement of pictures ever, but I got to the unhealthy point in my blogging career where... I almost punched myself in the face -_-

And you know, sometimes giving up is not such a bad idea!

I'm shaking my fist at you blogspot! Hope you're reading this evil.... blogspot... man!

woooooooooo sah

Anyways, please enjoy the post despite the messy array!
Have a "i wanna punch myself in the face"- free day! :D
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For me, one of the coolest things about Melbourne is the tucked away laneways lined with Graffiti art!
Christine and I spent our date seeking out these laneways together :)

 

       

    

Whew! Well that took forever and a half! (ha! ha! says naive, unassuming linda [HAHA ok I'll stop being bitter]) But yea, there ya go :) Hopefully you can see a bigger version of the photos if you click on them. I just took too many pictures of the graffiti to make the sizes any bigger. (btw, i keep getting stuck every time I have to spell "graffiti". two f's or two t's or both? arghhhh! life is hard haha)

Anyways! It was so nice catching up with Christine while she was here :) So nice to see a familiar face in  Melbourne! There's something about meeting up with someone from your home environment abroad that gives you such a sense of relief. You feel like they get you more than anyone you just met, or anyone back home at the moment. It was such a blessing to be able to meet up and talk to an RCF sister going through similar experiences spiritually, academically, and socially abroad. So thanks for calling me up Christine! Hope you enjoyed your stay here in Melbin =] (if you read this blog haha, if not I'm talking to myself)

School starts in T-4 days and I am exciiiiiiiiiiiiiited! Can't wait to buy books, read books, take notes in books, solve math problems in books! wooo! hooo! (Disclaimer: I am not a nerd. This is just what 2 months of winter break does to a person 8)

Oh yea! And I'm going to write post cards soon so please please send your address to: lindduh@gmail.com. I keep finding free ones so postcards for everyone!! wee! :D

A Few of my Favorite Things in Melbourne

One of my favorite things to do is to explore and discover new cities. So it's been a little over a week since I've gotten here now and every day I've been going into the city just to explore. Sometimes by myself. Sometimes with a couple friends. And I'm slowly, no quickly, falling in love with Melbourne. It's voted one of the most livable cities in the world and I can see why.

So here is a list of a few of my favorite things about this city:

1. Small town feel, but there's no denying that it's a big city with so much to do, see, and eattttttt :9
2. Well planned city with a nice mix of greenery/waterfronts/urban ares.
3. Greatttttt public transpo :) It's a real treat coming from the land of Septa :P
4. Little open air markets and festivals everywhere (but this may end with the summer :/)
5. Live music on every other street, buildings that look like they should be in a modern architecture magazine, and graffiti art lining the walls. It's artsy fartsy here and I'm lovin' it :)
6. Generally easy going and laid back people. "No worries" and "Fair enough"
7. Hidden laneways throughout the city that are lined with cafes, restaurants, and shops.
8. The diversity here is incredible. And I'm really appreciating it in the form of.... food! Malaysian food on one corner, then a Sri Lankan take out place down the block, tried a Turkish borek for the first time, then there's a Greek precinct with amazing dessert. droooolllll.
9. The beach is only a trams ride away. The water in the beach is not grey! Whatttttt??
10. Alright this one is a little cheesy but I gotta say it: The sunsets here are beautifullllllllll! teeheee :)

I could definitely get used to it here!
This is my town now for the next four months >:)  muhaha!

Upcoming Stories: "Wombats Poo: Brownies or Poop?" "Christine Comes to Melbourne!" "Finding Fellowship in Melbourne" (<--- Mainly to remind myself of what I wanted to write about next. I'll keep you guys posted!)

i will not get lazy about blogging. i will not get lazy about blogging. i will not get lazy about blogging. i will not get lazy about blogging. i will not get lazy about blogging. i will not get lazy about blogging. i will not get lazy about blogging.

Travel Buddies

So I have to address this off the bat. 

It has come to my attention that "'ello maties" is not something an Aussie would say. Yahoo Ask and Justin Wei tell me that it's more of an English-pirate-with-a-Cockney-accent thing haha. Oh nooby American Linda...

Anyways, I am here! In Melbourne!

And I didn't tell you guys yet, but I'm actually not traveling alone. 

I'm actually traveling with a stanley, two stanleys actually.... 

my lovely stanleys :)

For when I'm on adventures, traveling. 

For when I go out...

HAHAHA 

Waiting.. waiting... waiting to take off!

wholeee row to mahsself :) 

So those are my lovely high school friends Eunice and Jin <3 Eunice dropped these off for me the morning of my flight saying, "So this one is for when you're traveling around and this is for when you go out at night" HAHAHA and I still cannot stop laughing about it. 

(Oh, for those of you who don't know what a flat stanley is, it's this guy right here: 

No, the littler guy:

 haha apparently, flat stanley's have been photographed in every corner of the world! woah.) 

Anyways, yes so I have two flat stanleys for every and all occasions. Watch out for them in some my photos! They will definitely go to good use and will be popping up here and there :) I expect no less with flat Linda back at Bryn Mawr my dearest small group! 

(Oh man, people here are going to think I'm soooo weird.... but you know what, what's new? haha I just gotta make sure my friends like me before I introduce them to my flat friends :P )

I present to you a quick update in list form of my life down undah:

• the longesttttttt flight of my life. hands down.
• arrived in melbourne about 20 hours ago.
• sooo many blonde people... 
• the weather here is nice and breezy!
• my host family is so sweet and I couldn't have asked for better housing. Seriously, God provides!
• I'm off to a welcome program in a couple hours. I'm gonna surf! or fall off a surf board!! wahoo!

That is all I have to report so far :)

Oh, and congratulations to my Pastor and his wife on their fourth child Sungkwangeeeeee, or just Thomas. haha I am honored to have helped induce labor by eating shin ramyun with you guys the day before :) HAHAHA post lots of pictures!

I am missing everyone back in Philly so so much! I can't say thank you enough for everything I've received the last few weeks I was home. Thanks for making me feel loved and just wishing me well. It was all very much appreciated :)  

The Mel(bourne) Identity

'Ellooooo Matiessss!!!

hahaha just joking. 

I'm not even in Australia yet, and I'm almost positive that I cannot pull that off in either America or Australia :P 

A lot of you know that I will be studying abroad this semester in Melbourne, Australia. Am I excited? As much as I want to be, as much as I intended to be, I'm actually not. 

When I first signed up for studying abroad, I thought I needed to be a complex person, an interesting person. A person who has traveled the world, who has seen this and that. But I've come to the realization that I'm much simpler than that. A huge part of me now wants to just stay here, and not miss out on the people I know, the people I love.  And I think that'd satisfy me. 

My home pastor is always saying: it's not the places you go, but the people you are with that counts. 

This is so true. And it's sobering to realize everything that I have here at home to leave behind and miss so dearly. It makes me think of everything and everyone I've taken for granted over the years. My high school English teacher wrote in my yearbook: "Time goes too fast to enjoy the people we care about" And this is also very true. Most of the relationships in my life are bound by time. There is an expiration date, and I hate that that expiration date is coming up sooner than need be with a certain group of people who will be graduating in the year 2012 (sniffffffffff. cry. boogies. flow.) 

But if this emotional battle has taught me anything this past week, it is the fact that I've built my own little kingdom here in Philly, and it has become an emotional crutch for me. God has every right to burst my little bubble--to "pop that jawn" (HAHA remember that mainline?) He can take everything I'm used to, comfortable with, and love away from me and I should continue to rely on Him and follow Him wherever He leads me.  Instead of holding on to my Kingdom, I should be living for His Kingdom which is the only thing that isn't under the curse of time. Really, it is the only constant in my life.

Besides, being ex-communicated to Melbourne, Australia for a semester (aka being blessed with the opportunity to study abroad haha) is not that much of a "struggle" or challenge. I'm just being a big, blubbering baby. haha and I'm sorry, I'm just an over-thinker.

So without further ado, I present to you..... my new travel blog: The Mel(Bourne) Identity. 

Here's to me making the most of my opportunity in Melbourne. A chance to be tested, a chance be pushed out of my comfort zone, a chance to grow, a chance to be independent but dependent on God, and a chance to really become and grow into myself :)

Will be back next time with not-emo, tanned, Australian Linda! 

*Title credits to the queen of mainline, the queen of puns, our beloved senior Sarah Shala Salad Kim <3