Adam took a video while we were working in the kitchen. Watch it. Thanks to Adam for the video!
Be sure to right click on the link and select "save as." It's a Quicktime video, 1.8mb.
Here's the video. Right click, "save as"

30 July 2006

Yesterday, I went into the city to get some essentials. I'll show you a bit of what I saw. This is
a pretty average trip into the city.

First, I had to stop by Target to pick up a photo album. It's not very adventerous to go to an
American store like that, but it's right where I need it and the prices are reasonable. The Target
here isn't as big as the one in Ann Arbor, and the prices are higher, but it's still pretty decent.

I left Target and exited into the Hay Street mall, which is a strip with a bunch of shops. My next
destination was in the Murray Street mall, one street over.

Next, it was to the grocery store, Woolworths.

This was a bit of an impulse purchase. I'm addicted to Bundaberg ginger beer.
Don't worry, it's not alcoholic.

Coke is expensive here. $2.60 for something about the size of a 20 oz? No thanks. I'll stick to Bundaberg.

Bananas are also expensive. This works out to be about $4.51 USD per pound.

Fortunately, napkins (serviettes) are cheap.

On my way out of Woolworths, I saw some birds dining at a local street cafe. There were pretty friendly blokes.

As I was getting on the train, I ran into these three cuties. Left to right: Ruth, Carissa, and Michelle.

Keep checking back!

26 July 2006

Just a quick update to show you guys that I still look the same. This is a pose which I am sure
is painfully familiar to all of you. Elias took this picture. He's a good photographer, and we've had
plenty of camera talk, Photoshop talk, and comparing of notes this past month.

24 July 2006

Here are some more of the YWAMers here in Perth. These are all fellow students on my DTS.

This is Ruth from New Zealand. I can pronounce her name with a great Kiwi accent.

Brandon from Ontario, Canada. He can skate way better than I can.

Kristoffer from Sweden. He has since cut his hair, so this picture is outdated (darn).

Here we have Filip from Denmark eating an apple in the lunch room.

Bobby, from California. We were actually both on the same mission trip in Mexico over
Easter 2002. We didn't know it at the time, and we didn't meet until here in Perth, but
it's sort of a funny conincidence. By the way, yes, I know that this picture is gross.

This is Adrienne from northern Ontario, Canada. There are a lot of Canucks down here.

On the left is Carissa from Minnesota, and on the right is Adam from New Zealand. We sold
chococolates to raise money for the property fund here at the base. We chose the worst
day to sell, because it was pouring rain. It was worth it, though; in one day, we raised
almost $4,000 AUD. It was a lot of fun.

Now I'll show you some school staff. This is Mike, a true blue Aussie from Perth.

Leah, from Canada, turned twenty this weekend. We threw her a surpsise party on Sunday
evening, complete with brown cows (Coke floats).

This is Kaio, which is a coffee shop run by the folks at YWAM Perth. It is located in
Northbridge, right in the thick of it all. It's a great place to hang out, grab some food,
and work on homework.

There is a lot of modern artwork on the walls at Kaio. Very trendy.

I walk by this scene probably 12 times each day. Some hooligan spray painted around the
shadow of the sign on the side of the building. It's fun to see the different shadows at
the different times of day and night.

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it!

15 July 2006

Last Thursday, we held a worship service in Northbridge, which is Perth's restaurant,
club, and bar district. We worshipped in a park right in the middle of everything.

There were between 150 and 200 of us that went to Northbridge.

This is Pei from Singapore. Although she is 35, she is a DTS student with the rest of
us. She has been looking out for me these past few weeks, giving me medicines and herbal
teas while I was sick, trying to make sure I eat something healthy for breakfast, etc.

I hope you enjoyed today's installment of pictures. I'll keep posting, so keep looking!

10 July 2006

More pictures for your enjoyment. This time, I'll show you a few of the people I've
been spending my time with.

Adam from New Zealand. We've played a lot of cards together.

This is Shir Li from Singapore.

Jason from Long Island, NY.

Amy from New Zealand.

Marie O'Rielly from Southern California. She reminds me a lot of Kolleen Hicks,
to the point that I actually accidentally called her Kolleen. It's crazy.

On the left, we have Angela (call her Ang) from West Virginia. On the right is
Kayla from Canada.

On the left is Arlen. He's the school leader. On the right is his twin brother,
Adrian. Their birthday is July 30, which makes them numbers five and six on my
list of people that I know with that birthday.

This guy is Elias. He's from Sweden. We have the same camera, and actually
I think we look pretty similar, but nobody else seems to think that. I'll let you
guys decide for yourselves. What do you think?

Now for some Australian wildlife. These are some regular old ducks like we have back
at home, but taking this picture was very exciting. I was holding my camera out in front
of me while I chased the ducks through the park. I'm sure it looked pretty funny.

This animal is slightly more exotic: the koala. I saw a bunch of these at Yanchep National
park. I also saw a few kangaroos, but I didn't get any good photographs yet. Soon.

5 July 2006

I've been busy, but I've found the time to take some pictures anyway. Here's a little
view into my new life here in Australia.

Welcome to 228 Lord Street.

This is the room where all of us guys sleep. If you think those thin mattresses don't
look comfortable, you're correct.

Let's head over to my bunk. I was smart enough to choose a bunk without a mattress
on the top, so the whole space is mine. You call it selfish; I call it clever.

This is the kitchen. These are a few of my mates.

This is the view out our kitchen window. Those green things are flats, but I don't
know what the brick building to the right is. There's a nice little park at the end
of the alley.

Driving to the beach in one of the orange 1988 Toyota Coaster buses. YWAM Perth has
six of these used to transport people around. They're flat-nosed, which makes them
surprisingly nimble, considering how large they are. I hope I get the chance to drive one.

Spending some time at Scarborough Beach. In the winter. Winter temperatures hover
in the 60s and 70s on sunny winter days. If it's cloudy, the temperatures might drop
into the low 60s or high 50s. Come this December, all of you Michiganeers will be jealous.

This is the nighttime view of Perth from King's Park.

Turn around and the view is no less spectacular. As I took this picture, many of
you were probably just waking up in the morning, having your coffee. Mandy, you
probably were already in class for an hour or so by this point. It's still weird to
think that we're on completely opposite schedules; Perth is 12 hours ahead of Michigan.

Some of Australia's money. The smallest bill is $5, and the largest coin is $2. While
taking this picture, I forgot to include a twenty cent piece. Oops.

I'll leave you with a picture of one of the reasons I love Perth. Where else could
you get a coastal city with pleasant weather year-round, yet still avoid overcrowding
and major crime? I really enjoy this city.

30 June 2006

A little tour of Perth for your enjoyment...

228 Lord Street. This is where I live. It's an old warehouse converted into
living space. Once everybody arrives, there will be about 35 of us living here.

I think these are Birds of Paradise, but I'm not too knowledgeable about flowers.
This is the front door of 228.

This is the back of the warehouse. As is evidenced by the tags, it's in an alley. Cool.

This is a street in my neighborhood. Nothing too exciting.

Not only do the streets have funny names around here, the signs are weird too.

This is the view of Perth CBD from the corner of my block. As you can see, I live
right in the thick of things. It's pretty cool.

On the way to the train, I pass by all sorts of cool cars parked on the streets.
We don't have these in the States; I think this first one is some sort of Holden
ute. The second one is a Ford Falcon. They have this instead of the Taurus, and
I'm quite jealous. Rear wheel drive, fast motor, stickshift, good styling, very cool.

On the way to the Claisebrook Train Station. It's a four minute walk from my front
door. This is me crossing over the Graham Farmer Freeway on the footbridge. Notice
that I'm rockin' my new Arnette sunnies. Distinctly Aussie.

King's Park, right here in Perth, is the world's largest inner-city park, bigger
even than Central Park in NYC. It's an awesome park; very well manicured, very clean,
very big, very pretty, and with a lot of diverse wildlife and flora.

These trees, in King's Park, are really weird. I have no idea what they are.

This is Perth as seen from King's Park. A city of 1.5 million people, it is the
capital of Western Australia. Western Australia is a state about four times the
size of Texas. Perth, being situated on the far western edge of the state, is the
world's most remote state capital. It's thousands of miles from the nearest big
city in Australia.

A view of the city through two of Perth's many palm trees. It's a beautiful city.