Discontented day

Today's a discontented sort of day.

A mouldy walls are overwhelming sort of day.

An I want to throw lots of things away sort of day.

A sick of mess and dust sort of day.

A struggling to be content at home with a baby trapped feeling sort of a day.

A feeling tired despite a long sleep sort of day.

A needing to hold on to the one who gives me new perspectives but finding it hard sort of day.

Hope tomorrow will be a new sort of day.

formal family

at the cross cultures formal dinner on 30/10/2010.

The role of the mother...

'For much of human history babies needed to stay close to their mother to feed, stay warm and be kept safe from a range of predators, such as wolves, bears, eagles and crocodiles. The extreme vulnerability of babies meant that they simply did not get left alone. Ever! Unless, that is, their parents meant them to die. As Sarah Blaffer Hardy one of the world's leading social scientists, put it:

For more than thirty-five million years, primate infants stayed safe by remaining close to their mothers day and night. To lose touch was death. This explains why, even today, separation from a familiar caretaker provokes first unease, then desperation, followed by rage and finally despair.'

(quote taken from 'helping your baby to sleep', Gethin and Macgregor.)

Found this quite an interesting point. It taps in to one of my personal challenges - when to leave a baby alone today. In the cot when awake? Under a floor gym while I do some chores? Asleep somewhere?

How much do I try to make my baby conform to my lifestyle (of getting meals made, washing done, friends visited, shower had etc) and because I'm doing what the busy world demands of me, he gets put here, placed there, installed in pram, cot, carseat so I can go on doing what is so important with as much ease as possible?

When do I stop to ask if these things are necessary, now, or at all... when should my lifestyle actually change for a season to cater for being more present with this little one who will not be present with me for that long a time?

I have a romantic longing to live in community, where mothers can do their washing together, holding each other's babies and teaching older kids how to play baby games. I have this longing particularly on nights when Luke is out and every time I put Ezra down he wants my attention.

It feels rather un-heroic to not be shielding Ezra from crocodiles, the TV tells me I'm to shield him from germs and poor eating habits.

Ezra says hello

a little message from ezra to his new long-distance friend caleb in washington DC.

the glory of being a mum

the contrast of life and death.
ezra smiling in the melbourne
cemetary. this gives us some
perspective on the fragility, the
preciousness of having a child.

let me tell you the reasons why i think being a mum is a wonderful, privileged thing that is awe-inspiring and honourable.

one of the things that has surprised me since ezra's birth is seeing jane being a mum. now that doesn't sound very amazing, but just step back a minute and think of this. when i married jane, yes, i had a pretty good idea of who she was, her background, her passions, even her ability to connect with people and love them in a costly way. but i had never seen her with her own baby, or even really with anyone else's baby very much. there was this whole side of her that i had no idea about.

then, when ezra was born -- BAM! -- suddenly this whole amazing side of jane's personality sprung into being. one moment she's straining under the pressure of bringing ezra into the world, the next moment she's holding him so gently in her arms looking into his eyes. the next moment she is feeding him with nourishment that only she can provide. nourishment that is costly. (feeing ezra robs her of sleep, it saps her physical energy, it makes her thirsty and hungry, it's socially awkward in some places, it's the reason for leaking, you need special clothes, etc.) but jane embraced all this in order to love ezra.

what i'm saying is this -- one of the most joyful and special aspects of becoming a father has been simply seeing this new caring-mother side of jane emerge out into the light. these qualities lay dormant in her -- probably grown and watered from a very young age, with the godly influence of women around her like her own mum. but it wasn't until she actually had a child of her own that the glory and honour of caring so 100% for another helpless and tiny human being could actually be seen.

and i see these qualities more than anyone else! there is no one else around at 3am -- except us three -- when ezra wakes up, hungry and thirsty and needing a nappy change. when i see jane rub her eyes with fatigue because she's just been up between 11:30pm and 1:30am feeding him and helping him settle again. nobody else sees her head slouching forward, her eyes closing again with tiredness as ezra feeds, at first ferociously, but then slowing down gradually until he's finally only making the occasional lightweight suck while actually being asleep. this is my privilege -- the incredible awesome sight of such love, such dedication, such devotion to another human's wellbeing at personal cost.

at times being a mum can be isolating, lonely and incredibly restrictive -- or at least that's how it can feel. but being a mother carries such glory, such responsibility, such honour, such privilege.

jane will be one of the most influential people in little ezra's life. what an awesome task - filled with the potential for such joy (and sorrow). i have already seen in his first 3 months the powerfully positive influence of jane on ezra. nobody who's met him has missed his smile (unless, of course, he's been sleeping). where does his smile come from? well, jane is always smiling at him, saying kind and gentle words to him, showing him the world from a safe embrace. this smiling, this contentedness is a product of the way she is moulding him and shaping him into being a little boy who loves life!

and ezra's becoming quite a talker! he expresses himself through proto-words and sounds. we struggle to grasp what he's meaning, but we can get it most of the time. this expressiveness, this ability and comfort with saying it like it is -- this comes from watching and interacting with his mum. what a wonderful gift she is giving to him -- the freedom to express his emotions through words and body language. so many young (and older) men today are hamstrung by the inability to either (a) understand what they're feeling, or (b) express it. how many marriages suffer because "he just won't talk!"? i think the influence of this godly mother will be a blessing to any future relationship ezra will have.

so many women yearn for a child -- whether they are married or not. so many women desperately want to have "a child of my own." but they cannot. either their life situation has not permitted it, or there is some preventing issue biologically. with this in mind, what a wonderful privilege it is indeed to be a wife and a mother! what a joy that this little child has been born into a secure covenant of marriage where mother and father are both present, both interested in parenting, both committed to the wellbeing of each other and their son, both with eyes focused on christ jesus. jane is a pillar in this family -- a tower of strength sustained by god. (how sad it was to see that single father on TV whose girlfriend left him shortly after their daughter's birth! what a void she left!).

jane, simply by her faithfulness, her constant presence in ezra's life, her love for me -- by these things she is an integral part of sustaining this secure and safe environment for ezra to grow up in. this is something only she can do.

yet another glorious and honourable thing that jane does as mum is to look after ezra in order to free me to serve others. this enabling ministry, this giving-so-that-others-can-give is so strategic, but so unseen, so hidden. who sees jane when i'm at cross cultures interacting with international students about the gospel of jesus? nobody. who sees jane when i'm meeting one-on-one with a student at melbourne univeristy? nobody. who sees the cost of hours with a crying or hungry or pooey baby when i'm running a bible study? nobody. but it's because of those hours and that patience and that self-giving that i can do those things. that is noble. that is honourable.

in fact, that "hiddenness" is in many ways more admirable than any up-front or public ministry. wasn't it jesus in matthew 6 who commended secrecy as something that our heavenly father smiles upon and values? "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." a lot of being a mum is done in secret. behind closed doors. in the dead of night. others do not see, but our heavenly father sees the love that jane is pouring out for ezra and for me.

let me reflect a bit more on noble character.

a wife of noble character who can find? she is worth far more than rubies. her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

"full confidence" -- when i think about this, it's actually true. when have i walked out of the house or away from jane and ezra worried about ezra? i have never yet had the thought that jane is somehow inadequate for ezra to provide for him. i have full confidence in her. i have 0% anxiety about his needs being met while in her care.

she selects wool and flax and works eagerly with her hands... she sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks... in her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

this woman, and this mum, are industrious. months before ezra was born jane set out to make cloth nappies. now, it's a challenge enough just to use cloth nappies, but she was committed to making her own! you have no idea how much effort is involved -- from selecting the pattern; trying out various ones to make sure you know what you're doing; selecting and ordering the fabrics, clips, liners, inserts online; vigorously cutting out the patterns; fighting with the sewing machine with eager hands and fingers to join fabrics of different elasticity; clipping the snaps on with strong arms. wow! and all this effort in order to be more friendly to the earth and more economical!

she gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

"she provides food for her family"! -- that's exactly what jane's doing at 11:00pm, 1:30am, 3:00am, 7:00am -- and all through the day. and in the dark -- when most others are sleeping and being rejuvenated. she is rejuvenating her son at personal cost to herself. that is noble!!

she watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her.

ezra will do this. he will call her blessed. he will come to recognise what his mother has done for him. he will understand something of the cost of being a mum, and he will be thankful. and not only ezra, but i too call her blessed and praise her. the qualities that i am seeing in her motherhood are noble, honourable, a delight to behold.

and on top of all this is the joy that jane herself takes in being a mum! when i see her smile at ezra, or talk gently to him, or play with him, or bath him, or gently feed him -- these are precious mental photos that i am storing in my mind.

many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.

smiling with delight!

Surprised by love... and selfishness

It takes me by surprise how much I love Ezra. He doesn't do anything to earn it, in fact he reduces my sleep, is the source of sore nipples, weighs on my arms so my shoulders and back can ache, he creates incredible smells and wees on himself, through endless clothes that I must wash. He doesn't talk to me, only looks at me every now and then, never kisses or consciously cuddles me, he doesn't buy me gifts.

But there's a deep, deep ache that I can't quite sense the bottom of, an ache of 'you dare to harm him and I will harm you', an ache of 'I will get up again, and again, in the middle of the night to calm you', and ache of 'may his life be long, God, may he outlive us', an ache of anxiety, 'he's so helpless and small, will he really keep breathing when I'm not in the room?'

I was expecting some sort of love for him, I'd heard parents talk of 'bonding', but it hits me deeper and harder, more earthily, than I'd known I was capable of.

And then when he actually does something cute - a smile, a coo... then the level of love is overwhelming!

All this love shows up how selfish I am, actually.

Having this deep ache for him doesn't result in immediate action and consistent action. My bed is warm, my eyes are heavy, my husband could go this time, couldn't he? I just changed him, can't he stay in his filth? I don't want to feed him here, again, can't he stay hungry?

Ezra becomes a task rather than a person, an annoyance encroaching on my time and comfort, a bargaining chip in place of cooking tea. My husband becomes my ticket to laziness.

What a contrast...
Jesus endured sleeplessness, backache, arm ache, suffocation ache, heart ache. Yet we remained people worth dying for in his eyes.
Now there's love in action.

friends with ezra?

am i friends with my 8 week-old son, ezra?
can a father be friends with his son?
if so, and i'm not his friend now, when will he (or can he) become my friend?

kara martin says, "those who have the same opinion, the same will about spiritual and earthly matters, along with mutual generosity, love and service, have... reached the heights of friendship." and aelred said that "friendship... ought to begin in christ, continue in christ and be perfected in christ."

those are weighty (and impossible) things to be said of an infant who cannot speak or understand such abstract concepts as "mutual generosity, love and service" not to mention christ jesus himself and the story of god's rescue of humanity.

how then can i be friends with my son? or when can i be his friend?

(of course this has implications for so-called friendships between children, or where one party is a child.)

quite apart from the inability to understand abstract concepts, my little ezra is not my equal. of course he is my equal in terms of human worth and value as a person. that i will defend of any human being, however young, born or unborn. but i am his father -- he is not my father. in our family he will obey me -- not i him. the bible commands him to honour me. does this difference in role within our family preclude a spiritual or true friendship? providentially, ezra has found himself (once he becomes aware of it) within a family structure where he is not the boss. he has found himself the fruit of the covenant of marriage -- the very tangible outcome of the most intimate of friendships -- that between a husband and wife. he is the product of a friendship.

what does that say about friendship within covenants (whether family, marriage or with god himself)? martin says, "the distinguishing mark of philia was reciprocal goodwill and affection. in that way it is a responsive love; but the response is voluntary, not mandatory." but the honour (and love?) that is commanded of ezra toward me is not voluntary -- it is mandatory. and, at a more profound theological level, my love for god is also commanded and required. i am obligated to god to love him. i owe him that, since he made me and he commands it.

does that mean ezra can never truly love me as a friend since he is born into this structure of obligation and command?

my experience of my own sonship, and from what little i understand of spiritual or true friendship, is that it is possible. but like anything between a father and a son, it takes time to develop. this has come as i have matured from being a child to become and adult.

i would like to think that ezra and i can be friends.
true spiritual friends.
friends in christ.

listening

"listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
they will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck." proverbs 1.8-9

it seems that in listening we become beautiful. or, more precisely, in listening to (ie, taking on, treating as important, respecting) "your father's instruction" and "your mother's teaching", these very instruction and teaching will the things that adorn us. it's not that we are beautiful because we listen, but it's the "wearing" of these words from our parents that is beautiful.

Ezra's beautiful brain

Ezra's crazy eyes excited to be in an MRI scan!
And here's Ezra's beautiful brain.

5 point harness

Even superbaby wears a five point safety harness in his special space seat!

Smiling

Ezra's first captured on camera smile :-)

The Source

On Sunday we took Ezra to church for the first time.

I sat in the pew trying to discreetly feed him, and we heard Richard speak on 'honouring your father and mother'. Poignant angle this year!

Then we sang 'I heard the voice of Jesus say'.
It's not a song we sing much at 11am, but as we sang I felt rather thankful at the insight I was getting.

Here is a song about someone who knows the source of rest, life. They accept the invitation to rest:

"Come unto me and rest;
lay down, oh weary one, lay down
thy head upon my breast."

And they come to Jesus to be quenched:

I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived

As we sang I was acutely aware of the little one latched onto the source of his thirst quenching, in arms that help him to rest. He knows so clearly, so simply, and he comes so willingly.

I was thankful for his example.

a cousin learning

in context...

rufus was asking me another lot in his series of questions about 'janey and the baby'
questions have included

janey will it hurt when the baby comes out?
when is the baby coming?
can i help you push the baby out?

2 days after the birth visiting his cousin in hospital with one look at my tummy
'janey, are u having another baby?'

observing feeding:
is he drinking mummy millk?
how does the milk get there? does it get stirred around in your breast?

this time, Bibi (his grandma) was there too. He asked me if I wanted to have more babies, and how many. Then he turned to Bibi...
he asked her how many babies she'd had. she said "three".

he looked confused. "but where are they?"

Life

Ezra met his great grandfather on Saturday. He was 4 days old. His Pop is 93.

I watched them gaze at each other, Ezra only able to focus 30cm, for short periods of time, with limited idea of what he was seeing.

My Pop gazed back, entranced, overwhelmed at this little bundle of fresh life so helpless in his arms.

I had a moment of sadness, an ache, a not quite sure how to phrase it...

I was seeing life just begun and life near it's end.

I wondered what my Pop was thinking, with his life experience in so many places, over so many decades of a changing world. Here he was seeing a beginning of (I pray) decades of learning and experiencing, yet he must have been acutely aware he would not see those same decades.

Here was a relationship just begun with limited time to blossom, such is the sting.

The sting of death, seen in physical life begun and life near it's end.
The sting of death, seen in hopes of parents for a knowledge of a creator and a heart that has struggled to see through much suffering to the possibility of a God who is good.

like his mother

prayerful jane at 4 months


prayerful ezra at 5 days

an unfamiliar face

on tuesday my son ezra was born.
on wednesday i had a strange experience.

we were both lying on the hospital bed

and i was looking at my son.

his eyes were closed

trying to get some rest after a bumpy ride to earth.

i suddenly felt this odd sensation

like something profound was happening to me.

and being the inquisitive father that i am,

i did that rare action of getting outside of myself

to try and peer into the situation from another angle

in order to get some insight into the weirdness.

this is what i saw.

i saw myself experiencing a paradox.

it was a paradox of knowing and not knowing.

of familiar and unfamiliar.

of reunion and first introductions.

of "how are you?" and "who are you?"

it was weird.

i was looking at another person

looking at my son

my very own flesh and blood

a human being i had created

a little boy that i had prayed for over 9 months

a real live person whom i felt i knew intimately.

and yet,

for all that,

he looked strange.

this human being looked unlike all other people i had ever met in my life (and i've met a few).

he looked different.

but it wasn't the "different" that threw me.

it was the "new" that really got me.

"i don't know you", i thought.

"i know you," i thought.

during the 21 hour labour

his little life had been in danger

over and over and over again.

i had experienced emotional exhaustion

because of the seemingly endless string of decisions

i had to make.

i, his father.

but i was making decisions for someone i'd never met!

this little tiny baby,

now less than 1 day old,

helpless and harmless

and totally dependent on us.

why should i have such responsibility

for a human i've never met,

never spoken to?

never even been friends with on facebook?

answer: because he's my son.

i came back from my "out of body" analysis.

i came back to me and him

lying there on the bed

both of our heads on the side.

now i understand

why the mixture of familiar and unfamiliar

is part of my own adjustment.

lift-off

i feel like an astronaut
sitting hundreds of feet up in the air,
on my back,
strapped into the 3rd stage of the rocket.
my helmet's on,
my flight suit's on,
my legs are up against the wall (or floor?)
ready to experience the massive G-forces of lift-off.
i can see the deep blue of outer space from my little window.

what will it be like up there,
in baby land?
what will the launch experience be like?
pretty swift and intense i imagine --
at least that's what other astronauts have told me,
including those who've written books about their travels.

i've done the training.
i've read the manuals.
i've prepared the flight plan.
i've even include instructions on what to do in the event of unexpected changes.

in the short time it takes our rocket to shoot up into the sky
a lot of things will change --
or so i've been told.
when we reach the edge of the atmosphere there will not be 2 astronauts in this module,
but 3.
a third one -- a small one -- will appear there beside us!
amazing!
we have a seat already prepared for him,
including a safe 5 point harness.

so much effort has gong into preparing for this mission.
actually, the whole space mission was started a little earlier than either astronaut expected.
but we've joyfully jumped on board with the training
and prep for the launch and space flight.

we're expecting this mission to take quite some time,
much longer than normal space missions.
it'll be approximately...
18-20 years in orbit,
even longer if we decide on other launches in the next few years.

a lot of attention and planning has gone into the launch itself.
but what will it be like once we actually attain orbit?

well, for a start, there will be 1 more astronaut that when the
"three,
two,
one,
blast-off"
countdown happened.
this new man will be very small
and won't know our language.
he won't even have his space suit on!
but luckily we have some suits ready for him.
we even have his space food ready.

i think our view of planet earth will be quite different up there.
things will look strange,
but recognisable still.
we'll probably be exhausted from the launch,
but also delighted,
excited,
and thankful to finally now be in space.
it will be challenging living up there,
but we know quite a few astronauts who've launched without incident,
and who've run 18 year missions successfully.

am i ready for lift-off?

we're just waiting for the right weather conditions
to initiate the launch sequence...

new home in brunswick west

praise god that he has blessed us with a new home! last month we bought a 2 bedroom apartment in brunswick west. we'll move in late may when our son will be only 3-4 weeks old. it's right on tram 55 which makes it very accessible to international students (great for hospitality), and it has some great features including a floor-to-ceiling mural of superman.

house-hunting

we're looking for a house to buy in the inner north... this one's at 3 gaffney st, coburg and we're very interested in it.

map here

future aussie signs?

a sign we saw at LA airport. how long before we see signs like this in australia? it even includes "exhaust fumes from equipment used to service airplanes ... known to the state to cause cancer." what about the fumes we breathe in from cars on the road?

if only this sign had not been posted inside the nairobi bus...

wild mushrooms

these were some wild mushrooms (also maasi mara, kenya) which had sprouted because of the rains.

temporary road block

just managed to get all the pics on to my computer... finding interesting ones that i might throw onto the blog.

this one is of a temporary road block in maasai mara (kenya).

luke's top 4

luke's top 4 highlights:

jane and me seeing my old context - meeting people and seeing places connected to his past (eg, talking with tim bannister at brackenhurst and then at dinner)

night with theological students when luke did swahili bible study

praying in DC airport with chaplains

visiting martin luther places in wittenburg and erfurt with hardy's family

highlights

highlights from our trip... (in no particular order, and probably not exhaustive!)

1. seeing a rhino, cheetah, baby elephant at maasai mara (kenya)
   
2. the luxury tent at maasai mara (kenya)
   
3. seeing luke's context - meeting people connected to his past ... kongwa, madindas, molleni at mvumi (Tanzania), RVA (Kenya), chris and jeanette in geneva
4. finding molleni in the mvumi shamba (her field) and her talking on our phone to mum and dad (she doesn't have a phone)
   
5. walking to the chemchemi (water spring) in kongwa (Tanzania)
   
6. jane talking to the mamas (women) about kangas (cloth used for various pragmatic purposes like carrying babies) and watoto (children)
   
7. seeing luke speak swahili
8. time with hardy and claudi -> the night before we left, everyone praying together
9. seeing alex and monica and their excitement at spending time with us - eating lots of beans and tortillas and cheese!!!
   
10. jackie and alyssa shining the torch on janey's tummy to try to feel kizawadi
    
11. ultrasound with hardy and claudi in gera
12. sermons in london at all souls' langham place (roger salisbury - haggai 1 - priorities) and st helen's bishopsgate (william taylor - hebrews 11 - risk taking in the light of gospel realithy)
13. meeting christian brothers and sisters all over the world
14. feeling kizawadi grow and move -- luke feeling him at claudi and hardy's wedding for the first time
15. talking with tim bannister at brackenhurst and then at dinner
16. "meeting" zoe (our brand new niece) via skype
17. zoe's birthday(s) celebrations in washington DC
18. presentation of australia/aussie life to alex' classes of young teens in mexico
19. being so loved and hosted by H&C, by gunter and karen and claudia, sylvia and dirk -- eg, the eucalyptus stuff for a bath, pregnancy pants, borrowing coats and socks etc.
20. driving at 200kmh on the autobarn, kissing jane at 180kmh in germany
21. catching the train in dresden by about 10 seconds
22. checking out "real life" west wing haunts
23. learning about US history, presidents etc.
24. a random night with jenn bell and the canadians and going to TGI fridays for tea in DC
25. fun relaxing with chris and tessa - contrast to luke's visit in 2007
26. bagels in NYC. talking to a man (paul?) on the subway about his life and perspective
    
27. buying the lonely planet in nairobi
28. seeing naomi in nairobi
29. time with neville and elspeth carr
30. night with theol students when luke did swahili bible study
31. time with elizabeth taylor in dodoma - ali baba's cave, watching movies, relaxing
    
32. lunch/tea with 2 bishops on christmas day
33. getting luke a tanzanian license
34. killing the rat in kongwa - team effort
35. wittenburg and erfurt with hardy's family
36. jan and lia saying they stand on hugh and dorothy's shoulders
37. riding camels at the pyramids of giza
38. "i have exactly what you are looking for -- a belly dance costume!" - cairo
39. jane's 25 hour birthday (nairobi to cairo) and the 1:30am wake-up
40. singing "waltzing stefani"
41. praying for H&C at their wedding
42. laughing in the augustine beer hall in munich with jose, leo, C&H
43. jane's hair styling in kijabe: 6 hours, 2 women.
    
44. cafe in moshi (tanzania) run by st margaret's - passionfruit and mango juice
45. "settlers of catan" with matt and kristy at RVA
46. parents and dan calling jane on her birthday in cairo
47. finding the red dudus (bugs) in dodoma and kongwa
48. killing the black mamba (snake) in kongwa
49. mama foibe talking to dad also with helpers holding the phone
50. wearing RC's clergy shirt to visit the codex sinaiticus (within 10cm of it!!) in the british library
51. relaxinug in the marriott luxury (eating tescos express food)
52. free internet in the kilburn library near the marriott just before it shut for 3 weeks
53. marriott gym and vibration fitness machine thing, sauna with middle eastern guys
54. jane being able to follow more of luke talking swahili
55. watching luke talk to jane's tummy
56. being together 24/7 and finding that at enjoyable experience
57. visiting neubeuern and introducing luke to bri and ebi and the house (germany)
    
58. new belly piercing thing in london - long and good for big belly
59. the maasai warrior guarding us who would suddenly appear to escort us to dinner at sekenani camp (he protected us from the howling hyenas)
60. watching lions mating
61. the incredible breadth of flora and fauna in east africa
62. mdimi mhogolo's name
63. watching the movie avatar in 3D in berlin (in english!)
    
64. baby bjorn thing in DC
65. bird museum in saltillo
66. lincoln's 2nd innaugural address at the lincoln memorial in DC
67. posing for "zoe memory" photos in DC
68. praying in DC airport with chaplains
69. people who were kind because of jane's pregnancy
70. C&H berlin survival package
71. catching up with the Fletchers in Mexico
72. the angle of buildings in Mexico city
73. 2 sittings of raqulette (swiss cheese dish) with Colin in Geneva
74. V Australia airline (especially compared to Air Asia)
75. meeting Thearith and his family in Richmond, Virginia
    

back in melbourne

landed safely back in melbourne on tuesday after 2 less than exciting flights with air asia from london via KL. on the first flight jane had to sign a special pregnancy form! did some really great reflecting and processing on the second flight, some of which may appear here - eg, highlights, struggles and learnings. and you can also expect some more pics!

halfway home

Germany/Switzerland/France... -9 degrees was the coldest, with a wind of much colder than that coming from Russia or somewhere.

 

London... -4 to +2 degrees. With a lot of SUN!!!! (?!?!?!?!)

 

Malaysia... 29 degrees with humidity.

 

Melbourne...? With one of the hottest overnight nights of the past 100 summers, probably it will be hot and dry.

 

 

It's good to be going home. Still some blogs to add, last pictures of our visits and adventures, and lots of processing to do of all the different people we've seen, places we've lived in... about the struggles and joys of living in each of the different cultures... (have put aside some good time to do some of that together over the next weeks in a nice little melbourne cafe... aaah... maybe sitting outside!!!)

 

We've been reflecting together on some of the changes that we've faced during our travels, but also comparing pre and post travels, and still the changes we will face as we settle back into Melbourne. It's good to have had some space away together - means 24/7 we are together, rather than work/study all day and just catching up in the evenings. Hopefully that will be a good foundation for a job change, the Little Prentice arriving, moving house... doing such things together, not just married together, or in the same room together, but united in how we face the changes together.

 

Anyway, it's been a jolly interesting trip with some very hard things, scary things, great delights, delicious foods from such a range of places... and so, so lovely to see so many friends in their home contexts.

 

Now for the last flight... leaving 1:20am from KL... Nasi Lemak for dinner (breakfast?)... :-)

london

after 2 full days in geneva (sleeping in france at chris and jeanette's place) we've arrived in london. got all day saturday to look around. needing to rest after 2 months of travelling and about to do the long haul back to melbourne.

Munich

A last crazy day in Germany with Leo (Hardy's former housemate and now very funny 6th child of 8, working in a pharmacy which he gave us a tour of!), Hardy and Claudi and Josi (Claudi's maid of honour). We had a very funny lunch in a typical German beer hall, lots of cabbage and silliness.

The other photo... it's a bit hard to explain. :-)

Memories of Germany

Left to right: Bri, Leo, Jane, Claudi, Ebi, Hardy, Luke.

Bri and Ebi were my host parents when I (Jane) did a school exchange in Bavaria in 1997. It was so lovely to see them, their house (built 1729!), the school I went to and introduce them to Luke and Luke to them! The lovely thing about visiting a place is that memories I had forgotten came back. Sights, smells, sensations... having knoedel (dumplings) and bretzel (bread that looks like a pretzel). A real delight to visit. Also lovely to spend an evening chatting with Bri and Ebi - reminded me of many chats back in '97 about so many different topics.

We spent some time with Leo and his family too... more to come...

The little village of Neubeuern, where Hannah (the other Aussie who went on the exchange) and I spent many hours eating cheese and chocolate during spares because subjects in German were too hard... and the school (castle) in the background.

why we feel cold here

even the trees are freezing!!! (autobahn, Germany)

hanging with gunter and karin

After a lovely day in Erfurt with Gunter and Karin, we stopped at this very old pub for a snack before going to Hardy and Claudi's for tea.

Very old, great grub, much more interesting food than Aussie pubs. And lovely company.

luther the student

We learnt lots about Luther on visits to Wittenberg and Erfurt. It's a mixed history, interesting to see Luther's world.

Here's a photo of the cloister he lived in in Erfurt for about 4-5 years before he got sent to Wittenberg (think his theology was a bit unpopular with his teachers). He did some training first, as a guest, checking out what life would be like to be a monk, then was a novice for a year and one day. Novices were given a bible for their time but had to give it back when they became monks (!). But Luther seems to have spent lots of time in the library reading one.

Hanging with Hardy's family & visiting Wittenberg

The bronze door inscribed with Luther's 95 theses he posted on the previous wooden door of this church in Wittenberg.

Luke enjoying a typical German feast inside where it's warm in Wittenberg, with the church Luther preached in a lot outside with the snow.

The lovely Claudi Stefani - Hardy's sister (not his wife) "meeting" the little soccer player in Jane's tummy.

janey enjoying German breakfast

I wish it were all for me! but couldn't fit it in...

Lovely breakfast spread at Gunter and Karin's house (Hardy's parents). In Karin's words they 'celebrate breakfast' over the weekend, and also on this day with us! :-) lovely!

luther in wittenberg

1. this painting above the alter in the "stadtkirche" in wittenburg is by lucas cranach is of martin luther preaching to his people. the crucified christ in the middle shows that luther aimed for his hearers only to hear of the gospel of jesus christ.
2. a papal indulgence sold by that catholic church which luther argued against.
3. luther's hymnbook with open to "a mighty fortress is our god".

berlin 2 - former GDR

the second historical emphasis was learning about the former GDR (german democratic republic, or "east germany") from 1949 to 1989 when the berlin wall came down.

 

* a watchtower for the berlin wall (1 of only 3 remaining)

* a part of the wall still standing on zimmerstrasser

* "checkpoint charlie" - the famous allied checkpoint where a significant stand-off between US and USSR tanks took place in 1963