Last week, Kat had invited me to attend a Christmas concert that the Salvation Army was sponsoring and giving to the city of Melbourne as a gift for its contributions to the organization, but unfortunately, it was on the same day that St. Jude's was holding its annual caroling event in Carlton. It's a shame that they conflicted with each other because I would have liked to have
attended both, but since I had heard so much about the carols at both church and Cross Cultures, I had been looking forward to St. Jude's event so that's where I decided to go.
The caroling program was meant to take place outside in the beautiful gardens; however, due to the inclement weather, it had to be moved to the church. I had just gotten off my second tram when it started to pour so I was more than happy to have my raincoat with me, but I still need to purchase an umbrella. I feel like being without proper rain gear in Melbourne is just as bad as being without it in Dublin, which I didn't expect when I first came here. Anyway, when I first arrived at the church, I didn't see anyone I knew, but after i sat down and the program officially started, I spotted some familiar faces on the other side of the church so I switched seats inbetween songs. We sang almost two hours worth of Christmas carols, but there were, of course, some readings, poems, and other random talking in between. It was unfortunate that it had to rain that day because the gardens are really
pretty and the perfect venue for such an event, but holding lit candles indoors during some of the songs had a pretty fantastic effect that would have been lost outside since there was still some daylight.
The next day, I met one of the girls from my Urban Life group for hot chocolate at a cafe in the city. She's originally from Vancouver, but she's done a lot of traveling and living abroad, calling many different places, like St. Louis, London, Brisbane, and Melbourne, home. As it turns out, we actually attended the same church in London, Holy Trinity Brompton, which was an awesome discovery because we both absolutely loved going there every week. Although I've attended several other charismatic churches since then, I haven't quite been able to find one like HTB, but it hasn't been due to lack of trying.
Jennifer told me that if she were my age, she would rather be in London [or Europe, in general] because there's a lot more to do and see there than in Australia. I feel like Australia is a massive and diverse country so there's plenty to see, but it's also hard to leave because of its size. The east
coast is pretty well connected as you can take buses and trains up and down, but as far as going to other parts of the country, I would have to do some research; I think you would most likely have to fly.
Europe is just a unique place because you can enter a whole new country, experience a whole new culture that only involves traveling for a short few hours. You just don't have that luxury in Australia since, with the exception of New Zealand and Fiji, it's far from everything, especially Melbourne and Sydney, which are in the southern part of the country. I would imagine that if you were up north in Cairns, which is the tropical region of the nation, it would be easier to travel to at least Asia.
Although I love Australia, I would definitely be lying if I said I wasn't feeling nostalgic for Europe.
The caroling program was meant to take place outside in the beautiful gardens; however, due to the inclement weather, it had to be moved to the church. I had just gotten off my second tram when it started to pour so I was more than happy to have my raincoat with me, but I still need to purchase an umbrella. I feel like being without proper rain gear in Melbourne is just as bad as being without it in Dublin, which I didn't expect when I first came here. Anyway, when I first arrived at the church, I didn't see anyone I knew, but after i sat down and the program officially started, I spotted some familiar faces on the other side of the church so I switched seats inbetween songs. We sang almost two hours worth of Christmas carols, but there were, of course, some readings, poems, and other random talking in between. It was unfortunate that it had to rain that day because the gardens are really
The next day, I met one of the girls from my Urban Life group for hot chocolate at a cafe in the city. She's originally from Vancouver, but she's done a lot of traveling and living abroad, calling many different places, like St. Louis, London, Brisbane, and Melbourne, home. As it turns out, we actually attended the same church in London, Holy Trinity Brompton, which was an awesome discovery because we both absolutely loved going there every week. Although I've attended several other charismatic churches since then, I haven't quite been able to find one like HTB, but it hasn't been due to lack of trying.
Jennifer told me that if she were my age, she would rather be in London [or Europe, in general] because there's a lot more to do and see there than in Australia. I feel like Australia is a massive and diverse country so there's plenty to see, but it's also hard to leave because of its size. The east
Europe is just a unique place because you can enter a whole new country, experience a whole new culture that only involves traveling for a short few hours. You just don't have that luxury in Australia since, with the exception of New Zealand and Fiji, it's far from everything, especially Melbourne and Sydney, which are in the southern part of the country. I would imagine that if you were up north in Cairns, which is the tropical region of the nation, it would be easier to travel to at least Asia.
Although I love Australia, I would definitely be lying if I said I wasn't feeling nostalgic for Europe.
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