blehhhhhh

tomorrow is clare's boyfriend rob's birthday, so tonight we had a special birthday dinner for him. it was the greatest freaking dinner i've had so far... probably because it's my favorite: steak, baked potato, green beans, and a grilled carrot! (the grilled carrot is not part of my favorite... but it was really good!) then for dessert we had profiertoroles (which is just a way fancier, way cooler word for cream puffs). oh. my. gosh. they were homemade and they were so fresh that they were still crispy. they were flipping delicious! a few nights ago michelle gave me this stuff called sticky date pudding, which is this really good cake with this hazelnut or caramel or something delicious creamy stuff on top and you eat it with ice cream. it was the best dessert ever (apart from molten chocolate cake at chili's... that's in a category of its own). but then tonight they made the profiertoroles, and i think they beat the sticky date pudding. braedon and i got into a little contest to see who could eat the most. we each had 8, but then both of us felt like throwing up and michelle wouldn't let us keep going. so now i feel sick... but completely satisfied :)
they said their son daniel makes some really good chocolate dessert and they're gonna make it for me (it sounds similar to the molten chocolate cake... i can't wait!)
seriously... it's a good thing i have to walk everywhere and i'm taking dance and pilates, because otherwise i would have already gained like 15 lbs.

ah yes...

you know the links to news stories on aol? i like those...
i just saw one about the top 10 places to live. i was intrigued.
ft. collins is #2! heck yes...
here's the link:
http://www.walletpop.com/mortgages/best-places-to-live

service project... eee!

i started my service project at st. mary's villa today. i was really nervous because i haven't really worked with elderly people a whole lot... but as soon as i got there everyone was so cool and fun. we played bingo :) i had to help this man named jim who can't really see the numbers that well. he is this really funny ladies man who told me to call him honeybunch. haha... he's really fun though. there's this other lady named winny who is probably 4'9" and she's absolutely precious. she kept telling everyone how she has TWO units at the villa because she sold her house. so she got to choose where she wants to sleep every night... i don't know if it's actually true but she was pretty convincing. there is this other little lady named barb is is so sweet and soft spoken, and she doesn't like to walk down the halls if no one is with her. those were the main 3 that i hung out with besides another volunteer who is from naples (and her name is italia. haha)
i'm really excited to go there every week and get to know everyone better. i know that it's gonna be hard, but it will be so fun! old people are so cool!

"i want a lollie!"

i heard a tiny child say that today in an aussie accent... it was great. "lollies" are not just suckers... lollies are all candy. i love it! for one of our assignments for my asc class we have to go to 4 different types of churches: anglican, catholic, assemblies of God, and uniting. for some reason the ultimate catholic mass with the pope didn't count, so today a few of us decided we might as well go big and we went to a mass at st. mary's cathedral, this huge, gorgeous church in the middle of the city. apparently it's like THE big catholic church in australia, and the bishop is the head bishop of the whole country or something. anyways... it was beautiful inside and i felt like i stepped back in time, so naturally it seemed like everyone should have snooty british accents. then the bishop (priest? i don't actually know what he's called... i think it really is the bishop) started talking and he really did have a snooty sounding voice! and he's australian, so he had an accent. i had to keep reminding myself that he actually talks like that and he wasn't just thinking the same way i was and faking it... but then afterwards everyone was taking FOREVER to get out of the doors, and i was wondering why, but once we got out there i realized that it was because the bishop was standing outside and everyone was shaking his hand! so i figured what a great photo op, and i got brittany to wait and take my picture following the crowd and shaking his hand. but then i got up there and realized i have no idea what you're supposed to say in that situation, so i just smiled. maybe it was obvious that i'm not from here, or maybe he thought i was one of the leftover wyd pilgrims, because he asked me where i was from. i told him colorado and he got really happy and went, "denver?" i said no, but close, and he said, "well great! give me regards to bishop something or other! (he said a real name but i can't remember what it was...)" i said, "ok!" haha... sorry head bishop of australia. needless to say, now i can tell people that i've met and had a conversation with the most important catholic man in australia. woohoo!

and guess what i found out tonight during dinner! my host parents used to run a frickin cookie-baking business! like a legit, selling for profit, had a factory cookie business! and their cookies are GOOD! there was a whole jar of them in our flat when we got here, and they were gone within like 4 days. mmmmm...

a bit dodgy...

the last few days have been pretty good. i only have one class that i'm not excited about, and that's my theological foundations for counseling class. i think it's going to be really hard and intense. it's a masters-level class, so there are a lot of older people who are coming back to school, but there are also a few asc'ers in there. elle's and my nervousness for the class must have been pretty obvious, because during the break (it's a 3-hour class), one of the ladies in there came up and told us not to worry and that everyone else in there was just as confused as us. i don't think she realized what a blessing that would be, but it seriously made me feel so much better! i definitely think it was a God thing.
every morning at wesley there is a group of people who get together to pray befrore the day starts. the roommates and i decided to go check it out, so on thursday we went to it. there were only about 10 of us there, but it was awesome just to be able to meet a few new people and pray and worship together, and i'm excited to go more.
yesterday (friday), our asc teachers (kimberly, melanie, and bethany) took us into the city to figure out where everything is. we started out with about an hour of class to discuss our reading homework that we ALREADY had. it sucks having so much homework, but the discussion is actually really good, so i'm pretty excited about that. then we got all 35ish of us on a bus and rode into the city. it was super rainy and cold, and a car drove by and splashed everyone just like a movie. luckily i was a few steps behind the people it happened to, so i just got to witness it and laugh. it was quite funny. then we went to the greatest place ever: the LIBRARY! seriously, i walked in and it was like one of those moments in the movies where the hallelujah chorus comes and everything is illuminated. it's absolutely HUGE! and there's one of those big rooms with tables and books all around the edge with 2 stories of balconies to get to all the books. and it goes 7 STORIES underground, all full of books! we got a tour so we got to go underground and see all the creepy awesome old parts. i loved it! i can't wait to hang out there.
then we went and ate some lunch and started the scavenger hunt to find all the biggest sites in the city. i definitely saw a lot of places that i can't wait to explore! after the scavenger hunt we got to go on a harbour cruise. it was really cool to see a different view of the major sites (opera house and bridge...), but my favorite part was the fact that it was warm and we got some tea and cake. it was great! then we went and explored darling harbour for a little bit (another place i can't wait to go hang out...), where we got some awesome mongolian barbecue for dinner! it was a pretty awesome day, despite the cold and rain.
today was even cooler... a bunch of the girls and i went to a couple of sweet markets around sydney. the first one we went to was paddington market. it's in this super cool, trendy, expensive area. everything at the market was really cool, but it was super expensive, so i didn't get anything there. but not to worry: our next stop was somewhere that i know i'll hang out a lot while i'm here. it's called glebe market, and it's frickin awesome! i got 2 shirts for $3! and i bought them from some sweet canadians... it was a good time. even though it was so great, it was sort of bittersweet because i was totally picturing how much all my friends from home would love it and how it's someplace i would go with them. it made me miss them (you?) all so much! but don't worry... that's probably where i'll be getting gifts from :)
i can't believe that i've only been here for a little over a week. i've already had so much fun with some of the girls in the group, and i can tell that the next 4 months are just gonna be awesome with them!
here are some things that i've learned so far:
aussies don't think americans are as cool as we think they are
not having a car or phone is the greatest thing ever!
not having a car or phone also makes life a lot more difficult.
public transportation is the greatest way to get around... i love it.
walking a lot is great!
saying "mobile" is way more fun than saying "cell phone"
possums climb telephone poles
apparently australians give away a lot of free stuff. here are some things i've gotten for free already:
-gelato (like a full size cup of it! they were promoting a new flavor...)
-tea and cake
-a bag (one of those drawstring things...)
-a guys tshirt (it was in the bag... they were promoting a guys' clothing store)
-licorice
-roasted almonds

more stuff...

today is wednesday... this is gonna be my busiest (word?) day of the week, but i'm really excited about it. i guess i'll start from where i left off before...
photo is gonna be so great! i'm really really excited about the class. we get to do portraits, which are my favorite thing ever, and we're gonna learn all kinds of sweet techniques and stuff. i can't wait to be able to use my sweet camera to its full potential! the only downside is that it's basically all asc'ers except for 2 aussie girls. so i still haven't really met any sweet aussies outside of my host family and some of their friends. but i'm not too worried :) yesterday (tuesday) i had my asc class, which is basically about all things aussie (minus aborigones... that comes in the second half of the semester). it's definitely going to be time-consuming and hard (we already have homework!), but i'm pretty excited about it. then i had the rest of the day off, so some people came over and hung out in our flat. then we went and saw the dark knight with neil, braedon, kieran, and kieran's friend pacey. it was at the coolest movie theater i've ever been to in my life! it was absolutely huge and the seats were like frickin couches! i was pretty excited and was being very american and embarrassing the guys. but o well... :)
this morning i had my first pilates class, which i am so excited about! the teacher is also the registrar here at wesley, and she is absolutely adorable. this is another all asc class (it's not supposed to be, but they had to put us all in a different one than everyone else because the real one interferes with our required friday class). none of us had ever really done pilates before, so it was very basic, but i still felt like i got a workout. and it's so fun! i also decided that i'm going to take the jazz technique class that is right before the pilates class and audit it (take the class but not get graded or get credit... i didn't know what that meant before, but i like it!) a bunch of girls in my pilates class are in it and said it's super fun, so i'm pretty excited about that too. on wednesdays there is this thing called the gathering, which is basically chapel, so we went to that. it was there that i realized just how tiny this school is! there were seriously no more than 150 people there. but it's really cool and i'm actually pretty excited about it. in about an hour i have an arts and culture class, and i really have no idea what to expect...
also (this is mostly for mom...) the grading system here is really different from home. basically the goal for most aussies is just to pass the class. getting good grades is not really the main idea, and if you do happen to do really well, you don't tell anyone. they have this thing called "tall poppy syndrome" where they basically don't focus on achievement. if someone is really proud and boastful, the group will almost unconsciously cut you down to their level. it's awesome.
so far i am really really loving it here. i've definitely already had plenty of moments when i missed home, but then i remember where i am and it's okay :) it's funny because driving (or walking, which i do a LOT of here ) around, everything actually looks very similar to the states. they have all the big restaurants (mackers is everywhere... i even saw a lone star last night!) but at the same time it's so incredibly different! i can't really describe it... i guess it really just feels like i'm on the other side of the world! makes sense i guess.
all the people i'm here with are awesome, and i love a lot of the girls that i've gotten to hang out with some. i'm definitely going to try to branch out from the group more, though, because i don't want my entire time in australia to be spent with a bunch of americans. but i'm glad they're here :)
ps: apparently there's a psych prof from ccu that just moved down here. rudder or rutter or something... i haven't met him yet and i had never heard of him before, but d.j. (totally the principal of the school... he's frickin cool.) told me that he's from there. so maybe if i need a coloradoan fix, i can talk to him. hehe

it's the first day of school!!!

i'm sitting in the library right now killing time before my first class EVER in australia! it's photography in case you were wondering... hehe. it goes from 5:45-9:45, so i'm gonna have a late night with the busride and walk home... but i'm still excited about it. the last couple of days have been super exhausting but good. yesterday was the final mass for world youth day. our group got tickets to go to it, so my roomates and i got up at 5:30 to catch the bus and be on our way by 6 (it didn't actually start until 10). it was madness! seriously... there were so many people. i had seen that the pope was gonna be in sydney before i left, but i didn't really think anything of it. but once i got here i realized what i huge deal it was, so i figured i'd take advantage of the opportunity. so we walked... and walked... and walked a lot more, then finally ended up at the huge speedway where the thing was being held. from where we were supposed to be sitting you could hardly even see the stage, let alone the people on it, so we just walked further up and discovered that no one really cared where you were assigned to, and we ended up pretty close. and it turned out that we were right where my host brother, braedon, was, so we hung out with him a little bit. the pope started talking in his funny german accent, and even though he's a pretty big deal, his speaking is not exciting enough to keep me awake, and i fell asleep. is that bad? and we left early to beat the crowds (praise the lord!). good thing i'm not catholic. then we came home and i took a nap after i called home for the first time since i've been here (haha...) then i watched some rugby (i've already watched more rugby than i ever had in my entire life. the tigers beat the bunnies, in case you were wondering.) and then we had some delicious dinner. and it was neil (my host dad's) birthday, so we had some delicious pavlova (it's this fruity cake thing that some chef made for some ballerina... it was tasty). then i went to bed! and today i didn't have class until 5:45, so elle and i went exploring. and we went to salvo's and found some wonderful clothes for cheap (salvo's is the salvation army... just so you know). and now we're on campus chillin in the library. haha... this is such a long, boring post. hope you liked it :)

first day in sydney...

so... today the roomies and i went to the city of sydney for the first time! it's super crazy and crowded this weekend because of world youth day and all the pope-y madness, so they advised us not to. but our host mom said we should check it out because "with all the people, the city will be just electric!" so she took us around and showed us where all the stores and stuff are near us (they totally have target here... i haven't gone because i'm gonna try to avoid it. but it's good to know it's there...). so she showed us where the train station was, and we were off on our own. they had this pilgrimmage across the harbour bridge that we wanted to check out. so we went, thinking we'd have to have tickets or something, but we followed the masses and before i knew it we were on the bridge! it's a big deal because they shut the whole bridge down, which has only happened something like 4 times in history. i wasn't expecting it to be that great, but it was honestly such a cool experience. there were just thousands and thousands of people from all over the world walking and singing praise and worship in all different languages. i've never been in that kind of thing before. there were no drunk people or fights or people cussing or throwing trash on the ground. everyone was just so happy and loving the Lord! they were all going to camp out tonight to go to mass in the morning, but we just wanted to explore after the walk. brittany and i got separated from elle and esther on the way to the opera house, and we accidently stumbled on the sweetest thing ever! it's the government mansion, and it's just this huge gorgeous house surrounded by gardens and fountains. it's right on the quay (pronounced like "key") and it basically has the opera house in the back yard. they have free tours, so we're gonna go on one :) it was also really cool getting to know my roommate one-on-one. and i'm fully gonna go to the museum of contemporary art! woohoo! it was a pretty good day...

these are my roommates! (l to r) brittany, esther, me, and elle. i don't know the guy smiling behind us... haha. this is during the pilgrimmage walk just about to get on the bridge. you can't really tell but there were so many people!!

i'm having trouble uploading any more pictures right now... but at least now you can see what my roommates look like.

i'm here!

so... i'm finally in australia! turns out i'm super busy already, and i'll probably be busy quite a bit, so this will only get updated about once a week. but here's what's happened so far:
i got to la on tuesday at about 1:30. after i got my bags, i had no idea where to go, so i sat in a corner for about an hour then found out the air new zealand counter was on the complete opposite side of the airport. at first a lady told my i had to walk all the way there, but then another more awesome lady told me that i could take a shuttle. but i still didn't get over there until about 3:30. i met a pretty cool girl who was also going in the line to check my bags, so we basically hung out the rest of the day. eventually we were joined by some other people (including my awesome roommate elle) and we just hung out until we had to get on the plane at 10:30. it was a long time in the airport, but it really wasn't that bad because of all the new people. then i was on a plane for 14 hours. i watched smart people (disappointing...) then slept for 8 hours, then watched 21 (pretty good...) then we were there! (pretty much...) so that was the easiest 14 hour plane ride ever. new zealand has a gorgeous airport, in case anyone was wondering...) then we got to sydney and went straight to campus, which is tiny and awesome, then we came to our homestays. my homestay family is super awesome! we live in the guest house, which is really cool, and apparently they are like the party house. so this should be fun :)
my roommates all seem really cool. i actually haven't even met that many australians yet outside of my host family and the few people from wesley that greeted us when we came, but that will start on monday when i start classes.
for the semester, we have to do 35 hours at a service placement that they put us in, and i got placed at st. mary's villa, a nursing home that's like a 3 minute walk from my house. i'm pretty excited, but also really nervous about it.
i still haven't been into the city because it's national youth day and the pope is here, so it's ridiculously crowded. but we're going to the big mass tomorrow, so i'll get to see him :) haha... so random.
i have only taken 2 pictures so far, and they're both of elle (my roomie) trying to walk on a ladder... haha. but i'll take more and start posting them up here.
i can't really think of what else to say because i'm so overwhelmed right now, but whatever you want to hear about or know, just ask me. and if there's nothing... then just put up with my random, probably sometimes too much information, sometimes too little, probably not very interesting or funny blogs. and wait for me to come home :)

whoa!

in less than 12 hours i will be on my way to la and then off to australia. i can't believe it. seriously... i just finished packing. somehow i managed to pack for 4 months into 2 suitcases without too much effort. i shocked myself! when they told us how to pack they said we should be able to carry, not roll, both suitcases 2 blocks and up a flight of stairs. i don't think i would be able to do that, so i hope they don't actually expect us to do that. because i will be in trouble! i'm sure i'll get bored at the airport (i'll be there for 9 hours!) so maybe i'll write on here... don't be surprised.

it starts...

ok... so tonight was my party. it was fun. i told everyone about this blog, so you guys are probably reading this.
hey :)
but anyways... it made me almost more nervous and sad about leaving everyone. when i'm not around the people i'm going to miss, i don't think so much about how much i'm going to miss them. it seriously was so awesome to have everyone come and to be able to see everyone one more time before i leave. i know i'm only gonna be gone 4 months... it's not like a lifetime. but it's the first time i've ever really been away from home on my own! (school doesn't count... it's like 40 minutes away. plus lys was with me...) i wasn't really nervous before. i'm still not even nervous about the things i guess i should be nervous about (my flights going smoothly, figuring out classes and such, the fact that i still haven't figured out my loans...) but i'm getting really nervous about random things. what if i find out that i hate being that far from home? what is that gonna do to my plan of working overseas as soon as i get out of school? let alone living in cambodia someday...? what if for some crazy reason i hate australia? it's not like i can just change my mind and come home...
i keep telling myself that those are ridiculous thoughts, but i still keep thinking them. deep down i know that it's going to be incredible, and i'm going to learn so much. and if nothing else, i'll be able to take the experience with my for the rest of my life. i think the main reason i'm starting to worry is the fact that i honestly feel like it shouldn't be time for me to leave yet. it seriously seems like i was just at leela's in the middle of the night trying to write my essays and send in my application, and all of a sudden it's 2 days until i leave. i just feel like i haven't had time to do everything i planned to do before i left, and now it's too late. and really there was not a whole lot that i planned, but for some reason it seems like i've run out of time. it's totally worth it though, and i know once i'm there i'm not even going to be worried about any of that, but it's hard to really imagine what it's going to be like for real. and i really don't want to try to imagine it, because i don't want to form expectations. i think i'm just in shock. maybe the 14 hours of sitting on a plane will give me a chance to sort out my thoughts...

ps: i'll try to send postcards and letters while i'm gone, but i really can't make any promises.
but it would be absolutely brilliant if you wanted to send me something while i'm there :)
for letters-- Kailey Otten
ASC-Wesley Institute
PO Box 534
Drummoyne, NSW 1470
AUSTRALIA
for packages-- Kailey Otten
ASC-Wesley Institute
5 Mary Street
Drummoyne, NSW 2047
AUSTRALIA

people i want to meet...

samantha brown
ben bailey
anthony bourdain
jk rowling
bindi irwin

reservations...

so... i'm slightly obsessed with the travel channel. i promise samantha brown is my hero--i would do her job in a heartbeat. but today i was watching anthony bourdain: no reservations. he was in korea, and he ate chicken legs and fish heads. seriously? ew. i don't think i would ever even try that. i made it a goal that i would try anything once. but i think that might be an exception (also i would never eat a dog or cat. i don't think i could handle it...). i don't even like fish! and i'm getting ready to live right by the ocean with some chefs... i guess i'll have to learn to love it. o well... you win some, you lose some :) hopefully fish heads and chicken feet are not popular menu items in australia...
ps: i can't believe i'm leaving in a week!!!!

Jesus...

so... i've been reading this book. blue like jazz. i like it. i think the thing i like most about it (aside from the fact that donald miller totally writes in my language) is the fact that i feel like he puts into words a lot of the things i think. but what has really been on my heart lately is how i reflect my relationship with Jesus in my life. i was cleaning out my closet last night and i found all these old prayer journals and devotionals that i had done 2 pages of before quitting and other stuff like that. and i found all this old stuff that i'd saved from camps and conferences and stuff, and it seemed like all of it had this in common: i need to be bold and share my faith with everyone, because if i don't do it now, later may be too late. and i do believe that it is important to share my faith, and i want to share God's love with other people because i love Him and i want other people to know Him. but i have never been one of those people who can just walk up to someone on the street and ask if they know the Lord. and i have never been able to turn any conversation into one about Christ. and i don't think i want to be that way. i love in BLJ when donald miller talks about how a lot of times Christians will market Jesus like He's some product. like if you just listen to all these positive things about Him and buy into it, your life will be wonderful. i just have such a hard time with that.
at Flatirons right now the series is called "stealing jesus." i haven't really gone at all this summer, but i've been watching online. i think this is probably my favorite series so far (that's right... it beats all the sex talk). scott has done the whole thing so far, and he's basically talked about how the world has turned Jesus into this fun little figure that probably makes some people happy. He's literally being marketed like some cheap celebrity with a funny beard. but people are ignoring who Jesus said He is. we've turned Him into just another great historical figure, when in reality He is THE Son of God. and the world has become so politically correct that even some Christians have started to buy into the thought that is just A way, and not THE Way.
so we have those Christians that are trying to cater to the world by offering Jesus as simply a better option, while leaving out the fact that He is the only option. and then there are those that are talking to people they don't even know telling them that Jesus is the Son of God and they are condemned to hell if they don't turn to Him now. i just feel like there has to be some balance! i know so many people that are just completely turned off by "Christians." it's so hard to show people that it's so much deeper than a little bobble head Jesus and a WWJD bracelet. i really think that the greatest way to share Christ with people is to simply live like Him. build relationships. don't condemn. love each other! that's what blue like jazz is all about. that's why i like it.
on another note: today i went to r.e.i. and hung out with bryan. i made him get some manpris and we sat by the platte and watched people. it was a fun day :)