People Down Under

I've now been in Australia for about three days and it has truly been an adventure. My dad would be proud. Days here go by really fast, I am definitely kept busy. We wake up at 6 every single day for workouts. Except for Tuesdays and Thursdays, we wake up at 5 to go surf. Breakfast is from 6:45-8:30, then we have chores which only takes us about 30 minutes, next we have classes from about 9:00-12:30, then lunch, then free time. Schedule is pretty easy going in the afternoon, I get a lot more free time than I thought which has been really nice. But I'm usually exhausted and so I decide to use the time to sleep, when I could be exploring Western Australia. We went surfing yesterday...which was an experience. My head is still filled with salt water. The water is absolutely beautiful, crystal clear. Didn't see any sharks, maybe a few jellyfish, but still, yay, no sharks!  Today, I built up the energy, decided not to sleep, and went out and explored some of Western Australia. Some friends and I went to the city to get our train cards and Working with Children Visas. The downtown city of Perth reminds me a lot of downtown Denver in the summer. An upbeat atmosphere, beautiful scenery, and easy-going vibe. We got smoothies (way better than anything in America, sadly), walked the city and looked like complete tourists. Later, some friends and I decided to walk down to the river which is supposedly beautiful. And it was. We spent about two hours down there and one thing I experienced, and can take away from today, is joy. 

The people I have met here are amazing. People that God deliberately and consciously hand picked and placed here to make this experience all the more worth while. Theres a small group of us, about ten. All so different from each other, each real unique with different stories, backgrounds and personalities. But they all have so much to offer. There's so much to learn from them. We all came from around the world, New Zealand, Switzerland, Taiwan, Australia and America. I never knew these people existed and from within four days, I have been so blessed by them. It's cool that we can come from such different places, with different pasts, experiences, customs, and have so much in common. Today blew my mind as I was thinking about how many people there are in this world, who we do not know, but have the potential of changing our lives. Then as I started thinking more, it began to scare me how much power we all have. People truly have all the power to change lives. Think about it, the hardest thing to lose is family, friends or someone close. And the hardest thing to hear is disappointment or hurtful words from someone you love or admire. The most empowering and uplifting thing to hear is also, from someone you respect, care for and feel cares for you. All these things have the potential to change a life. All the destruction in the world comes from somewhere. All the pain and tragedy is caused by the power human beings have to destroy. But then there is so much love that people have to offer. With all the bad in the world, there is so much good. When we begin to lose sight of the good, we are losing power within ourselves. Weakening ourselves as human beings. The joy I experienced today was not only in the nature and city of Perth, but also in the people I see so much potential in. These people have shown me the power of kindness, acceptance, and happiness. And I realized it goes a lot farther, and does a lot more than the power sin has on the world.