I'm sitting here on a typically quiet Sunday afternoon, having visited the Vineyard church and followed up with lunch at the "Big Yorker" restaurant, which is a direct rip off of Mc Donald's. I think it should be at least 12 months before putting one of those fatty patties in my mouth again.
It's good to be home. It's been a strange week back for us in some ways. Having spent 3 months in Australia and things there starting to become normal again, we returned to our normal here, and the two worlds are starting to merge into one. We immediately noticed the lack of some of our friends here, two families and a single having moved on since we left in April. We certainly haven't seen all our friends yet and we will feel more settled when we do.
One of the big adjustments to be being back has been driving. Since November I have gotten used to driving in Russia. You have to have your wits about you. People take far more risks, and also make stupid decisions. They often drive too fast. But if you are careful and never in a hurry then it is hopefully possible to stay safe. I always pray before driving anywhere. Driving in Australia was so easy in comparison, all the drivers there so passive and slow. On at least a few occasions my driving there was creative as I watched people queuing in a way that Russians never would. But after gradually adjusting to driving in Australia, it has been a mild shock coming back. The thing I find hardest is people pulling out to turn in front of me, while I am waiting or attempting to turn myself. Give me a few weeks and I will be readjusted to the "other normal" again.
What will August hold in store for us? We have a young American coming to survey our team in a couple weeks time. (That is if he gets his visa in time, we are still waiting to hear back from on this.) I would like to make a trip to visit the Chulym and get some bible story recording on track, but it feels hard to fit a trip in timing wise at the moment. More on that in the coming weeks maybe.
When I carry my Canon with me I am often thinking about taking good photography. I took quite a few good shots that I am happy with from Australia. It would be fun to sell some of them here as a hobby business. (Proceeds will buy more lenses!) I don't often take shots of life as it happens, but I do pull out the iphone sometimes. I often forget about those shots, they are often throw aways. I'll try to remember to blog them more often.
It's good to be home. It's been a strange week back for us in some ways. Having spent 3 months in Australia and things there starting to become normal again, we returned to our normal here, and the two worlds are starting to merge into one. We immediately noticed the lack of some of our friends here, two families and a single having moved on since we left in April. We certainly haven't seen all our friends yet and we will feel more settled when we do.
One of the big adjustments to be being back has been driving. Since November I have gotten used to driving in Russia. You have to have your wits about you. People take far more risks, and also make stupid decisions. They often drive too fast. But if you are careful and never in a hurry then it is hopefully possible to stay safe. I always pray before driving anywhere. Driving in Australia was so easy in comparison, all the drivers there so passive and slow. On at least a few occasions my driving there was creative as I watched people queuing in a way that Russians never would. But after gradually adjusting to driving in Australia, it has been a mild shock coming back. The thing I find hardest is people pulling out to turn in front of me, while I am waiting or attempting to turn myself. Give me a few weeks and I will be readjusted to the "other normal" again.
What will August hold in store for us? We have a young American coming to survey our team in a couple weeks time. (That is if he gets his visa in time, we are still waiting to hear back from on this.) I would like to make a trip to visit the Chulym and get some bible story recording on track, but it feels hard to fit a trip in timing wise at the moment. More on that in the coming weeks maybe.
When I carry my Canon with me I am often thinking about taking good photography. I took quite a few good shots that I am happy with from Australia. It would be fun to sell some of them here as a hobby business. (Proceeds will buy more lenses!) I don't often take shots of life as it happens, but I do pull out the iphone sometimes. I often forget about those shots, they are often throw aways. I'll try to remember to blog them more often.
Our developing policy on baggage has been to pack in duffle bags. A $15 special at Rivers a couple weeks before we left helped us seal the decision. We used to carry big suitcases on wheels, but as Melody is such a good packer it was too easy to go over.
One time our suitcases were over 32kg and we were made to rearrange them while checking in at the airport. Suitcases may have wheels but they weigh 3-5kg before anything is even put in them. What a waste of packing space in a world where airlines now severely limit allowances and are quite strict on excess baggage.
These duffle bags weight next to nothing and allow us to maximise our packing. On the way down to Australis we brought 35kg in checked in luggage. New clothes, 8kg of vegemite, milo, books, an old ipod stereo (which weighs 8kg but has been impossible to replace in Russia) took us to 81kg for five bags. (Our allowance was 20kg per person, so we were ok.)
Our bags were distinctive on the conveyor belts. One time when we checked in we were asked, "did you buy all of the colours?" And ss we passed through customs in Krasnoyarsk we were asked, "So you're from Australia are you?" Hmmm, I wonder what gave that away!
Mum and Dad came to farewell us at Somers in the morning before we drove off to the airport with Kate & Andy, and John, in two cars. John kindly bought our car off us and we handed it over at the airport.
Thanks Lucas for picking us up in Krasnoyarsk! Very conveniently, all of our luggage fit into his one car, where as we needed two in Melbourne.
We have been happy to come back to some summer weather. We were particularly excited by all of the flowers by our front door.
A parcel arrived while we were in Australia. It's a good thing we filled out a form for our neighbour Lena to collect parcels for us while we were away! This parcel unfortunately found its way to a city in southern European Russia called Orenburg. For some reason it sat there in customs for..... 6 months! (That deserves a "what the?" label). We have no explanation. But it did get here. It was a Christmas present from Matt and Sarah in Canada. Now we just haven't decided whether to open it now or wait for next Christmas!)
"It's good to be back." That was the exact thought going through my mind as I took this photo, on a 22 degree yet wet day.
Taking the kids for a ride on their bikes.
And coming home with raspberries in hand. Raspberries really are the yummiest berry/ fruit there is (Russians distinguish berries from fruit).
PJ slid down these rails on the steps of a friend's apartment building.
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