On Thursday, I spent most of the day at the University of Notre Dame because it was "O-Day" for semester 2. This is basically a day when new students can come in, buy books, get free food and meet people/sign up for all the different student clubs and organizations. I worked at the stall for Viva! Unfortunately, since it was second semester, not that many students came, so it was a pretty slow day. The upside was that I did get to spend a lot of time talking to the students who did come about the various events that Viva! puts on, which was nice. I met a new ND student who just graduated from an American high school in Bangkok who had friends that were going back to the US to go to Providence College! At the chaplaincy table, which was next to ours, Fr. Vincent's assistant, Alison, was promoting Helping Hand, a program that she runs that connects ND students with volunteer opportunities; its the social justice arm of the chaplaincy. She had a priest from Jesuit Refugee Services with her, and during a short conversation with him I was amazed to find out that although he has lived in Australia for many years now, he grew up in Rhode Island! O-Day was a great chance to meet some ND students, but unfortunate it was just not that busy.
On Friday, I spent the morning at the JPII Center and worked out my schedule with Daniel Hill, the "convenor" of the chaplaincy - basically, the boss. We also had a good conversation about the merits of a residential campus, and I finally met someone in this country who thinks that the commuter culture here detracts from the university experience. Daniel was telling me that the general attitude towards university degrees in Australia is very different than it is in the United States. He confirmed what I had sort of suspected: Australians choose universities based on proximity to their house rather than quality of the university because apparently, for most degrees, it matters very little where the degree comes from as long as you have it. While I can see how this could open up opportunities for some people, Daniel was saying that he doesn't think its a very good thing because it makes degrees here - everything from a bachelor's degree to a doctorate - simply another commodity to be purchased, taking a toll on levels of scholarship. Daniel himself lived in a residential college at Sydney Uni while he was an undergrad because he came from a part of New South Wales where there were no universities nearby, so he didn't have a choice, and he loves to tell people that living at college was one of the best things he's ever done, but not many people really think its that important/hesitate at the expense. I also learned that the government funds about three quarters of your tuition, regardless of the university that you go to, so everyone here is really paying just a fraction of what their degree actually costs. I find this whole situation fascinating because it is so different than it is in the United States.
I met up with Lauren for the 12:35 Mass at St. Benedict's and then we went grocery shopping since we were having the four Dominican sisters over for a welcome dinner for the newly arrived Srs. Mary Barbara and Maria Cecilia. Lauren, Jessica, and I spent the afternoon cooking and cleaning up a storm. We made appetizers, salad, pasta with shrimp and kalamata olives (WHICH I LOVE), and mini cupcakes for dessert (I was in charge of all the baking). Dinner came out pretty fabulously, if I do say so myself. We had lots of great conversations at dinner, and I also got to meet Sr. Mary Rachel and Sr. Cecilia Joseph, the other two sisters in Sydney, who both teach at a Marist high school outside of the city.
The sisters had brought Sr. Cecilia Joseph's laptop with them, so after dinner they showed us pictures at movies from the Congregation of St. Cecilia's 15oth Jubilee, which took place at the end of June. They had lots of great stories to share about some of the other sisters and their families. A lot of the sisters have brothers who are priests or seminarians who were able to go down to Nashville to take part in the festivities. My favorite picture was of three Sisters who are also sisters(!) and their fourth sibling, a brother with 10 children, some of whom now have children of their own. It was such a big, happy family! Perhaps the most impressive thing they had was a chapel for the main mass set up inside a 3000 person tent. The sanctuary was adorned with a plaster copy of the statue uncorrupted body of St. Cecilia that is at St. Cecilia Church in Trastevere, Rome, MADE BY TWO OF THE SISTERS! It was so good. I also learned from their pictures that there is a copy of the McGlynn St. Dominic that I love so much on the grounds of their convent in Nashville; I'd know that pointing finger anywhere! We also played a quite lively game of pool and sang compline before the sisters decided to call it a night. It was so much fun!
On Saturday and Sunday, Jessica, Lauren, and their friend Nat(alie) took me on a trip up the coast to the north to the beach at Avoca, a popular tourist destination. I got to see a lot of the Australian coastline and some truly beautiful beaches. And for the first time, I saw people surfing. The Langrells are all big surfers, so although Lauren and Jessica went out for a bit, I didn't get a chance to try it because they didn't have an extra wetsuit, and without that it would be been unbelievably cold. I did go into the water for a (very cold) little while, and it was so strange to be at the beach and in the water in the "winter." It was MUCH warmer than I would expect during the dead of winter in Rhode Island. On Saturday night, we all went to see Inception, which, I must say, lived up to all the hype.
The best, most unexpected part of the weekend was when we went church on Saturday night. We went to the 6pm Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea (I had to keep reminding myself that I was near the beach in Terrigal, not in Narragansett!). The priest gave an absolutely phenomenal homily, the basic message of which was "God is always on call" - even when you don't have friends or family around to help you out, you can always count on God because He is always with you, so just ask for help when you need it. In the midst of living so far away from home, this was exactly what I needed to hear. Afterwards, the parish youth group was sponsoring a family curry night in the church hall, so we decided to stay on, and I had my first curry experience, which somehow I've not had before now. I was pretty big fan! The priest even came over to say hello to us, having noticed that we weren't usuals. The whole experience was so utterly pleasant and, as I said, so unexpected, that I just couldn't get over it.
On Sunday night, we went over the Gallagher's house for dinner (Sophia, Jack, and Austin's house), which was a lot of fun. On Sunday night, there was a big live debate between the two main candidates for Prime Minister in Australia, Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard became prime minister about a month ago after some sort of dodgy business in which she and the other party leadership ousted the former prime minister, putting her into office. I don't know much about her, but what I've heard hasn't made me much of a fan, and it sounded like the debate went well for Abbott, so I was happy about that.
Today, I spent the day at the JPII Center, with the exception of a lunchtime lecture at Notre Dame on the Theology of the Body, which I found rather interesting. I head back again tomorrow!
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