Sydney, Australia - From A to D-Backs!

Over Spring Break, as luck would have it, our beloved Diamondbacks were in Sydney, Australia (just a short 8 hour flight away!). Way back in August, when we heard they were starting the season on this side of the world, I sent an email to Papa Touchdown and asked him if he wanted to meet us there for a game. A few days later, he replied with his tickets booked! A few months later, (okay let's be honest - about a week before we were leaving) Uncle Smelly and Cristina booked their tickets to come too! We were all headed to Australia (sans Chris)!!! 

As we were landing I turned to Emilie and said, "I can't believe we are in Australia. I've always wanted to come here and NEVER in my wildest dreams did I EVER imagine it would actually happen." She turned to me and sarcastically asked, "Yeah, but you always thought someday you would live in Jakarta, Indonesia?" Well said Emilie. And I guess that about sums up the last year and a half of our lives. We have done so many things never even imagined! 

Papa Touchdown was put in charge of driving; Uncle Smelly, in charge of navigating, and Emilie, in charge of counting how many times Papa Touchdown hit the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal (apparently when you drive on the opposite side of the road, the controls inside the car are opposite as well). With the essential jobs assigned, we headed to Darling Harbour and walked to The Rocks. As we were walking, we turned the corner and there was the Sydney Harbour Bridge & the Sydney Oprah House! We were in awe!

Day Two started with an early phone call from New York, jumping on the bed, a few screams, happy tears, and Uncle Smelly buying breakfast to celebrate the early call from New York! Then it was off to the Paddington Markets. My favorite part of the Paddington Markets was meeting Daniel from Daniel(ink.). Daniel was also on his first trip to Sydney. He was at the market selling his t-shirts with a portion of the proceeds going to the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. I was super impressed with him, his story, and his line of t-shirts. I love to meet new people!

From Paddington, we went to check out the beautiful Chinese Garden of Friendship.

In preparation for the next day's game, we managed to get in a little batting practice prior to lunch. We loved hitting the ball into the Harbour.

After lunch, Uncle Smelly took Emilie and Dustin to the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium while the rest of us took in a little people watching. There was plenty for us to see as the Booze Cruisers stumbled off their boats.

Our third day in Sydney started with a wonderful breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks.  Not only was the food delicious, but we got to spend the morning catching up with some great friends. (Thank you Claudia and George for traveling all the way to Sydney just to buy us breakfast!)  After breakfast, we managed a stroll through the Rocks Markets before heading to the Sydney Cricket Ground for some good old fashioned American Baseball!

Although the outcome was not what we had hoped, the atmosphere was amazing.  We enjoyed learning a little more about the game of Cricket; and for those who think baseball is long and boring - did you know that some Cricket games last DAYS!!! We had a great time and even experimented with some new rally caps.

What a truly amazing experience! And now, we can cross "Watch the Diamondbacks play American baseball in Australia" off the bucket list...

GK Sports Day - 2014

To say the last month has been crazy at the kids' school would be quite an understatement. So, to spend Saturday with some amazingly awesome kids was a a very welcome break.

I've mentioned the work of two great organizations, GK and XS, here, and here, and here, and here, and here (can you tell I love these organizations!). The JIS Middle and High Schools each have GK Clubs dedicated to working with GK and the children from these communities. The students in these clubs (Emilie is a member of the GK Middle School Club) worked together to organize the 2nd Annual GK Sports Day. They invited over 180 kids from the GK and XS communities to participate in a fun filled day of sports and activities.

The morning began with breakfast. The kids were separated by age group. Then they all headed out to the field for a variety of activities. The JIS students planned everything from parachute play, capture the flag, frisbees, hula hoops, and more. Each age group took turns rotating through the stations.After a little break to cool off and get souvenir photos taken in the "Photo Booth," it was time for water games!  The JIS students organized a ton of water activities - slip and slide, water guns, sponges, and tug o'war.  The smiles were contagious (at one point I even complained to Emilie that my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!).

The day ended with a rousing rendition of the "Unity Dance" followed by lunch.

Emilie and I had a terrific day and what a great reminder of the wonderful relationship JIS has been able to establish between the JIS students and the Jakarta Community. I feel honored to have been  included in such an amazing day!