holy sunday

I went to St. Paul's church today in Perth. I thought finding a religious community may give me a sense of comfort and familiarity. A couple from the church who live near Murdoch picked me up in their truck this morning. They kept asking what I was having trouble adjusting to. What is different here that you find strange? What do you miss? What do you not like? They seemed disappointed that I was not as disoriented as they imagined. The church is small and cold. The congregation is about eighty people. The first service was a "band" service, consisting of one guitar, three violins, and a keyboard. The later service has an organ with more traditional music that I might have recognized. The couple that drove me finds the traditional church service to be dull, so I was able to witness a different type of worship. It was nice, but I missed being able to sing along with confidence. They also did not have communion, which to me is an important part of my worship service. During announcements, a woman I met before service stood up and pointed at me. "Everyone, this is Amanda from Chicago. She is here for the semester and will be here every Sunday to worship with us. Be nice to her.". No pressure, right? So I was swarmed with curious people after church, asking me general questions about my studies and my family. A large percentage of the congregation are couples, of whom one person is from the states. They came to the land of Oz, fell in love, and never left. I had no idea this happened so frequently. I certainly haven't met anyone here yet I would switch continents for, but the semester is still getting started. I went out to lunch by myself in Freo before meeting the other American students to go to the footy match, Australian football is intense and lacks the nice padding we have in the U.S. . I'm not in love with the sport, but it was fun. People here, just like at home, get very rowdy and drunk at sporting events. There was a lot less advertising during the game compared to american football, and no one did the wave. I came home tonight to find a dinner party of twenty people at my house. I'm staying in my room, too tired from the day to be social. A small note about my flatmates, they came in from their Saturday night out at 8 Sunday morning. Now that is a party.