21 March 2020 Life has changed

As the entire world grapples with CoVid19, our life here in Sydney has been turned upside down.  Just like everyone, we spent most of this week practicing social-distancing and some isolation until today.  The government  leaders of New South Wales have determined that offices and businesses that are "non-essential" will be closed beginning tomorrow.  The church leaders in Auckland have at this point given us the choice of staying or going home.  Since we can work easily from home, or in isolation, we feel confident about staying for now.  The idea of facing a 15 hour flight back to the U.S., navigating LAX or another entry point, and then getting on another flight to SLC, followed by the final flight on to Lewiston fills us with some dread.  Of course, then we would be in quarantine for another two weeks. 

The prime minister stated last week that everyone should have at least 4 sq. m of personal space.  But the federal government still wants schools to stay open.  The states however are making their own decisions.  For example, Victoria has closed schools until at least April 14.  Here in New South Wales, the premier, (or governor) said in her press conference that schools will be open but they'd like parents to keep children home if they can.  Very confusing messages! How does a teacher instruct just a handful of students in new curriculum?  How does one keep children away from one another?Sounds a lot like day care at this point.    

So we will take this one day at a time.  Our accommodations are more than suitable, we have everything we need for now, and are still anxious to continue the work we were sent here to do. 

Saturday we got out of the flat to take a drive to see the Manly Beach area.  Not many people for a beautiful Saturday and everyone did seem to be distancing themselves from others.   Apparently, not the case at Bondi Beach-it looked like Florida spring break on the news.  But we were able to walk along the shore most of the way and enjoyed seeing where the first surf contests were held back in the early 1960's. 

 Manly Beach is just one of the many beautiful beaches stretching along the coastline of Australia.  It is over 3 km long and was one of the first places where swimmers and surfers were allowed daylight access as early as 1903.  The three parts, Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne have lifeguards and surf rescue workers patrolling and keeping an eye on swimmers and surfers alike.  It was fun kicking off the shoes and walking along the shore in the clean, soft sand.  Next time, we hope to bring our swimwear and enjoy the water.

 After walking along the beach, we strolled a bit on The Corso, a pedestrian area with  lots of shops and restaurants.  Some had already closed up, but there were a few open.  Again, not as many people as would probably be there on other weekends.  We will come back at some point  to enjoy more of the atmosphere.

As we began our drive back home, I spotted this sign in a medical office.  Not something one sees in the United States often if at all!  Makes us remember we are not in Idaho anymore.

This is the board in our office where I help the Self-Reliance missionaries keep track of  the  missionaries taking English instruction.  There are about 50 and they are serving here from their home countries of Vietnam, Phillipines, Peru, Cambodia, South Korea, Spain, China, Monglia, Equador, Japan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Argentina, Taiwan in addition to many of the island nations.  We keep the young missionaries pictures and the area they are serving in organized, and then the assistants to the President come in and help us update it as transfers are made or some leave to go home.  We hope that we will be teaching in person again at some point but for now it's an online game.