18 October 2020 The first infringement!

As we have tried to get out to a few places, we also find that cameras are everywhere!  Don received his first Australian infringement notice this week for speeding when we took our little get away last month.  Now, he will pay a fine for his first speeding infringement and receive points on his driving record.  Since he has to provide a copy of his own license, passport, visa, we are betting that we will be paying over $400 AUS.  As annoying as I may sound to him, I am constantly repeating the speed limit whenever we are driving and he doesn't complain.  We leave on Friday this week for another assignment to Port Macquarie so I am certain I will once again not just help navigate the route with the help of Siri, but will also keep an eye on the speed limits.

Shopping in Australia is very much like the US, especially when I can go to that Big Box store and find some familiar looking things.  And just like home, the holidays aisles are already set up.  But here is something I would never find at home, a giant Christmas Roo lawn decoration.  For the price of our speeding ticket you can have one too. Yes, we are not in Kansas, let alone the Pacific Northwest, anymore.  Most of the kangaroos I've seen so far are outside this same store at dusk on the the nearby soccer (or footy) field.  That doesn't count all the road kill we saw going to Mudgee. 

Ten of our Samoan missionaries were finally able to go back to their islands earlier in the month.  They had to be in quarantine again just as they did when they first arrived in Australia and then again here in NSW as a reassignment from their African missions. Some will have spent more than 6 weeks in isolation but at least they are in familiar territory.  For many of our other islanders, they still cannot go home.  Some covid cases showed up when they borders were opened, so the governments have closed it down again.  The missionaries that are arriving here are all from Australia.  

Last week we were busy as missionaries were transferring to new areas, the senior couples were training new arrivals, and President and his wife were hosting the good-bye dinner for those who were leaving.  One missionary was to fly to South America.  Arriving at he airport early the next morning, he found out the flight had been cancelled.  We feel for these young people that have willingly sacrificed so much, spent two years and more during this crazy time only to have some disappointment face them pretty regularly.  Happily, he was booked on another flight and left for his home on Saturday.  Some of these missionaries have already served over 30 months instead of the normal 24 and the months just continue to accumulate.

I started leading the ESL classes again.  I am tutoring two individuals by Zoom one day a week, teaching a woman and her friend who want to improve their skills at another time, and then doing another Zoom for all of our other non-native English speakers.  We have around 40 that do not speak English as their first language.  I was even surprised when a number of them reported to me and others that they missed our weekly classes.  "Really? I thought.  The expectations must not be very high!" So, here I am still trying to assess what they really need and guiding it online.  I have such empathy for all teachers trying to motivate and guide learning by remote settings.  It works, but I am wondering just how effective it will actually be in the long run.     

We took a little hike around Mona Vale to Narrabeen and saw lots of other beaches along the way.  The coastline is just magnificent and it is such fun to look for whales and dolphins.  We haven't noticed any sharks though there have been some sightings and unfortunately even a death recently.  The beaches along here were less crowded and seemed even a bit more isolated than others.  

We watched this paraglider for awhile.  Though the day was overcast and a little windy along our trail, he made landing look so easy.  Maybe our friend, Tony Barton, will give us lessons up in Newcastle!

At the Narrabeen Sand Dunes, we laughed along with parents watching their kids sand surf.  Many ended up in the lagoon which was just part of the fun.  I could see all my grandchildren loving that also.