Monday 28 May 2012

Temples and Things



What's so significant about this image? The original sculpture stands in an old church in Copenhagen, Denmark. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were granted permission to replicate it for the visiter's centre at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I took Jordan to the one in Copenhagen, and here we were standing in front of its twin in SLC. It was awesome.

As you may have already gathered, Saturday called for a trip up to Temple Square. The spring flowers were in full bloom and people were enjoying the beautiful temple grounds. Jordan and I went to the visiter's centre and looked at a number of important, historical church buildings. For a Latter-Day Saint, a trip to Temple Square is some sort of pilgrimage I suppose. It was a really good experience to see for real all of these beautiful places that we see so frequently on a daily basis as members of the church. A friend of mine, Anja is currently serving a mission at Temple Square and I was hoping to run into her - but unfortunately we didn't cross paths.

Here are some pictures (unfortunately Saturday was overcast)








This is what Jordan did when I told him to sniff the pretty flowers...



After our trip to Temple Square, we walked past some administrative buildings, through an outdoor shopping complex and then towards the best American meal I have eaten thus far...




BIG but utterly delicious pizza.



Yesterday after church we went for a walk at the temple in American Fork. It's probably one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen and is set before mount Timpanogos. It's stunning. The dogs enjoyed the stroll, too. Unfortunately I forgot my camera this time!

When I told American friends I was going to Utah, most of them were wondering what it was that I would do in Utah (as if there was nothing at all to do here). There is plenty to do in Utah and it's absolutely beautiful. So SO beautiful. Here is a picture of only some of the mountains that can be seen from Jordan's back fence.



As for the rest of last week - well, it was spent crocheting. I was making a baby blanket for Shelby, (Jordan's sister who is soon to have a baby), but I got super excited and the blanket grew and grew and grew (it's still growing and far from completion. Must crochet the border, too!).

That and documentaries on this amazing thing called Netflix is what is keeping me entertained from 6am till 5pm (the hours that Jordan is at work). But I'm not complaining. I don't think it could be much better right now. I'm so happy to be here and so grateful to have all of these experiences.

- Alice

Monday 21 May 2012

Dixie

They call southern Utah 'Dixie' and that's where we headed to last weekend. Jordan's aunt has a house down there that's become a family holiday house (this is just 2 hours north of Las Vegas, but we didn't go down there). The place is big enough to accommodate a small army, so when Hunter and Heidi invited us down, we were up for it.

To get to Hurricane, we drove more than 4 hours south. It was quite the hike. I'm definitely no longer in Europe. The vast open spaces, rocky mountains and bright orange deserts proved that. The house is literally in a desert. It's the strangest thing to see suburban looking houses grouped together in a desert. They don't look at all like they belong there. It's as if they fell from outer space and planted themselves in the sand. Look!



On Saturday morning we had breakfast out in a town called St. George. Breakfast was enormous and enormously sweet.

This is what they call 'French Toast' :



Jordan had mentioned that the fundamentalist LDS church (which is a cult) was rather present in southern Utah and had even said that we may see some groups of wives down at Walmart. And funnily enough, as soon as we pulled up, three wives got out of the car. Obviously I didn't take any pictures of them out of respect, but they looked like this:


And it was really strange to see... It sparked a lot of questions and we discussed it in detail as a group (once back in the car). Two of the women were older (middle-aged), though there was also a girl who couldn't have been older than fifteen and it just made me feel sad...

On a different note, that afternoon we headed down to Sandy Hollow, a state park right by the house. The colours of the sand were incredible, as were the surrounding views. We took a dip in the lake and then drove around the dune buggy tracks. It was great fun, but I was so distracted by how beautiful everything was!












It was incredible! Here's a picture of us all together:



Jordan, me, Heidi and Hunter.

Home again and back to work for Jordan (back to crocheting for me). I'm making a blanket and yes,  it has become an obsession. You know how it is, once you start these things it's hard to stop.

Over and out,


Alice

Tuesday 15 May 2012

The Last Week

Last week was spent at home. It was spent at home because:

A. Exams were finally over and I had no place I needed to be (quel relief!)

B. The time had come to start packing up and sending belongings home to Australia

C. I had a terrible head ache that wouldn't go away


Well... I did get out a little. The sun was shining, I was liberated and I was in Lyon after all. Here are some snaps:






On Friday I packed up camp and headed to Paris, where I spent two days with Chloé. It was cool to see her new studio apartment. While eating by the window I jokingly said 'so all we're missing now is a view of the Eiffel Tower.' She then casually pointed to the right and told me that it was just there. Here is a photo of said view.


We spent one afternoon walking around the Tuilléries. It never gets old... And it's so beautiful this time of year.




Then I said good bye to Paris again, this time for a while...



And got on a plane to fly 11 hours West... To be with Jordan in the United States. Because sometimes amazing places are just more fun when you explore them with the person you love.




Friday 4 May 2012

Bleak

If you were to ask me about exams, I wouldn't be able to tell you much. I could, however tell you that the pre-exam stress was a horrible, literally nail-biting experience.

The only comments I could make about my exams would be that:

A. I'm really not interested as to what previous President Jimmy Carter's stance on Latin America was

B. Informing a student that they'll have to sit their final exam (worth 100% of their grade) just four days before is just wrong

Today I sat my first oral exam here. It was for anthropology (what the heck?!). Apparently here in France it is quite normal to have exams of this kind... At the end of the exam my professor said to me "Are you sure that my classes didn't bore you too much?" This was the same professor who decided that the content of his Friday morning classes would not be assessed in the final exam. He was also the guy who came to class unprepared, coughed every 30 seconds and mumbled about 'primitive' societies. Bored? No. Irritated? Yes.

So, since arriving in France I've come across a franchise called 'Miwam'. I was always intrigued to know what exactly a Miwam is... It appeared to be nothing but a fancy toasted sandwich. Today I had my first... And it turned out to be just that : A fancy toasted sandwich. It also tasted like cardboard and the 'organic' lemon infused sugar drink I had with it was unimpressive. If you would like to see what a Miwam actually is, refer to their website :

http://www.miwam.fr/ See? Looks impressive. Looks good! Then again, they aren't going to tell you that it tastes like cardboard, it's pre-made and its contents aren't thoroughly heated.

The French seem to have an obsession with things being organic. Here you will find organic aisles in supermarkets and even organic stores in their own right. It's considered stylish and classy to eat 'organic'. I understand that to consume products free of any 'nasties' (as we call them in Australia) is a positive thing... It's just interesting to see how much a nation can hype over organic or as they call it here, 'bio'. To eat 'bio' is a social statement.

What I learned this week: Just because it's 'bio', doesn't mean that it tastes good... Or that it's good for you.

In other news, I was shocked and disappointed to hear from my mother about a certain documentary that aired on Australia's '4 corners', expressing a number of mistruths about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This of course airs at a time when there is significant political hype over Mitt Romney's running for president and his 'mormonism'. Being a member myself of the Latter-Day Saint community, I am disappointed by this hype that seeks to demonise what I believe to be true. My church is a mighty institution that seeks to do good and bring the light of Christ into peoples' lives through acts of service and love. The church has a humanitarian aid program which has donated more than US $1 billion since 1985 to countries and communities enduring various hardships.

According to the church website : http://mormon.org,

The Church does not discriminate based on religious affiliation, ethnicity or nationality. We offer hope and the potential for a life that transcends disease, poverty and despair. It’s all part of God’s plan that we bear each other’s burdens and act as His hands on earth. The Church’s welfare program also helps people in need locally by offering temporary assistance in the form of food, clothing and in the search for employment. Recipients are given the opportunity to work, if possible, in exchange for this assistance.


The church also has the largest society of women in the world and focuses on the strengthening of families and importance of good citizenship.


THE CHURCH IS NOT A CULT.


If anyone reading this has any questions regarding the actions of the church, or indeed the beliefs of the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, I invite them to consult the following websites:

www.mormon.org and www.lds.org

I've decided to leave you with this video, which I believe is a much better explanation of the LDS faith than any documentary depicting lies and deceptions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#the-first-step

Those of you who saw Four Corners would know that the church made an official statement concerning the airing of the documentary and would know that what depicted is a false and inaccurate interpretation of what the 'mormons' are all really about.

On that note, I'll leave you with a picture of Jordan. This is how I feel at the moment, trying to pack up all of my things.



You can accumulate quite a lot throughout the course of an academic year! I'm very pleased to be finished here with school and I'm aching to be back at the University of Melbourne. For now, though - I'm young, I'm free and the sun will very soon be shining (we've had a rainy week)
Watch out world!

- Alice