From Sara

I aplogize to facebook WHO WILL GET THIS TWICE

/26/09

Wednesday we took the train up to Sydney. What a trip! For one thing, we met all sorts of interesting characters. There was a boy on the train who had walked all the way through the bottoms of his Ugg boots, so they were just stirruped under his soles by two think scraps of leather. He might have had Tourette's Disorder because of the way he kept clapping his hands and stomping one foot, but all in all he was mostly out looking for trouble. He systematically went down the list of rules posted on the wall and broke everyone of them – from lighting a cigarette to putting his feet on the seat and spitting on the floor. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I met an old woman who was so small, she looked like a walnut that someone had dressed up and glued googly-eyes to. She was going up to Sydney to visit her daughter, and was extraordinarily enthusiastic about the trip.

We got off in Sydney at an enormous shopping center called Bondi Junction. I have never seen so many shoes in my life. Everything was noise, noise, noise, motion, color, and half off. I bought a large wraparound scarf there (maroon and black, soft, warm, pretty, half off), and Nick got a bandana with the Australian flag on it. We both made our purchases at a place called “The Bargain Kings Store.” The owner was a real hoot – this old man who gave us a tour of the whole place. He was especially keen on selling us some of his severed kangaroo foot backscratchers, only 35 dollars. (Tragically, we turned him down.) He also adopted Nick, unawares, showing him his special animal skins collection and slyly telling him which of the clubs down the street had belly dancers on Wednesday nights.

Eventually we ended up at Bondi Beach, one of the largest and most famous beaches in the world. We got lost walking there, and so didn’t arrive until sunset (which, here, starts at four o’clock in the afternoon). The water was too cold to swim, but we had a good time wading and watching the parents and children build sandcastles. The children were especially fun to watch splashing along the shore. I think seashells double in splendor when being celebrated in the hands of a dancing four-year-old.

The train ride back was quiet. Dad ate pizza while Nick and I read. The only unusual thing there, was that at every small town stop we picked up more and more Barbie-doll college girls going up to the clubs at Wollongong. I have never seen so many short, glittering skirts, tan legs, and hairsprayed mountains of blonde in my life. Apparently Wednesdays are a big club night here. No explanations, just sequins.

Yesterday, Dad, Nick and I all took a bus up to the Nan Tien Mahayana Buddhist Temple. It is the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern hemisphere, and it is just outside of Wollongong. We went in to see if we could register in person for a day of meditation tomorrow (Saturday). Initially, they hadn’t had room because people must register ahead of time, but it turns out space opened up. While Dad sorted out the paper work, Nick and I admired the great garden work surrounding the temple base. The temple had two main parts with different décor, shining golden Buddha statues, and different offerings of fruit, light, and incense. One was above the other, with a large staircase connecting them, and a beautifully gardened courtyard in between. At each temple entrance was a large sand pot with a single stick of incense burning at the center. Rows of abandoned shoes – some neatly removed, some eagerly tossed into heaps – completed the decorations at the doors.

The three of us did some other exploring on the grounds – walking along several of the well-groomed trails, admiring the red berries and brilliant purple flowers that bloom during the winters here. The effect of these colors was surreal when set against a background of autumnal golden leaves from the fading willows. A pond full of circling carp was surrounded by dried lotuses, with benches scattered openly for those who desired a moment of rest or meditation. A shave-headed monk in flowing orange robes meditated over each scrap of bread as he threw it to the pond ducks below.
We lunched at the vegetarian café. The meals served there are some of the healthiest meals possible, cooked specifically to encourage longevity and honor the heart. I don’t believe I have ever eaten better. We were each served heaping trays of food which none of us could finish – noodles, breaded mushrooms, sautéed broccoli, rice, browned tofu rolls that tasted like sausage, and other deliciously mixed vegetables. For dessert, a single slice of apple soaked in pear and lemon juice.
After lunch we visited the gift shop and museum, looking up our Chinese Zodiacs, paging through books of wisdom, and learning much about the different kinds of Buddhism by the inscriptions under paintings and statues. One especially fascinating exhibit was the Hall of Mirrors, which reflected hundreds of Buddha statues, all based on an arrangement of mirrors around four larger Buddha statues. The interesting thing was that no visitor standing in front of these Buddhas could be similarly reflected. Somehow, the mirrors only reflected these golden Buddhas. Another supremely curious exhibit centered around a collection of practically invisible tablets that had been created out of human hair and eggshell. Upon peering through an intense magnifying glass, however, one could read the smallest of inscriptions and see extraordinarily detailed little paintings – all completely invisible to the naked eye.
We concluded our visit with a climb up the steep steps toward the pagoda, where the monks bury their dead. We did not go inside, but a glance inside revealed more crimson and gold statuary, hazy with incense, and flickering candles illuminating visitors kneeling in prayer and meditation. Thousands of smaller golden Buddhas each held their own niches in the honeycomb-like walls.
I cannot begin to describe how excited am I to spend an entire day there tomorrow.

-- Sara Ann