Australia - First Fervor

Around 5:30 AM the first noises in the hall began to wake me up. With some 100 or so people on this floor – most of them students – it’s likely that some would wake up early to get ready for the day. In this case it was the Kiwis, as I found out later, following Br. Anthony’s instruction to be ready in the downstairs lobby at 6:30 AM. Since it would be pointless to try to sleep any longer, I too awoke and got ready for the day. Most of the next few hours after cleaning up and putting myself together for the day were spent processing the pictures and writing the first blog entry.

At 8 AM (the agreed-upon time) those from our group who wanted to go to breakfast met downstairs and left to find Muleta’s Café (422 Queen St.) where breakfasts had been arranged for. We first walked the wrong way, and gave the wrong advise to the group from Malaysia, before figuring out that Muleta’s was staring us right in the face across the street from where we had left. However, the guys used the opportunity to take some group pictures right there on the street. First it was one camera, then two, then a whole pile of them. Pictures completed, we proceeded to the café.

Inside Muleta’s, we found out that the pre-arranged breakfast was a simple but sufficient one of toast, tea/coffee, juice, and cereal. Pretty soon the place was pretty much filled with the Lasallian groups staying at the Discovery Hotel, all happily munching away at their breakfast, with some even going so far as trying out the Vegemite on their toast (think soy sauce in a pasty form).

Breakfast done, we had some free time until noon. I spent the entire time downstairs in the common area of the place, where the wifi was strongest (none reached my room), and completed my blog work. Others went for walks and tram rides around Melbourne.

At noon we all met in the Big Room for prayer, for which I was responsible this time. The theme I’d chosen was “Our Vocation” and the prayer lasted about 20 – 25 minutes, including some good intercessions from the gruop. This was followed by some practical details, and then Br. Peter told us to begin making our way over to De La Salle College in Malvern by 2 PM. Different little groups went out for lunch before heading over. I thought I’d make my way to Malvern slowly but ended up getting something to eat nearby and then hooking up with three of the guys (Robb, Eric, and Chris) to go to Malvern by way of train, convinced that this was faster than the tram (turned out that is was – by a long shot).

When we got to the Melbourne Central station, we (picture- - l to r: Robb, Eric, and Chris) reached the platform just as a train for Malvern was ready to leave. The guys ran for it, and even though the doors were half-closed, Chris grabbed the door, leaned into it to pull it open, and reflexively looked over his shoulder to the front of the train. He explained later that in New York subways that usually does the trick. Either the doors reopen themselves or the conductor sticks his head out, yells out a none-too-friendly greeting (“But it’s really just a hello,” says Chris) and flicks a switch to open to doors momentarily. Melbourne is not New York City, we found out. While the people in the train on the other side of the door looked at us with some confusion and alarm, the doors continued to close and Chris had to let go. I have no idea what the people on the platform thought of us, but I wish I’d gotten a picture of Chris’ NYC strategy in action.

As it happened, the next train was an express and got to Malvern in a jiffy. Once there, there was some discussion as to which direction to take on foot, but after a couple of false starts we recognized a couple of stores from the previous day and were on our way.

Reaching the school, there were some large groups of Lasallians there already. Pretty soon, the Vietnamese group (67 strong) had organized some group games which others joined for fun. I met Br. Dennis, who lived there and was walking a dog in the yard, and a little time later myself and several other visiting Brothers were sitting down to tea in the community house next door, with new Brother arrivals joining us over the next half hour, including David Hawke and Ambrose Payne and a number who remembered me from when I was here before to give a retreat.

When the time neared for the first major event, we made our way over to the church nearby and found some good seating. The church was rather small, but the 550 of us fit into it cozily enough. The opening ceremonies involved the marching in of the flags from the various countries represented, accompanied by loud cheers and the singing of a song “We Are Lasallian” written for the occasion. (I'll try to upload some video to YouTube today and include it in the blog tomorrow.) The group certainly was a lively one, and pretty soon we were all fully engaged. Then the Opening Mass started, led by Fr. Chris from New Zealand, who himself had written quite a number of songs on Lasallian themes (he sung one as part of the homily). The music was led by student musicians, mostly, and was typically lively and contemporary. It was Brendan from our group who carried in the American flag, to a lot a cheering. But he was surprised to learn at the last minute that "North America" would come in by itself (as Australia and some other countries had done). It was a nice gesture and made sense.

At the end of the Mass we proceeded back to the school for an Australian barbeque. You can imagine the coordination that goes into a meal prepared for over 500 people, especially if you’re doing it all yourself, with the help of volunteers. But Ivan (from yesterday’s blog) pulled it off and everyone seemed quite happy to sit on the cement in the semi-darkness enjoying their Australian BBQ fare. Groups of students afterwards began again to organize large-group games of various sorts while others went around to meet new Lasallian friends from other countries. I met and sat with a group of women from Papua New Guinea.

The meal occurred at around 6:15 PM and an hour later we were gathering in the school’s gym for a presentation by a prominent Australian psychologist. He was very good at engaging the group in areas that they would be interested in (what it takes to be happy, according to the research, and how Christian principles are backed up by psychological research). It’s not easy to keep over 500 restless teens interested for an hour, but he managed to do so pretty well. Right after the talk, he fairly ran out of the place, probably because today, we were told, was also his wedding anniversary. Quite the situation at home, I’m sure, for a man of his profession. The most interesting conclusion of the research, to my mind, was the fact that if you had 30 eggs to place in the three baskets of Self, Family, and Work, research says you should put 15 into Self (all the good things you can and should do for yourself – spiritual, physical, relational), 10 into Family (keeping good relationships, etc.) and 5 into Work. This is true because a healthy Self will help make the Family effort twice as effective, and both of them will lead to high quality Work.

Then there was a short break before going back to the chapel for night prayer (some readings, a number of popular Christian songs, and a closing ferverino little talk). At the end of it all – about 9:30 or so – we made our way back the way we came. It was pretty dark now, and the shops were closed, but everything was quite safe. It only took a little time to figure out at the train station how to get back to Melbourne Central. During the ride on the train, Robb and Eric and I had some very good conversations about the Church, young people today, and contemporary issues. They were serious young men who took their faith quite seriously as well, and it’s great to have these kinds of conversations on an experience such as this. Then it was simply a short walk to get to the grand Discovery Hotel and the prospect of some sleep. But I knew that I would want to stay up, like I’m doing now, to process the pictures I took and write the blog. I’ll upload them tomorrow morning, since I can’t get a signal in my room, but at least I’ll have things ready to go. Done by midnight.

All in all, today was a fine start to our gathering. Enthusiasm is high and folks are quite friendly. I ran into a couple of friends (from Lebanon and Brazil and Australia) in the Brothers whom I haven’t seen since the General Chapter last year, and I’m making new friends among the Brothers who are acting as chaperones for their student groups. Now if I can only get some good sleep tonight, since the psychologist explained how crucial that was to our mental health – and I can use all the help I can get in that department.