Rich Melheim, Debbie Streicher and I are almost 2/3 of the way done with our trip around Australia. It has been an immensely fulfilling trip, full of wonderful people and interesting places.

We’ve been traveling a lot with only a short time in between events, so instead of a full-fledged article for this month's newsletter, I present a Brief List of Things I’ve Learned In Australia (in no particular order): 

1. One does not root for a team. In Australia, you barrack for a team.


2. A fortnight is two weeks. (I had no idea.)


3. Many Lutheran churches have only about 20 minutes for Sunday School on a Sunday morning.


4. To calculate a rough idea of Celsius into Fahrenheit, you double the temperature and add 20 degrees.


5. Kangaroo meat is served rare, because it gets tough when cooked too long.


6. Aussies love to watch Americans eat kangaroo because they themselves rarely do.


7. Most confirmation classes are well below ten in number.


8. We don’t stay at a host home, we billet.


9. A bottle of Coke costs about $3.25 US.


10. Australian Rules Football is a really exciting game where you can even score points when you miss. (They take their AFL as seriously as many in the US take the NFL.)


11. Australian Rules Football makes no sense to an American raised on the NFL.


12. July weather in the places we’ve traveled so far (Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth) is like mid-October in my home state of Minnesota.


13. All Lutheran Pastors in Australia seem to know each other.


14. Qantas Airlines still serves food on domestic flights.


15. Every time I say “G’day” to an Australian, they look at me like I’m speaking a foreign language.


16. Many Aussies, when told my name is “Monty,” think I’ve actually said my name is “Marty.” (Must be my accent.)


17. You don’t say “How are you doing?,” you say “How are you going?"


18. Paper and photocopies cost 4-5 times as much in Australia.


19. There is only one kangaroo in the country. (We’ve only seen one in two weeks. It was not the same one we ate.)


20. Aussies are some of the most friendly, caring, and wonderful people on the planet.

Earlier this month I had my one year anniversary of my heart stopping. We entertained friends on the deck overlooking the beautiful St. Croix River, blew bubbles with a lot of giggling children, talked about "What would you do if you knew you only had a year to live?" and they sang "Happy Death Day" to me.

After my incident, the doctor told me I'd have to rethink three things: diet, exercise and stress.

I asked him, "How about two out of three?"

He didn't buy it. So, I started running to Wisconsin every morning from my house across the Stillwater Bridge, got rid of red meat and fried foods, and shifted my work toward all the stuff I love to do (handing all the stuff I don't love to do to others... who now have the stress).

So, what were the "Top Ten" things I loved to do in these last 12 months of new life?

1. I started a new non-profit, "The Preschool Incubators Project"
2. Started a cartoon company "EduToonz"
3. Cartooned the Book of Acts in a new Home Journal that's out next month called "Word Spreads"
4. Threw a party for my  friend Dr. He Qi during his show at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC
5. Threw a "Thank You Pastor Ray" party for my 88 year old dad - dragging kids from our old youth group in for the surprise
6. Took my kids to "Wicked" in Chicago and "Spamalot" on Broadway
7. Entertained an Aussie sheep farmer and playright in Stillwater, then 8 Aussie youth revolutionaries
8. Helped my dad sell his house and move into assisted living
9. Helped my daughter move to Concordia College
10. Took 8 musicians to Puerto Rico and 16 to Aspen, CO to write 200 songs and six cartoon scripts

I'm currently in Australia and New Zealand for a month of teaching/training of some wonderful Christian education systems change-agents across the continent.

Not a bad year for a dead Lutheran? (Dead Lutheran... now there's an oxymoron!)

I think I have the funnest call in the church.

What will the new year of "borrowed time" bring?  We shall see.

Rich

PS: At my "Happy Death Day Party" I grilled a T-bone - the first piece of red meat I've had in a year. It was delicious. I think I'll do it again next year.

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