Walking in a winter wonderland...in June!

Yes, it was very weird to realize it was Memorial Day, but yet a Tuesday and the beginning of winter... being in the Southern Hemisphere is a constant inner battle for me to try to get a hold of what time of the year it is, the weather, the date, the time, etc etc. Everything my body senses doesn't ever match the calendar. I'm just in a constant state of flip-flop, but I like it. About the time I'll just be getting used to it... I'll be back in the US and having to convert my brain and intuition back to the other Hemisphere!

Anyway, for 3 weeks in June Brisbane has this huge downtown Winter festival--with an ice skating rink, free hot tea, and a snow drop!

See the tiny flakes of snow in front of the King George Square clock tower?! It was pretty cool and happened to the be one of the coldest day on records in the past decade in Brisbane, so the snow actually fit (it was still only a record low of 60 degrees, but it felt WAY colder). However, in an attempt to play wintery music, they ended up playing "Winter Wonderland" and songs that are just true blue Christmas Carols. That got a bit weird for me and the 2 other Ambassadorial Scholars from the US...

Last weekend, we had Amy, an Ambassadorial Scholar from the Canada/US to Wellington, New Zealand visiting Brisbane. Like the good hosts we are, us Brisbane Ambassadorial scholars had to take a time out from my friend's birthday festivities to take a dorky Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars group photo! From left to right is Amy, Kyle, me, and Morgan.