Uluru

Australia is amazing. It has so many wonders and the rest of the world seems to neglect its existence. Perhaps it is because it is so far away; or maybe it is because the island/ continent itself is so isolated. Bill Bryson says,

The fact is, of course, we pay shamefully scant attention to our dear cousins Down Under---not entirely without reason...Australia is...mostly empty and a long way away...;as an economic entity, it ranks about level with Illinois. Its sports are of little interest to us and the last television series it made that we watched with avidity was Skippy. From time to time it sends us useful things....Above all, Australia doesn't misbehave. It is stable and peaceful and good.... But even allowing this, our neglect of Australian affairs is curious. (3-4)

Even though we pay very little attention to Australia, or (to better put it) do not appreciate the country to its potential because we're so far away--- I believe each of us has always, secretly, wanted to go there. Not one of the many people who I told I am going to Australia on a mission has made a face of disgust; oppositely, in fact, everyone has been very excited for me. I can tell that some of them are jealous. Why shouldn't they be? Though overlooked at times, Australia is an amazing place. It is pretty neat, to say the least, that I get to go--- for a year and a half!

Why does the world pay so little attention to Australia? It is truly a beautiful place, and a wonder. Take, for example, Uluru, aka: Ayers Rock. "The thing about Ayers Rock," Bill Bryson says, "is that by the time you finally get there you are already sick of it. Even when you are a thousand miles from it, you can't go a day in Australia without seeing it four or five or six times---postcards, on travel agents' posters, on the cover of souvenir picture book---and as you get nearer the rock the frequency of exposure increases...." (255). Bill Bryson continues to say that even though he had seen pictures of it and even though it is, in reality, just a rock, he was---nevertheless!--- enraptured by it. He couldn't take his eyes off it.
In his own words:

And then you see it, and you are instantly transfixed....I have discussed this since with many other people, nearly all of whom were left agog in a way they could not adequately explain....It is exactly what you expected it to be.... It does feel weird. Quite apart from that initial shock of indefinable recognition, there is also the fact that Uluru is, no how you approach it, totally arresting. You cannot stop looking at it; you don't want to stop looking at it. As you draw closer, it becomes even more interesting. It is more pitted than you had imagined, less regular in shape....You realize that you could spend quite a lot of time---possibly a worryingly large amount of time; possibly a-sell-your-house-and-move-here-to-live-in-a-tent amount of time---just looking at the rock, gazing at it from many angles, never tiring of it. (256-7)

I have become accustomed to thinking about the idea of going to Australia. I sometimes feel like Bill Bryson on his way to Uluru who was sick of the rock before he even got there. I feel exhausted from talking and thinking about being a missionary and saying that I am going to Australia has become so mundane.

But when I really sit down and think about--- I mean really think about it!---I'm in awe. I'm like Bill Bryson staring at Uluru, unable to move his gaze. I cannot stop thinking about Australia: kangaroos, crocodiles, and all of its many interesting creatures; Perth's beautiful sky scrapers; its beaches, bluest of blue waters, and breathtaking sunsets....