OK.
So I guess you can say i've finally got just over a week left before I return! I'm soo happy.
Not only is that good news, I'm finally taking my official first day off tomorrow. And the best part is, I'm taking 2 days off. YAY!!!
I'm planning to hit the beach tomorrow but forecasts say that it'll be raining all day... Well, hopefully that wont happen cuz then I'll be wondering the streets on a day off doing nothing but shopping?? lol
I dont want to shop anymore. I will have like no room in my luggage. I wanna buy a new phone but its so expensive!!!! grrrrr but whatever. maybe it'll be better if I didn't buy a new phone. we'll see. I'll ahve to see if it's really worth the price and tax... hahaha
Anyways, beach and massage are my plans tomorrow. Doing my final recording of our song from Sichuan called "One Family" on friday. Hopefully I'll be able to concentrate on those Mandarin words hahaha I already forgot. I'm so excited for the recording I can't wait. Not only will i be able to do that, I get to meet Tiff for the 1st time in 4 years!!! AHAHAH SOOO LONG. WOOT. talk about reunion.
That's the plan, camp starts saturday so long stressful journey before I come home. Till tomorrow!
7.22.2009
7.19.2009
2 more WEEKS!!!!
Ok... The final stretch is on its way. 2 weeks and I'm FINALLY home!!! YAY
SOOOO Excited!!!!!
So here's my story this past week or whenever I stopped writing last... July 13?? ahaha
Ok. So rehearsals all last week went pretty well. Guess it was all the time I spent at the piano practicing diligently :D. Proud?? cuz I am. hehe I literally spent 4 hours every day practicing the songs I had to play and sing for the upcoming morning assembly with Rachel and next weeks LA Camp. Ok, I have to admit, the singing and playing part isn't quite down yet for some songs, but I'm 87% there. Close enough right?? It's passable for me.
Not only did rehearsals go great, everything else started to seem to slow down just a tad and things were starting to get checked off the checklist. The artwork, drawings, music were coming along relatively fast and I guess I can now kinda relax because I most certainly need it. The week did go by slightly slower than usual probably because I was also slowing down. Stress and work were starting to take its toll and I can see it in my body and my muscles are definitely not cooperating. A stiff bed doesn't really help a much needed good night sleep either.
Well I also certainly had a nice break yesterday. July 18 was a good day because I got to go to Ocean Park again, but this time I could actually relate and have a little more fun than the first time I went. I got to spend the day with another co-worker/volunteer and her co-workers which was absolutely hilarious. Even though I did get many calls from work saying that they've hoisted a level 1 Typhoon warning, I still ignored them and continued on to enjoy my day. It seriously was hot, stuffy and humid but that didn't stop us from doing our best to fit in the rides and the water exhibit they were having.
Since I went on the equivalent "Drop of Doom" last time, we hit up a different set of rides. The mine train and log ride were the first two along with lunch before they hoisted a level 3 typhoon warning around 2pm. They shut down all outside rides which means they basically shut down Ocean Park. It wasn't that bad I supposed. We still got to see the pandas and other animals in their exhibits inside which I loved to see yet again and they were actually active this time too lol. I missed out on the Drop of Doom and sky rollercoaster but that's quite alright.
We finished off the day with a very wet water park. It was crowded but a lot of people went home and we only really needed to wait in line to have some water fun for about 10 min. They had the most entertaining indoor/outdoor water park fun I've seen. I most definitely enjoyed it especially when an unexpected water balloon comes flying at you unexpectedly. lol Just because I look dry doesn't mean I'm wet... lol Well the best part about the water park was that the typhoon hit when we were playing. WICKED!!! so even if you didn't want to get wet, you still did. I think it was relative to about Typhoon 5. Winds were pretty bad and rain was literally spraying sideways. I enjoyed it hahaha as awkward as it is.
Anyways, we left around 630 since there was nothing else to do and that basically concludes the day.
Today, Sunday July 19, I woke up to a very very wet bedroom. Yes the typhoon carried its way all through the night and I was informed that it hit a level 9 typhoon. Perhaps that would explain the 5cm deep water layer across my floor. Luckily for me, it only reached the first couple feet of my room. Any further and I could be swimming :D. I guess I was so tired that I didn't realize that it was pounding outside and I had a harbour view.
I don't think they cleaned my room yet so I believe I'll be going back to a lovely wet room. I had a very relaxing day especially when basically 10 people came to help finish everything. Painting, sculptures, sheets, and fishes were finally done! You have NO IDEA how happy I am to see fishes done. 104 fishes were made. I made 60... hahaha WOOT. Anyways, that and music is now all sorted. All i need to do is focus on what I'm going to share on and I'll be finally done, until tomorrow I get more unexpected news.
I'm taking thursday off whether my employer likes it or not because I need a day to rest and get outside of the office area. Hopefully it'll be slightly relaxing and maybe some good weather so I could possibly hit the beach?? Well This week should be relatively less stressful and I hope it will be because next week I get to run with the camp. YAY!
Oh, I get a roommate starting tomorrow night! Guess I better clean the room and make sure that the water is gone. I think it might ruin the floor... Oh well.
Anyways, 2 weeks till I come home. This time I'll actually start to blog every day till I get home! YAY can't wait to be home.
I just saw recent pictures of Calgary from a friend who one the Nissan Cube. I might be a couple weeks late but I sure miss the slow rolling clouds, blue/orange/pink/red sky; Calgary traffic; the sounds; less people; waking up to a sunrise; sigh. So close and yet so far away. So much to do too when I get back AHHH
lol
Anyways, worry about this week before I get home. Perhaps I should also worry about my 2 medium sized luggage supporting all the stuff i have to horde back... I think 1 large and 1 medium is about the amount i have to bring back... hahaha We'll see when i start packing later next week.
SOOOO Excited!!!!!
So here's my story this past week or whenever I stopped writing last... July 13?? ahaha
Ok. So rehearsals all last week went pretty well. Guess it was all the time I spent at the piano practicing diligently :D. Proud?? cuz I am. hehe I literally spent 4 hours every day practicing the songs I had to play and sing for the upcoming morning assembly with Rachel and next weeks LA Camp. Ok, I have to admit, the singing and playing part isn't quite down yet for some songs, but I'm 87% there. Close enough right?? It's passable for me.
Not only did rehearsals go great, everything else started to seem to slow down just a tad and things were starting to get checked off the checklist. The artwork, drawings, music were coming along relatively fast and I guess I can now kinda relax because I most certainly need it. The week did go by slightly slower than usual probably because I was also slowing down. Stress and work were starting to take its toll and I can see it in my body and my muscles are definitely not cooperating. A stiff bed doesn't really help a much needed good night sleep either.
Well I also certainly had a nice break yesterday. July 18 was a good day because I got to go to Ocean Park again, but this time I could actually relate and have a little more fun than the first time I went. I got to spend the day with another co-worker/volunteer and her co-workers which was absolutely hilarious. Even though I did get many calls from work saying that they've hoisted a level 1 Typhoon warning, I still ignored them and continued on to enjoy my day. It seriously was hot, stuffy and humid but that didn't stop us from doing our best to fit in the rides and the water exhibit they were having.
Since I went on the equivalent "Drop of Doom" last time, we hit up a different set of rides. The mine train and log ride were the first two along with lunch before they hoisted a level 3 typhoon warning around 2pm. They shut down all outside rides which means they basically shut down Ocean Park. It wasn't that bad I supposed. We still got to see the pandas and other animals in their exhibits inside which I loved to see yet again and they were actually active this time too lol. I missed out on the Drop of Doom and sky rollercoaster but that's quite alright.
We finished off the day with a very wet water park. It was crowded but a lot of people went home and we only really needed to wait in line to have some water fun for about 10 min. They had the most entertaining indoor/outdoor water park fun I've seen. I most definitely enjoyed it especially when an unexpected water balloon comes flying at you unexpectedly. lol Just because I look dry doesn't mean I'm wet... lol Well the best part about the water park was that the typhoon hit when we were playing. WICKED!!! so even if you didn't want to get wet, you still did. I think it was relative to about Typhoon 5. Winds were pretty bad and rain was literally spraying sideways. I enjoyed it hahaha as awkward as it is.
Anyways, we left around 630 since there was nothing else to do and that basically concludes the day.
Today, Sunday July 19, I woke up to a very very wet bedroom. Yes the typhoon carried its way all through the night and I was informed that it hit a level 9 typhoon. Perhaps that would explain the 5cm deep water layer across my floor. Luckily for me, it only reached the first couple feet of my room. Any further and I could be swimming :D. I guess I was so tired that I didn't realize that it was pounding outside and I had a harbour view.
I don't think they cleaned my room yet so I believe I'll be going back to a lovely wet room. I had a very relaxing day especially when basically 10 people came to help finish everything. Painting, sculptures, sheets, and fishes were finally done! You have NO IDEA how happy I am to see fishes done. 104 fishes were made. I made 60... hahaha WOOT. Anyways, that and music is now all sorted. All i need to do is focus on what I'm going to share on and I'll be finally done, until tomorrow I get more unexpected news.
I'm taking thursday off whether my employer likes it or not because I need a day to rest and get outside of the office area. Hopefully it'll be slightly relaxing and maybe some good weather so I could possibly hit the beach?? Well This week should be relatively less stressful and I hope it will be because next week I get to run with the camp. YAY!
Oh, I get a roommate starting tomorrow night! Guess I better clean the room and make sure that the water is gone. I think it might ruin the floor... Oh well.
Anyways, 2 weeks till I come home. This time I'll actually start to blog every day till I get home! YAY can't wait to be home.
I just saw recent pictures of Calgary from a friend who one the Nissan Cube. I might be a couple weeks late but I sure miss the slow rolling clouds, blue/orange/pink/red sky; Calgary traffic; the sounds; less people; waking up to a sunrise; sigh. So close and yet so far away. So much to do too when I get back AHHH
lol
Anyways, worry about this week before I get home. Perhaps I should also worry about my 2 medium sized luggage supporting all the stuff i have to horde back... I think 1 large and 1 medium is about the amount i have to bring back... hahaha We'll see when i start packing later next week.
7.08.2009
Laziness is getting the better of me :D
Ok. I admit, I have been a little lazy for the past week or so. I haven't updated this for a while. My bad.
Well, to be honest, there really wasn't much I could update you on. I've been in this office for a week and seems like time passes very slowly. I really have nothing to do. Or that was the case last week.
Well I have a lot to update. Since the beginning of July, I've been swamped with many many duties. I never knew that being a summer intern here was so much work. Ok, so lets start from week one.
June 28-July 4
Ok, work really started to pick up considering that I was doing absolutely nothing the last week. I finally was able to get out of the office and do something productive. I went to go pick up about 30-40ft of white cloth to paint. This cloth is for the campers that are coming at the end of the month and they're supposed to be drawing a boat and themselves onto it. Well the funny part is, is that myself and another dude had to pain this 40ft piece of cloth blue. But it gets better. Since the cloth needed to be divided into 10 groups, we had to cut it. But the cloth wasn't the right length and width so we had to calculate and cut the sheets by hand. That literally took a day in a half to do. Funny thing is, we didn't have enough cloth and we were working with "professional" fabric people who could calculate... I think my calculations were spot on... but no, they don't trust the English speaking one.
Well the entire week I spent painting cloth and cutting cloth and doing random odd jobs like photocopying, again. Well no matter, at least it kept me busy after I finished painting the cloths. Little did I know that there was a slight problem with the paint. The paint bought by my lovely co-workers was industrial paint, meaning they got it extremely cheap; we're talking 10HKD for 500g of powered paint. I say, "What????". Yea, you wouldn't believe it, until you hear the catch. Apparently the paint is highly toxic to the human body. It contains lead. Yes, I said it, lead. Best part was that the co-worker who bought it knew about it.
Ok, Canadian brain working here says that even though Asians are cheap, that's just wrong. We're talking about spending more money for paint that is non-serious for health reasons over toxic, possibly deadly powdery stuff. So I just basically spent roughly 35 hours working with this potentially hazardous material and have it covered all over my cloths and hands. Good to know, after I painted it.
Well luckily for me, I'm still alive and it wasn't all that serious. Best part is, this paint is now covered on the table tops of the art room, splattered all over the floor and even dripping along the rails outside the art room. Woot, and the best part is, I get to go clean it up, because apparently it was my fault for using it. DUR... WHAT?? I was only told what to do with the paint. I wasn't in charge of the mess. Well, at least I get to wait till July 18 or later to clean it up :D
July 5-July 11
Ok, so last week. Definitely hating it here. Not only was the paint a problem, I had to fix it. Ok, fortunately my other counterpart and trouble-making accomplice had a few ideas and we worked them out. 3 choices, all worked but to save time, we chose the easiest. We just liquefied blue acrylic paint and washed the cloth over with it. Not only were we able to get rid of this toxic stuff so that the campers won't be inhaling and touching toxic paint, we made the cloth actually look like water. Ok, I don't understand WHY they never just bought blue cloth... smart eh? Well, that's what the people here do. Make use of the people here and waste there time. WOOT
Well life is about to get a little better here. NOT! So during the encounter of this problem, I was graciously approached by 3 other people. Ok, first of all, we all know I have a problem saying no to requests by people. Second of all, I'm only one man and can only do so much with a certain period of time. Thirdly, STOP ASKING ME!!!!
Anywho, I was asked to do some morning worship on the 21st. Ok, normally I wouldn't decline, but this had DECLINE written all over it.
1. I had to play the piano for them
2. I had to sing for them
3. Chinese songs have a problem sticking to me
4. They have no music
5. I have to play piano
Ok. that's what I said with a very very hesitant voice. So much uncertainty in it that I was for sure that they'd ask again if I would do it. NOPE. Just "Ok, i'll meet with you next week to find songs." I DON'T WORK LIKE THAT! I need NOW and NOW! No later. Well I received 3 songs and 2 are ones that I pick in English. WOOT English songs. Now all I need to do is find the mp3s, lyrics and score for it and I should be set.
Ok, so during that same day, I am asked yet again, oh wait, I was TOLD that I would be not only playing the piano for 4 songs during the camp, I also had to sing the songs. Oh and did I mention that I also have to dance?? Well yes, I have to sing, dance and play the piano for the camp, 4 outta the 7 days. Real nice I have to say. All songs in English, all songs have NO music (not surprised) and the song I have to dance to is the song I'm also playing the piano for. How exactly am I supposed to dance while playing the piano!?!?!? Do I look like I have a twin or a clone???
Ok so by this point I'm like 98% mad. Like the little animation pictures with a dude who gets really mad, his body starts to turn red from the feet up his head with steam comin' out. Well that's me by now. Only 98% because the later 2 is to come.
So I've got 9 songs at the moment to prepare. 2 of which I have piano scores for, the rest, not so much. I've been listening to the mp3s day and night doing what?, writing down music. Yes, I am now writing music. Who would've guessed?? I am writing music for all 7 songs that I do not have because I can't play the piano without something to look off of other than numbers and letters. No rhythm and no idea what the melody is, kinda hard for me to play the piano.
One more thing. On top of all this wonderful music composing, I have to cut, paint and paste 90 paper fishes on cardboard. Talk about a not very fun job. I've been spending day and night in the office working on those things for the past week. I'm totally drained and want to go home really badly. And I mean REALLY badly!!!
July 11, Yesterday
I was supposed to go to Ocean Park again yesterday but never did because of a typhoon warning. Heavy rain and winds that could literally send me flying. Not really wanting to leave my little crib here. So what did I do all day?? I listened to music and continued on my music writing spree, only to have found absolutely no encouragement nor enthusiasm to write so I stopped after my first note. I have to say, I was quite productive.
Oh did I mention that I have the hardest time finding a piano to practice on? Well, because there are many camps that run daily here, I have a hard time finding a room in which I can practice piano, so all the music that I'm writing could possibly be all wrong because I'm doing it all by ear. FANTASTIC! I don't even know if they're write and I have a rehearsal in 2 days. This just can't get any better.
Well since today was SOO productive, I had a meeting with the bosses of the camp later in the evening. And here comes the questioner #3. Ok, I have to admit, I was pretty mad, but the 2% comes from this because I was practically expecting it. I was asked to take 10 min on the 2nd day of camp to talk about my experience and emotions from the trip. And because the people here ALL know about my musicality, they want me to sing and play a song as well. Ok, yes I know I should be grateful for my gift and I should use it to glorify God, but seriously this is not the way I do it.
When you forcefully tell me to do it, my heart isn't in it so I can't say I'm doing this for God, i'm doing it out of my own good heart because I can't say no. Yes, I have now created MORE effort for me because they want me to tell them by the end of next week my sharing and song selection.
I have over 2k of songs on my Itunes. Half of which are potential songs that I would use for relation to my sharing. Well I better start listening and jotting down notes cuz it's gonna be a LONG night.
July 12
Well, a very LATE wake up made my morning very boring. Today, I find myself waking at 1015 because I spent the entire night listening or scanning through my 1k song selection of possible songs to play. Well luckily for me I narrowed it down to a WHOPPING 13 songs by the time I went to sleep. So proud! Well by the time I left the office today, somewhere around 2, I had narrowed it down to 5 songs. HALLELUJAH. I am so close to finishing.
Well I went to church at 4 and later found out that the sermon was the same as last weeks. DUR ok, I sat through half of it and had to leave cuz i was starting to fall asleep. Went back home and voila. Found myself now narrowing my selection of 5 songs to 2. It is now midnight of July 13 and I have chosen my 2 songs in which I will decide today which one I want to play. YAY, I finally did 1 job i'm proud of. Ok at this point, I could care less about the questioner and now I can focus on my goal in spreading the word through this experience. All I need to do is find a way to print out my lyrics and score because I dont have a printer here.. bahaha fantastic The program used here is also not a program I can transfer to a computer and print because its copyrighted... hahaha great..
Well my plan is to spend the entire day practicing piano because if I dont, i'm really screwed for tomorrow's rehearsal.
Oh. I also took a picture of my uninvited gecko that lives with me every night and loves to scare me to death and a picture of the notorious arachnid that bit me. :D
Well, to be honest, there really wasn't much I could update you on. I've been in this office for a week and seems like time passes very slowly. I really have nothing to do. Or that was the case last week.
Well I have a lot to update. Since the beginning of July, I've been swamped with many many duties. I never knew that being a summer intern here was so much work. Ok, so lets start from week one.
June 28-July 4
Ok, work really started to pick up considering that I was doing absolutely nothing the last week. I finally was able to get out of the office and do something productive. I went to go pick up about 30-40ft of white cloth to paint. This cloth is for the campers that are coming at the end of the month and they're supposed to be drawing a boat and themselves onto it. Well the funny part is, is that myself and another dude had to pain this 40ft piece of cloth blue. But it gets better. Since the cloth needed to be divided into 10 groups, we had to cut it. But the cloth wasn't the right length and width so we had to calculate and cut the sheets by hand. That literally took a day in a half to do. Funny thing is, we didn't have enough cloth and we were working with "professional" fabric people who could calculate... I think my calculations were spot on... but no, they don't trust the English speaking one.
Well the entire week I spent painting cloth and cutting cloth and doing random odd jobs like photocopying, again. Well no matter, at least it kept me busy after I finished painting the cloths. Little did I know that there was a slight problem with the paint. The paint bought by my lovely co-workers was industrial paint, meaning they got it extremely cheap; we're talking 10HKD for 500g of powered paint. I say, "What????". Yea, you wouldn't believe it, until you hear the catch. Apparently the paint is highly toxic to the human body. It contains lead. Yes, I said it, lead. Best part was that the co-worker who bought it knew about it.
Ok, Canadian brain working here says that even though Asians are cheap, that's just wrong. We're talking about spending more money for paint that is non-serious for health reasons over toxic, possibly deadly powdery stuff. So I just basically spent roughly 35 hours working with this potentially hazardous material and have it covered all over my cloths and hands. Good to know, after I painted it.
Well luckily for me, I'm still alive and it wasn't all that serious. Best part is, this paint is now covered on the table tops of the art room, splattered all over the floor and even dripping along the rails outside the art room. Woot, and the best part is, I get to go clean it up, because apparently it was my fault for using it. DUR... WHAT?? I was only told what to do with the paint. I wasn't in charge of the mess. Well, at least I get to wait till July 18 or later to clean it up :D
July 5-July 11
Ok, so last week. Definitely hating it here. Not only was the paint a problem, I had to fix it. Ok, fortunately my other counterpart and trouble-making accomplice had a few ideas and we worked them out. 3 choices, all worked but to save time, we chose the easiest. We just liquefied blue acrylic paint and washed the cloth over with it. Not only were we able to get rid of this toxic stuff so that the campers won't be inhaling and touching toxic paint, we made the cloth actually look like water. Ok, I don't understand WHY they never just bought blue cloth... smart eh? Well, that's what the people here do. Make use of the people here and waste there time. WOOT
Well life is about to get a little better here. NOT! So during the encounter of this problem, I was graciously approached by 3 other people. Ok, first of all, we all know I have a problem saying no to requests by people. Second of all, I'm only one man and can only do so much with a certain period of time. Thirdly, STOP ASKING ME!!!!
Anywho, I was asked to do some morning worship on the 21st. Ok, normally I wouldn't decline, but this had DECLINE written all over it.
1. I had to play the piano for them
2. I had to sing for them
3. Chinese songs have a problem sticking to me
4. They have no music
5. I have to play piano
Ok. that's what I said with a very very hesitant voice. So much uncertainty in it that I was for sure that they'd ask again if I would do it. NOPE. Just "Ok, i'll meet with you next week to find songs." I DON'T WORK LIKE THAT! I need NOW and NOW! No later. Well I received 3 songs and 2 are ones that I pick in English. WOOT English songs. Now all I need to do is find the mp3s, lyrics and score for it and I should be set.
Ok, so during that same day, I am asked yet again, oh wait, I was TOLD that I would be not only playing the piano for 4 songs during the camp, I also had to sing the songs. Oh and did I mention that I also have to dance?? Well yes, I have to sing, dance and play the piano for the camp, 4 outta the 7 days. Real nice I have to say. All songs in English, all songs have NO music (not surprised) and the song I have to dance to is the song I'm also playing the piano for. How exactly am I supposed to dance while playing the piano!?!?!? Do I look like I have a twin or a clone???
Ok so by this point I'm like 98% mad. Like the little animation pictures with a dude who gets really mad, his body starts to turn red from the feet up his head with steam comin' out. Well that's me by now. Only 98% because the later 2 is to come.
So I've got 9 songs at the moment to prepare. 2 of which I have piano scores for, the rest, not so much. I've been listening to the mp3s day and night doing what?, writing down music. Yes, I am now writing music. Who would've guessed?? I am writing music for all 7 songs that I do not have because I can't play the piano without something to look off of other than numbers and letters. No rhythm and no idea what the melody is, kinda hard for me to play the piano.
One more thing. On top of all this wonderful music composing, I have to cut, paint and paste 90 paper fishes on cardboard. Talk about a not very fun job. I've been spending day and night in the office working on those things for the past week. I'm totally drained and want to go home really badly. And I mean REALLY badly!!!
July 11, Yesterday
I was supposed to go to Ocean Park again yesterday but never did because of a typhoon warning. Heavy rain and winds that could literally send me flying. Not really wanting to leave my little crib here. So what did I do all day?? I listened to music and continued on my music writing spree, only to have found absolutely no encouragement nor enthusiasm to write so I stopped after my first note. I have to say, I was quite productive.
Oh did I mention that I have the hardest time finding a piano to practice on? Well, because there are many camps that run daily here, I have a hard time finding a room in which I can practice piano, so all the music that I'm writing could possibly be all wrong because I'm doing it all by ear. FANTASTIC! I don't even know if they're write and I have a rehearsal in 2 days. This just can't get any better.
Well since today was SOO productive, I had a meeting with the bosses of the camp later in the evening. And here comes the questioner #3. Ok, I have to admit, I was pretty mad, but the 2% comes from this because I was practically expecting it. I was asked to take 10 min on the 2nd day of camp to talk about my experience and emotions from the trip. And because the people here ALL know about my musicality, they want me to sing and play a song as well. Ok, yes I know I should be grateful for my gift and I should use it to glorify God, but seriously this is not the way I do it.
When you forcefully tell me to do it, my heart isn't in it so I can't say I'm doing this for God, i'm doing it out of my own good heart because I can't say no. Yes, I have now created MORE effort for me because they want me to tell them by the end of next week my sharing and song selection.
I have over 2k of songs on my Itunes. Half of which are potential songs that I would use for relation to my sharing. Well I better start listening and jotting down notes cuz it's gonna be a LONG night.
July 12
Well, a very LATE wake up made my morning very boring. Today, I find myself waking at 1015 because I spent the entire night listening or scanning through my 1k song selection of possible songs to play. Well luckily for me I narrowed it down to a WHOPPING 13 songs by the time I went to sleep. So proud! Well by the time I left the office today, somewhere around 2, I had narrowed it down to 5 songs. HALLELUJAH. I am so close to finishing.
Well I went to church at 4 and later found out that the sermon was the same as last weeks. DUR ok, I sat through half of it and had to leave cuz i was starting to fall asleep. Went back home and voila. Found myself now narrowing my selection of 5 songs to 2. It is now midnight of July 13 and I have chosen my 2 songs in which I will decide today which one I want to play. YAY, I finally did 1 job i'm proud of. Ok at this point, I could care less about the questioner and now I can focus on my goal in spreading the word through this experience. All I need to do is find a way to print out my lyrics and score because I dont have a printer here.. bahaha fantastic The program used here is also not a program I can transfer to a computer and print because its copyrighted... hahaha great..
Well my plan is to spend the entire day practicing piano because if I dont, i'm really screwed for tomorrow's rehearsal.
Oh. I also took a picture of my uninvited gecko that lives with me every night and loves to scare me to death and a picture of the notorious arachnid that bit me. :D
6.30.2009
Reunion Galore
Ok so yesterday was entertaining. I skipped an assembly to go by cloth in the morning. That was epic fun. Actually it was cloth and the miscellaneous arts and crafts stuff. Wandering streets in HK is fun, well as long as you have someone to wander with right? lol
Well did some of that and then headed back to work. Went out for lunch at a floating restaurant. Good thing they weren't serving. They would've seen food if that was the case. lol It was one of the "boss"'s last day with us so we went out to celebrate. Half way through I had a really upsetting phone call over from Toronto from Kitty. She mentioned to me that Sichuan had another earthquake. Though she didn't know any details, I basically lost my appetite after that call. I couldn't believe what I heard and I just hoped nothing went wrong for those kids we stayed with.
I had a reassured talk with the table that everything was ok. Uncle Victor was in Sichuan and just came back today. He was over there when the earthquake happened but they said that it wasn't bad. The houses that they were living in, like portables in Calgary, were collapsing because you could tell that they weren't built to sustain another disaster. The quake only measured 5.2 and yet still caused a lot of damage. It got me thinking again of how privileged I am to live in Canada. All I could do was pray for the safety of everyone over there.
Well, that was an entertaining lunch. Went back to work and spent the next 4 hours painting. It was a little fun but I had forgotten to go change my shirt and pants. Now my white shirt and white plaid shorts are stained with blue. GREAT. And the shorts were my FAVE!!!! sigh, oh well. My fault for forgetting.
Left work at 6 to go find ear buds. One of my buds popped out and I lost the cushion for it so I went out to search for replacements. Found some so I bought it and headed to Mong Kok to meet up with my friends back from 07. And BOY did they all change. Well all but B and Ellen haha. I saw them before so it was ok but everyone else changed. Could hardly recognize them.
Had a funky time wandering the streets for a place to eat and it was so cool just to catch up with everyone. Went to go take sticky pics lol. Best past time ever!!!
Went to go shoot some arcade hoops later. Ended up losing a ring that the Sichuan girls gave me but I ended up with a different ring on the same finger...weird. Anyways, it wasn't the ring I was wearing before and it was most definitely a size smaller. I had no idea how it ended up on my finger nor do I remember losing that other ring. Well, it doesn't matter now because I'm going to go search for it in the streets of Mong Kok and buy myself another one. Hopefully I can find a similar one cuz it really was a cool gift from the students.
Well did some of that and then headed back to work. Went out for lunch at a floating restaurant. Good thing they weren't serving. They would've seen food if that was the case. lol It was one of the "boss"'s last day with us so we went out to celebrate. Half way through I had a really upsetting phone call over from Toronto from Kitty. She mentioned to me that Sichuan had another earthquake. Though she didn't know any details, I basically lost my appetite after that call. I couldn't believe what I heard and I just hoped nothing went wrong for those kids we stayed with.
I had a reassured talk with the table that everything was ok. Uncle Victor was in Sichuan and just came back today. He was over there when the earthquake happened but they said that it wasn't bad. The houses that they were living in, like portables in Calgary, were collapsing because you could tell that they weren't built to sustain another disaster. The quake only measured 5.2 and yet still caused a lot of damage. It got me thinking again of how privileged I am to live in Canada. All I could do was pray for the safety of everyone over there.
Well, that was an entertaining lunch. Went back to work and spent the next 4 hours painting. It was a little fun but I had forgotten to go change my shirt and pants. Now my white shirt and white plaid shorts are stained with blue. GREAT. And the shorts were my FAVE!!!! sigh, oh well. My fault for forgetting.
Left work at 6 to go find ear buds. One of my buds popped out and I lost the cushion for it so I went out to search for replacements. Found some so I bought it and headed to Mong Kok to meet up with my friends back from 07. And BOY did they all change. Well all but B and Ellen haha. I saw them before so it was ok but everyone else changed. Could hardly recognize them.
Had a funky time wandering the streets for a place to eat and it was so cool just to catch up with everyone. Went to go take sticky pics lol. Best past time ever!!!
Went to go shoot some arcade hoops later. Ended up losing a ring that the Sichuan girls gave me but I ended up with a different ring on the same finger...weird. Anyways, it wasn't the ring I was wearing before and it was most definitely a size smaller. I had no idea how it ended up on my finger nor do I remember losing that other ring. Well, it doesn't matter now because I'm going to go search for it in the streets of Mong Kok and buy myself another one. Hopefully I can find a similar one cuz it really was a cool gift from the students.
Ocean Park Review
Ok, I have to admit I was most definitely looking forward to going to the everyday talk-about of Ocean Park. I was all psyched out for it. The drive there was a real good adventure. Getting lost twice but still ended up getting there in less than 40 min. Supposed to take us 29 min and considering that HK has no u-turns, we did pretty well. Well, after a few questions to laughing taxi-drivers and confused gas-station attendants, we arrived with joy and excitement.
It was PACKED! Ok, for a monday, its not supposed to be packed but apparently all the school kids had the day off and spent the day there... Fantastic. Me in a large park surrounded by lots of people and screaming kids. Can anyone see what's gonna happen next? Well, I'm claustrophobic and this was alright. Actually it was considered "few" apparently to everyone so I guess I can be happy for that.
We spent roughly 3 hours there looking animals, fish and taking a ride or two. 3 hours for those at home is very little to spend. Why so little? The Aunt that drove me and her kids basically went to drive us there. She was very considerate and wanted to see us have fun. I on the other hand felt really bad because she had to drive in HK (which I recommend you never do unless you know where you are going) and she didn't really participate. It was nice of her to join us though but she didn't go on rides or anything. So i kinda felt really bad.
So we probably spent 1.5 hours looking at Pandas, fish, jellyfish, turtles, red pandas and such.
Just over an hour waiting in line and 10 min eating lunch. lol That was my Ocean Park experience. Nonetheless, I can say that it was pretty cool. The park itself was initially designed for a visit once every 2 years and i think it was intended for kids up to age 16. It really wasn't my cup-o-tea but it was still fun since it was my first time.
Oh, and I literally saw the largest eel ever. This guy was sooo big it creeped me out. He was a good 30inch in diameter and was i think 30ft long. GROSS. I'm glad it wasn't moving but it was SOO big I couldn't believe me eyes. There was also another Huge manta ray, wing span of about 10ft and about 17 ft long. HUGE!!!!!!!
It was PACKED! Ok, for a monday, its not supposed to be packed but apparently all the school kids had the day off and spent the day there... Fantastic. Me in a large park surrounded by lots of people and screaming kids. Can anyone see what's gonna happen next? Well, I'm claustrophobic and this was alright. Actually it was considered "few" apparently to everyone so I guess I can be happy for that.
We spent roughly 3 hours there looking animals, fish and taking a ride or two. 3 hours for those at home is very little to spend. Why so little? The Aunt that drove me and her kids basically went to drive us there. She was very considerate and wanted to see us have fun. I on the other hand felt really bad because she had to drive in HK (which I recommend you never do unless you know where you are going) and she didn't really participate. It was nice of her to join us though but she didn't go on rides or anything. So i kinda felt really bad.
So we probably spent 1.5 hours looking at Pandas, fish, jellyfish, turtles, red pandas and such.
Just over an hour waiting in line and 10 min eating lunch. lol That was my Ocean Park experience. Nonetheless, I can say that it was pretty cool. The park itself was initially designed for a visit once every 2 years and i think it was intended for kids up to age 16. It really wasn't my cup-o-tea but it was still fun since it was my first time. Oh, and I literally saw the largest eel ever. This guy was sooo big it creeped me out. He was a good 30inch in diameter and was i think 30ft long. GROSS. I'm glad it wasn't moving but it was SOO big I couldn't believe me eyes. There was also another Huge manta ray, wing span of about 10ft and about 17 ft long. HUGE!!!!!!!
6.28.2009
Uber Fail!
Ok. Sunday morning was spectacular but there were early signs of problems.
I, being the meteorologist that I am, studied the cloud formations and the weather while in my office. I have to say, I was pretty accurate but I didn't believe myself so I didn't take the warning very seriously. I hypothesized that it would be around 27 degrees C with light wind and really bad rain.
Had I known that I would be 80% correct, I would've been prepared, but obviously I didn't. I set out to a district called "Yau Ma Day" which is about a 20min subway ride from where I live. In total, I arrived at that area around 1120. I had set out at 10:45. On my arrival and exit of the subway station, I was wondering why about 30 people were crammed at the bottom of the stairs. It was POURING rain, like i predicted. Poured so badly that the stairs were flooding down like crazy (quite a site really).
Ok, I knew that it was going to rain and I did bring an umbrella with me that I had bought earlier on in the month. I didn't however, bring my rain jacket. Let's just say, The jacket would have kept me drier than the umbrella because the umbrella did absolutely nothing, literally. It had the radius of about 1.5 feet. For those that know me, I'm a skinny guy, and 3 feet does not cover very much especially if you have a backpack on. So I'm walking around Yau Ma Day thinking that I can still shop or something, but I had totally forgot that this district, the cheap stuff is all in open markets. DUR.... Yeah, obviously they would be closed.
So I spent about 10 min walking in the rain with a tiny umbrella that covered absolutely nothing. Fantastic. I went back to the subway station 2lbs heavier. My jeans had literally soaked so much water that the bottom half of them were carrying about 2lbs of water. FANTASTIC. I was planning to not go home because it would be time consuming and a waste of money to go and change and come back out for church, so I decided to stay around the area.
I went out to the Tsim Sha Tsui district to seek better shelter and hopefully something for me to do and I was in some slight luck. I was looking for a music store so I could find some nifty chinese piano music and particularly 1 song. I spent the next 2 hours looking for it and I FINALLY found it, after searching through every single book and shelf since I can't read chinese and the people there weren't very helpful.
I went to BK for lunch around 130 and you seriously have NO IDEA what service is until you've been here. 20 employees outside the counter or behind excluding the chefs said, "hello, welcome to Burger King" in a lovely asian accent. hehe
3 greeters, 3 managers, 2 assistant managers, 3 cleaners, 9 counter people. How on earth do they fit 9 people behind a counter with only 3 tills??? That's SOO crowded. oh, the best part is, if your burger is not ready in 10 secs, they make u sit down and they bring you the burger. Its hilarious!!! AND you don't throw away your stuff. You just leave and they pick it up after you. Puts a whole new meaning to 'service with a smile', except they're all hiding behind a mask haha.
Well So I set off looking for dvds and spent 30 min looking and I headed out to Central cuz i got bored and my church was over there. Doors didn't open so I scoured the city and I noticed a lot of telephone stores. :D I chose to go take a look at the cells because I was thinking of buying a new one, but I'm undecided. Anyways, found the phone I wanted to get. LG Arena. COOL!!! but its SOO expensive. 3280HKD which is approximately ~500CDN. THATS GROSS! I wouldn't pay that much for a phone, but it is touch and very durable. It's like an Iphone but slimmer, lighter and it comes with apps lol. Well it's a decision that I still have a month to make and I may or may not buy it.
Anyways church was hilarious and went out to Tsim Sha Tsui after at 8 to watch the 'spectacular' light show. (Videos coming). It sucked compared to 2 years ago lol. Walked the Avenue of Stars and saw Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun Fat and other people.
Pretty much sums up my day. EPIC!
I hope it doesn't rain too much tomorrow. Excited to go to Ocean Park!! WEEE
I, being the meteorologist that I am, studied the cloud formations and the weather while in my office. I have to say, I was pretty accurate but I didn't believe myself so I didn't take the warning very seriously. I hypothesized that it would be around 27 degrees C with light wind and really bad rain.
Had I known that I would be 80% correct, I would've been prepared, but obviously I didn't. I set out to a district called "Yau Ma Day" which is about a 20min subway ride from where I live. In total, I arrived at that area around 1120. I had set out at 10:45. On my arrival and exit of the subway station, I was wondering why about 30 people were crammed at the bottom of the stairs. It was POURING rain, like i predicted. Poured so badly that the stairs were flooding down like crazy (quite a site really).
Ok, I knew that it was going to rain and I did bring an umbrella with me that I had bought earlier on in the month. I didn't however, bring my rain jacket. Let's just say, The jacket would have kept me drier than the umbrella because the umbrella did absolutely nothing, literally. It had the radius of about 1.5 feet. For those that know me, I'm a skinny guy, and 3 feet does not cover very much especially if you have a backpack on. So I'm walking around Yau Ma Day thinking that I can still shop or something, but I had totally forgot that this district, the cheap stuff is all in open markets. DUR.... Yeah, obviously they would be closed.
So I spent about 10 min walking in the rain with a tiny umbrella that covered absolutely nothing. Fantastic. I went back to the subway station 2lbs heavier. My jeans had literally soaked so much water that the bottom half of them were carrying about 2lbs of water. FANTASTIC. I was planning to not go home because it would be time consuming and a waste of money to go and change and come back out for church, so I decided to stay around the area.
I went out to the Tsim Sha Tsui district to seek better shelter and hopefully something for me to do and I was in some slight luck. I was looking for a music store so I could find some nifty chinese piano music and particularly 1 song. I spent the next 2 hours looking for it and I FINALLY found it, after searching through every single book and shelf since I can't read chinese and the people there weren't very helpful.
I went to BK for lunch around 130 and you seriously have NO IDEA what service is until you've been here. 20 employees outside the counter or behind excluding the chefs said, "hello, welcome to Burger King" in a lovely asian accent. hehe
3 greeters, 3 managers, 2 assistant managers, 3 cleaners, 9 counter people. How on earth do they fit 9 people behind a counter with only 3 tills??? That's SOO crowded. oh, the best part is, if your burger is not ready in 10 secs, they make u sit down and they bring you the burger. Its hilarious!!! AND you don't throw away your stuff. You just leave and they pick it up after you. Puts a whole new meaning to 'service with a smile', except they're all hiding behind a mask haha.
Well So I set off looking for dvds and spent 30 min looking and I headed out to Central cuz i got bored and my church was over there. Doors didn't open so I scoured the city and I noticed a lot of telephone stores. :D I chose to go take a look at the cells because I was thinking of buying a new one, but I'm undecided. Anyways, found the phone I wanted to get. LG Arena. COOL!!! but its SOO expensive. 3280HKD which is approximately ~500CDN. THATS GROSS! I wouldn't pay that much for a phone, but it is touch and very durable. It's like an Iphone but slimmer, lighter and it comes with apps lol. Well it's a decision that I still have a month to make and I may or may not buy it.
Anyways church was hilarious and went out to Tsim Sha Tsui after at 8 to watch the 'spectacular' light show. (Videos coming). It sucked compared to 2 years ago lol. Walked the Avenue of Stars and saw Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun Fat and other people.
Pretty much sums up my day. EPIC!
I hope it doesn't rain too much tomorrow. Excited to go to Ocean Park!! WEEE
6.26.2009
Life so far
Ok, its been 2 weeks since I've returned from the Sichuan trip and what am I doing now? NOTHING! ahaha
Ok so basically nothing has changed except for the fact that I am now actually working and not spending all my time on fb. I have to admit, I kinda liked it for a while. For the past week i went from being THE pro photocopier to the pro scanner to the pro letter opener and sorter to envelope stuffer to envelope labeler to article envelope stuffer to mailer to "baby"sitter to personal shopper to article designer to news columnist to professional singer and to fabric cutter all in one week. WOOT.
I feel so productive... hahha Well at least now I have nothing to complain about. I can actually come to work and actually, well, work. YAY. No more sitting around being bored. In fact, I still have a lot of time that I happened to deny a viewing of Transformers 2 thursday. WHAT? Yes, I denied a viewing of Transformers. A free ticket denied. My lame excuse: "I wan't to watch it when I get back to Canada. The subtitles in Chinese will ruin it for me." AHAHAHA LAME!!!!!!!
So lame that I was yet again asked to go to see it last night. Yes, the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie was playing yet again and I, again had the opportunity to go see it again, FREE!!! Ok, I know how to read the first sign of stupidity and denying the first chance to see it was stupid. So I reluctantly agreed to go see it last night. Unfortunately, we had a Level 8 Typhoon Warning. :D WOOHOO. TYPHOON SEASON in HK and I'm trapped in the middle of it. hahhah Talk about exciting!!!
Luckily it went down to level 3 and I have to say THE MOVIE WAS AWESOME!!!!!! Blow you're mind FANTASTIC!!! Even despite the fact that the Chinese subtitles were there, it wasn't an issue. OMG so GOOD!!! I wanna go see it again and again. May even buy the dvd hehe. It seriously was really good. Couldn't believe I denied it the first time. SOO good.
Anyways, yea. That was exciting. So yes, i'm in typhoon season now. Fun fun. That may probably be the reason why we're getting consist rain here over and over again and again. I'm not complaining so long as it doesn't rain all day monday or at all. I don't want it to ruin my day at Ocean Park :D.
I'm supposed to go meet up with Vivian today cuz she's going to take me to see the REALLY BIG Book store i was ranting about in Harbor City. Apparently that is really small compared to this one. So I'm excited!!! I think i'm also having dinner with the fam too, but i'm unsure. Perhaps i'll find out in the latter part of the day.
O I found out that I have approximately 32 bites on my both my achilles and ankles. That excludes all the bites on my arms and legs and body. I really have no idea what it's from but it's been there for a few days now. No amount of mosquito repellent or other mosquito stuff works so I'm thinking they're like bed bugs or something. I mean, just the ankles?? And they itch like crazy! So I'm really thinking they're some sort of bed bug or some insect that I have no idea about. Anyways, hopefully changing the sheets will prevent them from biting again. Or maybe they live IN the bed and it won't matter how many times you change the sheets. They'll keep coming... hhahaha ok not cool. but yes, I have found a lot of bites on my legs and I'm using every single bit of Chinese herbs to get rid of them cuz they're really causing me lots of grief.
Ok so basically nothing has changed except for the fact that I am now actually working and not spending all my time on fb. I have to admit, I kinda liked it for a while. For the past week i went from being THE pro photocopier to the pro scanner to the pro letter opener and sorter to envelope stuffer to envelope labeler to article envelope stuffer to mailer to "baby"sitter to personal shopper to article designer to news columnist to professional singer and to fabric cutter all in one week. WOOT.
I feel so productive... hahha Well at least now I have nothing to complain about. I can actually come to work and actually, well, work. YAY. No more sitting around being bored. In fact, I still have a lot of time that I happened to deny a viewing of Transformers 2 thursday. WHAT? Yes, I denied a viewing of Transformers. A free ticket denied. My lame excuse: "I wan't to watch it when I get back to Canada. The subtitles in Chinese will ruin it for me." AHAHAHA LAME!!!!!!!
So lame that I was yet again asked to go to see it last night. Yes, the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie was playing yet again and I, again had the opportunity to go see it again, FREE!!! Ok, I know how to read the first sign of stupidity and denying the first chance to see it was stupid. So I reluctantly agreed to go see it last night. Unfortunately, we had a Level 8 Typhoon Warning. :D WOOHOO. TYPHOON SEASON in HK and I'm trapped in the middle of it. hahhah Talk about exciting!!!
Luckily it went down to level 3 and I have to say THE MOVIE WAS AWESOME!!!!!! Blow you're mind FANTASTIC!!! Even despite the fact that the Chinese subtitles were there, it wasn't an issue. OMG so GOOD!!! I wanna go see it again and again. May even buy the dvd hehe. It seriously was really good. Couldn't believe I denied it the first time. SOO good.
Anyways, yea. That was exciting. So yes, i'm in typhoon season now. Fun fun. That may probably be the reason why we're getting consist rain here over and over again and again. I'm not complaining so long as it doesn't rain all day monday or at all. I don't want it to ruin my day at Ocean Park :D.
I'm supposed to go meet up with Vivian today cuz she's going to take me to see the REALLY BIG Book store i was ranting about in Harbor City. Apparently that is really small compared to this one. So I'm excited!!! I think i'm also having dinner with the fam too, but i'm unsure. Perhaps i'll find out in the latter part of the day.
O I found out that I have approximately 32 bites on my both my achilles and ankles. That excludes all the bites on my arms and legs and body. I really have no idea what it's from but it's been there for a few days now. No amount of mosquito repellent or other mosquito stuff works so I'm thinking they're like bed bugs or something. I mean, just the ankles?? And they itch like crazy! So I'm really thinking they're some sort of bed bug or some insect that I have no idea about. Anyways, hopefully changing the sheets will prevent them from biting again. Or maybe they live IN the bed and it won't matter how many times you change the sheets. They'll keep coming... hhahaha ok not cool. but yes, I have found a lot of bites on my legs and I'm using every single bit of Chinese herbs to get rid of them cuz they're really causing me lots of grief.
6.23.2009
Some more pics for you.
Click to enlarge image.
The team in their colourful uniform. This was not planned. It just so happened that the color of our shirts matched :D
The notes we wrote for Alfred on our plane ride back to HK. Des was tired so he decided to take a pic with me instead of by himself.
The Dynamic Duo. Or the Tantalizing Two?? lol Disturbing Duo?? lol I don't even know why i'm putting this up
The Fantastic Four! Two quiet and submissive ones on the left and the Troublesome two on the right hehe We make good pairs.
Ok... To be honest, I didn't want to take pictures but they all insisted. This is me with a few girls. There were a ton lined up. No, I'm not a pimp. Just kind and wanted to give everyone a chance. haha They say they all had a crush on me but I don't believe them :D
The team in their colourful uniform. This was not planned. It just so happened that the color of our shirts matched :D
The notes we wrote for Alfred on our plane ride back to HK. Des was tired so he decided to take a pic with me instead of by himself.
The Dynamic Duo. Or the Tantalizing Two?? lol Disturbing Duo?? lol I don't even know why i'm putting this up
The Fantastic Four! Two quiet and submissive ones on the left and the Troublesome two on the right hehe We make good pairs.
Ok... To be honest, I didn't want to take pictures but they all insisted. This is me with a few girls. There were a ton lined up. No, I'm not a pimp. Just kind and wanted to give everyone a chance. haha They say they all had a crush on me but I don't believe them :D
Pictures for you from the Concert
Click on the images to increase their size.
Des and myself playing the piano and bongo as we happily sing along our way to the beginning of our lovely worship set.
Some of the beautiful stage ambiance with the accompaniment of bubbles.
This is the drama that I was so in aw by. These students were the top students of the school who put on a dramatic show using their body portraying the incident of 5.12 They were able to capture the essence and beauty of the events.
A student folding a piece of paper. They were instructed to turn them into airplanes. For them to release their fears, emotions and memories for all of us to share. So dedicated.
The entire team singing the song that we wrote for the students. Des and I are covered in the background playing the pianos :D
Des and myself playing the piano and bongo as we happily sing along our way to the beginning of our lovely worship set.
Some of the beautiful stage ambiance with the accompaniment of bubbles.
This is the drama that I was so in aw by. These students were the top students of the school who put on a dramatic show using their body portraying the incident of 5.12 They were able to capture the essence and beauty of the events.
A student folding a piece of paper. They were instructed to turn them into airplanes. For them to release their fears, emotions and memories for all of us to share. So dedicated.
The entire team singing the song that we wrote for the students. Des and I are covered in the background playing the pianos :D
6.20.2009
Sleep Deprived
So I thought I slept late, but for the past week I apparently have been sleeping early. I seriously thought midnight was really late, but Torontonians and Hong Kongnians live at night. Its almost as bad as New York which is deemed as 'The City that Never Sleeps".
I have seen in the past week that staying up till 3 or 4 is the good way to go. Is that why things open at 11 in the morning and close at 11 and some till 2?? Quite possible. But because I'm Calgarian and I like my sleep, I've been trying to get home before 11 so I don't have to pay for a taxi fair across the city. I've failed every single day this week. 150HKD ride from Hong Kong Island to where I am, which is approximately $30 CDN to a $7 ride from the train station. Seriously, I didn't realize how much it actually costs until you start relating it to the clothes you buy. I'm contemplating on a trench coat for $250HKD ($33CDN). That's like a taxi ride across the harbor haha. RIDICULOUS!
But no matter, last night was really bad. So bad that I ended up sleeping at 4am. Didn't get home till 230. A reunion in Calgary doesn't match anything to a reunion here. These people really know how to party. I literally carried 3 T&T bags FULL of meat alone. And if you're wondering, thats about 25kg of meat per bag. Give or take a couple kilos but i literally had a good workout. Let alone carrying it up 4 flights of stairs was not pretty. I had a feeling we over did the meat department considering that there were about 35 of us. But then we also had corn, veggies, fruit, cake, potatoes and salads. We could've hosted the entire building and still have leftovers.
Nonetheless, it was good time well spent. I bbqed the ENTIRE night b/c I miss Calgary bbqs and I'm just drawn to making food. Apparently I'm black in the face now, but I seriously don't think so. I guess they were just to seeing a pale white face at work lol. I fell asleep 3 times during our talk and debriefing session at around 12-2. They all felt sorry for me so they decided to end it at that. I think they took pictures but they're not admitting it or telling me. Kinda hard to tell when I'm the one asleep eh?
Best part was, I got to wake up slightly later today (930) to work, again. Not to mention that I had a meeting at 2 that lasted till 7. Fell asleep even though I don't admit that. I'm having quite the day today. Also, I'm going to head to airport in the morning to see my Toronto friends depart. I miss them already and its only been 1 night haha. Guess the bond we have is that tite!
Going to hopefully spend the day looking for some good deals and hopefully not be too pooped for church. Gonna do my best to get a good night's rest and stay awake for the sermon... :D
Cheers. Missing you all very much
I have seen in the past week that staying up till 3 or 4 is the good way to go. Is that why things open at 11 in the morning and close at 11 and some till 2?? Quite possible. But because I'm Calgarian and I like my sleep, I've been trying to get home before 11 so I don't have to pay for a taxi fair across the city. I've failed every single day this week. 150HKD ride from Hong Kong Island to where I am, which is approximately $30 CDN to a $7 ride from the train station. Seriously, I didn't realize how much it actually costs until you start relating it to the clothes you buy. I'm contemplating on a trench coat for $250HKD ($33CDN). That's like a taxi ride across the harbor haha. RIDICULOUS!
But no matter, last night was really bad. So bad that I ended up sleeping at 4am. Didn't get home till 230. A reunion in Calgary doesn't match anything to a reunion here. These people really know how to party. I literally carried 3 T&T bags FULL of meat alone. And if you're wondering, thats about 25kg of meat per bag. Give or take a couple kilos but i literally had a good workout. Let alone carrying it up 4 flights of stairs was not pretty. I had a feeling we over did the meat department considering that there were about 35 of us. But then we also had corn, veggies, fruit, cake, potatoes and salads. We could've hosted the entire building and still have leftovers.
Nonetheless, it was good time well spent. I bbqed the ENTIRE night b/c I miss Calgary bbqs and I'm just drawn to making food. Apparently I'm black in the face now, but I seriously don't think so. I guess they were just to seeing a pale white face at work lol. I fell asleep 3 times during our talk and debriefing session at around 12-2. They all felt sorry for me so they decided to end it at that. I think they took pictures but they're not admitting it or telling me. Kinda hard to tell when I'm the one asleep eh?
Best part was, I got to wake up slightly later today (930) to work, again. Not to mention that I had a meeting at 2 that lasted till 7. Fell asleep even though I don't admit that. I'm having quite the day today. Also, I'm going to head to airport in the morning to see my Toronto friends depart. I miss them already and its only been 1 night haha. Guess the bond we have is that tite!
Going to hopefully spend the day looking for some good deals and hopefully not be too pooped for church. Gonna do my best to get a good night's rest and stay awake for the sermon... :D
Cheers. Missing you all very much
6.19.2009
Final Days
Hey team,
Dedicated to the SiChuan Team.
I spent the last few days in brief solitude trying to contain the memories of what happened on our trip to Sichuan. We had a handful of reunions and they were all great. Seeing friends again brought joy to my face. It was so good to see everyone again. This is the last day for a lot of those friends leaving, heading back to Toronto. Some have already left but they still live inside our memories. Pictures have captured every moment of our last week together and I only wish we had more time to make more memories.
Even though I said that I have regretted coming to this trip and leaving home, I can now say that this was the best decision that I made. I do not regret coming because I have made so many connections with everyone here especially the music team. From Alfred's queer and quirky awkward bursts of unimaginative sayings and movements to Kenix's emotional tears and flexible yoga weird dancing; from Mandy's charismatic and caring personality to Kitty's passionate and kind words; and to Desmond's talented songs, egotistical and somewhat charming personality are only a few things that I can be grateful for.
Without Jacky and Nicole's leadership and organization, there wouldn't have been a show or trip that ran as smoothly as it did. Without Andrew, Vivian, Teddy, Victor, Sookit and Dr. Choi, there wouldn't have been a trip in the first place. Without Joseph, Una, ChrisB, Fiona, Purple, Adonian, Karen and Gabriel, we wouldn't have had the amazing pictures and videos we have now. Without Duk Sing sok sok and Wing Tai sok sok, there wouldn't have been leaders keeping our reigns tight and keeping us on track. Without the different workshops from Arts and Crafts to Adventure, there wouldn't have been anything for us to do with the kids. Without the many, MANY other people who i didn't mention, there wouldn't be anything. Without the bus drivers, sound dudes, travel and tour guides, we'd all be where we were 3 weeks ago minding our own business. So many memories that last forever that will never go away.
Even though we had little time with the students, the time we spent was enough for them. I wish we could spend more one-on-one time with them all to help them out, to let those tears fall that have been held up for months, to let them know there are others out there that care for each and every one of them.
It took my team 8 debriefing sessions to get to a result where we all agree that we have finally debriefed. However, we still have our reunions to start and yesterday was not only our last debrief as a team but our first reunion. Though we were missing a third of the team, they were still with us in spirit. Kitty even had the decency to call us from Toronto which was amazing!
I have had so many good memories and meeting new faces. Inspirational words, motivational speeches, admiral presentations, loving friends, kind reflections and joyous appreciations are only a start to the beginning of something more. The gains of friendship and fellowship, stewardship and mentorship, leadership and kinship are all blessings and I had the privilege to experience it all firsthand.
Thank you all for being such wonderful people. A bright and hopeful future awaits you all. God bless each and every one of you forever and a day.
Brian Li. In response to SiChuan June '09
Dedicated to the SiChuan Team.
I spent the last few days in brief solitude trying to contain the memories of what happened on our trip to Sichuan. We had a handful of reunions and they were all great. Seeing friends again brought joy to my face. It was so good to see everyone again. This is the last day for a lot of those friends leaving, heading back to Toronto. Some have already left but they still live inside our memories. Pictures have captured every moment of our last week together and I only wish we had more time to make more memories.
Even though I said that I have regretted coming to this trip and leaving home, I can now say that this was the best decision that I made. I do not regret coming because I have made so many connections with everyone here especially the music team. From Alfred's queer and quirky awkward bursts of unimaginative sayings and movements to Kenix's emotional tears and flexible yoga weird dancing; from Mandy's charismatic and caring personality to Kitty's passionate and kind words; and to Desmond's talented songs, egotistical and somewhat charming personality are only a few things that I can be grateful for.
Without Jacky and Nicole's leadership and organization, there wouldn't have been a show or trip that ran as smoothly as it did. Without Andrew, Vivian, Teddy, Victor, Sookit and Dr. Choi, there wouldn't have been a trip in the first place. Without Joseph, Una, ChrisB, Fiona, Purple, Adonian, Karen and Gabriel, we wouldn't have had the amazing pictures and videos we have now. Without Duk Sing sok sok and Wing Tai sok sok, there wouldn't have been leaders keeping our reigns tight and keeping us on track. Without the different workshops from Arts and Crafts to Adventure, there wouldn't have been anything for us to do with the kids. Without the many, MANY other people who i didn't mention, there wouldn't be anything. Without the bus drivers, sound dudes, travel and tour guides, we'd all be where we were 3 weeks ago minding our own business. So many memories that last forever that will never go away.
Even though we had little time with the students, the time we spent was enough for them. I wish we could spend more one-on-one time with them all to help them out, to let those tears fall that have been held up for months, to let them know there are others out there that care for each and every one of them.
It took my team 8 debriefing sessions to get to a result where we all agree that we have finally debriefed. However, we still have our reunions to start and yesterday was not only our last debrief as a team but our first reunion. Though we were missing a third of the team, they were still with us in spirit. Kitty even had the decency to call us from Toronto which was amazing!
I have had so many good memories and meeting new faces. Inspirational words, motivational speeches, admiral presentations, loving friends, kind reflections and joyous appreciations are only a start to the beginning of something more. The gains of friendship and fellowship, stewardship and mentorship, leadership and kinship are all blessings and I had the privilege to experience it all firsthand.
Thank you all for being such wonderful people. A bright and hopeful future awaits you all. God bless each and every one of you forever and a day.
Brian Li. In response to SiChuan June '09
6.17.2009
Raw recordings
Here's the raw studio recording and video of our song.
Hope you enjoy.
or perhaps... you may have to find it on youtube. Blogger doesnt support anything higher than 100 mb. Sorry
Hope you enjoy.
or perhaps... you may have to find it on youtube. Blogger doesnt support anything higher than 100 mb. Sorry
6.16.2009
1 day late
June 16
ok, so I'm gonna start posting with dates because from this point on, I dont think i'll be posting everyday. I'm starting to get a tad bored and I really have nothing to do at work. All I basically do is photocopy till I can basically blindfolded and i literally punch the functions into the machine. Such tedious work so I can be bored and facebook at the same time.. lol
Well I basically started our the day relaxed. I had a 2 hour meeting with the staff here for some praise & worship time along with sharing from the GT(Global Training - my department) on our trip to Sichuan. I fell asleep, 3 times. haha
For some reason I wasn't really awake for anything. Oh, there chairs were brick hard and they were very uncomfortable. Straight back chairs accompanied with 1 foot clearance to the back of the row of seats in front of you. Long legged people such as myself HATE it.
Well I basically was off at 11 and spent my first couple hours trying to figure out how to wash my clothes. It takes roughly 50 min to wash a medium load of clothes here... I didn't bother drying my clothes cuz I had very little time. I was going to dry them but because I had a meeting at 3 on the other side of town, and getting there would take me about an hour, I decided not to. WORST decision made because my clothes are wet and I rushed and forgot to bring the things that I meant to bring with me to the meeting. The shoes that I had worn to Sichuan mean a lot to me so I decided to save them and frame them. I wanted to keep a memory of them besides pictures so getting it signed by some of the team members and getting them framed was my idea of saving the memory. Unfortunately for me, I totally forgot to bring the shoes.
I wore the other shoes that I bought but they were very very uncomfortable. They literally made my feet ache the entire day and I was dying to take them off by 3. Desmond and I did a little shopping and window shopping till 5 down in Tsim Sha Tsui district and headed over to Sheung Wan district for dinner at Aunt Sookit's house. Uncle Freeman was an architect and he showed us his magnificent house.
We had a wonderful and gorgeous home made dinner and there was again, lots of food. Although I can't say the same for my travel from the MTR to the house. I would've been lost if we didn't have a guide lol
Their house was a 7-story flat which was once an old shop. They bought out half of it because the owners actually owned the place but wanted to keep the place in the family for generations. Uncle Freeman renovated it to a very contemporary and modern look with unusual design concepts. Each flat was uniquely made but the bedrooms were of similar style.
O forgot to mention. It rained ALL day. It'd rain and then stop, rain, stop, etc. Back and forth. Made the air more humid. I wish it would just rain and not stop then clear up. Its so humid here because of the cloud cover... grrrr
Anyways, We basically had dinner and fellowship till abour... 1230 where I was the first to live since I lived the furthest away. But everyone didn't want to see me go so they all left with me lol. 3 taxis; 3 locations; 9 people. WOOT. Got back around 115 and fell asleep around 2.
ok, so I'm gonna start posting with dates because from this point on, I dont think i'll be posting everyday. I'm starting to get a tad bored and I really have nothing to do at work. All I basically do is photocopy till I can basically blindfolded and i literally punch the functions into the machine. Such tedious work so I can be bored and facebook at the same time.. lol
Well I basically started our the day relaxed. I had a 2 hour meeting with the staff here for some praise & worship time along with sharing from the GT(Global Training - my department) on our trip to Sichuan. I fell asleep, 3 times. haha
For some reason I wasn't really awake for anything. Oh, there chairs were brick hard and they were very uncomfortable. Straight back chairs accompanied with 1 foot clearance to the back of the row of seats in front of you. Long legged people such as myself HATE it.
Well I basically was off at 11 and spent my first couple hours trying to figure out how to wash my clothes. It takes roughly 50 min to wash a medium load of clothes here... I didn't bother drying my clothes cuz I had very little time. I was going to dry them but because I had a meeting at 3 on the other side of town, and getting there would take me about an hour, I decided not to. WORST decision made because my clothes are wet and I rushed and forgot to bring the things that I meant to bring with me to the meeting. The shoes that I had worn to Sichuan mean a lot to me so I decided to save them and frame them. I wanted to keep a memory of them besides pictures so getting it signed by some of the team members and getting them framed was my idea of saving the memory. Unfortunately for me, I totally forgot to bring the shoes.
I wore the other shoes that I bought but they were very very uncomfortable. They literally made my feet ache the entire day and I was dying to take them off by 3. Desmond and I did a little shopping and window shopping till 5 down in Tsim Sha Tsui district and headed over to Sheung Wan district for dinner at Aunt Sookit's house. Uncle Freeman was an architect and he showed us his magnificent house.
We had a wonderful and gorgeous home made dinner and there was again, lots of food. Although I can't say the same for my travel from the MTR to the house. I would've been lost if we didn't have a guide lol
Their house was a 7-story flat which was once an old shop. They bought out half of it because the owners actually owned the place but wanted to keep the place in the family for generations. Uncle Freeman renovated it to a very contemporary and modern look with unusual design concepts. Each flat was uniquely made but the bedrooms were of similar style.
O forgot to mention. It rained ALL day. It'd rain and then stop, rain, stop, etc. Back and forth. Made the air more humid. I wish it would just rain and not stop then clear up. Its so humid here because of the cloud cover... grrrr
Anyways, We basically had dinner and fellowship till abour... 1230 where I was the first to live since I lived the furthest away. But everyone didn't want to see me go so they all left with me lol. 3 taxis; 3 locations; 9 people. WOOT. Got back around 115 and fell asleep around 2.
6.15.2009
First day of Work
Ok. So this is where I finally get caught back on schedule.
I'm finally writing this at the time at which I'm supposed to write and here we go.
Woke up to my lovely alarm at 730 to go check out the laundry room yet to realize that I over slept yet again and didn't wake till 815. Well, I most certainly am not waking up to my alarm any more and I need to get back into the habit of waking with the sun. I literally have THE BEST room in the entire village. An ocean view can never be beat. I am so blessed!
Well I started the day at 9 with some morning exercise of scanning photos. Ok, you may think that it is easy, but seriously it is probably the hardest thing I did today. Not only was it hard it was tedious. I had to literally scan the photo once and then import it to a computer and do it over and over again for 25 photos. A job like that should take me no longer than 20 min, but this took just over an hour. lol Yay for office equipment and my retardedness haha.
Did some MEGA photocopying for the upcoming camp. I did a little catching up on the students who were attending the camp and there are 3 Europeans, 2 Americans and 4 Canadians. Talk about an International Camp. Met my co-workers Jessican, Sun sun and uh... forgot the other person... hehe my bad. Chinese names were never my forte.
Well I also found out that my phone is out of credits. ?????? I thought it was topped, but apparently it was. Problem was that because it was a dual use phone, every call received and made costs more than a normal phone. Woot. I just spent 1 week in China where it costs SOOO much more. No phone means no contact. So after work (6pm), I went to go buy a new card.
My new number is 9157 0672. Hopefully I'll remember to top it again and again lol
Started raining at 630 and it still is. Actually its pouring. It reminds me of home.
I'm missing you all LOTS and I only wish I could be back. sigh.
Love ya'll lots!
I'm finally writing this at the time at which I'm supposed to write and here we go.
Woke up to my lovely alarm at 730 to go check out the laundry room yet to realize that I over slept yet again and didn't wake till 815. Well, I most certainly am not waking up to my alarm any more and I need to get back into the habit of waking with the sun. I literally have THE BEST room in the entire village. An ocean view can never be beat. I am so blessed!
Well I started the day at 9 with some morning exercise of scanning photos. Ok, you may think that it is easy, but seriously it is probably the hardest thing I did today. Not only was it hard it was tedious. I had to literally scan the photo once and then import it to a computer and do it over and over again for 25 photos. A job like that should take me no longer than 20 min, but this took just over an hour. lol Yay for office equipment and my retardedness haha.
Did some MEGA photocopying for the upcoming camp. I did a little catching up on the students who were attending the camp and there are 3 Europeans, 2 Americans and 4 Canadians. Talk about an International Camp. Met my co-workers Jessican, Sun sun and uh... forgot the other person... hehe my bad. Chinese names were never my forte.
Well I also found out that my phone is out of credits. ?????? I thought it was topped, but apparently it was. Problem was that because it was a dual use phone, every call received and made costs more than a normal phone. Woot. I just spent 1 week in China where it costs SOOO much more. No phone means no contact. So after work (6pm), I went to go buy a new card.
My new number is 9157 0672. Hopefully I'll remember to top it again and again lol
Started raining at 630 and it still is. Actually its pouring. It reminds me of home.
I'm missing you all LOTS and I only wish I could be back. sigh.
Love ya'll lots!
Back in HK
Sunday, June 14
It rained last night and today for an hour at around 1030.
I blogged all morning started at 8am.
Took an afternoon stroll down Mong Kok. So much stuff to see and I'll be back in a week to actually shop maybe. We'll have to see.
I went to church at around 4pm at something called 'The Vine'. I met up with Kevin Tse and his friends and met some pretty sweet people there from Canada. The church itself it mostly Caucasian and very British. I still think its funny having Chinese people speak with a British accent. Can never get over it.
It definitely brought me back to a Centre Street Worship. Oh How I miss it very very much!
After church I basically took a tram ride across Hong Kong Island with Kevin and Michelle. I will tell you now that I do NOT recommend you do that unless you have at least 3 hours on your hand. lol The tram takes so long to get from one destination to another that its hilarious. lol Lets say its a lot worse than the Calgary Transit C-train. We finally got off in an unknown location and went to a burger joint called Mos Burger. They had some pretty sweet burgers. Very authentic.
I went home while they separated and headed to Causway Bay. I stopped to shop for some breakfast for the morning and headed home.
It rained last night and today for an hour at around 1030.
I blogged all morning started at 8am.
Took an afternoon stroll down Mong Kok. So much stuff to see and I'll be back in a week to actually shop maybe. We'll have to see.
I went to church at around 4pm at something called 'The Vine'. I met up with Kevin Tse and his friends and met some pretty sweet people there from Canada. The church itself it mostly Caucasian and very British. I still think its funny having Chinese people speak with a British accent. Can never get over it.
It definitely brought me back to a Centre Street Worship. Oh How I miss it very very much!
After church I basically took a tram ride across Hong Kong Island with Kevin and Michelle. I will tell you now that I do NOT recommend you do that unless you have at least 3 hours on your hand. lol The tram takes so long to get from one destination to another that its hilarious. lol Lets say its a lot worse than the Calgary Transit C-train. We finally got off in an unknown location and went to a burger joint called Mos Burger. They had some pretty sweet burgers. Very authentic.
I went home while they separated and headed to Causway Bay. I stopped to shop for some breakfast for the morning and headed home.
Day 7 in Sichuan
Saturday, June 13
My final day in Sichuan. It seriously is a really beautiful place once you get the hang of things.
We spent the later and early part of the morning traveling and visiting a History Museum of even I don't know what. There were a lot of interesting things there but stuff that also bored me to death lol
We went shopping afterward at the street we visited last night after we had a little lunch. I had my first meal on the street. SKETCH!!! but yes, I had food off the street. I'm still alive and I didn't have any issues!!! YAY!!!!!! It was SOOOO good!!!! MMMM Pork in a sandwich yum yum hehe add it with a starbucks and i'm good for the day lol
The street was very lively. So many people but it was probably like a busy downtown Calgary. It really wasn't that bad. I bought a couple really cute pictures with frames for back home and well, all but 1 were destroyed :'(. No matter. I'll just find a frame for them when I get back home.
We arrived at the airport mid afternoon and boarded our flight at 4 for HK.
I had dinner with Andrew goh goh and his family. Dr. Choi's oldest son. Some delicious Japanese meal. MMMmmmm GOOD FOOD!!!!
My final day in Sichuan. It seriously is a really beautiful place once you get the hang of things.
We spent the later and early part of the morning traveling and visiting a History Museum of even I don't know what. There were a lot of interesting things there but stuff that also bored me to death lol
We went shopping afterward at the street we visited last night after we had a little lunch. I had my first meal on the street. SKETCH!!! but yes, I had food off the street. I'm still alive and I didn't have any issues!!! YAY!!!!!! It was SOOOO good!!!! MMMM Pork in a sandwich yum yum hehe add it with a starbucks and i'm good for the day lol
The street was very lively. So many people but it was probably like a busy downtown Calgary. It really wasn't that bad. I bought a couple really cute pictures with frames for back home and well, all but 1 were destroyed :'(. No matter. I'll just find a frame for them when I get back home.
We arrived at the airport mid afternoon and boarded our flight at 4 for HK.
I had dinner with Andrew goh goh and his family. Dr. Choi's oldest son. Some delicious Japanese meal. MMMmmmm GOOD FOOD!!!!
Day 6 in Sichuan
Friday, June 12
So everything is done and we're heading toward our Opening Ceremony venue for our final debrief, or what I think is our final debriefing.
We spent the morning and the early part of the afternoon just sharing our memories from the trip. We didn't want to leave because it was so inspiring to hear each others' stories. We also found some more cute kids to play with while having lunch.
As we were traveling back to Sichuan, I met a guy from Beijing and he introduced me to a book entitled "Disappointment With God" by Philip Yancy. He said he would like to give it to me but the only problem was that it was in Chinese. I told him that if there was an English translation of the book I would gladly purchase it and read it for myself. He was a very sincere guy and great company for the first quarter of our trip back. I fell asleep for half the trip and spent the last quarter making fun of Mandy and just chilling with the group.
Stopped at the hotel we would be staying in for the night and my goodness was it marvelous. I think just seeing it was my reality check that this trip is finally over. Our hotel was literally a 4-star hotel with its own little nook. Our room smelt so fresh and flowery that the girls wanted to change rooms haha.
We had a fantastic hotpot for dinner till about 11. If you all know who I am, I never get full from a hotpot despite how much food there is. This hotpot is not any type of hotpot. This one was literally 40cm in diameter and about 20cm deep. This thing was huge!!!! I literally had half the pot and I was sharing it with 4 other people. They kept feeding us endlessly with an abundance of food. You left the table and by the time you came back, you would have 2 full bowls of food to devour while they were cooking more for you hahaha. I never felt so FULL in my entire week. It literally was very very good!! It definitely made the 6 hours of traveling worth while.
We headed to a fantastic marketplace after dinner but everything was closed. However, the street was beaming with magnificent lights and i found my first starbucks!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! Sad part was they didn't have a Passion Tea lemonade Iced Tea. They had the Chrysanthemum Tea instead so I had to suffice. Des and a few friends went for drinks while I headed home to hit the sack. Little did I know that we had 2 cards for our hotel room and 1 was in the room and the other was on its way back with me, leaving Des with no card to enter the room. I waited till he and the girls returned home before I hit the sack. Wanted to make sure they were safe and sound. :D Watched some TV to make time roll by faster.
So everything is done and we're heading toward our Opening Ceremony venue for our final debrief, or what I think is our final debriefing.
We spent the morning and the early part of the afternoon just sharing our memories from the trip. We didn't want to leave because it was so inspiring to hear each others' stories. We also found some more cute kids to play with while having lunch.
As we were traveling back to Sichuan, I met a guy from Beijing and he introduced me to a book entitled "Disappointment With God" by Philip Yancy. He said he would like to give it to me but the only problem was that it was in Chinese. I told him that if there was an English translation of the book I would gladly purchase it and read it for myself. He was a very sincere guy and great company for the first quarter of our trip back. I fell asleep for half the trip and spent the last quarter making fun of Mandy and just chilling with the group.
Stopped at the hotel we would be staying in for the night and my goodness was it marvelous. I think just seeing it was my reality check that this trip is finally over. Our hotel was literally a 4-star hotel with its own little nook. Our room smelt so fresh and flowery that the girls wanted to change rooms haha.
We had a fantastic hotpot for dinner till about 11. If you all know who I am, I never get full from a hotpot despite how much food there is. This hotpot is not any type of hotpot. This one was literally 40cm in diameter and about 20cm deep. This thing was huge!!!! I literally had half the pot and I was sharing it with 4 other people. They kept feeding us endlessly with an abundance of food. You left the table and by the time you came back, you would have 2 full bowls of food to devour while they were cooking more for you hahaha. I never felt so FULL in my entire week. It literally was very very good!! It definitely made the 6 hours of traveling worth while.
We headed to a fantastic marketplace after dinner but everything was closed. However, the street was beaming with magnificent lights and i found my first starbucks!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! Sad part was they didn't have a Passion Tea lemonade Iced Tea. They had the Chrysanthemum Tea instead so I had to suffice. Des and a few friends went for drinks while I headed home to hit the sack. Little did I know that we had 2 cards for our hotel room and 1 was in the room and the other was on its way back with me, leaving Des with no card to enter the room. I waited till he and the girls returned home before I hit the sack. Wanted to make sure they were safe and sound. :D Watched some TV to make time roll by faster.
Day 5 in Sichuan
Thursday, June 11
I think I have a case of diarrhea. This is the 3rd straight day where I've had horrible stomach problems. However, I did find my way to my first cup of green tea in a week. I have to say it was much needed. Definitely cleaned out my system, but still, I've got some bad problems in the lower abdomen section.
We started our second day of workshops with the students. Our first group was extremely responsive. It was overwhelming. You notice now that every group has its own special and unique way in bringing love and support to those they care for. There was a guy who shared through music. He sang a song to his class which was about a challenge. I'm not sure what it was but I know that it was a challenge for them all. They all understood and you could feel it through the silence in the room. They were very very respectful. I've never seen HS students so dedicated to things like these and so very dear to each other.
We were able to finish our song through our break. We finished it at about 1230. Came back at 1 after having bread for lunch. We technically didn't leave the room but we still came back early to fine tune the notes, harmonies and lyrics. We kicked everyone out of our room so that we could run it a couple hundred times before we sang it to them in 6 hours :D. Seriously, even though I didn't understand it, and aside all the translations, it was seriously a beautiful piece that was inspired and literally written by the students. Though the words were taken from the students, music was written by Desmond Lo. His music was phenomenal and he's been writing songs for several years now. I have never seen someone compose a song in such little time. Kuddos to him! We dedicated this song, composed by The Music Team of Breakthrough for the Students of Beichuan Middle School.
Our second group of students were very quiet. Though they were quiet, they were also very joyous. They spent not only the time listening and singing songs with us, they were diligent in sharing stories with their ambassadors and friends. There was one note that stuck out to me the most and the team. It reads, "Friends might not be around us forever, but we are not alone". Such simple words and yet it brings such a powerful meaning.
We had our "Closing Ceremony/Concert" at around 745. We were running behind schedule due to the sound equipment and stuff. The one thing that touched me the most out of the entire concert/ceremony was choreographed interpretive dance done by 10 grad students. They were basically acting out through body the event of 5.12. It literally was a heart-stopping and heart-pounding piece of drama. There was nothing that brought out so many emotions from just a 7 min piece of dance. Magnificent! The night ended pretty late with the commotion of several thousand bugs. I literally had 3 bugs fly and drop onto my keyboard while I was playing squirming like they were gonna die. I killed 2 of the 3 and chucked the last one off the stage. The flies and mosquitoes were all but hospitable as well. Even with repellent, they gnawed through everything on your body. Oh well. At least it was a night to remember.
We had dinner at a very exquisite restaurant. It was literally the most clean meal I've had for the past week. It was not only clean, it was well prepared with little oil, msg and absolutely no spice. I couldn't be any happier at that moment. Despite not having internet, I loved the fact that I didn't have it. Friendship is literally the best key to anything. Without it, we'd be nothing at all.
I think I have a case of diarrhea. This is the 3rd straight day where I've had horrible stomach problems. However, I did find my way to my first cup of green tea in a week. I have to say it was much needed. Definitely cleaned out my system, but still, I've got some bad problems in the lower abdomen section.
We started our second day of workshops with the students. Our first group was extremely responsive. It was overwhelming. You notice now that every group has its own special and unique way in bringing love and support to those they care for. There was a guy who shared through music. He sang a song to his class which was about a challenge. I'm not sure what it was but I know that it was a challenge for them all. They all understood and you could feel it through the silence in the room. They were very very respectful. I've never seen HS students so dedicated to things like these and so very dear to each other.
We were able to finish our song through our break. We finished it at about 1230. Came back at 1 after having bread for lunch. We technically didn't leave the room but we still came back early to fine tune the notes, harmonies and lyrics. We kicked everyone out of our room so that we could run it a couple hundred times before we sang it to them in 6 hours :D. Seriously, even though I didn't understand it, and aside all the translations, it was seriously a beautiful piece that was inspired and literally written by the students. Though the words were taken from the students, music was written by Desmond Lo. His music was phenomenal and he's been writing songs for several years now. I have never seen someone compose a song in such little time. Kuddos to him! We dedicated this song, composed by The Music Team of Breakthrough for the Students of Beichuan Middle School.
Our second group of students were very quiet. Though they were quiet, they were also very joyous. They spent not only the time listening and singing songs with us, they were diligent in sharing stories with their ambassadors and friends. There was one note that stuck out to me the most and the team. It reads, "Friends might not be around us forever, but we are not alone". Such simple words and yet it brings such a powerful meaning.
We had our "Closing Ceremony/Concert" at around 745. We were running behind schedule due to the sound equipment and stuff. The one thing that touched me the most out of the entire concert/ceremony was choreographed interpretive dance done by 10 grad students. They were basically acting out through body the event of 5.12. It literally was a heart-stopping and heart-pounding piece of drama. There was nothing that brought out so many emotions from just a 7 min piece of dance. Magnificent! The night ended pretty late with the commotion of several thousand bugs. I literally had 3 bugs fly and drop onto my keyboard while I was playing squirming like they were gonna die. I killed 2 of the 3 and chucked the last one off the stage. The flies and mosquitoes were all but hospitable as well. Even with repellent, they gnawed through everything on your body. Oh well. At least it was a night to remember.
We had dinner at a very exquisite restaurant. It was literally the most clean meal I've had for the past week. It was not only clean, it was well prepared with little oil, msg and absolutely no spice. I couldn't be any happier at that moment. Despite not having internet, I loved the fact that I didn't have it. Friendship is literally the best key to anything. Without it, we'd be nothing at all.
6.13.2009
Day 4 in Sichuan
Wednesday, June 10
First day of workshops. We had a lot of energy going in to camp. Unfortunately for me, I accidentally had a cream bun from the bakery... Definitely is not going to go well.
Our first group of students were overjoyed and happy to see us. They just finished their exams yesterday morning so it was their first time to have some fun. They were extremely receptive to what the team had to offer through our stories and they were delighted to write their emotions down on paper as response to our music. A student in which I cannot pronounce his name wrote me a wonderful and very touching note. I had to get it translated. Picture to follow.
We met up with some of the students at their cafeteria for lunch. It was very different than from the one we were eating from. There are absolutely no chairs and only a couple of tables. It was a complete change in atmosphere from the workshop before. There was this ambiance, a certain glow in their faces while we were with them for the short 40 min.
We had our second group later on in the afternoon and they were also enthused to see us, but we were drained physically. However, they were very responsive to the workshop more so than the first and they were extremely emotional. Despite this though, they also showed joy and were very active.
What the kids had gone through was a lot and it was hard for us to relate to what they went through. They had so much courage to step up and share their memories. Though I was still unable to understand what they were saying, I was still able to feel God's power and presence working through them. It brought tears to my eyes thinking what they had to go through. They were only high school students and yet they carried so much weight on their shoulders to get through the year without their friends and siblings.
We spent that evening composing a song made from their notes and emotions so that we could give it to them at the closing ceremony.
First day of workshops. We had a lot of energy going in to camp. Unfortunately for me, I accidentally had a cream bun from the bakery... Definitely is not going to go well.
Our first group of students were overjoyed and happy to see us. They just finished their exams yesterday morning so it was their first time to have some fun. They were extremely receptive to what the team had to offer through our stories and they were delighted to write their emotions down on paper as response to our music. A student in which I cannot pronounce his name wrote me a wonderful and very touching note. I had to get it translated. Picture to follow.
We met up with some of the students at their cafeteria for lunch. It was very different than from the one we were eating from. There are absolutely no chairs and only a couple of tables. It was a complete change in atmosphere from the workshop before. There was this ambiance, a certain glow in their faces while we were with them for the short 40 min.
We had our second group later on in the afternoon and they were also enthused to see us, but we were drained physically. However, they were very responsive to the workshop more so than the first and they were extremely emotional. Despite this though, they also showed joy and were very active.
What the kids had gone through was a lot and it was hard for us to relate to what they went through. They had so much courage to step up and share their memories. Though I was still unable to understand what they were saying, I was still able to feel God's power and presence working through them. It brought tears to my eyes thinking what they had to go through. They were only high school students and yet they carried so much weight on their shoulders to get through the year without their friends and siblings.
We spent that evening composing a song made from their notes and emotions so that we could give it to them at the closing ceremony.
Day 3 in Sichuan
Tuesday, June 9
Ok. I guess you can say that the McD's last night wasn't the best idea we made. 1/4 of the group went there after dinner and all 25 of us had major diarrhea issues. I think most of them were fine by mid day but I seriously had the hardest time cooping with the uh, strange stuff. Ok yes, I had McD's in a foreign country.
A: That definitely speaks trouble.
B: Its McD's in which I haven't had one for years.
C: Its fast food... and slightly not really my choice of "healthy" food.
D: Its McD's....
I guess you can add it all up and say it really was a bad idea but who can't resist a Chicken Burger in Sichuan styled spice? I mean, if you go authentic go all out right? WRONG!!! Ok, so maybe it wasn't just the burger, the ice cream, pop, and fries also had some major issues in it. Everyone literally felt gross. The best way to cure stomach issues is to use "bak fa yow" (In chinese: 白花油), So... White Flower Oil in English. Luckily for me my friends had some and i got to use some and boy was it a relief to have that.
So today was literally our first meeting at the school and due to the above, I had the runs. There washrooms are definitely better than what it used to be, but for us Canadians, lets just say a 3x3x6 foot deep puke wall should NOT be placed by the sinks and entrance. Holes are exactly my type of invitation to go. haha
However, nonetheless, lunch was a little better. Food was just wrong. Oil covered everywhere. We're talking about when you wash your plastic dishes or tupperware, the grease literally has its own layer and u need more than just Palmolive to scrub your way through that thing. Since I had issues, I had rice and veggies. :D
Still not the best scenario since I basically have no food in my stomach at this point in time. All I really need is non-greasy food to fill my stomach and I should be fine right?? Well no matter, after lunch we had our first encounter with the students. It was all an emotional time for us all. We had the sharing of what we wanted to bring to them through the next 2 days and we told them our theme was the Life Tree.
Met the first group of kids roughly 100 for our first workshop. They all overwhelmed me with their stories and shocked me with how much passion they had to bring and offer for us. They give new meanings to Love, Joy and Respect. They were so open to what our team had to offer.
We did a little after work shopping. Apparently throughout the entire trip I am to be called "Fong Dai Hong" (In chinese: 方大同) In English, Khalil Fong. I couldn't pronounce his name so I kept saying "Fong tai hong" (Chinese: 方太紅) In English, Really Red Fong. They thought it was hilarious so they changed it to "Fong Dai Hong" (Chinese: 方大熊) In English, Big Bear Fong. They say I look like him so here's a photo of us.
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Went to go buy his CD and its AMAZING and we accidentally bumped into a dude that we thought was someone else but wasn't. Too bad for us, he started to get interested in what we doing but unfortunately he was really after Mandy. Fortunately I was there to keep her from harm haha. Our leader Alfred then showed up and then the dude started to get uh a little friendly with him. A little too friendly in our standards. Spent a good 10 min talking with Alfred trying to get numbers and addresses and I since he was so interested in us Canadians, I introduced him to the Western CD's in their store: Mariah Carey and Ne-Yo. Yay for pop/r&b albums. That drove him from the store.
We then started heading down the street to a Trust-mart which is like a Wal-Mart, but better and as we approached an intersection, a screeching 2009 Silver Audi A6 comes turning through the corner. Ok, I admit that finding 6 people in the same bright blue shirt isn't hard but this was a little nuts. The dude in which we met from the CD shop came through, stopped right in front us as as we were crossing the street with his window down, pointed directly at Alfred and yelled "Wo yow Jie ni ah!". hahahahahahaahahahaha
ok Chinese: 我有劲你啊! (dont know if jie is translated correctly)
English: I want to drive you ah!
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. so yea, we just said no thanks and started walking rapidly toward the True-Mart. Ok, by this time, were laughing our heads off. Desmond totally calls it and says that he is going to end up pulling up from the other side of the street in his car. 5 seconds later, the exact thing happens with him on the phone. We all suspect that he was trying to call Alfred so we just hurriedly rushed him underground ahaha. We went to go get some food, water and napkins.
Next we went to a bakery to get bread for my stomach because all I'll be eating will be bread for the next couple days since my stomach cannot handle the grease here. Bakery called Glery Cake made probably the BEST bread you'll ever taste. They are so soft and they literally melt in your mouth. MMMMmmmmm
O, also found out that I got a massive sun burn down my neck hahaa
Ok. I guess you can say that the McD's last night wasn't the best idea we made. 1/4 of the group went there after dinner and all 25 of us had major diarrhea issues. I think most of them were fine by mid day but I seriously had the hardest time cooping with the uh, strange stuff. Ok yes, I had McD's in a foreign country.
A: That definitely speaks trouble.
B: Its McD's in which I haven't had one for years.
C: Its fast food... and slightly not really my choice of "healthy" food.
D: Its McD's....
I guess you can add it all up and say it really was a bad idea but who can't resist a Chicken Burger in Sichuan styled spice? I mean, if you go authentic go all out right? WRONG!!! Ok, so maybe it wasn't just the burger, the ice cream, pop, and fries also had some major issues in it. Everyone literally felt gross. The best way to cure stomach issues is to use "bak fa yow" (In chinese: 白花油), So... White Flower Oil in English. Luckily for me my friends had some and i got to use some and boy was it a relief to have that.
So today was literally our first meeting at the school and due to the above, I had the runs. There washrooms are definitely better than what it used to be, but for us Canadians, lets just say a 3x3x6 foot deep puke wall should NOT be placed by the sinks and entrance. Holes are exactly my type of invitation to go. haha
However, nonetheless, lunch was a little better. Food was just wrong. Oil covered everywhere. We're talking about when you wash your plastic dishes or tupperware, the grease literally has its own layer and u need more than just Palmolive to scrub your way through that thing. Since I had issues, I had rice and veggies. :D
Still not the best scenario since I basically have no food in my stomach at this point in time. All I really need is non-greasy food to fill my stomach and I should be fine right?? Well no matter, after lunch we had our first encounter with the students. It was all an emotional time for us all. We had the sharing of what we wanted to bring to them through the next 2 days and we told them our theme was the Life Tree.
Met the first group of kids roughly 100 for our first workshop. They all overwhelmed me with their stories and shocked me with how much passion they had to bring and offer for us. They give new meanings to Love, Joy and Respect. They were so open to what our team had to offer.
We did a little after work shopping. Apparently throughout the entire trip I am to be called "Fong Dai Hong" (In chinese: 方大同) In English, Khalil Fong. I couldn't pronounce his name so I kept saying "Fong tai hong" (Chinese: 方太紅) In English, Really Red Fong. They thought it was hilarious so they changed it to "Fong Dai Hong" (Chinese: 方大熊) In English, Big Bear Fong. They say I look like him so here's a photo of us.
.jpg)
Went to go buy his CD and its AMAZING and we accidentally bumped into a dude that we thought was someone else but wasn't. Too bad for us, he started to get interested in what we doing but unfortunately he was really after Mandy. Fortunately I was there to keep her from harm haha. Our leader Alfred then showed up and then the dude started to get uh a little friendly with him. A little too friendly in our standards. Spent a good 10 min talking with Alfred trying to get numbers and addresses and I since he was so interested in us Canadians, I introduced him to the Western CD's in their store: Mariah Carey and Ne-Yo. Yay for pop/r&b albums. That drove him from the store.
We then started heading down the street to a Trust-mart which is like a Wal-Mart, but better and as we approached an intersection, a screeching 2009 Silver Audi A6 comes turning through the corner. Ok, I admit that finding 6 people in the same bright blue shirt isn't hard but this was a little nuts. The dude in which we met from the CD shop came through, stopped right in front us as as we were crossing the street with his window down, pointed directly at Alfred and yelled "Wo yow Jie ni ah!". hahahahahahaahahahaha
ok Chinese: 我有劲你啊! (dont know if jie is translated correctly)
English: I want to drive you ah!
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. so yea, we just said no thanks and started walking rapidly toward the True-Mart. Ok, by this time, were laughing our heads off. Desmond totally calls it and says that he is going to end up pulling up from the other side of the street in his car. 5 seconds later, the exact thing happens with him on the phone. We all suspect that he was trying to call Alfred so we just hurriedly rushed him underground ahaha. We went to go get some food, water and napkins.
Next we went to a bakery to get bread for my stomach because all I'll be eating will be bread for the next couple days since my stomach cannot handle the grease here. Bakery called Glery Cake made probably the BEST bread you'll ever taste. They are so soft and they literally melt in your mouth. MMMMmmmmm
O, also found out that I got a massive sun burn down my neck hahaa
Day 2 in Sichuan
Sorry but it seems that videos and pictures wont upload. Guess FB is the only resort at the moment till I can get them up.
June 8
Today we started at 715 which would make it long and grueling. We had breakfast at the hotel which was most definitely not my type of breakfast, which consisted of veggies, noodles, eggs, warm orange juice, congee and buns. I already miss my doughnut and coffee. :( Due to the horrible water irrigation system, water is something you do NOT want to have, so coffee is not good for you.
Half way through our leave for our planned destination we arrived at a road block. Due to a suspicious bus that contained a gas tank that exploded a week earlier, access across the bridge we were taking was not accessible. We spent a good 10 min waiting in line to get across until we finally got clearance from the police to move ahead. Our two hour bus ride turned to be 3 hours but we arrived safely to our destination despite our problems.
We arrived just in time for our opening ceremony to have already started. They were very loud and happy people and made us feel right at home though our MC was a little over the top. We’re young people and we like our music loud but he was just nuts. We had a wonderful time learning some dance moves from them and meeting the locals there and headed to the café for some true authentic food. It was very spicy food and definitely wasn’t my cup-o-tea.
Went to the site of the old school where the students that suffered the earthquake were placed. Visited the city where the students lived and killed over 20 thousand. We will be visiting the school and students at a different location tomorrow. Dinner was at the same place and quite exquisite. Met some dudes called Bao (spoken “b-ow”), Bing and Ban. Found the local kids were playing with a scooter skateboard type of thingy. I think we have some in Canada but yea, thought it was pretty cool and tried, but we all failed, well at least those who tried to work it. Couldn’t exactly get the thing to go more than 2 rotations lol
Had an after dinner snack at the local McD’s and tried something authentic. It was the Sichuan styled spicy chicken burger. lol First 3 seconds you don’t taste the spice and then the spice kicks in and boy was it super spicy. I’m a spice lover, but the spices here are not what my t-buds were looking for.
June 8
Today we started at 715 which would make it long and grueling. We had breakfast at the hotel which was most definitely not my type of breakfast, which consisted of veggies, noodles, eggs, warm orange juice, congee and buns. I already miss my doughnut and coffee. :( Due to the horrible water irrigation system, water is something you do NOT want to have, so coffee is not good for you.
Half way through our leave for our planned destination we arrived at a road block. Due to a suspicious bus that contained a gas tank that exploded a week earlier, access across the bridge we were taking was not accessible. We spent a good 10 min waiting in line to get across until we finally got clearance from the police to move ahead. Our two hour bus ride turned to be 3 hours but we arrived safely to our destination despite our problems.
We arrived just in time for our opening ceremony to have already started. They were very loud and happy people and made us feel right at home though our MC was a little over the top. We’re young people and we like our music loud but he was just nuts. We had a wonderful time learning some dance moves from them and meeting the locals there and headed to the café for some true authentic food. It was very spicy food and definitely wasn’t my cup-o-tea.
Went to the site of the old school where the students that suffered the earthquake were placed. Visited the city where the students lived and killed over 20 thousand. We will be visiting the school and students at a different location tomorrow. Dinner was at the same place and quite exquisite. Met some dudes called Bao (spoken “b-ow”), Bing and Ban. Found the local kids were playing with a scooter skateboard type of thingy. I think we have some in Canada but yea, thought it was pretty cool and tried, but we all failed, well at least those who tried to work it. Couldn’t exactly get the thing to go more than 2 rotations lol
Had an after dinner snack at the local McD’s and tried something authentic. It was the Sichuan styled spicy chicken burger. lol First 3 seconds you don’t taste the spice and then the spice kicks in and boy was it super spicy. I’m a spice lover, but the spices here are not what my t-buds were looking for.
Day 1 in Sichuan
June 7
Today I left for Sichuan at 0730. It was a hazy but very beautiful morning. Woke up a little earlier than usual to see the sun rise, but it had already rose. Went to go see the exotic wildlife around Breakthrough Village and found some very interesting creatures. Had a crabby door man greet my morning arrival, accompanied by a very pretty species of caterpillar.
Our drive to Sichuan was long and grueling. Though it was a 3 hour drive, it was still a beautiful drive out, but I had slept most of the way. Think of it like this, Calgary to Edmonton. Long and boring, but a lot more green and rice fields to see. The arrival was less than inviting and accommodating. Trying to shove 70 people in a hotel lobby fit and made for only 10 was just wrong. I’m claustrophobic so that wasn’t fun.
Nonetheless, the hotel was very nice considering that is only a 2-star hotel. I guess it is kind of considered as a 1 star hotel in Canada, but the difference was it was REALLY nice. It literally looked like a 4-star hotel. Everything was adequate and wince we were only usually staying for the night, it worked well.
Dinner was way more than adequate. Only located a few steps away from our hotel, the entrance was located steps behind a normal street level entrance. There was so much food. Compared to a regular Canadian Chinese set dinner, you get roughly 10 medium sized dishes. Here you get roughly double the dishes and one-and-a-half times the size for a table of ten. The restaurant looked 3-star and everything there was considered “mildly” spicy. Mild to me meant jalapeno spice mixed with Tabasco sauce. I’d almost say it’s pretty close to a Malaysian spice without the stinging feeling. The spice took its toll on me early on in the meal and I kinda went a little crazy, but it took its toll more than 1 way. :D
Did a little after dinner wandering around our section of the city and found some pretty cool stuff (video included). Wish I took a picture but I guess you’d all get the saying “What happened to Bugs Bunny?” pretty well. Drivers here are so crazy! They’re not as civilized in Canada as we’d think. I was in a little bit of a culture shock now. Drivers have the right of way here; pedestrians cross at their own risk, or so I think that’s how it works. There really aren’t any crosswalk lights for pedestrians. Cross at own risk would be the term that I’d label. Not to mention, drivers turn from 3 lanes to one and I’m not talking a left turn. I’m talking about a right turn. Yes, from the far left lane into the near right lane. Not really cool. People here honk like crazy, but it’s not because they’re mad or in a rush. Most of the time they’re honking to either A: warn pedestrians they’re not stopping, B: tell the driver in front to move or C: you’re driving too slow.
Found a lot of cool things wandering the city and shops close relatively early here. 8pm would be closing time but it’s still relatively late. Wish they could stay open long but we’re not in HK so I can’t complain.
Today I left for Sichuan at 0730. It was a hazy but very beautiful morning. Woke up a little earlier than usual to see the sun rise, but it had already rose. Went to go see the exotic wildlife around Breakthrough Village and found some very interesting creatures. Had a crabby door man greet my morning arrival, accompanied by a very pretty species of caterpillar.
Our drive to Sichuan was long and grueling. Though it was a 3 hour drive, it was still a beautiful drive out, but I had slept most of the way. Think of it like this, Calgary to Edmonton. Long and boring, but a lot more green and rice fields to see. The arrival was less than inviting and accommodating. Trying to shove 70 people in a hotel lobby fit and made for only 10 was just wrong. I’m claustrophobic so that wasn’t fun.
Nonetheless, the hotel was very nice considering that is only a 2-star hotel. I guess it is kind of considered as a 1 star hotel in Canada, but the difference was it was REALLY nice. It literally looked like a 4-star hotel. Everything was adequate and wince we were only usually staying for the night, it worked well.
Dinner was way more than adequate. Only located a few steps away from our hotel, the entrance was located steps behind a normal street level entrance. There was so much food. Compared to a regular Canadian Chinese set dinner, you get roughly 10 medium sized dishes. Here you get roughly double the dishes and one-and-a-half times the size for a table of ten. The restaurant looked 3-star and everything there was considered “mildly” spicy. Mild to me meant jalapeno spice mixed with Tabasco sauce. I’d almost say it’s pretty close to a Malaysian spice without the stinging feeling. The spice took its toll on me early on in the meal and I kinda went a little crazy, but it took its toll more than 1 way. :D
Did a little after dinner wandering around our section of the city and found some pretty cool stuff (video included). Wish I took a picture but I guess you’d all get the saying “What happened to Bugs Bunny?” pretty well. Drivers here are so crazy! They’re not as civilized in Canada as we’d think. I was in a little bit of a culture shock now. Drivers have the right of way here; pedestrians cross at their own risk, or so I think that’s how it works. There really aren’t any crosswalk lights for pedestrians. Cross at own risk would be the term that I’d label. Not to mention, drivers turn from 3 lanes to one and I’m not talking a left turn. I’m talking about a right turn. Yes, from the far left lane into the near right lane. Not really cool. People here honk like crazy, but it’s not because they’re mad or in a rush. Most of the time they’re honking to either A: warn pedestrians they’re not stopping, B: tell the driver in front to move or C: you’re driving too slow.
Found a lot of cool things wandering the city and shops close relatively early here. 8pm would be closing time but it’s still relatively late. Wish they could stay open long but we’re not in HK so I can’t complain.
6.06.2009
4 Days
4 days upon arrival and I'm "settled" in. Or that's what I would like to say, but I'm far from it. Sorry for the inactivity but I thought I would have more time to post, but apparently I had less time than I thought and internet is only available outside my room. Kind of hard to roam around the campus here at 11pm trying to find a plug and well lit area for me to blog.
Anyways, since my last blog, I've basically accustomed to the lovely team of 50 heading to Sichuan tomorrow. We will be meeting another group of 15 or so so they'll be roughly 70 of us going on this trip. Preparations are basically done and we're all busily running around to get stuff. Found out yesterday night that I had to bring utensils to China... haha who would've thunk it? Well i guess with this hygiene stuff, I'm not surprised.
My living quarters are fairly adequate. Not really accustomed to the toilet that is roughly 3 feet tall. Kinda creeps me out. Another thing that I'm definitely not used to is the extremely small sink (1x1.5ft), the handle shower and crawling newts. Yes, there are live creatures crawling around my bedroom. Kinda makes me wonder what they'll do when I'm sleeping. Definitely not my cup-o-tea. Tried to get them out but I failed miserably. I think I should've just left it alone.
Despite all that though, its homey. I like the luxury of not having a roommate or having to share stuff. I get all the space I need to live and no one to really bother me when I scream at the top of my lungs when singing or jumping for life when a 2 inch newt/lizard/thing crawls in front of you. Seriously, I don't understand how such a small creature can cause so much havoc for me.
I'm glad I had bought liquid detergent cuz I will definitely be using that to its full extent here. I had totally forgot that the odds of me changing a shirt twice a day would be acutally put into full use. No matter, they have a dryer. :D That was the one thing I was really worried about. Drying clothes in the wind wasn't really what I was hoping. SO GREATFUL! I knew we were privaledged and spoiled in Canada, but yea, you really understand it once you're here. It'll probably hit harder when I'm in China, but I'll have to update that later on.
Sorry no pictures or videos are posted, but I'll probably do that later on tonight. I need to get some major packing done and take a shower (but that can wait). The mosquitoes here are NASTY little buggers. I'm already starting to itch all over and i'm inside the building haha.
Well I best be getting on my way to packing and perhaps have a little supper. I totally forgot that you have to tell them to make dinner or else they won't give you any. lol Oh well, that's why going out for dinner is FUN. lol
Ok buddies. I'll have my laptop with me in China but I'm not sure if i'll be blogging. If so, see you then. If not, I'll see you guys on the 13/14 blogging my life away lol
Cheers!
Anyways, since my last blog, I've basically accustomed to the lovely team of 50 heading to Sichuan tomorrow. We will be meeting another group of 15 or so so they'll be roughly 70 of us going on this trip. Preparations are basically done and we're all busily running around to get stuff. Found out yesterday night that I had to bring utensils to China... haha who would've thunk it? Well i guess with this hygiene stuff, I'm not surprised.
My living quarters are fairly adequate. Not really accustomed to the toilet that is roughly 3 feet tall. Kinda creeps me out. Another thing that I'm definitely not used to is the extremely small sink (1x1.5ft), the handle shower and crawling newts. Yes, there are live creatures crawling around my bedroom. Kinda makes me wonder what they'll do when I'm sleeping. Definitely not my cup-o-tea. Tried to get them out but I failed miserably. I think I should've just left it alone.
Despite all that though, its homey. I like the luxury of not having a roommate or having to share stuff. I get all the space I need to live and no one to really bother me when I scream at the top of my lungs when singing or jumping for life when a 2 inch newt/lizard/thing crawls in front of you. Seriously, I don't understand how such a small creature can cause so much havoc for me.
I'm glad I had bought liquid detergent cuz I will definitely be using that to its full extent here. I had totally forgot that the odds of me changing a shirt twice a day would be acutally put into full use. No matter, they have a dryer. :D That was the one thing I was really worried about. Drying clothes in the wind wasn't really what I was hoping. SO GREATFUL! I knew we were privaledged and spoiled in Canada, but yea, you really understand it once you're here. It'll probably hit harder when I'm in China, but I'll have to update that later on.
Sorry no pictures or videos are posted, but I'll probably do that later on tonight. I need to get some major packing done and take a shower (but that can wait). The mosquitoes here are NASTY little buggers. I'm already starting to itch all over and i'm inside the building haha.
Well I best be getting on my way to packing and perhaps have a little supper. I totally forgot that you have to tell them to make dinner or else they won't give you any. lol Oh well, that's why going out for dinner is FUN. lol
Ok buddies. I'll have my laptop with me in China but I'm not sure if i'll be blogging. If so, see you then. If not, I'll see you guys on the 13/14 blogging my life away lol
Cheers!
6.03.2009
Vids for you to check
VOILA lol My uploading skills are failing quite horridly but I still got it up lol
ok videos' will stop loading for the next bit
Hopefully I'll upload more when I arrive at my other destination.
Till then, Cheers!
ok videos' will stop loading for the next bit
Hopefully I'll upload more when I arrive at my other destination.
Till then, Cheers!
The HK arrival
I have finally arrived in HK after a very turbulent arrival in both Vancouver and HK.
Old granny took my seat to Vcity... but thats ok. It was only an hour.
My HK flight however was gruelingly painful. Who knew that having a front aisle seat would be THAT disastrous.
Couldn't sleep properly, couldn't get very much done period. Food tasted really bad but it was slightly filling. I tried to sleep, but failed miserably. I had to crawl up in a fetal position to TRY to sleep but failed after countless tries. I did get a lot of shut eye... so that counts right?? lol
Yea.. I'll keep this short, cuz I seriously feel like i'm floating on a boat... :S and I'm really pooped.
Gotta take a shower cuz it is soo gruesomly hot and sticky. Till tomorrow morning or evening in your case, Night.
PS: enjoy the videos and pics lol
6.02.2009
Lies!
Hahaha Ok... so I guess the joy about having free internet at the airport is I get to play around here. lol
So yes, there is actually free internet along the entire airport. WICKED!!!!
So I'm sitting at my gate, waiting to board. BORING!!! My Embraer 70 (for those that don't know, its a plane that seats roughly 70 people with 2 seats per side per row) is sitting outside being groomed by the crew and checked by the captain. Luggage hasn't arrived but the crew has... lol
So yes, As I sit here and wait bored to death I'm slowly contemplating what I will be eating at YVR (Vancouver Airport). Should save me the boredon and call me lol or text. lol
PS: I didn't tear when I left. WOOT! I think i cried too much Sunday so that made up for today lol
So yes, peace out for now and have fun chums.
As Arnold would say, "I'll be back!" lol
So yes, there is actually free internet along the entire airport. WICKED!!!!
So I'm sitting at my gate, waiting to board. BORING!!! My Embraer 70 (for those that don't know, its a plane that seats roughly 70 people with 2 seats per side per row) is sitting outside being groomed by the crew and checked by the captain. Luggage hasn't arrived but the crew has... lol
So yes, As I sit here and wait bored to death I'm slowly contemplating what I will be eating at YVR (Vancouver Airport). Should save me the boredon and call me lol or text. lol
PS: I didn't tear when I left. WOOT! I think i cried too much Sunday so that made up for today lol
So yes, peace out for now and have fun chums.
As Arnold would say, "I'll be back!" lol
6.01.2009
12 hours to go
Hey guys,
12 hours left before I spend the next 17 hours on an airplane or at an airport.
This will be my final post before I reach HK. Hopefully I'll have some internet when i arrive at my hotel so I'm planning to post at around 9-11pm local = 7-9am Calgary time. If not, well I guess you'll have to wait till June 5 where I will have access to internet.
On that note, I totally forgot that I believe I won't have internet access when I'm in China, so for the week of 7-13 you'll probably wont be able to here from me. No worries, I'll do my best to keep you updated through that area and most definitely I'll probably blog an EXTRA long blog on the 13/14.
Till my next post, Cheers!
B storm!
12 hours left before I spend the next 17 hours on an airplane or at an airport.
This will be my final post before I reach HK. Hopefully I'll have some internet when i arrive at my hotel so I'm planning to post at around 9-11pm local = 7-9am Calgary time. If not, well I guess you'll have to wait till June 5 where I will have access to internet.
On that note, I totally forgot that I believe I won't have internet access when I'm in China, so for the week of 7-13 you'll probably wont be able to here from me. No worries, I'll do my best to keep you updated through that area and most definitely I'll probably blog an EXTRA long blog on the 13/14.
Till my next post, Cheers!
B storm!
5.31.2009
Informations de contact; información de contacto; informazioni di contatto; 聯繫信息; 連絡先情報
And for those of you who are language challenged, Contact Information.
So my contact information is quite easy while I will be in China. I have my own personal mobile and computer to keep in contact with all of you here and plus the handy dandy Skype!
Hopefully I remember all of it... If not, you'll see a blog about my contact stuff.
MSN/Email: brian.storm.li@hotmail.com (please no spam)
Skype: Brian Li Calgary, Canada
Facebook: Brian Li
Blog: tripplebees.blogspot.com
Cell HK: (852) 6618.6891
Cell China: (86) 132.6694.6891
The best way for you to get a hold of me is by either commenting on here or through facebook or email. The ods of me spending over 20-30 min on the internet chatting is rare especially since I will be 14-15 hours ahead.
WOot. 2 more days. see ya'll when I get back or if you have a coffee appointment with me tom, see u TOM! :D
PS: for those that WANT to follow me on this blog, easy.
Notice on the top of this screen there is a little thing text box and other random stuff on it? To the left there is a text box along with 3 other buttons. 'Search Blog', 'Flag Blog' and 'Follow Blog'. All you need to do is click the "Follow Blog" and sign-up with a google account if you don't already have one and voila, You are now a follower.
OR
you can click the Follow button located on the top left of your screen beside the title of my most recent post.
So my contact information is quite easy while I will be in China. I have my own personal mobile and computer to keep in contact with all of you here and plus the handy dandy Skype!
Hopefully I remember all of it... If not, you'll see a blog about my contact stuff.
MSN/Email: brian.storm.li@hotmail.com (please no spam)
Skype: Brian Li Calgary, Canada
Facebook: Brian Li
Blog: tripplebees.blogspot.com
Cell HK: (852) 6618.6891
Cell China: (86) 132.6694.6891
The best way for you to get a hold of me is by either commenting on here or through facebook or email. The ods of me spending over 20-30 min on the internet chatting is rare especially since I will be 14-15 hours ahead.
WOot. 2 more days. see ya'll when I get back or if you have a coffee appointment with me tom, see u TOM! :D
PS: for those that WANT to follow me on this blog, easy.
Notice on the top of this screen there is a little thing text box and other random stuff on it? To the left there is a text box along with 3 other buttons. 'Search Blog', 'Flag Blog' and 'Follow Blog'. All you need to do is click the "Follow Blog" and sign-up with a google account if you don't already have one and voila, You are now a follower.
OR
you can click the Follow button located on the top left of your screen beside the title of my most recent post.
5.28.2009
5 Days to Prep & where am I??
Greetings fellow followers. I just noticed that I have 5 days left till I depart from this wonderful city of sun, snow, shine, sleet, rain, hail, cloud in one day to a city where you see nothing but smog, sun, cloud, and more smog. Sounds like I dug myself a hole here.
Well it is that time where I give you a little update but I don't think it's necessary. I'm supposed to have packed something by now but all I've packed is a list of what I need to pack. I have to say though, my list is pretty hefty and well, lets just hope it lasts me 2 months.
As time goes on by, have you every wondered why on earth you wanted to go?? I'm having that strange little feeling today. Maybe its because a part of me doesn't want to go and the other part does. I seriously wonder why on earth I said 'yes' to this trip in the first place. Actually now that I think about it, I didn't know the details or the stuff required to go till about 3 weeks ago. Very interesting... Funny thing is, I didn't realize how much money I needed to bring until yesterday. :D Lets see. Sure I knew that the accommodations were adequate and that i'd have to pay a little fee. That's no biggy nor is it a problem, but the one thing I didn't expect was everything. (Ok some of it may sound pretty stupid but I didn't know back then). Breakin' it down, food would be an issue; laundry another issue; travel to china and accommodations was another HUGE issue; working on some sort of music workshop over there another issue; oh forgot to mention, its in Mandarin. HAHAHA can we all say SCREWED!?!?!
Oh well, come to think of it, I need to look at things on a bigger scale. These are just little small bumps along the road that God can provide. I'm his child and he'll take care of me no matter what. If I have to die, so be it. Not my will, but His will be done. Anyways, straying away from the dark times, thinking on the big picture, I have so much more to worry about that's beyond my grasp. Things like what happens if I get quarantined cause I'm Albertan or if I get mugged or captured. How many people are going to be in China for this workshop thingy or camp or (still to this day I still don't know what I'm doing in China) something, or perhaps what am I going to do to help these people in need. Am I ready for this journey in life? Do I have what it takes to be able to help those suffering and the teens in the camp?
I was speaking to Pastor Dan Wiens the other day about my little incident and this trip and he got me thinking. Definitely THE toughest test that I've ever had to face through a closed environment. The one question that I had the most trouble answering was "Do you have what it takes...?" Funny thing was I didn't know how to answer it. Sure I knew that there was more than just the question but there was something bothering me that I couldn't say. Key thing was, was that No, you don't have what it takes. Sure we may think we have all of it and we're the best at things but seriously, we don't have what it takes to do stuff, but with Christ In Me, we have what it takes.
So this got me thinking about this trip. OK, so now I understand and actually able to grasp and comprehend a lot more now that I had a very engaging conversation with Pastor Dan but it seems i'm lacking something. I believe I lack the spirit to do something fullfilling. Yea, sure I have the spirit but I don't think i'm open to the idea of having it in me to do anything. I seriously am going to have the hardest 2 months of my entire life and I though going through school was bas enough lol.
Well I'll keep you ALL updated on the next chapter. June 1 will be the beginning of my day-to-day life in HK/China.
PS: I just realized that this is public. So if I offend anyone, I'm very sorry. :D
PSS: I'll be posting at around 10/11 at night HK local time. For those who don't get it, that would be around 8am here in Calgary. I'm going to see if that works out otherwise, I'll post it at 8am HK local which would equal 6pm Calgary time. I may alternate but for the most part it'll be 10pm.
HK 8am means 10pm Calgary the previous day.
eg. HK June 3 8am = CGY June 2 6pm
eg. HK June 2 10pm = CGY June 2 8am
Well it is that time where I give you a little update but I don't think it's necessary. I'm supposed to have packed something by now but all I've packed is a list of what I need to pack. I have to say though, my list is pretty hefty and well, lets just hope it lasts me 2 months.
As time goes on by, have you every wondered why on earth you wanted to go?? I'm having that strange little feeling today. Maybe its because a part of me doesn't want to go and the other part does. I seriously wonder why on earth I said 'yes' to this trip in the first place. Actually now that I think about it, I didn't know the details or the stuff required to go till about 3 weeks ago. Very interesting... Funny thing is, I didn't realize how much money I needed to bring until yesterday. :D Lets see. Sure I knew that the accommodations were adequate and that i'd have to pay a little fee. That's no biggy nor is it a problem, but the one thing I didn't expect was everything. (Ok some of it may sound pretty stupid but I didn't know back then). Breakin' it down, food would be an issue; laundry another issue; travel to china and accommodations was another HUGE issue; working on some sort of music workshop over there another issue; oh forgot to mention, its in Mandarin. HAHAHA can we all say SCREWED!?!?!
Oh well, come to think of it, I need to look at things on a bigger scale. These are just little small bumps along the road that God can provide. I'm his child and he'll take care of me no matter what. If I have to die, so be it. Not my will, but His will be done. Anyways, straying away from the dark times, thinking on the big picture, I have so much more to worry about that's beyond my grasp. Things like what happens if I get quarantined cause I'm Albertan or if I get mugged or captured. How many people are going to be in China for this workshop thingy or camp or (still to this day I still don't know what I'm doing in China) something, or perhaps what am I going to do to help these people in need. Am I ready for this journey in life? Do I have what it takes to be able to help those suffering and the teens in the camp?
I was speaking to Pastor Dan Wiens the other day about my little incident and this trip and he got me thinking. Definitely THE toughest test that I've ever had to face through a closed environment. The one question that I had the most trouble answering was "Do you have what it takes...?" Funny thing was I didn't know how to answer it. Sure I knew that there was more than just the question but there was something bothering me that I couldn't say. Key thing was, was that No, you don't have what it takes. Sure we may think we have all of it and we're the best at things but seriously, we don't have what it takes to do stuff, but with Christ In Me, we have what it takes.
So this got me thinking about this trip. OK, so now I understand and actually able to grasp and comprehend a lot more now that I had a very engaging conversation with Pastor Dan but it seems i'm lacking something. I believe I lack the spirit to do something fullfilling. Yea, sure I have the spirit but I don't think i'm open to the idea of having it in me to do anything. I seriously am going to have the hardest 2 months of my entire life and I though going through school was bas enough lol.
Well I'll keep you ALL updated on the next chapter. June 1 will be the beginning of my day-to-day life in HK/China.
PS: I just realized that this is public. So if I offend anyone, I'm very sorry. :D
PSS: I'll be posting at around 10/11 at night HK local time. For those who don't get it, that would be around 8am here in Calgary. I'm going to see if that works out otherwise, I'll post it at 8am HK local which would equal 6pm Calgary time. I may alternate but for the most part it'll be 10pm.
HK 8am means 10pm Calgary the previous day.
eg. HK June 3 8am = CGY June 2 6pm
eg. HK June 2 10pm = CGY June 2 8am
5.26.2009
Testing my blogging skills
This is my test 165 hours before I depart. With my noob-tastic skills on blogging I don't know exactly how I get back on here. So if this works... I'm all good.
PS: If you're following me, give me a shout once in a while. I'll be happy to hear from you and i'll RSVP soon... hopefully within the day. :D
PS: If you're following me, give me a shout once in a while. I'll be happy to hear from you and i'll RSVP soon... hopefully within the day. :D
5.24.2009
1 Week Prep for the 2 month Trek
As most of you know, or may not know, I am in preparation to leaving on a 2 month journey to the far reaches of the earth; China. I've kept this a fairly small thing until now due to my long duration of stay overseas and will hardly have any internet access and thus creating this blog seemed the best way to solve all sorts of issues, questions and comments.
If you not know by now, I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to get together with everyone in whom I will probably never see again for a good year or so since I will not be returning till August. If I have missed you, I'm sorry. My schedule is already running to its max with as little prep time that I can manage without going to China empty handed.
My scheduled departure date is Tuesday June 2, at 12:20pm, so if you have time you can come see me off at the airport. I'll be there at around 1030 to ensure I get my boarding credentials and everything else in tact before I fly. My scheduled return is Sunday August 2, at around... 13:22 (for those 24-hour clock challenged, that's 1:22pm).
I will be spending the majority of my stay over in HK in which I will be undergoing some extensive training. For my first couple days in which I arrive, I'll be adapting to the time change and getting as much shopping done within my next 24 hours before I'm locked up in my cell. The following week I'll be heading over to the earthquake stricken province of Sichuan in where I will be amongst a team of 6 doing a music workshop. There are a total of around 45 chinese people going including myself, half of which are situated and based in HK and another 20 from Toronto I beleive. I am the only Calagarian and westerner. In fact, I was the one chosen from several hundred young adults to be the Canadian Ambassador. Don't ask me what it means becuase even I don't know. All I know is that that is what they call me. During my stay in Sichuan, I'll be working with my team of 6 in producing 2 hour concerts for the people there twice a day, 3 times a week with a final concert on the saturday for 2.5 hours. Over 80% of the songs are to be sung in Mandarin, 15% in Cantonese and the remaining in English.
As you all would have guessed by now, I don't speak Mandarin, nor can I speak it to save my life. The past 2 weeks have been a gruelling test to see how I can adjust to something that is so unfamiliar with my surroundings and I've failed miserably. I do however have all the english songs memorized. Oh, did I mention that I was also asked to play the piano as well... DUR.... Perhaps if they gave me music I would be able to but I think i'm going to fail that part as well.
After my stay weeks stay in Sichuan, I'll be heading back to HK for a month and a half worth of Leadership training.
In breif, I am working with a group of people from "Breakthrough" which is a leadership camp based in HK for young adults (18-22), to learn more about Christ. This camp is non-secular however the people that run and organize it are Christians, or so I believe. My role here is basically a student leader. I believe I am to help the kids learn and grow through what they teach. Since I was part of this camp 2 years ago, they probably chose me to be a student leader, even though I hardly speak their language. Everything will be Mandarin. Messages, instructions, games, prayers, etc.
I unfortunately will not have a trusty translator by my side to interpret everything like two years ago where I was lucky enough to have a very kind girl in my group who could not only understand Mandarin, speak it, speak and understand Cantonese and understand English, but also was able to translate everything to me when I didn't understand what was being said. In which case, 98% of the time. Though she wasn't a Christian at that time, she had heard a lot about scripture and through me, she was able to understand it more vastly. I was able to share the gospel to her through this "bond" and in the end she became a Christian.
Hopefully this year, I'll be able to not only help one person get to know and become a follower of Christ, but be able to help an entire group live a life for God. I've had many struggles throughout the past several years and I believe they were given to me as a test. This trip, though I won't admit it for a long time, is something that I am looking forward to. I believe that this will definitely make my walk with God more interesting and challenging. Something that I will have the chance to look back upon and relive some of the experiences. A testimony for God and others.
So as I prepare for a very challenging 2 month trip, I ask for your prayer. I am totally stepping out of my comfort zone which I haven't done in years and leaving my life in the palms of God and Jesus. I seriously can't wait to see what's in store for me and how much I can learn.
I will be doing my best in keeping this blog up-to-date everyday and letting you all know what's up and everything else that's going on. Perhaps I might find myself a FOB... haha jks.
Cheers mates.
Brian
If you not know by now, I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to get together with everyone in whom I will probably never see again for a good year or so since I will not be returning till August. If I have missed you, I'm sorry. My schedule is already running to its max with as little prep time that I can manage without going to China empty handed.
My scheduled departure date is Tuesday June 2, at 12:20pm, so if you have time you can come see me off at the airport. I'll be there at around 1030 to ensure I get my boarding credentials and everything else in tact before I fly. My scheduled return is Sunday August 2, at around... 13:22 (for those 24-hour clock challenged, that's 1:22pm).
I will be spending the majority of my stay over in HK in which I will be undergoing some extensive training. For my first couple days in which I arrive, I'll be adapting to the time change and getting as much shopping done within my next 24 hours before I'm locked up in my cell. The following week I'll be heading over to the earthquake stricken province of Sichuan in where I will be amongst a team of 6 doing a music workshop. There are a total of around 45 chinese people going including myself, half of which are situated and based in HK and another 20 from Toronto I beleive. I am the only Calagarian and westerner. In fact, I was the one chosen from several hundred young adults to be the Canadian Ambassador. Don't ask me what it means becuase even I don't know. All I know is that that is what they call me. During my stay in Sichuan, I'll be working with my team of 6 in producing 2 hour concerts for the people there twice a day, 3 times a week with a final concert on the saturday for 2.5 hours. Over 80% of the songs are to be sung in Mandarin, 15% in Cantonese and the remaining in English.
As you all would have guessed by now, I don't speak Mandarin, nor can I speak it to save my life. The past 2 weeks have been a gruelling test to see how I can adjust to something that is so unfamiliar with my surroundings and I've failed miserably. I do however have all the english songs memorized. Oh, did I mention that I was also asked to play the piano as well... DUR.... Perhaps if they gave me music I would be able to but I think i'm going to fail that part as well.
After my stay weeks stay in Sichuan, I'll be heading back to HK for a month and a half worth of Leadership training.
In breif, I am working with a group of people from "Breakthrough" which is a leadership camp based in HK for young adults (18-22), to learn more about Christ. This camp is non-secular however the people that run and organize it are Christians, or so I believe. My role here is basically a student leader. I believe I am to help the kids learn and grow through what they teach. Since I was part of this camp 2 years ago, they probably chose me to be a student leader, even though I hardly speak their language. Everything will be Mandarin. Messages, instructions, games, prayers, etc.
I unfortunately will not have a trusty translator by my side to interpret everything like two years ago where I was lucky enough to have a very kind girl in my group who could not only understand Mandarin, speak it, speak and understand Cantonese and understand English, but also was able to translate everything to me when I didn't understand what was being said. In which case, 98% of the time. Though she wasn't a Christian at that time, she had heard a lot about scripture and through me, she was able to understand it more vastly. I was able to share the gospel to her through this "bond" and in the end she became a Christian.
Hopefully this year, I'll be able to not only help one person get to know and become a follower of Christ, but be able to help an entire group live a life for God. I've had many struggles throughout the past several years and I believe they were given to me as a test. This trip, though I won't admit it for a long time, is something that I am looking forward to. I believe that this will definitely make my walk with God more interesting and challenging. Something that I will have the chance to look back upon and relive some of the experiences. A testimony for God and others.
So as I prepare for a very challenging 2 month trip, I ask for your prayer. I am totally stepping out of my comfort zone which I haven't done in years and leaving my life in the palms of God and Jesus. I seriously can't wait to see what's in store for me and how much I can learn.
I will be doing my best in keeping this blog up-to-date everyday and letting you all know what's up and everything else that's going on. Perhaps I might find myself a FOB... haha jks.
Cheers mates.
Brian
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