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
6.20.2009
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.
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