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reflections~
I find it hard to believe that it's that time of the year again. The time when we get all busy for Christmas and get all excited about the new year. The time when we look back on the past year, thought of how far we'd come, and make new resolutions for the next. It's the time when we can't wait for what's in store for us, but at the same time say goodbye to a great and fruitful year.
As I think back, I realised how much I've grown. This time last year, I had just finished SPM, nervous yet happy that high school is finally over. Then, I worried about national service, about how am I going to survive those 3 months. Then I also thought about my studies to a foreign land and how much I'm going to miss home. And now, I laugh silently as I realised that all these what may seem like unfortunate events has helped me grow and look at life at a whole new perspective.
National Service was definitely one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and in those 3 months, friendships were made, lessons were learnt, a new me was created. I cried and hugged my friends as I left the camp I soon called home, and toughen myself up for another journey- to New Zealand. It wasn't easy at all going to a new place to study and meeting new people who don't even share the same skin colour, but being here for 6 months already, it was a real eye-opener for me. I became more independent, more confident, and leaned more on God. I found out what the "world out there" is like, especially when I learn from other cultures, treasure my own (Malaysia Boleh!), and use those knowledge to enrich my life.
Still, I have to admit, the best part about going somewhere else to study, is meeting new and interesting people. Or, better still, someone I've lost contact with for years. It really is a small world after all, since I've met a kindergarten friend I haven't seen since I was 6! And also getting close to friends that have so much in common yet never got to meet in Kuching. How ironic is that! Also, creating meaningful friendships with those from other countries, including Russia, Oman, China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, US, and so on. It makes you think about how diverse the world is, and that you're never alone in facing challenges.
I'm beginning to love Christchurch, the Garden City of NZ. A beeeautiful city with wonderful and extremely kind people. At the same time I'm sad that I'll leave Chch for Dunedin (Uni of Otago) next year. Yep, for those who haven't yet known, I am changing to another uni, not because I don't like the current one, but Otago has the subjects that suit be better. I haven't confirmed 100% yet, but most probably I'll be studying towards a Clinical Psychology degree and NO it won't be about treating mental patients la, ok.
P.S. Did I mention that I have a new haircut? hehe. Also, I dissected a sheep's heart this morning. Totally gross but quite fun, too.
As I think back, I realised how much I've grown. This time last year, I had just finished SPM, nervous yet happy that high school is finally over. Then, I worried about national service, about how am I going to survive those 3 months. Then I also thought about my studies to a foreign land and how much I'm going to miss home. And now, I laugh silently as I realised that all these what may seem like unfortunate events has helped me grow and look at life at a whole new perspective.
National Service was definitely one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and in those 3 months, friendships were made, lessons were learnt, a new me was created. I cried and hugged my friends as I left the camp I soon called home, and toughen myself up for another journey- to New Zealand. It wasn't easy at all going to a new place to study and meeting new people who don't even share the same skin colour, but being here for 6 months already, it was a real eye-opener for me. I became more independent, more confident, and leaned more on God. I found out what the "world out there" is like, especially when I learn from other cultures, treasure my own (Malaysia Boleh!), and use those knowledge to enrich my life.
Still, I have to admit, the best part about going somewhere else to study, is meeting new and interesting people. Or, better still, someone I've lost contact with for years. It really is a small world after all, since I've met a kindergarten friend I haven't seen since I was 6! And also getting close to friends that have so much in common yet never got to meet in Kuching. How ironic is that! Also, creating meaningful friendships with those from other countries, including Russia, Oman, China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, US, and so on. It makes you think about how diverse the world is, and that you're never alone in facing challenges.
I'm beginning to love Christchurch, the Garden City of NZ. A beeeautiful city with wonderful and extremely kind people. At the same time I'm sad that I'll leave Chch for Dunedin (Uni of Otago) next year. Yep, for those who haven't yet known, I am changing to another uni, not because I don't like the current one, but Otago has the subjects that suit be better. I haven't confirmed 100% yet, but most probably I'll be studying towards a Clinical Psychology degree and NO it won't be about treating mental patients la, ok.
P.S. Did I mention that I have a new haircut? hehe. Also, I dissected a sheep's heart this morning. Totally gross but quite fun, too.
life and its surprises
Wee I'm finally back, after being MIA for quite some time. Many things had happened, both good and bad.
So bad news first la. My best friend in Chch and 1st "ang mo" friend is leaving for Sydney! waa. Yea Liudmila left Foundation Studies a few weeks ago and decided she really wanted to study something else at Sydney. She came by this afternoon, we hugged, exchanged contacts, and said goodbyes. sigh. I wanted to give her a bdae present this Saturday, but it turns out that she's leaving tomoro! So I guess that's it, hopefully we will have the chance to see each other again. Till the, all the best, gal n luv u lots... *teary*
One good news though. I got accepted into Studholme hall! Quite expensive, think around $239 per week, but heck, there are no cheap halls in Otago. Might consider flatting during my 2nd year, but it all depends on whether I've learnt some cooking skills and found a good place and flatmates onot. Then the not-so-good news. Well actually it's not bad news, just really ma fan news. Apparently I need a financial guarantor, so I asked Carol my hostmum to sign the form lo. Mana tau she went blabbering on about how she found it hard to be someone else's guarantor (what the...) and asked me to get my parents' instead. So now, I have to fax the form back, get Dad's signature, then post the form and $600 cheque there by Monday. sigh. Dunno will it be on time onot. All because she wouldn't sign the friggin form. It's not like I would not pay the money wa...
So anyway, I've been under a lot of stress lately. NZ in the world essay due tomorrow (Thank God that's done already), Chemistry test on Friday, Chem practical due oso on Friday... Only on Monday I handed in Bio assignment which I blew off the 10%... I misread the essay requirements and wrote ONLY about the questions, when we were supposed to write about hormones. Stupid hormones. blah. I am complaining a lot, aren't I?
Speaking of hormones, I owe them to a stupid argument with Ivan last Friday. It all started when he agreed to go for badminton. When the time came, I texted and called him, but got no reply. So like any other girl who felt like they got stood up, I got furious and had my badminton game without the stupid idiot. Btw for the whole game, I imagined his head being the shuttlecock, and hit it as hard as possible, just to vent my anger. Next day, a typical spoiled me put on my "merajuk" face and went to uni. I managed not to say anything to him for the whole day and pretended he didn't exist. Then at midnite (while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), finally came the SORRY text, which went something like "...really sorry but plz let me explain bla bla..." Being a person who couldn't stay angry at someone for long, I forgave him lo. Come to think about it, it was just so silly.
Onto a related incident oso, Christmas in the Park was held at Hagley Park last Saturday nite. I went there with Melia and the gang, but frankly I felt a little out of place and decided to join Ivan instead. So I "ditched" my friends (yea how nice, eh) for a guy I refused to speak to the previous day coz he went there alone. And soon enough, trouble came. THIS girl suddenly came up to him, yanked his arm, and demanded who was I and why he wasn't with her. I almost choked. Apparently she had a major crush on him and told everyone that he was her bf. What the... Thank goodness she agreed to leave us alone after so long clinging on to him. Very scary. So after that, met up with the other 2 couples (haha) and "enjoyed" the last few songs. Later on, went to Oliver's place to have fish and kumara chips..hehe.
So that's about it. Life's been good, Christchurch has been interesting, and honestly I dread of moving to a new place and making new friends all over again. But that's just life. And I'll be looking forward to that.
So bad news first la. My best friend in Chch and 1st "ang mo" friend is leaving for Sydney! waa. Yea Liudmila left Foundation Studies a few weeks ago and decided she really wanted to study something else at Sydney. She came by this afternoon, we hugged, exchanged contacts, and said goodbyes. sigh. I wanted to give her a bdae present this Saturday, but it turns out that she's leaving tomoro! So I guess that's it, hopefully we will have the chance to see each other again. Till the, all the best, gal n luv u lots... *teary*
One good news though. I got accepted into Studholme hall! Quite expensive, think around $239 per week, but heck, there are no cheap halls in Otago. Might consider flatting during my 2nd year, but it all depends on whether I've learnt some cooking skills and found a good place and flatmates onot. Then the not-so-good news. Well actually it's not bad news, just really ma fan news. Apparently I need a financial guarantor, so I asked Carol my hostmum to sign the form lo. Mana tau she went blabbering on about how she found it hard to be someone else's guarantor (what the...) and asked me to get my parents' instead. So now, I have to fax the form back, get Dad's signature, then post the form and $600 cheque there by Monday. sigh. Dunno will it be on time onot. All because she wouldn't sign the friggin form. It's not like I would not pay the money wa...
So anyway, I've been under a lot of stress lately. NZ in the world essay due tomorrow (Thank God that's done already), Chemistry test on Friday, Chem practical due oso on Friday... Only on Monday I handed in Bio assignment which I blew off the 10%... I misread the essay requirements and wrote ONLY about the questions, when we were supposed to write about hormones. Stupid hormones. blah. I am complaining a lot, aren't I?
Speaking of hormones, I owe them to a stupid argument with Ivan last Friday. It all started when he agreed to go for badminton. When the time came, I texted and called him, but got no reply. So like any other girl who felt like they got stood up, I got furious and had my badminton game without the stupid idiot. Btw for the whole game, I imagined his head being the shuttlecock, and hit it as hard as possible, just to vent my anger. Next day, a typical spoiled me put on my "merajuk" face and went to uni. I managed not to say anything to him for the whole day and pretended he didn't exist. Then at midnite (while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), finally came the SORRY text, which went something like "...really sorry but plz let me explain bla bla..." Being a person who couldn't stay angry at someone for long, I forgave him lo. Come to think about it, it was just so silly.
Onto a related incident oso, Christmas in the Park was held at Hagley Park last Saturday nite. I went there with Melia and the gang, but frankly I felt a little out of place and decided to join Ivan instead. So I "ditched" my friends (yea how nice, eh) for a guy I refused to speak to the previous day coz he went there alone. And soon enough, trouble came. THIS girl suddenly came up to him, yanked his arm, and demanded who was I and why he wasn't with her. I almost choked. Apparently she had a major crush on him and told everyone that he was her bf. What the... Thank goodness she agreed to leave us alone after so long clinging on to him. Very scary. So after that, met up with the other 2 couples (haha) and "enjoyed" the last few songs. Later on, went to Oliver's place to have fish and kumara chips..hehe.
So that's about it. Life's been good, Christchurch has been interesting, and honestly I dread of moving to a new place and making new friends all over again. But that's just life. And I'll be looking forward to that.
looong post
Another great weekend. SALT conference gave me a real insight into many things, from playing piano/keys to hip hop dancing. It started Thursday nite with Jeff Crabtree talking about the importance of music and how it influenced people and societies. Really funny man, you can even tell it by his name. hehe.
Then Friday started Band session, we were entertained by jamming sessions, mostly by jazz musicians, then split into different electives. That's when the scary part began. Well, only 5 people chose keys as their elective, so it was really really horrifying to play in front of people you don't know. For me, at least. Tom, our tutor, asked us to play "God He Reigns" in different moods, then taught us to improvise and make it sound better. So scary and nervous at 1st coz I'm the last one to play, and not surprisingly I'm the only Asian there. Yeah it took a lot of courage. I never played that song before, and gosh my sight reading skills slack a bit, I stumbled a bit along the way, but overall very informative and encouraging.
At nite of coz was THE night. Fashion show and film festival. Hundreds of people crowded the auditorium, and what really amazed me was that 85% of them who came was non-Christians! How awesome, ay. Fashion show was fabulous too, Elly looked great, Joel shocked me (came out displaying bath robes!), and the atmosphere was just perfect. Honestly I didn't expect it to turn out so professional and stylish. So great job for the 1st time organising a fashion show! Also, the short films shown were really WOAH... have to see it to know how it feels.
Saturday morning: All musicians combined into a ParaTREE session (Jeff CrabTREE and PARAchute band..haha). Jeff and Wayne talked on the ways to free worship, making it smooth, how to practise, and so on. Very cool stuff.
After that we went to our separate random electives. For me was DANCE. It is definitely something I've always wanted to try, after seeing Elly dance soooo beautifully. So anyway, she taught us really cool routines, very hip hop-ish... I didn't nail it, but for a 1st timer, "not bad la hor..." haha. So farnie and weird doing those moves and stretching my muscles to the limit. keke.
Sat nite: Open concert. Won't go into details but it's one of the best concerts ever. It covered everything; hip hop, breakdancing, rock, slow ballads (Julia Grace), jazz n blues...
SO, I registered with low expectations, and ended up gaining so much more. God is definitely gracious, and not forgetting...CREATIVE!
Ok la, enough of Salt. Though I can't wait for next year's Salt...hehe. I bought new sport shoezies! Nike Air BRS 1000 in purple! A lil dear (150 dollars) though. Had badminton today, quite relaxed one. Better start on my assignments (3 of them! all 1000 words ar) soon if I want to do well in all of those.
Oh yea, another big thing coming up... Elly and Andre's wedding ceremony this coming Saturday at church! It's undoubtedly gonna be HUGE, I'm trying to imagine how her wedding gown looks like, sure very trendy and elegant... sigh sooo romantic when you look at the couple. Andre, Pastor Leo's son, is quite soft spoken and gentleman-ly; on the other hand Elly is well, more sophisticated, funky, trendy, very "out there". Opposites attract, right? So congrats and best wishes to the cool couple. Meanwhile, I'll be busy figuring what I'll wear to the wedding.
Then Friday started Band session, we were entertained by jamming sessions, mostly by jazz musicians, then split into different electives. That's when the scary part began. Well, only 5 people chose keys as their elective, so it was really really horrifying to play in front of people you don't know. For me, at least. Tom, our tutor, asked us to play "God He Reigns" in different moods, then taught us to improvise and make it sound better. So scary and nervous at 1st coz I'm the last one to play, and not surprisingly I'm the only Asian there. Yeah it took a lot of courage. I never played that song before, and gosh my sight reading skills slack a bit, I stumbled a bit along the way, but overall very informative and encouraging.
At nite of coz was THE night. Fashion show and film festival. Hundreds of people crowded the auditorium, and what really amazed me was that 85% of them who came was non-Christians! How awesome, ay. Fashion show was fabulous too, Elly looked great, Joel shocked me (came out displaying bath robes!), and the atmosphere was just perfect. Honestly I didn't expect it to turn out so professional and stylish. So great job for the 1st time organising a fashion show! Also, the short films shown were really WOAH... have to see it to know how it feels.
Saturday morning: All musicians combined into a ParaTREE session (Jeff CrabTREE and PARAchute band..haha). Jeff and Wayne talked on the ways to free worship, making it smooth, how to practise, and so on. Very cool stuff.
After that we went to our separate random electives. For me was DANCE. It is definitely something I've always wanted to try, after seeing Elly dance soooo beautifully. So anyway, she taught us really cool routines, very hip hop-ish... I didn't nail it, but for a 1st timer, "not bad la hor..." haha. So farnie and weird doing those moves and stretching my muscles to the limit. keke.
Sat nite: Open concert. Won't go into details but it's one of the best concerts ever. It covered everything; hip hop, breakdancing, rock, slow ballads (Julia Grace), jazz n blues...
SO, I registered with low expectations, and ended up gaining so much more. God is definitely gracious, and not forgetting...CREATIVE!
Ok la, enough of Salt. Though I can't wait for next year's Salt...hehe. I bought new sport shoezies! Nike Air BRS 1000 in purple! A lil dear (150 dollars) though. Had badminton today, quite relaxed one. Better start on my assignments (3 of them! all 1000 words ar) soon if I want to do well in all of those.
Oh yea, another big thing coming up... Elly and Andre's wedding ceremony this coming Saturday at church! It's undoubtedly gonna be HUGE, I'm trying to imagine how her wedding gown looks like, sure very trendy and elegant... sigh sooo romantic when you look at the couple. Andre, Pastor Leo's son, is quite soft spoken and gentleman-ly; on the other hand Elly is well, more sophisticated, funky, trendy, very "out there". Opposites attract, right? So congrats and best wishes to the cool couple. Meanwhile, I'll be busy figuring what I'll wear to the wedding.
Salt of the earth
Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."
Salt may seem like an odd thing to compare to the Kingdom of God, especially today. But if you walked the earth during Jesus' time this comparison between the Kingdom of God and salt would have spoken volumes about what it meant to be a true follower of Jesus Christ.
First, everyone knew salt as a preservative. Because there was no electricity during Jesus' time there was no refrigeration. That, of course, meant that meat, such as that from a lamb, would go bad very quickly. Salt was put on meat to keep it from rotting.
We, as followers of Christ, are called to preserve the faith. We are called to lead others to it, we are called to bring up our children in it, and we are called to continue to pass on the stories and essential teachings. How does the Christian faith survive generation to generation? Believers must pass it on.
Second, salt was used, as it is today, to enhance the flavor of foods. I know many people who can hardly sit down to a meal without using lots of salt. Why? Because they say it makes it all taste better.
We are called to "flavor" this world with the love of Christ. As any Christian will tell you, life is better in a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to serve the least of those around us and to reach out to those in need. We are called to take care of widows and orphans, the sick and the poor. We should make it our goal to leave this world a better place because of our lives, and not to waste life on selfish passions and desires.
If we don't live our lives in a way that preserves the faith and makes the world better, in the words of Jesus, we are no longer useful.
Whoa. So "cun" that Daily Devotions sent me this text about salt. Coincidence? I think that He's the one who made this happen. So anyway, the big day is here. Today. This evening, Salt is starting, and I'm soooo excited! hehe. Hope all goes well, many will attend, and that it will be an unforgettable nite.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."
Salt may seem like an odd thing to compare to the Kingdom of God, especially today. But if you walked the earth during Jesus' time this comparison between the Kingdom of God and salt would have spoken volumes about what it meant to be a true follower of Jesus Christ.
First, everyone knew salt as a preservative. Because there was no electricity during Jesus' time there was no refrigeration. That, of course, meant that meat, such as that from a lamb, would go bad very quickly. Salt was put on meat to keep it from rotting.
We, as followers of Christ, are called to preserve the faith. We are called to lead others to it, we are called to bring up our children in it, and we are called to continue to pass on the stories and essential teachings. How does the Christian faith survive generation to generation? Believers must pass it on.
Second, salt was used, as it is today, to enhance the flavor of foods. I know many people who can hardly sit down to a meal without using lots of salt. Why? Because they say it makes it all taste better.
We are called to "flavor" this world with the love of Christ. As any Christian will tell you, life is better in a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to serve the least of those around us and to reach out to those in need. We are called to take care of widows and orphans, the sick and the poor. We should make it our goal to leave this world a better place because of our lives, and not to waste life on selfish passions and desires.
If we don't live our lives in a way that preserves the faith and makes the world better, in the words of Jesus, we are no longer useful.
Whoa. So "cun" that Daily Devotions sent me this text about salt. Coincidence? I think that He's the one who made this happen. So anyway, the big day is here. Today. This evening, Salt is starting, and I'm soooo excited! hehe. Hope all goes well, many will attend, and that it will be an unforgettable nite.
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