Saturday, June 28, 2008
Well, I've managed to survive the first week of school this term, and even gone twice for CIP!
I also had lunch on Friday with Eugenia, LC, Ann, YJ and JA. I think we ought to make this a weekly affair. So that even though we don't go for choir anymore we can still have lunch together at the end of each week!
I went with Kai Xin on Wednesday for the CIP, and by myself on Friday. I revisited my conclusion that I really have had a childhood vastly different from others. For example, I never went anywhere after school but home. I was brought up in an entirely English-speaking environment. I lived in landed property far away from hawker centres and communal playgrounds. And unlike the kids there, I didn't have problems with English or Math. Hrm.
Anyway, today was the celebration for Mr Ong's 80th birthday, and our whole family made up a table of 8. I actually didn't go for the service, but watched the Juniors play water games, and then went for the dinner in the social hall at 6.40 or so. All 6 of his children, meaning Lorraine and Laura's aunts and uncles were there. Apparently all the sisters live in Australasia but the brothers are in Singapore.
And his children and grandchildren sang him a song during the service, so I didn't get to see it. I think I finally know all the family already: Aunty Stella (my uncle's wife), her brothers Uncles Ben, Jacob and John, and her sisters Aunties Liz and Mary. It's a bit hard to remember all their children as well, but I think I can roughly identify most of them. My mum said that Linus looks exactly like his mother, but I think he's the kind of kid who looks like you blended both parents' faces together with Photoshop.
There were A LOT of people at the dinner, since Mr Ong's the LCEC chairman (?) so he not only invited the relatives but a lot of the church leaders, the members of the Hokkien service, etc. It's good that he had this celebration, because my uncle and his family came back from New Zealand for it, and we had dinner together on Tuesday. We also got to see Aunty Liz and Uncle Mike, who live in Perth, and who let us stay at their house for several days.
I'm too sleepy to type anymore.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I'm finally back from the church retreat, and if you tried to call or sms me and received no reply, I apologise for being in Batam and thus being unable to return it. Labels: church
This retreat's programme was really different. Firstly, we had to take a FERRY to Batam and then a bus to the hotel. I slept on the ferry, and watched the nerd game between Joshua and Yihui on the bus.
Secondly, there was a lot of free time. Every afternoon was free time for us to do what we wanted - shopping, swimming, playing games, doing homework, sleeping, whatever. All my afternoons were spent playing games: Settlers, Bridge, Rummikub, one game of Bang.
Thirdly, there were no group/team games. In fact, the groups were simply the CGs, and only used for logistics. The part of time I thought would include games was actually time for the CSC to talk more about their plan for discipleship for the next 5 years or so. It included the Basic Accountability Groups (BAGs), for which a Model BAG was undergoing its course. Being corny young people, we thought of new groups like Goodie BAGs, Eye BAGs, Chanel BAGs, YBAGs, Luggage and Suitcases.
Fourthly, the eating place is at the same place as the Speaker Session place, separated by a sliding partition, on the 10th floor. My room, 924, is on the 9th floor, so I never had to step out of those few levels, except when eating lunch at The Golden Prawn, and going to see the fireworks. The fireworks were cool, and we got to hold the kind that shoots repeatedly out of one stick as you aim it into the night sky. The funniest was the one that shot out of the stick with a loud increasing wail, only to sputter out afterward.
I didn't get to play as much bridge as I had hoped. The worst part was earlier today at the ferry terminal. After customs check, I got Ian, Dustin and Delia to begin playing, and the bid was done, when we had to board the ferry. After confusion about seating, and being busy watching the game between Lukas, Nicholas, Marcus and Tan Juen, and doing the feedback survey. I managed to find them on the upper deck. Unfortunately they all abdicated and I retrieved my cards. After going back down, I found Michelle and Christopher to play, and managed to get Delia again. However, Michelle went to bring Chantal somewhere and Delia went to sleep. Then I substituted Amos in the ongoing game, and the bidding was still going on, when we reached Singapore.
It was very different for me not to have a youth pastor, even though I'd probably have had to go for the adult session anyway. It seemed every day during announcements the "youth" would be mentioned. Eg: "Now, youths! Who chewed pink bubblegum found on the floor?" "Youths, Joshua will direct you to put back the chairs." "Youths, we have a curfew for a reason." "Youths, I don't think you know how much the adults really love you." Goodness.
During the last night extended worship, when Pastor Wilfred called for the youths to step forward to be prayed for, a lot of them went forward. And then, looking around, I saw that the adults promptly sat themselves down comfortably on the chairs by the side while the few remaining youths were left standing sparsely in the big room. As if they automatically thought that the attention on youths meant that they'd just plop down like that! LOL.
And they said they wouldn't mind seeing the youths in the retreat committee next year. When they asked, "Is that okay?" or something to that effect, there was SILENCE. Haha. I don't think it's very feasible. But perhaps they meant little things, like how Joshua was bus captain, perhaps putting them in charge of equipment or smaller things like that. Can you imagine your food or hotel liasing being done by a 17 year old? Good grief.
It was fun having Hannah and Yingxuan as our connecting-door neighbours in 926. We also had a lot of fun in 831 (Sara, Selena, Melody) playing games. I also played bridge with Michelle, Rachel and Nicholas in Joanna's room 810. Joshua, Christopher, Rachel and Ian had some peanut tossing and swallowing competition. Many peanuts were thrown and caught and missed.
I can't stand the fact that I have to go back to school. Even though I finished my homework a week ago, I didn't really have time to study. I refused to bring homework like Yihui and Amos (with whom I still disagree about the td-id and pd-d bonding. I even argued with him over taking dinner, to which Su Ming said she'd never heard such intellectual discussion over a buffet) because I felt that it wouldn't be a retreat with school stuff present.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was no more school or work or exams or future to worry about, and we all just stayed like in the retreat, worshiping God on and on and on? I suppose that's what heaven is like.
Camp Song: All of Me by Su Ming (girl) .lol.
Here I am and I have no offering I could bring
But myself and my life - I give You everything
Broken pieces of my life is all I own
Here I come and lay them at Your throne
Take all of me
All that I am
Let me be transformed in You alone
Forever changed
Never the same
Jesus in my life come be enthroned
Jesus You are Lord of Life and Love and Hope
Nothing else and no one else could ever compare
Made whole by the blood You shed on the cross
All I have and all I am is Yours
I look upon Your Majesty
I gaze upon Your Glory
In the presence of Your Beauty
I am forever changed
Friday, June 13, 2008
My Internet has decided to repent from its deplorable behaviour the past three days and return to normal. Funny how it decided to work on the day I finished my homework. *suspects a conspiracy theory.*
I need more holiday time.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I'm extremely annoyed because my Internet has decided to be evil and hang at every single page. It'll hang for some minutes before becoming active. It even hanged in the middle of my typing this sentence. Perhaps God is actively spoiling my Internet because He knows it slows down my doing homework. Darn. Labels: choir, church, dbsg, school, suju
I wanted to post about this dream I had last night, but by now I've forgotten most of it. I know it involved choir and me having to sing high F and screeching it horribly!
It also included some overnight project, and strangely our school field had trees (!) like some mini-forest and somehow my project managed to burn down all the trees. Or at least the tops of the trees?
Then there was some competition race-relay thingy, including running from the track up into the school, to the parade square, down the road for cars from there, and out onto the pavement to the HC bus stop. Obviously the thing was wrong, since the canal was missing! I almost got hit by a car too. How exciting.
My sister told a funny (in my opinion) joke today. She asked: "What beverage did God first create?"
Answer: Heaven and Earth Green Tea.
Other than this, I've been watching more Super Junior stuff and listening to their music. I feel that they're nowhere as good at singing / performing as DBSK, but they're a lot crackier in whatever you see them in!
Should I take part in this year's Bible Quiz? Hmm.
Monday, June 9, 2008
I forgot to post yesterday because I was doing homework...
My pastor gave an interesting sermon yesterday, and he said that Paul suggests that "keeping our mind on things above" doesn't just refer to thinking about heaven and spiritual things, but that we should treat others as if we are in heaven, with the love of Christ, and if we are able to live such lives when we are in the world, then we can have heaven on earth.
And he gave a 3-step path for forgiveness: Treat every offense as if it's only the first time the person has wronged you, treat the person as you would any other (not ignoring or avoiding), and love the person. NOT EASY AT ALL.
Right now I kind of miss the kids from the CIP camp... I even miss the camp in general, which is strange, considering how I normally dislike camps. This is due to the lack of nice bathing facilities and poor sleeping conditions. This is why I prefer trips such as my Italy / Korea ones, where the facilities are excellent, and in Korea there was even a laundry service! Haha.
I am currently reading math jokes. It's true - I am odd! But some are really funny, even if you don't think so. Hmph.
Q: What will a logician choose: a half of an egg or eternal bliss in the afterlife?
A: A half of an egg! Because nothing is better than eternal bliss in the afterlife, and a half of an egg is better than nothing.
Teacher:"The problems for the exam will be similar to the discussed in the class. Of course, the numbers will be different. But not all of them. Pi will still be 3.14159... "
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary math, and those who don't.
Q: Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip?
A: To get to the other ... er, um ...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A lot has happened in the past few days, including the choir elections, choir bbq, the CIP camp and meeting up with the Koreans.
Firstly, we had the choir elections on Saturday. So now we have 5 people who are the new exco, but I personally think they look more like 5 individuals than a committee. I suppose it takes time to fit everything in place. We only have the music comm left, and I'm more excited about that one, naturally!
After the elections, I went home for lunch, packed for the camp and went over to Sheena's house at about 4pm with the potato salad and laptop in tow. Unfortunately I couldn't really get the internet to work, so I couldn't watch my Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi. I saw her grandma for the first time, who was watching Hana Kimi (Taiwan version)!
One by one, in groups the rest came to her house. Just as the bbq delivery van came and unloaded the stuff, it began to rain, and they discovered that they had forgotten to bring the rented pit! So a lot of time was passed by playing stuff on the piano and singing, and when Ome came he managed to get my internet to work! [Thanks, Ome!] More and more people came, as the pit arrived as well.
I wasn't really paying attention to what was happening around me since I was watching my show, but after a while I joined the J1s in their bridge game - though they paid more attention to Disney Channel than to the game! Then we went to get our food! I must commend Elvin on his hard work at the bbq pit. Also YQ and Caleb. All the J3 guys were talking about NS stuff, and I think ZJ and Gabriel was educating Conan and YJ. Some of them were playing with the PSP that Kenneth brought. At about 11.45, Conan, YJ, JA, ZJ, Gabriel, BF, Amanda and Sheena walked me home.
All in all, it was fun to see so many generations of choir people, and how the seniors simply sit down while the juniors are the ones cooking and serving!
After church on Sunday I came home to bathe and get my stuff, and my cousin fetched me to school. The people already there were preparing for games, and afterwards we were briefed on the games for Monday, and went on the night hike trail. We went to the chicken rice near Coro for dinner, and then to NTUC for supplies. I carried the raw eggs!
After a night of daidee, one bridge game, studying at the squash courts, and poor sleep in the gym, it was Monday, and we prepared for the kids to arrive. Ben and I were group leaders of Group 2, comprising: Shreyaa, Shella, Jia Hao, Ameerah, Gretna, Yin Yin, Oliver, Bing Sen, En Yu (Sheryl), Jin Kang (Kenneth), Nagarajan and Vivekha. Most of them are P5/6, though one is Sec 2.
I was a station master for the afternoon, where they were supposed to do charades, and I nearly fell asleep waiting for people to actually show up. Some groups had less time than others, so it wasn't very fair, I suppose. In the end, because everything was delayed, everyone was to return to the gym at 5.30 and they played some crazy game with the kids running around in lines trying to form a circle.
The night hike was very slack for me and Shiane at the fish pond, because all we did was wait for groups to come and find the clues hidden around the pond. Those of us sitting for the PAE test were allowed to leave at 10pm. My group only had Ben left, so Sheryl helped him when the kids had to bathe.
The PAE test on Tuesday was annoying. We were to register at 9am, and be seated at 9.30. Then they spent a long time getting people at the back to move front. And some more time asking us to check our details. And even more time telling people to go to the toilet again and again before the test. I didn't really finish the first test, and couldn't finish the second, but had extra time for the third. The personality test comprised 185 questions, and if they weren't all MCQ I think I'd have fainted.
I joined my group practicing their skit at the squash courts, which wasn't bad for a bunch of kids given so little time to put something together. Bing Sen was Ah Boy, the hero, who first helps Grandma Shella who falls down from Jia Hao's litter; then with Oliver saves Ameerah and Yin Yin from Nagarajan the bully; and finally reports Kenneth's cheating to the teacher Vivekha. Sheryl and Gretna were emcees.
After that was the war games, where each group wrapped one member in newspaper, and were supposed to keep their member as dry as possible while water-bombing the others. Jia Hao was our little newspaper kid, and all the newspaper kids were SO CUTE! Unfortunately, the kids totally forgot about protecting their friends and just went crazy trying to bomb people!
I left at 5.15 to go meet Theophila and the Koreans at the Singapore Flyer, and only after I got on the bus did I receive her sms that they'd meet 30 min later at 7! I arrived at Marina Square at 6, and then took half an hour figuring out how to get to the flyer. Then I stoned for 40 min more before seeing Shiqi, and then Ms Lim. Theophila, Yanyao, Taeshik, Jaehyun and Yosub were already in the Popeye's place. The food isn't as good as KFC though. Theo, the 3 Koreans and Shiqi sat on the flyer, and I took a bus home.
I bathed and then my mum fetched me back to school, and the kids had all already bathed and were playing some games in the gym. So I joined them for supper and reflections. Afterwards Huizhen, Aretha, Ben, Jiayi and me took silly pictures outside our old class. Then we went to the guys room to play a few games and eat pizza. Poor Joanne was studying for SATs and trying to memorise the words.
This morning I got up at 7, and I am amazed at Jean, because she doesn't seem to have moved at all during her sleep beside me. We had to pack up everything and clean the rooms, before moving everything to the gym and then going for morning exercise. I think Jiayi has a future as a PE teacher - torturing the poor kids with running, duck walking, frog jumping and pumping.
During the bonding session we bought them bubble tea, though poor En Yu had a stomachache, and then played Captain's Ball with Group 1. Though I don't know who won, I think Group 2 has very good teamwork, because they don't hog the ball, but willingly pass it to their other members. After that we had the prize giving, and my group won 3rd place, good job! The sorting of kids in their bus groups was chaotic, but at least it worked out in the end. Poor Oliver wasn't from the primary schools or SCCs, so we had to ask the CDAC person.
I was really sorry to see the kids go off in the buses, because they're truly such nice kids, and potential leaders. Some of them are leaders in their schools already, and I hope they grow up to be more mature and sensitive to the people they lead. I promoted the NJC IP scheme where they may be able to come to NJ next year, LOL!
It's sadly true that they'll probably never see us or each other again, or at least even if we do it'll be 5 years later on the street when we don't recognize each other. Even so, as they forget us, at least I hope they had a good learning experience and enjoyed the camp.
Thanks to all the blogs i referred to (countless) for html code help :) (esp. cyn' and sixseven)
Adobe Photoshop Elements for supernatural abilities
