The Tablecloth

I'm not dead yet, but a hell of a lot closer to it than I want to be. Yes, it's finals time again. That time of year where pretty much the only thing keeping you alive is Christmas. On that note, it's time for the touching Christmas story of the year.

A pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, reopened a church in suburban Brooklyn. Excitedly arriving in early October, they saw the opportunities to accomplish something good before them. When they first laid eyes upon the church, they found it to be very run down and in need of much work. They set a goal, though, to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc., and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest hit the area, lasting two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed a local business having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in.

One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she said, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. To his astonishment, he found that they were. These being the initials of the woman. She had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it, for the pastor told how he had just acquired the tablecloth.

The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighbourhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare at the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to the one that his wife had made many years ago in Austria before the war and how could there be two Tablecloths so much alike?

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

- Anonymous

Mysterious white rain grinds Lower Mainland to halt

VANCOUVER - The city of Vancouver slowed to a standstill over the weekend as a mysterious white rain fell on the city, forming a coating to almost 5 mm. Drivers caught in the fury of Mother Nature as the rain suddenly switched over to this mysterious precipitation were clearly panicked. The RCMP reported over 700 traffic accidents from 6 to 10 AM this morning, and Translink has halted all transit service until road conditions improve.

One driver told Global News that this weather is unprecedented. Senior meteorologist Mark Madryga agrees: "This has certainly never fallen in Vancouver before, and we're in the process of determining what it is. We tried calling colleagues from other parts of Canada, and they were all convinced it was snow, but Vancouver doesn't get snow, so that definitely can't be it!"

EXTREME COLD GRIPS CITY

Immediately after the mystery precipitation storm, temperatures at Vancouver International Airport dropped to the most dangerous levels seen in 42 years, recording a low of just 1.4 C. In other parts of the city, there were numerous reports of malfunctioning thermometers, as temperatures seemed to dip below freezing, the absolute minimum for most household thermometers sold in Vancouver.

Residents in Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Surrey flooded the Global News Room with panicked reports of their double doubles freezing once they left the relative comfort of their local Tim Hortons.

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson has declared a state of emergency, and emergency shelters in the Downtown East Side were overwhelmed. However, relief is in sight. Environment Canada predicts temperatures will rise to 8 C by the middle of next week.

(C) Global BC (TM)

Long time no post

Hello world. I'm still alive. A lack of writable thoughts has kept me away from this blog for a while, but I thought I'd give a shout out, just to keep the blog updated...it has, after all, been 2 weeks.

That is not to say there haven't been scattered thoughts of substance lately...just, not concentrated enough to be put down in writing. Thankfully, there are those best of friends who can facilitate the release of such thoughts (and also pick up the pieces after the bombshell has been dropped...).

Hopefully something substantial, concentrated, and not (too) damaging will crop up soon so that this blog can be taken off of life support.

Another day, another year...

So ends another year of my life; so begins a new year. Nineteen. It's always like that when a new year starts. It feels foreign to me. I don't feel that age. The first few days, even weeks, if people ask me how old I am, I will answer with last year's age. Because I haven't grown into nineteen yet. Because I'm still eighteen, at heart. The mind and soul takes a while to catch up to the body.

Of course, lately, my mind and soul have taken a while to catch up to things in general. Exhaustion reigns supreme. Exhaustion with routine. Exhaustion with life. Exhaustion with spirit. Exhaustion with activity. If only life was like rechargeable batteries. I could just go up to a terminal and ZAP I'm awake!

Unfortunately, there is no such luxury available, and even if it were invented in the near future (near enough to fall within my lifetime), it'd probably be so expensive only the richest of the rich could afford it. Imagine such technology! A human recharging station.

For now, the coffee beckons...

Or the bed. The bed's good too.

Assumptions

To assume is to make an "ass" of "u" and "me."

I know, this is cliche, but at the same time it is so very true. The person who makes the assumption without solid proof is deemed an ass for causing a potentially explosive situation. Also, as we humans are prone to reacting before thinking sometimes, the person who falls victim to the assumption will also be deemed an ass if he or she flares out. I know all too well. This morning a small assumption incident arose (I will not say who and what, it is of the mundane), and set me off on a day of moodiness. As such, I now write this to get it off my mind.

The solution is simple. For the person about to make an assumption, a couple of quick questions will generally give rise to a more accurate analysis of the situation at hand. No more than a few seconds of time can save a few hours, or even years of rift afterward. Prevention is the best cure.

However, prevention doesn't always work, so for the person who falls prey to an assumption, a simple explanation will suffice. Throwing a tantrum over being "falsely accused" is not going to make things better; indeed, generally that makes things worse. Again, a few seconds used to calm nerves for a more appropriate response will save ages of grudge bearing time in the future.

A small assumption isn't a big deal in itself. That is to say, it's not the end of the world if you're on the giving or receiving end of one. However, the implications of one can be a big deal, if both parties allow it to be. So, with the benefit of hindsight (many, many times, I might add), let's all take a step back, and let cooler heads prevail.

Adrift

My mind runs wildly to and fro,
My thoughts take no apparent flow,
I've lost my way, I do not know
In which direction should I go.

My heart is here, my heart is there,
My soul floats aimlessly somewhere,
If God is here, then tell me where,
I cannot find Him anywhere.

Am I the one who's back is turned, who's eyes and ears are closed? Am I the one running away? Am I the one who's put so many distractions and barriers in between, and put so many things ahead of God? In all the years of Sunday School and sermons and whatnot, the probable answer is yes, because God's never the one who does the ditching. However, that's just knowledge, and knowledge of a spiritual matter is only the tip of the iceberg.

At some times, the feeling of connection to God is fairly strong. At others, it's so weak I might as well be a non-Christian. Sometimes, the lack of Spirit that I display alarms me. Am I actually saved? Follow that with a burst, and injection of God, and then it's back to apathy. An unending, and fairly vicious, cycle.

Worship, fellowship, and service are almost routine-like now. Do I even go with the right motives in mind? Do I even HAVE motives? I probably spend less and less quality time with God, trying to get more time for myself, but the irony of it is that I'd probably have more time for myself if I spend more time with Him.

These are pretty jumbled thoughts and it's taken me a while to sift through them all. Among the thoughts that plague me, the biggest is probably "where do I go from here?" So God is a sovereign God. He has His plans. Where am I in them? I'd like to know!

Chances are, I probably won't get to know, so where do I find my faith? How do I REALLY learn to love God again, with that childlike innocence, with that initial passion? God, I want that searching heart back. I don't actually have it. Those spiritual moments of late, they have been so fleeting, so temporary. It's just enough to keep me from giving up. But I don't want to just hang on by a thread. I want to stand on the Rock.

For now, I remain adrift, waiting for the wind to come, and blow me in the right direction, back to the shore, because I'm powerless without God.

"Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD." ~ Psalm 27:14

So must I wait, so shall I wait.

A grateful heart

Thanksgiving just passed and I thought it would be nice to have a post for giving thanks...even though it's a bit belated.

I must start with giving thanks to God for just being here, and for everything that now surrounds me (and, I must be honest, this includes the food). Upon further reflection, this includes the dirt and grime of life too, because even though I really, REALLY don't understand anything about this right now, I'm sure it has a purpose, and I'll be thankful later, so I might as well deal with it by being thankful NOW.

A shout out to mom and dad...I'm thankful for you two...sometimes the presentation might not be the most obvious, and at times it might even seem like the exact opposite is true, but deep down, always, I love you. This extends to the rest of my family too, without the love-hate complications.

And of course I have to include my best of friends (goes without saying; you know who you are) on this list...honestly I don't know how I might have handled many separate incidents without you guys over the past few years. Standing beside me through all the times that I have been such a drag...you have no idea how much that means, but it's enough to bring tears to my eyes.

In conclusion, God, you're the best, and people who choose not to know you don't know what they're missing out on.

Only in Canada

Hurricanes, as you should know, are powerful storms. They receive names. What you might not know is that when a hurricane is particularly destructive, the government of the affected nation will request for it to be retired, and that name will never again be used for a hurricane.

In 2003, Hurricane Juan struck Halifax square on as a Category 2 storm, bringing wind gusts to over 200 km/h, losses over $200 million, and 8 deaths. As it was the most destructive hurricane to affect Canada (and still is), Environment Canada, for the first time ever, requested that the name be retired.

Environment Canada's made the request for three reasons: "the lost and damaged lives, the impact to economy, and the widespread destruction of trees through out two provinces."

Really? Trees being uprooted was a factor in the decision? Pretty much our whole country is trees!

Only in Canada.

A mind diseased

Lately I've been giving some thought as to my trains of thought. I wanted to see if I could notice any distinct patterns. I couldn't. My mind can go anywhere, apparently. I can be doing math, and happen to see an infinity, and that will set off a chain of randomness.

Infinity > Infiniti > car > hybrid > electricity > the light in the next room that I should probably turn off > lights! > Light of the World > music > singing > et cetera et cetera...

By this time, I have taken so many tangents that I am a figurative light year away from math.

Oh, tangents. Tangent lines...math. There. I'm back.

Seriously, if I could summarize my thinking with one adjective, it would probably be this:
SCATTERBRAIN

Hmm...brains...psychology...oh shoot I have a quiz on Tuesday...

Trickling Past

The sand within the hourglass trickles, grain
By grain, and Time slips softly, wearily by,
And yet I hear majestic Wisdom cry
Out: tempus fugit! Time and time again
She's proven right that oft uttered refrain.
Time creeps silently on as, slowly, I
Slip into the past. He doth not wait - that sly
Devil moves, impossible to regain.

But that I would be able to resist
That power which draws me into futile thought!
'Tis not the past that I can alter, nay,
But the present! Allow me to desist
That sinister practice, which can help me naught,
And turn my mind toward the coming day.

Bridging the gap

A while back...sorta when school started, but slightly after that maybe, I started to feel something. I started to feel a gap between me and my best friends. I put it off to the side, thinking that I was probably imagining it. I was being a paranoid freak, and it would pass.

It didn't. It bugged me on and off for about two, two and a half weeks before I finally mentioned it yesterday evening to one of these best friends. He told me, very logically, that if there indeed had been a gap, I would not have bothered to finally mention that I felt one, and thus reassured me that it really was my imagination.

But what if I hadn't talked it out? Would the imaginary gap have grown into a real one? It's a distinct possibility.

Perhaps I ought to keep this in mind in the future. A quick word about it is always enough to bridge the beginnings of a gap. Maybe a longer talk is needed for a realizing gap, but even that is no inconvenience compared to the potential good times lost during an ice age in the friendship.

Food for thought.

Plan to Protect

So it's the start of a new school year, and since church programs revolve around the school year, it was the start of AWANA and Sunday School too. To make sure we all complied with our legal obligations, they held a "Plan to Protect" seminar for us. Basically an hour's worth of talk could have been condensed into 3 words.

Use.

Common.

Sense.

Not that the seminar was boring. It was actually far from that. We had a very important discussion of how exactly to make sure everyone is protected when taking children to the washroom. There was some, quite literally, potty humour.

A slide of particular note in the presentation said: "This is NOT a policy. It is a plan to ESTABLISH a policy." Sounds like someone in government wrote that.

Apprehension gives way to a weary tediousness

School started on Tuesday. The weekend was a mad final dash for summer fun, coupled with an increasing sense of dread for the upcoming school year. That...very quickly gave way to the routine, boring, slightly tiring, and tedious moil and toil of the weekday days. Really I don't know what all that dread was about. Once it got started, things got rolling again...there was nothing to be afraid of. It's all been done before; it really wasn't anything new.

Reason 1 for a short post.

On a side note...given that I do not have a personal private computer at my fingertips until at least late in the month (I'm currently borrowing my mom's laptop)...September will probably be a slow blogging month. Don't hold your breath for new posts.

Reason 2 for a short post.

EDIT: My computer arrived very suddenly and a couple weeks ahead of schedule. I now do not have to borrow my mother's.

Home. Sweet, sweet home.

After a good six and a half weeks away, I'm finally back in Vancouver. As I stepped out of the arrivals hall and into the fresh, open expanse that is the city of Vancouver, I was greeted with the Canadian Pacific high summer. Immediately, I put on my jacket.

It was refreshing as hell to be able to step outside a building and not immediately be hit by a wave of humidity. Honestly, however, it was cold.

Well, now that everything's been put away in their respective places, and everybody in Hong Kong knows I'm safely home, it's time to tackle the jet lag. Coming back is always so difficult to adjust to. In Hong Kong, there's so much to do that you don't have time to be jet lagged. Here, it's so different. Here's to being at least being able to stay awake during service on Sunday. Here, as an aside, I would like to say how nice it was to see everybody again.

There were at least a couple things that I've thought through over these past month and a half. Now we'll see how I put these newfound understandings to good use.

Flustered thoughts

It seems to happen with quite often, and with some degree of severity lately, doesn't it? I'm flustered again. I have no idea why. Maybe it's because I'm an indecisive person, which I have found quite pronounced lately.

This time, it's about leaving home and going home. I don't want to leave Hong Kong, but I want to go back to Vancouver. Obviously the plane ticket's been bought and I've got responsibilities in Vancouver, so I have no choice. But what if I DID have a choice? I can't decide. Perhaps I have a week mind. It's always been evident, given the number of times I've caved to various requests from other people.

In any case, I'll be back in Vancouver in under a day's time. Bittersweet, just like every other time I've had to leave Hong Kong.

I always like to end on a good note, so on the bright side, I'll be back for Christmas. =D

It's official. I miss Vancouver.

I never thought I would, but after 41 days, alas, it cannot be helped anymore. I had my official "I miss Vancouver" moment, and there is only one thing to blame.

The stupid time difference. Being 16 time zones minus daylight savings away, I have been severely cut off from the rest of my world. News does not reach me in time, and when it does get to me, everyone's already asleep. Being constantly in the dark, I am also unable to keep up with all the little foibles that crop up.

Oh, and one more thing. I MISS MY STUFFED ANIMALS. Seriously I should've brought Mr. Tuttles or Pooky along to HK, but according to certain somebodies they are a "waste of space." Never before has anything proven to be so wrong, and never again will I let somebody insult my stuffies like that. So uncalled for.

So I guess that's two reasons. Oh well. It's just 4 days now, and it's not like I don't like Hong Kong either. I'll live.

Troubles with an antique laptop

7:22 - Switches laptop on
7:24 - Logs in to laptop
7:27 - Start-up appears complete, clicks on IE
7:29 - IE opens
7:31 - Clicks Messenger
7:33 - Messenger opens, logs in to Messenger
7:34 - Messenger finishes logging in, but freezes
7:35 - IE loads home page, and freezes in the process
7:36 - Ctrl-Alt-Del finally works
7:37 - IE closes
7:39 - Messenger closes
7:40 - Task Manager FINALLY shows up
7:41 - Desktop temporarily freezes
7:42 - Start bar finally works, but freezes
7:43 - Ctrl-Alt-Del again
7:45 - Task Manager appears, but start bar unfreezes
7:46 - Clicks on IE a second time
7:48 - IE opens
7:50 - Messenger opens itself for no reason
7:51 - IE temporarily freezes
7:53 - IE unfreezes
7:54 - IE loads home page successfully
7:55 - Successfully logs in to Messenger

Total elapsed time between pressing of power button and functionality of the two major programs: 33 minutes.

Windows XP - It stands for X-tra Problem.

Saying goodbye is always the hardest part

So ends our few short days in Guizhou. Although I forgot my camera, and therefore currently have no pictures to display about the trip, I am fairly confident I don't need pictures to relay my emotions.

I am perfectly thrilled that I chose to come. Just seeing the joy beaming from the faces of all those children made it ALL worthwhile. Their lives are so simple, sometimes to the point of lacking, but they are still so happy. Whatever we gifted to them, even just a little bit, was received with the utmost gratitude and almost wonderment. What a far cry from our affluent world! And in return, innocent joy oozed from the children, and such warmth from the teachers, principal, and village chief! Never before has any time in my life come close to these past few days. What our team and the villagers were able to share together was truly priceless.

Sure, it took 1.5 hours of end-to-end bumping on a washed out road to get to school every morning, and the hotel every night. Sure, it was 37 degrees and humid, without air conditioning. Sure, bathroom amenities, or the lack thereof, made several things rather inconvenient. But in the end, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's hardly been 5 hours since we left the school, and already I am filled with a sense of emptiness. I miss them all, and if I have a chance to come next year, I would, in a heartbeat.

If there was one regret, it would be this: that we were not able to preach the Gospel, due to China's laws. And so, as I sit here right now, on the verge of tears, I hope that our love has been able to shine a light on something different, that they might be able to recognize it, and search for that something different. I pray that when they search for this, they will be able to find God, and when they have done so, to believe in Him, so that they might not just receive momentary joy in this life, but a rich, abundant, and eternal joy in the next.

May this dream one day be fulfilled.

T-minus 7h 7m

Guizhou, here I come.

To be perfectly honest, I'm totally flummoxed. I'm anxious, apprehensive, and yet elated, and positively excited, all at the same time. With just over 7 hours before leaving the comfort of home for a trip I will likely never forget, this sensory overload is perhaps the last thing I needed. And yet it exists. So bear with me here.

An opportunity like this has actually been presented to me twice already. Once last year, once earlier this year. And yet, both times, out of sheer bloody-mindedness, I refused. I delayed. I fretted about. I flat out avoided the issue. I was, in other words, being an ass. Or a coward. Or both.

And yet, midway through May, once again the issue arose. This time, because my aunt wanted me to come along on the volunteer trip her company was organizing. Well, something clicked. Third time's the charm, they say, and so it was. It was the third time something like this presented itself to me. I got the point. I was Jonah, and this was my Nineveh. I can't just sit there and waste my summer, pouring out the idle vapourings of a mind diseased. God was saying, clear as ever, "Go!"

Sometimes, commands from on high don't come directly. They come through opportunities, and you have to recognize them. Not only that, but then you have to take them. For the perpetually stubborn, such as myself, sometimes once isn't enough. Twice isn't enough. Thankfully, our God is a gracious one.

And so, here I stand, at this moment, on the brink of what promises to be a new chapter. People, pray for me. Pray that I will be a beacon of God's glory to the children and teachers that we meet. Even though we cannot explicitly preach the Gospel, even though this isn't a religious trip, pray that God's love, through me, will bear witness. And on a similar vein, pray for the physical and logistical aspects of this trip, for our entire team. Thank you so very much, people.

And, God, because I realize I haven't earnestly thought of you behind the scenes, I would like to take this time to finally say, after a few months of delay, thanks for this opportunity. Bless it, for your own sake.

Spewing out sh(!)t

Recently, it has come to my attention that a group of students at a university in Hong Kong attempted to do something that can only be described with one word: NONSENSE.

It appeared that they wished to protest the Beijing government (which really doesn't govern Hong Kong directly anyways) over some nondescript point about democracy. Of course, when democracy is on the cards, a favourite of students is a replica or imitation of the Statue of Liberty. And so it fell that the group of students decided that bringing a large statue into the student union building was a good idea, and they thus appealed to the board to be granted permission to set up this statue.

Due to reasons such as obstruction of traffic and its sheer size, the board could not say yes. Now, the group of students could just as easily have set up the statue out of doors. But they decided to take the high road, and accuse the board of being undemocratic as well. Here's where they lose me.

So suppose I wanted to make your kitchen into my personal landfill. Obviously you wouldn't let me. Am I then, on those grounds, to accuse you of having undemocratic house rules?

Seriously, the sheer volume of refuse these people spew out from their lips, it's mind blowing. Sometimes, one cannot help but think that their brains grow in their asses, and that their digestive systems go IN from there, and OUT the mouth.

Good heavens!

Writer's Block

You may have noticed that it's been a week since the last post. That's because of two things. One, I SAW PEOPLE OVER THE WEEKEND AND DID COOL STUFFS LIKE BADMINTON AND GOLF. Yippee! So that's a complete distraction from blogging already. Two, asides from that, nothing really happened...so I had no reason to blog.

So anyways, tomorrow is Thursday, and it happens to be the last workday of the week for me, because I took Friday off. I'll be seeing friends again ^_^ AND WE'RE WATCHING DESPICABLE ME. OMGWTFBBQ I'VE HEARD IT'S REALLY CUTE. Please pray that I don't die of fluffiness xD. Mebbe I'll do a movie review afterwards.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanywho, back to earth now. The above paragraphs are probably totally different from any style of writing I have ever used on either blogs of mine. Usually I save the giddiness for chatting with friends cause it's more fun that way, but well...none of them are online right now, and I needed some way to get myself started with this post, so...yeah...

On a complete non sequitur, it is now...1, 2, 3...3 days and a night until I leave for Guizhou. Fun stuff. I'm actually fairly excited, although at the same time slightly apprehensive. Excited because this is pretty cool and meaningful, but apprehensive cause it's such a new and exotic experience. I really hope the love of God will be able to shine through from my actions, so that the kids and the people there can really notice something different, even though I'm not allowed to explicitly say anything about God. For those of you reading this, a prayer request for: physical protection on the trip, a sincere heart towards the children, a way to glorify God through this, and an experience I can learn from and cherish forever.

And that's where things stand. For now, this is Eddie Wong, signing off from Hong Kong. Good night, everyone!

The sky is falling!

What Chicken Little so famously uttered was almost reality this week.

The lack of a landfalling typhoon does not mean the lack of inclement weather affecting Hong Kong. Really, this past week has been extraordinary. The black rainstorm signal was issued again today. That makes for twice in a week. And "black rain" is supposed to be less common than typhoon signal 8 (equivalent to a tropical storm warning). Also, there were a total of 5 reported waterspouts over this same week. So all in all, some pretty crazy stuff from the skies.

Anyways, it's the middle of the second week of work now, and it's definitely less "nice and fresh" than at the beginning. Still, I guess it's better than just sitting at home and rotting every day...now that I am no longer a child. Although there are still many many things that make a part of me wish for another shot at childhood. Oh well...there's no take 2 in life. Hah, if only I'd managed to tell myself that before. I need poetic release.


Hell, If Only I'd Managed to Think of That Earlier

Such is life. Sometimes you only see things
after the fact. With the benefit of .thgisdnih
Or maybe I was just nearsighted. Maybe I just lacked

foresight.

Whatever happened, it was too -- l...a...t...e...

Life goes on
But only for a certain amou//_____ it can be cut short, at any time
nt of time. ____________________ we never know.

If only I could have thought.
If only I could have known.
If only I could have seen.
If only I could have done things right the first time.

Upon reflection, I wish to revisit.
And still life goes on.
You can try to fxi ifx fix it,
But still life goes on; it won't wait,
Because fixing won't erase anything,
It will just scratch out the past,
And the rebuilding will take up more time.

It remains possible --
sometime in the future --
It remains possible.

I hope.

Let the skies fall! Let the earth gape!

Still I hope.
I dare to.
I hope.

A recap of the week

I sat in the office for 4 days...on Wednesday I went up to visit the company factory at Dongguan. That was quite the trip. I could never have imagined the amount of heavy machinery and modern technology that goes into a board game. Never again will I take for granted what appears to be a simple board game. Oh, by the way, a shout out to all you Monopoly owners out there...chances are that board came out of our factory. And have no fear, for this is the cleanest factory in China. It may not be largest, but size isn't everything.

Also, this week was rather eventful for weather. No, Typhoon Chanthu did not manage to come even remotely close to a direct hit, but it did generate the first black rainstorm warning of the year. Hong Kong's rainstorm warning signals range from amber to red to black. Amber means 30 mm/hr has fallen or is expected to fall. Red is 50, and black is 70. Yes, 70 mm/hr. Once you've been in the tropics, you really can't complain about the rain in Vancouver. It's almost pathetic what passes as a rainfall warning back there. I believe the criteria is 40 mm/DAY. It's also embarassing what passes for a snowfall warning in Vancouver, but I won't get into that today.

Right, so I got vaccinated today. On both arms. It was necessary since I'm going to Guizhou soon for a short volunteering trip. So it's all good. I'm vaccinated, the stuff is generally all set to go, and the mood is positive. Except my arms are slightly sore, and I'm golfing tomorrow. Whoops. We'll see how it ends up.

Well, that's about it for this week...you can't really say THAT much about sitting in an office. Even though it consumes the better part of the day, nothing of true excitement happens but for once a blue moon. If something even distantly resembling action happens at work, be sure that it will wind its way onto this blog. For now, the pillows and sheets beckon. A good evening to you all.

Office hours

Well...9:30 to 6:30...so slightly staggered office hours, but office hours nonetheless. Honestly it's not quite as boring as some poeple make it out to be. You always see those cubicles on TV, everyone's slacking off trying to find something to occupy themselves with until the boss walks in, at which point everyone sits up straighter and makes haste to appear to be busy with work.

I can tell you it's not like that. People actually do stuff, and the atmosphere isn't tense with "WHEN'S BIG BOSS WALKING IN?!" It's actually fairly relaxed, you can walk about to talk to other people, and the time actually passes by fairly smoothly if you're occupied. There is no office bully that everybody kowtows to, people are all nice and respectful to each other, it's almost all first name basis.

Of course, there is etiquette and manners and whatnot of the working world, and there's the challenge of those assignments you're given, but you know, that's exactly the stuff I expected and wanted to face and learn when I told my aunt I would do it. I just hope that I get as much as I possibly can out of this, and keep it in my life for future use. It's a brave new world out there, and I'm going to embrace it.

Slowing down

People in Hong Kong are generally pretty hurried. It's a bustling financial centre, and time is of the essence. Have you ever sounded the horn on a car? What does it sound like?

HONG KONG! HONG KONG!

But, bad joke aside, this was the reason I expected to be accustomed to speeding vehicles on the streets of Hong Kong.

Apparently not. For whatever reason, maybe the rampant radar setups or traffic cameras, people in Hong Kong just don't speed. They may change lanes on a whim and be amazingly adept at squeezing their cars into puny parking spots, but they DO NOT speed. Hell, I'd probably have an easier time finding a speeding driver in the streets of Flin Flon, Manitoba than in Hong Kong.

Yes, Flin Flon is a place.

All I can say is, thank goodness I don't have to drive in Hong Kong, because with my level of patience, I'd probably never get through a day without flashing road rage at another driver, nor would I manage to go a week without a speeding ticket.

Once again all passengers...

Welcome to Hong Kong, Part II.

Yes, I wasn't done yesterday night, just overwhelmingly tired after being unable to sleep all flight long. I am NEVER able to sleep on planes. It's so damn cramped and the seating position is too upright. And for 14 hours too. It's like a nightmare, except you're awake. Or, rather, half-awake because you're so tired. Why don't they give people more leg room? After all, we're not all just tall enough to take the kiddies roller coaster. However, you can't expect too much, and really, Cathay Pacific is among the best already. You will not believe what they dished out for dessert: blueberry cheesecake and tiramisu. It really doesn't get any better.

And, never mind the sleeping blurb, cause I did manage to get in 8 hours of sleep on the first night. Really, jet lag isn't an issue when you arrive in Hong Kong. It's going back to Vancouver that's the problem. There's just so much to do during the day, you can't help but stay awake until it's a proper time to sleep. Such is Hong Kong. The brain gets the message after the first day. The kidney, however...will take up to 72 hours...

Speaking of 72 hours, a storm brewing in the South China Sea was supposed to be near Hong Kong in about that time, but as of now it is heading in a more southerly trajectory than originally thought, and will probably miss Hong Kong to the south and west. Damn. Oh well, I have a month and a half, so plenty of time for more tropical weather to brew.

So that's that. More to come in the days to come.

Once again all passengers...

Welcome to Hong Kong.

Ah, yes, the great hub of Asia, where East first met West. And the first thing I notice stepping out of the airport building is, alas, the suffocating heat. It was 9 at night, and the temperature was 31 C with a heat index of 42. Joy.

Thank heavens for air conditioners.

Of course, speaking of tropical weather, once has to mention cyclones. The Asian Pacific, after being dormant for most of the season, manages to eke out a storm in the South China Sea to welcome me to Hong Kong. Currently there is still a distinct possibility of a landfall in Hong Kong...should that be the case, this blog will be on storm watch mode. =D

But alas, it is currently midnight, and I will be sleeping shortly. Good night.

Go ahead, roll your eyes...

I probably play golf on Wii Sports Resort way too much. How do I tell? Well, it's not very often when the golf ball bounces into then out of the hole...and I managed to accomplish this feat twice in the span of two hours today. Yes, let the eye rolling begin.

That aside, what you are currently reading is also something that doesn't happen very often. I just started a new blog! I have been pondering lately about the number of people who would bother to read my other blog who could actually understand the political [insert expletive here] I put into it. The answer I arrived at would be...5. Including myself. It was a rather deflating conclusion. So, pondering became thought, and thought became an idea, and an idea was put into action, and behold, we have a new blog under my penmanship.

Aren't your eye muscles just getting quite the workout?

But, all jesting aside, I hope this can attract a less embarassing viewership...so FOLLOW IT!!!

As an aside, I will be taking off to Hong Kong for a month and a half on Monday the 12th, so I will not be around. Perhaps some interesting experiences from the other side of the world will work their way onto this page...

And that's it for today!