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.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
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
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
Monday, August 23, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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!
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!
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