The beginning of the UK chapter of my life

So I arrived in Birmingham, UK, on Saturday, only to be met by no one at the airport. Also, I was questioned a lot by customs, about my intentions for studying in the UK, why I want to study religion, why I can't study that in the US, etc, but thank God it wasn't that bad. Several people before me were interrogated pretty harshly, so I was kind of nervous, but it turned out fine. I guess the UK is really getting strict about student/work visitors nowadays.

Upon calling the guy who was supposed to pick me up, I realized he thought my flight was the day before. But thank God he was on his way to the airport anyway to pick up someone else. He gave me a mini driving tour of the city of Birmingham, which seems to be a little torn down and full of dilapidated buildings, and told me there are a lot of Muslims (mostly from Pakistan) and Asians in Birmingham. We then drove to a city in the outskirts, where the training center is based.

I admit I didn't know what to expect, so I was a teeny bit taken aback to be led into this old building that looked like it might fall over anytime. But the inside wasn't so bad. We have a lounge, a conference room, dorm rooms (I'm living with 12 other girls and sharing a communal bathroom - pretty much same as college), laundry facilities, a wonderful cook, and even a library. I was a little bit traumatized by the showers at first. I thought they were open showers, but it turned out we had shower curtains. And the water pressure was so low the water was literally dripping onto my hair, drop by drop. But then I realized that was the only shower head that was so bad; the other three were not much better, but an improvement at least.

As I looked around at my surroundings, I realized - I am on a mission trip. What did I expect?? So it's taking some getting used to, but I am getting used to things here. I was a bit jet lagged at first, but it's better now. And I was a bit overwhelmed by all the different nationalities here - there are people from France, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Spain, Korea, Austria, USA, Australia, Mauritius, Nigeria... everywhere. It's pretty amazing. For most of them, English isn't their first language, so it was and is still a little difficult trying to understand them in their halting English. I think it will be interesting trying to communicate for the next few months with some of them, but I'm sure their English will improve by leaps and bounds by then.

So the first two nights I kept questioning myself - Why on earth am I here?? Why did I fly across the globe to come and suffer in this place with a ton of other people instead of staying in the wondrous comfort of home?? Why do I keep trying to make myself move out of my comfort zone?? Seriously, WHAT am I doing here? 

The thought of going home crossed my mind several times, but I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't. I guess I was a little homesick and exhausted from the traveling (by the way, Emirates is, without a doubt, the BEST AIRLINE EVER. Their TV screens are TWICE the size of SIA, they have tons of leg space, AND they even have twinkling stars in the ceiling when the lights turn off! Plus the air stewardesses have awesome headgear! The food is good too). I was a little overwhelmed by the people here, too, and I wondered again why I left all my friends back home to come here and be forced to make new friends again. All in all, I just didn't know why God wanted me here, but I do know He wants me here, because I am here, and He must have some sort of purpose for me for the next 4 months.

So yesterday was a good day. We went through orientation, got to explore the tiny town and its tiny mall, learned more about the ministries here, and we bonded as a team, so it was good. And it's funny how movies can bring people together - even though we're from all over the world, we were thoroughly entertained by the movie 'She's the Man.' haha.

So yeah. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. I'm learning a lot, and there's a lot to process, but this is a pretty amazing experience, and I'm grateful to be here.

Thankful

Yesterday I read this blog about being thankful for the little things in life everyday, and I've decided to copy it and start a daily thanksgiving post. Because I think having a spirit of gratefulness is essential in life, and I don't want to end up a bitter and miserable old lady one day.

So today I'm thankful for the new experience of learning how to make pizzas. Last week I learned how to make dough, cut it, roll it, put it into trays. I also served customers and handled the cash register. Today I crafted the pizzas, each with different ingredients, and baked them in the oven. It was kind of exhilarating, but it might get old after a while. Oh well. For now, at least, I'm enjoying making pizzas, seeing my finished products displayed in the window, and smiling at people who buy them, while I bite back the urge to point and yell, 'I made that! Yes, me! It's good, yes???'

I'm also thankful that I have food to eat at every meal, and that I have a house to live in and warm water to shower in. Because these two cute little adolescent boys came up to Sarpino's today, and asked me if they could have a pizza for free. They stared up at me with huge, doleful, puppy dog eyes, and I almost shouted, "Yes, take it! Or you know what, you can have all of them for free, you poor little cute things!!"

But I didn't, because we're running a business, not a soup kitchen, and I told them to come back later, when we're closing and when the manager (my mom) was around. My heart sank to my toes when they bowed their heads forlornly and trudged away. I hoped they would return, but they didn't, and I wish I could've given them the pizza. But then mom had already been giving them free pizzas, and doing it on a regular basis might make them dependent on freebies... and we all know in life there is no such thing as a freebie. Everything costs you something. So I guess they have to learn to work for what they want, but still... it kind of reminded me of what I read one day about this woman who didn't want kids, because "what kind of horrid person would want to bring innocent children into this evil, corrupt world of ours?" And while I agreed with her to a certain extent (because I don't want 9 months of absolute physical torture), I think kids make the world a better place.

So I was initially going to do a thanksgiving for one thing per day, but hey, there shouldn't be a limit on thankfulness, right? God knows we can all be a little more appreciative toward others.

So I'm thankful for this experience of working in Australia. Granted, it's not the most happening place in the world, and some people probably look down on me, a college graduate, working at a pizza place, but you can't please everyone. Plus life is way more fun when you travel and take up adventures, instead of going straight to a 9-5 job, holed up in a tiny cubicle, typing your life away day by day.

Anyway, I got to meet this young couple from Italy, Giulia and Enrico, from Rome and Florence respectively. They're so cool, I loved hearing about their life experiences. They had like a year in between undergraduate school and graduate school, and so they decided to travel to Australia and work while seeing the sights. Why they came to Perth, I have no idea. Well, actually I do - it's because Enrico had relatives here. But still. Of all places. (Giulia told me once they went to a pub on a SATURDAY night and it closed at MIDNIGHT!! Oh the horror!!)

So anyway, they worked at Sarpino's and explored Perth for the past few months, and they're going to travel for 2 weeks before they head back to Italy. And Giulia's going to study her Masters in Engineering in Sweden and Denmark. HOW COOL IS THAT. And they speak Italian, which makes them even cooler. haha. And Enrico took up English when he first came here, and his English speaking ability is pretty good. I'm always amazed at people who go to other countries and start picking up their native language, because I stink at languages, well except English of course. Enrico was the one who taught me how to make dough, and he was funny. He said it was a boring job and I should bring an iPod to work. He also said something along the lines of, 'I never want to see/smell another pizza ever again in my life,' which is ironic because he lives in Italy, land of pizzas.

And so I was talking to Giulia for a while, when mom came back (she takes random breaks to go shopping for 'essential stuff'), lugging a shopping cart filled to the brim with pillows and what not. Good to know that while I have been working she went shopping. And then Giulia told me she always does that.

Once she came back hauling chairs to bring back to Singapore, and when Giulia was like, 'Does Singapore not sell chairs?' Mom huffed and puffed and replied, 'Not this kind!!'
Haha. Mom cracks me up sometimes.

Post-graduation return home

It feels really weird to be back home after being in Indiana and New York and France and Germany. But I guess it's good to be home. Home is where the heart is, after all. Plus there's great food here. Also great friends and family.
After all that traveling in the last 4 years, I can safely say nowhere can beat Singapore in terms of food. There's seriously all kinds of food you can ever ask for here, and they're all of pretty good quality.


cousins :)

So I did the usual stuff... met up with friends, ate tons of dim sum/ramen/sushi/every asian food imaginable, watched a ton of movies - Prince of Persia, The Karate Kid, Killers, and The A-Team. Gotta love the cheap movies here. Also did some shopping, gotta love the annual Great Singapore Sale.

Watched a NTU chinese hall production, which was actually rather interesting and I surprised myself because I understood it and didn't fall asleep! Went to Sentosa with cousins on a rainy day, saw some of the completed construction on the resorts and on Universal Studios, it looked pretty good. Went to church and heard all about the crazy changes happening... as usual. Did my hair and had a facial... and got lost trying to find the places alone. And met up with a Taylor friend who's here for a summer camp job. It's been a pretty packed 10 days, going out everyday and meeting different people for lunch and dinner. But it's been good. I like being busy. Keeps me from thinking about other things, like how I'm a college graduate and I still don't have a job and I have no idea what to do with my life.

So... after being here only about a week and a half, I'm kind of bored. And ready to go on to someplace new. I don't know why but I'm just always itching to travel and go places and meet new people and experience new things and SEE THE WORLD!

I think I've definitely gotten more adventurous and brave in the last four years. I mean, I liked traveling in the past, but it was more of just going on vacation with the family. Now I wanna live somewhere, immerse myself in the culture, do crazy things, before I actually settle down and live a boring life. haha. I don't know. I've been researching things I can do, like working abroad, interning abroad, working and traveling, working at resorts/cruise ships, and they all sound so wonderfully exciting! I can't decide! Plus they all require money, of course. sigh. Why is it so hard to find a job that allows you to travel and get paid at the same time?!

Oh well. Kind of excited about going to perth, since it's a new place to be explored and new experiences await me. And I'll get to see my two little brothers who hardly talk to me since they're always in front of the TV/their computer but I still love them anyway. But I don't know anyone there, except for my family, so... it could potentially be boring. And since I'm not going to school or anything, there's not really a place I could meet new people, except at church I guess. So here's hoping perth will be a good time :)

Goodbye Singapore, see you.... sometime.

I am a college graduate

Ruwe, me, claire, and sungah. Friends since international orientation freshman year.


The Daudts and my parents. So grateful for all the things they've done for me; they've taken care of me these past four years.


Sungah, my parents, and me after graduation with our flowers.


I graduated with magna cum laude honors! (3.7 or more GPA)


Emily, me, katie, hannah, and sungah. Seniors from First West Olson :)

Wow. Feels so weird to be saying that. I don't think it's fully sunk in yet.

So... finals week was crazy. In between attempting to study for my 2 finals, packing, cleaning my room, donating 3/4 of the stuff I own, selling clothes to a thrift store and making $150, spending time with friends... time really flew by.
Finals turned out to be super easy after all, even though I hardly studied. So I have As in all my classes and I graduated with a 3.76/4.0 GPA! I think school in America is really easy. Especially compared to school in Singapore. I don't even know how people can get anything below a B here. It's ridiculous.

So on Tuesday we had a wing meeting, because people were getting their stuff stolen left and right. Cash, debit cards, phones, even computers. It was kind of scary. I guess this type of thing is normal as the school year comes to an end, because everyone's moving out and it's chaotic and anyone can just come into the dorm and steal whatever they want. But thank God my stuff was fine, even though I didn't lock my room door.

Went to the Senior Scoop after that to get free ice cream, listen to Habecker (president of the college) talk, and receive our caps and gowns for graduation. And of course we immediately went back to try them. haha. Those gowns are HUGE. But it's exciting. I've never worn a graduation gown and cap before!

And then we went to our last study break ever... at the Dining Commons. Ate way too much sugar and chocolate and chips, got on a sugar high. My hands were literally shaking. And I was so jittery. We had to find a way to let all that energy out... so we went to sungah's apartment and had a dance party. We videoed it cause it's our last dance party together... ever :(

Wednesday claire and I went to Plato's closet to sell our old clothes, books, accessories, shoes, everything. So glad I did cause I have WAY too much stuff to bring everything back, and it's insanely expensive to ship things overseas. 220USD for a mere 20 pounds! But I ended up shipping my guitar back cause it's too expensive to give away and I love it too much to leave it behind. But everything else, I gave away. Pillows, blankets, laundry baskets, drawers, storage containers, printer, hairdryer, stationery, everything. My friends now love me a whole lot more. haha.

I got super stressed while packing and so we ended up going to Indy as our last time together. It was pretty chill... we just made friends at the bar and met people who knew people from Taylor. I have to say I'm not going to miss all this sneaking around and secret drinking on campus. Although it's been pretty fun and thrilling to hide stuff and drink it in places like the Taylor lake, the forest, the environmental science building, the library, the geek room, the playground, and even the prayer chapel. haha. I think I'm kind of done with this whole partying thing though. I need to give my poor liver a vacation. I don't think I can ever be an alcoholic. Just the thought of drinking vodka makes me feel sick.

Thursday I met up with emily, who graduated in january and came back for graduation!! I missed her so much and it was so good to see her again :) We both realized we were thinking of teaching English in Korea in the fall!! So hopefully things work out and we can go there together!! People keep asking me what my plans are, I always say I have no idea. haha. I only know I'm going to Paris, Munich, and Berlin for 2 weeks with my parents, then back to Singapore for 2 weeks, then to Perth, Australia.... then who knows where I'll end up after that. We'll see :)

We also had our last ever noodle party... all these 'last' things... so nostalgic. But it was a good time just hanging out and spending time with each other eating asian food :) there was supposedly a huge party going on in one of the off-campus houses, but I have to say, I wasn't tempted at all to go. I'd rather spend the last day with my good friends than getting wasted with a bunch of strangers. I'll really miss some of these people... sam, ruben, mark, emily, sung ah, megan, claire...

I feel like I didn't get to say goodbye to several people, which sucked. But I guess maybe, hopefully, we'll get to meet up sometime in the future, when we're making enough money to go visit each other. It just sucks that everyone is splitting up and going their own way after graduation. I wish we had more time together.

Friday was really busy. We had our Media Communication majors senior brunch... the professors made delicious food and we shared our plans for after graduation... and we gave them a video of our 'thank yous'. it was pretty sweet.
Then I went back to my room and found my PARENTS WAITING FOR ME!!!! It was so good to see them again. life comes full circle. They came for my freshman orientation, and now they're here for my senior graduation. FOUR YEARS. it's ridiculous. So we cleaned up my room, donated a bunch more stuff, packed everything I ever owned into two tiny suitcases, closed my bank account, terminated my phone line, and checked out of the dorm. Goodbye Olson Hall, it's been a wonderful three years :)

Then we went to the DC for a final time, for a banquet. They actually had decent food there, which surprised me. Met a couple of my friends' parents, which was interesting. It's funny how kids are so much like their parents. Then we went to the chapel one final time for worship, a senior slideshow, senior testimonies, and one last address. Then I stayed over at sungah's apartment and we had a little ramen/nail painting party.

Saturday was THE DAY. The day we graduate. Felt so surreal. We woke up early, got ready, put our caps and gowns on, and headed to the KSAC fieldhouse for the ceremony. It was a mix of emotions, seeing all my friends in their caps and gowns, taking pictures, getting all excited and yet nostalgic at the same time... we processed into the fieldhouse and walked through the tunnel of professors. it was so cool to see all my professor and hear them say how proud they were of me. The ceremony itself was rather long... we had our senior class president speak, a testimony from a senior, an address by Dr. Habecker, our president, a song by Taylor Sounds, another address by our graduation speaker Gloria Gaither, this famous woman who wrote tons of Christian hymns, and then finally we walked across the stage, shook Dr. Habecker's hand, got our diploma/towel/bible, and it was over. It felt so good to walk across the stage and hear friends cheering for me. My 1 second of fame. haha. And then I saw my professors at the end, as well as my dad, who made me pose for a picture.

After the ceremony, we all headed outside, where it was total chaos. I found some friends and took pictures with them. My parents gave me a bouquet of roses and a little graduation teddy bear, which was cute. I didn't get to see some people because it was so crazy, but oh well. We went over to the MuKappa reception and said goodbye to more people... I almost cried a few times, but I was trying to hold it in because I didn't want to ruin the pictures. haha. Then we went over to sungah's apartment and said more goodbyes. I totally cried buckets when saying bye to sungah. We wept together. haha. I love that girl. I will miss her so much. Said bye to susan campbell and mark, who came over. also to megan, who cried a lot too. her dad kept saying she was having allergies. haha. finally left with my parents to their hotel in Muncie. Was so tired... it was just an overall tiring day of overwhelming emotions.

Last week of college classes

Megan, me, and Ruben. love them both!


Playing foosball in the Sammy basement while waiting for the surprise party to start


Awesome people :)


Salute to nakhoon, the korean guy who's leaving for the military


RUBEN! I'm seriously going to miss this kid SO much. he's pretty much awesome.


At campus safety waiting to go to Flattop. International students run on international time, as usual.


My two asian boys. i will miss them!!!


Seniors at Flattop.


International students at Flattop

This week's been a mixture of excitement, nerves, and nostalgia. I went to all my classes for the last time. The feeling was a little weird, knowing I'll never walk into a class here at Taylor in Upland, Indiana, ever again. There was joy, yes, but also sadness at the thought of leaving all these wonderful people who have been a huge part of my life for the past four years. A few months ago, graduation couldn't come fast enough. Now, it can't come slow enough. It's just hard trying to juggle finals and packing all my stuff and treasuring every waking moment (haven't gotten much sleep) with all the people I love.

Wednesday was my final theme presentation in my Performing Oral Literature class. My theme was Sisterhood, and I did a narration from the movie 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,' the song 'Still on Your Side' by BBMak, and an excerpt from 'Little Women' the play. It went pretty well, I think. By now I have no nerves getting up and performing in front of the class. I know I'm not the best performer, but it's actually kind of fun, this acting stuff.
We went to Indy at night... not the best idea. Ended up sleeping in the car and being super tired the next day.

Thursday I went shopping in Indy with claire... didn't really get much, because I already have WAY too much stuff to bring home. I honestly do not know how I'm going to fit everything I've owned this past four years into two tiny suitcases to bring home. I think there will be a lot of donating going on this coming week. I sold a bunch of clothes to this store called Plato's Closet, and they gave me $55 in return! It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
Then AAA (Asian Awareness Association) had our annual spring dinner in Muncie at Red Sun, this Chinese buffet. It wasn't great, but it was better than most disgusting greasy asian buffets here.

Got back to campus late, and was planning to head straight to bed, but then we had not one, but TWO tornado warnings, and so we all had to go out in the hallway and wait for the warning to be over. So annoying. I was awake for the first, so I went out, but the second one was after midnight, so I just ignored it and stayed in my bed, praying that the tornado wouldn't hit us if not I'd probably be dead. So thank God I'm still alive and kicking. During the first warning I had a good heart-to-heart chat with a good friend who's been drifting away from me the past couple weeks. We talked things out, shared our struggles, ended up crying over the phone, and I felt much better about everything. I guess it just took some understanding on both our parts. But I'm glad we were honest... didn't want to leave here without setting things straight between us. I've done so many things this semester I'm not proud of, and they've damaged some of my friendships, so I guess I have less than a week to make things up and get my priorities straight.

Friday was the last day of classes... EVER. Such a weird feeling. Don't know what to think.
It was also ISS (International Students' Society) Senior Night, so we dressed up, piled up into 3 vans, and headed to Flattop Grille in Fort Wayne. It was a good time just being with friends and eating way too much. We took pictures, talked about memories, got gifts (photo album and photo collage) from others, shared our plans for after graduation... good times.

Went back to campus and hung out for a while at a friend's apartment. Almost went to Indy, but glad I didn't, because we went to Sammy, one of the dorms, for a friend's farewell party. One of the korean guys was leaving next year to go to the korean military, so we threw a surprise party for him. We all hid in the game room in the basement and jumped out and shocked him when he came in. He was touched to the point of tears. It made me almost cry too. But it was such a fun time just hanging out, eating cake, playing foosball and frisbee, and talking.

And then we went to another friend's apartment after that and got thoroughly entertained by a bunch of drunk people talking their heads off. It's funny how different people have different reactions to alcohol. Some people cry, some people start sharing their life story, some people fall asleep, some people laugh nonstop, some people get violent, and some people can't stop talking. So fascinating.

Saturday Sungah and I went around campus with a friend and took pictures for memory's sake, because we realized we didn't have many pictures of us around campus. So that was fun. Then I worked on a web design project... I'm actually kind of getting the hang of doing HTML coding on Dreamweaver. Who would've thought?! And then we had a girls' night out to downtown Indy, but ended up at broad ripple, where we found new places to go to. It was fun... got to meet new people and stayed over at a friend's place.

Today we had our last MuKappa event...ever. SO SAD. Went to the Daudts' house for cookies, fellowship, and worship. I'm going to miss these cozy worship sessions at their house. Got to catch up with friends and talk about future plans and summer plans and everything. Good times.