A melting pot of cultures

It's been an interesting experience living with different cultures here in England, and it's funny because I got to know lots of Americans, Koreans, African Americans, Hispanics, and several Arabs at school, and now I'm getting to know lots of Europeans and British people here (and Koreans too, of course - they're everywhere). I really love learning about new cultures and traditions, because it's just so fascinating how different people in different countries act, speak, and think differently.

So here's my list of observations about people, their mannerisms, habits, and culture.

• British people are polite, private, and reserved people - very different from loud and boisterous Americans.
• British people love their soap operas and reality TV shows like 'X Factor' (their version of American Idol).
• Sarcasm and skepticism is used widely here.
• In England, 'pants' means 'underwear,' and 'trousers' means 'pants.' 'Faggots' means 'meatballs,' and 'tea' means 'dinner.' Or it could mean tea (and biscuits). It's very confusing.
• British people apologize profusely, even when you're the one bumping into them and it's not their fault. They also say 'thank you' a whole lot (or 'cheers' or 'ta' - kind of like Australians).
• British food is pretty multicultural - fish n chips, sausage n chips, chicken tikka masala, pasta, sushi, greasy fried noodles/rice, kebabs, etc. It's pretty bland, too.
• British people are obsessed with tea and tea breaks. I've never seen people drink so much tea (some drink coffee) in my life.
• There is a huge immigrant community here, consisting mostly of people from Pakistan, India, and several parts of Asia.
• Most British people are apathetic about church and either don't care or don't know about Jesus.
• The weather here is more unpredictable than that in Indiana, but mostly it rains, rains, and rains.
• Like every other country, Britain has its fair share of social problems, such as alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, and lots of loneliness and emptiness.
• British people wash their dishes in an interesting manner - they soap it and leave the soap bubbles to dry without wiping it off.
• The British accent is extremely difficult to understand and it varies from area to area. When they say a word that ends with 'ing,' it sounds like 'ingk.' (For example, 'I'm wondering if I should go swimming' will sound like 'I'm wonderingk if I should go swimmingk.') It's very subtle but very noticeable. 
• Also, their intonations make it sound like every sentence they say is a question.
• People always complain that the British drive on the wrong side of the road, but they drive on the same side as Singapore, so I have no problem with that. But apparently, the rest of the world does.
• Germans, Swiss, and the Dutch are very direct people. Actually, most Europeans are (at least from my experience). They will tell you exactly how it is, how they feel, and what they think. No mercy for hurt feelings. It's not like they intentionally set out to offend or hurt people, it's just their nature to be direct and blunt, and it can come across as shocking and harsh sometimes, especially for non-confrontational Asians.
• All the stereotypes from movies about how different people from different countries speak English is totally true. I think the French and Spanish English-speaking accents are the funniest.
• You can see different languages influencing the way people speak English. For example, Germans always say 'I want to make a picture' instead of 'take a picture.' And Brazilians end a lot of their words with 'y' or 'ey.' Like 'I want to make a sandwich' would become 'I wanty to makey a sandwichey.'
• Koreans have the funniest mannerisms. They will make hilarious sounds like 'oh' or 'ahhh' or 'eh' during conversations in a very animated way, and they respond to you with the most unpredictable answers. 
• Koreans are also very respectful of elders, and they're very indirect and careful not to hurt others' feelings, kind of like most Asian cultures.
• Sometimes I forget that most countries in the world are a million times bigger than Singapore, and I'm surprised when I find out people haven't been to or even heard of a certain city in their country, because obviously I've been to every nook and cranny in tiny old Singapore.

That's all I can think of right now.

Popular culture vs. the Bible

Today we had a session on popular culture and how the values and beliefs it promotes are vastly different from that of the Bible's. I absolutely loved the discussion - anything about pop culture or the media or fun stuff like that is way more interesting than the history of the dead sea scrolls (and more relevant, too).

What does popular culture say about...

1. Money?
   Money is everything. Money = possessions = popularity = happiness.
2. Fashion?
   We must be brand-conscious and keep up with the changing trends in order to be viewed as fashionable and cool. Our identity is found in our dressing and sense of fashion. We look up to celebrities and base our standards of beauty on what society says; this results in an attempt to achieve impossible perfection as well as an unhealthy body image.
3. Friendships?
   We desire to be popular and well-liked among everyone. Friends are to be manipulated for our benefit. We pick and choose our friends, imitate each other, and leave out others so we come across as more exclusive and superior.
4. Sex?
   It's normal and accepted to have sex with anyone, anytime, anywhere. There's no need to wait for marriage, because if you love someone, sex is a good way of expressing that. Casual sex is seen as glamorous and does not have to be between a man and a woman.
5. Faith/religion?
   Religious people are portrayed as weird, abnormal, and not cool. People openly praise satan, and celebrities are making religions like Scientology and Buddhism seem popular and cool.
6. Success?
   Our ultimate goal in life is to be successful, which means to do what we want. Success = money = fame = a good job = adoration = lots of possessions.
7. Family?
   It's normal to have a broken family, consisting of divorced parents, abused and rebellious kids, estranged relatives, and even two dads or two moms instead of a dad and a mom. Family doesn't matter so much anymore.
8. Christianity?
   It's boring, weird, old-fashioned, and extreme. People misunderstand it because of stereotypes in the media - Christians are portrayed as either wimpy, psycho, weird, or judgmental.

What does the Bible say about...

1. Money?
   We cannot serve two gods. Serving money is not serving God. But money is not evil - it's just how you use it. There has to be a balance and we should not be tempted by our insatiable desire for money.
2. Fashion?
   We don't have to worry about anything, least of all what we wear. Our identity is found in God, not in material things. Yes, we should look presentable and groom ourselves well, but we don't have to be brand-conscious or obsessed with obtaining the latest Marc Jacobs bag or Versace jacket.
3. Friendships?
   True friends accept you as you are, and we ought to love our neighbors as ourselves.
4. Sex?
   It is reserved for after marriage, because it's a sacred thing that bonds a couple together. It's something special to be shared only between a man and a woman.
5. Faith/religion?
   We ought not to worship idols, for we are to be the light of the world and a living testimony of God.
6. Success?
   In heaven, the rich will be poor, and vice versa. The possessions we accumulate here will not make it to heaven. Success is to do what God wants - only then will we live a fulfilling and meaningful life.
7. Family?
   Family is important, because they accept us as who we are. Families help to mold and shape us, and broken families should not be commonplace.
8. Christianity?
   Jesus Christ is the only way, the truth, and the light.

What should we do about popular culture?

• Avoid it?
  But we can't possibly run away from popular culture, because it's everywhere. It infiltrates into every aspect of our lives. We are also called to be in the world, although not of it.
• Accept it?
  But we can't just sit back and allow all this nonsense to fill our minds day after day. To accept it all without a filter would be to become a mindless blob. Also, we want to be different from nonbelievers, who mostly have no problems accepting popular culture because they don't know better.
• Condemn it?
  But we don't want to be extremely conservative Christians who people stare at and snigger at because we think every single TV show, movie, song, book, etc, is bad. We especially don't want to condemn something that we don't know much about, so I think it's important to understand something (like Harry Potter, for example) before we condemn it to hell and try to convince others. Otherwise, it will just make us look foolish.
• Engage it?
  We need to ask questions and listen, and help point teenagers in the right direction. Popular culture can be a great starting point for deep conversations. Take Harry Potter - he died and came back to life, and that's totally fictional, but hey, there is someone in real life who died and rose from the dead, and that's Jesus!
  We can also celebrate the good in popular culture, because it's not all bad. Just because something is non-Christian doesn't necessarily mean it's completely evil. But we do have to be uncompromising in our stance against the bad.

So really, popular culture is something positive that can be used (in the right way) to relate people to God.

By the way, I thought the photo about how 'God is too big to fit into one religion' made no sense. It was interesting that someone had that perspective, but if you think about it, all the religions of the world have different ways of portraying God and what you have to do to be 'accepted' into their religion. 

First weekend in the UK

I still can't get over the fact that I'm here in the UNITED KINGDOM! Never thought I would be here, doing this. But I am, and I am enjoying it here immensely.

This weekend was incredible, spending time with people and exploring the city. Friday night we went to Birmingham city for the arts festival, and even though it was raining the entire time, we had a blast watching the different reggae bands play and dancing along to the music. The air smelled of cigarettes and weed, and people were standing in front of the stage with umbrellas. Some were moving around to the music, and we started our own little dance cluster among ourselves. It was so much fun!! We made up funny moves, laughed at weird people around us, and just went crazy dancing to the awesome music. I've never liked reggae as much as I did that night.

I know it's not on my bucket list, but 'Dancing in the rain to reggae music in the UK - check.'

It was good, clean fun, but I was honestly struggling quite a bit at the concert because we walked past clubs and bars, there was music blaring everywhere and people all dressed up and ready to party, and every fiber of my being was crying out, 'To heck (I was thinking of another, more crude word, but I won't write that down) with this mission trip, I want to join those people.' 

I know I'm here to do God's work, but I'm still human, and I still struggle, especially since these struggles are very fresh and recent in my life. So I'm glad that I have this wonderful community to keep me in check, to keep me accountable, because there are all these rules and curfews here, and for once, I am grateful to live under them. I just have to keep reminding myself that there are more important things in life; things like partying may be fun and fulfilling for a night, but the emptiness still lingers the next morning.

Then we went to the gay village and to one of the largest mosques in the city to do a little prayer walk. It was a very sobering experience, seeing all these people who are God's children live their lives in a way that hurts Him.

Lord, I know You still love these people as much as You love us, because they are Your children. I know it breaks Your heart to see their lives go down this path, and I pray that Your grace and mercy will fall freely in their lives and guide them back to You.

Today (saturday) was our first free day, so almost our entire group took one of those double-decker red buses to the city to explore. One of the guys who had been around for a while gave us a tour, and we got to see the arts festival again, a canal where they had boats going up and down (like in Venice), tons of shopping streets, beautiful old churches, shopping malls and markets, museums, and even Chinatown. Birmingham is not as boring as I thought; it's full of interesting people, gorgeous architecture, and really expensive stores. We ate at a chinese buffet place in Chinatown, where the food tasted just like American-Chinese food. Figures. I guess chinese food is the same in every western country. But we got to go to the asian supermarket, where I stocked up on asian food and snacks!

We did some shopping afterward, but it was mostly window shopping because we are missionaries and don't have much pocket money. Plus everything is ridiculously expensive in pounds and even more expensive when converted to SGD. A lot of the shops here already exist in Singapore anyway.
Looking around at the young people here, I've come to the conclusion that they dress very fashionably but provocatively (for the girls). It's pretty bad. They look like they're going clubbing, but they're only at the mall or walking down the street. Low hole-y tops, super short skirts, and high heels were everywhere. And I heard that partying England is trashier than in America, which is already horribly trashy enough (it's about a million times worse than partying in Singapore).

Some girls and I commiserated about our misconceptions of missionaries - we all thought that since we were coming on a mission trip, we wouldn't have to bring much stuff with us, because, you know, missionaries are supposed to be poor and live off two t-shirts and one pair of underwear. So most of us didn't bring much. At all. And now we're living in regret and missing our dresses, bags, accessories, nail polishes, skirts, shoes, and every piece of material comfort we left at home. Oh well. I guess we'll learn to live without them for a period of time.

We ended off today by snuggling up together and watching 'The Blind Side' on the projector screen in one of the rooms. Good ending to a good day.

Training sessions and culture lessons

The past... 3 days have been full of training, training, and more training. It's a little bit overwhelming at times. I can't believe it's already almost Thursday. I feel like I've been here for months and months already.

So far we have... 

• been on a treasure hunt around the town to check out where everything is
• had a professional magician come in and teach us mind-blowing magic tricks (I am now a semi-professional magician who can perform 3 rope tricks.. adequately)
• learned more about the organization and its mission and values
• learned how to give our testimony in 3 minutes, crafted our 3-minute testimony, and shared it with everyone (I just love hearing people's life stories - it's amazing how God works in different people's lives)
• learned tips on how to share the Gospel with complete strangers
• learned a little bit about British culture and how the Brits are reserved, proper, polite, and turn bright red when they go to the beach in their sandals and socks

It's quite interesting, what we've been learning.



And outside of class, we have...

• Gone to the town numerous times to buy necessities, chocolates (a lot of the girls here are obsessed with it), or just to walk around
• Had random worship sessions
• Eaten way too much every day. I did not expect to be fed this well at a mission trip, but it's like we eat at least 5 times a day - breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, another afternoon tea, dinner, supper
  And the food is so good: fish n chips, lasagna, curry and rice, and LOTS of dessert at EVERY meal. Not. Good.
• Had lots of ridiculously hilarious talks about random things under the sun
• Laughed like mad about all kinds of things
• Taught each other how to say random words in our own languages 
• Had a mini dance party in the girls' dorm
• Given each other completely non-related nicknames
• Played random games as a form of entertainment after dinner
• Gone out to dinner in the town at an italian place. They had delicious + cheap pizza. We ate 2 slices of pizza each, a salad, wedges, and then we finished 2 entire tubs of Haagen Daaz ice cream, all 6 of us. That was today, and now I feel like I don't need to eat for the rest of the month

So yeah that's basically my life right now. I like it so far. It's pretty cool :)

Aussies, accents, and aboriginals

Australians are an interesting people. First off, their accents are pretty distinct and kind of hard to understand... initially. I found myself going, 'sorry, what did you say?' many times a day when I first got here, and I had to deal with annoyed glares from customers who had to repeat their order a hundred times because I couldn't, for the life of me, comprehend what was coming out of their mouths. After almost two months here, it's gotten a little better, although I still experience the occasional what-on-earth-did-that-person-just-say moment.

I don't think I would ever be able to imitate the Australian accent, though. It's much harder than the American one, and less often heard, too. I mean, most movies and TV shows in pop culture are American, so the entire world is accustomed to hearing the American accent. Not so much other accents. So right now the only word I can say in an Australian accent is 'yeah,' or should I say, 'yeh.'

Aside from several rather rude customers, I'd say that Australians are, in general, friendly people. Their culture is pretty warm; you get people greeting you with a pleasant 'hi, how are you?' whenever you step into most places, and most people are hospitable and easy to approach.

Also, although there are tons of Asians here from Singapore, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, etc, they don't seem to mix around with Caucasians or people from other races. In fact, it's pretty segregated here. My brothers admit to not having any friends of other races, and they don't seem to mind it. Even the church we all go to is 99.9% Asian.

I just feel like it negates the point of living in a different country. Why migrate all the way to Australia if you're just going to hang out with Singaporeans, eat Singaporean food, and go to a Singaporean-ish church? Isn't that basically the same as living in Singapore, except for the seasonal changes and the different environment? If I were to migrate here, which I don't foresee in the distant future, I would try out other churches and mix around with all kinds of people. It just makes life more interesting that way. And you learn so much more about other people's culture and lifestyle. I think culture is the most fascinating thing in the world. It really is what makes us different and unique and it shapes us directly or indirectly to who we are.

One culture I don't really understand is the Aboriginal culture. I've served numerous customers who are Aboriginals, and they're pretty intimidating, because they're not very friendly, they're kind of rowdy and loud, and they're a little demanding. Of course, this is a generalization, but most of them whom I've come across are like that. I wonder why. Also, I realized that in many countries, the natives tend to be dark-skinned, like the Native Americans in North America, the Aboriginals in Australia, the Malays in Singapore, etc. But then the lighter-skinned people often come along and seize the power... and the rest is history.

These are just my humble observations.

Graduation trip to Europe!!!

Europe is an interesting place. The people there speak English, haltingly, but they speak a ton of other languages too. It's a little confusing at times. Although... travel within Europe is wonderfully convenient. It's like traveling within the US, there's no need for customs check or passports or any of that sort.

First stop - Blois, France

My parents and I flew separately (they were on SIA and I was on United 'cause I used my mileage points and basically paid only 5bucks to fly from NYC to Frankfurt, Germany) and they got there before me, so by the time I got my luggage and stuff, they were waiting for me. We found this place at the airport to store our suitcases for 5 euro per suitcase per day, so we stored two huge ones and that took a tremendous load off our shoulders. Now we were left with one huge suitcase and three tiny ones. Not ideal, but not bad. Then we flew Air France to Paris, France, and drove like 3 hours to get to a quaint little town called Blois... in the countryside... in the middle of nowhere. It was total deja vu. I could've been in Upland, Indiana because the place was surrounded by fields and fields. Maybe not CORNfields, but fields nonetheless. But it didn't bother me, because I was in FRANCE!!!!! First time there!!!

We were tired after all that driving, so we had dinner at the hotel and went to bed. The room was SO uniquely decorated. It was not like a normal hotel room. It was modern, the walls were painted red, black, and white, the furniture was so cool, and there was a little winding staircase that led to a bedroom upstairs. I regret not taking a picture of it, it was so cool. Oh well.

So the next few days we went to visit chateaus and wineries, and it was pretty cool. The chateaus were amazing. We went to three in all, and they were HUGE and surrounded with TONS of land. probably as big as singapore, no kidding. Okay, maybe exaggerating, but they really were enormous. Some of them were surrounded by lakes and forests, and it took us a while to get around the entire estate. The architecture was gorgeous too, and the rooms inside the chateaus were all so quaint and charming.

Although I wouldn't want to live in a chateau (some descendants of royalty still lived there), they're too huge and I wouldn't know what to do with all that space. Plus I would never be able to find anyone ever. It would be like playing hide and seek all the time. And some of the rooms were a little scary, especially those covered with armors and moose heads and stuffed real foxes. But they were cool to visit.

The wineries were fun too, we got to see how wine was processed and bottled, and then we got to try some champagne and wine. It tasted alright. I prefer sweet wines. And so I took lots of pictures of the wine while my mom drank all my champagne/wine and she got a little tipsy. haha. It was infinitely amusing, seeing her slap happy and laughing at everything and claiming she was a little giddy - from like 4 tiny cups of wine. haha.

On a side note, EVERYTHING in France/Germany/Europe in general is CRAZY EXPENSIVE.Wine/beer/alcohol in general is actually CHEAPER than water. Isn't that ridiculous? That's why my parents drank wine in France and beer in Germany at every meal because it was cheaper than my Evian water. I couldn't deal with drinking alcohol while eating so I had to get water. And there's no such thing as tap water there. It must be Evian water in restaurants, and it's like freaking 5 euro, which is like about 9SGD. Just got water!!! Ridiculous. Also, I don't know if we just picked the wrong restaurants or the wrong dishes, but I didn't really like French food that much. They eat a lot of baguettes with cheese/pate (dip made out of pork/goose/other things), and that was pretty good, except the bread was always ROCK HARD. I think French people must have very strong teeth because mine were crying out in pain whenever I bit into a piece of bread. But I must admit, their baguettes (when fresh and piping hot from the oven) are DELICIOUS. Don't even need to eat it with butter or anything. Just by itself, it was SO GOOD. We polished off baguette after baguette.

But other than that... they had a lot of raw stuff. Like when my mom ordered tartare and realized (after it was served) that tartare means raw meat, like raw beef and fish. She looked at it, screamed, and sent it back immediately. It was funny. I laughed. But then I ordered a fish salad (they only had fish salads. who doesn't have a normal chicken caesar salad???), and it came with anchovies and some raw fish. Ew. I just ate the veggies and tried not to gag when they came in contact with the raw fish.
And I had stomachaches a couple times, after eating the food. Don't know why. Must be all that contact with the raw stuff!!! And their desserts were super duper sweet. And their portions were super duper huge. It's amazing not everyone is obese like in America. I thought French food was served in tiny portions but I guess they're becoming Americanized too.

Second stop - Paris, France

After 3 days in Blois, we drove 3 hours back to the city of Paris!!!! It was beautiful, all the architecture of the buildings were incredible. I wish Singapore had gorgeous buildings like that, but when I mentioned that to my dad, he said no one knows how to construct buildings like that anymore. I guess they all died a long time ago and everyone wants modern buildings now. Sad. Old buildings are really quite precious. So we stayed 2 streets away from Champs d'Elysees, the famous avenue in Paris that is filled with brand name shops and restaurants.

Our hotel was pretty swanky - it was the Renaissance hotel, which is affiliated with Marriott, which is where we stayed the entire trip because we used our Marriott points. And we were right by the Arc du Triomphe, a famous landmark in Paris, which is surrounded by a roundabout. Now, normal roundabouts (a circle with many exits for cars to choose from) are small and can probably fit about 2 cars and they're quite orderly. But this one, ohhhhh boy. It was like MASS CHAOS. It was wide enough to squeeze about 8 cars in the entire lane, and there were no lines separating any lanes, so everyone was just squeezing their way in, weaving in and out of the non-existent lanes, and then randomly shooting out of their lane and into the exit without warning. It's amazing there aren't traffic accidents there every second of every day. French drivers must have very fast reaction times. Mom nearly had a heart attack screaming at my dad to 'watch out for all the cars' and 'drive slower' and 'EXIT!! THERE!! NO, NOT THIS ONE, THE NEXT ONE!! OKAY NOW!!'

So we visited a couple famous places in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was one of them, of course. How could we not? It was pretty disappointing in the day, looked like a piece of scrap metal. But when it was all lit up at night, it was the prettiest sight, especially when the lights started blinking and going crazy every half an hour. We took the elevator to the top and the view of the city was incredible. It was freezing cold though, so we didn't stay long. We took a tour bus that allowed us to hop on and hop off anytime, so we toured the city that way.

Went to the Louvre, it was an incredibly huge museum, to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which, in my opinion, was an example of commercialized religion. They were having mass when we were visiting, and it was like they were on display for our entertainment. While the priest was speaking, visitors were walking up and down the outside aisles, taking pictures with flash, pointing at people, whispering loudly... It couldn't be any more distracting. And then there were machines for you to put 5euro in and get some kind of souvenir postcard or coin. Who does that in churches??? I don't understand how people can go there regularly as members.

 

So anyway, the weather there was a little chilly, but still alright. For me, at least. My parents (especially mom) were shivering like none other. I guess Indiana's crazy cold weather has trained me well indeed. They both ended up wearing my jackets on top of theirs while I wore a three-quarter sleeved jacket. haha.

We went to Galleries Lafayette, a huge brand name mall, but didn't buy anything because everything was just so expensive. Europe is totally NOT a place to shop. It's good just for sightseeing. Even when we went to the outlet mall, everything was cheaper, but still not cheap. It's ridiculous. People there must make a lot of money!

Third Stop - Berlin, Germany

So from Paris, we flew to Berlin, which was incredibly rich in history and wonderfully fascinating. After a while, the design of the buildings gets a little repetitive. I think most of the buildings look alike in Europe, at least the places I've been to (Greece, Italy, France, Germany). They're old and sometimes gothic and they have intricate carvings. But in Berlin it was a little different. Because it was badly damaged by the war, a ton of buildings were destroyed, and so now they have old buildings next to new, modern ones, and it looks a little weird.

Our cab driver who took us from the airport to the hotel was a middle-aged woman, and she totally gave us a summary of Berlin's history and pointed out all the major landmarks. PLUS she was like 15 years old when the war happened, and so she remembered everything. She even played by the Berlin wall as a teen. Isn't that so cool??? So anyway the wall's obviously torn down now, but there's little markings all over Berlin to show where the wall used to be, and which side was East Berlin and which side was West. It was incredibly cool to be there and see all that in person because I learned about the war and the Berlin wall in my JC history class. We saw a part of the wall that was left standing, and the holes that were in it from people from the East trying to escape, we read about the history of the wall and how tons of people escaped successfully but many others died in their attempt.

We also took the tour bus around, and so we saw the huge glass windowed Parliament House, the Jewish museum, the Jewish memorial, more monuments, and shopping places.

Our other cab driver who took us from the restaurant to the hotel was so cute. He was an elderly man who looked about 80 but turned out to be only 60! And he was SUCH a world traveler. He'd been to every single continent in the world (except for Antarctica), and he'd even been to Singapore a couple of times in his youth! It never ceases to amaze me when I meet people who've been to Singapore. It's just that Singapore is SUCH a tiny little DOT on the map, I marvel at how people even KNOW where it is!!

Oh and German food... is incredible. I love it. They have tons of potatoes, enough said. I love potatoes. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, sliced potatoes, boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, ALL KINDS! haha. My dad went nuts and ordered pork knuckle at every restaurant we went to. It was pretty good...tasted like fried chicken. haha. And needless to say, we tried all kinds of german beer, and I don't normally like beer, but there was this one, called Dunkles Radler, at the famous beer restaurant in Munich called Hofbrauhaus... it was SO GOOD. I've never drank so much beer in my life. It came in this HUGE mug that I couldn't lift with one hand, and all 3 of us shared it. I couldn't stop drinking it, it tasted so good. Didn't even taste like regular beer. That's probably why I liked it. haha.

The people in Germany were so friendly and warm, much nicer than the French. Sometimes French people pretend they don't know English, and even if they do, they just keep speaking French to you as if you understand. I guess they're kind of snobby. But German people are so loud and boisterous and happy. I like them. I like the way German and French sound... the languages are just so cool. I wish I knew how to speak German/French. I'm glad their written language is in the English alphabet though. It helped us to kind of decipher certain words that sounded similar to English words. German words are CRAZY long though. It's like we'd be trying to figure out how to get to some particular street in Germany, and the street would be called something like Frastrandesbergstein. And so by the time we got to the last part of the word, we'd forget the first part. So to save time (and to keep ourselves from going crazy), we just memorized the first 5 letters to find the street. haha.

Fourth stop - Munich, Germany

Munich was alright, the day we spent there it rained all day. And not just sprinkles of rain, it was POURING like never before. So it kind of ruined the mood, but oh well. We went to Marianplatz and saw some more cool architecture, got a view of the city from above, and decided to leave before we got drenched. We met this really cute old chinese couple from Beijing at the Hofbrauhaus place... they were the sweetest little thing! The little old man was happily and slowly enjoying his pork knuckle, taking tiny bites and then smiling and raising his little camera on his little tripod and taking videos of the band performing. The little old woman was happily enjoying the pork knuckle too, and in between bites she would smile at the little old man and get up to help him take a closer video of the band. And then they would continue eating and smiling and clapping. It was the cutest thing ever. My dad and I laughed so hard at their cuteness and I tried to take a photo of them, but it was wobbly because I burst out laughing.

We also visited the Dachau concentration camp half an hour away from the city in Munich, and it was pretty intense. There were tons of people there even though it was raining, and the camp was HUGE! It housed over 6000 people I think, and there was a huge empty spacious courtyard for the prisoners to assemble for rollcall, where they would be counted and sometimes made to stand for hours. We also saw their living quarters, which had tiny beds and were really cold. I bet winters must be horribly harsh. There was a huge museum in place of where the prisoners used to live, and it had all kinds of pictures, facts, and videos about the camp and the war, from how it started to how Hitler took control to the awful things prisoners had to endure. The thing that stood out the most to me was how the prisoners were treated like they weren't human. Some of them were human experiments for SICK 'doctors' who used their bodies in the name of science. They took all kinds of people, especially healthy ones, and performed experimental surgeries on them. HOW SICK IS THAT?!?!? I almost fainted reading about it.

And then some of them went through other experiments like the Malaria experiment, where the guards attached boxes filled with malaria-infested mosquitoes to the prisoners' legs, and then tested them for malaria cures and all that. I couldn't read it all. It was too grotesque and inhumane. And there were all kinds of prisoners in the camp - it was one of the largest and longest-lasting camp during the war. It really was sad. I don't know how humans can commit such crimes against other humans. We didn't get a chance to walk through the entire site because it started raining super heavily and we only had one umbrella. Oh well. It was an interesting experience anyway.

We went to the BMW exhibition (I know, random, but it was indoors and away from the rain), and saw all kinds of cool cars and motorcycles. And then we went back to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. It was good. I love german food so much.

So then the next day, when we were about to leave Munich, the sun finally decided to shine. So we walked around for a bit, then we embarked on a 5-hour-turned-8-hour drive to Frankfurt. My parents, in their attempt to be the smarty-pants, decided NOT to follow the GPS and try to get to Frankfurt on their own with a TINY MAP. Who does that?!?!?!? What is the GPS for, if not to help you get to your destination?!?!?! So of course we ended up straying from the path and getting lost and winding up in the woods an hour away from the highway!! They claimed the highway had a traffic jam. I say it was just an excuse. But oh well. I slept most of the time anyway. And we got to see little quaint German towns, so it wasn't so bad. We finally got to Frankfurt at 9pm and we were pretty much exhausted so we had dinner at the hotel, saw the view of the city from the swimming pool, and went to bed.

And the next day we flew home. Thank God for wonderful SIA, which allowed us to check in 5 bags altogether, and 3 of them overweight, with no extra charge. I love SIA. Not like picky UNITED/DELTA/EVERY OTHER AIRLINE IN THE WORLD! And I got to watch 'Shutter Island,' 'Valentine's Day,' 'How to Train Your Dragon,' 'Alice in Wonderland,' and 'Tooth Fairy.' Didn't sleep much, maybe half an hour, but it was so worth it.

And now I'm totally experiencing jet lag because it's 6.30am and I'm wide awake. Great.

From City to Country

It was time. I stepped out of the Indiana airport, and a cool breeze swept past me as I took in my surroundings. Little did I know this was a foreshadowing of life in Indiana, where dreary wet days, bitterly frigid wind and knee-high frosty snow were the norm. Having grown up in a city that experienced year-round summers, I was in for the shock of my life when the first snow fell.

After hauling suitcases stocked with my entire wardrobe, shoe collection and lifetime supply of books, my family and I embarked on the drive to Upland, the tiny town I would call “home” for the next four years. As we sped past cars on the highway, I gazed out the window, fascinated by the small towns we passed by. I scoffed at their buildings and signs, ridiculing the humble establishments they had set up.

Since I did not make the effort to Google “life in Indiana,” the only connection I made to it was the movie character Indiana Jones. Yet, I was somehow convinced it would be similar to New York City. I entertained visions of myself living the glamorous life, sipping lattes at a classy cafe in the afternoon, and watching people stroll past, going about their day.

No doubt I was in for a rude awakening. Not only was I in foreign territory, I was also about to be immensely disappointed. As the Global Positioning System (GPS) informed us we were nearing our destination, my brows furrowed in confusion. Was not Upland supposed to be a huge metropolis, a bustling place filled with all kinds of interesting people? Why were there only farms and fields, with the occasional cow grazing next to horses? A sense of apprehension crept up on me.

The GPS must be wrong, I decided. There was no way I could live in the countryside for the next four years! But, the emotionless, computerized voice soon uttered the words I dreaded to hear: “You have reached your destination.” I gaped at my surroundings in astonishment and dismay. Most college students would be thrilled to step onto campus and plunge into their first day of orientation, but all I could think was, “There aren't any malls here!”

Where were the huge crowds? What was I supposed to do for fun? The town was like a deserted wasteland, and the only thing it seemed to possess in abundance was fields and fields of corn. My first impulse was to snatch the car keys from my dad, jump into the front seat and speed back to the airport, but then I remembered I did not know how to drive.

Simply put, my dreams were instantly crushed. Gone were the fantasies of living the glitzy, jet-setting city lifestyle. The lump in my throat kept growing as I realized this would be a challenge of monstrous proportions. It was a whole new world, one I was unfamiliar with, and quite honestly, reluctant to accept.

I longed for the hustle and bustle of the city, but I was here. I had to put an end to my complaining and welcome my new life. So I did, albeit with some hesitation. As time passed, I grew to embrace life in the countryside. Yes, Upland was as different from the city as you could get, but there was a unique and charming quality about it, something remarkable that set it apart from anything I could have imagined.

Slowly, I adapted. I battled the biting cold with my five layers of clothes, scarves and hats, I discovered the senselessness of trying to predict the ever-changing weather, I learned the benefits of making friends with people who had cars, I experienced getting lost in corn mazes, and I adapted to the smell of skunk in the car. Most of all, I appreciated the beauty of friendship, because when there was nothing to do, the alternative was spending quality time with some of the greatest people I have ever met.

On hindsight, I would have read up more on Upland before arriving. But if I had, I would have never made it to this little town and come face to face with a life changing experience. I have learned to embrace the beauty of nature, to simply sit and gaze in awe at the splendor of creation. There is a kind of peace and tranquility about the countryside, which gives me a sense of serenity I have never experienced before. City life is vastly different from country life, but both are just as amazing.

Now, when I glance out my window and see the pure blanket of snow gracefully spread out over the grass, a sense of wonder overwhelms me, and I am thankful to call Upland my home, at least for now.


-Just thought I would share a personal narrative piece I wrote for class that I'm including in my portfolio :)

Finally blogger lets me put pics up

Me, sarah, jack, mike, kristin.. Friday night at st. mark's.


our freaking huge texas sized drinks. i finished 2nd fastest :)


weird faces. anw isn't sarah so pretty? she's my first native american friend :)


The girls i met this weekend... rachel, katie, sarah and stella. they're pretty much awesome.


at the Bronx zoo with the hugest, cutest camel ever.


we randomly found this hello kitty fountain (with water spraying out of its eyes), and decided to do.... what else? an asian pose.


liz after she got her ears pierced :)


at Little Italy with gelato in hand. yummmm.


liz tried to make the 'O' in 'benito' an 'A', but failed miserably.


weird folded paper in the museum that anyone, even a baby, could've done. maybe it's all in the way you fold it.


some guy came up to me in the museum and asked me what the painting was about. i was clueless, and cheated by peeking at the explanation on the side.
it's actually a policeman screaming. he's on the right.


BEP in concert! they look tiny, but they were actually pretty close to us. it's just those darned people with their cameras held high, blocking my shot.


Me, ingrid (my roomie), and her friend ashley at whole foods market for lunch.


More free stuff happily taken from the office :)

Out of bad comes the good

Reading 'The Culturally Savvy Christian' certainly has been quite an experience. you get so upset/frustrated/depressed at the first two chapters, with quotes like 'entertainment has become a replacement for religion; in the same way people used to quote scripture, they're now quoting Seinfield.' And just talking about how popular culture has really influenced Christianity, instead of Christianity influencing pop culture. And God often being displayed as a mere entity or 'the man upstairs' in movies instead of the divine, loving, merciful, personal and graceful God He really is.
One really interesting thing: most Christians are in the extremes of their consumption of culture.

here's 3 categories we fall into:
-cultural anorexics. people who stay away from popular culture at all costs cuz they're trying to avoid being corrupted by it
-cultural gluttons. people who consume all and any kind of popular culture cuz they're just so into it
-cultural bulimics. people who consume lots of popular culture and then turn around and condemn whoever created it.

So i'm totally a cultural bulimic. haha. i love popular culture, as can be seen by the 10 trashy american tv shows i keep up with on a weekly basis. i know they're not really edifying, they don't really glorify God, but at the same time, they don't make me lose my faith either. they're just pure entertainment to me. something to watch in the background as i do hw. so anw i gorge on pop culture and then turn around and condemn the creators of those same tv shows i watch for being unspiritual and without morals. and i think most people fall into this category, unless you're a monk and refuse to indulge in any kind of pop culture. guess we're all hypocrites here. but hey, we were never created to be perfect.

this week has been, without a doubt, one of the craziest ever. i've never had so much reading, so many quizzes, presentations, project proposals, articles to write, assignments due. Ever. i've seriously been stuck in my room all day and night (when i don't have classes) studying my face off. and i hate it when the stupid Echo makes us do last minute articles on thursday when the newspaper comes out on friday. it's craziness! trying to get a hold of people to interview and write the entire article while juggling classes and other articles to edit and page 1 and 2 to layout and design. omg. Am so awfully glad the weekend is ALMOST here. just two more classes away from a long, restful sleep of at least 12 hours. oh that sounds so good.
also, last night was seriously one of the most fun/awesome/crazy nights ever. too bad i'm not at liberty to spill. you never know who reads your blog :)

so to end off, here's a verse from one of my favorite hymns.

Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above

i love it cuz it's so true. my heart always wanders, but Lord You have permission to take it and seal it forever! don't ever let me fall.

Phantasmagorical - sequence of real/imaginary images like in a dream

Totally how i feel now. Everything's just... so surreal. bizarre. dreamlike.
i really, seriously, honestly CAN'T BELIEVE i'm leaving in 3 days!! it's so weird. this semester, like all the others, just flew by in the blink of an eye.

Had my first final today, after i slacked off ystdy. this Specialized Reporting final was definitely the easiest EVER. his study guide was basically all the questions on the exam. which, by the way, amounted to 50 points. WEAK! even our last assignment was worth 60 points! so i totally didn't bother studying much for this. haha.

so ok. on monday, i didn't have anything, so i slacked around in my room and didn't put on any makeup. and then my friends persuaded me to go to dinner... so i reluctantly trudged to the DC looking all plain and washed-out. and then... i was really quite self-conscious of my appearance cuz i was makeup-less and donning sweatpants and a huge First West sweatshirt (I don't know why it's so huge cuz it's M..but i'm like seriously drowning in it). that just got me thinking of how i'm more aware of my appearance than in the past. like, i pay more attention to my makeup, to what i wear on what days...
and i guess that isn't bad, it's just... different. from what i used to be. but then again, looking back at what i used to look like, i always can't help but cringe. at my hair, my glasses, my style of dressing... haha. i guess we all have embarrassing phases in our lives.

but anyway, this week... totally heck care about what i wear. sweatpants and sweatshirts all the way! so comfy and no one cares anyway. since everyone else is wearing the same thing. too busy studying to care how others look like. also, i got my first 'real' American sweatpants over Thanksgiving break, and I LOVE THEM!!! SOOOO comfortable. nothing beats it. i just wish sgp was cold enough so i could wear it at home too!

and today's Freelance Writing final was totally not what we expected. after our specialized final at 10am ended at 10.15am (that's how lame it was), we carpooled to Fort Wayne for the last time :( it's been really fun hanging out with these girls for 5hours every tuesday evening. so we studied, or attempted to, at the Starbucks at Barnes and Nobles... for like 3 hours. but actually we talked and joked around most of the time and took frequent study breaks. haha. and left early to have dinner at Flattop :) and i was glad we didn't study too hard, although we were pretty nervous about the final. the prof's pretty harsh and it's a freakin 4 hour credit class.

but THANK GOD there were only 4 questions!!! we had to write a query letter, a devotion, a movie review and answer another question! that's all! so we got outta there in an hour and a half. YAY :) goodbye fort wayne forever... the feeling's kinda bittersweet. will miss making fun of the weirdos in class. haha

and the campus-wide study break in the DC today was pretty darned lame. no pizza, cookies, guitar hero, Wii like last yr. only cereal, milk, hot chocolate and donuts. L-A-M-E!! so it's 1am and i'm procrastinating studying for my final tmr.

camping

just came back from camping in the wilderness. so proud of myself for having survived!! cuz as everyone knows, i'm deathly afraid of bugs n outside stuff! so initially didn't really wanna go..but since pple persuaded me to go..i'm easy-going like that :)
it was fun..hanging out..bonfires..s'mores..hot dogs (sorry, mum. i'll eat more organic food this week to make up for that)..walks in the wilderness..just getting away from campus n relaxing..
ooh we saw a bunch of racoons!! my first time! awfully exciting. they're so cute!

went to the hoedown..really don't get why these americans like square dancing. it's so...square. and not fun. dancing with all these old, smelly men? no thank you. trying not to judge them. cuz this is their idea of fun. but it's not where i come from. but still.. have to remind myself i have no right to judge. so..the bathroom was the MOST disgusting thing i'd ever seen in my life.

flies plastered to the walls. dead bugs on the sides of the hole they call a toilet bowl. spiders creeping n crawling everywhere. ew ew ew. i drank like a few drops of water to avoid going to the bathroom as much as possible. gross. ended up having to go in the middle of the night!!! went with another girl. we clung on to each other cuz it was dark. like cannot-see-your-own-hand type of dark. creepy. but it's times like these that i really learn to appreciate the simple things i have. and thank God i'm so blessed :) it was an adventure, sleeping in the bus. good bonding time. plus i enjoyed worshipping by the fire and sharing abt our lives. i love sitting by the fire when it's cold. it's so...fascinating :)

Give or take

this weekend was pretty cool! compared to normal upland life. ahaha.
had a poster painting partyyy to paint our TCA and other banners..ours looks pretty cool. yay! :)
had a wing dinner with girls on my floor..then outing to Tin lizzy's with some guys from the brother floor..the place was so cute!! it's like a quaint little antique ice cream place with an old jukebox and quaint antique games! loved it. got to know some guys frm our brother floor. they're cool. one guy lived in s'pore before! yay. but it was like 7 yrs ago. haha.

went to ivanhoe's after that. another ice cream place. obviously i didn't eat anymore ice cream. hung out and talked. really loudly. haha. ok and pple keep trying to set me up with the korean guys..cuz they're asian. haha seriously man. watched a movie after that..then went open housing. visiting friends in other dorms.

sat was supposed to go go-kart racing! but it rained. so we ended up shopping! which was better for me anyway. totally needed shoes. got so many cute superhero shirts for 13bucks! guess what we had for dinner. steak n shake. meaning more ice cream.

today went to this methodist church which was like 5 mins away by car..lasted one hour. haha. kinda nice in the sense that it's short and nearby, but obviously not good for long term spiritual life. sigh. the pastor preached by explaining every verse one by one. it was kinda weird. SIGH. tired of church-hopping. think i might settle for one which i found pretty ok. not wonderful, but not bad for indiana standards. had kenyan food for dinner! kind of. it reminded me of chinese food somehow. haha. went to ivanhoe's after that again. ice cream again. omg this weekend is fattening weekend. but eating is always a good way of bonding with pple :)

so my wing girls just had a Slip 'n' Slide..we taped trash bags to the floor down our hallway, put soap and water all over it, and ran and slid down the hallway. hahahaha. super fun. i banged my knee though. and now there's soap all over the bathroom and on the carpet in the hallway. and i learnt that... american girls are pretty wild. heh. but i love being in olson. so much more fun than gerig!!! makes me happy. :)

Moving!!

us at the fort wayne taylor campus.

katrina n me in teepeeing action

me, katrina n josef in the car

the teepee-ers and our efforts.

katrina,me,heather and jackie at walmart :)

today was moving day! packed all my stuff into 8 containers/boxes. yay! my room's super empty now. depressing. and dusty. ughh! but it feels gd to get everything done. all by myself too. so proud of myself. haha. threw/gave away so much stuff. i have way too much stuff! anw moving stuff to the storage place 10mins away was such a workout. carrying boxes, bags, couches, carpets in the hot sun..but we got ice cream afterwards. yay! :) watched 2 short plays put on by pple in acting classes here. was pretty gd. the first was intense n disturbing cuz it was about school shootings. but the second was hilarious!! exaggerated comedy about a love triangle. haha.

AND..i had my FIRST experience at TEE PEEing someone's house!!!! excitingggg. spontaneously went with heather,katrina,josef n jackie. 1/4 of jamaica team reunion! :) so..we got supplies at walmart..tons of toilet paper..forks..streamers..chalk..food (for us). then drove an hour to jody n quinn's (our jamaica team leaders) house n tee peed it..was pretty exhilarating. adrenaline rush. esp when their garage lights came on halfway through our efforts. scared me to death! we totally ran to the car, ready to zoom off so we wouldn't be caught. but..it was a false alarm. anw we did a pretty gd job. toilet paper all over their trees..forks all over their lawn. haha. it was pretty awesome. the drive there n back was awesome too. dance partyy in the car!! poor josef. we made him listen to old school songs like britney spears. haha.

anw saw spiderman 3 last night..was ok. kinda agreed with our sch newsletter's review of it..that it made the evil venom thingy seem..comical. it's not meant to be funny! it's meant to be disturbing and compelling! and that only happened like in the last few mins of the movie. kinda disappointing. since the venom thingy scared me the most when i used to watch spiderman cartoons. haha. i should go watch batman begins to remind myself what a real superhero movie should be like. haha. or maybe..i should start studying. after all, finals are in..one day. heh.