Once again, I can't believe how fast time flies. My time here is almost over; I'm going home in about a week. That's crazy. But I'm not going to think about how much I'll miss everyone here. At least not now.
So last sunday our team had our presentation in church, which consisted of three songs - 'Beautiful One,' 'Savior King,' and 'Beautiful Things.' It went pretty well, although I was one of the two singers, and it was a little cringe-worthy hearing myself over the microphone, especially when it came time to hit the higher notes. The other two guys shared their testimony and words of wisdom from the Bible.
On Monday, we had our last chance to rehearse for the Christmas program for Sunday service, but things didn't go so well. There's this new bunch of 10-year-old rowdy boys who have been completely disrupting things at youth group - they fight each other all the time, they kick and punch girls, and they scream about everything. So we had to sit and write down rules for youth group, and I could see how upset the original kids of the group were; they really didn't like the newcomers. In fact, I think 'hate' was the word used a lot.
At first I sympathized with the new boys. I mean, they're boys. And you never know what kind of background they come from or what they're going through right now. But I guess that's still no excuse to hit a girl or be completely disrespectful toward everyone. And just seeing how frustrated and upset the other kids were, I kind of agreed with the youth group leader on banning the boys for a week or two. You could sense the huge sighs of relief when the boys finally left.
On Tuesday, we went to Birmingham for a team outing lunch, but we couldn't decide on what to eat. I really don't get why some people always want to eat at Subway. For every meal. Don't they get sick of it?? Finally we settled for German burgers and fried potatoes, which were really good. Then we separated and gave out tracts near the German Christmas market. People were pretty receptive; I talked to this guy who told me about his friend going to Singapore every three months to visit his girlfriend. I also talked to this guy who migrated here from Hong Kong, and he kept telling me to do good to people and life would be alright.
Thursday was my last Prayer Emphasis Day, and it was a day of learning. I learned about the reality of the situation in North Korea, and how the concentration camps there for political prisoners are as bad as Nazi Germany's. It was quite shocking to hear what was actually happening there, and it was an eye-opener. We were told about this Korean American guy who went to North Korea to proclaim the gospel in an outright manner, and he got beaten to an inch of his life. And he still wants to go back to preach to the people, who are starving because the government's first priority is the 'royal family' and the army.
It just made me think. After hearing about all these stories of injustices going on around the world, what can we do about it? What are we supposed to do? Simply pray? Give money? We obviously can't go to every part of the world and help solve every problem there is. That's only up to God.
Saturday we went tracting again, but it wasn't so successful. Maybe because it was evening time, and there were a ton of people there drinking German beer, eating German food, and being merry. We found lots of tracts on the ground, some ripped into pieces, some folded, some crumpled... and it was a little discouraging. So we gave up and went home after an hour. At least it wasn't an all bad day. Before that, we watched the new Narnia movie, which was pretty good. I was a little surprised by how... clear the Christian message came across.
The part about Eustace not being able to turn himself back from a dragon to a human... but he could do it with Aslan's help... and it hurt when he transformed, but it was a good pain... And the part about the children knowing Aslan in the Narnia world so they could know him in their own world... Is it just me, or was that totally Christian? I mean, I know the books are written by a Christian author and they have a Christian message, but I'm just surprised Hollywood allowed the message to be so overt. At least it came across in a good way.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Weekends and Christmas faire
It's been a really Christmas-y atmosphere here in the last two weeks, so we baked German traditional Christmas cookies at a friend's place, and they turned out really good.
Yummy cookies.
We also cooked fried noodles, kim chi fried rice with red/green/yellow peppers and carrots, and minced meat. It tasted much better than the first time. Success!
Cooking was actually really fun. Minus the lingering smell of oil and grease in my hair.
We also played this interesting game called 'Werewolves,' which is kind of like 'Murderer,' but with different characters, such as werewolves, hunters, lovers, villagers, cupid, witches, and all that stuff. It started off a little confusing because some people didn't understand parts of it since they didn't speak English that well. But it got more fun as we progressed. Although it was pretty intense when people started arguing and getting all heated up about who was the werewolf and stuff like that.
On Sunday, we went to another staff member's house to play Wii games - Wii Sports and Guitar Hero. I miss playing Guitar Hero. Plus I totally dominated (mostly because the rest never played it before).
We also played Dutch Blitz and Phase 10 and sat around eating yummy homemade crepes with strawberry jam, cinnamon, nutella, chocolate flakes, lemon jam, sugar, and all kinds of wonderful junk.
Then we heard lots of stories about their adventures aboard the OM ship for two years. They traveled to tons of different countries to sell books, do dramas and concerts, and tell people about the good news. It sounded like an awesome experience, but I don't think I could ever do it. Two years is a long time, especially on board a ship and living in a tiny room.
One Saturday we had a Christmas Faire at the church to help them raise money for the construction of their new church building. There were little 'stalls' selling all kinds of stuff like jewellery, cakes, cookies, candy, books, tapes, DVDs, toys, and games. We were in charge of the face painting and games stalls with the girls from youth group, so that was really fun. I painted glittery flowers and butterflies on all the girls' hands and arms :)
Painting a heart on this little girl's face
Girls from the kids' club. They're so adorable.
Painted the flowers on her arm. I'm surprised it actually looks not bad.
The Spaghetti Dip - where you plunge your hand into a pot full of spaghetti sauce n noodles to try to find a ball that gives you a prize. It was gross. Only the kids did it.
And apparently we raised about 600 pounds! Even though most of the stuff was sold at dirt cheap prices. That was a pleasant surprise.
Yummy cookies.
We also cooked fried noodles, kim chi fried rice with red/green/yellow peppers and carrots, and minced meat. It tasted much better than the first time. Success!
Cooking was actually really fun. Minus the lingering smell of oil and grease in my hair.
We also played this interesting game called 'Werewolves,' which is kind of like 'Murderer,' but with different characters, such as werewolves, hunters, lovers, villagers, cupid, witches, and all that stuff. It started off a little confusing because some people didn't understand parts of it since they didn't speak English that well. But it got more fun as we progressed. Although it was pretty intense when people started arguing and getting all heated up about who was the werewolf and stuff like that.
On Sunday, we went to another staff member's house to play Wii games - Wii Sports and Guitar Hero. I miss playing Guitar Hero. Plus I totally dominated (mostly because the rest never played it before).
We also played Dutch Blitz and Phase 10 and sat around eating yummy homemade crepes with strawberry jam, cinnamon, nutella, chocolate flakes, lemon jam, sugar, and all kinds of wonderful junk.
Then we heard lots of stories about their adventures aboard the OM ship for two years. They traveled to tons of different countries to sell books, do dramas and concerts, and tell people about the good news. It sounded like an awesome experience, but I don't think I could ever do it. Two years is a long time, especially on board a ship and living in a tiny room.
One Saturday we had a Christmas Faire at the church to help them raise money for the construction of their new church building. There were little 'stalls' selling all kinds of stuff like jewellery, cakes, cookies, candy, books, tapes, DVDs, toys, and games. We were in charge of the face painting and games stalls with the girls from youth group, so that was really fun. I painted glittery flowers and butterflies on all the girls' hands and arms :)
Painting a heart on this little girl's face
Girls from the kids' club. They're so adorable.
Painted the flowers on her arm. I'm surprised it actually looks not bad.
The Spaghetti Dip - where you plunge your hand into a pot full of spaghetti sauce n noodles to try to find a ball that gives you a prize. It was gross. Only the kids did it.
And apparently we raised about 600 pounds! Even though most of the stuff was sold at dirt cheap prices. That was a pleasant surprise.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Manchester vs. Liverpool
We took a road trip to Manchester and Liverpool last weekend, and it was great to get out of this little town for a while and see the world. We were supposed to only go to Liverpool, but something happened at the last minute, and so we gave up our stay at the hostel in Liverpool to stay with a friend's friend in her dorm room at Manchester University instead. So the money we saved on the hostel, we spent on the train ride.
On the train to Liverpool. It was so nice and comfy. We slept all two hours.
The view outside the train. Snow was everywhere.
After taking another 45 minute train to Manchester, we arrived and went shopping.
Then we decided we needed to see some famous attractions instead of just shopping, which we could do in Birmingham. So we took the bus to Old Trafford to visit the Manchester United football club stadium.
The museum + tour cost 11 pounds (22SGD), which was kind of a rip off, but there really wasn't anything else to do. Plus, I mean, it's MAN U's stadium. Even though I don't care about football, that's still pretty cool. David Beckham was once here!
In the museum.
On the hour-long tour of the stadium. It was actually smaller than I imagined, and apparently all the seats are super expensive, except for the ones way up high. The British are really passionate about their football. One guy was like, 'we British call it 'football' because you use your foot to kick the ball. I don't understand why Americans call it soccer. Do they use their socks or something?'
We got to go into the MAN U players' lounge. It was kind of small. And we had a bunch of school kids on our tour - even they were obsessed with football.
Oh, you know... just chillin' where the players hang out. No big deal.
Their changing room was small too. Even though they had a huge flat screen TV.
This is where the players run out from onto the field.
And that's where the home team sits to support the players on the field.
She's obsessed with MAN U, and was obviously the whole reason why we went to the stadium in the first place.
I didn't really want to spend any money at the MAN U store, but we skipped lunch and I was so hungry I had to buy something, and candy was the only food on sale there. Hence the 1 pound jelly babies.
The Old Trafford mall is supposedly one of the largest in England. It was so huge, we only went to 5 stores when we were there, which was probably 0.1% of the shops.
We had dinner at this movie theatre/bar/restaurant place back in the city.
I ordered kebabs and salad, which sounded good, but the kebabs consisted of two tiny sticks of red peppers, onions, and cheese. And the salad was a mushy mix of brinjal and corn. So not worth it.
I got to meet lots of Mauritians who attended Manchester University, and it was interesting to hear them speak Creole, because although it is supposedly similar to French, it sounded more Indian than anything. Maybe because they were all Indian. We pre-gamed at one of their friends' apartment.
Then we went to a club in the city and it was totally tame. Not at all scandalous like I expected British people to be.
The next day we took the train to Liverpool, and visited the dock there.
Then we got on the Magical Mystery Tour bus for the Beatles' tour. I'm not a huge fan, or a fan at all, but my friends were, so I just went along for fun.
We got to see famous places like Penny Lane (which was just a normal road).
And Strawberry Field.
And previous homes of several Beatles members.
That's our tour guide speaking. He was quick-witted and hilarious. And apparently he acted in some documentary about the Beatles, and he also got to hang out with Paul McCartney, who asked for his autograph because of his work on the documentary.
Our last stop on the tour was The Cavern Club, where the Beatles and other famous bands performed.
This guy was a tribute singer to the Beatles, and his voice was amazing. So was his charisma and personality.
One of the numerous Beatles store around the city.
Dinner was at - where else - Pizza Hut. Seriously. I can't wait to get home and eat cheap good food. Here, it's always either Pizza, Subway, or MacDonald's! But in honor of Sarpino's, I ate lasagna instead of pizza. And it wasn't even good.
My friend and his sister who came to visit and loves the Beatles and doesn't speak more than 10 words of English. They've NEVER been to Pizza Hut in their life. Unbelievable. I told them it wasn't that great.
Night view of the city of Liverpool. The tall thing is a ride.
Since Christmas is coming, there was an ice skating rink and carnival and all.
And of course, the official Liverpool Football Club store, where everything costs so much, it's practically daylight robbery. But I bought stuff for my brother, because that's just the good sister I am.
The Beatles are everywhere in Liverpool.
Back to the huge train station to return home.
In a way, I'm glad my team doesn't have much ministry to do. Because then we get to take road trips like this and visit different cities in England, which is way more fun.
On the train to Liverpool. It was so nice and comfy. We slept all two hours.
The view outside the train. Snow was everywhere.
After taking another 45 minute train to Manchester, we arrived and went shopping.
Then we decided we needed to see some famous attractions instead of just shopping, which we could do in Birmingham. So we took the bus to Old Trafford to visit the Manchester United football club stadium.
The museum + tour cost 11 pounds (22SGD), which was kind of a rip off, but there really wasn't anything else to do. Plus, I mean, it's MAN U's stadium. Even though I don't care about football, that's still pretty cool. David Beckham was once here!
In the museum.
On the hour-long tour of the stadium. It was actually smaller than I imagined, and apparently all the seats are super expensive, except for the ones way up high. The British are really passionate about their football. One guy was like, 'we British call it 'football' because you use your foot to kick the ball. I don't understand why Americans call it soccer. Do they use their socks or something?'
We got to go into the MAN U players' lounge. It was kind of small. And we had a bunch of school kids on our tour - even they were obsessed with football.
Oh, you know... just chillin' where the players hang out. No big deal.
Their changing room was small too. Even though they had a huge flat screen TV.
This is where the players run out from onto the field.
And that's where the home team sits to support the players on the field.
She's obsessed with MAN U, and was obviously the whole reason why we went to the stadium in the first place.
I didn't really want to spend any money at the MAN U store, but we skipped lunch and I was so hungry I had to buy something, and candy was the only food on sale there. Hence the 1 pound jelly babies.
The Old Trafford mall is supposedly one of the largest in England. It was so huge, we only went to 5 stores when we were there, which was probably 0.1% of the shops.
We had dinner at this movie theatre/bar/restaurant place back in the city.
I ordered kebabs and salad, which sounded good, but the kebabs consisted of two tiny sticks of red peppers, onions, and cheese. And the salad was a mushy mix of brinjal and corn. So not worth it.
I got to meet lots of Mauritians who attended Manchester University, and it was interesting to hear them speak Creole, because although it is supposedly similar to French, it sounded more Indian than anything. Maybe because they were all Indian. We pre-gamed at one of their friends' apartment.
Then we went to a club in the city and it was totally tame. Not at all scandalous like I expected British people to be.
The next day we took the train to Liverpool, and visited the dock there.
Then we got on the Magical Mystery Tour bus for the Beatles' tour. I'm not a huge fan, or a fan at all, but my friends were, so I just went along for fun.
We got to see famous places like Penny Lane (which was just a normal road).
And Strawberry Field.
And previous homes of several Beatles members.
That's our tour guide speaking. He was quick-witted and hilarious. And apparently he acted in some documentary about the Beatles, and he also got to hang out with Paul McCartney, who asked for his autograph because of his work on the documentary.
Our last stop on the tour was The Cavern Club, where the Beatles and other famous bands performed.
This guy was a tribute singer to the Beatles, and his voice was amazing. So was his charisma and personality.
One of the numerous Beatles store around the city.
Dinner was at - where else - Pizza Hut. Seriously. I can't wait to get home and eat cheap good food. Here, it's always either Pizza, Subway, or MacDonald's! But in honor of Sarpino's, I ate lasagna instead of pizza. And it wasn't even good.
My friend and his sister who came to visit and loves the Beatles and doesn't speak more than 10 words of English. They've NEVER been to Pizza Hut in their life. Unbelievable. I told them it wasn't that great.
Night view of the city of Liverpool. The tall thing is a ride.
Since Christmas is coming, there was an ice skating rink and carnival and all.
And of course, the official Liverpool Football Club store, where everything costs so much, it's practically daylight robbery. But I bought stuff for my brother, because that's just the good sister I am.
The Beatles are everywhere in Liverpool.
Back to the huge train station to return home.
In a way, I'm glad my team doesn't have much ministry to do. Because then we get to take road trips like this and visit different cities in England, which is way more fun.
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