Kathleen On A Wing

Chinese New Year 2012

2012-01-23T23:14:00.001-06:00

I felt like it was my birthday and no one even cared. I don't mean to be dramatic but I just REALLY wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year...and no one was really into it. I knew I wouldn't be able to celebrate it proper since:

1. I don't have a Chinese family to celebrate with;
2. I can't cook all the good new year's foods; and
3. I don't even know all the traditions associated with CNY.

But still! Although, I think I had enough excitement in me for everyone!

Last night, I made a nian gao dish - it didnt turn out really well but I'm still experimenting. I also ate some tangyuan...black sesame! Today, I woke up excited and eager to greet my Chinese friends and wish them all a "xin nian kuai le" (新年快乐）.
I even wore my ridiculous bright red sweater that I got in China that has a picture of a giant bunny that says "HAPPY" on it.

After a full day at school, I sat in the bubble tea shop waiting for my taro and tapioca drink to arrive and I couldn't help but think of the book 'The Joy Luck Club'. Mostly how the American (Chinese) daughters just never understood their Chinese mothers' culture and the great cultural divide between generations. I thought "do these Chinese people even care?" I can understand that for the most part, their parents/grandparents gave up a lot to immigrate to Canada - to become Canadian. I guess we've swapped places...except I'm still in Canada. I hope one day, I will be in China learning more about the Chinese culture, eating like a Chinese person (minus the spitting), speaking Chinese, and enjoying Chinese holidays and traditions. And I'm sure they will look at me and wonder "this waiguo (foreigner) must not even care about her motherland...look at how Chinese she is!" (Actually - this would be a huge compliment! When my Chinese classmate told me that I was more Chinese than he was - it made my day!) I doubt this would happen...but let me dream!

I don't think I've gone crazy. Maybe the jury is still out on this one. I know I'm Canadian, white, small-town girl. I don't deny it. I always will be. And I love it. I also love China and look forward to knowing more of the language, the culture, and knowing how to cook better Chinese dishes! But beyond all of that, I look forward to being part of a community in China and serving Christ with my Chinese brothers and sisters.

Who knows where I'll be next year for CNY, but maybe a Chinese family will adopt me into their family to celebrate...maybe even for the entire 15 days!

As I continue eating tangyuan, I wish you all a happy new year! 新年快乐！

Epic Failure!

2012-01-09T10:46:00.000-06:00

In early December of last year, I sent a package to Singapore with a few gifts for some friends. I was so excited about our kimchi making that I decided to send a container of it so my friends could try it! Epic fail. I was so excited too. My friend's mom sends him kimchi from Korea so I thought I could also do it. Clearly, I'm not a very smart "Korean mom" because it was a total bust. I sent the package to Nick who so kindly went through the package and tried to salvage what he could from it.

Here is Nick's account:

'ello,
just want to let you know that mailing kimchi in a tupperware container in a bag is a terrible idea especially overseas via military logistics chain
bc when the recipient opens it he will see furry white and black mold covering EVERYTHING inside as the kimchi juice has saturated everything not hermetically sealed and he will have to breathe shallowly through his mouth to bear the stench of the package not to mention the gross out factor of trying to clean the mold off of things to determine exactly what they are

i had to throw everything away except the can of coffee and the native peoples thing you sent prudence

i couldnt tell who any of the letters were to since they were completey eaten through by mold and the books were equally destroyed

good effort though

I felt very loved even as I cleaned up rotten kimchi juice off my kitchen table and floor where it spilled when I opened the package

you cant see me but I am smiling while I write all of this, i thought it was hysterical to be honest

the label on the coffee was completely disintegrated

question: whose camera was in there, even THAT was covered in fur
i wouldnt be surprised if it didnt work any more

after i cleaned up everything i def thought to myself "kathleen is not like this..."

I didn't think I would make such a stupid mistake either... but then I remembered my epic laundry fail where I dyed all my whites and they became 'tie-dyed'. And then Nick reminded me of the time Karen and I had a dishwasher episode at his place in Singapore...where we unintentionally 'washed' his floor with a lot of soap suds and water. Oops.

You learn something new everyday. Today: don't send kimchi to Singapore. Sorry friends, I'll try to send another gift from Canada without the kimchi!

Growth Mindset

2012-01-08T01:31:00.006-06:00

Another sleepless night just waiting for the brain to power off. Sleeping has been difficult this week. It seems that as soon as I lie down, even though I'm tired, I can't stop thinking.

Tonight, I'm thinking about the growth mindset vs the fixed mindset and which mindset do naturally talented and smart (ie. geniuses) fit into?

I've never been one of those kids who could sail through school without any effort. For a while, I always envied those people. I'd find myself wishing I was "naturally smart" so that life would be easier. But by wishing I was naturally smart, it meant I was believing that I wasn't smart at all. And having smart friends - one who's borderline genius, it is pretty common to feel like I don't know much at all!

A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence (or any ability) is a fixed trait, that you’re born with and can’t do much to change. A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence can be developed (Warren Davies).

I would not have made it to my final year of university if I had a fixed mindset. Yet all these years, I sort of believed this was true...that my brain has a max capacity and once its maxed I wouldn't be able to continue learning. Yet every year of university, I've been surprising myself and thinking to myself "wow, my brain can still handle this? when will it max out?"

I've always said that grades are just a number but they are a good quantitative measure of how well you're learning and understanding the material. I tend to set high yet realistic expectations for myself so that I can continually challenge myself. It's not how I measure up to other people but more how I measure up to the bar I've set. I have to believe that someone can develop intelligence and that someone can learn how to learn quickly. In first year, I just barely passed with an average in the 50s. But I couldn't accept that I would only be able to learn and retain 50% of the material taught. How could I be a good engineer if I only ever learned 50, 60, 70, or even 80 percent of the material? The bar had to be higher. I needed to figure out how to learn more effectively. And I'm thankful I did. That average that started in the 50s has gone up every single semester and it is just starting to plateau in the mid-eighties. I think the key was to have realistic goals and not settle for something that is less than your best. And at the same time, knowing that your best now can indeed develop into an even better best in the future!

I love learning. I'm finally thankful now that I wasn't born a genius and that I did have to go thru this struggle of figuring out how to learn, how to study, and how to retain information. These challenges have made me push harder. I don't think anyone should settle but instead continue to develop more intelligence. Some people have called me crazy for not being fully satisfied with my school average (I'm pleased with it, but not satisfied). Why? Because even if I had a 100%, I'd obviously be really happy, but then whatever, on to the next challenge.

I don't ever want to reach a point where I'm satisfied with the knowledge I have so that I stop learning.

Feels like yesterday

2012-01-03T20:58:00.000-06:00

One year ago today my life changed forever. How's that for a dramatic blog-post opening line? Well, my life didn't quite change all in one day. But last year, on this day, January 3rd, I got on an airplane not knowing what 2011 would bring. And now looking back on 2011, I can't help but wonder, much like I did last year... What will this year bring? What will happen? Where will I go? What will I see? Who will I become friends with? Which friendships will fade? Where will I work? What job will I have? What will I learn? How will God change me?

I learned a lot and changed quite a bit this past year. I'm very thankful for all of this. I hope that when I look back on 2012, I will be able to say the same.

2011

We made Kimchi... and we're not Korean!

2011-11-30T23:32:00.000-06:00

Let's face it, it's not always easy re-adjusting to life back in your home culture. I'll admit these past few months have been wonky for me. I slowly became a student again, I've cried on numerous occasions wanting to go back to Asia, I've wrestled with where I should be, I picked up a few different sports to keep busy, I've been part of this radical and whacky design project, I've come to love my classmates so much more, I've learned how to cook Chinese dishes, I've come to LOVE reading, I've started growing pineapples (trying - with 3 on the go), and I've learned about grief, forgiveness, and God's abundant grace.

I'm a bit all over the map. I've learned a ton these past few months, for which I am very thankful. I've also felt like this time has been one of preparation. For what? I'm not sure yet. But like most girls, I do hope to be a wife and mother one day. Therefore, I've been using this time to learn how to cook so I can provide in that way for my future family. And because I'm not sure where my future husband will come from, I might as well start learning how to cook from different cultures...right?! I started with Chinese. That went well - I enjoyed it. Got sick of it. Moved on... from the cooking that is.

Next: Korean.

My classmate and I decided we wanted to try to make kimchi, Korean's infamous fermented cabbage. Every Korean we talked to told us we were crazy and that it was a lot of work. So, crazy as we were, we gave it a shot anyway. We had to visit a few supermarkets in Waterloo and took every Napa cabbage they had. No one else in Waterloo was making kimchi that weekend - because we had all the cabbage!


The ingredients (5 heads of cabbage)

After watching many videos, reading many recipes, we got to the chopping board. There was a LOT of chopping. My chopping finger is still numb - and it's been 4 days. We soaked and salted the cabbage, chopped all the rest of the vegetables...like those massive radishes, then rinsed the cabbage 3 times, then wrung out the cabbage, then massaged the paste we made onto the cabbage. Korean people are right - it is a lot of work to make kimchi. Thankfully we did 5 heads, which should last us a while.

The chopped stuff.

Once we realized how much cabbage we had and when we were running out of bowls, bins, and pails to soak the cabbage, we wondered if we had crossed the 'stupid line'. Were we crazy-stupid for trying this? Or were we crazy-ambitious for trying this? Thankfully - 7 hours later, we were putting the kimchi into containers. Finally done! It was a good challenge and we felt accomplished afterwards.

Final step: mixing the paste and cabbage

We let the kimchi ferment for a couple of days and then had some Korean people taste-test it for us. And their reactions? Positive! They liked it, some even loved it. Of course, we can't compete with a Korean mom, but regardless, Koreans liked our kimchi!

Next time? Yes, there will definitely be a next time. Once we eat up this batch, we'll be ready to make some more kimchi. Next time, we'll definitely be using the pink gloves that all the Korean moms wear. We might even try the kimchi-squat. Oh, and we'll also learn a couple Korean phrases to say while making it.

An obsession? The verdict is still out on that one! I do love Korean food...a LOT. As much as I love China, Korean food is still my #1.

Looking forward to sharing more adventures soon!

2 Weeks in Canada

2011-09-18T09:05:00.001-05:00

It's been 2 weeks since being back in Canada. The biggest worry I had about coming home turns out to be the most frequently asked question these days "how are you adjusting to life back in Canada?". So I thought I'd write about it.

Here are some of the things that caught my attention and surprised me being back in Canada:

-people speaking English and being able to overhear and understand other people's conversations. When I landed in Toronto - an airport worker said something to me, after looking up confused and wondering 'was he speaking English to me? could I REALLY understand him?' ...he then stopped, walked towards me, and said "I'm sorry, do you not speak English?". Talk about feeling like a foreigner in your own country. I assured him I was Canadian, waved my passport, and told him I was fluent in English even if it didnt seem like it!

-cars not honking and having the tendency and urge to honk while driving. honk to pass, honk to get someone's attention, honk to tell someone to move, honk if you're happy, honk because someone's driving too slowly, just honking. now that I'm cycling again - I wish I had a honker on my bike to translate for me "move over, get out of the way, I'm coming through".

-When I landed in Toronto and started driving - I felt like I was in the countryside while in the largest city in Canada. I was wondering where all the people were. I wasnt sure what would happen when I arrived in my hometown of 5000 people! Clearly - I survived.

-Having to remember that friends in Asia are now 12 hours ahead and that all my friends and family here are in the same time zone.

-Still responding and agreeing to people in Chinese when people are talking to me. The other day in class, we were having a class meeting about changing our timetable and when times were proposed, I spoke up and kept saying "keyi, keyi (可以)", which means can, can.

-It's COLD! I arrived in Canada just as it got cold. Fall has arrived and I'll be lucky to get another few weeks on my bike before it gets too cold to ride.

From One Kingdom to the Next

2011-09-08T19:26:00.000-05:00

I left China with tears. Sad to leave and also tears of overwhelming joy from all the blessings experienced while in the Middle Kingdom. With a quick stop in Singapore - had a good reunion with KT, Pru, and made new friends! Then I was able to join KT as we headed back to her newest home - the Kingdom of Cambodia.


Pru, me, KT at Vivo in Singapore

Cambodia was interesting. It was strange to have come from China, stepped into super clean and sterile Singapore for one day, and then back to the developing world of Cambodia - 3 very different countries in 3 days. The best part of Cambodia was KT and getting to spend more time with her, whether it was riding the tuktuks, eating, searching the market for bedsheets, staying up late talking and laughing, or scrubbing her room and killing ants...it was great to be together again! I also spent a couple days in Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat

Cambodian people are beautiful. They also seem really happy. It was a nice trip, but way too short.

Next stop: back to Singapore for my final days in Asia for this year. Greeted by Pru and a surprise attack by SC at the airport - so began a very intense, chaotic, emotional, meaningful, and fun last few days in Singapore. Ate a lot of good food, went to the bird park (terrifying..birds are flying EVERYWHERE at you!), met new people, got to know other people better, and heard some good sermons.


SC and I shoving Korean BBQ

Leaving good friends is never easy, but I'm super thankful I was able to even meet and become friends with good and fun-loving people. As soon as the immigration officer stamped my passport to leave Singapore and when I turned and saw Pru, SC, and Yao Na leaving and waving - I cried. 8 months have passed... quicker than I could ever imagine. Thinking that it has already been 8 months since KT and I first arrived at that airport and first met these people - who knew we'd become such good friends.

Yao Na, Pru, and me at the airport before I left

My time in Asia was amazing - not because it was easy and fun all the time - it definitely wasn't always fun and awesome. There were moments of big arguments, frustrating school stuff, tears (and sobbing), hard lessons to learn, selfishness to deal with, uncertainties and lack of faith, sickness, visa issues, and the list can go on. But the most amazing thing are the lessons learned and being able to see God show up, speak to me, provide everything I ever needed, and change my heart and attitude when it was rotten. I experienced God like I never had before and I'm in awe of who He is and how He is transforming my life.

Asian Pride from Asia. Peace yo!

Special thanks to the people who have been a part of these past 8 months in some way - it's been such a great time!

Leaving China in a Week

2011-08-15T07:02:00.000-05:00

Leaving China.

The time is approaching. I can hardly believe it's time to leave already. Thankfully, my visa was renewed so I wasn't forced to leave sooner than expected. I'm a bit of a scatterbrain right now because I'm excited to visit friends in Singapore and to have one last SE Asia hoorah with KT in Cambodia before I go back to Canada - but I'm not ready to re-enter a culture I'm supposed to be familiar with.

Canada.
Love the country, likely always will. But after a short weekend with a Canadian friend who just got to Beijing for a short trip to China - I realized more and more just how different life is here. It was good though - to hear their comments on things that stand out to them in China or as they observe a bit of Beijing and how things flow (like traffic for example... even though Beijing traffic is smooth and safe compared to other cities I've been to!) - it stands out to me because now those things have become the norm.

What will I miss about China?

1. Social community. Walking to the community center just before 8am is such a happy time. People are playing badminton and shuttlecock on the street, the police officers are lined up doing their morning exercises with lively music, kids are biking to their classes, people opening up their shops, no one is really rushing, the old men are starting to take up their squatting position for the day near the town square where they gossip and play chess all day. Walk along further - more music is playing out loud for all to enjoy. And then about 7-8pm at night, its all the same. People hanging out in the town square, music playing, people lining up to get the 1 kuai ice cream from THE ice cream lady, old people dancing, the donkeys start pulling their fruit carts back to the farms, and people slowly start to retire for the night. It's a great social environment.

2. The food. I love hot pot. I also love the rest of the food here. I know I can likely find this stuff back in Toronto - but it'll be sad to have to pay the Canadian prices. I will miss my peach lady, yogurt friend lady, and nai cha lady. I will also miss walking into a restaurant/stall, ordering a dish, and have the waitress tell the cook 'bu fang jiang you he mianfen' (make it without soy sauce and flour) - I don't need to remind them anymore, they just know to make my food GF for me. Will also miss rice snacks and glutinous rice foods: you gao, nian gao, rice cookies/crackers, and TANG YUAN. I can't even start to list all the food dishes that I love - there are too many! And stinky tofu.

3. The people. I've met some great people this summer. M couples and families, coworkers, Chinese friends - they've become great friends and have been a huge encouragement to me. This one is the hardest to describe in detail because I've just been so overwhelmed with how kind, generous, humble, fun, and Christ-centered some of these people have been. Such a blessing to be admist such people.

4. Pear juice.

It's hard to even describe what I will miss - this is only a fraction of it all. I will miss life here in China - it's been great. I've loved my time here and I'm looking forward to returning.

Stories from Shanxi Province

2011-08-06T04:09:00.000-05:00

1. Panda

I'm teaching a class of grade 3 students. They are super cute and have a LOT of energy. On the first day, I suggested English names for those who didn't have one. One kid "I don't want any of these names, I want to be called Panda". I now teach a kid named Panda. He's also the kid I have to send out of the class a few times a week for being disruptive, and the one who gets all the girls heated, which then turns into slapping and chasing. Never a dull moment!

Panda

Some of my students struggling not to lose at Twister!

We celebrated Christmas during English Corner with a gift exhange. One girl wrapped up a turtle! This is Chloe and Jarvis the turtle (she had me name him!).

My grade 3 class.

2. Anti Cold Abilities.

While walking thru Yangqu park with a local friend Karen, she told us how Westerners must have these "anti-cold abilities" because we can wear thin clothes in the winter and not be cold. No, we just have indoor heating systems.

3. Hospital Experience- China

Much better than my hospital experience in Nepal. This one was much cleaner, professional, and convenient. With a minor surgery in between my morning and afternoon classes, 3$ worth of antibiotics, and a quick prayer from the doctor himself, I was good to go.

4. Pulling Teeth

A big difference between students here and students back home. In our school in Canada, if you're asked to talk and you don't understand... you don't just stand there and stare at your friends for 10 minutes. You say "I DONT UNDERSTAND". Here, they just stare. If you need time to think, that is fine because then I know you are trying and learning. But if you don't understand what I'm asking...SAY SOMETHING!

5. My Yogurt Friend

The first time I went to the Jiajia li supermarket to buy yogurt, this woman approached me and we chatted a bit in Chinese. The next time I go to buy yogurt, this woman appears again. She doesn't work at the supermarket but she always seems to appear when I'm in the yogurt section. It's like she hides out and waits for me. I've gone to buy yogurt about 5 times now and she's been there every single time. We have small talk (since I don't know much Chinese) and when I had the big bandage on my face, she told me to keep drinking water and offered more 'medical' advice. Today, I went to the supermarket with Wendy... we were not buying yogurt but I said "Hey Wendy, check this out. I will go stand by the yogurt, and this lady will appear." Sure enough, within 20 seconds - there she was with her big smile telling me that they ran out of the yogurt I normally buy but I should come back again this afternoon. It's good to have a woman looking out for me and my yogurt consumption.

7. Nai Cha in Yangqu

Nai cha - pearl (bubble) tea. We found a place in Yangqu but the only way you can get pearls in your milk tea is if you tell the woman the day before so she can prepare them. For 2.5 Yuan/cup, I've also made a friend with the Nai Cha lady.

8. Life in Yangqu County

Is great! It's awesome being in a small town, where the traffic is more chill and it's easier to get to know the locals. However, I must admit... I am looking forward to being in Beijing for a couple days next month - just to enjoy two days of not being noticed as much.

Here are some pictures of other friends from Yangqu!

Top to Bottom: me, Sarah, Wendy

Wendy and I jumping off the old theatre - it was terrifying!

Taiwan - Highlights

2011-07-29T05:18:00.003-05:00

June 28-July 6

Pictures found here.

My Taiwan Travel Route

HIGHLIGHTS:

-traveling around the entire island. down the west coast, up the east coast.
-cycling around oyster farms and along the ocean and watching sunset with Jen.
-meeting Jen's friends, being prayed for in Chinese.
-Tainan night market: oyster omelettes (a Taiwanese specialty)
-bubble tea is EVERYWHERE and cheap. and many flavors. one day i had purple rice and coconut milk.
-scuba diving off the south coast of Taiwan and using less air than the dive master.
-going for lunch with dive master to eat sushime.
-picking up garbage on the sea floor since one of the dives was rather boring.
-experiencing night-food with 2 British students in Kenting: squid, mangoes, ice cream, more squid (best squid ever!)
-unknowingly walking over fireworks on the beach at night.
-driving this dude's motorbike/scooter thing (i only fell off once!)
-accepting a free 1.5 hour taxi drive to Kaohsiung (south-central city in Taiwan)
-walking along the Love river in Kaohsiung.
-again...meeting and hanging out with crazy hostel randoms.
-taking a 9-hour train ride up the east coast. mountains on the left, ocean on the right.
-drinking bubble tea atleast once or twice a day.

Beijing - Eating Scorpion

2011-07-26T06:53:00.002-05:00

Beijing

2011-07-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

Chairman Mao

Xi'an: 3999 steps, 2100 m, 5 hours, and 4 UWarriors!

2011-07-04T08:37:00.002-05:00

Xi'an is in Central China in the Shaanxi province, which is different from the Shanxi province I'll be heading to in July. KT and I met up with EP and MC when we arrived in Xi'an. We didn't know them before meeting up but they turned out to be fun people to spend the weekend with! Mt Hua outside of Xi'an was amazing and one of my highlights of China thus far.

The WALL

Xi'an is an old capital and surrounded by a 14-km wall. Tired and hot, we got onto the wall and started walking. Saw some soldier dudes and drummers put on a show. Then, tired, hot, and thirsty... we tried to get off the wall. Apparently there are fewer exits than we thought and we got trapped on the wall.


The soldiers

The 40 hour day

We woke up at 6am Saturday morning to go see the Terra Cotta Warriors. I'm not really into museums or history - but this was something neat to see. SO MANY WARRIORS...all discovered underground from a farmer digging a well. The dead Emporer was defintely safe with all these soldiers surrounding his dead body. The place filled up quickly and by the time we went through the museum - it was a mad-house. Lots of shoving! The shoving didn't stop there.

We then took the bus back to Xi'an to catch another bus to Huashan. We arrived in Huashan about 4pm and decided we would climb to East Peak overnight to arrive in time for sunrise. After EP patiently dealt with this man who later spat at me, we managed to get a room to rest in for a few hours. This is where we discovered 'The Amazing Race: China Rush'! Later, after a feast, we started climbing up stairs at 10:30pm. It's a strange feeling starting a climb that late at night in the dark... but we were not alone.

The crew before the hike (MC, EP, me, KT)

We arrived at East Peak at 3:30am and got to enjoy some stars until the sun finally came up.

Here is a snippet from EP, my first guest blog writer!

One of my most memorable moments was the hour we had on the peak waiting for the sunrise. It was such a journey to get up there -- 5 hours of mostly steady climbs, mixed with bouts of intense jostling through the crowd, and traversals of unbelievably steep paths.
At the top, we claimed a spot along the cliff facing east, and then with our bodies exhausted, lied down to rest. It was still early; the sky was dark. The stars and milky way, stretched on the clearest and unpolluted sky I've ever seen in China, were in full display above us.
The crowd around us started to build up. Someone played music on their phone. We started our own music playlist. Kathleen requested Michael Jackson. And so there, 2100m up at the peak, on one of the most legendary mountains in Chinese's culture and history, near the ancient 3000 year old city of Xi'an, the reverberating sound of the King of Pop accompanied us to sunrise.

After sunrise, MC convinced us all that we should do the plank walk. My legs shook the entire time and the craziest part was when the mass of crowds came and you were forced to share the plank and awkwardly try to get by people. It was scary but an amazing time. The best part was before we got on the plank I got EP to ask the worker dude "what happens if you fall, how will you pull yourself back up onto the plank?" (because you're strapped in with a harness but you'd still be hanging off the cliff). The response "there are ladders and... just don't fall"! There were no ladders - not sure what he was talking about. Thankfully though - we just didn't fall!


The Plank

Finally, after sleep and food deprivation, we had a good rest (and good Frog Pot ) and KT and I had our final day together in Xi'an. I should have a completely separate blog post about traveling with KT because she deserves it! It was such a blessing to travel with her - it's rare to find someone you can spend THAT much time with and not get sick of. Despite her being a night owl and me being a morning person, along with many other differences, we had a great time! And we definitely learned more about each other. She was especially good at knowing when I needed to eat! She knew that a hungry Kathleen mid-afternoon in the hot sun is never a good combination...but she had more patience than most people I know! Thanks KT. She headed North to South and I headed East and then North.


KT and I at sunrise doing what we do best

My last day in Xi'an, I was on my own and got terribly lost. It was a good adventure though practicing my broken Chinese to try and get back to the hostel. Then I boarded a plane and flew to Shanghai.

China - Chengdu: The Spicy Sichuan Province

2011-06-30T20:56:00.001-05:00

I have fallen in love. With China. It's a crazy country but I still can't help but love it. We spent a week in Chengdu in the spicy Sichuan province with a side trip to Emei. That was my first train ride in China. The train was of course over filled with a large crew of men who smoked the entire trip. I'm glad it was only a couple hour ride - I was able to escape the train squatties. Chengdu was an amazing city - I loved it! I would love to live there except the city rarely sees the sun. It has a nice path along the river and great food. And of course...pandas. They were super cute and I think KT took as many pictures of the pandas as she did of Everest!

Chengdu Panda

In Chengdu, we found a map that had 'church' labeled on it. So we decided to check it out on Saturday night while we were in that area. There happened to be a service when we arrived...all in Chinese of course! It was a Christian church that was built by Canadian missionaries many years ago. It was PACKED. We managed to squeeze in the back pew and figured out they were preaching on the Martha and Mary passage. I couldn't understand a word but it was neat. Instead, I spent the time praying for these people in the church. The church was conveniently located directly beside the city's police station.

People's Park. Very entertaining! This is where a bunch of locals hang out to watch different performances: singing, dancing, dramatic singing, drumming, and any strange combination of those! KT and I also took part in some aerobics which many of the older folk enjoyed. It was hilarious. We got stuck behind this man who knew how to shake his hips. After aerobics we went to a tea house which was filled with families just hanging out, drinking tea on a Saturday afternoon, playing cards, doing cross-stitch, fishing in the pond, kids chasing each other, a man going around cleaning people's ears, you know... the usual tea house activities!

KT keeping up with the man in front of her

We found a great little restaurant that had a menu in English. We ate there so many times that the ladies knew us... the girls who did not eat meat or soy sauce. Otherwize, KT and I would brave new places that didnt have an English menu nor pictures. That was always tricky, especially when KT doesnt eat meat and I dont eat wheat! But we were able to explain with broken Chinese words what we could NOT eat and then we were left for a surprise as to what they would serve us! One time, we got a spicy soup filled with goodies including animal innards - apparently animal insides arent considered meat! It feels good to be able to know a tiny bit of Chinese - enough to get food that doesnt have gluten in it!

Mystery goods in a bowl of hot chilies

After a week in Sichuan, we hopped on a train to Xi'an in the Shaanxi province. The train ride was comfortable and the 15 hours went by quickly. Next post will be about Xi'an!

26 Days in Nepal

2011-06-01T02:36:00.000-05:00

Pre-Everest Base Camp Trek
Had a great time with Charlotte (friend/classmate from back home) and her friend Asmae in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city. We spent a couple days shopping and eating in Thamel. Visited the Monkey Temple - climbed a lot of stairs which was good 'training' for our trek (read: the ONLY training we did for the trek!) and got a great view of Kathmandu.

Charlotte and I in Kathmandu

View of Thamel (Kathmandu) from our hostel rooftop

Everest Base Camp Trek
-Landed in Lukla which is apparently the 2nd most dangerous airport in the world: sloped runway with a cliff on one end and a mountain on the other so there is zero room for error.
-We woke up early every morning to start hiking before the clouds rolled in in the late afternoons.
-We hiked along a river for most of the trek. Got to cross many suspension bridges.
-Met some neat people along the way, young and old, including many Canadians.
-We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. On the 2nd day we met an experienced trekker from South Africa who asked us if we did much trekking. When we said "no", he replied "So you decided to start with the most challenging mountain range in the world?" err...I guess so?! Again - no idea so many people get sick and die on this mountain trek to Base Camp.
-Experienced my first altitude headache at about 4700 m, but KT loaded me with Advil and I never had a headache again!
-It got more difficult to breathe as the air got thinner, but I continued to sleep fine (with the exception of crazy dreams apparently caused by the high altitude). Our guide kept telling us that we wouldn't be able to sleep, but I think with the asthma developped in Singapore - I was used to not being able to breathe properly while sleeping, so it actually worked in my favor.
-We arrived at Base Camp on Day 8. It was cold. We were so happy we made it, especially meeting all these people who had to go down the mountain due to sickness. When we arrived to Base Camp, KT and I got a giant hug from a 66 year old Danish trekker and a snicker's bar from his guide - definitely good rewards for an accomplished goal of getting to base camp: hugs and food.
-We decided to boot it down the mountain in 3 days. It was snowing when we left to go back down, windy, then turned into rain. We were wet, cold, stinky, and I was limping with a damaged foot.
-In Namche, with one day left to get to Lukla, I got sick. Had all the symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS) but it wasn't that since we were only at 3400 m. Spent Day 11 in Namche trying to get better. By the end of Day 11 - was still sick and by this time dehydrated.
-Day 12: a helicopter came to get KT and I to bring us back to Kathmandu. Got escorted to a hospital. After the fluids and meds were pumped into me for the rest of the day, overnight, and into the next day - and after much complaining to be let go, they finally discharged me. Thank you SunLife insurance.
-Overall, the trek was AMAZING. Definitely recommend it :)

I've posted pictures of the trek on picasa.

Post Everest Base Camp Trek
-Showered. Put on clean clothes.
-Took a 7 hr bus trip (which took about 9 hrs) to Pokhara.
-Spent a few days in Pokhara: quiet, laid back, hippie town with lots of good food and a lake.
-Walked along the lake and rested.
-Took another 7 hr bus ride back - super bumpy. Definitely got some air in my seat!
-Shipped stuff home - hopefully it arrives!
-My travel/health insurance expired yesterday and I didn't organize well BEFORE leaving Canada - so I had to spend quite a bit of time figuring out how to get insurance while overseas. Hopefully by tomorrow, I will be covered again.
-Planning for China.

We leave for China tomorrow. Flying to Chengdu. Then Xi'an. Shanghai. Chengde. Beijing. Korea. Shanxi. That is a very rough outline, however there will likely be stops in between and many changes. We'll see what happens!

Last few days in Singapore

2011-05-06T14:45:00.000-05:00

These last few days in Singapore have been amazing. It's been busy. Running errands, getting ready for Nepal, seeing friends, dealing with mold in my room, and eating. Since getting back from the Philippines, we've had 3 days in Singapore.

Night 1: Kareoke
This was probably one of my funnest nights in Singapore. Went to Kareoke to celebrate Prudence's birthday!

Half of the Kareoke crew. Nate is belting!

Real Kareoke stars. The epic trio.

Night 2: Korean Dinner
Super tasty. Accidentally ate more than one super hot red pepper. It felt like my tongue had touched a hot stove top. I sucked on ice for 15 minutes. It was so painful! But after 15 minutes, my entire mouth just felt numb and I was able to continue eating. Perhaps this is preparation for Chengdu - the hot city! Ended the meal with super yummy cinnamon/date cold tea. Good time!

Night 3: Chili Crab
Went out for Chili crab with my small group. The crabs were AMAZING! Chili crab is apparently a 'Singaporean thing'. Glad I got to experience it! It's definitely a hands-on event. I dont really like getting my hands dirty while eating - but you dont have a choice when it comes to crab. My hands were COVERED! Great time breaking shells and legs, and sucking out the meat. It was delicious! Hopefully I'll get to enjoy more seafood in China and Korea.

And now it's almost 4am and I'm still preparing to head to Nepal - in exactly 12 hours, our flight leaves Singapore. KT and I are headed to Nepal to hike through the Himalayas - if the rains havent flooded out all the trails yet. I'm excited for this next adventure but also sad to be leaving good friends. Looking forward to the start of summer. The first time in a while where I wont be doing anything engineering-related.

Adios Southeast Asia. You've been good to me!

Philippines: Never Got Kissed

2011-05-05T00:40:00.005-05:00

This was our Philippines route. Trip was fun. Got to experience all forms of transportation in this country. From jeepneys, tricycles, buses, planes, boats, and taxi cars - my favorite was the jeepney and riding on top of the bus. Overall, I left the Philippines feeling I needed more. There is so much more of the Philippines that I want to explore and experience. I want to learn more about the people. I would love to return. Also - one of the best places for scuba diving according to this old American scuba diver we met who has dove all over the world! So I'd definitely love to go back to do more diving, if nothing else!

A tricycle in Manila

Church in Cebu

Alona Beach on Panglao Island


Our jungle in Bohol at Nuts Huts

Highlights:

Side-saddling on the motorbike (tricycle) with driver Ricki who later gave me relationship advice
Eating on Alona Beach with GOOD live music
Scuba diving (two dives). Saw GIANT sea turtles!! Dove along a vertical cliff of coral. Definitely a lot more comfortable diving now. Even ran out of air and had to use our Dive Master's alternate.
Napping outside on bamboo benches and beds in the jungle
Riding on top (the roof) of a bus because there wasn't any room inside the
bus - "Watch out for the lines" What lines? Avoiding getting clotheslined by overhanging telephone wires!
Zip-lining flying squirrel style across a beautiful gorge
Telling the locals that I was Fil-Am (Filipino-American)
Grilling squid and corn on the beach while KT and JT and I had fun chatting and joking with GR (the one with the rat tail)
Finding a Korean in the Philippines who was NOT a tourist - he was selling SOJU!
Getting into a Jeepney in Manila without knowing where it was headed
Seeing all the cute kids playing in the streets, playing flip-flop dodgeball
Eating casava/coconut cakes with no wheat! And they were only 5 pesos!
Halo-halo: no need to elaborate.
Being dirty in the jungle covered in strange bites
Good laughs with KT and JT. They are fun travel partners!
Seeing a hammock that makes men pregnant.
The Filipino guys with pony tails - we knew we could always trust the men with pony tails.

Pictures from the trip are here.

5th wheeling in Malaysia - Korea style

2011-04-25T10:12:00.001-05:00

With only a few weeks left in SG, I didnt want to leave having never at the very least crossed the border into Malaysia. Last Tuesday, a fun family of 4 and myself hopped on the train headed north. The interesting thing about this train is that you actually go through immigration before you get on the train - so you're in Malaysia IN the train which is IN Singapore. In two countries at once!

The train ride took 2 hours, only because we were stopped for an hour waiting for the train that left an hour later than ours to pass us on the tracks. Makes sense eh? But, the wait was fun! Hung out the door of the train, train-hopped onto the speed train that pulled up next to ours, saw a glass door shatter in a gazillion pieces, and met some Aussies who were also headed to M-A-L-EYE-ZHEAAA.

Hopped onto the speed train.

Another train arriving.

I found my K-pop star in Malaysia! (maybe his products will help my red eyes)

Crossing the water into Malaysia.

Trying to hold back the Asian pride. Joyce et moi.

Johor-Bahru is similar to Singapore - slightly dirtier and cheaper. Certain things are MUCH cheaper. Like going to see a movie. 6 ringgit (~3 SGD). Source Code - not bad movie. Loved the aircon :)

"Even the way you tie your shoes is intense!"

2011-04-17T09:21:00.008-05:00

Remember the day when...

you woke up an hour before sunrise roaming around Singapore trying to get to a race on time?
you finally found a taxi but he didnt know where he was going?
you ran a 10km race in 40 degree heat + humidity?
you shoved and slid through the other sweaty bodies who were running annoyingly slow?
you bathed in the sink of a handicap washroom stall?
the only notes you took during church that morning were "If the Lord Jesus needs my tugboat, then He can have my tugboat!"
you tried running up the down-escalator and had a shrieking fall?
your feet kept cramping?
you ventured to the SG-Malaysia train station- not to go anywhere but just to eat good Malaysian food?
you wore jeans in 40 degree heat + humidity?
you drank 4 L of water in 6 hours?
you got to rest in an aircon cafe with good friends on a couch?
you learnt about linear transformations in Algebra?

I remember that day especially since my knee is bruising and hurting from the escalator fall as I write this!

The start/finish (Marina Bay Sands Hotel in background)

The race was FUN! I wasn't nervous this time - just excited. It was killer hot though. And just a note on race etiquette from yours truly... if you have to stop and walk - don't walk in a row with all your friends. Or better yet... MOVE THE HECK OVER! I definitely bumped through many people -sometimes on purpose. Normally, I'd keep elbows in and squeeze through. But if you're being annoying and in the way, then it was elbows out - I'm barging through. I'd always say "excuse me" while bumping through...which makes it better, right?!

Marina Bay

The mass of runners at the start line

*The title of this post was funny quote of the week. Told to me before going on a jog.

Little India

2011-04-16T02:24:00.004-05:00

Third time's a charm! The first two visits to Little India were disappointing - my expectations that there would be lots of good food and that it'd be crowded with masses of Indian people were not met. It didn't even smell funky! The third visit, however...

It was a Sunday night. Little India only becomes a little India on Saturday and Sunday nights when all the migrant workers have their day off from the construction sites. The streets were PACKED with men. I always thought that migrant workers came with their families but apparently that is not the case. Busy streets, people scattered sitting on sidewalks, people sifting through mounds of clothing, in and out of the ABC "Cheapest store in Singapore" store, Indian music blaring through the streets, people watching Bollywood movies in an outdoor courtyard with street food and beer. It's a happenin' place. You really can't help but dance to the Indian rhythms on the street while trying not to get run over or lost in the crowds of people.

Now the food. This time the food came on clean green-plant-like-mats. Clean! Not just wiped down with a dirty rag from the other table's food. I was already impressed. We at a lot. And it was amazing.

Dosa!

Rice dish - everything here is refillable.

Not only was the third time visiting Little India a great success - but so was the fourth and fifth time. Hopefully there will be a Little India 6.0 and 7.o before leaving Singapore in a couple of weeks.

SG at Day 87

2011-04-02T04:11:00.003-05:00

My feelings about Singapore after 3 months of living here have changed. Learning more about this fast-paced, permanently stressed, 'kiasu'-mentality country of people who worship the man who made SG what it is today... has made it easy for me to conclude that I wouldn't be able to live in this country long-term. I'm not sure I can do even a decent job at describing what SG is like under the surface, maybe you just need to be here. I find myself criticizing the government and the school system - it seems so rigid and manipulative. At the same time however, you also have a country that remains clean, safe, rich, efficient, and running smoothly. Clearly something is working, but all this comes at a cost. The cost: people living in a box and thinking in a box.

My thoughts on SG are still very scattered in my head.

I had the chance to stay in Singapore for 12 weeks this summer to do an internship with one of my Geotechnical Eng. professors. The project was really interesting - building a structure from the seafloor up instead of reclaiming land and then building. I was excited about the potential to learn more, but the thought of living in Singapore for the summer started to scare me. Picturing myself waking up each morning, going to campus to sit in a freezing cold aircon room, reading thru research papers, attempting to do some computer modeling... and doing this for 60 hrs a week...eeek! No thanks. (I'd rather be in China - which I'll blog about later on!)

Although I'm looking forward to leaving SG, there are still many times when I'm walking thru campus where I can't help but smile. Usually, as I'm racing from Engineering to Arts to get to my Chinese tutorial before the TA whacks me with her wand for being late - I can't help but notice the ocean. Also - getting a nice warm breeze. Being able to run outside and not have to worry about being cold or needing a jacket. Having a family of geckos live in my room. Being able to drink freshly made juices every day. I am really thankful for being able to study here. Extremely thankful! It has been a real treat to be able to live in the tropics, even in its killer humidity!

Why I Don't Have Facebook

2011-03-30T08:26:00.003-05:00

Note: I am NOT hating on those who have facebook - OBVIOUSLY. Otherwize, I'd have no friends :) And I must thank KT for keeping me in the loop ...because I dont have facebook - she keeps me posted!

Firstly - I'd like to say that I am no longer AGAINST facebook. I can now see and appreciate its usefulness and convenience. I've seen how easy it can be to connect with old friends, let people know where you are and what you're up to, share pictures, and overall know the insides of people's lives. In the past 24 years, I too have made many friends and met tons of new and interesting people. And I admit - it would be nice to know how they're doing and what they're up to. And there are many times now where I wished I had facebook.

So why don't I have an account?

1. I don't need another distraction in my life. You know how many times I hear people say things like "facebook is ruining my life", "i spent way too much time on facebook, i didn't get any work done", or "i was on facebook wayyyy too late last night". I know most of you are thinking that you don't have to spend that much time on facebook ie. that it doesnt NEED to be a distraction. But lets be realistic - how much time do you spend on facebook a day? Even if it is just checking your wall, inbox, or whatever the hell else you can check on there. I know it would distract me because of course I'd love to see everyone's pictures and find out how and what everyone else is doing. I'd rather not have to fight to keep facebook from being a distraction to my studies, time with God, and time with REAL IN PERSON FRIENDS!

2. I enjoy randomly thinking of old friends and wondering how they're doing and what they're up to. When that happens - I email them and let them know that I've been thinking of them and wondering what they're up to. Now, if I had facebook, I wouldn't be thinking and wondering what they're up to...because I would just KNOW already. Without having to ask them or talk to them. I could just scan their photos, their wall posts, or status and my curiosity would be satisfied. Personally, I enjoy getting an email from an old friend randomly to find that they're thinking of me. So I assume other people enjoy it too.

3. I don't necessarily need/want more "friends". This may sound harsh - but you know how many times I get asked what my facebook is or if I have facebook? A lot. It's the new line in introducing yourself these days. "Hi, how are you? What's your name? Add me to facebook. Nice to meet you." I don't need or have time for fake friends and I certainly don't want to 'get to know them' based on their pictures and whatever else I can dig up on them.

4. I don't need any associated facebook-drama in my life. "Oh my gosh, he changed his status - they're no longer dating", or "how come you havent accepted my friend request?", or "so-and-so keeps writing on that person's wall - i wonder what's going on?". And it goes on. I've had people crying to me because of stuff they found out or ASSUMED based on facebook. I already have a hard enough time assuming the best of people - some things I'd rather not know/see - that way, I have no way of coming up with silly conclusions based on assumptions.

Now - I KNOW that facebook doesnt have to be a distraction or create drama etc., but I'd rather not even put myself in the place where it COULD be and where, again, it's just another temptation to fight against.

On a different note, I do use Picasa to share pictures with friends. Here is a link to my latest trip to Bali!

GF Pizza in Singapore

2011-03-17T08:51:00.003-05:00

I took part in my first legit food critique/food tasting experiments tonight. Being a Celiac for 30 months now, I always thought it would be fun to write about the ups, downs, perks, funny and embarrassing moments, the socially frustrating, and the funny reactions people give when I tell them I'm allergic to gluten. "To glut-- to what?" "To gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains" "What? You can't eat wheat? So... you mean, what?! You're telling me you can't eat bread? You can't eat BREAD?! How do you survive? I would die. How do you live?!"

Well, it's been 30 months and I'm still alive, so clearly you can survive very well without gluten. I'm still learning a lot about this gluten-free lifestyle and still find it difficult to explain to people that I cant eat certain foods when I get asked out to eat. Here's the beginning to sharing my joys, frustrations, and food (and restaurant) critiques as a 24 year old traveling Celiac food-lover.

First stop: Singapore. Before moving to Singapore I thought it would be easy to be GF here. Don't get me wrong - it is much easier to be GF in Asia compared to North America, however they still enjoy their pastries here. I'll write again about eating in Singapore - but first PizzaCapers Gourmet Kitchen.

"What makes this gourmet pizza?" My resonse: it's all about the toppings. If they're exotic, healthy, and plentiful - then I'd say the pizza is gourmet. Also, the price. If the pizza is over $20 for an 8'' pizza - it better be gourmet! Another thing that makes the pizza gourmet is the variety of combination of toppings. Tonight I had GF pizza. In Asia! Pizza in Asia is already rare enough so it was quite the treat to find a GF pizza place. I went with friends, one of them in franchise consulting, so we were encouraged to share our thoughts on the food. Gladly!

Raja and Margherita GF pizza

I haven't eaten pizza in a long time, so anything at this point would have tasted amazing. Tonight I had both the RAJA (Tandoori chicken, mozzarella and red onions. Garnished with mango chutney, snow pea sprouts, cashew nuts and mint raita), and MARGHERITA (Baby bocconcini cheese, roasted tomatoes, herbs, mozzarella and garlic. Garnished with parsley and parmesan). I enjoyed them both, however the mango chutney through me for a loop at first. It was an unexpected flavor. The crust was thin (as most GF crusts are) and hard to cut with a knife (again - normal) and tasted corn-based. However, there were so many good toppings that you couldnt taste the crust. My non-GF friends commented "it taste like I'm eating a tortilla almost, it's so thin!" For PizzaCapers, it didnt matter what the crust tasted like because they did a good job at covering it up with lots of flavor thanks to variety of toppings!

Also important to note that the toppings were all GF as well. You'd think that would be obvious but you have to be careful. Many people don't quite understand. For example, after the pizza outing, we headed to Awfully Chocolate for ice cream. (Note: I don't do dairy but since I had splurged with the cheese on the pizza, I indulged. I will be regretting this tomorrow!). When I asked the lady "is this gluten free?" "What? Gluten? Umm, g-l-u-ten? Uhh, yes, yes it's gluten free" Not exactly the confident answer I was hoping for.

The best chocolate ice cream: dark, rich, creamy.

Back to the atmosphere of PizzaCapers. It felt more like a trendy mid-end sandwich shop - the orange and black chairs didn't give a good gourmet pizza feel. Nor did the loud top 40 hits from 2006 that was playing. It felt weird to be eating 'Western' food while looking out at a Chinese store-front with a top-floor apartment with someone's laundry hanging from the balcony. I felt as though I should have been sitting on the curb eating a good bowl of congee instead.

February Recap

2011-02-27T07:33:00.013-06:00

Week 1

Thailand Trip 1. Spent 5 days in Phuket (beach, boats, coral, painful massages, feet eating fish, pineapples, disturbing thai prostitutes, and burnt skin) and 3 days in Bangkok (hanging out with Natalie, visiting parks, riding boats, more pineapples, monks, alters, and crazy malls)

Coral Island (off coast of Phuket)

Street in Bangkok

Week 2

KT gets awkwardly asked out for Valentine's day. I wanted to write a post about 'How you can score a date with KT: the do's and dont's'. Here's a few pointers for all you guys out there trying to win over the famous Chinese-Malaysian Latino-wannabe Canadian who can never stay in one country longer than 4 months!

KT on long-tailed boat in Phuket

DONTs
1. Don't ask "any plans for Valentine's Day? Maybe we can hang out?"
2. Don't be awkward.
3. Don't be Asian - unless you can dance, then you might have a chance.
4. Don't creep/stalk her and follow her around.
5. Don't awkwardly ask her for coffee and tell her you like her on the first coffee "date".

DOs
1. Take her to a nice classy/trendy wine place.
2. Remain calm/chill and pay for any meal/wine shared together.
3. Dress nicely.
4. Feed her grapes.
5. Be musical and sing her the latest and cutest Glee song (dancing is always a bonus).

Also in Week 2 - Singapore's Annual Zoo Run. Which you can read about here.

Week 3

Worked like mad trying to get as much school done before IL arrived. Toured Singapore with IL. Went tandem biking thru Pulau Ubin (island north of SG) - chased by dogs, took the tandem (with makeshift brakes) off-roading. Highlight for sure! Visited Marina Barrage which was a neat engineering feat.

Bike at Pulau Ubin

Marina Barrage (excess fresh water spilling into ocean)

Visited a casino for the first time at Sentosa, watched an old man bust a move at Clarke Quay, walked around the entire Marina Bay Sands area searching for the Barrage, miraculously survived eating a meal in Little India, enjoyed durian again (this time with gloves!), ran the Goodbye Gutom charity run. Oh, and all this explored and done with IL.

Week 4

Thailand trip 2. This next trip was much different than the first. IL and I flew to Phuket Sunday night then to Koh Samui Monday morning. Lessons learned from Koh Samui: don't trust people when they say that all the ferries are booked, go to ferry terminal and ask to get on the next ferry. Also, when exploring Koh Samui on motorbike and hitting a one-way, give yourself extra time (be more observant) to get back to catch ferry. It was close, thankfully we made it in time to get onto the ferry we were told was sold out to begin with. We managed to get to Koh Tao Monday afternoon as planned.

We spent the next 3 days (with KT) taking a PADI Open Water diving course. Lee, our British instructor was very good to us, especially having to deal with IL and KT ;) Diving was AMAZING! It's a whole new world (cue Aladdin music here) under the sea (err..cue Little Mermaid music here). KT is a mermaid. She managed to feel better in the water where on land she would feel sick. She clearly belongs in the sea. IL was a skills rockstar and able to keep his eyes open under water with the mask OFF. I was shocked! And myself, I slowed down the group by taking forever to descend - always having to equalize the pressure in my ears, AND I warmed up the sea with my constant peeeee-ing.

On our way back to Singapore, we had a stop in Phuket again. IL and I headed to the beach to watch the planes land. Being in the water with a plane coming down at you is awesome and terrifying!

Plane landing in Phuket

And that was February! Now welcome March. We're thru half the semester already and time is flying. So far, on deck for March is a gazillion projects, exams, assignments AND a trip to Bali at the end of the month. I've also added a 'Asia pictures' link to the side of this blog. A big salt-water wave killed my camera - so these might be the only pictures for a while until I replace it.

Risk

2011-02-13T09:00:00.002-06:00

"You're a risk taker".

Risk: a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury.

I always thought that being a risk-taker was a positive attribute. According to the definitions I've found on the word 'risk' - I'm not a full on risk taker. I actually DO think of some negative effects and perhaps naive to consider ALL of the things that could go wrong. But taking risks goes both ways - you can ask yourself 'what could go wrong if I do xyz?' OR 'what could happen if I did xyz and how amazing would it be?' A quick fast-forward thru my life, I've realized that I've mostly thought of the latter - the more positive way of looking at risk-taking. As a result, I've had some exciting experiences. Also, I've had some big screw-ups.

I wont write about the risks that I've taken lately nor will I write about the screw-ups. Maybe in another blog post - when I actually update on life in Singapore and the trip to Thailand. But overall, I'm being made more aware and more thankful that God has kept me and protected me.

When I lived in Whitehorse, the city was filled with billboards with a picture of a stupid risk and a smart risk and asked the question "What's your stupid line?" All decisions involve some element of risk-taking, and I guess like most areas of life - balance is required. I'm still trying to find my stupid line.

Bibimbap

2011-01-21T06:48:00.003-06:00

Bibimbap was served on our flight to Singapore. When the flight attendant handed me the meal, she pulled out this card: "Directions on How to Make Bibimbap". The funny thing is she didn't give one to the Asian people who were sitting near me. If only she knew just how Asian I actually am... on the inside.

This definitely wasn't the first nor has it been the last time I've had bibimbap. I'd like to be a bibimbap critique. I'd love to travel around the world tasting different people's rendition of this famous Korean dish. So far, here is my running list with scores.

1. Chengde, China - GREAT, solid 9/10
2. Waterloo (UW plaza) - good gf option when in a crunch, 4/10
3. Toronto - GREAT, a little spicy, 8/10
4. Seoul, Korea - good but I was expecting it to be the BEST, being in Korea and all, 6/10
5. Flying over Asia - plane food: never great, 5/10
6. HarbourFront Centre, Singapore - food court in the mall, BEST, a bit pricy ($6 SD), 9/10
7. The Terrace, NUS - hawker stall, not horrible, $3.50 SD, 6/10

SG at Day 10

2011-01-15T03:05:00.003-06:00

"Can you see yourself living in Singapore?"

Yes. So far, everything is still new and exciting - so yes, I could see myself living in SG. Who wouldn't want to live in a country that is:
-clean
-safe
-surrounded by ocean
-diverse (in people, culture, food)
-rich
-innovative and advanced - moving forward, breaking new ground
-close to great travel destinations; beaches, mountains
-full of GREAT and cheap food

"Does the consumerism bother you?"

It's starting to. I'm still overwhelmed and I often have to remind myself of where I am. There are so many different enclaves of culture/food/people on such a small island. And SG is not a mediocre place - they go all out for big, flashy, shiny, different, well-kept, and overall classy. There are tons of malls and shops everywhere. But you can manage to avoid the big, shiny, busy malls if you need/want to. For example, you can get all you need in China Town in the markets, which is still busy and crazy... but it's a more natural feel for what Asia should be. I'm starting to move past being in awe and overwhelmed at everything and starting to see how people live here. Starting to discover the realities of SG. I'm starting to pay more attention to the people around me and what they're doing. Like this man pulling tiny weeds from the cracks in the road on campus. Or men in little boats trying to clean out the leaves and twigs in ponds. Or the men who sweep the grass on campus. My first thought was "Singapore - you are ridiculous. Why do you care so much about insignificant things?" What is motivating this country to be so regimented, clean, and defensive?

I have much to learn about SG. It's a very unique place. Ask these questions again at Day 30, and my answers will likely change. And hopefully by Day 30, I will have a better understanding of how and why this country functions.

Overall, having a great time exploring the city with kt and trying to avoid the monsoon rains in the afternoons!

2 Days in Singapore

2011-01-06T08:49:00.004-06:00

Crossing at Orchard Road

What I learnt about living in Singapore today:

- using public buses and trains, you dont pay per trip, but you pay the distance traveled
- Orchard Road is some crazy consumer paradise for rich folk
- China Town is like a Mary Poppins bag - the goodies never end
- food is CHEAP, making it much cheaper to eat out than cook
- when people don't understand what you're saying, they just say "NO"
- contrary to what we were told, there are all shapes, heights, styles, and sizes
- you always feel sticky

KT and I being Asian in China Town

NUS campus - so lush.

Korea - In Transit

2011-01-04T13:56:00.002-06:00

Finally, another update for Kathleen on a wing. I'm currently on a wing once again - flying from Toronto to Singapore. I still cant believe that KT and I are jetting across the globe to the hot humid country of SG. This post will have 3 main thoughts - leaving Whse, Christmas vacation, and moving forward to Asia.

Leaving Whitehorse

I love North of 60. If I ever got a tattoo, I'd definitely get the North of 60 compass plastered on my body. (Dont worry, no intention of getting one). I teared up when I landed in Toronto. I miss the community, work, coworkers, the mountains. Good relationships were formed with coworkers and I'm looking forward to working with them again in the future, God willing.

Christmas vacation

Where to begin! Saw a bunch of C4C friends at the Stevenson wedding - great time. Then home to a housefull. 14 people: 10 adults, 2 toddlers, and 2 babies. It was a good time - minus the sickness that was spread around. We had parties for 4 consecutive days. Mom's 50th party, Jarvis reunion day, Christmas, mom's side of family Christmas. Then once everyone left, IL came for a few days and then we went back to TO for a few days. Highlight of this vacation:

- the vacation itself. I havent had more than 4 days off in a row for over a year
- Hanging out with Cliff and Oscar - trying to induct some MJ into them
- Getting in a few skates on the rink
- Spending time with Erin
- Getting to have lunch with highschool friends and running into many other old friends - catching up
- gluten free brownies and muffins that mom and IL-mom made
- getting the doc to take out my stitches (very professional!)
- forcefully being humbled - I realized my fire-making skills have weakened (that or the wood was bad)
- Thinking about what ministry in SG will look like - getting excited about what God will do with me

Asia-bound

Hard to believe it's finally here. From summer of '09 in Malawi where the idea of going on exchange was sparked because Kristina told me about all the yummy eats until now - on the plane! It's been a full year of going thru the motions of applying and preparing for this exchange... and here I am on the plane and I still feel ill-prepared. I havent even got a single Sing-dollar in my pocket! I forgot to get money out at the airport. Who knows what else I forgot.

What I'm looking forward to:

- meeting my classmates, getting back into the school groove, Arctic Engineering course
- finally getting to travel and have adventures with KT (ready of not, here we come Asia!)
- church in SG
- running (and attempting to run in the humid heat)
- surfing and riding a motorcycle
- the food.

What I'm scared about:

- the heat
- taking algebra with the Asian mathies
- that I'll break one of the SG laws

Michael

2010-11-27T20:56:00.003-06:00

Micheal is almost complete! Thanks Karen and friends for the best birthday surprise! Each friend sent in a puzzle piece with a birthday greeting, verse, word of encouragement, there was even a poem, drawings, and much love written on the back side of the puzzle piece.

I remember crying on my 20th birthday afraid of leaving my teenage years since they were a lot of fun. But I'd have to say, being a twentysomething has been great. And as for birthdays, they've definitely gotten better. Let's recap.

20
-cried
-watched a meteor shower
-received flowers for the first time (from my roommates!)

21
-thai fun
-started breathing properly again after many episodes and paralyzed ER visits

22
-cameras were shoved in my body
-Obama became President
-ate out for the first time as a GF eater

23
-made caramel apples with my two amazing roommates
-given a michael tshirt
-then kidnapped, blindfolded, and taken to a house with friends
-had gf cake that friends made
-went to see 'This Is It', michael's movie

24
-was told that my birthday was going to be crazy/Yukon style (it was)
-lots of gummy candies
-got rescued from attending my own birthday party that i didnt want to go to
-shared the birthday with another cool coworker, had gf cupcakes and sung to (#1)
-call from parents at work, sung to (#2)
-lots of great birthday wishes/cards
-gf cheesecake and sung to by aunt and uncle (#3)
-attended blue feather aboriginal music festival
-went out with fun coworkers
-and then michael came to me. in pieces!

Loved the gift guys! Thanks :)

I'm driving, I'll cry if I want to!

2010-10-16T23:05:00.002-05:00

It's now October and here in the Yukon, that means winter has arrived. Could winter be the culprit for making a 450-km trip take 7.5 hours? Or was it my truck violently thrown off the highway that made the trip so long? Or maybe the 2 inches of ice coating the highway?

I left the office early to head to Keno for a couple of days to inspect a tailings pond and to do some slope stability test using some fancy digital inclinometer instrumentation. The actual work didn't take that long, just the driving. The Klondike highway was covered in ice and packed snow in some sections. I put the truck into 4 wheel drive and drove slow. A hundred kilometers into driving, I was wishing I had taken a bigger truck but since the Ranger was the only thing available, the guys put sand bags in the back to weigh it down a bit. I was a bit stressed driving since I would fishtail a bit here and there around corners and I could feel the back tires sliding even though I was in 4WD.

About 170km north of Whitehorse (north of Carmacks), a transport truck was closely following me. I was still driving slow (about 70-80 kph), listening to a great sermon on Ruth Chapter 2. All of a sudden, I fish tailed BIG TIME. The weird thing was I wasnt turning, I wasnt using the breaks...just driving straight. Anyhow, it happened. I lost all control of the truck. I remembered to turn the truck wheels in the right direction while fish tailing and not to use the breaks... but that didnt seem to help. I flung to the other side of the road, sideways, spun in complete circles and back to the other side of the road. I am thankful that there was no one coming from the other direction because I was 'viewing the ENTIRE highway from all angles'. While I was sliding all over the highway and spinning around, at one point I had a clear view of the transport driving straight toward me. I had three distinct thoughts while the truck and I were flying around. One, "If this ends badly, it will REALLY end badly since I'm carrying a nuclear gauge in the back of my truck". Two, "I wonder what direction/orientation I'll end up in?". And three, "When will this end?". And then I flew down into the ditch. Flying into the ditch saved me because the transport was coming straight for me. It was more of a slide-bounce. The truck landed on an angle on the front passenger tire, which made a huge jerk of a stop. It teetered and I wasnt sure if I was going to flip over or not. Thankfully, it flipped back in the upright position. As soon as the truck came to that halting stop, I immediately opened my door while grabbing the satellite phone that was in the compartment next to me. I was shaking! I managed to call work. When our sweet admin lady answered, with a staggering/half crying/half adrenaline-hyped voice I spat out "THE TRUCK IS IN THE DITCH"! She then kept asking if I was okay and I kept saying "the truck, its in the ditch, I just flew across and around the highway". After she asked the third time if I was okay, I realized that I hadnt answered her question. And yes, physically, I was okay.

Thankfully, the transport following me was able to stop (with difficulty since it was clearly very icy!). The entire front tire popped right off the rim. Thankfully, the ground was soft so the rim dug into the ground and didnt get bent. Another thing I'm thankful for is that the night before, I had brought a busted tire to the shop to get fixed (I had gotten a flat tire last week in the middle of nowhere and had a 10 year old Texan help me change it, which is a whole other story!). The tire place said it wouldnt be fixed in time for me to take it in the morning, but I stopped by anyway before leaving the city and alas...it was fixed! I'm glad it was, otherwize I wouldnt have had a spare tire. The transport man dug out the truck, changed the tire, and drove the truck out of the ditch for me.
So... things to be thankful for:
1. the transport did NOT hit me while I was spinning on the highway
2. the tire was fixed and changeable ie. did not need to get towed
3. that I had a satellite phone to get a hold of someone (since there is certainly no cell phone reception between towns)
4.that I ended up in the ditch that I did, since the ditch on the other side of the road was much steeper
5. that of all the places I could have gone off, this was a shallow ditch, whereas most other places along that highway is a steep cliff off the highway

Once I got back into the truck, I blurted out thanks to God for still being alive and the reasons above. And then I drove 50-60 kph and prayed until I got to the next small town. Once I arrived there, I texted a bunch of friends and asked them to pray. Thanks guys! The roads got better and there was a nice hour of driving on a clear highway! It was amazing. And then I finally got to the Silver Trail Highway. Just so you know, a highway in the Yukon can be a dirt road. The truck was sliding just from the potholes and washboard, so add ice to the mix and chaos resulted. At this point, only 50km to go and I kept fishtailing... so I had had it. I started crying. But I quickly realized that I was just stressed out from driving. More prayer. Quickly stopped crying. Kept driving and finally arrived... 7.5 hours later.

I like to think I have quite a bit of winter driving experience. I drove in the winter in Yellowknife where they don't plow the roads and you have to maneuver through massive ice ruts. Also, growing up in northern Ontario...I learnt how to drive in snow/ice. But the Yukon... it's a special place, I guess!

----- 2 days later....
I finally arrive back in Whitehorse. Longest drive, but I made it alive. When I arrived back to the office late Friday afternoon, my coworkers had bought me gluten free beer! It was a nice welcome for an insanely stressful week of driving.

This is Whitehorse

2010-10-10T23:12:00.008-05:00

My experience Friday night summed up what Whitehorse is like. For someone who is new to the city, being plunked in that scene would have given them a really good idea of how this city is...in a nutshell! Two other co-op students and I went to Foxys to see a french-Canadian band.
See here.
This local band hadnt played in a year and it was great to see the support they received ie. there were TONS of people there, many french people of course too. I couldnt understand a single word of their lyrics but that didn't seem to matter! I'll try my best to describe it, but really... you had to be there! First, packed house! Second, all ages (20 to 60!). Like, it was no big deal (NBD man) to be dancing with a 60 year old woman. Third, jeans and tshirts, no makeup, hiking shoes, running shoes, birks, a very low-key atmosphere. Fourth, the band... extreme energy. Fifth, the dancing! Everyone just danced...there was no awkward dancing or clusters of people dancing in circles, everyone just danced together... EVERYONE! It was so great. I never would have gone up dancing on my own without knowing anyone, but it was such a comfortable dancing space... so sometimes the two guys I was with would come dance or I'd just go on my own. And in between sets..they'd play GREAT dancing music...none of that weird new clubby music. And when I decided to take a break from dancing, Argentina boy came by...which meant I should just keep dancing to avoid him. We left at 1:30 ish and the band was STILL PLAYING. So hardcore...they just didnt know when to stop! Whitehorse: happy, friendly, supportive, FUN, open.

And attached are a few pictures from Philip's wedding in Regina, which was last weekend. It was a nice weekend, good to see family again.

The three older siblings

Cliff: clearly a bike superstar
Oscar: clearly the cutest superstar
And the most photogenic couple you will ever meet!

My Alaskan Photoshoot

2010-09-16T20:30:00.004-05:00

More pictures can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.ca/kathleen141/WhitehorseYUKON?authkey=Gv1sRgCIe6vJC3se7JPg#

Alaska: The Last Frontier

2010-09-15T22:31:00.002-05:00

The weekend trip to Alaska was jaw-dropping amazing! Skagway, Alaska is only a two-hour drive from Whitehorse and is a neat tourist trap of a town. It's a little bizarre because you're in the middle of mountains (ie. middle of nowhere) and you get to this tiny town of about 800 people with about 10 diamond jewelry stores. Weird. But then, when about 5 cruise ships dock and THOUSANDS of tourists flood the streets of this tiny town...it starts to make sense. Well, the 10 diamond stores still doesnt make sense to me. There are no diamonds in Alaska...it was gold. They got it all wrong. Thankfully there were only 2 cruise ships docked while we were there so it wasnt as busy. Our conclusion of Skagway is that it's a town for rich anorexic people. We coudlnt find any places to eat, but again... a gazillion of jewelry stores! Overall, it was a cute town.

That night, we hiked slightly out of the town to rock point on the ocean! We were told that it was illegal to camp there and there were no bear boxes there.... BUT we hung our food and figured the worst that could happen is the park police ("bear patrol" heheh, Alia!) would kick us out. I decided we should sleep under the stars and not set up the tent because really, is a tent really going to protect you from a bear? No! So why use it? We each found a random flat crevice in the rocks and slept outside. It was gorgeous! The stars were incredible...there were so many. There were seals swimming around, the tide was going out, cool autumn breeze, and then a group of drunk kids having a fire a few hundred feet away! I tried to not let them ruin the mood so I tuned them out. They eventually left. Once I was able to stop staring at the stars, I fell into a good sleep. I eventually woke up to rain! I was dry, but the outside of the bag was wet so it had been raining for a while. We eventually fumbled down the rocks (wet and slippery in the dark!) and on the trail and slept under a picnic shelter. Probably not the wisest of moves since that's where we hung our food, but we woke up in one piece! No grizzlies!

We woke up really early the next morning and hopped on the ferry to Haines, Alaska. It was a beautiful ride. Great mountains, glaciers, and birds. Haines is much different than Skagway since they only get one cruise ship a week (read: less touristy, more normal). We had to catch the ferry back later in the afternoon so we didnt have time for a good hike. So it turned out to be a restful Sunday. I sat out on a rock with my binoculars by the ocean and was quite content. Then we hit up the beach and wharf and hung out there, explored the town. It was a great day! Blue skies, sunny, warm, ocean, birds, mountains....ALASKA!

I got stuck

2010-09-06T01:28:00.002-05:00

There are only a few places in the Yukon where there is clay, and I managed to find one of those places. On an extremely rainy day. And it was slippery. The massive truck got stuck. I even put it in 4-wheel drive but I kept sliding everywhere. Thankfully, this machine thing came to the rescue.

Welcome to the Yukon

2010-08-28T22:47:00.004-05:00

This is why I am loving the Yukon.

Today, I hiked a lot. There are so many trails...it's overwhelming!

My 23 Hour Day

2010-08-28T22:03:00.006-05:00

August 23rd was an extremely hectic, stressful, long, but overall fun day. I woke up at 3:30 am (Eastern time) to get to the airport in Montreal on time for my 5:30 flight. I have a lot of bad words to say to the Montreal airport. Anyhow, partly my fault, partly their fault, I missed my flight and had to run around that airport to buy another ticket to catch the next flight. They made me pay a lot of money and told me that I might not catch my connecting flight in Toronto and then Calgary. And then one of my pieces of luggage was 2 kg overweight. Okay, I have to make a confession here. I knew it was probably overweight and I was hoping to pull the 'weak female' card. It worked when I tried flying home from Halifax with a suitcase full of rocks I had collected from my travels across Canada. It also worked when I moved to Yellowknife with all my winter gear... "I am moving by myself to YK for the winter and I had to pack all this winter gear IN TWO PIECES OF LUGGAGE!". And each time they've let it pass. But Montreal was not friendly. So I untape the bin and look for the heaviest and smallest thing in there: almond milk and running shoes. (Yes, I brought almond milk with me. I also brought my rice cooker. Fat kid :) ). Okay..back to the day. I madly run to security and the man was like "almond milk? miss, you cant have that. (dangit..I totally forgot..liquid). would you like to drink that?" Uh Mister, It is 5:30 in the morning and you are asking if I want to chug a litre of almond milk?" No thanks. Having to throw out the milk was more of a damper than having to deal with strange/annoying airport people.

Just as the plane was landing in Toronto, my next flight was boarding. So if you were in Pearson that day and saw a girl sprinting about 800 meters to get to the gate... that was me. It would have been an easier sprint if I were wearing my cleats...and not birks! Anyhow, I was the last one on the plane...but I made it. The exact same thing happened in Calgary. But I made it. The flight to Whitehorse was interesting. I'll leave that there. (Something strange always happens to me at airports or during flights!)

So I land in Whitehorse at 12:30 (Pacific time). I have been traveling for 10 hours and I went straight to the office. Once I arrived, I immediately started their on-boarding training. Then, Glenn (coworker) brought me to his place and had dinner. And then, we went and played 9 holes of golf with other coworkers! About golf...it was cold and rainy. I was exhausted. At hole 4, I was ready to collapse. Thankfully, my two teammates were rather entertaining...considering they drank a beer and a half for every hole we played! We had to skip the last hole since the sprinklers were about to go off.

It was a 23 hour day.

(Here is the link to some pictures I have uploaded to picasa. I will be uploading more as they come: http://picasaweb.google.ca/kathleen141/WhitehorseYUKON?authkey=Gv1sRgCIe6vJC3se7JPg# )

Remember when we got pulled over for eating rice?

2010-08-18T21:07:00.006-05:00

Back in July, three friends and I went to the Elora Quarry. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. It's a great swimming hole with cliffs to jump off. I personally enjoy and recommend the one-metre cliff :)

So, our starting point was Waterloo (A), the Quarry was our destination (B), and now you may be wondering what C is. Welcome to Minto! When Charlotte, Alia, Lisa, and I decided to play 'hot-seat' on the way home from the Quarry, we managed to lose track of all sense of direction and we arrived in a small town called Minto. We pulled over at a fire station and while Alia and Charlotte went to ask for directions to get ourselves back to Waterloo... Lisa and myself (being the fat-kids) got out and ate a lot of rice.

And here we are...eating rice

Just a little side note here: Lisa makes the best fried rice! It was cold AND didn't have soy sauce and it was still amazing!

Once we got back into the car to head back to Waterloo, we got pulled over. Apparently the town of Minto doesnt like people parking in at the Fire Station. We told the officer we had gotten lost and were on our way back home. The officer then tried to give us directions on how to get back to Waterloo...meanwhile we were all in the car trying our hardest not to stare/laugh/point but... he had pastry crumbs all over his pants/crotch. Thankfully, crumby crotch let us go and we managed to get back!

All in all, the trip to the quarry was great. Oh! I almost forgot to mention, the Elora Quarry has really nice 'bear patrol' because you never know when a southern ontario bear might jump in the quarry to attack :)

So, although we ended up in Minto...I must say that our sense of direction has improved a lot! Later in the term, on a field trip in Hamilton, we somehow managed to fall behind but managed to make good guesses at each fork in the path and found our way. Friends, you are great people to get lost with!

ps. tomorrow I take off for Montreal! and next, I am Yukon Territory bound! More to come from the far north!

Rafael

2010-06-26T18:33:00.003-05:00

Van der Vaart. Quite the last name, quite the face.

My first real encounter with soccer was around this time last year. Michael Jackson had just died, and in memory of Michael, one of the 'pubs' was showing MJ music videos. Rewind a bit. I was in Malawi, so being able to go to a public place and watch MJ videos was an integral part of the mourning process. What came after the videos was the South Africa vs. USA soccer match. I wasn't all that interested in seeing the game especially since it was freezing cold! But as Kristina and I watched and saw the teams as they sang their national anthems, we thought "woah woah...what have we been missing?!" Honestly, soccer is littered with good-looking people! So we sat through the game (still freezing) listening to the Malawians yell OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! everytime the US team scored. Hilarious.

One year later, back in Canada, I've joined an intramural soccer league on campus. It is a lot of fun, however at times frustrating. I need lots of practice! But really... running around after a ball cheering people on...that's fun enough!

Also, a year later. The world cup. My class is super into it, so I also got on the band-wagon and thought about which team I would cheer for. Not really having any ties to a particular country, I went through a very careful and intelligent process of choosing 'my team'.

Step 1: www.google.com
Step 2: typed in countries competing
Step 3: scanned the team pictures
Step 4: short-listed countries
Step 5: I saw a picture of Rafael Van der Vaart and I was sold. No more searching required!

Go Dutch go! I look forward to watching the rest of the World Cup. Thankful for laptops, we've managed to watch matches during classes, labs, while doing homework, and walking from class to class. I think Karen and I have made a good choice of heading to the Netherlands after our 8-month 'tour de Asia' in 2011! Stay tuned!

a gem in mississauga

2010-02-28T19:31:00.004-06:00

I was doubtful, but apparently there are SOME nice places in Mississauga.

Mississauga

2010-01-09T18:35:00.007-06:00

When I looked out my window this morning, I saw the sun and blue skies. And then I saw a house that looked identical to the one I was sitting in. They call it a city. I call it a field full of brick boxes.

I've been here for 5 days and to be honest, so far, it sucks! 112 more days to go. Don't worry, I'm not ACTUALLY counting because I hope that things will get better ie. less lonely. I'll break this post into three mini sections: 1. the lunch room, 2. car, 3. friends.

1. the lunch room

The company I'm working for this term claims to have a very social atmosphere, although this is not true for the Mississauga office. So one of my coworkers came to my cubicle and told me that I should eat my lunch in the lunch room just to try and get to know other people around the office. Feeling desperate to talk to people and wanting to put effort into making friends, I grab my lunch and head to the lunch room. It's a kitchen with a big table. I walk in and there are 3 other people (people I've already met before) and they're all eating silently and reading the newspapers that are spread across the table. Yep... ZERO TALKING! So I was like "alright, guess I'll just sit right here and read a newspaper too and wait for someone to say something". Silence. Okay...guess I'll try again tomorrow. The next day I head back into the lunch room and guess what? They're STILL reading newspapers and NOT talking! These are people who've worked together for a long time and they still don't talk to each other. This is so weird to me! At least one of the guys there hadn't met me before and introduced himself. I will continue to eat my lunch in the lunch room and I'll update you on any big news! Gasp! Like, someone might look up from the Globe and Mail and say something to me...what a day that will be!

2. car

People told me that Mississauga was a driver city. And alas, they are right. I didnt want to believe it but... spending $3 for a trip that hardly takes you anywhere and having to walk most of the way or wait in the cold for 20 minutes for your transfer bus... I'd sure say it's indeed true: Mississauga transit is not good! I'm looking for a car for 4 months. Either buy one and sell it after 4 months or if at all possible borrow someone's car ie. rent someone's car for the term. If you know of anyone who has an extra car lying around ... let's make a deal!

3. friends

Friends are invaluable. Whoever reads this...read this: do NOT take your friends for granted. JUST DONT DO IT! I looked back on some good memorable experiences that I've had. Three places in particular: Calgary, Yellowknife, and Malawi. Then, I tried to imagine those places without the people who were there at the time and it would have been a completely different experience. It scares me to think of what it could have been like! I'm a huge huge huge extrovert, so these past 5 days of being on my own have almost killed me. Tomorrow, I am seeing friends. It's a big deal.

To end this off... I'll try and keep ya'll posted on my time in the Sauggy field of brick boxes, my encounters in the lunch room, and my quest to find a car for these next 4 months.

My control issues

2009-08-30T05:09:00.003-05:00

Has anyone else noticed the significant amount of plane/helicopter incidences that have happened this summer? Maybe it's just Kristina and I noticing, but there seems to have been a lot.

I've tried to block it out of my memory because, to be honest, I've since become pretty scared to fly considering all these planes dropping. But the time is soon approaching where I'll have to be in the air for 28 hours (not all at once, of course) just to get back to Canada. There was one point in the summer when I was so afraid of this day of flying again, that the thought actually crossed my mind that there is still the 'ship across the ocean' option. Okay, I know, it was that bad. I was feeling like it'd be safer to take a ship home rather than fly. So, I've tried to block out all these memories of all the plane incidences just so I could better prepare for boarding one again.
And then today, at church, someone stood up and announced "I want to praise God that we are here safely because the flight yesterday from South Africa was a ROUGH ride". I thought to myself "Oh...must be Air Malawi and it was probably a bit of turbulence". After the service, I was talking with this woman and she said it was actually South African Airways (read: BIG JET for Blantyre's little runway) and the pilot clearly wasn't thinking straight and realized at the last minute that he had to land... He was still very high and going so fast, that he just dropped a bit, kept going, dropped some more, and then when they hit the tarmack, the plane was still going too fast that the plane started bouncing off the tarmack. Imagine: dropping in a big jet from the sky and then hitting the tarmack hard and bouncing this massive piece of metal off the tarmack hoping that the plane will be able to slow down enough before it gets stuck in the neighbouring field.

After such a rough landing the pilot said "well, you win some, you lose some" and that was all he had to offer as an apology. I asked what his name was in hopes that I dont have him when I fly out on South African Airways on Wednesday, but the lady didn't know his name. Not that I'd be able to do anything... "excuse me, I heard you had a rough landing the other day, perhaps I should HELP YOU land this plane". Obviously, I have no flying expertise to offer, but atleast I'd feel a little more in control. You see, every time I fly, I realize that I am not in control. That's why I love small bush planes or helicopters because I can see the pilot, and if need be, I can easily be in arms reach of all those control buttons. Again, even if I could reach the control buttons... I still wouldnt be able to do anything anyways.

But this is a good reminder. There are clearly times when we KNOW we're not in control and it's hard, but there's absolutely nothing we can do about it... so we throw our hands in the air and say "Alright God, I guess you really ARE in control of this situation anyways, so I'm just going to trust that it'll all be okay". And then there are other times when we THINK we are in control and it makes us feel safer... and this is bad because we start trusting in ourselves and our own abilities instead of God's more-powerful abilities.

So, this being said... I'm still scared about flying out on Wednesday but I guess there's nothing I can do about it anyway!

Meet the WatSan team

2009-08-29T09:53:00.003-05:00

From left to right: Thomas, Khumbo, myself, Victor, Pearson

Gender balance at its finest.

My African Solo

2009-08-21T08:28:00.003-05:00

Lots has happened since my last post. An overly adventurous trip to the lake, getting bit by a dog, reaching a new level of exhaustion, saying goodbye to my two amazing roommates and the guy who saved my life, trying to understand Portugese with a new Brazilian girl, and having my peanut butter stolen. Of course, this list could go on and on... especially considering each of these items is a blog post in itself.

And now begins my African solo.

I said goodbye to some great people and now I'm on my own for the remaining 2 weeks. Before people left, I was not ready to return home and I feared not ever being ready. And as much as I was dreading spending 2 weeks living by myself, I was hoping that these weeks would better prepare me for returning home. Although I get lonely very easily, I'm hoping I'll be able to spend my time reflecting on the past few months and mentally prepare for re-entry into the homeland.

As for work, I've decided to spend as much time as possible with the WatSan guys, which means lots of field days! In the past few weeks, I was more concerned about doing research and writing a paper that would benefit WatSan. But over time I realized that this task could easily be done in the evenings and on the weekends and that my time would be more valuably spent if I invested the remaining few weeks into the relationships I've built here in Malawi. It's been good.
In the field, we've started lining shallow wells which is exciting! And I've been doing lots of water testing.

Last night, when I arrived home from work, my night guard opened the gate for me and he was holding a machete. I had never seen him with a machete before... normally he bikes to the house, sits at the front door all night, we chat for a few minutes when I give him some tea and toast before bed, and that is all. So I asked him what the machete was for and he responded with "it's my weapon, madam". So I teasingly asked "have you ever had to use it before?" to which he responded "yes, madam". The joking then stopped and I was like "really? You've really used it before?". Then I realized he had misunderstood me. I guess I should feel safer, right? My small-framed, soft-spoken, polite night guard atleast has a weapon now.

(Create your own caption for this picture!)

Places you should NOT set up your tent...

2009-08-04T02:32:00.005-05:00

And if you do set up your tent beside the sign that says "Beware of Hippos and other wild animals" and close to fresh elephant dung... then you're guaranteed an interesting night!

Who knew the animals would actually come THAT close to our tent?! Well, they did. And yes, that is our tent in the pictures above. I will never forget this camping experience... especially looking out the tent door to see Pumba staring right back at me. Or hearing the loud rumble of the hippos and finally realizing "there are hippos right outside our tent!" Or having to go pee but being trapped in your tent because the animals are surrounding it and not knowing if it's even safe to leave the tent!

TIA

2009-07-30T02:46:00.004-05:00

Waterfall at base of Mount Mulanje

Plans change a lot here. It's Africa. TIA (This Is Africa). It's cool, it happens, just go with the flow. Or atleast this is how I used to handle the lack of planning and bad timing. I've recently realized how much easier it was to deal with this when Mike (azungu project manager) was still here because he was good as explaining things to me so I knew what was going on at all times. This past week, I've noticed my 'impatience-o-meter' has almost maxed out. I'm on my own now with the WatSan guys which means I have to ask about 50 questions every hour just to know what's going on since plans...well, let's be honest: the word 'plan' is pretty much moot in Africa. Today was one crazy day.

-a 2 hour meeting turned into a 10 hour day
-20 people in a 10-seater vehicle
-19 people in the 10-seater vehicle are talking really loudly all at once for many of those 10 hours
-everyone in the truck needed to run an errand at a different location

It wasn't until I got home that I realized that I need more patience. It's only Wednesday and I'm already wondering how I'll survive the rest of the week...I NEED to be patient again when TIA days come. I came across this verse:

-- May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. -- Hebrews 13:20-21

My first reaction was "God, EQUIP me with patience...don't leave me hanging here! I can't handle this lack of sense of time and poor planning! Seriously, give me patience." And then I remembered that He already has equipped me with everything I need for doing his will. He's given me the best of everything I need. He's given me Himself. I just need to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), which is impossible to do in my own strength... hence how I've come to my last straw with being patient with TIA days.

I realize this post is quite different than my previous posts, but I'd be dishonest to portray that being in Malawi is ALWAYS fun and exciting... although (thankfully)...it is mostly AWESOME.

Atleast one collage uploaded...

2009-07-23T04:48:00.002-05:00

There's too much laughing going on over here!

2009-07-19T08:19:00.005-05:00

For some reason, I'm having trouble uploading pictures but TIA (this is Africa) so it's no big deal. I'll figure out a way to post pictures later.

So this blog is two lists. I've been having some serious writing block...must be the high altitude! No, but seriously...I can only seem to think in lists instead of sentences.

Things that make me happy in Malawi:

-being able to have 3 minutes of HOT water
-no matter how hard I scrub, my feet are permanently dirty
-CANDLES AND MATCHES
-being able to cook on the stove
-bananas
-being able to sleep until 8am (which has only happened once!)
-openly talking about bowel movements
-the mountains
-riding on the dirtbike and the back of the truck
-getting so close to babboons that you're scared
-drinking a fanta after a long hike
-the mass amounts of singing and dancing
-perfectly ripe papayas with lemon
-digging with a hoe
-lights
-the man with the massive gun at the bank to keep you safe
-getting a free extra scoop of kidney beans at the market
-last but NOT least...NALI HOT SAUCE!!!

You know you're having a good laugh when:

-you cant sit/stand up straight
-your gut is hurting
-your eyes start to water
-everything else seems funny
-you start gasping for air
-your face muscles start to hurt
-you feel like you've just burned a million calories

Week of July 5

2009-07-10T03:35:00.000-05:00

July 6 is Malawi Republic Day. So the Eggert family, Kristina, Jonny, and I went to Liwonde National Park. This is where we had a couple of elephant 'incidences'! Kristina and I took a boat tour where we saw up to 60 elephants together, a gazillion birds, tons of hippos, crocs, and various ungulates. It was a beautiful day.

The left side of this collage are a few pictures of me helping some women dig a shallow well. We were probably about 3 metres down and had already hit water. They were thrilled that I was in there with them. I looked up above me to find the village standing around the opening of the well singing and cheering. Nothing like digging a well with a hoe barefoot wearing a chitenje (piece of material as a skirt).

The centre picture is in the village of Wasi. I met this girl named Kathleen earlier this same week but when I returned yesterday...there were so many kids I couldn't remember which girl was Kathleen. The embarrassing part is that I thought I saw her and asked to take a picture with her....yeah...turned out she wasn't Kathleen. No wonder she was so confused when we tried to ask her in our broken Chichewa "are you Kathleen?". It didnt take long for the women to find the real Kathleen and bring her towards me. We're even wearing similar colours... and I think she looks like me too! (jj as jonny would say).

Babies are EVERYWHERE! But the funny thing is ... you hardly see pregnant women. Mysterious! Anyhow, the little girl in the top right picture... she definitely peed on me. Maybe she was nervous from having an azungu hold her for the first time!

Siblings Collecting Water

2009-06-30T08:05:00.001-05:00

Bargain Shopping

2009-06-27T07:00:00.004-05:00

Today, Kristina, Mary, and I went to the market to pick up a few things. I didn't think I would be good at bargaining so I was a bit nervous to see how it would all go down.
It went alright. We definitely had to bargain a better deal and at the end of it, we probably paid a bit more than we could have. We learnt a few lessons in the trade:

-First, you tell them a price
-When they laugh at you and tell you it's ridiculous, stay confident that you're being serious
-When they suggest a price that is ridiculously higher than what you offered, be firm and stick to your price
-Then start slowly putting up your price
-BUT...IMPORTANT: Before you start, have a price in mind that you're NOT willing to go over
-If you reach that max. price you've set in your mind and they still don't budge, put the item back and walk away
-Then they'll just say 'deal' and you get the price you want

I think it's important to bargain a little before just walking away. Also, it's a lot easier to bargain at the market when you're in a slightly bad mood or tired and annoyed...it makes the process easier because you have to be firm otherwise they'll just give you the most ridiculous prices.

I'm sure as the summer goes on, we'll become better skilled at this. Here are a few pictures of Lake Malawi.

Jaw-dropping scenery while kayaking on Lake Malawi

Bird watching on the beach!

Irony in Africa

2009-06-24T09:02:00.009-05:00

Today, at the well in one of the villages there were a bunch of men working to fix the well.

(This is part of the Water& Sanitation program... we teach them how to fix the wells so they know what to do next time it breaks and we're no longer around.) They had this make-shift radio which was picking up some sort of signal. All of a sudden, in English, I hear "This is Focus on the Family with Dr. Dobson". I thought that was pretty neat that here we are in the middle of nowhere, a group of people had a mish-mash of wires that gave them a radio, and here's Focus on the Family sounding loud and clear.

But what made this ironic was what the radio program was about. Dr. Dobson always talks about family/marriage/parenting type issues and the issue he was going to talk about today on this radio was the issue many parents have trying to get their kids to eat certain foods. I thought to myself "how ironic that this is playing here in Malawi where most of the kids are malnourished even though the harvest has just passed". These people are experiencing the complete opposite of this issue Dr. Dobson was about to discuss... they're not fighting with their kids to eat food, they're fighting to get food to eat.

Another twist to this topic is that last night, Kristina and I went to eat dinner with one of the EI staff members and his family. He's been working for EI for a long long time. He's a local Malawian and told us that when he grew up (even though they appear to be 'well off' now), he's still very thankful for any food that's in front of him. He said 'any food to eat is a blessing and I'm just so thankful for it'. Then we get to the dinner table and one of his sons is missing. We ask where he is and they tell us that they're having trouble getting him to eat! He's only 6 years old and he's been saying stuff like "I wish I was Canadian so I can eat whatever I want to eat" and "Mommy, I want my skin to be white like a Canadian, can Jesus make my skin white?" I was shocked to hear this.

I guess this is our sinful ways of coveting what other people have and not being thankful for what we DO have. And it happens even here in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries. Those who don't have food are thankful yet those who do have food want different food!

Hearing Dr. Dobson mention the issue of parents fighting with their kids to eat while standing next to kids who are hungry with noticeable malnourished stomachs and also hearing a kid say something like 'I wish I was Canadian so that I could...' has definitely been a big kick in the shins and a pull at the heart strings.

What you never hear about Africa...

2009-06-19T13:41:00.011-05:00

Welcome to Malawi!

I've been in Malawi for 8 days, yet it feels like a lot longer just because a lot has happened in the past 8 days. Went to a weekend retreat with some missionaries here, visited 'the field' ie. the villages where the water projects are happening, Kristina arrived, and had scattered bits of orientation, and now...already the end of the week. We are planning a trip to Lake Malawi for the weekend.

Okay..so here's the REAL post! I haven't really internalized/externalized everything here yet. I guess the first week has been overwhelming that nothing has really phased me yet...except for the cold..which I'll discuss later. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not...but I've really been looking past the fact that I'm currently sitting in one of the world's 10 poorest countries. Part of me thought I should be torn and sad for the people here...yet even when I was visiting the villages, it wasn't bothering me at all that the kids were dirty, smelly, wearing torn clothing, and had no shoes. At first, I thought I was just cold-hearted...but I think something great came from not focusing on the poverty and stench.

The good thing of looking past this fact of life was that I was meeting people who were happy. I know most are suffering but it was easy to see the joy they had. And not just the kids! It's easy to make hundreds of kids happy when you're an 'azungu' (white person)...you just whip out your camera and they'll just come running from miles away! I got to go through a community who has really taken initiative in the sanitaiton and hygiene training that the Water & Sanitation project has delivered. They made dish drying racks (so the dishes weren't drying on the ground):
They made 'bathrooms' with toilet pits (instead of just going just anywhere), they've planted a fruit tree once the pit got filled and they moved the 'bathroom' to another location. They set up 'hand washing stations':

This village in particular still gets there water from here:
So...we're in the process of selecting a location to dig a shallow well for this village. This is only one village! But not all villages are like this one. There is lots going on all at once. Some villages, they're fixing up existing wells and others digging new wells. However, in all communities, there is training on hygiene and sanitation. Very very very important!!

It was great to see the results of the project that is still ongoing in so many other villages.

I have a lot of thoughts on the success of missions in Africa...but I'll save that for another post.

On a lighter note... here I am chomping on a stick of sugar cane! I had to peel it with my teeth (which was really difficult!) and then suck the sweetness out of the wood-like plant.

And lastly... I'll let you in on a little surprise or secret. It's actually pretty cold here! It's 'winter' here (opposite hemisphere) and we're at quite a high altitude in Zomba so I've been wearing sweaters and pants..wish I had brought more with me! In the picture of me above, I was in a village at a lower altitude and it was sunny and warm that day! Otherwize..it's been quite cold. Again, the lake is lower so we're hoping to catch some warm 'summer' weather. You'd never expect to come to Africa and freeze! My first foot into Africa was in South Africa and it was pouring rain and extremely cold (probably 5 degrees). Not exactly the first impression I was expecting!

I'll try and post again soon. Until next time.

Down is the tube

2009-06-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

And I'm off to Malawi! Or rather, "I'm in transit, darling" as the British would say. I am currently in London and was really hoping to be touring through central London today... but alas, the UK border people gave me the bad news. The tube (subway) is on strike until tomorrow night. Just great! I managed to find another way to get to central London so that I could either hop on a tour or just navigate through the city at my own pace for the day. But then, all my hopes of seeing London today crashed. The cost of the special train to get near central London where a tour would start was out of this world expensive. And the tour wouldn't have been worth it because I would have been sitting on a bus all day (because the boat tour and walking tours wouldnt be so happy in the cold POURING rain). I decided to buy some internet time so that I could see what else I could do and then my battery started to die so I look for a plug in... sheesh! Why does everyone have to be so different?! Seriously! So then I HAVE to get some UK currency (pounds) to buy a converter for the computer and that's when I learnt how little value our money has here. It's actually quite gross. When you look at the numbers...things seem reasonably priced...except there's a pound symbol instead of a dollar sign $...which means you practically have to double the price. I guess London will have to wait until I'm old and have more money and with people (to make looking at old buildings and clock towers and bridges more exciting!).

The flight to London, however was quite enjoyable. I have flown a lot and this was by far the smoothest ride yet.

Malawi!

2009-05-26T14:09:00.017-05:00

In 14 sleeps, I am on my way up a mountain in the small country of Malawi in the south-eastern part of Africa! I'll be serving with Emmanuel International (http://www.e-i.org/index.html) for 3 months doing a water sanitation project.

I have finally come to the point where I am excited about going to Malawi. A lot of people thought it'd be a no-brainer for me because I have the opportunity to travel and work in Africa...I mean, who WOULDNT want to do that? Well, surprise surprise, I didn't want to! Don't get me wrong, I joined the Engineering Faculty to get people water (and to treat wastewater) and I love seeing new areas, but when the opportunity came to do a water sanitation project in the poor country of Malawi... I was terrified! Living in a third world country again, not understanding the language, living in 'unique' conditions wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend my summer.

But God is active! Seriously! I couldn't even slip under the radar!

God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh. Jonah didnt want to. Jonah decided not to go and ran. God got a fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah obeyed. Fish spat Jonah out. Jonah went to Nineveh.

I'm very thankful my friend Liz said to me: “Be obedient, Kathleen, it's better for you to willingly go as opposed to God dragging you in a whale's belly to do so”.

God told Kathleen to go to Malawi. Kathleen didn't want to. God got a friend named Liz to remind me of Jonah so that I didnt have to be swallowed by a fish. Kathleen obeyed. Kathleen going to Malawi. Kathleen excited about Malawi!

Lesson learned: I always thought that if God wanted you to do something or go somewhere, He would put that desire on your heart, and then you would know. But this past term, I learnt something big. In the past when I've felt God call me to do something (like go to China, go into Engineering, etc), God had put a desire in my heart to WANT to do these things, which made being obedient 'easier'. Question: when God doesnt give you the desire to do what He wants you to do... will you do it? God taught me that the whole of obedience is following Christ despite the cost. He might call you to do dirty work, to go to parts of the world that you don't want to go to, to befriend someone you dont like... whatever the call, the best and safest place to be is where God wants you and the best thing to do is what God wants you to do.

While I was struggling with being obedient and going to Malawi, I remember telling myself "If I'm going to go all the way to Africa, God better teach me something big this summer!". God is good. He's already taught me something huge that I needed to learn, and I'm still in Canada!

So friends, I'm going to Malawi! I am due to fly out June 9 and return in early September. I am still raising support.

Please check out Emmanuel International's website: http://www.e-i.org/index.html, and if you would like to donate, you can go to: http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=d17895and just click on Kathleen Jarvis (Malawi) under the 'funds designation' section!

Thanks so much. I'll do my best to update this blog throughout the summer!

Aye A Captain EH!

2009-02-28T17:44:00.004-06:00

I should have/could have/would have posted sooner, but I need a good procrastinating catalyst for Chemistry right now, and this seems to be a good venue.

So... an update eh? There you go Americans, I SAID EH! Sheesh! In the past few months, I've been down in the good ol' U.S. of A. twice (to visit an awesome American!) and have been in contact with many Americans over the phone while searching for jobs in between. I have had this exact exchange with 4 different Americans:

US dude: Where are you from?
me: Canada
US dude: Really?!
me: yes, really.
US dude: But...but you don't have a Canadian accent!

Finally I built up enough courage to just say "Listen! What do you Americans think we Canadians sound like?"! And the only answer I got was "Well, you don't say EH". Wow... intelligent.

To further this topic on Americans and the US. I thought I'd share about some recent struggles in crossing the border. In November, the customs man escorted me into THE 'room'. The room that is full of American paraphernalia and has the sign "you are on camera, everything is being recorded, cellphones prohibited, just shut up and know that we are the boss." (Okay, not quite those words, but almost). So I got put into that room with a big scary lady in uniform who pounded me with questions. 30 minutes later, when I whipped out my return ticket and made it super clear ie. 'Look lady, I'm only going for a week, and NO I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED!', she then finally let me go.

So, trip no. 2. I had very little sleep so I was just hoping I wouldn't be grilled again because I could hardly form sentences. Thankfully I made it throug immigration fine. Then onto customs:

US: Why are you going to Texas?
me: To visit my friend.
US: Is your friend American or Canadian?
me: They have both citizenships (note: gender neutral)
US: What do you do for work?
me: I'm a student, I'm studying Engineering
US: Yeah, okay, you're going to have to go through that room and get your luggage to go through the extra xray machine.

What! What did I say wrong! How did she know I had white powder in a baggie in my backpack?! Anyhow, so on I go through the 'special luggage check' room. They make me unpack all my luggage. They find the white powder substance (which is actually just gluten free flour) and all three customs dudes (with excitment) 'Ooooh...what do we have here!' Thankfully when they saw the other gluten free food they believed me that it was just baking flour!

Despite the hassle of crossing the border. Texas was amazing! Below are some pictures!

Cacti fun!Kissing the bamboo on the bamboo trail!

The All-time Fat Kid

2008-12-10T18:13:00.002-06:00

This blog post is dedicated to my roommate here in Hull. She is also from Waterloo and I am happy to have the chance to meet such an interesting person! When I first moved in, Cory followed me to my room as I tried moving in my stuff and she hasn't stopped talking since! Just kidding. But in all seriousness, I am very thankful to have a cool roommate who is very social, loves to cook (and even pack great lunches!), and who is excited about having 10 kids! Getting to know Cory this past term, I quickly learnt that she is a true "fat kid"... she's a small Chinese girl who would make your mother proud! Here are some the things that she's said which is why she can wear the 'fat kid crown'.

-"Our director brought in danishes, the lemon filling was so good, I just ate the filling!"

-"When I was younger, I didn't like almonds so I would just lick the honey off them!"

-(Looking at shepherd's pie I made) "Mmm, I'm going to make gravy and smother it with gravy to eat it!"

-"Ooh! I'm going to make a stuffing and gravy sandwich!"

-(When Cory decided to walk home with me one night after work) "Kathleen, pull me, I need to gain some momentum!!!"

There is still a week and a half left in the term, so I am interested to see what other fat kid comments arise!

I hate Solitaire

2008-12-07T14:00:00.007-06:00

The beautiful Northern Skies

Well friends, it's been long overdue. Since the last post of braving the Northern frontier, I have returned to the South, did the school thing, and then moved to the gross valley of Ottawa/Hull for another work term.

I'm working for the Federal Government (Indian and Northern Affairs)... so it's been really challenging beating my high score in Solitaire and keeping up on all the internet news and gossip. I've even taken up smoking because the job is just too stressful. Seriously, I need to take a ten minute smoke break every hour just to handle the stress of sitting for 7.5 hours a day!

Okay, all kidding aside (and no, I haven't taken up smoking, so for those who are already half done writing me a 'why you should quit smoking' email... you can stop), there are groups of the government who actually work hard. I have to say that I admire certain members of my group for their hard work. As for me, I was left with a stack of papers, the internet, and the task of writing a paper. So to be fair, it has actually been challenging. Some days have been extremely boring and the bureaucracy that comes along with being a "public servant" makes me shake my head. I wanted this blog post to be about the ridiculousness of the government (moreso working for the government) and of Ottawa in general.

1. My lights in my little closet of an office would shut off automatically sometimes, so I went to ask our admin. dude who I should call to get my lights working again. He handed me a paper with a 1-800 number on it!! I called this 1-800 number and got some lady who was probably at some call center in another city. She asked me what my name was, where I was calling from, the address I was at, and what exactly the problem was. I was like "Umm, yeah, my lights dont work, just tell me where I can find another bulb and I'll do it myself!" She asked me if I wanted a confirmation number for this 'service request'...I felt like saying "Listen lady, I dont understand why I need to call a call-centre in India just to get my bulb changed...so no, I dont need a confirmation number, I just need a light bulb"!

2. The great thing about the government being prorogued is that now we're all on vacation! Just kidding. Yeah, that puts a bit of a damper on things seeing as no one is willing to sign anything, and no one is able to plead for more money, because again... no one will sign the dotted line. And apparently budget is tight... as in, some departments have zero money left, that they're literally counting pennies. I heard they even discussed that they wouldn't be able to serve muffins at this conference while discussing the budget because they needed to save all the nickels and pennies they could!

3. Ottawa is a gross place. I know, I know, you'll tell me I'm crazy and wonder how I possibly can't love this city. Well... it's possible! As you know, there are about 5 or 6 bridges that cross over between Ottawa and the Quebec side. One of the smallest bridges was said to be unsafe so they recently closed it down for an indeterminate amount of time. Well, well, well... I'd have to say that there was CHAOS in the Ottawa area that first morning, and even for the first few days afterwards. It was amazing how people couldn't function because one bridge was out of use. There were police officers trying to control traffic and pedestrians who got so impatient, that they just walked. Herds of people all rushing to their jobs, probably rushing to that cushy government office of theirs. It is ridiculous.

4. The most popular thing to do in Ottawa I'd have to say (from what I see) is get a tattoo and eat a shwarma and possibly even get arrested at the Rideau Centre bus stop.

Well friends, the list will end there. I will try and keep blogging some more :)

The pictures from the Northwest Territories. I went up in October again to do some research and remediate an old gold mine that is leaking diesel everywhere.

At the Iqualuit Airport on Nunavut's Baffin Island

I even learnt how to operate a back-hoe!

True Engineer Fashion. On Steeves Lake, NWT. In October while it was snowing!

Into the Wild: NWT Edition

2008-03-09T15:37:00.005-05:00

HIYA! So this is our 'Into the Wild' Yellowknife Edition! Just kidding!
We set out to Cameron Falls just East of YK.... which is probably a 30-40 foot waterfall. The waterfall doesn't completely freeze over however a thick ice layer freezes on top of the running water. Alright, lets make an equation here... you have a half frozen waterfall, rushing water at the bottom, nice sunny day, a crazy person along with a half-crazy person... you would have done it too... I know you're thinking it! Of course SLIDE DOWN THE WATERFALL and OF COURSE try drinking from the clean, cold, and rushing water at the bottom!

Ah! Such a great experience! As soon as I saw the water, my plan was to slide down the waterfall, lie flat on my stomach and slurp up the water flowing by. I had tried at a different location and my foot fell through the ice. It was sort of a close call, however I knew this could work. So then I found this ice...which looked a bit thicker... and it worked! The trick was to not SLIDE into the water as this ice shelf seemed to to be on a slight angle downwards.

See! This is the fun of living in the NWT: every step outside could be the next new adventure!

Welcome to the Arctic Tundra!

2008-03-05T11:12:00.005-06:00

Aksutik everyone! Qanuippit? (Hello and how are you in the Inuit Inuktitut language)

Ever wonder what walking on the moon would be like? Okay, so maybe being on the Arctic Tundra isn't quite like the moon but it is so oddly different... I felt like I was on a different planet! It's for real: the tundra has no trees. It is covered by small shrubs and rocks. You can hardly distinguish the difference between lake and land in the winter time. There are no roads to this small camp, only an ice airstrip. Some of the people are very bizarre. Life is work for atleast 3-4 weeks straight. Sun rises and sun sets are equally as beautiful on the tundra as they are over the ocean. The stars are 10 times brighter. The northern lights are far easier to see. A chateau/hotel is a ply-wood box mounted together. All this simply for a mineral that is stored in excess. Yes, diamonds. If you don't already know... YOUR DIAMONDS ARENT WORTH WHAT YOU'RE PAYING FOR THEM!! Hate to break it to you sister but there are so many diamonds getting pumped and crushed out of these beautiful northern lands, that they are sitting in storage! Sitting in storage awaiting some form of 'Chinese revolution' where all of a sudden Chinese people are interested in buying real diamonds! As for now however, they sit in storage to maintain their value. It is all so ridiculous to me. And besides... wooden rings are much more unique and way cooler!

Working in the Tundra was fun. We woke up before the sun did, spent MANY minutes trying to get the snowmachines working, gathered our gear and set out for the day! Once we got to our location on the lake, we'd drill a hole, set up a tiny tent, then do a whack of dissolved oxygen testing and then collect water samples.

Tundra highlights include:

getting air on the skidoos from flying fast off the snow drifts
peeing in the wide open tundra
seeing 4 willow ptarmigans
watching the northern lights and seeing the little dipper (along with many other constellations)
eating combinations of mystery meat
flying over land with trees.... and then land without trees

Well friends, as I've mentioned before... life in the North is nothing but fun, cold, oddities, adventure, and lots of love!

2008-02-24T22:56:00.003-06:00

I hardly know what to update anymore because all I ever want to update is 'Woohooo, I love Yellowknife! Come visit Yellowknife, you'll love it!'

Well my friends, the days have gotten much longer and the sun here shines like nowhere else! The sky is so blue, the sun is so intense, and the snow is so WHITE!

Natalie came to visit and it was so great! It was awesome to hang out, share in some good talks, cooking, laughing, and spending time in the snow. I love that there is just so much to do here. Every weekend, there are new places to go hiking, new sites to see, and more sun to enjoy!
This video was when Natalie and I found this awesome place near the Ingarham Trail. A nice steep hill to try climbing and sliding down was the best!

This weekend, on Saturday I went hiking on the Prospector's Trail. It was amazingly beautiful! At the end of it, I just laid in the snow and watched the blue sky. It was great until the ravens started circling me, then I thought I should get up before they dive-bombed me!
Today, Jess and I went skiing after church. Wow. Okay, so I used to ski a lot last winter... it was my job to ski (I know... great job eh!). However, it was VERY apparent that I hadn't been skiing in a whole year! There was a lot of uphills and my skate-skiing abilities were very weak. I was trying to run up the hills, however the wax job on the skis weren't that great. So, overall I realized that I need to get out skiing more. I really need the practice!

This week, I am heading to the Tundra to snowmobile to different parts of a lake, drill some holes in the ice, and collect water samples. I will definitely update on that upon my return!

Peace and Love my friends.

ROAD TRIP!

2008-02-09T19:05:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the highways of the Northwest Territories.

Another reason why I love Yellowknife: it's beautiful!

I started house-sitting this week and I love it! It's great to have my own place and have a set of wheels. It is so great. Today I went on a nice drive to check out the area outside of Yellowknife. I found many old mine sites, many rock outcrops, and just a lot of nice snow, trees, rocks, and beautiful blue skies. I wish I had brought a pair of snowshoes with me today because it was a perfect day to be outside: sunny, in the 30's, aaak! Couldn't have asked for a better day!

Well friends, I really hope that one day you all could come to the NWT! It is so awesome here!

Peace and Love always.

Just Another Day in Paradise

2008-01-26T18:35:00.000-06:00

So, it's Saturday! And because I'm in an office during the weekdays, Saturdays are my chance to get some good sun-time/outside-time. This movie clip is a good prelude to what I will call my 'January 26th adventure'.

There is currently a wind chill warning, where the temperature has dropped to -50 degrees Celsius . After choosing the 'insane' route of walking across the wide open lake in such winds, I decided to walk the trails home. There are many nice trails around Yellowknife. Speaking of which, I went into a store today to check out some snowshoes, and I almost walked out with a mountain bike... eep! Having to look for a new bike is very hard... you may not understand unless you're a bike person... but it just brings back so many good memories that you had with your lost bike, and all you want to do is buy the exact same bike. Unfortunately, models change.
Despite the harsh cold I had just walked through, hearing about Yellowknife's summer and talking bikes again made me want to stay in Yellowknife for the summer. No worries kids, I must return to Waterloo for school. So there will be no mountain bike races and triathlons in the NWT or marathons in Alaska this summer, perhaps next!

Okay... so back to the adventure. The reason I am calling this an 'adventure' is because it adds a positive spin to a very rough time. However at one point, I did feel like an explorer. Exploring the frontier, trudging to the promised arctic barren lands with my dog team and sled, and standing on high land ready to take on the next leg of the dangerous journey! Let me dream!

On my way back, I decided to hike the trails. The wind was still very intense and the trees didn't seem to protect me. At one point, I had lost sight of the trail and found myself trying to walk through snow that was as deep as my waist... no exaggeration. The snow was so heavy that it had lifted up my snow pants and pants... so that my bare leg was right against the snow. I was stuck. There I was, stuck in extremely deep snow. The cold of the snow against my bare legs was stinging. I couldn't move as I couldn't push through the heavy snow. My eyes were leaking from the wind, and at this point, tears were also coming and of course...freezing to my face. As I wiped my face with my mitten, the cold stiff mitt material felt like it was cutting. At one point, I thought maybe I should take a picture of this..or video document it, but taking my hands out of my mittens to handle the camera would have been a very bad idea!

I prayed that God would give me the strength to move and little by little, I finally found my way back to the trail. The entire time home, the winds continued to blow snow at your face making it impossible to see, and I couldn't help but just cry! And although I was crying, in my head I just thought 'Welcome to Yellowknife Kathleen, you are Canadian, you can handle this!'

Well, I made it home alive and didn't lose any limbs! I learnt what it was to be truly COLD and the pain that comes along with it. There is always an adventure to be had and I love it!

Peace and Love my Friends

2008-01-10T21:35:00.000-06:00

I haven't updated in a while, and I don't know if anyone still reads or checks this blog. And as per request from Karwai... here is my update for now! Just to get the ball rolling again... here's to you Karwok!

This is Karwai. I like to call him Karwok. He is breaking into my house!

This is more Karwok back in first year!

And again... more Karwai... this time in 3rd year! Oh, how we've matured!

This is Karwai again. Also posing with us is our friend Simon. He's also Chinese!

Well folks, when I gather something more to write, I will update again!

Peace and Love always,

Kathleen

snakes brakes and these wheels keep on turning

2007-04-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

My big brother and me!

This picture has two-fold purpose. 1:pretty sure my brother and I are leaning over the edge of a small mountain which is exciting and 2: my asian way of posing for the picture represents my Japanese ways of living right now... ie. there's an absence of furniture in my room!

I've been learning a lot lately... about God, patience, trust, and plans.

My heart ached again tonight as I was reminded just how there are entire nations of people who will never hear the awesome news that Jesus Christ came to save them. There are so many little alcoves of communities deep into the mountains, far into the deserts that could continue to exist: people being born, being raised, starting families, dying... BANG and never, not even ever hearing the Gospel. That almost brings me to tears and my heart skips a beat.

Not only does that bring me to my feet and cause me to want to GO... but remember Piper, 'Missions exist because worship doesn't'. The result of worship is missions and GOD DESERVES TO BE WORSHIPPED to the ends of the earth! I learnt that its way more about God as an act of worship... to go... so that eventually every nation will be bowing down to Christ our King praising God for who He is!

So because of all this, I've been resting. Oxymoronic don't you think?! But really, because of this whole program switch, there has been huge amount of worry and anxiety (like I've never experienced before) which is dumb, but it's there. So now I'm resting in knowing that ... really... although God cares about all the details of our life, He has a MUCH greater story and cool enough, He wants YOU AND ME to be in it! When I'm looking at how short our time is here on earth and trying to grasp the big picture... the big story that God has intended for us, I am quickly at peace knowing that my purpose is far greater than 'kathleen lived to save the trees' or 'kathleen exists to build wetlands and oodle over birds'!

'But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.' Phillipians 3:14

ne hun cool

2007-03-14T21:54:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Ottawa: the Rideau Canal... skating through the slush was far from easy, but the experience of being able to skate and not have to go in ovals was nifty! It may look like I'm pouting...that's because I am! It was so hard to skate on the slush, your skates would sink in...then you'd fly foward. But...we skated until we saw this...the Parliament Building!

Overall, trip to Kingston and Ottawa was grand and it was AMAZING to hang out with the one and only Alison Ma and the uber super Erin Marn! It was a great to be with project people again. Remember how on project, we'd pray before, during, after everything, we'd grab someone and pray with them at random times for any random thing? I miss that, and being with these girls reminded me of those times. I guess living and working with a bundle of non-Christians makes it difficult to pray with people...aaak oh Co-op!

Speaking of co-op...here is my brief update on that: I'm actually starting to enjoy my co-op placement. I'm starting to really love working with kids and I'm getting back into my 'I'm so in love with outside and the natural world that I can just scream because I love outside THAT much'.

Here is a picture of one of the first groups that I worked with. This is at one of the cabins that we hiked to (at the time there wasn't enough snow to ski or snowshoe) to have our 'famous cook-out lunches'...oh hot dogs. This past week, I had the chance to work with a highschool group. They were a group of students who ranged from being a natural leader to kids who could barely tie their own shoes. They had many different disabilities. I LOVED THEM! They were an amazing group to work with. Working with groups like that is so much more rewarding. Some of the kids were only a year younger than I was...luckily they didn't know my age...but they still called me Miss Kathleen...aaak! They also gave me the nickname 'green grape' but still called me Miss Green Grape...aaak I felt so old!

I've been able to stay up a little later than 9pm while working lately...so I've been hanging out with the other teachers and interns. We went sliding one night in snow that was as deep as my waist! We've also been night skiing quite a bit..which is amazing because you can actually get a good ski in when skiing with adults instead of kids! The whole skiing at night is rather interesting, trees seem to be closer than they appear when it's dark, and downhills seem more exciting! One night, we stopped in the middle of the bush to call for wolves and barred owls... we didn't get a response from the wolves, however we heard the owls!!! We also saw some fresh wolf tracks AND moose tracks..which makes me gander that wolves were chasing moose!

And indeed they were! I did not take this picture...althought it would have been the most exciting thing to see! It was sent to me, a friend of a friend was moose hunting from a platform in trees and was able to catch this on his camera! A pack of wolves that took down a moose and are now about to start chowing down...incredible!

Lots has seemed to have happened..pardon the horrible grammar. I love being out in the bush again...aaak... it reminds me of all my time spent outside before...and I'm hoping I can spend this summer outside! One night, we were out on a night walk with the kids...and as I was looking at the stars...I had this weird feeling, I got really excited and aaaak... all this beauty is just here to marvel at. I can't really explain it...but let's just say that I LOVE OUTSIDE!

This term has been going by pretty fast and I still feel like I'm all over the board. It has been a huge stretch in terms of trusting God this term. ie. not knowing whether I'll be in school, working..and if working..where I'll be working this summer has more than once caused me to worry. It seems so 'up in the air' still, but thankfully my parents have been constantly reminding me that I have to surrender my whole life to God, including school! God is so good. I love the freedom we have in Jesus!

OH OH OH OH... so I've been praying for my co-workers in terms of asking for an opportunity to share with them about Jesus: the love of my life... and just recently I feel like doors have been opening with a couple of the other interns! I keep praying that God will use me somehow. I need to keep praying for boldness and I need to pray more expectantly.

ANOTHER EXCITING THING: hearing about where people are going on projects! woohooo! Oh and for those asking: I'm not going on a project this summer....booo, but yay for my brother getting married! The wedding is in mid-May...right smack during all projects. I want to be a 'go-er', but this summer...I guess I'll be a 'sender'...so send those letters my way!

So...wow for an incredibly long post once again. Here are my last few words: smile, go outside, remember your first love (yeah JESUS...and yeah Blue Bronna!), and go love people and tell them about knowing God!

Peace and Love my friends.

a skippity hop

2007-01-18T21:01:00.000-06:00

Christmas break: always a hike up the 'mountain' behind my place. Notice the lack of snow...so sad! The guy in the picture is from South Africa who was visiting... we were showing him how it was safe to walk on the beaver dam!

WORTHY! Winter Conference '06! This is where our feet set off the hotel's security alarms, and people came to see 'who was stuck in the waterfalls'... oops, we'll know for next time not to try and wade in the designer ponds in the Sheraton's courtyard!

AND this picture: us who roomed together! 3 AMAZING people, who I had so much fun hanging out with! Meg, moi, Karen, and you all know Katrina! Way to go Katrina for representing the European continent... the rest of us... yeah we stuck with Asia... can't go wrong with Asia! This was at our SUPER DUPER FUN New Years Eve Party... lots of dancing, lots of singing... and lots of fire alarm beeping!

And because I'm having issues with posting pictures in between text on this blogging thing...I won't post a picture of my co-op place this time. In a nutshell: co-op is very different. I'm running around with kids all day, going on hikes, skiing, making sure they don't get lost in the bush when they try and orienteer themselves around...that sort of thing. Unfortunately...my experience working with kids is nill...so that is a bit of a challenge. Also working 8days straight, with over 30 11-year olds for 13hours/day... is a bit exhausting, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

It's neat to be back in the bush again...I was a bit worried that I would have lost a bit of my love 'for the wilderness'...but I haven't! I enjoy it at times... except the birding hasn't been all that great since the kids aren't interested in birds...and I spend a lot of time teaching them how to walk in the bush, how to use the snowshoes properly, picking up their mittens, dealing with the kid who pees their pants, and finally allowing them to use the washroom after they ask me. Since when did I get myself into a position where people ask me if they can go pee? It's very strange for sure. The kids have no idea that I'm actually just a random co-op intern who barely knows what they're doing. Being in a 'teacher' position is not that great... it's for sure more challenging then I expected... but still pretty fun to be outside!

Oh.. funny things some of the kids say: a couple of girls talked about furniture and how you need the right mattress for certain spinal conditions....they're 11. One girl gave me the attitude that she coudln't go outside to wait because leaving her friend was 'totally against friend policy'. One of the dinners...I found myself sitting with all of the epipen kids for their various food allergies... aaak.. that was a bit scary trying to manage 10 kids and what they were eating, what they could eat and couldn't eat!

I've been challenged lately with simply just being away from Waterloo, away from C4C, a whack of Christian friends, prayer meetings, class... I was expecting it to be a lot more difficult to be disciplined in having quiet times...but it hasn't been so bad. Praying throughout the day is a challenge, and I'm finding it so easy to get discouraged. I've been praying daily for my co-workers that God would provide opportunities to have spiritual conversations, or that I would be able to share the Gospel... and it seems like the soil is so tough.. but I just started, I still have more time there, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's all in God's timing. I trust that He will use me regardless if I share my faith or not... I'm at this co-op job for a far greater reason than just skiing with kids through the bush. Man... what a great reward to know Christ. I am His and He is mine.

For those of you Waterloo-ers who were at Eastern WinterCon., I shared how I had realized that I really need to love the Christians in my hometown, in my church... and how challenging that was to love them. Well... I forced myself to go to the C&C Bible Study tonight...and you know... it wasn't that bad. My mom reminded me the other night how we really need to truly forgive people and be more full of grace. I was struggling with some of these C&C people for I know how they act sometimes (and it is definately not God-honouring)... and it almost upset me that they would go on pretending like nothing ever happened. I then realized how stupid that was...and for all the stupid things that I've done and how by God's grace, He's forgiven me...so why coudln't He forgive them just the same? Who knows what I was thinking. I guess I was expecting them to come clean about things more publicly and let it out and say: 'I was wrong, I've sinned, I've repented, please help me by holding me accountable to such and such'. By not doing this, I feel like they're just not taking their sins seriously...maybe...is it necessary to be public about it...I guess not, so I guess I shouldn't expect it.

WOAH BEAR! Did that make sense?! Okay folks, I am out to work on some more Calculus... and just to forewarn you a bit...(I'm slightly getting hooked to it...and almost addicted to completing the lessons that I have to do....shhh....I'm hoping it doesn't become too extreme where Kathleen becomes full blown whacked out crazy... please pray!)

Remember....DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE! Oh Piper!

--Peace and Love--

what? it's Sarturday?!

2006-12-23T22:15:00.000-06:00

Okay. Get right to it: you know it... I'm naive. At one point during the exam period, I found myself studying with a handful of boys. So 1. I was gaining knowledge in what I was studying for exams, 2. I learnt a lot about boys, and 3. I gained more appreciation for the friends I have made in Waterloo.
Firstly and quickly, as I was writing my last official exam...it hit me. This was possibly my last opportunity to be able to write a lame exam about striving for a sustainable campus. Recycle, don't shoot beavers, eat lots of rare vegetables, wear wool socks, bike everywhere, and stay optimistic about saving the planet... all these and you will make the perfect ES student. Okay, so maybe I fit all of these, but regardless... I am praying that I won't have to be in ES anymore and that Eng. will be a huge open door in September!
Secondly: boys. This section goes out to you Nicole... for those TWO 'top-bunk/ice-tea/popcorn' talks that we had this summer... here are my contributions! I was going to have a whole blog post on 'Kathleen's take on Boys 101'... but I thought I'd just share a bit of what I've learnt. Feel free to rebuttle any of these 'ideas'. So... appently there is a bell shaped curve on a graph with the x-axis labelled 'length of time you've known the person' and the y-axis is labelled 'ease of asking person out'. APPARENTLY! With this... that means there is a 'peak moment' where it is the easiest to ask someone out... what the heck?! I also learnt that for guys... status is huge, the need to have a girl be attracted to them or like them is also huge. I don't mean this to seem 'boy-belittling' because we sure have our own weaknesses... it's just something I never really knew or picked up on. And that is my extent to 'boy talk'... call it weak or naive if you want.
Speaking of naivety... don't make fun of those of us who are! I'm hoping that one day...being naive will be a positive thing!

OKAY... so THIRDLY! (no smooth transition...always just change the topic when you're uncomfortable or in a situation where you don't know much about a particular topic!)
I got home late Thursday night. Spent most of the day Friday in town partly pouting because my mom and sister dragged me out shopping....pffff...HATE SHOPPING, but at the same time I ended up running into MANY people I knew! No surprise of course. I also got to see some old teachers. Going back to my highschool is so weird. Teachers never change.. just the students who fill the halls. I went out Friday night (and I was 'good' ie. I didn't spend a dime...uhhh yeah!). The 3 girls that I went with ... aaak, hadn't seen them in atleast a year still knew me well enough to know that I'd be WAY TOO BUSY seeing everyone to dance. In a nutshell, ended up going to 3 different bars (all in the 2 small towns beside new liskeard)....and yes that sounds ridiculous. SIDE NOTE: small town, everyone is out at these bars, which makes for a very easy way to see all the people you want to see. Surprisingly I was actually excited to see all these people again. I got a lot of 'Kathleen, where have you been... it's been like 3 years'. That is when I realized how removed I've been. The whole scene just made me laugh. Picture this: everyone you know aged 19-30 at one tavern/sketch old hotel. At one point during the night, I thought of what it would be like if some of my friends from Waterloo were with me... I'm not sure if they would be shocked or just think the whole thing is really hilarious: knowing 80% of the people there, everyone coming up to you freaking out because they haven't seen you yet, many hugs left right and center, trying to dodge the 3 local creepy old guys, and whether the people are younger or 10 years older, you're buddy buddy regardless. I would love to bring someone to my hometown!
I appreciate the bigger city for many reasons, but coming back home does make me smile for its oddities (if that's a word!).
Well folks, only a few more sleeps until Winter Conference....eeeeeee!!! Another post about my 'learnings/realizations'.... they come to me slowly.... but they're coming!

'Marshy Marshy'

2006-12-03T23:27:00.000-06:00

There you have it... muddy bike with extremely wet jeans and cold feet... a good day on my bike! Oh KONA.
Well beautiful people, lots happens (and I know that is horrible english...). I think I'll start with updating with what I can remember (again..more me no speak english right).

Event no. 1: Hit by a car. Riding my bike to school, car pulls in front of me, able to slow down but not enough, so I run into the car and leave two massive scratches along the side of it. The lady never stopped and I was able to get out of the whole ordeal without any injury... except the trauma of being terrified of cars and biking in traffic. After a few hours of shaking and a front wheel out of align... all is good my friends.

Event no. 2 : Two days later, in the midst of being an uber nerd and spending most of my time at the library working (including a Friday night---eww hate admitting that one) and having a lot of hard-tired hours of written work on my computer... it crashes. 'Okay God, is this a test? Breathe'! After working on another project, I had to figure this out. First things first: Praise God for going to UW. Next, I called some friends almost crying with shaky legs 'trying not to freak out'. After some confusion about computer lingo, a trip to the computer store, then more confusion... made a smart stop at the Institue (a guys C4C house)....where someone was able to fix it all! Now I have a new computer almost... they had to reinstall everything... and thankfully I didn't lose any of my files!

Event no. 3: Two days later again... uhh. I'm not sure I want to talk about this just yet.

Anyhow.. so this past week... possibly the most busiest week... but FUN! A huge group project for one of my classes ...man..was so much fun to work on. We essentially had a week to do a research project that should have been worked on all term. Interviews, surveys, research... we were able to get it all done. Way back, I had proposed the idea of researching the feasibility of having a marsh on campus to treat greywater of a building...and to my surprise, my group was excited about it and so we took it on! Let me just say...these girls were UBER amazing to work with. This 'group work' experience...oh my ... WONDERFUL! We set up our own 'office/printing shop' in the basement of one of the buildings on campus...and spent many late nights/early mornings there.

After completing papers, projects, finishing two courses this term... and after getting only 7 hours of sleep over a span of 3-4 days... I was almost sad it was over. It was hard to start sleeping again. I didn't want to stop.

Friday...it all hit me, reality set in. I had lost my grandpa earlier that week and I wasn't able to return home to be with my family. I was completely disconnected. Complete denial. I learnt how easy that is. How easy it is to remove yourself from uncomfortable things. But when things slow down again...man reality can be so painful sometimes. Despite being in temporary denial throughout the week... God pulled me through with everything. Such a great promise He has for us... in Jeremiah 29:11 --For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.--
God's love puts a smile on my face. The hope we have in Christ is exciting. And God's ways are clever.

People in my life, events that have happened, and the responsibilities I have... God uses these. They encourage me to draw nearer to Him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

So... I just realized that I may possibly not be back in Waterloo for another 8 months (except for visiting)...which is very sadenning (if that's a word...Olga?). Well...that's just a thought...I guess that means a bit more effort staying in touch with friends, and trusting God for these developped friendships...that they will continue.

Apologies for such a long post. A favorite: 'Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for it is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' --1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

--Peace and Love my Friends--

--Now There's the SKY--

2006-11-16T20:36:00.000-06:00

Wow... who knew that I'd be posting so frequently?! So here's the deal: this could, perhaps should be one of those mass emails that we love to send (sweet for still keeping in touch... I'm loving this guys!). This will probably be the most 'serious/perhaps mature' blog thing I've ever written... so for that creepy man from Dallas using his stolen computer in his trailer who Nicole warned us about, go polish your guns... and know that I may not have a gun..but my friend Nicole does, and she's a prairie girl!

Okay...for serious now. I think I've learnt many a lessons recently.

I apologize for making judgements. It will make sense after I explain... and to the one person who I feel like I've been unconsciously judging since the beginning of our friendship...eek... I'm an immature jerk who just woke up to a lot of things.

I feel like what I've learnt... I've learnt before but obviously didn't quite get it. I love God for being so persistent..and for disciplining us. I feel like I just got a kick in the shins...and I am most appreciative of it!

I've been putting relationships in boxes almost. I've been provided these 'suggestions' which I now see as rules almost...in terms of behaviour around people of the opposite sex. They are good things to keep in mind... I just have a question: How can you tell if the person who you are interested in is 'right behind you..or beside you as you keep your eyes set straight on God'? I took this all wrong. I took this as someone who not only has the same mission statement as I do... but someone who has the same vision as C4C does. With this and other things... I've realized how I've put C4C's mission above the one that God put on my heart earlier this summer. I've been comparing everything to C4C and have been questioning other organizations in terms of how people are growing within them.
I realize now that I would feel like I wasn't really doing anything..or that God wasn't using me if I wasn't going out sharing or essentially doing anything C4C-related. I recently learnt that God will use me in so many other areas...and has been ... which is exciting!
I lost grip of my boundaries with C4C... and I feel like I need to take a step back and get back on track with my relationship with God first and foremost. I got overwhelmed and busy doing ministry oriented things... that my personal time with God lacked... and my stillness to listen to God slacked. In return, I found myself seeking other people's advice for issues...and relationships. Not that this is bad... but FIRST... I should be seeking God and listening to God. I realized that these 'suggested ways of behaviour' can't define a relationship... and in turn I feel a bit like I've been judged for certain behaviour in these past couple of years... stupid little things really. After feeling like 'oh crap... i guess it was WRONG to share so much with someone'... I felt guilty and wanted to abide by all these 'rules' which would then equate to the most God-glorifying, Christ-centered relationship in existence. How foolish to think such a thing. People are people... not squares of a Rubiks cube that will fall into the perfect position after doing the special 'rubiks cube solving moves'.

So that whole thing was a mix of struggles with C4C combined with realizations of how people work...or moreso...how people are unpredictable, different, and uniquely made! I hope that made some sort of sense...

Despite my frustrations with C4C sometimes (mostly because of my inability to set boundaries with my involvement with it)... I can't stop praising God for who He is, for His promises and how He keeps them, and for His true love. I can't stop thanking God for C4C and how much it has challenged me in all areas of my walk with Him. He is my rock.

Peace and Love.

voila mes ami(e)s!

2006-11-09T11:50:00.000-06:00

Okie... yep...pretty random whack of pictures.

HOME! This is on top of a small mountain (a hill for you Westerners!) behind my house... notice the bit of logging happening. I had no idea until I went up there. It looks selective which is good I guess. On top here... you can guess why I love this place... (hint: hike, high, rock, green, sky, sun, trees, see, quiet, moss, BIRD)!

Back in Waterloo: I've been practicing the 'hair up-dos' with chopsticks! aha... we thought we'd promote OEX for our DG Leader Training Day at MAC?? Actually..we just had too much fun with them. Picture significance... As I wrote in the last post .. I was thinking perhaps Tanzania '07. After talking with some people about 'East Asian' culture... and after praying about where God wants me this summer, I feel like He's been stirring my heart for this part of the world. CRAZY! Tanzania is still more attractive by sight, but my heart is crying out for the Orient.

Waterloo Housemates in our amazing HALLWAY! Okay...so hallways are KEY to an appartment/house... so essential! Dance parties are so much more convenient! Oh... Zoe and Cheryl... it's such a great area to practice the 'mouth slightly ajar' pose!

WADE + ME + ERRYN! Brother + me + Future Sista Erryn!

Okie... so... most random blog entry, it's a steal, I know!
(Zoe, you need to teach me how to do these things properly... but you win at being most creatively random!)

I love you all!

the ultimate comeback

2006-10-29T14:06:00.000-06:00

So... since August 5th.. yikes. That is quite the time gap! I'm not sure if I'll continue this blog thing. I'm not sure if I'm fully into these things but because I love you guys... I guess it wont hurt to post a few times here and there!
In the greatest nutshell...
-Rocky Mountain Project ended
-I continued to live in Calgary until August 23rd
-I sadly left the city and co-workers
-Had an amazing road trip home (3 full days of driving) Erryn and I totally bonded!
-Home: fun and short
-Moved to Waterloo
-Hung out during frosh week with C4C people, met some first years, spoke at CONNECT!
-Started class, switched classes
-Began to get intensely busy it seemed
-Started leading prayer meetings on Fridays, emceeing CHARGE, and started our DG
-Started taking violin lessons again
-Discipleship Group: crazy time trying to get started..finally it did. Thank you God!
-Realized that my program is useless to me now: searching for something else
-Missing Calgary
-Co-op junk starts, continues, and finally just ended with a job in Huntsville
-Realized that I want to switch into Environmental Engineering... scary...sort of
-Confused... so many decisions
-Only a month left of classes, time has gone by way too fast
-Plan: winter in Huntsville (8 days on, 6 days off which =trip to Calgary and other fun places!)
-Again: miss Calgary
-Re-taking highschool courses (crazy, I know!)
-Because of program switch: free summer
-Thinking of Tanzania Project 2007!
-Feels like life is going too fast, trying to keep up!

OKIE DOKIE! That is the uber update! As for today and in the now, I keep wishing I had played hockey more competitively...when I was younger. Playing hockey and playing the bagpipes are two things that I really miss doing. I'm excited to start again..someday!
I chose the Huntsville job for co-op! This means 6 days off at a time (every 8 days) which will provide lots of opportunity to do some travelling. I'm really hoping to make it back to Calgary (not obvious at all that I'd want to return there!)...and I really want to make it to Vancouver...real bad! Vancouver is the last of Canada's major cities that I've been to (excluding the time I spent in Van at the airport ...for a total of like...3 minutes!).

Again, you are all beautiful people!
Peace and Love.

2006-08-05T15:34:00.000-05:00

Another summer...soon coming to a close... CRAZY!

The LESSON never ends!

2006-07-26T23:36:00.000-05:00

AAAK I really want to blog... but lately I haven't been able to get onto uwmissionaries.com blog.. because of password issues...I'm not really sure. But I am sure that computers are a wee bit frustrating!

So much has been happening... here is just a bit of the latest.
Only 4 days left of project...but that is not the end. I've learnt so much again these past few days.
God has encouraged me in His great magnitude of strength and might... and has reminded me never to give up hope on some people. I've felt like giving up on my co-workers... walls were put up... but I coudln't take that... God is bigger than that obstacle.. He can overcome anything.. He can change anyone's heart. So I'm continuing to pray... pray every night for an opportunity... and God is so GOOD... He has been giving opportunities to have spiritual conversations. The other day, I was able to share my testimony in a nutshell with a guy from the GIS division.

Also... God has tugged me into a situation that I have learnt so much from. Last night, for the very first time I was able to talk with someone here on project that I felt there was an issue with. A tone of tension and awkwardness... that I felt needed to be opened up and talked about. It was really awesome .. actually... and I feel like God pushed me into this situation to grow from this time. I learnt that Satan is forever attacking... and he will attack relationships/friendships... therefore, it's so cool that we have the Lord of lords on our side in defence!

Tonight, Erin (dg leader) asked me to lead tonight's Bible study. It was a challenge in my eyes.. but I was so excited to try it out... seeing as God willing, I will be leading a group of frosh girls in September. Really praying beforehand was key!

Work is uber boring... but I keep praying that I'm not there just to complete the tasks given to me... that I am not there to help get the reports written, the data entered/analyzed... but my purpose is far greater than that. Work is my mission field. That alone is what really motivates me to go to work these days. The excitedness of doing field work has died since there is no longer any field stuff to do... but I think this will really make me focus on why I am there... not for the work... but to be God's ambassador... How much cooler of a job title is that!?!

Okay... tonight is catching up on sleep night! I hope to be able to get back onto uwmissionaries soon! Take care.
-Peace and Love-

--amazing--

2006-07-09T21:08:00.000-05:00

Just a few pictures of our time at Blue Bronna Wilderness Camp (ie. retreat no.2) a few weekends ago. It was a grand time! Beehive mountain was a sweet hike!
Writing more on www.uwmissionaries.com, but I'll try to keep pictures posted on this blog.
--Peace and Love--

Just Around the River Bend

2006-06-22T00:46:00.000-05:00

Hello Again!
Here is a picture of the super neat hotspring hole at the Fairmont Hotsprings Resort in BC. A huge waterfall of hot water falling into a naturally occuring (and eroded!) hole in the rock! A tres beautiful and nifty experience!

This past weekend, my parents came out west, so we all hung out at my brothers place in Fairmont. It was good to be out of the city again. As for the adventure, we went tubing down the mighty COLD Columbia River. We sat in tubes where our bodies didn't have to touch the water because it was intensely freezing cold. At one point, I went to step out of the tube (so that we could re-oriente ourselves as to our location)...and the water happened to be deeper than expected. My whole body fell in, then I started getting pulled by a bit of an undertow of the moving water. I finally got a grip on some grass/shrubs on the bank and managed to pull myself out of it... and after all ... I lost my glasses in the Columbia...!
Monday I left to go out into the field.. we got rained out on Tuesday so came home Tuesday. We got two sites assessed on Monday though. Quaded around where a potential oil well would be put, listened and recorded present bird species, then systematically quaded around the radius of the potential oil well centre and observed and recorded anything of importance, ie. nests, burrows, birds, scat/pellets...etc. Oh... and the hotel that the company booked for me...was a honeymoon suite! It was a bit awkward I'd have to admit. I didn't know what to do with myself...so many different places to sit, 2 tvs, a fireplace, a kingsized bed....aaak! Tuesday I ended up driving the whole day. I quickly learnt how to drive a big truck pulling a trailer with two quads on top!!! I drove for about 6 hours straight... throughout eastern Alberta....to southern alberta, up through Lethbridge and back to Calgary again.
I can't stop thanking God for the job He's given me. He's blessed me so much... I just couldn't believe it...I was out listening and looking and identifying birds... FOR WORK! But it's also a continuous challenge sometimes with priorities and commitments. I'm fully committed to this project and to serving God about all else... even work... which is sometimes difficult. Today for example..I was really struggling because I got asked to do some bird and amphibian surveys in southern Manitoba all next week. WOW.. such a great opportunity... yet I had to refuse. It was so hard to do... but I had to. I'm committed to here. It's like God is challenging me in all aspects to seek Him more and to desire growing closer to Him.
Tomorrow, we're having another BBQ... we're praying a lot for it! Keep praying that God will bring out lots of people, that the rain will hold off, and that good conversations and fellowship will occur. This weekend, is our second and last retreat. We're going somewhere in the mountains... apparently getting to do some whitewater rafting, repelling, and more horseback riding! Any chance to get out of the city is exciting!
Stampede is coming up soon... and the business men are starting to polish their boots and beltbuckles! The town is slowly getting paced to transform into a cow-town! I was told to get a cowboy hat if I were going to be going to the Stampede... apparently EVERYone has one... and people would notice one without a cowboy hat... aaak!
Lately, I've been really enthused to playing outside. Doing anything: frisbee, just sliding in the wet grass/mud, biking (now that I have a BIKE!!!)... and such! It's becoming a bit of a distraction actually. I know I have lots of stuff to get done...yet aaaak... it's just so neat outside!
Well.. now that it's late again... I best cut this one off! Take care.
--Peace and Love--

2006-06-14T00:35:00.000-05:00

Okay... my mind needs rest. There's so much to update, so many cool things have been happening... I really want to write it all out tonight... but unfortunately I can't. Please pray for that we will continue to trust God for strength and wisdom. Sleep is getting more and more rare, and will continue to be...

I may be starting a new blog on a uw ministries website. I'll keep you posted on here though! I will have to sit down one day and fully just update... I'm trying to write out an update letter to send to everyone... hah... Tuesday (which is tonight) is our 'night off'... which means catching up on everything... I wish I wans't such a scatterbrain sometimes. With lack of sleep, I'm having much difficulty doing two things or more at once... which calls for mega craziness!

Must be reminded to rest in God, depend on His strength, and praise Him in the midst of it all!
I love you all... you beautiful people!
Kathleen

le random soiree

2006-06-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

After Nose Hill walk. Spontaneous.
Cheesecake Cafe Party. 'Is this some sort of cult?'!

On top of Nose Hill. Whacked hair. Awesome Calgary skies.

saved by fear

2006-06-02T00:31:00.000-05:00

Oh where to begin. Often, the only time I have the chance to update this blog is really late at night... which could mean disastrously overtired thoughts tried being expressed in a blog OR hopefully something written that is quite clear and decent enough to understand!

So straight up.. here's the deal: in less than 2 weeks now, the staff here on project are leaving. This means that us 36 students are taking on the roles, we are forming the body about to continue the movement. Tonight, at our training night (which was AMAZING... it was about apologetics and how to go about dealing with tough questions, but not necessarily learning how to answer them rather than know how to focus on sharing the core of Christianity instead)... okay... so tonight was the big confirmation of everyone's new roles for Rocky Mountain Project 2006!
I was challenged to take on my role that I have last week by my discipleship group leader, but I had to spend a week praying about it. I decided to take on the challenge hoping that the cliff they're throwing me off is really only 2 feet rather than the 200 feet I'm thinking it's going to be.

.... So to cut to the chase, aaaak! I was scared for when everyone found out about my role tonight, and I'm scared even writing about it and telling people now. I feel inadequate for the role...a sense of immaturity still in my faith. Okay... I'll just write it... I've taken on the role of the Prayer Coordinator for this entire project. In such, I will be leading a prayer team and prayer leaders who will be facilitating prayer meetings. Apparently I will be leading and training people in how to lead an effective prayer meeting (I'll be learning myself as well!), and will be encouraging and moving this project along through prayer. Prayer is the heart of this project and the Bible is its food. This is such a crazy huge thing... now you can see why I feel inadequate for this position. I'm scared. I know the Holy Spirit will guide me... but at this point, I still feel like I've just jumped off a cliff. I'm free-falling. Only later on will I PERHAPS realize that I've only jumped that 2feet!

The picture: as you can see... is me on a horse riding it BAREBACK! Last weekend, we went to Pioneer Ranch Camp for a retreat.. it was awesome! Amazing speakers, quenched of great learning, beautiful area, good unique quiet times with God... and yeap... horseback riding! It was a really cold and rainy weekend, but Erin and I went swimming one morning at 7am... It was a good refreshing time! Oh.. some of us decided to do team building and 'initiative task' activities and one of them was a wall that we had to get all our team members over. There were 2 guys standing with their arms stretched out above their heads with their hands flat... and nonetheless... I was STANDING on their hands. Yes... way up high with no one holding onto me. I didn't realize the magnitude of my fear of heights until then. YIKES! I started falling backwards... my fingers barely were gripping the top of the wall. At one point, I was essentially hanging in mid air really high up only holding on with the tips of my fingers. I started freaking out... ie. almost yelling that I wanted to go down. I started freaking out more that I started crying... I basically fell a bit until I reached the people's outstretched arms. As soon as I felt their arms/hands holding me...I grabbed on for dear life and WAS NOT LETTING GO! I coudln't stop crying, my heart was racing, and I coudln't let go of those people! AAAAK ... my fear got more extreme and it twas revealed!

Work: It's going well. On Tuesday, Vlad and I got to go out and do Burrowing Owl surveys with Pete (some old biologist dude). We spent like 8-9 hours going to different sites of suitable BUOW habitat looking for BUOWS... but we didn't find any... NONE! BUT... we did see some awesome hawks... I saw a Ferrugenous Hawk...which was really exciting!!! Such beautiful raptors! I even got myself a hot binocular tan! Other than that day in the field, I've been in the office editing reports, entering data...oh...and more editing! This company is all about the parties though...wow... this Friday (tomorrow) again... we are having a party to officially integrate the two merged companies. It all starts at noon with lunch, then apparently the beer trolley starts coming around soon after to all offices/cubicles. Then at 2pm... mini bike races downtown and indoor mini golf throughout the office on all floors. Then at 4pm.. the real party begins... apparently with more drinks and more food. These people like to have SOCIAL time... and they like their beer!

Well... I really need to learn how to cut these down...sum things up... so that the entries are shorter... I promise... I'll work on that! I'll also work on learning how to type with real punctuation rather than many ..... !

Psalm 40:8 "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

-Peace and Love-

oh mountain

2006-05-23T23:34:00.000-05:00

Kootenay Rockies

May 22 2006

Calgary=wealth=fancy washrooms in malls!

2006-05-21T00:31:00.000-05:00

Loving the feet pictures? To be honest, I didn't realize I had that many shots of my feet!
(Thanks to my favorite foot photographer!)

Here's an update from the DaVinci Code outreach! We seperated into 3 teams to take on 3 different movie theatres. We stood outside them to get people to fill out surveys that head office is going to compile and send out for a press release. We also handed out a cool DaVinci Code magazine that just engages people's minds in seeking the TRUTH. Had some opposition from some people, but also had a few short good chats with others about the movie. We were not there to protest the movie by any means. We wanted to get some honest feedback on what people are now thinking about Jesus and who He really was.

...

Cheryl and I were partnered up and she started talking to this older man (~50ish), I somehow was led to join in their just-begun conversation. As I was talking, this man was sort of contradicting himself and I wasn't really sure what he was trying to say. So I bluntly asked if he believed in God and whatnot. He was very open and honest. He felt he had a personal relationship with God, he knew Jesus was the Son of God, and he knew he was a sinner. He seemed to grasp the concept of salvation yet there were some missing links in his life. As we continued talking, I realized that I really needed to share the 'SATISFIED' booklet with him... the small booklet that emphasizes being filled with the Holy Spirit and how important that is.

I took him aside and we sat on a bench (Cheryl continued with surveys). AAAK... it was so crazy... the Holy Spirit was totally with me... and God was speaking through me!!! I knew this because usually I'm nervous like crazy... if it's not a divine appointment set up by God... I don't have the words to say and I'm extremely nervous and choppy. At that point, I know my heart isn't right and I should just stop until I can get back into the right heart-set. ANYWHO...this chat was totally Spirit led! As I was going through the booklet.. this man knew exactly where he was in his life.... He knew Christ was in his life yet his self was still on the throne. He hadn't surrendered his life to God and passed on the reigns. He knew I had... he saw the difference, and I was able to share how I went from just having Christ a part of my life to having Christ the CENTER of my life. He was hesitant thinking he couldn't do that...

(then our group got kicked off the premisses... but the kicking out was good.. because the manager who kicked people off told them that we were the most gracious group he's EVER seen)
....
So... Mark and I (the old man) left the area...and just started walking and talking down the parking lot. As I was about to continue... Cheryl came and got me..and we had to leave... she thought I was about to get into this guys vehicle...so she came to 'rescue' me... BUT..I'm not that crazy/insane..of course I would never do such a thing. I got his contact information and he wants to meet up again. I'm really excited about this. For sure when we meet up... Cheryl will probably come along as well... but for sure I'm bringing a guy from the project along too. I think it's necessary to pass on the discussion with this man to a guy.

Atleast after this chat...I wasn't shaking like crazy... but I coudln't stop praising God for this man's heart and for that divine appointment He set up for me to be able to share with him about being filled with the Holy Spirit.

This huge church I went to a few weeks ago... as you leave the building to head towards the parking lot... in bold big letters above the doors it read: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE MISSION FIELD. I was so encouraged with I saw that. I pray that all Christians will realize that everyday, when we step out of our house even... we are entering battle grounds... a mission field that God has called us to help fulfill: The Great Commission. (Matthew 28: 18-20)

(Going to BC tomorrow for 2 days!)

Keep praying. You are on my mind, and I am praying for you.

-Peace and Love-

-pieds-

2006-05-20T02:49:00.000-05:00

I like this picture. I thought I'd go into some 'deep', meaningful discussion about what this picture can mean to me...other than just a shot of my feet... how it can represent being grounded, or no border/no floor...just dangling by faith... BUT I think one of those would be best for a journal entry...and I'd love to share how this week has gone instead.

First thing though: DaVinci Code outreach= SATURDAY MAY 20th. It's scary, it's exciting, it's powerful, I'm not sure what to expect really...I just... AAAK! I'm feeling (as most people are these days) the tug of war... but in the end, I trust and I know that the Battle belongs to the Lord.

Monday: first day of work at AXYS Environmental Consulting Ltd. There was a 'party'/breakfast thing at 9am for the new employees who just moved in from the merging of companies ordeal. Grabbed a glass of orange juice...and to our surprise (the other new summer student and I)... they weren't afraid to add some huge amount of champagne to the juice! Wonderful start to the week, the people, and the job!

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Orienteering myself with the other summer student... Okay...let me introduce you to him because I'll most likely refer to him from time to time... Volodymyr is his name... but we call him Vlad. They didn't have time really to go over things with us... so we read many environmental impact assessments, familiarized ourselves with the network drives, had some health and safety meetings, had other random meetings that we sat in on. And through all this... learnt a bit more about my new co-summer student-worker!

Friday: Lunch with the WILDLIFE DIVISION! So this company is UBER huge... and I'm in the wildlife division working with multiple biologists. They are pretty nifty people. I pretty much really like them!

Since my commitment is to this Campus Crusade project and most nights are filled with AWESOME teachings, discipleship, and evangelism... I won't be going out into the field until August. It might seem dry being in the office for the remainder of the time... but I don't care what I'm doing really... I am just SO HAPPY and THANKFUL that I am able to work there! So until I can go out into the field and do various surveys with songbirds, owls, amphibians, ungulates, etc..., I am being put master of their BRAND NEW database for all their research within the wildlife division. Although computer stuff isn't my forte... I'm so ready to get acquainted with that box. I've realized since being here, that I may have a lot of experience... but it all seems to lie under one area: bush/field type work. So this computer thing might not be so bad in the long run! I'm excited to be in such an environment where all the talk and work is about stuff that I love... stuff I've learnt in school!

APART FROM WORK...
Tonight we went and played LAZER TAG! To be honest... I wasn't extremely thrilled. The night before I had played Nintendo and 007 stuff and whatnot ( I know... this is very odd and strange of me to actually play nintendo... but I did!)...and I wasn't a big fan of the whole killing aspect of the video game thing... and then tonight...lazer tag was like real life nintendo...aaak..more guns. It was a bit spooky too+ my aim SUCKS ...so that all = a good experience but I probably wouldn't do it again! OH... during lazer tag... totally ran into this other girl...smashed her glasses (lenses out, broke the frames) and cut her eye....aaaak...intensity.
NOTE: don't play Lazer Tag with Kathleen!

I'm hoping to get to BC on Sunday and spend Sunday and Monday with Wade and Erryn there in the mountains... I need to get out of the city...real soon...real bad! The trees, the river, the mountains, and the hotsprings are calling my name!

APART FROM FUN & GAMES...
This week has been a bit tough... trying to balance relationships here and relationships from home (Ontario). I want to focus all my energy on the people here and what we're doing... YET there's still people back East who I care about and want to hear how they're doing and how their lives are going. I know I can do both (I've done it before)... I guess I've just become more aware that it is something I have to keep in mind. It's like having two lives... and it's a bit frustrating sometimes... my mind can wonder pretty quickly... it's filled. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I may not be the best to initiate keeping in touch... but I still care and have a heart for you Easterners! The provinces in between us doesn't change the way the telephone or internet services function!

--And when the world has seen the LIGHT, they will dance for joy like we're dancing now.--

God is moving, God is rocking this nation! KEEP PRAYING!!!

-Peace and Love-

Calgary Weather

2006-05-17T22:51:00.000-05:00

AAAAK! WHAT IS WITH THIS PLACE?! It is SO HOT here! All I've got for now are multiple words.. my brain can't function to piece them together and explain what's going on now...in terms of my life...perhaps later I'll explain.

swiped
hurting eyes
intelligence
awe
HOT (as in temperature too!)
confrontation...more wanting to 'explain'/suggest/reason
disbelief
beautiful sunset tonight
music
motionless
eyes
energy
being a 'vegetable'
focus (eyes, God, on track)
prayer... praying about prayer
LEARNING SO MUCH... My brain is trying to re-organize itself to fit new things in I think....
C-train=getting frustrating
hot/sweaty people in close proximity
hiking...the want
out of city experience now...the need
friend...the like
guarding heart...the must needing to confess/explain
good talks...uncompromising and truthful
girls/roomates/project=talking=GOOD=understanding=conclusions
vegetables
HOT
BED!
--Peace and Love to you all--

conTact

2006-05-14T17:29:00.000-05:00

Oh beautiful beautiful day! I think I just found a church to go to today! Brentview Baptist... only a 10 minute walk from our appartment... and the college and career folks play ultimate frisbee every Sunday after church!

Last night, we had our CONTACT outreach! We had a rock band from Halifax here playing at the Black Lounge... an on-campus pub/restaurant. The band is called 'The Contact'... It was an amazing concert... and it was so awesome to see a group of people leave their degrees and diplomas at home and take their passion for Christ on the road.

Please pray for our upcoming outreach this Saturday. For now, I can only say a little about what we are doing... we will be going to movie theatres and doing some sort of formal surveys of people coming out of seeing the DaVinci Code movie. The surveys will be tallied at Campus Crusade for Christ headquarters in Vancouver and they will send out for a press release about the stats we collected. So.. if you could just pray that as this movie hits the big screen that Christians around the country will be bold and stand firm on the TRUTH.

Peace and Love

poopdepoop

2006-05-11T01:01:00.000-05:00

It's midnight now and I have to get up early to do something that I hate: shopping for clothes. What's with jeans ripping right left and centre at the knees?!
But I can't sleep... I just got an e-mail and a blogged update from two people that has set my mind a wandering and worrying. And after today... the rest of tonight is going to be full of praying!

This might be a rant... I'm not really sure... a bit ironic since the fuel of this rant is from a person who likes to rant themselves about useless things. I met up today with a 'friend' (using it loosely) from Katimavik. Spent the day together. AAAAK. I feel almost dirty, like a day of crap, wasted, bored, out of element. I hated it. TRES pas comfortable! We spent most of the day at a bar and this person now smokes... and since Alberta allows people to smoke indoors...I spent most of the day in a bar filled with smoke... pleasantly outrageiously disturbing...and CRAPPY.
It made me miss my friends back home (and by back home, I'm including all of Ontario!)because I didn't have to be in that setting with them. It was comfortable being with those friends. Today was another big reassurance that I don't miss that scene, that lifestyle... and I am so happy that I found God. Basically... I felt trapped. I didn't know where I was in Calgary ( we had gotten a ride there), I didn't know how to get to the C-train where I could just go home... it was awful.
I really can't stand this person... we're supposed to meet up tomorrow again ...for lunch... I'm praying for boldness and patience. I just want them to believe that there is a God who loves them and who has a plan for their life.
After the day with this person... I pretty much wanted to cry. But upon returning home, I appreciated the people here so much more. I love living with Christians! I was also encouraged by these verses in Jeremiah 29:11-14

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the Lord.

--Peace and Love to you all--

slinky moment

2006-05-08T23:37:00.000-05:00

Finally got some wireless action in here! woot for such a thing! Okay...to begin: I may possibly be a completely whacked out being. Who gives a potential employer who is contacting your references the wrong number for one of them....BUT screws it up TWICE?! Let's just end that at that!
God is rocking! Erin and I went out sharing together at the U of Calgary on Saturday and God led us to certain people and one person in particular. Jamie... aaak ...please pray for Jamie's heart. We both could totally relate to this guy's questions about knowing God personally and the commitment it involves surrendering your life to God. WOW... the Holy Spirit was shaking him, shaking us... it was unreal! We talked a lot about the Bible, God, Jesus, and went through the four spiritual laws with him... Usually I'm extremely nervous... But God was in control and calmed us both down. It's like I got to experience God work... it wasn't really us talking at all... but God was through us... CRAZY FEELING!!! Anyhow, so we shared some more and then we asked him if we could pray for him and he agreed. So after having prayed for him, he almost looked like he was about to cry, then Erin and I were about to cry... AAAK! We left him, sat right back down and prayed... and tried to stop shaking! God is moving ...hardcore moving.
I got to hang out with Meara yesterday... I'm so excited to be in the same city as her! Ryan is coming on Wednesday.. so it will be nice to have another little Katimavik pow wow!
Now that I don't have to make a 20 min trek to the U of C library to get online.. Hopefully I will be more disciplined in keeping this blog.. not only updated but full of fun and exciting experiences!
Cheers.

Be Filled

2006-05-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

Rocky Mountain Project 2006... Storming the Frontier has begun!
Let's be honest from the get-go: I've never done this blog thing before so I won't pretend that I have the slightest clue of how it works or will turn out!
I feel like I have been in Calgary for longer than 5 days now. I'm starting to get a feel for the city, the C-train, this project and its entities. Continuously surrendering worries, doubts, fears and weaknesses to God has been my challenge these past few days. I'm trusting God is going to lead me to the right work place.. I know where I want to be and I hope I end up working where I want to be, but I am trying to prepare myself not to be disapointed if God has another plan.
I've been thinking a lot lately of where I want to be more involved in this project and I feel led into initiating prayer meetings within appartments, and even schools to be praying for this upcomming term in the fall.
I've learnt that there is no such thing as 'random evangelizing' but that each stranger or person you share with is a divine appointment that God has set up. I pray that God will lead us to the right hearts that He has been preparing so that we can use our time in an efficient manner. This nation is hungry. We have so much freedom in North America to know God and speak freely about Him yet it's one of the areas in the world with the least people coming to know Christ personally.
My heart is for this country and as much as it might seem more difficult to share the Gospel with people in Canada... I'm reminded that we have just as much spiritual need as any other country AND we can freely talk to people about God without serious harm.
I encourage people to continue praying for those around them, your city, and for your country.
'And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.' Matthew 24:14