Monday, October 09, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Waterloo-ian
I've now been in Waterloo for ten days - but it feels like I've been here a lot longer. You know how people say that when they're busy, time just flies? Well I've found that it feels like I've done a lot since I've been here, and I feel like - I've only been here a week and a half?!
Random-ish thoughts:
Thankfully, my housemate I've known since I was a child, and the place pretty much has most of the things I need. Didn't need to get furniture, etc.
My program only has 4 people in it - and we're all girls.
Grocery runs are fun - where PT picks up students in a bus and takes us to grocery stores.
Readings - lots and lots of readings
Only one bubble tea place (that's apparently not very good), no Starbucks around every corner. No RW&CO
Takes me awhile to do things - busing or walking. The bus only comes every 1/2hr, and apparently I live 'far' according to Waterloo standards. It takes me 10-15 min to bus to school.
Free gym! Access to the Athletic Complex is free, membership included with our student card. And its a nice gym too.
The city is small - but since I don't have a car, and I only know certain streets (so far), it doesn't seem that small.
There aren't very many Asians at Wilfrid Laurier - but apparently at University of Waterloo, there are lots.
Most restaurants (except fast-food chains) seem locally owned, so I'll have to go and test the different ones.... heh.
Crazy class schedule: Mondays and Fridays off. Tues, 8:30AM-8PM. Wed, 3:30PM-6:30PM. Thurs 1PM-4PM. Very odd and irregular.
4L milk is sold in 3x1.33L bags - like in the 'old' days, where you then put it in a milk jug and cut off a little corner for the milk to come out.
Yep. That's it for now. Time to sleep.
Random-ish thoughts:
Thankfully, my housemate I've known since I was a child, and the place pretty much has most of the things I need. Didn't need to get furniture, etc.
My program only has 4 people in it - and we're all girls.
Grocery runs are fun - where PT picks up students in a bus and takes us to grocery stores.
Readings - lots and lots of readings
Only one bubble tea place (that's apparently not very good), no Starbucks around every corner. No RW&CO
Takes me awhile to do things - busing or walking. The bus only comes every 1/2hr, and apparently I live 'far' according to Waterloo standards. It takes me 10-15 min to bus to school.
Free gym! Access to the Athletic Complex is free, membership included with our student card. And its a nice gym too.
The city is small - but since I don't have a car, and I only know certain streets (so far), it doesn't seem that small.
There aren't very many Asians at Wilfrid Laurier - but apparently at University of Waterloo, there are lots.
Most restaurants (except fast-food chains) seem locally owned, so I'll have to go and test the different ones.... heh.
Crazy class schedule: Mondays and Fridays off. Tues, 8:30AM-8PM. Wed, 3:30PM-6:30PM. Thurs 1PM-4PM. Very odd and irregular.
4L milk is sold in 3x1.33L bags - like in the 'old' days, where you then put it in a milk jug and cut off a little corner for the milk to come out.
Yep. That's it for now. Time to sleep.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
One more week.
I have one more week in Vancouver. By this time next week, I will be in Toronto, probably sitting in EL's car on the way to Waterloo. It feels a little strange knowing that. By this time, my brother will also be married and off in Hawaii with his wife. And my parents will have an empty nest. I generally don't "feel" things until time brings them closer. So now that there is one week left, I am beginning to experience the effects of moving away. Some excitement, some sadness, some stress, and some contentment. I wonder how I will be feeling next week...
Monday, July 17, 2006
Pic-a-tures: Repost
A repost of the pictures. It took me forever to figure out how to edit pictures using web software (very annoying). I usually edit using my own computer software at home, but obviously I can't do that here. I finally figured it out thanks to advice from Becks and She, who use the web stuff more than I do.
Byron Bay
Springbrook National Park
Marcoola Beach
Byron Bay
Springbrook National Park
Marcoola Beach
Living by faith, day by day
"Living by faith, day by day," is a motto Becks, She, and I have adopted during our travels in Australia. God has definitely been taking care of us in many ways.
Direction - Many people have offered assistance and have given us directions as to where to walk or drive - and many times we didn't even have to ask for it. We suspect that people can see the "lost" look on our faces. Or the map we're holding up. After a trip to the Sydney Aquarium, we were looking at a map to see what direction we should walk in to reach our next destination. After a few minutes of discussing and pointing at the map, we noticed a man behind us looking at us and the map. He says something like, "You're holding the map the wrong way," corrects it for us, and asks us where we want to go. He pauses slightly (and notices our Asian appearance) and asks, "Do you understand English?" After our assurance to him that we do, he continues on and tells us where to go and we went on our way.
Hillsong - We visited the Hillsong church in Sydney. We planned to catch the shuttle bus they have from the train station, however we weren't sure exactly where the bus would stop. Eventually we spread ourselves out down the length of the street, to cover ground, and so if it came, we could stop it for the other two. Turns out we were waiting there about 30min early, which is why we didn't see the bus, and they eventually had people out with signs directing us. When we got there, God provided us with friendly people to talk to (albeit they were most likely people who are there to seek out the new comers and make them feel welcome), and so we had a good time meeting a couple new people.
Blue Mountains - After a steep and somewhat strenuous hike, we planned to catch a shuttle bus back to our car. However, after looking for the shuttle bus stop, and figuring out when it came, we realized that by the time we would make it back, the parking metre would expire on our car. With no other option, we decided to wait for the bus. A car drove up with 2 women inside, stopped and asked if we needed help (they thought we were lost - but we weren't holding up a map!). They were heading towards where we wanted to go, and they offered us a lift back to the car. We made it just in time before the metre ran out.
Kings Cross - Whenever we mentioned that we were staying in Kings Cross (a suburb of Sydney), people would gasp and give us strange looks. Aparently Kings Cross is the "red light district" of Sydney. But we didn't see anything shady - we didn't even know it was a shady area until people mentioned it. I think the actual shady area was further down the road, farther from the city. God protected us from any strange things that might have happened...
Timing - God's timing is perfect. In returning our car rentals or checking in hotels, we always made it, in the nick of time. One time we were returning a car to downtown Sydney. The car was to be returned at 6PM, and we arrived back in Sydney around 5PM. We thought we would make it to the rental place with time to spare. However, we hit many one way streets, and we weren't able to turn right when we wanted to. When we finally got close to the rental place, we couldn't turn into the street the rental place was on, so we turned at the next street. But that took us into a series of tunnels that kept going and going - and we couldn't turn around. Eventually we got back to the rental place - 2 minutes before 6.
Watermark Hotel - Upon check-in at our hotel in Brisbane, we were informed that the hotel did not receive our reservation for the next three nights. The hotel was all booked up, and didn't have a room for us. They tried to call around to different hotels for us, but none of them had room. Though we spent the night on roll-away cots in their conference room, God did provide a roof over our heads. And we got complimentary breakfast for the next few days. And the next morning, they somehow did find a room for us in the hotel, so we wouldn't have to look for accomdations for the next 2 nights.
Maps - Driving around can be difficult in new cities, especially when the roads twist and turn and the street signs are not always clear (or aren't as we're used to). God took care of us on our mini road trips - we did get lost sometimes, taking wrong turns, or going the wrong direction. But we always were able to turn around somewhere, get back on track, and never did get completely lost in the middle of nowhere.
Becky's Car - Upon arrival in Perth, Becky's friend picked her up and our luggage (we couldn't all fit in her small car), and Becky was going to come back to pick Sheila and I up at the airport. After waiting for about two hours, (when we thought she would come in an hour) Becky arrived. Her car broke down on the way : Another friend of her's picked her up, helped her push the car to the side of the road, and came to get us. The car eventually did get towed, and then got fixed. Yay for friends :)
General Protection - God's taken care of us. Nothing's been stolen, we haven't met any shady characters, and we've all been safe. Though at times we did look like tourists (with the maps) rather than people taking advantage of us, people offered help.
OH - and SHEILA SURVIVED SURFING!!! :D
To read more of our Adventures in Australia, visit Becky and Sheila's blogs.
Direction - Many people have offered assistance and have given us directions as to where to walk or drive - and many times we didn't even have to ask for it. We suspect that people can see the "lost" look on our faces. Or the map we're holding up. After a trip to the Sydney Aquarium, we were looking at a map to see what direction we should walk in to reach our next destination. After a few minutes of discussing and pointing at the map, we noticed a man behind us looking at us and the map. He says something like, "You're holding the map the wrong way," corrects it for us, and asks us where we want to go. He pauses slightly (and notices our Asian appearance) and asks, "Do you understand English?" After our assurance to him that we do, he continues on and tells us where to go and we went on our way.
Hillsong - We visited the Hillsong church in Sydney. We planned to catch the shuttle bus they have from the train station, however we weren't sure exactly where the bus would stop. Eventually we spread ourselves out down the length of the street, to cover ground, and so if it came, we could stop it for the other two. Turns out we were waiting there about 30min early, which is why we didn't see the bus, and they eventually had people out with signs directing us. When we got there, God provided us with friendly people to talk to (albeit they were most likely people who are there to seek out the new comers and make them feel welcome), and so we had a good time meeting a couple new people.
Blue Mountains - After a steep and somewhat strenuous hike, we planned to catch a shuttle bus back to our car. However, after looking for the shuttle bus stop, and figuring out when it came, we realized that by the time we would make it back, the parking metre would expire on our car. With no other option, we decided to wait for the bus. A car drove up with 2 women inside, stopped and asked if we needed help (they thought we were lost - but we weren't holding up a map!). They were heading towards where we wanted to go, and they offered us a lift back to the car. We made it just in time before the metre ran out.
Kings Cross - Whenever we mentioned that we were staying in Kings Cross (a suburb of Sydney), people would gasp and give us strange looks. Aparently Kings Cross is the "red light district" of Sydney. But we didn't see anything shady - we didn't even know it was a shady area until people mentioned it. I think the actual shady area was further down the road, farther from the city. God protected us from any strange things that might have happened...
Timing - God's timing is perfect. In returning our car rentals or checking in hotels, we always made it, in the nick of time. One time we were returning a car to downtown Sydney. The car was to be returned at 6PM, and we arrived back in Sydney around 5PM. We thought we would make it to the rental place with time to spare. However, we hit many one way streets, and we weren't able to turn right when we wanted to. When we finally got close to the rental place, we couldn't turn into the street the rental place was on, so we turned at the next street. But that took us into a series of tunnels that kept going and going - and we couldn't turn around. Eventually we got back to the rental place - 2 minutes before 6.
Watermark Hotel - Upon check-in at our hotel in Brisbane, we were informed that the hotel did not receive our reservation for the next three nights. The hotel was all booked up, and didn't have a room for us. They tried to call around to different hotels for us, but none of them had room. Though we spent the night on roll-away cots in their conference room, God did provide a roof over our heads. And we got complimentary breakfast for the next few days. And the next morning, they somehow did find a room for us in the hotel, so we wouldn't have to look for accomdations for the next 2 nights.
Maps - Driving around can be difficult in new cities, especially when the roads twist and turn and the street signs are not always clear (or aren't as we're used to). God took care of us on our mini road trips - we did get lost sometimes, taking wrong turns, or going the wrong direction. But we always were able to turn around somewhere, get back on track, and never did get completely lost in the middle of nowhere.
Becky's Car - Upon arrival in Perth, Becky's friend picked her up and our luggage (we couldn't all fit in her small car), and Becky was going to come back to pick Sheila and I up at the airport. After waiting for about two hours, (when we thought she would come in an hour) Becky arrived. Her car broke down on the way : Another friend of her's picked her up, helped her push the car to the side of the road, and came to get us. The car eventually did get towed, and then got fixed. Yay for friends :)
General Protection - God's taken care of us. Nothing's been stolen, we haven't met any shady characters, and we've all been safe. Though at times we did look like tourists (with the maps) rather than people taking advantage of us, people offered help.
OH - and SHEILA SURVIVED SURFING!!! :D
To read more of our Adventures in Australia, visit Becky and Sheila's blogs.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Wilfred Laurier University!
I received an offer of admission letter from Wilfred Laurier University! After the waiting and wondering where God would lead me next, I now know! This school was one of three possible schools I was applying for, and my top choice because of its Masters in Music Therapy program. Well it still isn't 100% since I did not get a final offer, but the only conditions are to graduate from UBC and send them my final transcript. And I did graduate :)
Wow, its almost hard to believe that I will be a grad student soon. I will definitely be sad to leave Vancouver, and I probably will only be able to come back a week or two at a time, since my program is year-round (3 terms/year) for 2 years. So no summer break... I guess thats the norm for grad students.
But I am also looking forward to this new time in my life. Recently I've been feeling a little -too- comfortable in my life. Being away from my family, away from my home church, and being in a completely different city, needing to meet new people and make new friends will definitely be challenging; something that is not so comfortable. I bet that while I'm there, I'll wish for the comfort I had. But I hope that through the discomfort, my faith, trust, and reliance on God will strengthen, and that the things I've learned all these years will translate into the heart.
Exciting.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Ontario!
I was in Ontario this past week, further extending my travels beyond British Columbia. My main purpose there was for an audition/interview I had with Wilfred Laurier University. I had lots of fun, and was blessed to have friends to help take me around, meet up with, and stay with :)
I went to Waterloo, Niagra Falls, and Toronto. A quick summary:
Waterloo: Relatively small, good apple fritters, friendly people who enjoy playing German board games
Niagra Falls: Really nice waterfalls, where the Canadian side looks like... Vegas, and the American side looks like... Vancouver
Toronto: Bigger, wider, impatient drivers, many festivals (including a photography festival), and the Distillery District, probably one of the best places I visited on the trip.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Less than 2 weeks to go...
School is almost over! My undergraduate years at UBC are coming to an end. The years have gone by fairly quickly, but I will be glad to move on into something new. I guess my something new won't be -that- new, since I am planning to continue my education after I graduate - but now I will hopefully be studying something more related to being a 'career woman.' I'll be a little sad to say goodbye to UBC, and being around the West side of Vancouver. No more.... cinnamon buns from Grounds, sandwiches from the Delly, concerts in the Music buildling, and strolls around the beautiful campus on sunny days. Good times - but I'm sure there will be more to come elsewhere.
On another note, an article I read on the CBC news website. Seems like researchers are trying to study prayer. Seems like a sort of psychology experiment. But I don't think these researchers really understand the nature of prayer... like in the assumption that prayer = what I ask for I will get. And even seemed to separate it from belief in God. Interesting, if not - at least amusing.
On another note, an article I read on the CBC news website. Seems like researchers are trying to study prayer. Seems like a sort of psychology experiment. But I don't think these researchers really understand the nature of prayer... like in the assumption that prayer = what I ask for I will get. And even seemed to separate it from belief in God. Interesting, if not - at least amusing.
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