I have neglected my English blog for more than two months now. i think it deserves a big chunky post from me.
A few details of what happened in the past 2 wonderful weeks.
before this 2 wk period started I was pretty much distressing about it... thinking that I definitely would get sick during this time, become exhausted and have a pretty miserable time.
Turns out this is probably one of the most memorable fortnight in my life so far. Will always keep the memories, laugh and cry over it in future times.
Youth camp
Past 2 youth camps I have missed both. Almost thought I couldn't make it for this one either because of sickness, but then thought: I do have a responsibility to go. So pumped myself up with vitamin supplements and prepared sufficient aspirins b4 I set off.
Although being an atrociously pathetic first-aider, and also still in the habit of thinking with too much complexity and therefore probably was not able to offer clear powerful answers to ppl in discussion, I found myself very encourged overall through this camp.
Living in the leaders' lounge with lingli, ruth, siewyong, danielle and ariel: very comfy, very bonding, very fun, very enjoyable. Even had a chance to do BGR d&m one afternoon. Bonus was that we were all decent aged ppl who slept early and knew how to take care of ourselves and each other.
Medical emergencies: exposed my utter ignorance in medical practice... I did not know how to deal with a casualty screaming in pain, even after 3+ years of studies...(yes I know) After 1st emergency... I was secretly thinking--thank goodness Jason was there to handle it, very unlikely another emergency will happen--No, the next day my probability theory was proven wrong. 2nd emergency! This time no Dr Jason around. Danielle and Ruth were doing as much as they could, so I suddenly realised I should be doing something too.
All I could do was to run back and get my first aid book to check up the index for muscle cramps. Real life situation and 3 lines of text on a book, however, can be very very different. Finally realised one simple golden rule: Each situation has to be dealt differently. But it was very comforting to know so many people were there helping, so many people came and gave encouraging concerns, and so many people prayed.
Special thanks goes to Danielle, Ruth, David, as well as Mary and Sharon who helped me to analyse the situation across the phone... Thank goodnesss I managed to get mobile reception that night.
Holy Spirit Night: Prayed for many people(probably the first time ever I felt a bit confident in praying for other people)also got Pastor Josh to pray for me too. Laughed out so hard when he said to me: "Yi Ning, you are too busy. " That was so true... and I was laughing because what he said was so true when he didn't even know me. He pointed out my spiritual problem of not speaking to God enough and advised me to constantly thank God. Have been trying my best to do it since then... really helps. less fear and more confidence in Him.
Also managed to have good catch up with Michael that night, as well as gave siew yong a reali reali big hug.^^
Coming back: had a very very high quality d&m chat with danielle on the bus, regarding med, mission, future plans, and Shanghainese parents. Very comforted by danielle's advices and encouragement. Thanks Danielle!! You have always been such an awesome sister to me.
the day after
Worked, and then Michael called me about Tiff's coming to box hill in the arvo. Realised I indeed had a gap btw clients that arvo, so met up with Tiff and Michael. Talked about camp, church, as well as had a quality serious BGR discussion. Very enjoyable.
Med trip
finally caught up with a few of the ppls I haven't seen in a while. Was quite happy to see Lu joining us on the trip, more old box hill catch up.
Food: helped Jia Jia cooking some shanghainese food on some of the days. Alena also on the trip, so yeh... GO! Shanghainese!!! Lots of nice food were made by the reali wonderful chefs there(ie. jj, alena, irene, dora etc). I myself tried to eat as much as i could... in fear that my immune system would be down if I dun eat enuf and i mite get sick again.
Sleep: on the same bed with Lu, had really good catch up. Took a sleeping pill the last nite(or the last morning?)in fear that if I dun sleep enough i would get sick and not be able to go to sally's party.
Dance: attempted.. to dance with everyone else on chao's party nite. also learnt a bit of rumba from Lu, still very much wanting to learn proper dancing but no time.
Alcohol: i am always fascinated by cocktail mixing... but I dun like to drink. Learnt a bit of baileys + butterscotch mixing from Lu(again!^^) tried to do a vodka + cordial mix with alison, failed to get the layers of colour, but still fun. and handshake to wei who also likes to mix cocktail but doesn't like to drink.
Gamble(joking): watched guys playing poker... finally understood a bit now. Saw a persistent match between ken and wei that went on forever... while eating fried stick dipped in soy sauce at the same time, with bei. Yum.
D&M: D&Med a bit with Lu each nite, then on the last nite when everyone was still around the table, joined a conversation btw ken and wei abt Christian stuff. Found out with delight that both of them reali wanted to do mission work in the future as well. Tiffany later also joined... 4 of us then moved on to have a heated discussion about tithing. hmmm...
After that... d&med more with wan, wei and lu about various spiritual issues: dealing with parents with differnt faith, the science of Jesus walking on water, reliability of the bible etc. had to take sleeping pill after that to grab some quality sleep.
Thanks to all who listened and d&med. Greating brain exercise and great bonding time.
Shoe hunt: Was having breakfast that morning and got a bit suspicious of the packets of mi goreng outside a full box. Then when people started looking for shoe.. realised something must be within the mi goreng box... so yes found tiff's shoe there. When i explained my pathetic method of deduction to get the shoe... heard someone saying: She can be a detective!
Because of that comment I was excited for a whole afternoon. Thanks to whoever randomly said it.
Other randomness: one day woke up to brush teeth, saw traces of blood with mucus in the sink. First impression: SOMEONE IS COUGHING/VOMITING BLOOD! Thinking back: Jeremy used the sink before. NO! JEREMY MUST BE COUGHING/VOMITING BLOOD! Rushed out to check... but realised he only had a bleeding nose.
Sally's party
Same night when we came back from the trip, went to good friend Sally's 21st party. Big thanx to Jeremy who gave me so many lifts to and fro...
Actually made a speech, which went quite alrite, even though I felt very unprepared. But the joyful thing was that this was actually the first time I saw sally after she came back from Canada. Also found out the joyful news that sally and dave are engaged! You lucky ppl! Congrats!
The cake looked very stylish too. Also caught up with lovely mentor Mary on the night.
Alison's party
The next night. Thanks for finding such a nice place Alison. Food was delightful!Had a very nice Japanese bento. Thanks again Alison! Had good catch up with maxine, took more fotos, had lots of good laughs from speech and also other random stuff. Saw this interesting japanese drink called Ramune Peach... very cute bottle. Saw Siew Yong and Lu as well and 2 groups merged for a while. Ended up feeling a bit sentimental at the end of the night, gave hugs to people I won't be able to see in a while...>_<
First Aid Course
I literal only read the book one day before the course...
But no, still managed to pass the assessment. Had the course with a very interesting group, talked about various different scenarios, and had a good laugh at some of those. So didn't feel bored which was good.
When practising CPR on the plastic models. I realised my arms were much stronger than 3 years ago, and I could breath much deeper. 3 years ago when I first did First Aid course... one round of CPR and EAR could send myself hyperventilating on the floor.
Very glad of the change.
Committee meeting
Was pretty scared what mum would think of a weekly meeting at the pastor's house. Prayed myself the whole day and also asked others to pray for me, so asked mum whether I could go to the meeting only after i finished work at 8, in case she changed her mind. To my surprise she didn't complain... but just allowed me to go.
Can hear myself breathing out deep after she said that...
Thanks to Lingli for your comforting words, and your prayers.
Last days at work
Gave some little presents to some of my favourite clients. One was an elderly couple.. and the old lady had always been so kind to me and treated me almost like a granddaughter. When I was about to leave she told me that she wished that she could still see me at work one day when I become a doctor. >.<(Had to choke back tears at that moment) I gave her a little handcraft vase made out of plastic beads.
When I tell clients I won't be working when semester starts, my favourite line so far has been: I am going back to study...in Bendigo.
It makes me feel very un-ESL, very country-bumpkin, and very good.
I just would like to give thanks to the Lord for His gift of the wonderful two weeks of experiences He had blessed me with. Although it may have been tiring yet I remained healthy and energetic enough to do all I needed to do, without His grace this is something impossible for me. I would like to thank Him to all the great times I had, all the love I received from friends, and I hope He had used me during this time to encourage and touch other people's hearts too.
