102 and counting

I just discovered that my first post for 2006 was coincidentally my 101st post on this blog. *whoooooa*

Starting school

My first week is over. My first week lasted 3 days. I like it. I think I am a fan of 3 day weeks. So much has happened in so little time. I think I'd forgotten how accelerated things are at Carleton. I've been having back to back meetings for the Christian community, for Exit, for Mustard Seed. Meeting up with friends, having meals together, all that kind of things.

It's been great but tiring. Tiring because I think I'm just getting over jetlag. Normally it takes me like one day, but this time, I think I slept less on the plane. Oh oh ... I almost died! The turbulence was so bad, and we had tailwinds in excess of 200 km/h!! You could hear the wind roar over the sound of the plane engines. Scary. And it was kind of like a roller coaster ride, pitching and dropping and rolling. But praise God for getting me safely back to Northfield. I don't think I want to fly anymore... until I fly home lah.

And my cough seems to want to persist. I will conquer it though. I also haven't bought a single text book yet. Wait no, I just placed my order a few hours ago. It'll probably take a week for the books to arrive. But I save a lot. Books are really expensive though. I saved at least 50% on each of my books! That's a good thing. Especially when the exchange rate is almost 4 times.

I like my new schedule although I dropped ice-skating. It's hard to fit in 10 hours of work. But I'm going to do it anyway. I got transfered to a different department (the one I wanted to work in) at the library, so it's been fun. But this job comes with occupational hazards: paper cuts. It's funny, I never thought I'd have them, but I have TWO on my thumb. It kind of burns. Especially when it gets wet.

Anyway, this term, I am taking Chinese 102 (wo shi hua ren, dangran wo yao xuexi hua yu). It's great, even though it's 8:30am on MWF and 8:15am on T and Th. And I've forgotten most of my characters. I am also taking Psychology of Learning. After last year's psych class, this seems like a piece of cake. A little bit boring. But the lab part of it is fun. Because I get to adopt a pigeon!! The pigeons are HUGE though. It's like BIRDZILLA! And my third class is Psych Stats which is a requirement for Psych majors. I'm also taking Jazz Piano (my teacher just released a new album!!) and Voice with Ben! Ben is great.

Surprise visit

Last night, I came back around midnight after a good time at Blue Mondays with Erica and Pam, planning for our awesome new re:group called To Tea or not to tea or 2tea for short! Or maybe even 2T. Anyway I came back, and heard voices, and thought it was my housemates' friends. Climbed up the stairs, and there were a bunch of people on the landing. "Oh", I said. And then it hit me who I was staring at: it was MICAH! My ex-ap buddy (accountability partner). He graduated last year and had been in Guatemala and was back for a break. He was in town for a day, and I am so grateful that we had time to catch up today. It was amazing to spend time with him again and to hear about how God has been growing Him and all the cool experiences He has been having in Guatemala teaching high school kids! Anyway it was great catching up with him. God bless Micah!

What I love about Carleton: the people

It's so good to be back with Erica. And to spend time with friends I haven't seen for such a long time. Had lunch with Tyler and Chieko today. And that was a blessing. Sam made breakfast for Pam and me today. And I loved it. His waldorf salad... mmmmmmm. I would kill for it. Kill a mosquito that is. Had a big dinner thing last night - Aki and Leslie cooked. That was fun too.

What I hate about Carleton, or Northfield, or Minnesota: winter

I am learning that I really dislike, nay, hate, the cold! It's so coooold. You have to put on a million layers before you go out. And you still don't feel warm. And with this cough... haih. I could never live here! BUT. The best part of the day is crawling under your blankets and getting snug and falling asleep. I've been sleeping a lot. Hibernation mode I think.

Well. Time to go get ready for dinner. Going to church tomorrow. Yay. But I miss FGA so much. Been showing people the OCOV DVD. I am so proud of my choir. It makes me want to cry! :) It makes my heart swell when I see them worshipping God with all their heart and soul. And then I looked at the musicians, and some of them were SINGING! Haha. That was amazing. Can see my brother percussing and worshipping at the same time. And Grandma Lucy, although she was often hidden by Elisha! And my mom... who (I kid you not) RAN the entire "I am free" song. She said she didn't know that we weren't all running. Turned out that she had the best stamina of all the vocalists! Hahah. Go mom!

Write to me people. I miss you all back home. And I'm glad to be with you all here in MN.

Oh oh. And I just bought a cell phone! Well, a plan, but it comes with a free phone. Not a fancy one. I'm going to use the one I brought. Mom gave me her phone. And she got a new one. Not bad eh! :)