Kid's Mission, Driving Course...

I know, I know, I've been very lazy with this blog. But I really have my reasons!!!!! To be precise - three of them.

1) Kid's Mission
Originally I was merely a member of the leadership team. You know, just a random person who helps out with craft, cleans up and supports the main team. A couple of weeks before that Prash comes up with "Hey Jen, I think I'll put you on memory verse. You'll be fine." Hmm....REALLY stretching my creativity, and skills. The day before: "Jen, I'm putting you as the MC. Don't worry, it's not a big job or anything. You'll be fine."

Ok...some stats. There were approximately 185 kids (from K-6) each day...about 40 leaders...and about 20-30 parents...so a pretty damn big crowd. So there I was, prancing around with a chirpy "HI GUYS!!!" Playschool host voice, smiling, waving....ergh. My name, believe it or not, was "Generous Jen"....hahahaha. Um. I think I've never been as out of my element as I was that week, since my particular brand of humour consists of paying people out or making witty references to current affairs. Really not applicable to small children. So yeah, it was a very tense sort of week!!! Haha. Although, I've got to say, I thought it would be as bad as House Choir (ie cynical bastards)...whereas the kids were absolutely gorgeous and would come up to me and say hi, smile at me, etc. Yay!! I felt popular. Something I rarely feel!!! (Lol).

2) Uni offers
OMG cannot get over how tense I was just before these came out. Spent the better part of Jan 18 praying and reading Bible verses, trying to deal with the prospect of rejection and combined law at UNSW. (Speaking of combined law, I CANNOT get over the USyd law cutoff going down the 99.55!!!!!!!!!!! Not that I'm going there or anything...but STILL!! Crazy). Having not made Monash the day before did NOT do wonders for my personal confidence...however, I got a DFEE place!!! Thank the Lord!!!! (And I know I might be asking a BIT too much...but if you could pray that I get a HECS place in the 2nd round offers, I would be so grateful). The thing is - I'm going to be working a lot this year, and paying off the entire loan myself. A prospect that is, well, slightly unappealing. I'd still do it though...no problem. Anyhoo, that was that.

3) Advanced driving course
Now to be honest, DRIVING there was far more scary than doing it. The top speed I have EVER done was 80km/h, and I was scared. On the bloody M5, I was (illegally) doing about 110km/h. I don't quite remember breathing for about half an hour as I sped along out past Campbelltown. Anyway, I will NEVER find Gladesville Bridge scary again. (The Harbour Bridge may be anothe matter). Whatever the case, the course itself was still fairly scary. I do NOT like the feeling of the car shuddering as I slam on the brakes and kick the ABS into action. Especially not when the floor is wet, and the car feels like it's sliding from side to side...Hmm.

In other news - Claire has now left Australia!!!!! =( I will miss you so much honey!!!!!! I hope and pray that you have a fantasamalistic time in Brazil...we MUST keep in touch.

Love you all, will write again soon.

More of my boring life

Hello again!

Nothing much has happened today. I am still sick from Melbourne, coughing like General Grievous and basically torturing myself by wearing jeans and a warm top. Wasn't allowed to go to Jackie's farewell thing which really pissed me off, because I cannot imagine a year without Jackie!! Especially a year at church!!! So I will dedicate this entry to her.

Jackie Wong:
The first person to befriend a lonely, loserish new Asian girl at St James, and the first to make me feel right at home there. Always the one with the greatest comebacks, and always the one with the biggest smile. Without her everyone laughs a lot less! (Ok, what person am I writing in???) Anyway I think one of the funniest legacies she has left has been the Jenny/Wei-Li crap. It was funny, man. And I'll miss her continual pay-outs!!!! Actually...there is so much I'll miss about Jackie. Best wishes to her as she travels to Toronto for a year!! God bless Jackie. =)

Apart from missing Jackie, I tidied my bookshelf (I have recently acquired 21 new books - I think I can start a library soon, but I believe this is an investment well worth the effort). I'm quite amazed I filled so much space!! But I guess after purchasing "The Blind Assassin", "Anna Karenina", "The Book Thief", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Crime and Punishment", "Gulliver's Travels", "Utopia", "Tess of the D'urbevilles", "Brave New World", "The Handmaid's Tale"...yeah, you get the drift.

I finished "The Lovely Bones" yesterday which was actually a really really good read. Some bits were soo sad, and most of it was terribly moving and interesting. Additionally I have also begun to cement my position as counsellor - specialty, "Parent Problems". Anyone having issues and wishing to discuss them, simply call either: 95008373 or 0425218373. I charge $50 per hour - bargain rate I believe.

What else, I have pretty much decided I'm going to UNSW this year. Definitely got into Int'l Studies/Law (it was 99.15 last year and it can't possibly jump up to 99.6 this year) and MIGHT make med (aggghhh) so yeah, that'll be where I'll be!! And on the topic of uni...RACHAEL HAS STARTED HER AVIATION COURSE!! WOOOOOT!!! I am SO excited for the day when Rachael will be able to fly me down to Melbourne...or over to Paris...for free!!!! Haha lucky bugger.

Anyway that's it from me for now. Love you all!!

back after a LONG sabbatical!!!!!!

HELLO DEAR READERS!!!!!

I have received some concerned emails from some of my devoted followers regarding the fate of this blogspot. Never fear; I have returned!! After about...two months (I think) of weaning myself off my internet addiction...I think I've had a bit of a relapse. Meh. Anyway, my life so far...

Had an interview at Newcastle for med, with two old interviewers, one of whom insisted on staring at the ceiling throughout. Both decided to keep questioning my answers to the extent that I was seriously worried that I said something very wrong indeed. On further examination of other peoples' experiences, however, it appears that is a Newcastle tactic to make people feel uneasy.

Then it was off to Magnetic Island which was a blast!! Ok...wrong word. I believe I used the word "relaxing" a lot, in order to explain the total lack of unsafe alchohol consumption, illicit drug abuse and rampant orgies (things that are generally incumbent with the word "schoolies"). Read a lot though, getting through the Da Vinci Code (very good read, and very easy to see why the Church had such a hissy fit about it), Richard Glover's Desperate Husbands and most of Crime and Punishment. Just a few words....WASP...(hehehe) and NOVMAY!!! HAHA good old Alicia can get 99.95 but not realise that Nov-May (under jellyfish sign) refers to a time period between November and May...hehehehehe.

After Speech Day (which was perhaps the most terrible one I have ever sat through in my entire school career...the music was awful..."Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy"!?!?!? "DANNY BOY"!?!?!?!?!??!!) I pretty much took off for Asia. Three week holiday in a nutshell:
- Changi Airport (beautiful, lovely flowers, but I couldn't really stop associating it with the following phrase: "Van Nguyen was seized at Changi Airport carrying 317 grams of heroin"...which sort of distracted me from the orchids).
- Singapore clean and nice with fairly ok shopping.
- Hong Kong: FANTASTIC!! I loved it so much!! Jen Wu - I am so sorry I ever said Shanghai was better!!! I love that it's largely bilingual, I love that it's cleaner than most Asian cities (with the exception of Singapore), I love its transport system and I love how pretty it is!! Oh, and how good the shopping/food is!!! =D Very pleased indeed. In fact I believe I could live in HK - a rare honour so far bestowed only upon Melbourne (apart from Sydney, of course). Here I shall divert to mention a few things. One is that I got really really really sick and threw up like never before. Another is that during that revolting sickness, I couldn't stop dreading the release of the HSC marks. That was honestly like this albatross around my neck (sorry to use that metaphor hahahaha but I think it is fairly apt) and I just couldn't bring myself to hope for anything. I could see myself opening the message and seeing all these marks in the 70s just as plausibly as I could see myself opening the message with good marks. So, um, yeah. That sucked.
- Macau. A hole. Here is what to do if you ever contemplate going to Macau: forget about it. It is memorable to me for only one reason - I got my marks there. Afterwards I realised that I'd put Shang and Celia in an impossibly awkward situation that could have been potentially disastrous...as it was, it was really very fantastic. God worked a miracle - especially with my modern mark!!!
- Thailand was MAD. Sooo cool!!!! The exchange rate, for one thing, was excellent (30 baht to 1AUD) - for another, the food was delicious. We also had a lovely tuk-tuk driver who took us around and gave us tours each day - honest (which was a rare find), and English-speaking. The Grand Palace and Floating Market was probably the highlight (apart from the shopping). Oh - another highlight - getting that UAI. More fears were laid to rest as I only fell 0.05 short of the mark I'd drawn all over my folder!!!! Note: CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY BEAUTIFUL PLC GIRLS OUT THERE WHO WENT SOOO WELL!!!!
- Back to Singapore for a little more shopping on Orchard Road, then back home. The best thing about flying to and from Singapore was probably the SkyBed. Fantastic!! I could actually sleep!!!!!
...On closer inspection this nutshell is pretty damn big...maybe it's a COCOnutshell...ahahaha.

Anyhoo once I got back it was NYE...which I spent at Alicia's. Lovely time!! The swimming was so fun (there's something about frolicking in a pool at 2:30am) and the fireworks from Woolwich are the best I've ever seen them!!!!!! Downside: losing my camera. Huh. I suppose there had to be something to screw up everything that had been so wonderful up til then. Well - I think the good still far outweighed the bad!!

Then off to Melbourne for a few days for a Monash interview, which was actually pretty good. Man I really did start to wish I got a second round UNSW interview. I'd do so much better than I did, I reckon!!! Then again, I might have been a bit devastated to not have gotten anything in September.

Oh haha the other funny thing about Melbourne was meeting up with a bloke from NYP who said the following statement: (in response to my expression of admiration for the HP series) *incredulous look* "Did you know there are people out there who have read the entire series about FOUR OR FIVE times?!?!?!"
Me: *ahem* Errrr yes, I could believe that....
Try...ooh...at least 30 times for each book...and I really don't think I'm exaggerating. Oh wait, ok, maybe about 6-8 times for the most recent one...due to HSC and all.

Anyway, I got sick in Melbourne and that brings me to where I am right now - parked in front of my laptop in about 5 layers of clothing, sniffling and coughing. Thanks for sticking it out with me!! I PROMISE to update more regularly. Love you all!!