Post-Retreat Reflections

This past weekend (September 21-23) was Regent College's annual retreat in Stanwood, WA at the Warm Beach Conference Center, which is neither warm nor a beach. Before attending, I had mixed feelings. I was worried about all the studying I still needed to do, but wouldn't be able to do during the retreat. I was worried that I would feel lonely in the midst of people whom I didn't know. But I also wanted to go to get to know people and experience the retreat. And it was definitely a plus to be back on American soil.

All in all, I had a pretty good time. With the theme of "Surprised by God: from Fear to Longing," Phil and Polly Long talked about Moses' life as well as their own lives. I met a ton of people, most of whom I cannot remember names nor faces. Bek and I shared a long walk and conversation early Saturday morning. I enjoyed a long trail run in solitude during the afternoon. I was "wowed" by the talents of individuals at Saturday night's Talent Show... especially tickled into fits of laughter by John Stackhouse and his band. And let's not forget about cheering on the kids while they played "newspaper hockey" -- Go Team 2! We're twice as good as Team 1!!

However, my favorite part of this weekend was actually the ride down and back up with Samuel, Rebecca and Dave. It was so much fun talking with them about everything from Canadian and American politics to childhood experiences.

I am very glad to be back home in Vancouver, but also feel blessed to have attended the retreat. Now... I guess it's time to get back to studying again!

I was too lazy to take photos, so I only have one to show... the sunset on Saturday evening. I got to enjoy it thanks to Bek who pointed it out to me.

Two Great Friends. One New Desk.

Yesterday, Danette and Richard came to hang out with me for the weekend. On the way up, they stopped at the Ikea in Seattle to buy me a desk. If I had purchased the same desk up here in Vancouver, it would have been $100 more. Despite the difficulties of lugging furniture, they graciously volunteered to do it for me. They even helped me assemble it (taking us over 2 hours!). I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

I was anticipating Danette and Richard's visit and was so excited to see them at the front door. Last night, we enjoyed a delicious Greek dinner, assembled my desk and had dessert with my landlords. (Speaking of my landlords, they are sooooooo cool!)

Anyway, Danette and Richard will be at my front door at any minute now. They'll be here until Monday.

It's All Greek to Me!

Tuesday, September 11th was my first day of classes. Here's what it looked like:

• 7:30AM - Woke up. Got ready for day. Skipped devotions.
• 9:00AM - Left for school.
• 9:15AM - Arrived at school. Sat in the wrong class.
• 9:30AM - Realized my mistake and ran to the right class.
• 9:30-11:00AM - Class: "Perspectives on Biblical Languages"
• 11:00AM-12:00PM - Chapel
• 12:00-1:30PM - Community Groups (and lunch)
• 1:30-3:00PM - Class: "Christian Thought & Culture I"
• 3:00-4:00PM - TRIED to figure out Greek homework (with no success)
• 4:00-5:00PM - Section: "Christian Thought & Culture I"
• 5:15PM - Left school. Bought groceries.
• 6:45PM - Got home. Dropped groceries on the floor. Cimbed into shower.
• 7:45PM - Fell into bed.
• 11:45PM -- Woke up. Put away groceries. Cried. Cried and prayed. Cried and prayed. Prayed.

As an event planner in LA, it was not uncommon for me to work up to 14 hours in a day. So, I felt absolutely discouraged when I was so mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted after my first day of classes. During my late-night praying, I cried out "God, what am I doing here? What are you trying to teach me? If it's in Your will, please let me go back to LA." I was homesick. I was missing my friends, my brother and my mom. And why couldn't I figure out my Greek homework? I had a major breakdown.

I finally fell back asleep at 4:00AM after unsuccessfully tackling my Greek homework again.

BUT, the Lord is gracious. When I arrived at school the next morning (Wednesday), I realized that my classmates were just as confused as I was about Greek. We struggled together in the afternoon and were partially successful.

It is now Saturday. My lessons from the first day of classes are (1) don't skip my quiet time with God, (2) God is gracious and (3) the saying "It's all Greek to me" probably started with theology students.

Orientation Highlights

I attended New Student Orientations at Regent College last week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Since I missed orientations at UCLA years ago, I was really excited about this. Here are some of the highlights from my perspective:

OPENING PRAYER. The opening prayer consisted of a petition for God to help us adjust to a new life in Vancouver and for solace as we grieve the people/things we left behind. The part that brought me to tears was "God is comfortable with grief."

FLAG PROCESSIONAL. Since Regent is such an international school, they had a processional of various countries' flags. When the flag for the United States of America was brought in, I was moved to tears... I'm very patriotic!

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL. This introduction of Regent's history was done by the president of the school. It was very interesting. It was comforting to know that the school's beginnings were not easy. Because of that, community is a core value of the school. If anyone is interested in knowing why the school is called Regent College, please be sure to ask me. I love the simplicity of the story, but will leave it out of the blog for fear that I may not be totally accurate in my retelling. To read the less humorous version of the school's history, please click here.

NEW PEOPLE. I met some pretty cool people so far. Since I'm not tremendously extroverted, I'm very glad people have taken the initiative to talk with me. I met a guy with whom we have a mutual friend. I met a girl with my same name. I met several people from LA. I met a couple who reminds me so much of Jason and Debbie. I hope to make and develop more friendships. Please pray that God will help me to find people with whom I can share openly and be accountable.

WELCOME TO CANADA. A professor shared about the history of Canada and what makes it special as a country. It was a very humorous and interesting talk. I realize, that as an American, I know very little about our northern neighbor. It seems that they know a lot more about us than we know about them. They actually have a year of American history in high school, but our history books cover very little about Canada. But then again, they never had to fight for their independence... but was "released" by the British because they became too financially high maintenance. Haha.

Well, classes start this week. If I have time and energy, I'll blog about classes later on. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

Contact Information

I would rather not post my contact information online, but If you want my new mailing address here in Vancouver, please email me or leave me a comment with your name and email address. I will send it to you.

My cell phone number has remained the same.

Shopping in Vancouver

I was just reminded by Dorcas that I forgot to post that I'm in Vancouver now. I flew here on Tuesday with my mom and 4 huge boxes. The boxes are still here, but my mom is now back in sunny California.

Everyday, so far, has been spent shopping for furniture and daily essentials. As I maneuver through numerous aisles at Home Depot, Ikea, Linens 'n Things, Superstore, The Future Shop and London Drugs, I am again reminded how much I dislike shopping... especially "forced" shopping. The only place I've truly enjoyed visiting is Costco, which is also true back in LA where I love wandering through the aisles buying absolutely nothing or more than I need. (Those little ladies who hand out free samples can be rather pursuasive sometimes.) So far, I've resisting getting a Costco hot dog, which are CDN$1.99 here and not USD$1.50, by the way.

Speaking of inflated prices, almost everything is significantly more expensive here in Canada, especially in British Columbia where the general and provincial sales taxes total 13%. With the Canadian dollar almost at par with the US dollar, the prices are ridiculous. A desk I wanted at Ikea is CDN$249 here, but only USD$149 in the States. It's crazy. However, I'm blessed with friends like Danette and Richard who are willing to lug some Ikea furniture up to me from Seattle.

As I continue to make Vancouver my home for the next 2-3 years, I will have to do much more shopping. Please pray for my sanity, but also please praise God that I even have the means to shop.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)

I was Humbled in Hawaii

Before going on the cruise of the Hawaiian islands, many people asked me if I was excited about the "family reunion." I promptly answered, "No. Not at all." This was for 3 reasons: (1) I've been to Hawaii a number of times before and it just did not interest me anymore, (2) I don't usually enjoy tropical places and (3) I didn't know most of the extended family who were going.

My prediction of having a lousy time seemed to come true when I initially met up with my cousins, my cousins' cousins and my cousins' cousins' cousins. Upon greeting them with a smile and hearty "hello," I received apparently blank stares in return. Inside, I groaned to myself, "Oh great. This is going to be a very, very long week," fully expecting to finish reading the Harry Potter book within a day or two.

And when Hurricane Flossie hit Hawaii and we had to skip the port at Hilo, I felt with even more certainty that this trip would be terrible, especially because I'm prone to motion sickness.

But God had better plans for me.

Little things started happening to change my attitude and my perspective. I didn't get seasick at all. The aunts and uncles were all so kind and friendly. On the day we were stuck on ship, I shared a lunch of bad service, mediocre food and great company with the cousins. Little by little, I got to know the different cousins and saw how each of them is special in his/her own way. I enjoyed their quick humor and laughs.

The best part of the trip was going kayaking with the 14 other cousins in Kauai. We "ditched" the parents and grandparents for a kayaking and hiking trip up and down the Wailua River. I was so impressed by everyone. Even though some of them encountered difficulty in maintaining control of their kayaks, they persevered and eventually became pros. Everyone seemed to watch out for someone else so that everyone pretty much stayed together. Despite sore muscles, blisters and sunburn for most people, we all agreed that it was the best day of the trip.

By the end of the cruise, I was sad that it was over. I wished that I could stay longer in Hawaii with the rest of the family.

I'm so glad I was wrong. I built new friendships within my extended family.... which is an awesome thing because so many of them live in Canada where I will be moving to next week. God, thank you for being bigger than my plans. Thank you for humbling me. Thank you for a great time in Hawaii.

And I didn't even get halfway through with the Harry Potter book by the end of the trip.

"He must become greater, I must become less." (Matthew 7:17)