Starts Today

Wow. What a summer. It's been a filling summer -- hanging out with friends, vacationing with family, work and hanging out with friends :)

These past few days have been hard, knowing that I'll be leaving a community (ASK) that I've been closely knit for 2 years. I'm also leaving a group of high-school/Uni friends that I've hung out with for most, if not all, of my Uni life. Also to friends I've made through these connections or through other means (like conferences or through other friends.) I thank you all for, well, everything!

Today is my last day in Edmonton before I leave for about 4 months (8 months in total). I'll miss you all! I know, I'm leaving for 8 months. But hey, I've never left for that long before, so pee on you :P

Take care and God Bless!

--Wais

A New Chapter in Life

As most of you know, I applied to IVCF Internship for next year after I graduate. Well, I now (Sunday, actually) know that I'm going to Vancouver for a year :) Susie Colby (wife of eccentric and wild, Steve Colby) is going to be my internship director, along with one other intern.

Many have asked how I feel and, to be honest, it's been quite a ride. From being challenged by Jon (cokoandlime) to do internship, to actually considering the internship, and then actually applying for internship was sort of a grueling process. I never actually had a career plan and asked God to give me one, any one, and I'll take it. Well, He did give me one: IVCF Internship.

"What?" I thought. That was NOT what I had in mind. I was thinking pharmacology, or some psych stuff, or maybe even some lab work. Instead, God through internship into my face and said, "You asked me for a path. Here yah go!" Over the next few months I wrestled with it, not knowing if that was actually my calling. I realized that if I asked God for a career path, ANY path, and said no, what was the point in asking? I, at first, hesitantly agreed. As I continued to be a leader in ASK and continue to be lead, I realized my passion to lead a group of people in their walk, as well in my walk, with God. I started to get more excited, and anxious, about internship. I still had doubts, though, if this was my calling or not. I wanted confirmation. I wanted affirmation. When I went to Urbana '06 (YOU HAVE TO GO...IT'S AWESOME...*ahem*) I didn't get a confirmation. I got a spiritual slapping (no...no massive giant red hand on my face...) where God was telling me, "Waison...I've set you on this path. Stop letting your insecurities cloud your sight. You asked for confirmation, but you don't need one. If this isn't right for you, I'll stop you. Until then, JUST GO!"

After that, I did my best to prepare for internship, as well as to end off well in ASK. I did my application and tried to find out my character flaws, wanting to work on them. April 24th, I found out I got accepted to internship. April 29th, I found out I'm going to Vancouver. My feelings? A ball of mixed emotions. Happy and excited to be accepted. Sad and not wanting to leave the community of ASK. However, God says to go forward. As Brenda said at Urbana, ““Do NOT settle!”

Thank you to those who thought of me and kept me in their prayers. Thank you to those who supported me emotionally and spiritually. It’s been an amazing time in ASK these couple of years…I will never forget it. A big stepping stone in my life and in my walk with God. Please continue to pray that I will follow God’s heart and not mine, in my time or internship. Pray for my growth development, character development and spiritual development! I’m going to miss you all next year!! (Well…those in Edmonton and, in particular, ASK community!)

Note: This post was kind of random, so I had no real thought process to it. Sorry if it was choppy and kind of all over the place. I tried to make it make sense…if I failed, oops! :D

CNY and...Car stuckage

Welcome, again, to another one of my long ramblings of a ramble. If you don't like it...as Homer Simpson says "go back to Russia". I will post 2 segments...one is about CNY...one is about today's car stuckage.

CNY

Yesterday, the Chinese New Year party at Mirama wasn't too bad. We all arrived...somewhat on time but the dinner didn't start on time. So what did we do? PICTURES!! (posted below, are a few of them.)

Karen, Mindy, Monica, Phil (beneath Monica) Diane, Fred, Elaine,
Me and Yu Shuai.


Monica, Elaine, Karen, Steph, and Mindy 


There's something about this pic that looks cool...I think it's Phil...
he out-cools me!

Anyways, the party started at like 7...and food DIDN'T come around..instead we had a Lion dance and kung fu shows from Jing Wu (which almost took our heads, neck and other areas of our body, off.) I'd upload the pics here, but I don't want this to be a picture blog (which is...prob. is -_-")

NOW comes the food! The soup was kind of bland but the rest was ok. So, what happened? MORE PICTURES...........and we ate...........somewhat.

As they say in Mandarin, "Gan bei!" (...I think)

Mindy: Why thank you, Phil.
Monica: ...*cries* why not me?!?!

Kim: This is the biggest mushroom I've ever seen! *chomp*
(I have a great vid. of her reaction...her and her shrooms)

Then after that, there was the ever crazy auction. We have our very own Gary (Heisthemakness) up on stage! He even recited a poem!

Gary...in all his "Mr. Sensitive" (Sorry, photo quality not that great!)

The auction was ridiculous...this one girl dished out at least a grand and some guy dished out $850 for two execs on CSC AND got slapped, too (ironically, by the girl who dished out a grand...because he was out biddiner her...) Anyways, it seemed like it was getting out of hand...the bid was becoming a...hmm...a non-physical showdown (but with bills, instead.) It was funny to watch...to me anyways :P

Umm...after that, some execs got pied...more draws and raffles and what not...blah blah blah.

Then, the dance. Wow. I remember when Kim (Ultimatequeenofeverything) stated that she can't dance...yeah she proved herself wrong. Elaine (Anoriel) ripped up the dance floor like it was...a frying pan (I don't get the analogy either, but she's an awesome cook!). Monica (Polaris_light) also amazed me. Now...if only Mindy (Redblackwhite...or Pinkbluecircle) would whip out her moves! Anyways, the dance was fun...OHOHOH...Ben whipped out his break and popping...smooth guy! It was fun...lots of dancing...and some slow dance *ahem*...and more fun dance! Everyone was in it...whether they were break dancing...or hopping on one foot (Fred, or Satsae). More pics below!! (Yes, I know...pics don't do justice..........shame on you!)

Guy (don't know his name...), Diane, Elaine, Kim, Mindy and Monica.
"Let's look SOOOO cool!"

I don't know about you...but from this angle, those three guys look
like they are woo-ing another guy...I'm out!

I believe that's the end of that! CNY was great...but I think what made it really fun were the friends I got to chill with :)

Car Stuckage

Today was an interesting day. Morning started out pretty good...picked up Elaine (Anoriel) and had breakfast before I dropped her off at Red Arrow. Then came worship meeting at Jon's (Cokoandlime) house followed by a worship practice.

Behind Jon's house, are parked two cars. One is for Lisa (living in the basement suite) and one is Jon/Connie's. I decided to part behind Lisa in case Connie needed to go out and use the car. After the practice was over and we were going to leave to head to Lister for a 2 hour sports thing with a bunch of a guys (a "guy's night", or, afternoon?)

Anyways, what happened was the car got stuck in a rut. It wouldn't budge. We spend half an hour digging out snow and everything -- no dice :( After a awhile, we made one last effort and nothing. In fact, it was bad to the point where Fred was like "this wheel isn't turning..." I was like....CRAP!! I didn't know that there was a reason for one wheel to not turn but hey, I was in panick mode and first thing that came to my mind was "my wheel is broken!!"

So, Jon decided to call AMA for me (thanks!) to get me out. Fred and Heereon left first to head to Lister to meet up with the folks. Jon waited with me for the AMA tow-truck to come. He was told it would take maybe 90 minutes but it came in like 10. I was amazed! I'm not going to explain the process of him getting me out but what was funny was that the dude got stuck himself. He had to get himself out then try another procedure :P (He joking said "could you call AMA for me?" to Jon's neighbour...har har) The dude knew what he was doing and got us both out in like 10 mins. That was pretty cool!...AND Connie made me some snack thing to eat! (Some Italian bread, cheese and ham?)

The sports night was pretty fun...I played hockey the whole time. Jon and I were on a team...we won 4-3 :P But man, Ivan was a beast...he was like...hardcore at trying to tie it! He got two goals! What a trooper! Fred was goalie...he pulled some Hasek-like moves, I tell ya! Anyways, it was fun overall!

People to thank:
People at gym -- Thank you for being patient with me!
Fred and Heereon -- Thank you for helping me out, being patient with me and encouraging me!
Jon -- Thank you for helping me out, calling AMA for me and waiting with me!
Connie -- Thank you for the comfort food!

God taught me a lesson today. I wanted to be on time but I think God prevented me...sort of a reminder that God is in control and that even if I'm not on time, things will work out. Whether I was there or not, the event happened and people had fun. God does the job -- not me.
Another thing I learned is to learn to depend on people in a humble manner. I couldn't get out myself, so I had to ask everyone for help. I don't mind it, but I realized that sometimes, I can be such a "I can get this done myself!" attitude that it's not conducive to teamwork.
I'm sure there are more lessons to learn, but for now, these will do :D

If you've read this far...I commend you...and ask you.............................are you slacking?! :D Thanks and hope you enjoyed it! :D

Best. Birthday. Ever.

One word: thebbqinwinteronmybirthdaywassoawesome!!! (okay, many words squished into one...so stomp me :P)

Anyways, on February 3, 2007, the ASKies (see ASK Blogring on left-hand side...or somewhere that it's located...is it even called ASK?!) threw me a big BBQ party! Anoriel (a BIG thanks to you for organizing it! *hugz*) remembered that I told her that when I was young, I asked my mom "why can't I have a bbq for my birthday?!!?" (This was at my sister's birthday) She then replied "your birthday is in winter." "Oh..." says I. Obviously, I wasn't bright enough to realize that. However, my friends decided to throw me a bbq party, anyways!! Though it wasn't everyone standing outside eating, I still quite enjoyed the bbq wings and drumstick and BURGERS!! Off the grill is the best!

Ivan working the grill (Where's Elaine?!?!)

To be honest, I haven't had a birthday party in YEARS (like..at least 10?!) So this one was pretty special. Not because it was the first party in ages, but because it was thrown by a special group of friend's whom I've grown to love as a community. It's been two years (or 2.5) since I've been with ASK and I never regretted any moment of it (this Saturday was a reason why.) I want to thank everyone that was in one the birthday party (and gifts...yay to lotion!) and in on my life...you all played a significant role in my growth - spiritually and in maturity (though this one is arguable). I had a lot of fun chilling and chatting with all of you...watching hockey and pissing our pants in laughter over Zoolander (a classic comedy)..."I'm fiery hot with anger!" "Serve me a piping hot Hansel!" Yeah...it goes on :D Also, thank you to those who are sick and STILL made it...I'd name you all but I that's like naming most of the people that went :P

 More picture below!

They made a cake (flourless!) with a buffalo picture...how buffalo-ey!

Oh...the guys...Crimsonazuri looks like he wants to probe me :/
Left to right: [top] Dan, Fred, Gary, Jon, Tuck Yuen
[bottom...sorta] Me (being held), and Andrew (with the yellow gloves...)
Missing: Tuck Voon

Looks like the girls just want a piece of the body butter...
Ultimatequeenofeverything: "get out of my way!" *slap*
Left to right: [top] Sylvia, Monica, Me, Kim (slapperette),
Mindy, Elaine [bottom] Ang, Karen Chan, Connie
Missing: Karen Chung

Okay, I can upload more but I can also stop uploading...so I chose to eat :) Anyways, if you want the rest, let me know and I'll send it to you...somehow :D

Oh, I also have cokoandlime (Limey's) awesome hairdo..from start to finish of his cut :D

Once again, thanks for the birthday party...I'll NEVER forget it. The best of all my birthdays (I think it's comparable to the day I was born...that's a pretty amazing birthday party don't yah think? ;)) Have a good one!

(I'm sorry if this blog seems a bit incoherent...but that's how I felt, haha. All my thoughts were jumping inside so yeah...hope it wasn't TOO hard to read :D)

One day, a turtle went to the hill. Upon reaching the hill, he

Hi friends.

Aside from falling asleep during my Psych 258 exam, because the room was fricken hot and I'm sweating like a monkey and tempted to take off sweats and write exam in my shorts, I have an "essay" to present to you. It's written by RACTER...and artificial intelligent (AI) program (some of you geers might know what I'm talking about...or those who took this course.) This program generates it's own poems and essays. Below, is one of the many things it wrote. It is taken from this website http://www.ubu.com/concept/racter.html. Anyways, enjoy the muse of RACTER!

At all events my own essays and dissertations about love

and its endless pain and perpetual pleasure will be

known and understood by all of you who read this and

talk or sing or chant about it to your worried friends

or nervous enemies. Love is the question and the subject

of this essay. We will commence with a question:

does steak love lettuce? This question is implacably

hard and inevitably difficult to answer. Here is

a question: does an electron love a proton,

or does it love a neutron? Here is a question: does

a man love a woman or, to be specific and to be

precise, does Bill love Diane? The interesting

and critical response to this question is: no! He

is obsessed and infatuated with her. He is loony

and crazy about her. That is not the love of

steak and lettuce, of electron and proton and

neutron. This dissertation will show that the

love of a man and a woman is not the love of

steak and lettuce. Love is interesting to me

and fascinating to you but it is painful to

Bill and Diane. That is love!

Now, off to dinner and then study for a final that already decided to whoop my arse (I suppose getting 84% in that video project made the arse kicking a little lighter...less painful...:D)

Good luck to all, and to all a pee-ful night :)