Dissimilus

I am different; but not indifferent. 

Different does not mean I am better;

neither am I more important. 

Sun, rain, snow and wind; 

we partake of them all.  

Made subject to them, not unlike you. 

But felt and perceived differently. 

I know my identity; 

what I am called to be.

It changest not, but abideth forever. 

I am a blade of grass- and I remain as one.

Friend

Met an old friend today. It has always been a part of my life since childhood but pretty much neglected by me. As childhood and teenage years flew by, my neglect turned into regret. The attempts to reverse the flow were futile. You reap what you sow. This will remain as a great regret in my life: not learning the piano properly when I had the chance to. Not that I have no more chance, but will it be be worth the effort and time to put in now? 

It has been a month since any contact with the piano and it felt really good this afternoon to just rest my hands on the black and white keys. With whatever limited ability I have, I managed to 'play' some of the familiar worship songs. It was an escape. By the way, it was a baby grand piano...love the sound very much but I really wished I could bring more out of it.

Today is the last Friday of October and I have already been in Bristol for close to a month. Time is passing by so quickly and there's so much to read. But hey, first year doesn't count :D Since today's weather was great, I decided to take a walk around Clifton for some shutter pressing, here's one for you.

Thanks for reading!

Amoris

"There is no escape...There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable..

We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it." - The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis

So be it.

Journeying

Travelled to Sheffield last Friday to visit Adrian and Angela over the weekend.

As the journey was 5.5hours for each way, I was able to have a glimpse of UK's landscape outside of Bristol. The bus travelled from Bristol to Worcestershire, Birmingham, Derby and Chesterfield before finally reaching Sheffield. The time on the coach for both trips was mainly spent on sleeping, reading, taking photos and more reading. Thank God for lightings on the coach so that I could read at night.

This was the first shot of the journey. Unfortunately, I forgot to check my settings and it was taken in black and white format - I wished it was otherwise but this photo really invoked much feelings in me. The sceneries seen along the way were really superb - I really enjoyed looking out of the window to see the vast open fields with cattle in them - such idyllic settings. I must confess that I couldn't keep staring out all the time because it became repetitive.

Anyway, I am extremely thankful for the time spent with Adrian and Angela. When I first saw them, it felt so unreal! After all the time spent in having bible study at KFC, Macs, BK(Toa Payoh's outlets) back in sunny island, we are now in UK! Who could have imagined this? I had a wonderful time of sharing and fellowship with them; not to mention the time spent eating, preparing food, talking, playing console games (the wii was hilarious)... so grateful of everything and was really blessed by their love. Thank you! It's my best weekend in UK so far and I even got to eat Sarawak laksa! I felt like I was in Kuching - well, minus the cold wind. They also brought me to Sherwood forest and it was a really pretty place!

During the church service on Sunday at Sheffield, there was a word of knowledge given about God's promise/faithfulness - something to do with rainbow but I am unable to remember it in detail. Yesterday, I saw a really beautiful rainbow while walking back from the library to my room.

I'm doing pretty okay over here right now. Slowly adjusting to the life of a law student once again. Reading the readings and reading the read. It probably sounds really nerdy but it really gives me a sense of familiarity- using Lexis Nexis and  ploughing through those huge textbooks (no lawnet so it's westlaw now), though the volume is much greater than before and is quite challenging.

I'll also like to share a song that has greatly blessed me:


Be thankful for everything.

Respite

Phew, finally a break!

My school told us that we need to do 40 hours of studying each week. I really hope that it is true because I think we are currently doing more than that. By the way, this is week 1 of the term. Last week was freshers' week but our proper lectures started anyway.Prior to coming, I have been sent a letter and an email instructing me to do some pre-arrival reading. I'd wished then that my school wasn't that serious. Somehow it was serious about it and most of the law students took it seriously too! I ended up coming to school with 4 chapters of readings behind probably a majority of the students. Hence, I have been doing a fair bit of catching up on top of preparing for the seminars that have their own separate readings. It has been quite tiring (haven't been nerding this much for more than two years) and I am so relieved that I have a break tomorrow! I will probably have to catch up on 3-4 chapters of reading that I have been behind for the lectures over the weekend though...plus seminars to prepare too. It's rather daunting because I find myself being weaker than the rest of the students - particularly when it comes to catching the more theoretical and abstract concepts.

Studies aside, a fair bit of life here has to deal with adaptation - adapting to the studying environment; the thought process required in school (putting down the old and putting on the new- learning to look at things from a different perspective and train of thought); the weather; the people e.t.c. It's easy to put a blame on other things for the evident differences:  being schooled in a different way for three years; being in the army for two years (rumour has it that it makes you stupid); being an introvert; difficulty in adjustments to a new environment... Well, there's no excuse for anything and it's imperative to adjust, adapt to the new environment and make the best of it. I'm still in the process of trying to get into a routine of going to school, cooking, studying and doing laundry...perhaps getting to know people more as well. A slow process but I think it's slightly improving as each day passes.

Above all these, the greatest comfort and assurance is that God is in control and I can put my trust in Him no matter what happens; I also know that there are other members of Christ wherever I am. In fact, I just came back from a supposedly bible study. As it was a new start to the group with different students, it was more of an intro where people shared about how they became Christians. I was blessed by those who shared and it really reminded me to always look upon God. Just because I am a student here does not mean that it is about being a student simpliciter; we are ambassadors of Christ wherever we go.

I will upload more pics once I get the chance to go around Bristol pressing the shutter - hopefully tomorrow. 

Fly Away

The new chapter has finally unfolded. After months of waiting, dreading and anticipating, I have arrived in UK in an attempt to complete my law degree. It is difficult to put a finger to how I really felt when I walked through the departure gate. Though wide awake, it felt like a blurry dream: unreal and torn between excitement and reluctance. Everything happened so fast and sudden- goodbyes, photographs and disappearance.  

 

Apart from a flight delay and children singing ABC in the wrong sequence enthusiastically behind me while I attempted to sleep, I was glad to touch down in Heathrow after a 13hours flight. The weather was great: sunny and cool; and the blue sky greeting me was a welcoming sight for a tired and jetlagged person.

After waiting for 2 hours or so, my coach to Bristol arrived. Thank God my school mate and I managed to get onto the coach. We had waited in another area and was slow in getting to the coach. As a result, the coach was rather full by the time we reached and the bus driver said that we couldn't get on anymore. However, he changed his mind in the end-spared us from waiting for another hour. The view along the way from Heathrow to Bristol was fantastic! It was my first time seeing the vast fields with sheeps/horses in them against the setting of a blue sky. How beautiful! The contrast in the colours was outstanding and very pretty. Too bad I wasn't sitting beside the window and I was really really really tired - ended sleeping for most of the two hour bus ride.

My accommodation in the Hall was much better than expected. I remember telling some that I was placed in the main building where more parties occur and I was further placed along the ground floor - I had expected a great deal of noise God had sent someone to remind me that all things work together for good - Romans 8:28 (to you, thank you very much for the exhortation and assurance). So while I didn't expect anything, I trusted in God that He has His purpose for all the arrangement. My room turned out to be really nice. It's spacious and has a wardrobe that is too large for me; it's right at a corner of the hall where it's quiet and I even have a view of the sunrise. 

My hall warden had a talk with me and I found out that he had actually given due consideration to my 'about me' description in the accommodation application. He told me that he had a difficult time in deciding where to put me...and I am really grateful for his efforts. We had a long talk about many things: God, bible, music, fishing, photography, life, chinese literature...etc. One thing he asked me was this: 'what's the greatest gift that God has given to us in this life?' While I gave thought for an answer, he said it's time - we must be good steward of our time. It was really something very applicable to me...what am I to do with the time that I have here? Anyway, my hall warden is really knowledgeable and well read - even in that 40mins of conversation with him, I already felt as though there's a great gulf between our knowledge: both in terms of the natural and even the spiritual. 

School will probably be quite hectic once it starts proper. I've already got the introductory handbooks to some modules and I probably am going to be nerding a great deal. 

I guess that's all to update for now. As you can see, this post is really all over the place...I'm still kinda jetlagged and i get tired at 9pm here...fall alseep at 10pm only to wake up at 4am. Signing off...