It's been a while...

So it's been a while, hasn't it. Let me explain. The holidays rushed by, and then my mom came for a visit, and then I had been procrastinating for so long, that I was avoiding blogging like the plague. (Or SARS, if you want me to be more culturally relevant.) In any case... I have a lot of catching up to do. This post might end up being a blurred, boggled, mess of a blog, being that it's been so long! So lets get it started...

Christmas:
Christmas was definitely good. Definitely different as well. It was my first Christmas away from home, or any family. (The fact that I knew my mom was coming 3 days later did help though.) I spent the majority of the month of December at Mike n' Melissa's flat. That was very nice on several levels. 1. It was good to spend Christmas with people who have known me for years. 2. It's more centrally located. And most importantly 3. I LOVE THOSE GUYS! Seriously, I know you both are reading this, and it's semi cheesy, but I appreciate everything that you did, and still do to make me feel more at home, especially during the holidays. The best present that I saw over Christmas has got to be Isabella's tent. Ok, so when you think of a tent for a 19 month old, you think small. Isabella is so loved that she got a good sized tent. And when I say "good sized", I mean like it was a regular Gander Mountain 2 person tent (only with Hello Kitty all over it). Hahahha. No, but really, she loves it, and it's so cute when she invites you to play in it...that kid has a heart of gold. Melissa made a fabulous Christmas feast complete with turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, asparagus that I actually liked, and a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake. It's amazing what that woman can do in such a small kitchen.

My mom arrived on the 28th. We stayed at the High Rock Christian Centre, where a family from our church also live. The name High Rock really isn't just to sound pretty. It's on the top of this really random hill, and to get to it, you have to climb a series of extremely steep inclines. And then when you get to the top, there's a set of stairs that climbs almost like a ladder. It was quite an adventure to get the suitcases up there. The hill aside, it was a great place to stay. The room we were in had a couch with a hyda-bed in it, and a bed up high with a desk underneath, a kitchenette, and a bathroom complete with washer/dryer and a shower.
It's really amazing how ingenious Hong Kongers are with space. A previous tenant had rigged a pulley system in the hallway where he could attach his bike and raise it to the ultra-high ceiling. The second bed was super high (the best mattress in Hong Kong though), and the bathroom had this wooden rack thing on a pulley. We figured out a few days in that once you wash your clothes, you can hang them on the rack, raise it to the high ceiling, and then there was a conveniently located fan pointed directly at the raised rack so it would be a speedier process. Genius, I tell you!
Me and my mom did a slew of things while she was here. We went to the Peak, SoHo to get Krispy Kremes, around the Island, a Chinese tea class, Cheng Cheu Island (rural fishing island...we got to eat seafood for really cheap at an oceanside restaurant and walk in the S. China Sea), Enns', TST to get Ebeneezer's (great Lebanese food), Heritage Museum, a temple, and some other random things that are escaping my mind. But we were running every second. I am so glad that she got to come. The ticket was actually a surprise from my aunt and uncle. What a blessing! My mom is such a prayer warrior. When she found out I was going to HK, she immediately thought of visiting. But then realized that we wouldn't be able to afford it. Then she kept praying about it, and in the fall, she was surprised with this ticket! What a blessing. It was so cool to have her come and bring a little bit of home with her. I was glad that she got to meet some of the kids here and sit in on some of the youth group activities. I think the thing that most pleasantly surprised me that I missed was praying before going to bed (yes, childhood tradition, that still goes on, even my older brother prays with the parentals when home on break) and hugs and kisses. I really didn't realize how much I missed physical touch from family. So yeah. That's the trip in a nutshell. If you know my mom, and are interested in hearing more, ask her to show you the DVD...she constantly had her video camera out, much to my chagrin =) (PM, I get a point for using "chagrin")

New Years:
New Years was not too different from normal: the classic youth group Lock In. This was a ton of fun. The kids were so laid back and actually just wanted to sit in one room most of the time and play board games and Xbox and watch movies. It was great. I think the kids here rarely have an extended time to relax and hang out with friends without other pressures. One girl did, however, bring one of her textbooks, I don't think she got a lot of studying in. I am going to write a separate New Years post highlighting 2006 for you all. I tried to do it last year, but never got around to it.

Since then:
*I moved out of High Rock and back to the Enns'. It's good to be back in their home, and I missed them. They are now obsessed with this game called Settlers. It's seriously a huge family event. I finally got to play last night. Needless to say, I lost badly. I think they've played at least 15 games of it since they got it a few days after Christmas!
*I'm a little bit sick, so you could pray for me if you think about it. I don't think I'm terribly sick, because when I take medicine, I'm good for "6-8 hours".
*Youth worship started playing again on a regular basis. (We took a break for a few reasons)
We have a new sound system that we share with other groups in the church and today was the first time we used in Sunday School. It was sweet. No amps to carry upstairs, and we even had mics! YESSSS!
*I have started a girls Bible study. PM had wanted me to start one eventually. The cool part about this is that one of the girls approached me and said that she knew the boys had a Bible study, and she was wondering if I would start one. I was totally blown away. So we have officially met 2 times. Attendance is a little lacking, but that is to be expected. Pray that more girls would come, and also that I would be able to develop teaching skills. Teaching is not my favorite thing (mostly because I'm not very good at it), and the worst part is that it takes practice to be good at it. (Annoying how that works, isn't it?) But I am deep down thankful for the opportunity to develop my teaching skills, get to develop my relationship with these girls, learn more about the Bible as I prepare, and share life with them, as they share with me. And so, we are both learning, which I have realized is a good and necessary component.
*I will be starting online classes through NWC soon, so pray that I can manage my time wisely and do well in these classes.

That's all for now. Adios.