time and taxis

today, (at 3am), is the 19th November. if things had gone as planned, i would have been on my way to Harare (Zimbabwe), the first of many destinations in a Southern Africa solo expedition, with the aim of seeing, exploring, and ultimately, learning. about people, about myself and eventually, about God. but then, today would also have marked the start of my 1 month countdown in south africa. as it is, i have 40days left here.

already, some people are going home. one of them has been excited to leave since the 2nd week she arrived (or so i've heard) and the other was so depressed that she cried while packing. i dont think i fall into either category, but i will miss this place. a. lot. either way, home awaits. with friends, responsibilities and, life in general.

wednesday was the start of the 3rd phase of SA2010 - the end of school, and the start of my adventures. & it started pretty well. i aced my oral examination on Church and Israel (after only 1 entire night of cramming - the Singapore system does come in handy), bumped into Ps M & Molly and O'brien on my way back and ended up spending a very nice afternoon talking. As we left, i headed to the bus station some distance away to do a little bit of recce-ing for my mini trip. i dont know how long it took for me to get there and find out what i needed to (time isnt really an issue here), but the interesting part started when i tried to find my way back home. heh. technically, i wasnt lost. i just didnt know how to get home. and i was quite far on the other side of Pretoria from where home is. so... scenario: lone asian girl in downtown African city with a disconcerting lack of afrikaaners (whites). problem: getting home. see, i couldnt just cross the street & take a taxi back the way i came because, it was a one-way street that kind of turned back into town, plus, taxis that go one way, dont necessarily follow the same route BACK.....

ok back to the events that followed. i decided i had time, so i started walking around the streets, soaking in the atmosphere. after buying a random apple, some nectarines and 2 peaches from 3 street vendors who didnt know where i could reboard a taxi towards hatfield (home), i decided to stop wandering and GET. HOME. boarded the next taxi i saw, and asked for hatfield. driver shakes head. sunnyside? yes, nods head. *or so i thought. i get in with another 2 ladies, we're getting the fare together, and then driver shakes his head and drops us all off at a sort of taxi-transfer point. he tells us to go into the front taxi. i get in, and after 15min of waiting for it to fill up (taxis mostly only leave once they're full), i decide to ask a fellow passenger. and he tells me this taxi is going to marabastad! (some distance OUT of TOWN). wrong taxi. i get off, and walk down a little. then i see a lady taxi driver & ask her, how to get to hatfield. she says, just wait a minute, another taxi will come along & i can get in. but she also says, sweetie, come sit inside while you wait. so, yes, of course, why not, the sun is burning outside. and the 1 minute becomes 10, 10min eventually lasts 1.5 hours as her taxi fills up. i ask her if the taxi is coming, she says, yes she'll take me to where i can catch a direct one home. eventually, she drops me off at another(!) taxi-transfer area, this time, in a section of town that i recognise as somewhere the brazilian guys & i were told to turn around and go back. (not the safest place really). but she tells one of the guys she apparently knows my problem, drops me off and says, he'll take care of u.. he gave me directions to get to church square nearby. i wasnt afraid, but my defenses were up and i think he could see it.. so he said, eish, i walk you. very near! i asked if i had to pay, and he didnt answer (next time, i know better) but well, he did walk me, and i did feel safe having a guide through this part of town. eventually when he got me into the right taxi, i was going to give him a R5 tip. but guess what? he said R30! like.. WHAT? R30 for YOU offering to walk <200m with me?? ... seriously. but, anyway, he was very persistent & i didnt want to start a scene there, so heck, R30. there u go. and then, nevermind, he asked R30 and a drink!! i told him, no i dont have a drink. he says, yes, R8 to buy a drink.. NO! i show him i only have coins left to pay my fare, and he sees me count R9 fare out and i have R1.50 coins left & he takes all of it.....
one thing about africans is that, THEY ARE NOT SHY. (this is just one incident).

well, anyway, we're waiting for this taxi to fill up again, and the girl next to me asks if my impromptu guide helped me to carry anything. i tell her what happened and she just shakes her head, says i'm a lakoha ("white" person) and laughs. then she explains its common that these self-employed street-guys dont rob u illegally, they do daylight robbery.haha! i was so amused by the way she put it. eventually, we talked about other things & by the time i got dropped off outside my house, i had a new friend from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). haha. eggciting day eh!

took a nap when i got home, just because i could. and then got a lift from mary-lou to church. took some photos and came home to sleep off the adrenaline+latenights. its gonna be hard to match up to the standard set by wednesday happenings.

but today (thursday), i cooked an awesome singapore dinner for the housemates (+1 and -1) and then had a nice night out. i wonder what today (friday) brings. day 40. i need to remember to pay my housing bill though. and hopefully, by saturday, i get on my way to polokwane in limpopo! preferably no adventures, just a very uneventful getaway, i hope. heh. ok, its late. time to enjoy sleeping in cold weather (its like winter all over again!!! crazy weather. it was insanely hot just 2 days ago!)

ironies.

well. its been a long day. & i think i deserve to go to bed early tonight. but i'm here being hardworking & pushing out assignments. when i say here, i'm actually at the residences' computer room at 12.07am. sighz.

#1. today, when i dragged myself up for a morning class (like FINALLY), i am greeted by an empty classroom. well... its not uncommon here, so i make a friend with another lost student and we walk out nonchalantly wondering what update we missed.. i dont know where class is, or if there is even a class! ohwell. i will see on friday. if it gets too bad, i'll probably email the prof.

#2. i photocopy a textbook.. and now i dont know where it is. i think its at the +27 cafe & i hope shep (the barista who makes the most amazing cappucinos & my favorite americano) has it.. it would be retarded if i had to send it for photocopying AGAIN.

#3. my laptop adapter (which was fixed, or so i thought) throws out sparks & i tried to get it fixed again, but i'm told its best if i buy a new one. retarded thing is, my dad has so many spares at home! why couldnt it wait a liiiittle longer before it died! so, i might be getting a new one, or i might be sharing one with my housemate. her HP adapter died on her too!! (its not just me..) maybe its like a worldwide conspiracy thingy. you never know.

#4. best one of all. i email my dad an update, saying that i'm fine etcetc, and i just got a reply asking when i'll be going to china. my brother is going for 10 days in dec, my dad is going for the entire of dec.. and so, guess who's going to be there to fetch me from the airport when i return??? and its from my longest trip (thus far). win.

interesting life here ah. & its mexico's 200th annivesary of independence today. tequila & crazy mexican friends to round it off. its getting hotter each day, i cant even tahan wearing JEANS. (and i'm comfortable in jeans in singapore weather!) at least its not humid & i dont sweat. wonder how summer will be like though. its only spring & leaves are sprouting up overnight! the brown landscape is turning really green, & the rains havent even arrived!

some stories from the UGC!

most.amazing.outreach.of.my.life. (so far! there's more to come.)

some links from stories posted on the OM South Africa website

 - our KwamHlanga outreach it was really such a huge highlight for our team! & especially for me (:

 - overall highlights in the UGC blog  + 2 stories from my team! the free hugs & the holiday one from my teammate

 - orientation! slideshow of what we went through during the 3-day orientation. it was amazing! btw, the photo of me was taken really early in the morning. embarrassing just-wake-up face....

anyway, updates, my laptop adapter died on me a few days ago, i went to get it repaired, but the guy did a really shoddy job & there's SPARKS coming from the exposed wires. freaky. & hence, i am not touching it until i bring it back for a PROPER fix. i really hope the guy is honest & repairs it properly this time. ): its got to last me another 3 months!!

and its quarter 4 here in Tuks (the university of pretoria). i've had so many changes in lecturers & module contents that i am quite confused. but there's also been an increase in workload especially for the international economics module.. honestly, i dont know if its good or bad because the assignment is definitely a huge chunk of work thats more than its worth (grade-wise), but its practical, exciting & promising. they're getting top officials to come and see our presentations on the trade policy here! so.... i'll see how it goes. no more slacking.

and the weekend was just fantastic. (: interesting night at hatfield square with my camera, apartheid museum on sat with m-l, many great conversations, thought-provoking message (again) by Ps Jabu, and frozen yoghurt after church with a housemate & church friends (a very small step towards inviting my housemate to church!).

one last thing, SPRING BREAK NEXT WEEK! wooohoooo! excited much! victoria falls, kalahari desert (anyone remembers sec 2 geog??), camping, rafting, horseback riding & more fun stuff!

what a friend we have in Jesus!

He blesses, just because!

non-IEK780-related thoughts.

Freely You gave it all for us,
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is Your love poured out for all,
This is our God.

so, procrastination comes with reading the bible because, for some warped reason, i figure that since i am wasting time, i might as well spend it on something better. not a very good reason to read the bible, but nonetheless a reason. currently taking my time to read a book called "A Life God Rewards" by Bruce Wilkinson..the hosts that the other Singaporean girl is staying with gave me a copy just the other day, and its been a blessing. its not a today vs. tomorrow issue anymore, but more of a tomorrow's circumstances given today's.i'm sure there's a mathematical way to represent this, maybe like.. Y(t+1)|I(t). Benefits of time period t+1 (i.e. tomorrow) given Investment today.  ok, my brain is obviously NOT being used to study international, but anyway, i digress. HAHA.

being here, its been such a smooth journey that i believe God is using this experience to teach me what it means to walk with Him in good times.we all know what it is like to walk with Him in the bad times, because, like little children who've been naughty and burnt our fingers in the fire, we run crying to Him, seeking comfort and knowing that we will find sometimes a rebuke, but always a loving embrace.  or else, it is also when we find that our knees give way and our hands know the extent of their incapabilities, that we continually seek His face, His guidance and His blessings on our works. because we also know that we have no choice but to trust in His provision & His plan.on the other hand, when things go fine and we think we're walking on our own 2 feet, when life doesnt present us with impossible situations, thats when it gets tough to discern what His will is. and honestly, its maybe because in our finite minds, "all is well".

i see such a huge difference in myself here just over these 3 months. its a very distinct pattern.before the outreach while in pretoria for a week, i spent so much time praying about things at home and things to come. on the outreach, we had daily devotions as a team. i also got up earlier for QT, knowing that all that i did would be useless if i wasnt right with God but also knowing that there would be a verse every morning to guide my steps in the outreach. and at night, the day's events only made sense when i brought them before God & asked Him to teach me.  (plus, having a devotional book strategically situated on a stool next to the toiletbowl made for extra quiet time. heh) a few weeks after the outreach, i spent time with God looking for solace & trying to continue the learning curve in a different context. but just recently, i've noticed that i've started praying much lesser than i did before.  not that i dont pray anymore, but just that my prayers seem more routine than expectant, more responsibility than desire. and its so different from before..i wonder if it is partly because everything is going well. i read the bible, and i'm even reading more books here than at home (there's more time here also)  but i just find that the expectation of finding sustenance through the Word isnt there every single time.


it was last week's church service where ps jabu sang a song with lyrics that went something like,  God is the God of the mountains and the valleys, the sun & the night, the laughter & tears.  (and it was phrased a lot better, but i cant remember it for the life of me!) so i'm wondering now, what is it like to follow God in the good times?  to watch where He leads, to be alert to the subtle changes in schedule that i am to take, and to grab the small opportunities i will have to bring glory to Him. i want to, and i will find out. its not by chance that such a pattern has emerged, and if i cannot learn to spontaneously take time out of my relaxed schedule to speak to someone in the street,  then its going to be impossible for me to do anything once i'm back home.

God is a good God and there's so many blessings very single day that i see & i feel so grateful for,  but it also accentuates the feeling that i'm not doing enough for Him, that there is a lot more i can do than i am doing.  this is a new road i'm walking.. life has never flowed so smoothly before and i think there's going to be a big lesson in this.  cant wait to find out (:  but first, let me figure out international economics, get through the crazy 95-page South African trade policy and write my own.  i have 17 hours to clear 50% of my entire grade (and i havent done anything!) eeeks.  its laughable at the state i'm in, except that i really need to PASS.

i have biltong and some green apples for snacks tonight. South Africa is good (: except for the rubbish that i get myself into. ohwell, delayed gratification! when i get home, i will have a sem where i can take 1 module less!

hello terms-of-trade and welfare.

HELLO OLD BLOG (:

reopened this blog to post stuff about SA here. (:

and i think its quite funny how the titles fit!

it definitely aint the same here in south africa!

and i AM being set apart! (:

set apart from home & a lot of my old assumptions&personality,

and set apart to Christ as i live this adventure knowing Him better in SA!!

and the picture is suuuper old! i took it in switzerland in 2006.

suddenly, i feel old. hm. but ok, so the template REAAAALLY SUCKS.

xin: big hint, preeeeetty pls? (:

but i really ought to be doing my important job of determining where south africa's comparative advantage lies in trade. (because, that piece of assignment was due two days ago, hehh. and i am procrastinating now, again.) but i was trying to think of how i can tell people back home about the awesomeness of SA without typing it x1938 times, and this was my idea, which i'm implementing now because everyone does stupid things when they want to avoid doing something. and i am just like everyone else, in this regard.

hooray SA! (:

and today was quite a nice day. had my R10 americano at +27 which is the internet cafe about 2minutes from home, (its where i do all my photouploading), and just went through another routine day here which included a long run to the university's lake (yes, the school is so huge that they have a separate campus full of sports facilities, and its bigger than 5 VJC's, maybe like 3 bedok reservoirs. so, yes, there's a small lake within that place, and i loveeee it there!). plus, monetary economics class in the evening was challenging but entertaining to say the least.

context:

iitahlian professor who spiks eengleesh like dis, a huge complicated algebraic equation that needs manipulating, and a class of 30 people, half of whom have confused looks on their faces (yours truly included).

Prof: "so you move dis ere and you ged dis, and then you have this blob right here! *points to huge chunk of alphas & betas* (i nearly laughed out loud to myself...) so after more blobs about 10minutes later, Prof: ok, we have enough of blobs today, see you next week!"

amusing ttm. ok. if you did not understand this, read THIS from the now defunct page. guarantee u will understand.

coffeehouse tmr (:

and old post #3, DONE! (:

August 17th, 2010

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01:13 am - of tests and everything else. its horrible how i alwaaaaays blog when i have something else more important to do. like my paper on cohabitation for example. i forgot all about the deadline until friday night when i got home from coffeehouse and looked at my plans for the weekend. and, OH WOW! I HAVE A 7 PAGE PAPER DUE IN 4 DAYS! (plus an exam which i knew about, but didnt bother studying for) because, well, i'm in AH-FREEE!-ca.... so the paper isnt all that hard, the topic has been set, the outline has been given, the segments of the essay have even been weighted, and the readings have half the info i need...... (quite amazing!! half my work is done for me!) BUT... butbutbut. me, being me. i havent done the other half, which is getting content and writing it. now, i've got my basic content outline & the sources and i'm procrastinating the writing bit. this slackness is going to kill me upside down next semester... oh, and i sat for my first exam here in SA. it was a JOKE i tell you. felt like not even JC level questions. "define active listening", "discuss the components of empathy",.... oh! and the best question, " LIST down the FOUR factors of .." MY GOODNESS. its a university course for goodness sake.... i read the questions in disbelief and for a moment, i just thought, crap why did i study so much stuff in-depth! if i had just memorised all the definitions, i would ace this test.. but seeing as which i didnt bother AT ALL with definitions...... HAHAHA. the results will tell if i've been studying effectively. and have i mentioned, communal living is so much fun (: on sunday, everyone was home. and we spent sooo much time in the kitchen.. its amusing that we were all just procrastinating so much! HAHA. at one point in the day, all 5 of us were standing in the kitchen, complaining and eating or staring at people eating.. its 12:57am now, and i think i just heard some activity in the kitchen.. point proven. time flies in afrika, in exactly 4 months and 1 day, its hello singapore again. i want to stay here! its not stressful! and i love speeding around everywhere on my bike. the risk factor adds to the edge, especially when i cycle home from church at night. and i really like church here. its so warm & welcoming & sincere & just so... nice. something interesting, the church is full of architects.. architects and architecture students. they go "wow, economics!", i go "wow, architecture!" (influenced by kevinong obviously) hahah. and i just realised i've typed A.LOT. i should have been typing words about cohabitation, but this is relaxing. and unlike home where everything becomes really quiet only at 3am, i get the same effect here at 1am. (: when the weather warms up, i'm going to take walks in the tuksdorp compound. AND I NEED PLANS FOR THE SEPTEMBER BREAK!! i have 11days to travel! and maybe make plans for a weekend trip next week. the only thing that is lacking now are nice travel buddies. but that, i will have to trust God that i make travel plans with the right people. so, my essay is due in 16 hours. and i have class in 8 hours. yay me. (: time to start work again.

August 16th, 2010

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12:08 am another week has ended. crazy how time flies. last weekend was quite awesome. (: met malems at sunnypark (its about 15min by minitaxi) was only a littleee bit unnerving when i got off the taxi to find myself on a street full of vendors and random people milling around and being the only non-black in the area. plus, i had my camera in my bag, so i walked reaally fast in the direction of the mall and stepped into a place of safety (in my humble opinion) very hurriedly. amusing, now that i think of it, but not so at that point of time. coffee and a good chat later made me realise just how much God was working in our team on the capetown outreach. (which reminds me, i have yet to finish typing that last update about capetown). malems' perspective and experience of our team also brought me new insight, and the team dynamics were really very interesting! after that we dropped into the coffeehouse across the road and that was where my kofiehaus adventure began. but anyway, joburg over the next 2 days and pilanesberg on sunday! pilanesberg national park was amaaazing!! we set off at 4am and reached at exactly 6.30am when the park gates opened. so i got to see a real african sunrise! haha. well, every sunrise is real, but this one, i saw inside a nature reserve, surrounded by bush. but the most awesome thing, the radio station which was blasting out party-type of music for the entire journey there, started to play a christian program with worship songs!! see, no one else in the car was a christian, and just to have a song of worship playing in the background while i'm in Africa, living a dream, holding my camera and watching a sun looks like a huge red ball rise in the distance.... no words can describe that feeling man. seriously. and of all things, the song that was being played was "this is the air I breathe". God really knows how to take care of people. best. host. ever. haha. i was really so blessed by that 20minutes or so. the rest of the day was spent going "ELEPHANT!" "ZEBRA!" "GIRAFFE!" etc... and the picnic, my gosh, i have NEVER heard such silence!!! it was sooo peaceful! even with so many other people having huge braai feasts.... awesomeness. it would have been even more cool to have people from home to share it with, but i loved it nonetheless. ach, so much to update. the week was eventful as well, especially wednesday when i went to soccercity to watch bafana play ghana. cool experience, but after that the real 'adventure' started. this was an adventure with people (really). oh and of course, like everything that has happened here so far, i'm safe where i should be. thursday and friday i went to the coffeehouse, which was just so cool. fastforward this weekend. and i miss the girls a wholeeeee lot. ): but i wonder what response i will get if i call home and ask my parents if they'll support me to put my studies on hold for 6months and go for OM's MDT that starts in Feb.... my thoughts are running wild. ohhh welll.. i conclude, its not going to happen. but i wish. (: its ironic and very possible actually.. i'm living a dream here in SA and i'm dreaming of more dreams in SA. but a girl can dream, cant she? :D

August 7th, 2010

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03:32 pm - of j's. jehovah witnesses in joburg. so, of all things, the friend of liu (an exchange student) turned out to be a jehovah's witness AND he brought us to hang out with more jw "brothers & sisters". it was fun even though it was a teeny bit disconcerting at the start, but they were nice people and we had a lot of fun talking and iceskating. side note: the day i decide to be game and try a bum-slide (i.e. move really fast on skates and cover the rest of the distance on your ass), i fall and hit my head so hard that now i have a huge bump. no brain damage done though. heh. back to the topic of the jw-weekend. at night i went to google jw on my phone (internet on my phone is so useful!) and i started to understand a little bit more about them. today was just weird. because, they brought us to 2 chinese shopping areas, one aptly named China Mall, and after breakfast, they left us to roam around while they went to "evangelise". & apparently, its a weekly activity they do regularly. after that, when paul (the chinese guy's friend) gave us a lift back to pretoria, God answered my prayer last night for opportunities to talk about their beliefs. he started by asking me about freedom of religion in singapore & when i asked him in return, he started talking about how the jws were persecuted in SA for refusing army conscription. and the conversation that ensued......well..lets just say that i asked all the questions in that conversation & the awareness of my ignorance of the bible has been amplified. hah. but this is what i get when i ask God to use this SA experience to grow me. because i am learning SO MUCH. Lord, some of Your wisdom now would really help. thank You.

August 6th, 2010

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12:33 am - yay weekend! its the long weekend, and i dont have anything thats like, "omg!SOEXCITING!" planned... but i think its going to be quite nice! going to joburg over friday & saturday for ice-skating (???) and stuff like chinatown (another ????...i didnt come all the way to AFRICA to go to CHINATOWN!)... but since liu (one of the chinese girls here) asked me to accompany her, so.. i think it'll be fun in terms of a chill sightseeing experience. but! sunday will be awesome because we'll be going on a day excursion to pilanesberg game reserve! photo-galore!! (i hope. because that 70-300mm lens may just utterly disappoint) so, i'm not exactly expecting national geographic quality kind of pictures, but hopefully i get some nice ones with my boyfriend & his awesome wideangle...and monday, mountainbiking somewhere!! one thing of concern to me, i'm being lulled into a false sense of security here i think. i just bought my bike yesterday and i'm so excited about being able to ride around like to church and go on cycling trips and everything!! butbutbut.. going to the singapore embassy today really introduced some doubts because of the way the guy reacted to the news that i used a bike... i know i'm not going to do stupid things like cycle into the city by myself or really stupid stuff like cycling out at 12mn, but now, i'm wondering... FINALLY watched inception last night! (about 1year later than the rest of the continents, but at least its here!) and it was sooo good. something random: i was thinking what my life in limbo would be like. would be interesting to dream it! dreams. its such a big word. (: AND NO WAY I AM GOING TO BE A BRIDESMAID. OR ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES ME TO WEAR A WHITE DRESS, ACT DEMURE AND/OR TOSS FLOWERS. (: boo to december 2010. but big yay to 2011. and bigger yay to the weekend!

August 3rd, 2010

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01:25 am its been a good few days. major stuff: sending regina off (even getting there & back was a miracle in itself), m-l's ladies' fellowship (learnt so much!), african mini-concert of gospel songs(my hair kept standing) & weekend-speculation with the housemates (egggciting)... speaking of which, i havent taken ANY pictures of the house, the housemates, school and other random stuff! i better do it before i get so used to living here that i lose sight of all the unique-ness of the place...and i should probably start using my boyfriend a little more, now that i have him back (((: i have only shot a grand total of 3 frames since he got back! but developing film here is just sooooo expensive... been doing quite a bit of thinking these past days. anything and everything major in my life came up. some thoughts i dwelt on & prayed over, others not so. but thats always the case i guess, cuz there's always something that holds back... tomorrow is a new day. and school here is just like school at home. in the sense that i'm ALWAYS late. but now with 2 postgrad courses i'm taking, slacking off is not an option anymore. hopefully it keeps me on my toes, if not next sem, i'm just gonna die dealing with work, readjustments and cell once again. ok but that is one example of something i AM.NOT.GOING.TO.THINK.ABOUT. not until 5 months later. funny how at home the 5 months leading up to this adventure dragged its feet so slowly...and here, i'm thinking, its only 5 months.. pfttt. save me from this retarded brain that does not know when to shutup.