russian girl, i will never forget you.

i'll miss you all.

I can't imagine that this is happening. I can't imagine that I won't be able to see you all for a long time.. perhaps forever.
In fact this feels really sad. how true, goodbyes are hard to say.. I hope we'll meet again soon. you are deeply missed.

i feel blessed even with the small little things in this foreign land. i say it'll definitely take more than these to move me if i were in singapore... i think i've taken a step back and learn to appreciate things in life better. the busyness in singapore has blinded us so much and if not, it has left some of us myopic. i was blessed today with a free movie ticket, a bag of tidbits, a champagne which i shamelessly won :p, and a ride of home. i would have took these things for granted in singapore easily!

so, thank God for today.. my results for finnish surprised me as well!

alright, God... so what's wrong?

Blessings upon blessings

It's really interesting to see how God has been blessing and working in my life since the first day of Finland. Nothing occurs by chance or luck. Just this week, I've got an offer to move to a place which is nearer to school and much cheaper as well. The living conditions might not be as good as where I am, but as a student, I really can't complain with the amount of money I'm having.
The previous tenant will be moving out early as well. Hence, I'll be able to move in early..If not I'll have to move during 31st December and that's something which I don't want!!

I've also have the opportunity to be playing for a youth christmas service although the songs are in finnish. I'm still thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve even when overseas.

thank God!!

thinking back, it was quite an amazing day. i fell asleep and snored in our relaxation class, i won a lucky draw(consisting of tea, coffee, honey, etc.. the bread was about to expire in 2 days. :/ but thank God still!), i won in MH competition (100k gold and 10SB+) little blessings that make your children happy!

Amazing God!!

i was in a rush to get out of my house, for the fear of missing my bus which only comes once in a hour. in the midst of rushing, i forgot my plastic bag. as you might have known, plastic bags here aren't cheap and it costs about SGD20cents. that's quite a big amount if you were to buy them everytime u go to the market. well, i thought i might have to waste the 20cents on a plastic bag this time round. lo and behold, on the way to the market, i found a bottle which i can recycle for SGD15cents!
Amazing God isn't it? :D

so some things like a condom fell off from her wallet and everyone laughed.. it kinda makes me think what kind of girl she is. thumds down!

i miss prawn mee.

God's miracles at work again

just reflecting on the past week.. it's been somehow a hectic week. with all the exams, studying, assignments and projects all going on. and it's not ended yet. but i thank God for everything that happened. I managed to find some singaporeans who are on exchange in Oulu. it feels really exciting when you thought that you are the only one in such a far away foreign land and you just delight and feel very happy to know that there's someone from your homeland who's here too.

so i got invited to a homecooked meal by these 6 NUS exchange students. it felt like God just pampered me again!

the next day, i was about to go out for marketing and i couldn't find my bicycle key. i searched frantically everywhere and even where i parked my bicycle, but i just couldn't find the key. i kept praying and search again, and it was under my wallet on my table. it might seemed that i'm careless to you, but i do think it's a magic touch from God again, because i searched EVERYWHERE!

Ja ne!

i'm seeing some white fluffy stuffs falling from the skies on 101010 and it feels really beautiful.

updates

well, i'm glad i've brought noora to church.

please do keep me in prayers. i've applied for a unicef job part time and i'm really hoping to get this job as it pays reasonably well.
5 positions available and i'm sure this is a very sought after job given that there're so many students here and everyone's looking for jobs.

'God, it's been a long time since i received some blessings!'

it was quite a fruitful weekend though i feel that i had too much spare time during the day, and i think i should really get down to studying really soon.

i was just bathing and counting on the blessings i've received ever since i came here.

it was drizzling the whole day on saturday. i had some plans to shoot some zombies(with my camera) but the weather puts me off. i was thinking that if the weather's gonna be wet, i'm not going out to shoot. the event starts at 6pm but at 5pm, it was still drizzling bit. came 530pm and the sun popped up with some nice clouds complimenting. i grabbed my camera bag immediately and cycled to the city trying to find those zombies! i couldn't find them, texted my friend and she didn't reply til awhile later.. so i went to shoot some sunsets along the river. a fruitful catch i think! it was lovely and i met Lotta, who was shooting the sunset there as well.

my friend replied later on and i went to shoot those zombies! there were about 50 of them, all dressed up and ready to kill! awesome experience. the finns are known to be reserved but when they are zombified/drunk, they aren't shy at all! most of them were ready to pose for the cameras and that helped in making good pictures alot!

came sunday, i was actually half excited about.. still, thank God for the chance to serve.
it was a special service and i had the opportunity to play drums for the worship. it was quite a nerve wrecking experience, with about 200odd in the congregation who doesn't like loud music. being myself, i can't worship with soft music or drumming! the first few songs were pretty slow, soft, 3/4, u get the drift.. during the altar call, songs from hillsong, chris tomlin were on the playlist; something more familiar to me. frankly, i don't think i did a super awesome job myself. i'm not familiar with electronic drum sets and however expensive/realistic they might be, i'll still prefer an acoustic drum set anytime. after the service, strangers from the congregation were coming to me, welcoming me to the church and thanking me for playing the drums. one brother told me that during his stay in the 2 years in church, he has never seen anyone played the drums before.

not my own glory because it is not important at all. i'm glad to have make any impact possible to this community. i'm praying that God will work through me, to bring worship to a higher and deeper level in this church.

then, jia-yi(one of the sisters and attendees of the international service and from china), came to me and asked if i needed anything like plates, blankets etc.. i was thinking why not. i needed some of these in fact. so she invited me to her place as well as to get those. i was being blessed with some plates, cups and a frying wok! i was intending to buy a frying pan but it has put me off for some time because it's quite expensive! now i'm blessed with a frying wok which is even bigger. maybe God is asking me to bless more people with my cooking since i was given a bigger wok than expected. :P

busy-ness

what is busy-ness?

it's like a state of mood that makes u forget everything..

often, most individuals including myself forget about the things-to-do when we are busy.
we substitute our loneliness by making ourselves busy, substitute our unhappiness, our emotions by finding things to do, so that we can avoid those emotions..

true enough, it has 'helped' me in some sense but i hate the negative side of it.

it has made me 'forget' someone whom i missed so dearly. i admit i don't think about her that much as i used to and i wonder why.

i don't want to be too busy.

an eventful day!

well, i started the day just being online..
went out for a shoot at 3+pm and i had good harvest! took some photos which i really liked!

and Jana asked if i wanna come along for her birthday party at 45special! i thought it'll be nice to go have a look as well! it's a club i think! small one. it's my first time to a club and actually it's not much different from a bar, except for the addition of a dance floor i think.

i haven't danced before, and i certainly didn't want to embarass myself. Jana, the birthday girl, asked me to take some photos of her dancing with her friends! but.. it was a booby trap! she wanted me to dance with her after that!! alright, so i obliged because she's the birthday girl! just a few minutes of dancing and i got really tired! but it was fun! for the first time and there was someone to dance with me!

i went to rest, sat down and observed some of the dancers on the floor. man, some of them are really good and you can see different styles/mentalities of these people when they danced.. the finnish are kinda reserved, as usual.. the czechs love dancing.. the german has some great moves!

it was a good night with some new experiences!

i think i should pen/type this down.........

well, while it's still fresh on my head about the happenings for today..

let's start with going back home.. so i went to a party, and my last bus goes at 1016pm according to www.linjakas.fi
so i took the bus and, lo and behold, it doesn't go to my place.
anyhow, i dropped off as soon as i realised it's not getting anywhere near my place, and walked home. I've never seen the skies in finland at night as i'm usually home most of the time. as i was walking, the stars in front of me just jumped right in front of my fact.. i stopped to take a look at the skies above me. what a beautiful sight it was.. (well, i wished you were here with me too)
i just wanted to lie down on the grass patch to enjoy the starry starry night. i felt so lost staring into the skies. those stars were everywhere! lovely..
it's something that's almost non-existent in singapore due to light pollution.

i'm so glad this happened. i had the time to admire God's creation and i thought of what PS Glen said about stars and galaxies.. how big this whole universe can be. this is what God has created.

so anyway, earlier today during the marketing lessons, we had an interesting question which led to something 'extra'.

it started like this, 'I had a culture shock when i came here! the shops are only opened for a few hours on saturdays and they are closed on sundays!' so the teacher explained and i was kinda shocked at the reasoning too. i think it shouldn't be like this and christians are giving themselves a bad name! no wonder the finns doesn't really go to church even though it's a lutheran nation!

basically, companies/businesses in Finland have to pay taxes to the church.. it's a small amount i heard, but enough to go on a holiday to a mediterranean country for 1 week. you can say about 500euros? they are force to subscribe to a church and pay taxes.. no wonder tithes and offering in Finland are kinda 'as the Lord leads you to give'..
and some people who don't agree with such a law, will not pay taxes! in fact, they will even 'hate' the religion!
the topic went on and i was thinking to myself.. are we doing things to worsen situations?

no wonder all the evangelism doesn't really work here. people are led to thinking you just want more money perhaps..

it was a wonderful dream last night, and i'm not sure it happened to you too. dreamt that i MSNed you!


i've come to realised the culture of BGRs is different in here. some girlfriends move wherever the boyfriends go. be it for work or just to stay together.. probably because the boyfriend is situated right across the country or across continents, such a practice is formed. nevertheless, that was interesting enough.

saw 2 girls cycling and drinking beers.


ok. so i went to 2 churches today.. one at oulun cathedral. it's probably the biggest church in the oulu. i thought the service starts at 11am. i went there at 1030am and they were already halfway through. probably got the time wrong. it was in finnish and it was a lutheran service. anyhow, it's good to be found in the house of God! it looked really nice inside, nicer than wesley methodist if you ask me. :p

but i needed to find a church that has english services.

so i went to this international christian fellowship.. it was also, quite a similar setting to the lutheran practice if i may say.

anyway, after the service ended, i had a chat with this indian brother who has been working in oulu for the past 2 years.

he said something which enlightened me.

"here in ICF, i've a taste of what heaven is like. we have over 20 countries of believers who congregate here and i think heaven is like that! all believers from the different nations meeting the FATHER!"

as myopic as i am, i have never thought about it this way before. i mean, yes it makes sense. but it has never came across to me like this, probably because it's mostly chinese in our youth group and in the christian community in SG.

i'm starting to look at things at an international level!

skyping hayley williams with her new haircut.. keke

will always remember those who encouraged and talked to him in fi. thank you. :)

possible early come back?

first day of orientation. the normal talks and introduction to course, to school.. it was pretty good. made some friends and saw some asians. somehow, BMI just speaks to me everyday about the issues i'm facing..

i kept thinking about you going other countries to work....

reflections

like what i told some of you,

i'm actually reminded of my parents felt when they came to SG to work when they were 16..
they probably have friends, but i'm sure they surely felt sad and missed home too. but they persevered and it's been amazing to see what they've achieved so far. also to friends who came from overseas to work in SG, it mustn't had been easy definitely. kudos to everyone of you who did that.

watched "every singaporean son" series today. as much of a show as it, actually i'm reminded of the first 2 weeks in BMT.
the first 2 weeks when i wasn't allowed to go home, the only time i can contact my parents and friends were probably through the non-camera hp i had.

but it's 10 months of not going home now though i have a better means of communication. using skype to webcam; to make phone calls.

thank you for all the encouragements so hard. i'm thankful for friends like these. will pull through this, but i need to get my cough healed soon!!

broke down today.

first 3 days in finland

it's 7:04am now, i woke up at 5:30am today. slightly better from yesterday as i woke up at 5am. still trying to get used to the time adjustments here.

day 1: i was at Helsinki airport, doing the excess baggage for my domestic flight to Oulu.. they told me that i had to pay excess for the 33kg i had. that's like almost 200euros.. way too ridiculous i thought. then they were nice enough to charge me 120euros because they think i had too much to pay. i figured i should be using cargo when i'm back in SG, and i seriously can't wait to be back. I need to do very well in school. so i settled my excess and it was about 4 hours before i go on board again.no internet, no books.. i was just observing people in the airport.

So i reached Oulu and I must thank Ms Tiia for picking me up. Seriously, it would have been alot of hassles for me if i were to go on myself. I reached Oulu at 6pm, and the accomodation office closes at 4pm. I needed someone to pick my keys up from the office. IF NOT, i have to stay in a hotel, get all my luggage to the office to collect the keys and get to where i'm staying. cab fares here are not for the peasants in SG. it cost about 34euros just to travel 14km, from the airport to where i'm staying.

So i settled in my place, changed out and went walking to the city with Tiia. Bought some groceries, familiarize with the place abit and took a bus home. it's 3euros. I alighted and i got lost again. thankfully, i found someone at the petrol station.
I asked him about the place on the map; he wasn't sure. But he was kind enough to drive around that area to see if it's correct. before that, i was feeling so sad and depressed. carrying my bag of groceries and getting lost and the locals here don't seemed to know their maps too well. But i felt the hand of God intervening this process and i was brought home safely.

there was no internet connection just yet, and i was really missing everyone back in Singapore. it was getting dark, at around 10pm. So i decided to sleep after such a long day.

day2: i was awake at 530am. boiled some water with the kettle, made myself some breakfast and set out to the city on foot. navigating around wasn't easy at first, because their road names are really long and the locals themselves aren't too familiar with the place. I set foot from 8am.. getting the paper work done for my accomodation, getting a bank account, tried to get a bike but the prices are just too ridiculous.. it's around 140euros to a 2nd hand one.. 300euros for a new one.. i'm stll weighing the costs between getting a bike or getting a bus concession because i don't think i would be able to ride in the winter.
finally got the internet connection down, and i skyped with my parents, esther and jolene.
thanks so much. phone calls matter alot to me than just seeing texts on the screen. i'm feeling a lil better now.

i'm still trying to find a church. there's a cathedral in the city. but i'm afraid that it's gonna be in finnish. anyhow, we'll see.

never ever imagined i'd do this.

3rd july til 26th july 2010.

F&P for you.

reflections for the weekend

through you, i've learnt to be a better person. thank you.

stinks

something is very stale here ah!!

it's my blog! hah.. well, i guess work just tires down most singaporeans, unless you are holding a dream job.

i'm hoping to blog more often when i go to finland for my further studies.

stay tuned!