End of Holidays Ramblings

Saturday, January 07, 2006

So the holidays are almost over, life will go back to studying and I'll be taking basic Chinese this semester. Considering I had absolutely no formal education in the language (or at least none that was tested) I think it can be pretty challenging. Good thing I have a lot of people to help teach me if I don't know a thing or two. I'm actually more interested in taking Japanese, but what kind of a Chinese would I be if I wasn't fluent at least conversationally, in Mandarin? Not that I absolutely HAVE to, but given a choice, I guess I've chosen to play catch up with just about everyone else and not be a 'banana'... Although I must admit that one semester of study may not improve my conversational skills all that much... prime example would be Ian. Not that his Chinese is bad, but well... it makes a difference when you speak it at home since you were young.

The past few days have been really cold. Rain isn't all that bad except when you go and watch your friends try to kick a ball all over a drenched field. Still, I guess a slight drizzle isn't all that bad if I have shoes and it's not muddy. It's quite cool and beats having the sun beating down on you... although that's definitely better than getting drenched from head to toe. Anyway, today was IHG soccer finals and we went down to go support our team. It was a pretty tense match, and I must admit that TH deserved to win; they were the better team. Still, we held out till extra time before conceding a goal. I think our guys did a terrific job and I have absolutely no complains. They did their best... that's what counts.

Poor Wen Jing had a pretty bad day I think. He successfully executed a sliding tackle only to have the attacker knee him in the face. He was rushed to the hospital and last I heard, he had stitches and was waiting for an MRI scan in the trauma ward at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. I wished the team could've given him the good news that they won it for him so that at least it wouldn't be all that bad... but I guess things usually don't go the way you want them to. Usually when it rains, it pours! I think we should find a time to go visit him.

However, as I've learned today (or had it reinforced), life CONSISTS of testings. Which literally means that to LIVE, you have to go through trials. I know I'm not exactly one who can hold my head up no matter what... in fact I probably seem down most of the time, but I do know that I get over things pretty quick as compared to others. It's hard for me to hold on to things that are bad, I usually forget them after a while. The most important thing to me is that no matter what the experience, if nothing else, at least I hope I learn from it. I want to be stronger in many areas... in faith, discipline and most of all character, and I really pray that God helps me through as I walk with Him. I really cannot imagine life without Him, I wouldn't be ME if He wasn't in the picture, and for that I'm really grateful. Naked I came, naked I will go. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh, but I will bless the name of the Lord at all times!

So, as the holidays draw to a close, what do I have to look forward to? Nothing much maybe, at least not as much as I'd have liked. Still, I trust God will see me through, for His ways are higher than mine, His thoughts higher than mine. I will trust in Him always.

Posted by Gerald at 1/07/2006 02:31:00 AM