An Interesting Quote

"Whether you take a doughnut hole as blank space or as an entity unto itself is a purely metaphysical question and does not affect the taste of the doughnut one bit."

- Haruki Murakami (A Wild Sheep Chase)

Stop and be Productive

"You don't always have this opportunity in life. Right now, you can stop and see which way God wants you to go. Sometimes in life, you don't have that chance, because things get busy and you just have to keep on going and doing what you can, without stopping to think about it much. Take this as an opportunity to stop and ask God what He wants you to do."

I wish I had gotten it word for word, but this is as close as I can remember it (Ariel, help?). So today, Ariel and I went out for lunch with our professor Dr. Malandra and his wife Junko. We had a really good time talking and laughing and enjoying the conversation. Dr. Malandra is one of the professors who has given us so much encouragement and so many good memories over the last couple of years, so it was really great to get to spend time with him and Junko outside of the classroom.

I've received a lot of advice from people recently--my cousin Rachel (who is amazing and housed us this weekend in norcal), Buck (another favorite professor), my parents, and many good friends. I'm doing my best to follow their sage advice, and I'm also trying to continue trust in the Lord's provision for me. But what Junko said to us really struck me as profound. It could be the way she said it or the wisdom behind it, but her words really comforted me.

Others have told me that I should enjoy my summer (because once you work, holidays are less frequent), or that things are just slower in this kind of economy. Perhaps I have this feeling that my life has been put on hold until I can find an internship or until I start a grad school program. Junko's words made me feel that my life is still moving, still productive--I want to see this as an opportunity for God to speak to me and show me what direction He is taking me in. I realize I am a product of my culture; I always want to be active and busy and on-the-go. Maybe it is a spiritual discipline in itself to learn to stop, to be silent, to be still before the Lord. Maybe that's the most productive activity of all.

My "popcorn roll" with lobster and avocado.

Ariel's unagi "samurai roll"'

The lovely Junko with the Haiwaiian roll.

Ariel, me, and Dr. Malandra with our tempura ice cream.

Lists, Lists, Lists

OneWord: palm

Palm pilots. Technology is amazing nowadays. Dad just got a smart phone--a blackberry, to be exact; we just taught him how to text message. Only problem, his fingers are too fat for the buttons. He can't type anything.

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I didn't mean to keep doing the OneWord exercises, but I can't help but wonder what the new word for each day might be. It does depress me though; I feel like my creativity is waning faster than even I expected.

After dinner this evening, Chelsea and I decided to go to Barnes and Nobles so she could spend her shiny new gift card. Strangely enough, we caught a solar eclips--I mean, Justin, working in the Music/DVD section. English majors have a way of bumping into one another in bookstores, I suppose. Back to the point. After socializing with Justin, Chelsea and I immediately whipped out our pocket moleskine notebooks to find our recommended books and to add titles and authors to our already lengthy wishlists.

As we were browsing along the aisles of B&N's, I was thinking to myself (actually, now that I think about it, I might have said it out loud to Chelsea), "How do people ever decide what books to buy? There are just so many to choose from." I mean, there's a plethora of genres: Science Fiction, Literature (does that mean old and dead?), Literary Fiction, Non-fiction, Historical, Ethnic, Travel, Self-help, Inspirational, the list goes on and on. Then once you pick a genre, you (or at least I do) become completely overwhelmed by the vast array of options, hardback and paper back, anniversary edition and the author's definitive edition. Me personally--I just go for the ones with the cool covers, whatever happens to catch my eye.

Of course, the arrangement of stores like Borders and B&N's caters to the popular authors with large followings--the John Grishams and Dan Browns and Janet Evanovichs. The people who read their books can go directly to the first few aisles to find the latest; they simply look for the name of their favorite author. The covers even use the same type and layout scheme so they're easier to recognize. I don't doubt that they are very talented writers, but how do people find books that are worth reading penned by someone lesser known (or virtually unknown)? How do they find books of true quality and craftsmanship, not simply good entertainment?

I was considering this puzzling question when I got home tonight. I have two or three people I know who are avid readers and have discriminating taste--people like Ariel (my lovely creative writing roommate) or Buck (my writing professor)--who I often go to for recommendations. Depending on what genre I'm looking for, I think I have at least one person I can ask for suggestions. But even though they're rarely wrong about their selections, I still want to know how other people (the more persnickety readers) choose books for their reading lists. At the same time, I'd like to find books that are shaped by me--by the things I'm interested in or the styles I like.

I started looking at different bookstore websites (try Powell's Books, Borders, Barnes and Nobles) to see their recommendations. I wasn't overly enthused by their featured authors (it's the online version of their storefront layout) or impressed with their bestseller lists. I did, however, stumble upon a different set of lists that might prove more helpful in my search for good books. Each year, new books are given awards for excellence in their respective genres. Here is a small sampling:

-Children's Books - Newberry Medal, Young Reader's Choice Award

-General Non-fiction - National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize

-Literary Fiction - Nobel Prize for Literature, PEN/Faulkner Award, Nat'l Book Critics Circle Award

-Mystery - Edgar Award, Gold Dagger

-Sci-Fi & Fantasy - Hugo Award, Nebula Award

You can search for compiled lists of all the winners, past and present. It may not be a perfect match, but I think it at least gives a good picture of what has been generally acknowledged as good writing. I think it will take awhile before I develop my own way of technique for finding what I want to read. In any case, my list of books to read keeps growing longer and longer. Meanwhile, my shelf-space, and my budget, just can't keep up. Maybe it's time to get a library card.

People change.

OneWord: Coral

Coral is a color, but can it portray a feeling? I think of lipstick, or blush. Or ocean--Australia, perhaps. Hundreds of years of living species accumulating and growing to create something beautiful. To create a color, a feeling.

#

That was truly random. I had nothing to say about coral.

In other news, tonight was an interesting night. I drove out to Irvine and had dinner at Fukada, a Japanese restaurant near the Spectrum. The unagi was tender and sweet and yummy, and it went perfectly with the rice. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was also really good to spend time with a dear old friend from G.A.'s. Back then we had a group of girls who were crazy about basketball; we wore sweats all the time and thought ourselves tomboys. Since then, we've gone to different schools and different jobs and varying levels of girliness--and mostly lost touch with one other. So it was really good to renew an old friendship. Even though we've both grown up a lot, some things never change. We could still laugh and talk as though those 5 or 6 years never happened, only we worry about new things and can share the fascinating experiences we've had. But somehow, the friendship still seems the same.

I was chatting to Edmund the other day about change, about how inevitable it is and how scary it can be. He said change is something that we have to learn to deal with in our lives, and that we have to depend on God in those times of uncertainty or frustration. Tonight I was thinking about how strange it is that I'm 21 and entering adulthood and the working world (or, trying to at least). It's strange that I'm done with undergraduate studies and many of my friends are getting married; some are even having children. So much time has passed since I was in G.A. or AOK. So many things change within the course of even a year or two. I think this is particularly true of friendships.

Some friendships, it seems, change and evolve in such a way that the relationship grows from both sides. As each person interacts with the other, the things that change about them from day-to-day are subtle and perhaps less noticeable. Other relationships seem one-sided. I don't mean in terms of effort. More like, I'm changing and the other person doesn't seem to be, or I'm stagnant and the other person is dynamic. And I have some friendships that seem to be frozen in time, until I can thaw them out and develop them. I suppose there are even friendships where we just drift apart or lose touch all together. There are so many variables when it comes to people--time, distance, commitment, environment, vulnerability, extenuating circumstances--sometimes it's hard to tell who to invest in or which relationships will last.

Of course, there are times I'm completely disappointed, yet, at this very moment, I feel so blessed by so many people. I have a prayer partner in Singapore, brothers and sisters in Malaysia, students and friends in Hong Kong, my second home church in London, Lit Wits and roommates from Biola, and galvanting buddies (as my dad affectionately coined them) from elementary, junior high, and high school. On top of all that, there are former teachers, counsellors, and professors who still care about me and want to know how I'm doing. Sometimes I get really frustrated with human beings in general, but I think--or rather, hope--that God is developing in me a heart for the people He has placed in my life.

The other thing I'm learning is that I have to trust God that people can change. I want to believe that He can transform my heart and mind to be more like His. That Jesus can impact the lives of those I love and care for. My dad always jokes that we never really believe that God can change people. "Oh, that person won't ever change," is something we say inwardly or subconsciously, if not out loud. But I believe that God is always pursuing us, always at work in our lives. He made us malleable, flexible, teachable. We can change because God gave us the ability to do so. So in the end, people change.

One Word: Lazy

I did another one of those OneWord exercises. This is what I came up with in 60 seconds:

The summer is a lazy time of the year. You would think that the heat of day would make molecules knock against each other faster--that there would be more movement. Instead, everything slows down, lingers and simmers.

Maybe because it's summer, or maybe because it's a common human struggle--lately I've talked to a lot of different people about laziness. Summer is--for me, at least--the most difficult season to fight my propensity for being lazy. During the school year, I'm more like a workaholic, but whether it's the heat or the lack of immediate responsibility, I really enjoy doing nothing during summer. Perhaps I feel like I'm always rushing around, always busy, so I deserve a few glorious hours of stillness and inactivity.

This summer, however, is a little different from all its predecessors. First, this summer isn't necessarily a well-deserved holiday in preparation for another stressful semester. Second, there is some urgency for me to find some direction career-wise. Third, I believe that God appoints a time of rest and a time of work for us; it is our responsibility to learn how to balance them in a way that glorifies God.

For the next couple months, I want to make good use of the time I have, both for leisure and for work. As Sam always reminds me, "I don't want to waste my life." It's not so much about wasting my life, but about using my life as productively as possible for God's Kingdom.

The things I have been doing (including, but not limited to):
- Exercising regularly - Elizabeth and I have been getting together 3 or 4 times a week to go running or swimming. I think taking care of my health is as much of a spiritual discipline as anything else.
- Reading - If I want to be a good writer, I have to be an avid reader. I'm basically reading anything I can get my hands on. Recommendations are more than welcome.
- Building/maintaining relationships - Much to my surprise, I have been able to connect with good friends and reconnect with old ones, as well as keep in touch with international friends. That has been quite a blessing--I've been working hard to learn how to love people better, and I think I've been encouraged in return.

The things I would like to do (in no particular order):
- Write more - I need to write, write, write...and when I get tired of it, I need to write some more. Any ideas?
- Get an internship - Please pray for patience, wisdom, and God's timing.
- Learn to cook - I keep saying it, but I find it's hard to motivate myself to actually try it.
- Clean my room - This is another intimidating task. It entails everything from unpacking boxes of stuff from my dorm/apartment; cleaning out my closet, desk, and bureau; redecorating my walls; reorganizing all of my books; re-filing all of my papers; throwing out and donating everything else...oh the woes of a pack rat.
- Wash my car - I need to clean it out and get it washed.

I've been meaning to put together this list for awhile. The problem with putting things down is that you have to face them. But maybe that's what I need if I want to honor God with my time. Hopefully, the rest of this summer will be anything but lazy.

The Problem of Passion

This week, I was scrounging around my bookshelves for something new to read, and I stumbled on my brother's copy of Fahrenheit 451. I finished reading it last night, discovering that Garrett had bought the 50th anniversary edition complete with an afterword, a coda, and an interview with Ray Bradbury. A couple of the things he said really stood out to me. When asked about his novel, Bradbury said, "I wrote the book because I love writing. All my stories are written in bursts of passion." And about being a writer, he replied, "you're either in love with what you do, or you're not in love."

Coincidentally, the same night I finished Fahrenheit, I had also reconnected with Brandy, an old friend from junior high and high school. As we were catching up on everything from the last several years--school, relationships, future, life in general--the subject of work and passion came up. So I was thinking: what is passion?

Part of me envies the people I see around me who have a certain talent or a particular passion which they can earnestly pursue. Evaluating my own life, I could only think of two or three things about which (I think) I'm passionate.

1.) Passion for God. I want to be passionate for His Word. I want to align my will to His. I want to be moved by the things which move Him, to grieve over what causes Him sorrow and rejoice in what brings joy to His heart. I want to be passionately jealous for His glory. I want to passionately worship Him with my life. I want Jesus Christ to be my greatest, most evident, most intense passion.

2.) Passion for words. Perhaps this is why I related so well to Fahrenheit and to Bradbury's sentiments. Words have played such a significant role in my life. I have such an uneasy grasp on them, yet they have an uncanny, almost supernatural hold on me. I never cease to be amazed at the gift of language that God has created and blessed us with. Words have carried His message of love to us through the prophets, through Scripture, through prayer. They help us communicate ideas and perspectives, care and affection. I have always loved to read; I am beginning to love writing--something I find both intimidating and enthralling.

3.) Passion for food and travel. I love meeting people and tasting cultures. I love the adventure, the spontaneity, the broadening of my world. I could go on and on...

On the other hand, I have always struggled with my natural predilection towards dispassion (it's safer, somehow). I question whether we can actually choose our passions, or whether it's possible to develop specific interests into passions. How much of our passions are God-given, and how much is our own initiative? For example, I think there are times that I don't feel passionate about my relationship with the Lord, but the Christian life requires commitment regardless of my emotions. And I know I still have so much to learn as a writer; talent without discipline and hard work will get me nowhere. But can discipline and hard work truly translate into greater passion? That being said, the first two passions on my list are those I really wish to nurture.

Honestly, I don't think there's a simple answer to the question of passion--we cannot diminish God's sovereignty nor should we negate our own responsibility. Our passions reflect who we are and what is in our heart. I may not be able to say definitively that I have passion, but someday I pray that the Lord will commend me for being a good steward of the gifts, resources, and even passions, that He has so graciously granted me.

Dedicated to Edmund Ngo

HEARTBEAT

I could feel my heartbeat pounding inside my chest. I wondered how it felt to have a pacemaker control your heart, instead of raging teenage hormones. He was so cute.

#

So, last night, my good friend Edmund and I were talking about returning to our blogs (aspiring writers must keep writing!). So Ed pulled up this nifty little site called One Word: it generates a word, then gives you 60 seconds to write whatever first comes to mind. You can submit and see what other people have written based on that single word.

I actually find it very difficult to write off the cusp. Being a slightly obsessive-compulsive, perfectionistic sort of girl, I prefer to take my time to plan, craft and edit. This semester I took a course in novel-writing; I discovered just how difficult creative writing is and how many skills I still need to acquire.

The other comment Ed made was about the beauty of technology. Even though we are about 8,735 miles (14,058 km) away, we can still do fun things together. As an aside, I am so thankful for Edmund's friendship, faithfulness, and encouragement. I love having friends all over the world, and I can't wait to go back to Malaysia to visit. So Edmund, this post is dedicated to you.

Today I cried...

I haven't blogged in three weeks. My life up until now has been a whirlwind of travel, church, and schoolwork. Yes, I do schoolwork. The main reason I haven't had time to write is--believe it or not--I have been swamped with reading and papers. I just had three papers due consecutively, one right after the other, plus weekly reading. Now there's only about 5 weeks left to the end of the semester and I have now (drumroll please) 9 more books to read, three more papers to write, and a "soul project" to complete. And then my term here at Roehampton University will officially come to an end.

Of course, those of you who have a Facebook know that it hasn't been all work and no play. If the photos are any indication, it looks as though I never have time to do any studying. But believe me, I've pulled more than my fair share of all-nighters trying to finish my work here. On the other hand, I could talk about cooking Matthew's "chicken and potato in dark sauce" recipe for the first time (I am no cook), visiting the white cliffs of Dover (Matthew Arnold anyone?), hanging out with the university students--aka 360--at CCiL, attending Central DCG (CCiL's equivalent of FCBCFV's KALEO), boiling potstickers and cooking failed crepes for my flatmates, shopping/eating/studying in Hammersmith and Central London, getting dropped off in the middle of nowhere by the 72 (it's like Russian roulette, but with buses), conferences with lecturers, seeing 007 Quantam of Solace and then searching in the rain for an Italian restaurant from Aryn's childhood, braving the brand-spanking new Westfield mall (because we're crazy masochists), our Sunday McFlurry ritual, doing laundry and scrounging around for the ever elusive 50p coins, going to a cheesy American diner for milkshakes and "a taste of home," a short visit to Oxford; field trips to Canterbury, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey; a weekend trip to Paris (including but not limited to the Eiffel Tower, Montmarte, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Sacre Coeur, Luxembourg Garden, the Sarbonne, yummy food with Stephen's Korean and French-speaking cousin, the best ice cream ever with Christina's roommate and our personal tour guide Mary, fondue in the Latin Quarter, crepes galore, and a tiny bit of boutique shopping) and my first time staying in a hostel, and finally, our day trip to Wales and the amazing Cardiff Castle. Phew. That's basically what I've been up to.

My original plan was to blog about everything and post pictures. But it all seems...unimportant at the moment. Even now, my eyes are still blurry from crying. I had a good, solid cry today. I cried out of thankfulness that my home and my family are (so far) safe from the embers of the Brea and Yorba Linda fires. I cried because the fire came so terrifyingly close to my neighborhood (you can see on the map: I live between Lambert and Birch, on the West side of Associated Rd). I cried because Ariel's family was finally able to return to their home. I cried out of grief for so many people who have lost everything to the uncontrollable flames that consumed not just the roof over their heads, but their memories of home and warmth. I cried realizing how blessed I am that so many people have shown care and concern for my family. I cried for my fellow Biola students who are suffering in other ways. I cried out to God in my state of helplessness, and He reminded me that He is good, He is sovereign, He is loving and ever-faithful.

Somehow, I can't contain the emotions welling up inside me, and they overflow into tears. There is indeed great pain and turmoil in our world. Those who think that Christianity is illogical and religious faith purely emotional are gravely mistaken. Right now, my brain is desperately fighting what I'm feeling inside--frustration at not being able to be with my family, anger at our impotence against the forces of nature, an inconsolable sense of loss and grief over those whose lives have been so heavily broken. But I have hope in my eternal home and the promise of an eternity spent with an amazing, holy, and loving God. I take comfort in knowing that He is in control of all things, and that even in suffering He can bring about tremendous blessing.

The most difficult thing for me right now is figuring out what to do now. I'm on another continent, in another country, worrying about things that are happening hundreds of miles away. But despite what happens, life here goes on. I still have books to read, papers to write, people to meet, and places to travel to. I have church events and lunch dates and daytrips already planned. How much am I allowed to enjoy myself when people back home are suffering so much? Where do I draw the line between my life back home and my life here in London? In any case, please continue to pray for those who have lost their homes and those who are fighting the fires. Pray that in all things, God may be glorified.

Pt. 4 Field Trip #2, etc.

6. Ely and Cambridge (10/18)

The morning of the second field trip was a disaster. I guess it could have been worse. I had set my alarm for 7, because I knew the bus was scheduled to leave at 8:30 am. Unfortunately, I never heard my alarm. My clock read 8:40 am when I woke up. I went into a bit of a panic; I was sure that I had been left behind.

I don’t think I’ve ever gotten dressed that quickly. I was in such a rush though, that I neglected some important things, like washing my face (I know, I know) or grabbing a scarf. I flew out the door, across campus, past the security gate, and up the road. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one running behind that morning, and I managed to get there just as the bus was beginning to pull away. It gave me a scare though.

The bus ride to Ely was around two hours long, so I had time to let the adrenaline rush subside and take a nap. We arrived in Ely to sunshine and a nice little apple festival, but no professor in sight. After much confusion…we were first told that there were no tours that day, then we were told to talk to Sue, one person talked to her, then she told the next person she wasn’t Sue, then they wanted us to pay for a tour…finally Professor Lotz arrived and showed the receipt proving that we had already booked and paid for our tour of Ely Cathedral.

The tour guide was a bent, elderly gentleman with little hearing and a big sense of humor. Despite his age and arthritic stride, he was quite lively and gave us a lot of interesting information about the cathedral. As we walked around, we enjoyed hearing the choir rehearsing for the evening festival. It was really beautiful.

Once we had finished our tour, we walked around the block to the site of Oliver Cromwell’s house, where we took another tour given by a lady in Puritan costume. The “Lord Protector” was an interesting character, and the simplicity of the Puritan lifestyle he led was a curious contrast to the enormity of his influence on England’s history.

We were already running behind, so our class loaded back onto the bus to head to Cambridge. Aryn and I were a bit concerned because we were really late and Eric had been waiting for us. Fortunately, he was very flexible and willingly waited another hour for us to attend a lecture with Dr. Ian Randall, which was a fascinating take on evangelicalism and its roots in England.

Directly after the lecture we met up with Eric again. He took us to The Beef Baron, a pub in Cambridge that’s known for its burgers—our first in England. Aryn ordered a pesto burger that came out with about a half-inch thick layer of pesto. I had a Reggae Reggae burger with spicy sauce. We ate fast enough to get indigestion, but we still had so much to see.

Eric took us on a bit of a whirlwind tour around Cambridge. We pretended that we were students at Cambridge and walked into St. John’s College. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs (no, it isn’t really a sad bridge), watched people punting badly (i.e. bumping into each other, and one girl even fell into the river), searched unsuccessfully for the Mathematics bridge (that’s its side job), tried free samples at the 200 year old fudge shop, fed the ducks (they were following Aryn and her baguette) visited Emmanuel College (Eric’s school).

Eric dropped us off at King’s College, where we attended Evensong. Inside of the cathedral is magnificent and awe-inspiringly. We couldn’t see much from where we were sitting though, especially because the congregation is cut off by the large wooden screen. The music was really beautiful, but we did a lot of sitting down, standing up, sitting down, and standing up again. The dimmed lights and floating music really had a soporific effect on me. All the same, Evensong was quite impressive.

Cambridge really fulfilled all of my expectations. It’s almost exactly what I dreamt university life would be like in my young girlish imagination. I suppose it’s strange for an elementary student to create fantasies about collegiate life, but my parents were ROCK sponsors for a long time. I grew up around collegians. Plus, it was awesome getting to hang out with Eric. Yay for connections.

7. Miscellaneous notes

You all may be reading these entries and thinking, “When in the world does Lynnette ever get around to studying?” But actually, I’ve been about a week or two ahead in all of my reading. I’m reading a little over two novels a week, plus I have to write reflections on all our field trips. I have a book in my bag with me at all times, so that I can pull it out on the bus or on the Tube. Plus, there are days that I stay in all day to read.

Aryn and I sometimes get together for dinner. One night she made sukiyaki, which was a really amazing home-cooked meal for students. And then last night, Aryn cooked pasta and I provided homemade garlic bread (thank you Ariel). This afternoon, I had lunch with my Japanese friend Suzuko, and we had a really great chat. She did make the mistake of asking me about my favorite foods; I think I talked about 10 minutes before I realized I had gotten carried away.

Tonight was Rachael’s turn to cook the floor dinner tonight: salmon, vegetarian imitation chicken (made from corn), rice, asparagus, all with a nice mushroom cream sauce. We finished off the meal with lemon cheesecake. Everything tasted great. I always enjoy hanging out with my flatmates. Sadly, our classes are becoming more consuming and we have less time to just relax and spend time together. So our floor dinners are really great.

I can’t believe it’s already been a month and a half since I left Orange County. We actually only have about eight or nine weeks left in the term. Part of me feels like, I’m only now adjusting to life here and making friends, and I’m leaving so soon. Another part of me is beginning to feel drawn towards the future, towards my last semester and then seeing what God has in store for me post-graduation. And the last part of me (that sounds strange) wonders whether or not I have enough time to finish all of my coursework and visit places I want to see and make good friends at church and everything else that I want to do while I’m here.

Anyways, now you all know what I’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks. I think I binge-blogged. Or something like that. Now I probably won’t want to blog for a long time. I’ve procrastinated long enough—now it’s time to get some more reading done. I feel like I haven’t been very interesting on this blog. Oh well.

Pt. 3 Central London and CCiL

4. Chinatown/Covent Garden/Japan Centre (10/15)

Aryn and I were craving Chinese food, so we decided to take Dani with us to London’s Chinatown, a list of our friend Sam’s recommended restaurants in hand. I was also hoping to find the Chinese grocery stores, but we got so hungry that all we wanted to do was sit down and eat. We found an inexpensive Cantonese restaurant and had won ton mein soup noodles there.

We decided that we needed to walk off lunch, so we wandered from Leicester Square to Covent Garden, browsing clothing shops (we stumbled across Aryn’s favorite designer Ted Baker) and used bookstores. I found the perfect gift for Ariel—a signed T.S. Eliot essay—but unfortunately, it was way beyond my student’s budget. It gave me a brief moment of excitement though.

Since we had already wandered so far, we decided to continue on to Piccadilly Circus in search of the Japan Centre, where we were able to buy Asian groceries. Aryn bought the ingredients for sukiyaki that we cooked later in the week. Oishii desu! We basically hit the mother lode.

5. CCiL and Central DCG (10/12, 10/17, 10/19)

Despite the fact that I’m only here in London for a few months, I wanted to find a good church here where I could get plugged in as much as possible. I really enjoyed St. Paul’s Hammersmith, where Justin and Andy settled down. For some reason, though, I felt really determined to find a Chinese church here.

So I searched online (much to their amusement) and found Chinese Church in London. They have around 7 congregations all over London, with one English service in nearby Hammersmith. I dragged Aryn with me to Sunday service a week ago and we both really enjoyed it. They had a guest speaker that day—an Australian—who preached a message on prayer. And this past week was also a guest speaker. I’m eager to hear a sermon from CCiL’s Pastor Ong.

Anyways, we got to meet some of the university students who attend CCiL and hang out with them for lunch (yummy Chinese food, and free for newcomers). One of those students we met is a guy named Eric, who is studying at Cambridge. More on him later.

I also wanted to join one of the fellowship groups at CCiL. Sadly, my Biola class is at the exact same time as the university fellowship, 360, on Wednesday nights. Since I can’t attend that group, they invited me to go to Central DCG (District Caring Group), which is the young adult fellowship (think Kaleo).

So this past Friday, I made my first trip into Central London on my own (I usually have at least one other person with me any time I go into London). I felt so proud and accomplished for getting to church and back by myself. Central DCG is actually held at CCiL’s other site—the Soho Outreach Centre, or SOC. I’m not sure why there are so many acronyms at this church.

Since I didn’t want to travel during rush hour, I left pretty early and had quite a lot of down time before fellowship started. I wandered around Chinatown and FINALLY found all of the grocery stores. I still had time to kill after that, so I walked down to the Malaysian restaurant I had seen on our last visit to Leicester Square. I got some strange looks, but I sat inside the café and enjoyed a cold glass teh tarik (teh ice?) and journalled.

The SOC was only a two minute walk from there. I arrived and joined all of the young adults as they ate their various dinners. Because most of them are working, they either brought frozen dinners or ordered takeaway from the nearby Chinese restaurants. I tried very hard to meet everyone and memorize all of their names.

My first night there was the first night of small groups. I guess they knew that I would be coming, because they had already assigned me to one. It’s quite interesting. Our small group, at least for that night, had three Cantonese (one born in HK and raised in New Zealand, one born and raised in England, and myself from the US), one black Jamaican, and one Caucasian London native. Alex (the BBC) and Rob (the white one) are my small group leaders.

It was really neat, because we broke up into our respective groups, and my group spent the rest of the evening sharing our testimonies (which were AMAZING) and preparing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. It was only my first time, but I’m definitely excited to see what God has in store for Central DCG this term.

This past Sunday, Aryn and I were back again for Sunday English service. This time, Pastor Ong actually came up and introduced himself to us personally. He even mentioned the possibility of inviting us over for dinner sometime. That made us really happy.

After service, we were contemplating eating lunch at CCiL (the food looked and smelled delicious), but Hannah invited us to join the university students for lunch at a nearby, reasonably priced café. We got to spend time with Roselle, Sam (the foodie friend I met last week) and Tim, whom we were meeting for the first time. After lunch, we dropped Roselle off at the Tube Station and went shopping in Hammersmith. Don’t worry, I didn’t do any major damage. I only wanted two pairs of long socks and a one-pound Nalgene bottle.

Because it was cold, we decided that McFlurries sounded good. We found four red counter stools facing to the west wall of McDonald’s, adjacent with another counter facing south. Tim, trying to be polite, sat in the inconveniently-placed corner seat. We were just settling down and beginning to enjoy our ice cream when suddenly, we noticed that Tim was leaning over the counter with a really confused look on his face.

I heard a girl behind me mutter a quick, “thank you” as I turned. Then I noticed that a girl was suddenly sitting on Tim’s stool, forcing him to stand and lean awkwardly onto the counter. After a about half a minute, the girl finally realized that she had actually tried to take Tim’s stool while he was still on it!

Poor Tim whispered incredulously, “Why do these things always happen to me?” Aryn, Sam, and I almost choked on our ice cream. We all had a really difficult time trying to hold in our hysterical laughter. The girl muttered a quick apology and found another chair, bringing an end to a horribly awkward situation.