Pre-Trip Jitters

I am on my period.

I am still undecided as to whether it is an omen or a blessing in disguise. On one hand, I'll be stuck on an airplane, in the window seat, with two people between me and the bathroom. It's a philosophical conundrum every time. Do I have them the ass or the crotch? (Sigh, I love Chuck Palahniuk.) On the other hand, this means I'll be spending the three weeks of mission-time period free, with no risk of suddenly transforming into a frightening dragon lady with no chocolate or Tylenol in sight. Thank God.

I leave for the airport in about an hour. More precisely, I will be going to Milpitas to board the bus that will take me to the airport. haha. I'm not even sure what time my plane is leaving. All I know is I'm supposed to meet the Pastor at the Check-in counter. Let's hope things go according to plan.

I spent last night texting back and forth with my sister while she was on the bus. Now it's my turn, but alas, none of my parents can text worth a damn. Luckily, I'll have Eric with me to make awkward conversation. yaaay.

It looks like this will be my third and last year with ADVENT. After college starts, I'll probably have to start looking for internships and research opportunities. (sigh) I'm a little bit nervous about this year because, as Andrew says, my expectations are high. ADVENT's never disappointed before. More importantly, I'm afraid that I will be so focused on having fun that I will lose sight of the objective of the mission - evangelizing. It's hard work, waking up every morning at six and staying up until twelve or later preparing for the next day's lesson. Things are so different this year, with staying in Zhanghua for two weeks instead of one, and being under Pastor Doris instead of Pastor Chang. I am the kind of person that chafes under the authority of those I do not respect. I pray that God will humble me and show me every person's merits and strengths so that I will not be blinded by my own prejudice.

Another thing, I know most of the people going this year. Usually, ADVENT is an opportunity to meet and mesh with a group of strangers. This year, so many veterans are going, I'm pretty sure that new people will be in the minority. I hope to God that we won't be clique-y. In fact, I will make it my personal mission to prevent this from happening. I WILL KILL THE AWKWARD TURTLE IN THE ROOM.

I just ask for a lot of prayer. I'm sure I'll need it. I know I'm weak, but I also know that I can do great things through Him. I'll be praying and working feverishly to help make this year a success.

May God's harvest be bountiful! :D

Boring Blogs

I recently realized that I have fallen into the atrocious habit of posting boring blogs. You know, the kind where I blog solely to document an event, even when I hold little to no interest in the actual writing of the blog. A prime example would be the last one I posted about Great America. Reading over it almost sent me straight into hibernation. Sometimes, I blog because I feel obligated to. When something big happens, for example, graduation, I feel somewhat remiss when I don't write some sort of reflection on the event. But then again, when it becomes a duty or job to write about something, chances are, my boredom is conveyed clearly in my writing. It's like "FACTS OF EVENT" + watery attempts at wit and humor = verbal diarrhea.

Speaking of diarrhea, I am suffering from a particularly severe case at the present moment. As it turns out, drinking alcohol can paralyze the lining of your intestines, greatly reducing its ability to absorb water and nutrients, transforming your ass into an effective fire hydrant. That's right. Savor the imagery.

Graduation has come and gone. My cousin has come and gone. Yet I feel way more inclined to blog about Steven's party than the aforementioned milestone events. Three rounds of beer pong, two with wine coolers. One win, two losses. Damn last cup. I really need to practice that shot. My parents, already familiar with the nature of Steven's parties, were adamant that they pick me up at 11:30PM. I, being the practiced thespian that I am, thought I made a damn good impression of stone-cold sober when I jumped onto the car. The first thing my Dad says? "I smell beer."

Crud.

Damn him and his spidey senses. I had forgotten that, while eating my spam and rice with soy sauce and watching Allen/Steven v. Rudy...other chick (Sorry), Rudy had knocked a cup off the table and splashed beer all over my calf. It probably would have been a good idea to wipe off my leg before I jumped onto the car. (sigh) My parents were surprisingly chill about it. My Dad never said a word beyond his initial observation. My mom mercilessly teased me today as I made frequent trips to the commode. "Are you ever going to drink again?" "guuuuuuh."

Graduation was boring as hell. I didn't feel like I was making a great transition, crossing the threshold, evolving into a Charizard, etc. etc. etc. I felt cold. And hungry. I hate pomp and circumstance. The best part of graduation was dinner with Yun Pei Aiyi at Wu Bing Er Yu. I got to order everything I liked. :D Happiness!

My days of late revolve around the bowel movements of my puppies. I woke up (hangover free. Yee!) at 8AM to let them out and pee. I even got up every once in a while during the Eng v. US soccer game (Final score 1 to 1...but somehow the US goal just couldn't compare with the Eng one.) to let them out into the yard and GLARE THEM DOWN until they pooed in horror. Wahahaha. Today, Sonatina bowled Sadie over and injuring Sadie's foot. That deaf lout! What a blow to her ego it must be to be so quickly replaced in the hearts and affections of her once loyal slaves owners.

Anyways, church drama is on the rise once again. I'll blog more about it when things have resolved themselves a bit more...

First Day of Freedom

I spent my first day of freedom romping around Great America. I originally planned to just take my cousin as a "Hey, This is America!" kind of thing, but a bunch of friends happened to be going on the same day. What a crazy random happenstance! Anyways, we definitely got our $20 worth.

The day started and ended at the Merry-Go-Round. I hate that ride. Guh. We waited in long-ass rides at Survivor and PsychoMouse before we ran into the LARGE group of Indy students. I still want to know if ANYONE ever does that chanting/stomping thing at the Survivor ride. I really wanted to do it, but no one else did...and I am follower. (sigh) While we waited for Wendy, Denise, Camille, Jenny, TK, Gloria, and Samantha to finish screaming their heads off, MooMoo and I went to this one souvenir shop. BE STILL MY HEART. Blonde/Blue eyed version of Bill Compton. Except his name was Greg. :D Eh, William, Gregory, both equally hot names in my opinion. Later, I totally took the group of girls by to awkwardly check him out, but they were all convinced I was influenced by my post-PyschoMouse adrenalin rush. Whatever, I still thought he was cute! I guess I just have a thing for vampire-looking boys. Woot!

Ooh, Jenny and I totally signed up for this Rockband thing onstage. We called ourselves The Auditory Ossicles and dragged TK onstage to sing Livin' on a Prayer. hee. 200,000 points. UUNNTTZZZ. High score of the DAY. Wooot! I bombed the guitar solo though. I hate Rockband. It's definitely no Guitar Hero. >:]

For lunch, we left Great America and snuck over to In-N-Out for some STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKES. The girls were definitely feeling that lactose overdose when we rode Top Gun, Vortex, The Grizzly, and Orbit back to back. Craziness. I still want to barf.

Overall, a highly satisfying day. My head is still spinning. blergh.

GREG/BILL COMPTON. CAAAAALL MEEEEEE.

WHAT.

Today, I realized that Jude Law is balding and Robert Downey Jr. might be a Republican.

My heart is broken.