Assignments

I was reading Amy's post and it made me realise that Warwick was right on his comment; It is assignment season. I don't think i had an assignment season last year but i sure do this year. With My Classics assignment handed in a few weeks ago, which i passed, but it had four parts (Christianity, Judaism, Philosophy and Mystery Cults) and i didn't realise that all four parts needed Primary sources (documents from the time that the documents talk about), i only used primary sources on three parts (thinking i only needed one primary source for the whole thing) and so my mark was only achieved. (I think that it also had a bit to do with my procrastination and rushed effort on the last day)
My Japanese speech, which i failed as i went down to Dunedin.
My English assignment, which i was beginning to stress about as the internet is amost void of Desmond Tutu's speeches more than two pages long, but fortunetly i found an audio file and spent four hours yesterday writing a transcript for it. I ordered a book from massey university in Palmerston North because even though Tutu wrote 4 books, two of which are compilations of his speeches and sermons, the libraries in christchurch 'no longer' have the books that i need to get the speeches from. I was told that it was written in 1970s or thereabouts and therefore it was quite old and that was why it wasn't in the library anymore. They have shakespeare don't they? That assignment is due in a few weeks though so now i've got a speech i'm beginning to catch up with the rest of the class.
My Biology assignment, which is due in a few weeks. Fortunelty i have done the research i need to and now only need to work out what i need to write about, what i should leave out, and how to structure what i'm writing. My assignment is the biological control of rabbits in the south island. One of my friends, who decided on the same assignment, happened to come across the Otago universtity website which tells the students how to structure their essay 'if they were doing biological control of rabbits' hypothetically of course. Thank you Otago!! Thank you friend, who infact deserves much more praise as she actually spent hours on the computer looking for help on writing the essay (not illegally).

So yes, I do feel the strain of Assignment Season's pull and yes, i do hear the crack of her whip, but there is only one way to go and that way is forward, and as i do, i shall move the seasons and become once more the free spirit i was born to be. Free of a load, free of bindings, free of fear, free.

Music update, Koru update (from last week)

I haven't done a music update for a while now. It'll just be a short, quite diverse list this week.

I Caught Fire by The Used would be classed in the punk-rock genre, i'm much more of a rock fan but i've always enjoyed listening to the top punk-rock bands. The song is about the singer losing his place, and his reality in her eyes.

Amazed by Lonestar
Mr Mum by Lonestar
Somebody's Someone by Lonestar
are all classed in the country genre. i've never been a big supporter of Country, but Lonestar really bring about new meaning to country. Their song "Amazed" which i'm sure many of you have heard already, just puts so much emotion in their song that it almost brings a tear to your eye. I really like Lonestar. The lyrics in their songs show so much about the song writer's personality. You can tell he is someone who cares, has morals, and still yet is human and doesn't refrain from making mistakes. He seems to be someone who is very open in his songs and i really admire that. Atleast that is the impression i get from listening to Lonestar songs.

The last song is Magic Works by Jason Buckle which is a song about dancing a final dance with the one you love. It may be the last chance you ever get. I know that theme recurs in many songs, but the songs that the same theme is found in are usually good songs too. This was my favourite song for quite a while, but then i got hooked on the song Amazed.


To change the subject entirely; I realised that i haven't written a post on Koru last week. If you went to Digestion then Steve J would have updated you on it but if not then i'll give you my opinion on it.

For a start we doubled our numbers from two weeks previous. The increase was mainly community kids and therefore we are successfully beginning to achieve our purpose. There were no teeth broken so we can positively conclude that the evening was a success. Oh and also the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. Two tribes were created that will be the immortal names of the tribes so long as Koru exists. (which we hope to be 'till kingdom come, or God instructs us to move on) The names were Trinity and O Town. Trinity standing for the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, aswell as the trinity between God, ourselves and our friends. Because Koru (or New Life) is not jsut about us, and having a good time but rather Us, our realationship with God and also the positive influences and evangelistic influences we have on our friends. O Town stands for Opawa Town. Opawa being a place of refuge. Perhaps a subsitute for Bro town which is increasing popular amongst the targeted youth. O Town is a place where people can meet in the close fellowship, more even than that of Bro Town, of the community that will become their second family. The O is everlasting and so too is the circle of friends that will go through struggles and joys together. A Town is not overcrowded like a metropolis or a city, and it is not so dead as a village. It stands as a place comfortable and secure for all those who seek refuge in it.

So tonight the family movie night is on at Opawa Baptist Church. A place to meet for fellowship, a place for the community to come, a place for us to come to God and for us to bring our friends. It is where we are together and as 1 but eternal like the O.

It would be good to see you all there at 7pm in the church auditorium ( i think that's where it is).

I really liked the service on sunday night (yesterday). Not because Steve wasn't preaching as i do like his preachings but more because of variance of opinion as someone who has done different things and had different experiences to Steve, also because i am the kind of person who likes lots of verses from the bible incorporated into the sermon (again, not that Steve doesn't do that, but both he and I realise that Bible reading is not the only way worship God). I guess the reason i liked it so much was because Digestion (night service) is a different service from the morning one and so it is more aimed at being interactive rather than sitting and listening to the gospel. I see nothing wrong with that but i do believe you need to have solid food too, and because digestion is different to the morning it attracts different people, and though some of those people go to the morning service there are many that do not, and hopefully soon they will but at this time they don't get much bread.

What really stuck out for me in the sermon of Fuzz (Out of Town Speaker) was when he talked about the Australian Abos who got on stage in a prestigious school and talked openly about Jesus. This was easier for them because they had nothing to lose. It made me think about the things that i hang on to that draw me away from being so open. What do i hang on to? For a start i hang on to a career, i don't want to go all for God because i'm scared it will jeperdise my career path by not putting enough time into studying. I'm afraid of getting on the wrong side of people. Most people aren't christians and so i don't want to lose friends by becoming a bible-basher. There is also the fear that i will not have life go the way i want it to happen. If i spend time doing God's work then the work towards what i want to achieve will never get done. I have three main fears in my life: I am scared of rejection. I am scared of living a dead life (both spiritually and physically, like being stuck on machines in a coma or living a life with no purpose). And lastly, Being alone. Spending time on God rather than on myself means that i have less control of my own life and therefore am less likely to avoid these three fears. Being rejected from friends becuase i become known as a "bible-basher" targets my fear of rejection, and as a result of that rejection i am left alone in isolation and therefore suffer from two of my fears. As we sang the songs after the sermon i just let myself go and felt the Spirit moving in the church. I sang "oh i feel like dancing, it's foolishness i know, but when the world has seen the light they will dance with joy like i'm dancing now!"
The spirit moving in the church? This brings me to the next point about Fuzz's sermon, the main point actually. How do i know what i know? That's something i cannot describe to anyone who has not felt the spirit. It was the spirit because i knew it was Him.

The third most liked point about Fuzz's sermon was when he showed the "I Will Survive Alien Song" and then said that the world doesn't crash down on people, it's the mirror ball that crashes down on us and what we see in that mirror is what has potential to crush us. (hmm... he explained this so much better than I do).

To be honest, fellowship at burger king afterwards was really good too. God really did something inside me Yesterday. I think we should reflect more on the sermons during fellowship, that way we remember them more.

As for my speech for English, I had decided to do Charles Spurgeon and did a bit of research on him, but then twice i heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu's name prop up randomly in the sermon and on a music video of U2 in channelX. He was one of the people i was contemplating doing, so i think maybe i should do him. Just incase it was God telling me i needed to do research on him. You never know what you can learn at school. :D I might find something that intergrates into my mind and is essential for me to know in years to come. So i've changed to Tutu. I'm heading down to the library tomorrow to get out some of his books of speeches and sermons.

Blood Donor

Today the blood people came to school. Since i missed out last time i made sure i went this time. I had to fill out a questionaire and then get interviewed about it. After a quick stab to my finger i found out that my Haemogloben (sorry if i spelt wrong) levels were really high. (Means i'm very healthy. The average level for a male is 130-185 and mine was 182! I have to put that down to my mother's cooking.

I then had to wait until there was a free person to hook me up and take my blood. When someone was free she took me to sit down and then proceded to stick a needle in my left arm. She missed my vein, or went right through it. So after a little bit of pain and ice/tape/bandage around my arm firmly and after she told me i was going to get a bruised arm and that it was because my veins were a little thinner than she anticipated she asked me if i would want the other arm done or if i just wanted to go. Well i had already waited over an hour so i told her to continue on my other arm. She was a little reluctant and so she called over the most experienced lady and asked her to take me because she wasn't comfortable trying on me again. So i was moved to another chair and the next lady had no problem getting it in my vein. I started pumping my arm and so i had 470mls of blood in the bag after 4-5 mins. I didn't feel like anything had happened so i went straight to class, infact if anything my bag seemed a lot lighter than it had when i went in. I had spent nearly two hours in the PAC (school hall) so i had only one class left to go to. I felt fine, other than the slight pain in my left arm from the failed attempt. Then afterschool i had to head straight to work. After i walked home my heart did feel like it was beating a lot faster than it should have after just a small walk, but i thought nothing of it. When i was at work i had to start lifting things like the teapot (actually quite heavy when full), trays full of fruit etc. Not really too heavy stuff but after you've lost 470mls of blood and your arms are a bit more fragile you can feel the strain. Atleast, this was when i started to. But then i finished work and came home. (sorry no climax, no fainting, no intensive care story) That's my somewhat interesting story of the day. But the highlight of it was that i got a blood donor sticker for my care. It's a pretty kewl sticker!!!

Blue Boy

Saturday night youth group had a twist to it; To dress up as something beginning with B. I went as the personified Blue song that i'm sure most people will know "i'm blue da ba dee da ba dai...". I decided to go to my Nana's house on the saturday afternoon with my parents and then Rachel, who was on that side of town with her boyfriend, told me she would pick me up and take me to the shops to buy blue hair dye (by now i had been at my Nana's house for a little longer than planned) and so i had to wait longer for her to arrive as i didn't have a car to go shopping myself. When she arrived we raced to the nearest warehouse and started looking around for blue dye and blue facepaint. In the end i had to buy acrylic instead of facepaint and brazen blue hair dye. I drove back to my Nana's where mum and dad were waiting and we sped home. Quickly, i applied the dye in my hair and left it in for about 5-7 mins. i couldn't leave it in longer as time was running out. Washing out the dye i towel-dried my head and applied the acrylic on my face, neck and arms. I looked up to the mirror and my hair was purple, not brazen blue! Mark suggested that i paint my hair and i chucked a lot of the acrylic into my hair and turned it from it's hideous purple to dark blacky-blue. Then i was driven to youthgroup where i was only a few mins late. I got my hands on one of the photos of me and my blueness!


Only problem was, the purple didn't come out when the blue did. So i went and cut my hair (as i was planning to anyway)

So, now my hair is short, almost mullet looking, and purple. It's certainly interesting. I think i'll leave it be.

Haircut

I've had another haircut. This was the first time i went to the hair dresser in a long time and asked the lady to take off the sides. This time she didn't have to press me to, instead she didn't cut them. Oh well. I wasn't complaining so i just let it be. Plus i prayed first, asking God to have my hair the way He willed it to be. (Pray even the little things) So i left it as is, even if i do think it would have looked better without the sides. I can only really blame myself anyway because firstly, i was distracting her by talking, and secondly i've always asked her to leave the sides before so she knows what i generally have and just cut to that. Next time i think i will make a point of making clear i want the sides cut. Here's the photo.

Friday

It's Friday. This week has been very busy and stressful. Last weekend i spent all my spare time learning my japanese speech off by heart. That ended up being a waste of time because i ended up going down to Otago on monday and tuesday (my speech being on tuesday). So wednesday i started on my Classics research assignment which i neglected (i think i mentioned all this on my last post). Thursday i went to work and then came home and was up till the early hours of the morning finishing it off. I got information on my biology research assignment for today too, which is good because at school today i found out that i was one of few who had done any research at all. I now feel like a great load has been lifted off me. No longer any worries about Japanese and Classics, ahead in Biology, and for English a new topic has just started. Orators.

I have to research Orators/Rhetorics and then do a speech of my own acting as a famous Orator by using his/her style of language, speech, views, appropriate use of language techniques, etc. I was given a sheet of many famous Rhetorics and i selected the ones i thought would be interesting to do. The teacher told us to only do ministers and theologians if we had a good religious upbringing or knew the subject well, otherwise a lot more work would be required and it would be harder to pass. (Not often a school will tell you christian has an advantage in some respect). I have decided that i will do one of...(Andrew Brown will like this one)... John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley (there seems to be something with John), Lenin, or Trotsky. Anyone got any other famous Orators that they can suggest for me to do? I'm very open to options.

Dunners

On monday at 12:30 i left for Dunedin to see the university. Unfortuently for me going on the trip meant that i couldn't sit my Japanese speech that i had spent so much time on and so i automatically failed that assessment. But the trip was more important, I needed to find out what i was going to do with my future. Whether i would end up down in Otago studying Pharmacy or if i was to stay and study at Canterbury. And if i went down to Otago i needed to get an idea on the Halls of Residence and compare them to the option of boarding with someone from either Caversham Baptist or Caversham Community (as i know people in both churches). This is the idea i got;

I liked the university in general. The people from my school that have decided to go down to Otago are the friends i am closest to in school, and some of the ones i wanna hang around with when i leave school. The Halls actually are very enticing and seem to be great places to live as they cater for practically everything as well as being close to the university (closer than my house is to Canterbury anyway). I bused to Caversham, and though the bus drivers both on the way there and back were, well, over-casual (which seemed to resonate everywhere in Dunedin), it only took about 15minutes to bus there from the university. The friends i have in Dunedin are good people and it would be really sweet to get to know them all better. The Pharmacy course itself looked really good. Because of the casualness (i almost wrote casualty) of the city i won't actually have to spend the whole year down in Dunedin, i'll be back up to Opawa a fair bit. Basically i see Otago as the best option and it was worth going down to.

Now i just have to make the grades.
Classics doesn't look so good at the moment as i neglected it to spend time on my Japanese Speech. I have until friday to finish the whole assignment (research and essay), and i have 'till the same date for my Biology assignment research check. These are the reasons i've been on the computer a lot less as of late, i just haven't had anytime to do anything. What's more i haven't actually got much of my work done on anything except Japanese (which now i've got a Failed-To-Sit next to the grade mark anyhow). My life has been very stressful lately.

The First Koru

Went to Koru tonight. We finished our preparation in prayer and one of the things mentioned was that we would all learn something or be challenged no matter how good or bad the turn out/events/attitude of the kids/etc was.

Five guys turned up (i think), all church kids, no-one from the community. It wasn't exactly what we were hoping for but atleast it was a safe leader/child ratio. The night started off with mucking around in the foam to which some memories i shall preserve forever took place. I won't go into details other than when Steve in an attempt to gain the upper hand in a race, rather than skidding like the others, turned as he was running and lost his feet. His face went straight into the floor (on the bit that wasn't covered with carpet or mats) and had to get driven by Amy to the hospital. The good side of this however, was it answered our prayer. I learned something. I learned that i didn't know what to do next if Amy and Steve both left. But, Logan took control and it was all good. Fortunetly there were fewer kids this time because if i had learnt that lesson in a months time when there are 20 11-12 year olds running around (we can hope), then it would have been a lot harder to control the situation. Aside from Steve's injury (and missing getting it on the video-camera) the night was awesome and i'm definitely keen to go again in two weeks time. But praying for a few more kids would be good. So would praying for Steve's front teeth.

I've got a Japanese speech to learn tomorrow, and a Classics assignment to finish researching and write an essay on.

Monday and Tuesday i'm gonna be going down to Otago university and spend some time looking around.