Illusion of Words

Random school thoughts

Strangely busy day, today. I barely had time - well I had time, but usually I have more time than this. As I walk around campus, I could see leaves turning brown. I didn’t think much about it, but then now I notice that brown/red leaves are pretty much everywhere. It’s fall (duh!). But it isn’t any cooler, still as summer-ish as it can be.

Had a talk during Christian Learning class, we were given a workbook sort of thing. I opened up the first page, and the huge words caught me. Hey, I know that! SMART goals! We learnt that in History Makers. Unfortunately though, I haven’t been making any goals. I’ve forgotten entirely about goals. I’m staring into the face of average-ness if I don’t start making goals.

I actually like my classes. Maybe the least liked would be the cultural studies, though. I mean, everything is pretty much going round in circles. And we have to think so much about it. Really, a little too much. It’s interesting in a way, but no, I’m not going to be a culturalist.

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Praise and Worship (or rather, Singspiration)

I know that the purpose of praise and worship is to worship God, not to start thinking technically and analyze it. In any case, I can’t help doing the latter. So here I will compare 5 different p&w. I have only been to each of the 3 churches once, so it’s probably not a very accurate reflection of their overall p&w. Stated then, is what I happened to see on one particular Sunday. Note: This is just my opinion, hope nobody gets offended. And also, most of the churches are typical Baptist, quite traditional)

Union Chapels
Voices: Male (lead), female (harmonizing)
Instruments: piano (worship leader), drums, bass, acoustic guitar, keyboard (for organ-ish sounds), violin (occasionally)
The Good: The voices. Sounds really good, especially when there’s the harmonizing part - the female voice doesn’t have to stretch too high for songs like ‘From the Inside Out’. Instruments are also played very well, especially piano and drums. Violin, when used, is just simply beautiful - great short instrumental breaks. I love the hymns too - great that they sing hymns in a new beautiful way.
The Mediocre aka Can-Be-Improved: Not much variation in style - as in it is always the piano starting the song.

Youth Worship back home
Voices: Varies. Usually 2 female, one male
Instruments: Piano, drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
The Good: Instruments probably form the best part here, since it’s a very contemporary assortment of instruments.
The Mediocre aka CBI: Singing. Haven’t yet found one really good singer. Instrument-playing quality can also vary quite a lot - but it’s good that others can be trained.

Church #1
Voices: Two males
Instruments: Piano, organ
The Good: Hm. I guess the singer is pretty good.
The Mediocre aka CBI: Instrument variation. Also, they were singing a too-fast version of ‘I Could Sing Of Your Love’, which was totally weird.

Church #2
Voices: 6 females (one worship leader), one male
Instruments: Piano (worship leader), some sort of sit-on drum, electric guitar, violin, recorders, etc.
The Good: Now that is quite a variety of instruments. Interesting. More lively singing and playing compared to the others (except YW).
The Mediocre aka CBI: So many female voices can be quite a jarring sound. You know, the sharp piercing highness of it all. It’s ok though, just weird.

Church #3
Voices: 2 females (one worship leader), one male
Instruments: Keyboard, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass
The Good: Ah! Now there’s a more contemporary p&w, somewhat resembling the make of YW. Great music, not very outstanding, but everything blends well together. They even look professional with all the headphones!
The Mediocre aka CBI: The voices are not exceptional, especially that the worship leader’s voice doesn’t stand out that much. But still great singing. Overall, this church has the best p&w - and of course, quite an unfair comparison to the others since this church is obviously much more contemporary - it isn’t a real Baptist church.

Well, that’s it. I will say that Church #3’s p&w is the best, Union chapels come in a very close second, and YW’s sits comfortably at 3rd. Although really, they could use some improvement in the singing. But still, we can all worship God, no matter how good the p&w is, no matter the style. God looks at the heart - and I will confess that in doing this analysis, it wasn’t really the heart. All in the brain. I’m sorry.

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Cheers for my new guitar!

It was quite a sudden thing, actually. I was aching to go to a local guitar store - online buying would technically be cheaper, but who knows what would happen along the way? And it’s quite a bother to carry huge boxes from the main building to my dorm. So I managed to get someone to get me and a friend to the guitar store… where I saw a couple of Fenders (the store was the only store in Jackson authorized to sell Fenders)…. and there was only one Fender Mex Strat with 3 single coils. The others were varied. And the color was electron blue. Not quite the midnight wine I had wanted, but I saw some other Squiers… and I thought, perhaps the blue is prettier after all. I decided to take it, and of course I needed an amp. There was a good deal online - half price for the ugly pink color Vox DA5 which nobody wanted (I assume). I planned to get that reluctantly, but anyways, I was telling the sales guy that I am thinking of that particular amp, to which he said they actually had an used amp - a Vox DA10! So I got double the size for 30 bucks cheaper than what the DA5 would’ve cost new and non-pink. So yay! no pink amp to clash horribly with my blue guitar.

That said, I pretty much have no idea what sounds good and what sounds bad (unless it’s really bad). Still quite a beginner in this matter, and perhaps may take longer than some to actually know the difference. But I do my research thoroughly. So I don’t know whether it’s that good, but at least I know some hundreds think it’s awesome…

Hmm. My room is apparently really messy - cleaner than some, but still quite a mess…

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Aftermath of the Boating Expedition

I remember writing about the aftermath of sports day couple of years ago. That time, the pain was mainly in the legs. But today, I woke with a vague feeling that my neck was terribly sore and tilting backwards gave me a strange feeling of a detached neck (not without some pain). Couple that with very sore ribs that hurt whenever I tried to cough. And shoulders that were sore, again.

Now it isn’t that bad. Probably everyone faces the same predicament (some worse than others). For non-exercisers, these sudden, once-in-a-while over-exertions can leave quite a disastrous trail in its wake. For me, I’m doing pretty well on that trail. Except my neck still hurts.

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Boating Expedition

That sounds serious. But no. Boating means water-skiing, knee-boarding and whatever other weird top-of-the-water sports. I’m not the most healthy and sportsy person - perhaps that is why after an entire day on the boat, I got fairly close to puking, and now sitting in front of the computer, still have this weird floating sensation. The floor must be rocking.

Anyhow, it was a first. I tried water-skiing. It definitely wasn’t easy trying to put on the skis. I can’t swim, so that didn’t make it any easier. It was a constant struggle against the skis and the water. Wrangling around in the water, trying to make the long skis behave, and when you finally get the rope, and position yourself, and the boat takes off, and suddenly you’re in the water again, skis floating about in close vicinity. So no, I didn’t succeed.

There was the Tarzan-esque rope stunt, which I did not try. It was getting colder, my teeth were chattering when I let them be. Then we went on to the tube. Now that’s a device for a novice (ok, lame), but really, all you had to do was to hang on for dear life. I tried it. Pretty smooth sailing in the beginning, like some sort of mild roller coaster (which was quite fun), then it starts getting crazy as the boat driver tries to throw you around by making sharp turns, and you begin to think you can’t hold on any longer, and you hit a wave, and suddenly, WHAM! you’re hit by water right in the face and the sensation is like you’re drowning or something, and as you try to wheeze out the water from your nose, you open your eyes and see that you’re floating in the water (thank God for life jackets!), with the boat some distance off.

That hit-the-water sensation was definitely no fun. Two times and I didn’t want to do it again. Besides, it was getting colder.

Despite that, it was one great experience. Thanks to all those generous folks. Another glimpse in American life. Boating - memorable as yet another first in my life.

The Tube!

Tarzan Swings!

Water Skiing! (Not me, obviously - I couldn’t stand up on the skis to save my life)

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The First Week Of School

Now that’s over, and it seems like time is really running along. I’ve run into some problems along the way, thankfully they all turned out well (I think). International people are always interesting, and I met a Korean girl who actually lent me a guitar (yay! so while I dream about my new guitar, I can have something to play). I heard Korean being spoken, and I must say, sounds beautiful. Yes, I’m pretty much a sucker for the sound of foreign languages. Korean reminds me of those Korean dramas, where one can literally fall asleep watching. The setting is usually of a guy and a girl, staring at each other in a most depressed manner (with silent tears rolling down cheeks, or something similar). And then you can switch to another channel, and come back later in a couple of minutes, but they’ll still be staring silently. That’s how boring it is. Of course, it’s all just an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

Back to the topic. Which I’m not quite sure what it is, but anyhow, the first week has gone by quite well, just the fact that I do not have my books yet - how expensive books are!! Even the used ones of the latest editions cost quite a bit. Every time I look at this money draining away, I think automatically of my future electric guitar. Now, now, what are necessities here? The things I have in mind cost well above 500. Makes my heart pain when I think of all the money I’m not spending on that 500…. yes, I have got my priorities a little topsy-turvy.

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The Real First Day of School

That was the fake real day. Today was the real day, as in classes. I wasn’t looking forward to it, to tell the truth, Americans scare me a little… Anyhow, turns out the two classes I had were mainly the international students (we were stuck with the same International Cultural Studies and English classes). So it was pretty ok.

I had to buy books online - I wasn’t going to get ripped off at the bookstore. I got one good bargain, one not so good bargain. Still I saved at least 40% from what I would’ve gotten from the bookstore. I hope it doesn’t get lost in the mail or I shall be in trouble. More classes tomorrow - a new set. Including gym - argh. But God has proven to be so amazing recently. Just got to trust in Him.

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First Day at school

It’s finally happening. For a while, through all the various stops and stays along the way, it seemed as if it would never happen. However, as time drags us along, I’m here, typing this in a teeny dorm room. It’s too early to assess the school, but it’s never easy, starting over. Everything is entirely new. No one knows you. I’ve read it over and over again, people talking about how it was like to start afresh. It’s a clean slate, like a second chance. But who changes that easily? It’d probably be the same in the end.

The dorm room is okay, not too bad. Small rooms - but each has one to his/herself. So it’s like an apartment-styled dorm. It is quite clean. Now I just need to find where is that big cockroach I caught sight of.

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