Day 48: take the hit!

altho... this is being posted at the end of day 49... ah well. haha

learning so much from ps Joshua at NLCC. tbh, i never look forward to his msgs, since he's one of those pastors that can preach on FOREVER. ive been there for 3 sundays, over a span of 5 weeks, and lets just say he's STILL on ephesians 1. LOL. he focuses on a different aspect of it each week. same few verses. oh boy... haha

but every week i sit there for the 1.5hr of him talking, i learn something that really sticks.

last week, he talked about adoption. and it totally changed my perspective of having kids. (no joke.)

this week, he talked about "taking the hit". something i really need to work on.

y'know how after the movie "pay it forward" came out, its all ppl talk about, in terms of the effectiveness of doing good, getting the word out, etc. but he focused on the bad stuff. i mean.. yeah, we're all sinners. and we need self control and all that. but i mean like the bad stuff that isnt in our control? for example... those with abusive parents. or someone offends you. or that "unfair" moment when you dont know what you did to deserve it. but you end up being on the "victim" side of things.

and instead of taking your anger out on someone else, or seeking revenge, or just negatively influencing others around you in any way, how about just taking the hit, and swallowing whatever negative was done towards you?

cus tahts what Jesus did. He took the fall for our sins. just took the bad, swallowed it, and didnt let it get past Him. so that we can live, without having the price of our sin.

its like how a parent (in the ideal loving family), will do all they can to protect their children. they dont want the bad and negative things going to their children. they will take the hit, and shield their child.

in today's world, whenever someone offends you, how about just taking the hit for it, and be like "okay. it stops here. with me. doesnt go any further." no use in ranting about that person that offended you, or retaliation, or hurting someone else.

as much as we should pay it forward, there are some things not worth spreading.

i will try my best to stop ranting.. about certain topics anyways. some problems need to be talked out and dealt with. but you know what i mean by the stupid little things that arent worth worrying over. just take the hit.

Day 41: I really have no idea whats best for me but He does!

so back in the univ days, i was determined to "get away" from the chinese church. i tried dropping by LCAC for a few sundays, but i couldnt see myself there. i settled with WLAC instead. but i stuck with ACF. (only went to C4C once, but made ACF my UWO home)

in TO, after much prayer, thinking, and talking it out with others, i wanted to get away from the chinese church too. (well... except for CCSA. haha) so off to Harvest i went!

so now, in sydney, guess what? i feel the most at home at 2 asian services.

1) Hillsong Chinese extension service

2) New Life Community Church.

and unless i'm rostered to serve elsewhere, im pretty sure my sunday mornings will be at hillsong chinese, and afternoons at nlcc (at least nlcc cell groups in the evenings).

hillsong (english) seems so "perfect". like they have enough ppl serving (plentiful!), everything goes well, ppl flood the place... they seem fine and dandy. the chinese service on the other hand, could use more help. definitely room to improve. and its no coincidence that im fluent in english (born and raised in TO!), yet at the same time, my cantonese any that bad (communicatable, and limited reading/writing), and my mando is.. umm... somewhere. hahaha

i also like how its a smaller service. like 3 services still, but ~100 ppl each! (my guestimate... i only went to 11am service. haha) but their a/v can definitely use some help (in operating it). and not in the camera/tv stages yet.

nlcc! ive decided to join cell groups here, instead of connect groups at hillsong. why? cus i need a break from the hillsong bubble. i really dont wanna go back to canada in 2012, and not have met any australians. i mean, its great meeting ppl from all over the world at college, and i'll have "free accommodation" when travelling the world (HAHA... one of the college trainers mentioned that! =P). but what good is it, just being bubble'd up in the hillsong community 24/7?

for one, im sick of hillsong songs. i really dont like how their setlist is the same few songs, aka stuff off their latest album. like... ENOUGH ALBUM PROMO ALREADY. i thought i was here to worship. not being "marketed" to. (didnt work anyways. im not buying the album. haha)

two, theres so many ppl at church on sundays, no one knows who is who. its very very clique-y. ppl stick with their connect groups, or college groups stick together... tbh, it was pretty sad seeing the numbers at sisterhood. altho it was on a thursday morning (i dont know how the work like sched works around here) but with 3-4 services each weekend, 3-4k per service, lets say half of them are female, yet only 1/3 of the auditorium was filled. with a few hundred of us being college students cus its mandatory attendance for us.

i dont know about the rest of the attendance rates for hillsong's other ministries, but i guess its just like most other churches, there is a high number of ppl attending on sunday mornings. but when you compare that number to the attendance numbers for fellowship/small groups, there is a clear difference (not the ideal 1:1 ratio... or more, if ppl are a part of multiple ministries).

haha... hillsong ranting. =P clearly, its not a church i would settle at if a church like hillsong was in toronto. haha... but i AM hearing positive reports from my housemate who are serving at different hillsong campuses and extension services! so its not all bad. just that cus we're living hillsong 24/7, anything for 24/7 will get on your nerves after a month!

so yeah... in conclusion, i guess im back with the asian bunch. not the english speaking chinese bunch, but the chinese speaking bunch, and some english speaking koreans! (well.. there are also some chinese ppl there. but we're the minority. 2nd gen asians!) =)

PS. more rants to come. housemate rants.

dun dun dun!

breaking it down!

so thankfully, the january 2011 intake for TV & Media is split into 2 classes, cus the mac lab can only hold so many.

altho i missed my 9:30am class, i was able to go to the 1:15pm class =)

spent 3hrs learning about basic set up and editing Final Cut Pro.

pretty much what ive gotten used to doing from acf, tc rec, and ccsa vids, i reviewed 80% of all i know in 3hrs. -_-

learnt a few new things... or rather stuff i kinda knew but didnt know why. but now it has been explained to my logical brain and im now happy that things make so much more sense! *breathe* [run-on sentences in blogs ftw!]

so tonight, while brushing my teeth... it got me thinking.

i mean... we can be taught how to use editing software, operating a camera, etc. but what exactly is it that makes 1 film different from another? what makes it better, deserving an oscar/emmy? we were given the same raw footage today, and none of us made the exact same thing.

so i guess this is where the artsy/creative side of things come in.

the other thing i always thought would make a "better" video would be the equipment you had. ie. nicer/pro camera (instead of just your iphone/bb cam or in my case right now... a handy cam), and pro software (imovie/windows movie maker vs. final cut/adobe premiere).

but i dont believe in this anymore. the nicer the stuff... doesnt necessarily mean the nicer your final product will be. i see this with photography all the time (since it's become a major trendy hobby right now). ppl are buying pro baller cameras, with elephant trunk sized lenses... and their photos are okay. i mean.. with a lense priced like that, the biggest n00b can take a somewhat decent picture. but its the ppl who actually know how to manually control their camera, AND have a sense of capturing a frame in their own artsy style, is what brings out the "life" of a the photo.

i guess its the same for video. (well.. video really is just a truckload of photos in sequence with sound... ranging from at least 24 frames per second =P)

what im trying to get at with this blog post... is im hoping i have that artsy creative side in me. cus im not sure if i do. i always stunk during art class since elementary school. my writing is ugly, deff cant draw, im quite a logical/think straight kinda person. so here's to hoping i can do better with digital video!

but as Sanga preached last night... doubt is not the voice of God, but of the devil. rather, God's voice encourages and promises. (ie. Adam and Eve being tempted in the garden of Eden).

also makes me think about what camera i should invest in next. hm... something that shoots in 16:9 HD would be nice. just dunno if my mac can handle that! =P darn this is one expensive path that ive chosen!! haha... i should figure out where these funds are gunna come from instead of bank of daddy/future hubby. =P

ah well... will figure that out later. gunna concentrate on learning what i can in the next 10 months!

Day 35: missed my first TV & Media class already.

oh poop....

who knew the timetables would change on you 48hrs before classes start?

guess i got so used to high school and western's timetables. if they're released, they're official! any changes, an email would be nice?

i guess not. =(

was supposed to have tutorial at 12pm, monday (now switched to wed afternoon), and digital video editing class at 1:15pm, monday.. but this one got switched to 9:30am instead! poop.

ah well.. i think there's a second session at 1 or something... split us into 2 groups. so hoping to catch that? guess all i can do is wait since its 12:30 now. ughh...

Day 34: HU's Aftermath launch!

as per the title.... meh. haha... not a fan of the album. i just needed something for the title! i blame the constant singing of some of the songs on sundays and at chapel. and some "fluffy" lyrics. =P

i would've really liked it if i was at college any time from 2004 til 2006. aka the More Than Life, Look to You, and United We Stand era! i deff wouldnt mind singing those songs every single week! hahaha... except i was in gr10-12 back then. not 18, and not done high school yet. wouldnt qualify for hilc. ah well... haha

so 2mrw kicks off week 3 of school! so excited! cus all i have 2mrw are TV & Media courses! w00t! finally gunna set foot in the Mac lab! oh baby!

oh yeah... so last week, we had a joint hillsong staff and all college students meeting! (both hills + city campus = ~1500 ppl in the Hub). so what do you do when you've got like 60 countries represented? you do a NATIONAL ANTHEMS BATTLE!

check out this vid!

**i almost didnt wanna post it cus of the canadian one. thx ps. brian for cutting us short. bahhh... but ah well.

awesome eh? whooooo! ive never heard so many diff national anthems before! i only knew the US and the UK one (obv the canadian one). i know the China one.. but they didnt do that. hahaha

but yeah, when ps Brian would start a national anthem, everyone from that country automatically stood up and belted it out! sucha patriotic moment =7

and lol @ Jad for the NZ anthem at ~1:58. hah!

im at the ~6:00 mark. of all the ppl standing up and wearing white, i am the 2nd from the top right corner! haha... should've brought my giant massive canada flag. who knew?!?!

good times! :D

Day 29: i dream of bacon

mm... bacon. crispy thin bacon.

i miss it. =( the bacon here in aussie is just... ham. it aint the same!

classes have been so informative and intense (real thought provoking stuff) so its frying my brain... like bacon! minus the lovely greasy smell of bacon. =P

and i like how im learning a lot. but when the classes go for 3.5hrs (with one 15min break in between), i can only focus for so long. =(

factor in a super long day (been at school for 12+ hrs), i was pretty cranky by the end of it, and really not enjoying this.

its starting to kick in... before getting here, i wondered how long it would take for the "whoaa! hillsong!"-ness to wear off. and its starting to. i mean.. there are still aspects of it i really like (omg the opening production for this morning was incredulous!!), the teaching.. but the worship in song/praise is really starting to bug me.

im a fan of variety.. i believe in catering to all diff age groups and backgrounds of the congregation (diversity in toronto!), and all of it is still worship. for all worship sets, i would even categorize them by the composer/band that released them. like... "this one's mostly tomlin stuff, with some hillsong thrown in!" or "whoa! jesus culture, tomlin, crowder, hillsong!" or "baloche, brenton brown, brewster, stanfill, jared anderson!" but now... not only is it all hillsong, its also the SAME 4-5 SONGS. O.M.G. like i know hillsong united's got a new album coming out, but do you really need to do the SAME 4-5 SONGS for the past 4 sundays, AND in college CHAPEL as well?!!?!? not to mention todays... we did 4 songs for the joint staff and students meeting, and 3/4 were the same for tonight's leadership vision. and all of them were songs we've done in the past 2 weeks on sunday/@ chapel. like F'REAL?

remember back in 2002/2003ish? when every christian gathering in the GTA did tomlin's "forever", or redman's "blessed be your name"? i mean.. they're good songs. but they got so overdone to a point where the lyrics just seemed repetitive every time. this is what i feel like right now. except its not just 1 song... its the ENTIRE SET.

i have more to say about hillsong... (other aspects)

but ugh... im really tired and cranky.

i think i should just leave this post and let it be.

#RantOver.

bring on another early day 2mrw! chapel again... please please please do other songs =(

PS. no, i do not get free hillsong stuff

PPS. no, i do not plan on buying their new Aftermath CD. will i "download" it? yes. probs. haha

Day 27: church hopping and meeting Jayesslee!!!

Day 27 in the land of Oz.

so Jono's been in town for a couple of days now, and today was his first (and final) free day in Sydney. so we met up in the morning, and i brought him to Hillsong Church, and gave him a lil tour. perfect timing.. it was Vision Sunday! so it was a good way of hearing about what Hillsong is all about. (a global church pretty much sums it up. haha). and yay! Joel Houston and Jad Gillies led worship! :D

after that... we bus'd back to Parramatta station to enjoy some PHO. yes!!!! it was aiight actually. but since it was my first bit of asian food in a month, it was delicious! but i will still be picky and critque it. haha... the noodles were too soft/mushy, the soup was too salty, and the bean sprouts were really dry. but ah well.. its pho. i shall not complain. haha... altho it was different that they offered us lemon slices instead of lime!

so 3:02pm neared... and that is when bus 525 leaves for New Life Community Church! (well.. nearby it anyways. haha). so we hopped on... and genius me, i got off a few blocks too early. -_- oops. so we walked for a good 15min or so. but at least the weather was cooling down, and there was a bit of spitting. so it was a refreshing walk. =)

so 15min later... we finally made it! just a slight bit late. so we jotted down our names and contact info, then went in. Jono recognized the first song as one that jayesslee had covered. HAHA. GG... its actually by Jesus Culture. its called Your Love Is Everything. but nope... they werent leading worship.

it was actually really refreshing to walk into a place, where it was more of an acoustic setting, and it wasnt all hillsong songs! hahaha... after that, they did starfield's reign in us, then hillsong's forever reign! pretty slow set. but it was pretty well done.

as for musicians and the make up of the team... 4 vocalist, 1 was also an acoustic guitarist, 1 electric, 1 bass, 1 djembe, and 1 cello! yes, you read correctly. cello! it was a nice lil intimate set... reminded me of ACF retreat just a lil bit! and good to be around asians too. hahaha

the message was really really long... but the pastor was so passionate, and he just kept going, jumping from passage to passage (ephesians 1, psalm 139, romans 12). i think he spoke for at least 1.5hrs. lol!

so after the service... jono and i hung around the foyer for ages... coming all this way, he was quite determined to meet them. i had watched some of their videos, so knew about them. but wasnt all that crazy about em. i agreed that if jono would do the initiating, i'll also ask for a pic and such.. so he wouldnt look like a "crazy fan". hahaha. so he managed to spot one of the twins in the foyer (it was a congregation of ~200), and soon after, he spotted the other one too! actually, at first he wasnt sure, so we joked about how we can def recognized them if they were standing side by side and 1 of them had a guitar in her hand... haha

it took us awhile to flag one of em down (janice), and jono got his picture.

soon after, he got sonia too! and in the middle of taking pictures with her, we got janice back again, so we've got separate pics, AND pics of all 4 of us! :D

man... we were so happy. we did it! wandered a city we both didnt know too well, walked into a 2nd gen korean church (we felt like the minority... being chinese. but at least we're asian), but we finally met em! so there we were, walking out of the parking lot towards the road, headed to the bus stop... when sonia called out to us and asked if we were goign to the train station. so we said we were, and she offered to give us a lift!! OMG. jono and i literally looked at each other going :O. cus we sorta called it earlier. i had joked about it when getting off at the wrong bus stop. i hope someone from the church would be able to give us a ride back to the train station. and then he joked that it would be the twins who would. and LOL here was sonia offering us a ride! well... Andy was driving (their friend/manager).

so wow... we hopped in. had a great time chatting, got to know each other a bit more other than just her as the "youtube star" and us as "the fans from canada". haha.. turns out sonia went to hillsong college a few years back! yay!

unreal... today was absolutely... wow. it was awesome just being able to chat with her, as like meeting a new "upper year from acf who was giving me a ride". so human... such hospitality!

definitely twas a good day. one that i will remember quite well during my time here in sydney.

youtube stars that ive met count: 2 (well... 4 cus they were in pairs. so the 2nd set. haha)

Day 25: i feel so... small.

coming from a community where a techie was rare, i guess i felt pretty "big" and needed everywhere.

but to be honest, i aint that good at it. haha... i just know the basics, and rarely mess up. aka i get the job done. same goes with my digital editing. a basic handy cam, $15 tripod, and using iMovie and Final Cut Express, voila! videos!

but now that im here at hillsong, i feel so small. going thru the placement application/info forms, im definitely on the "n00b" side of the spectrum. the lowest you can go is zero experience, then to your iphone/bb video recording, then to handy cam.... which is where i am. then after that you get the DSLR experience ppl, and slowing moving your way up to HD cams, tv studio cams, etc.

same goes for the digital editing experience. starting with no experience, then to "basic editing in _____ [insert software]" to "intermediate editing in [software programs]" to "advance editing in [software programs]". im definitely in the "basic editing"category. youtube is my friend, in helping me out for most of the videos ive done!

definitely GG'd and humbled. dont know what i was thinking... cus i thought i was pretty experienced. but nope. haha... far from it! twas a good reality check. thats why im here tho! much to learn! much to improve on!

1 more intensive week, then finally getting into the TV & Media classes!

another thing that made me feel bad (a lil bit anyways...), harvest is in need of a drummer. this week AND next week. where'd the others go? =( im really hoping they find more drummers by the time i get back. cus really... i'd rather do AV. ive only kinda done some AV stuff for Women's Connection. but if a drummer is what they need on sundays, i'll do whats needed. i can always do the a/v stuff in my job or something!

Day 24: got a bit offended

1) Canada got called the 51st state

2) baseball came from cricket.

=(

hahaha... just 2 things the lecturers brought up today.

both of them was the lecturer doing a quick "survey" of the demographics. he also included NZ as one of the Oz states. haha... the canadians and NZs werent happy! no we werent! *hmph!*

and the 2nd one... was just some background info. maybe i should look into learning cricket...

hm...

NAH.

i shall wait for the mlb season to start (and stream it on atdhe.me) then wait for summer 2012 to play some softball again!

thought it'd be good to lighten the mood on here a bit. =P

oh yeah... we were introduced to Jad Gillies, JD, Reuben Morgan, and Ben Fielding today.

cant wait to learn from them, and serve with them!! :D

one more coffee?

i guess you can say ive been pretty lucky/blessed… never really dealt with death in my 22yrs of life yet… until earlier this week.

i mean… theres been my friends' grandparents passing, or a friend's parents, or some distant relative in hk.. but its never been anyone i really knew personally. i may have said "hi" to them here or there, but not someone i had a decent conversation with.

until now. altho i wouldn't say she was someone really close, but she was someone i looked up to. i first "met" or knew of her during the TC days. she was a media coach. then when i volunteered at sobem, i worked directing under her, reporting to her. it was these days that i really got to know her. sometimes, we got sidetracked from doing research and work for the current project, and we'd just chat about life. and in the afternoon, it'd always be coffee time. since i had previously worked at tims, i would be in charge of making the coffee! (all ingredients provided by sobem. it was simply putting it together =P)

and to find out 1 week after she had passed, and being half way around the world. it just doesnt seem... real that she's actually gone! the last time i talked to her was around christmas time. she had msg me, trying to find someone's contact info. im glad i was able to help her with that!

thankful that i was able to connect with a friend, who went to the funeral. a CD of her testimony (going thru the whole cancer process) was distributed, and my friend uploaded it for me to download. after having a listen, wow... the attitude she had towards it was amazing! isntead of being all bitter and wondering why she was "chosen" to be the recipient of this cancer, she was thankful that she can now relate to those who are sick. its not just knowing the right words of comfort to say anymore. but its actually living and knowing the pain/sufferings of what they go thru.

its not even a positive attitude, but truly a woman of God. not looking at the brighter side of things, but instead looking at it from God's perspective. the big picture.

she appreciated life so much more, it definitely changed her.

she also lived a life, that glorified God in as many ways as she could.

she was a dancer, she worked with youth, and poured her life into theirs.

she had a heart for missions. she loved the of Uganda and wished she could go back.

she knew what she wanted to do with her life. a degree, good paycheque career was not her top priority. finding a job where she truly enjoyed working at, and broadcasting the gospel was her passion.

and most of this.. i only found out after she had passed. i only knew her as the "TC media coach" and the "worker at sobem". but after hearing all this.. its great knowing that there are people out there, dedicated their lives to God, and living a purpose-filled life. experiencing the joys of knowing she lived out her life that glorified God.

Queedy Lee. a servant, and a daughter of Christ.

can't wait to see you in heaven!

Day 22: first day of class!

lets break this down (easier for me to jot it down, easier for you to follow along! =))

- chapel

- church & ministry class

- other thoughts about college so far

- other thoughts about sydney so far

CHAPEL!

well.. we didnt kick off the morning with chapel. had 1 class first. but i wanna talk about chapel (and its my blog. so hah!)

all i can say is... WOW. ~1k of us (students, trainers, profs, and school officials) piled into the Hub Auditorium, and it was just an incredible sight! all 1k of us here are either leaders in training (pastors, worship leaders), leaders already, or being trained to be servants in other ministries (musicians, TV & Media, dance). and i mean.. no offense to seekers, regular sunday go-ers, etc. but worshiping ~1k leaders was just awesome! you wanna see a hillsong praise pit? no need.. the whole place was on their feet along WITH the praise pit!

along with the worship, there was a short intro, as well as a short msg from the principal (ps. Lee Burns).

it was only 1hr long. but it was simply amazing. excited for chapel again 2mrw! =)

CHURCH & MINISTRY CLASS

first class. first ever class at hilc! i had no idea what to expect... an univ type of lecture? another sermon? sunday school? workshops?

i have to say it was a cross between sunday school and workshop. i mean.. everything was outlined nicely with all the topics we will cover, and the subheadings, with the point forms that followed it. it was really informative.

we covered what the church and different ways of defining it (the house of God - cloud/pillar of fire/burning bush, tabernacle, temple, church, US/our bodies), the family of God - ekklesia!, the body of Christ - function/growing as a whole and in a holy way. hehe.. my blog title!)

it was a lot to take in. especially with 4hrs of just pure information today in this class. a bit of an overload. and guess what.. 2hrs of it 2mrw morning starting at 8:30am! lovely.

you can probs tell im more excited for the tv & media stuff to kick in huh... haha

if anything.. ive realized a lot of the msgs here (sunday service, orientation, chapel) are really focused me YOU. like... who can you become? what God can use you to do? what you were made to do! what you are capable of doing in this world!

where as a lot of what i have been taught was this is who God is. and what He has done for us. as a result, our response is this.

but i guess thats the difference between christian living, and hillsong international LEADERSHIP college. we are being prepared to be leaders here (or at least servants. ie. musicians, tv & media, dance... the creative arts bunch!).

they're really drilling it into our minds that we're special, and we're called to do really really big things!

other things about sydney:

oh its so hot. im so thankful for housemates who are willing to chip in money to turn on the a/c for the evening to cool the house down. i dont think ive ever lived in 40C weather (well.. i dont remember. hk in july, panama in late july. haha... also humid/hot places near the equator in the summer!) but yeah... this heat is a killer! 22 winters in toronto, and now suddenly im living in 40C weather in sydney. :| gimme a bitta that 20-30cm snow! ship it over! haha.. well.. dont. cus by the time it gets here, it'll just be water.. or vapour even! and i know north eastern sydney doesnt want any more water vapour. enough w/ the flooding already!!!

well.. thats actually why its so hot down here in south eastern australia, sydney. cus of the flooding in the north, the humidity is even higher than usual. lovely.

anyways, its 11:30pm, class at 8:30am. sleep times!

PS. good luck to you uwo kids w/ midterms coming up. yuck!