Hey Guys,
Wanted to leave you guys something as I'm gone for the weekend. Here's a first draft of a video I made that summarizes our design trip to Cambodia.
The beginning may seem familiar to some people in Intervarsity lol.
All the best,
Brian
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Turning 21 and More
Hello Friends,
And you thought the last blog took a while to come out. I’m encouraged that some of you find my experiences interesting, so I’ll continue blogging at a more frequent rate. It’s been officially a month since I’ve been back, so naturally you would think I’d be updating more often in Canada than in a country where there is limited access to the internet. Less is more my friend.
I just turned 21 last Friday, but I don’t feel really different because Canada’s 21 is actually 19. Thanks for the birthday wishes if you sent one, I’ll be responding and thanking you all individually shortly (kind of like how I promised this blog shortly after the last one). I think the best present is that I am financially covered for the summer! Thank you all once again; I can’t express how appreciative I am of your support. I spent the 3rd with Steve (the director here) and the other two interns, Mark from Vancouver and Ty from Atlanta. Early in the morning we headed to downtown Calgary to watch the Stampede Parade. Every summer here in Calgary there is a sort of rodeo/cowboy festival called Stampede that lasts for about a week and a half in July. And by rodeo/cowboy festival, I mean you get free prizes when they spot you wearing a cowboy hat because they want the crowds have ‘spirit’. I can only describe it as the Cowboy Olympics. Through this week there are events like horse bucking (like bullriding) and horse-cart racing that draw stadium sized crowds. I’m not that interested, but I’m going tonight to watch some races because I should witness the ultimate pride and joy of local Calgarians.
I’ll remember my birthday dinner for how different it was from my other birthdays. Steve and Barb (his wife, I’m staying at their house) had company over that night and Ty had a camping trip with another family, so it was just me and Mark for the entire evening. Looking back, I’m relieved my birthday happened this late, because I don’t think Mark and I were completely comfortable with each other until pretty recently. Even so, we weren’t very close and spending a notable birthday with a guy I’d met the month before? Never tried it. We decided to watch Transformers 2 simply for the sake of watching it, and it didn’t disappoint because I had no expectations. (To take from Russell Peters, who I saw live the other week, it was “mindblasting”) Anyway, by the time the movie finished, it was past 10 pm and we hadn’t eaten yet. Mark had originally planned to cook something for me and needed to grab some stuff at a local grocery store. It was closed. We’re not too familiar with the area and I wasn’t comfortable wandering around in a borrowed car, so I asked him if there was any food at his place. Now Mark and Ty don’t pay for board, so with my understanding of the college grocery shopping mentality, I wasn’t expecting anything good. Luckily, Mark had made too much Sheppard’s pie the night before, so I was thankful that there was at least something to eat.
There was only about 1/5 of a casserole dish worth of Sheppard’s pie left, and we figured it wouldn’t be enough. Also, we were joking about how we could salvage the meal to make it somewhat special and presentable because the pie lost its integrity and became an amorphous conglomerate of ground beef, peas, and potatoes. So Mark searched his fridge and miraculously found some hot dog wieners! No hot dog buns though, but I was so hungry I was about eating the wiener by itself. Instead, Mark wanted to add some class, so we wrapped it with a slice of sandwich bread. So there you have it. The recipe for my birthday dinner, if you want to experience it. Oven reheated peas. Ground Beef. Potatoes. One wiener. And of course, one slice of bread.
But the moral of the story is, just like the movie, I enjoyed my meal because I had no expectations and I will fondly remember just how simple my 21st birthday was.
I think now would be a good time to show off the office and where I work. When I first got here, I expected to see our office with a nice sign in front, maybe even an office park with glass for walls. Surprise! I guess I forgot to put 2 and 2 together, because it never occurred to me that a ministry organization might not, you know, work in a super nice building because of finances or principle. In eMi’s case, Steve knew a realtor from his church and got a ridiculously good price on this space, and it’s helped them save money over the years so they can move to a nicer place this fall. I didn’t know this when I first came, and although it was a shock, I’m not high maintenance and found it pretty hilarious. Any pokes at this place are all in good fun, because although it is pretty ghetto, I like it and my boss might be reading this blog and kick me out.
Our office is located in a pretty old strip mall with an unpaved parking lot. On the front door of our office is the sign: an 8x11 sheet of paper with our eMi Canada logo. Our office is on the second floor, and is built like an apartment with a kitchen, foyer, offices, and bathroom.
Can you find a brown door? That's our office
I don’t want to brag, but I’m the only intern with a view, and I sit near the microwave so I don’t have to get up to heat my lunch. This is the still-growing-nonprofit-organization life though, and it’s charming in a mold-stains-on-the-wall kind of way. But honestly, the staff has made it really homey in here – there’s a sofa to relax on in our little dining space so we can just sit, eat, talk, or pray. There are pictures everywhere and nice fabrics and posters from the different countries that the eMiC office has traveled to. Outside, when it’s sunny, Mark, Ty, and I go out and enjoy the sun on the roof in the back. There’s a barbeque and an unfinished gazebo and picnic table.
The Interns' Area (Black Laptop is Mine)
That window is my view
The sofa and dining area
Luke 15:11
Switching gears, a very cool God thing happened just last week. Steve and Barb have two sons, Michael and Brad, both who are in their mid 20s, working, and doing school at the same time. They are very cool (I don’t throw that compliment around lightly), live in a bachelor pad, play sports, have girlfriends and look like they both are on track for a great life. The difference between the sons is that Brad is a devout Christian who really grew spiritually from a long term YWAM (Youth with a mission) trip after high school and now is deeply involved in Church and loves God. The older son, Michael, went straight to work after school and hasn’t had the opportunity to get out of his normal routine. He’s never had the time to spend with God and his relationship with God is fragile – he’s always frustrated and confused. For a good while now he’s stopped attending church and is reluctant to attend some church functions. It broke Barb’s heart to see her son so lost and she always prays for him to come back to God and experience the love and grace there.
So a couple weeks ago, the pastor at C3 Calgary announced that he was going to share his testimony. Barb thought this would be a perfect sermon to pique Michael’s interest in God again, but she was uncertain if she could convince him to come. In what seemed to be perfect timing, Steve’s mom had visited Calgary that week but now needed a ride home, approximately 2 hours away by car. Michael volunteered to drive her and asked Barb if she wanted to come along; Barb thought it would be good to go and spend some quality time with him. When she came home that night, she was beyond excited and talked about the wonderful conversation they had together. Recently, Michael didn’t have anyone to talk to about his life and his problems, so the opportunity to get stuff off his chest and talk about his life, his girlfriend, and his thoughts on God was very cathartic. Barb was elated she could connect with her son again and Michael, having experienced the blessing of talking to someone who was willing to listen and care, seemed eager to accept her invitation to come back to church to listen to the pastor’s testimony.
The testimony went something like this: As a teen, the pastor was fed up with his childhood church and just left home, choosing to travel around the world. He proceeded to engage in a lifestyle of debauchery and illegal activities, culminating in some life or death situations (guns to his head) because he was neck deep in his sinful and wicked ways. In the end, he came back home weary of his lifestyle and broken. He was completely enthusiastic about becoming a Christian again, but in his hometown there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest for things he did before he left town. He was arrested and felt betrayed by God – why was he jailed when he was finally doing the right thing? As he spent some time with other prisoners, it was then he tearfully realized that these people live the life he had just stepped out of – crime and drug dealing – and this is where he was headed if there was no grace. Spending time in prison helped him appreciate God’s goodness and love.
The pastor asked for an altar call to those who could relate to his story – the lost son who wants to come home. That’s when it hit me – Michael is the prodigal son. He finally wanted to come home after a season of being lost and alone. But when you don’t understand God’s love, coming back is shameful and awkward. That’s why the prodigal son offered to work as a slave for his dad; he knew he screwed up big-time when he left. But the son’s dad welcomed him with open arms and celebrated the long awaited return. And God welcomes us with open arms and celebrates our impending return. And Michael’s family, oh my God, how his family was ready to embrace him if chose to he come back. Steve, Barb, Brad – they were all so ready to explode with love for Michael if he simply said he wanted to come back to the family and the body of Christ. So as the first several people were slowly moving to the front, I prayed a quick prayer that if Michael so chooses to respond to the altar call and “come home,” that shame be wiped away, that if he wants to come back to God, please God, don’t let embarrassment or awkwardness stand in his way.
Worship continued for another minute or two, and it actually happened. Michael – who is uncomfortable in Christian settings – walked to the front by his own volition and, not knowing nor caring about the people to his left or the right, just lifted his hands and surrendered with nothing to hide. Instantly, I felt the euphoria of a lost son coming home, but as happy as I was for him, I couldn’t imagine how much happier his family was. I just began thanking God, and before I knew it, I felt Steve brush by me to join his son on the altar, soon joined by Barb and Brad. The four of them engaged in a long group hug, and I could see tears running down normally light-hearted Steve’s face and a break in Brad’s suave personality as he gave his brother an emotional bear hug. Barb, the person I would expect to break down crying because she was pleading with God for her son’s heart all these years, was simply beaming. It was a nice, nice, moment as they talked and prayed as a family, all four of them rejoicing in God’s presence together for the first time in a long time, celebrating the return of one of their own.
I hope you don’t interpret this post as a vomit of everything that’s going on up here. I haven’t covered a lot of other events going on around here, but I try to only talk about events that are worth blogging about. The story about Michael may sound cliché and you may notice that it isn’t even my story. But, to use another cliché, it brought scripture to life, and if it helps me understand God a little more, I’m using it in my testimony. Even a missionary family, who I thought would never have to deal with children leaving the faith, can go through extremely trying times of brokenness and despair. But luckily I got to see the healing and mended relationships as well, and the happiness that ensues is contagious and made this summer’s experience worth it right there.
I can drink to that.
Literally.
Until next time,
21 year old Brian
And you thought the last blog took a while to come out. I’m encouraged that some of you find my experiences interesting, so I’ll continue blogging at a more frequent rate. It’s been officially a month since I’ve been back, so naturally you would think I’d be updating more often in Canada than in a country where there is limited access to the internet. Less is more my friend.
I just turned 21 last Friday, but I don’t feel really different because Canada’s 21 is actually 19. Thanks for the birthday wishes if you sent one, I’ll be responding and thanking you all individually shortly (kind of like how I promised this blog shortly after the last one). I think the best present is that I am financially covered for the summer! Thank you all once again; I can’t express how appreciative I am of your support. I spent the 3rd with Steve (the director here) and the other two interns, Mark from Vancouver and Ty from Atlanta. Early in the morning we headed to downtown Calgary to watch the Stampede Parade. Every summer here in Calgary there is a sort of rodeo/cowboy festival called Stampede that lasts for about a week and a half in July. And by rodeo/cowboy festival, I mean you get free prizes when they spot you wearing a cowboy hat because they want the crowds have ‘spirit’. I can only describe it as the Cowboy Olympics. Through this week there are events like horse bucking (like bullriding) and horse-cart racing that draw stadium sized crowds. I’m not that interested, but I’m going tonight to watch some races because I should witness the ultimate pride and joy of local Calgarians.
I’ll remember my birthday dinner for how different it was from my other birthdays. Steve and Barb (his wife, I’m staying at their house) had company over that night and Ty had a camping trip with another family, so it was just me and Mark for the entire evening. Looking back, I’m relieved my birthday happened this late, because I don’t think Mark and I were completely comfortable with each other until pretty recently. Even so, we weren’t very close and spending a notable birthday with a guy I’d met the month before? Never tried it. We decided to watch Transformers 2 simply for the sake of watching it, and it didn’t disappoint because I had no expectations. (To take from Russell Peters, who I saw live the other week, it was “mindblasting”) Anyway, by the time the movie finished, it was past 10 pm and we hadn’t eaten yet. Mark had originally planned to cook something for me and needed to grab some stuff at a local grocery store. It was closed. We’re not too familiar with the area and I wasn’t comfortable wandering around in a borrowed car, so I asked him if there was any food at his place. Now Mark and Ty don’t pay for board, so with my understanding of the college grocery shopping mentality, I wasn’t expecting anything good. Luckily, Mark had made too much Sheppard’s pie the night before, so I was thankful that there was at least something to eat.
There was only about 1/5 of a casserole dish worth of Sheppard’s pie left, and we figured it wouldn’t be enough. Also, we were joking about how we could salvage the meal to make it somewhat special and presentable because the pie lost its integrity and became an amorphous conglomerate of ground beef, peas, and potatoes. So Mark searched his fridge and miraculously found some hot dog wieners! No hot dog buns though, but I was so hungry I was about eating the wiener by itself. Instead, Mark wanted to add some class, so we wrapped it with a slice of sandwich bread. So there you have it. The recipe for my birthday dinner, if you want to experience it. Oven reheated peas. Ground Beef. Potatoes. One wiener. And of course, one slice of bread.
But the moral of the story is, just like the movie, I enjoyed my meal because I had no expectations and I will fondly remember just how simple my 21st birthday was.
I think now would be a good time to show off the office and where I work. When I first got here, I expected to see our office with a nice sign in front, maybe even an office park with glass for walls. Surprise! I guess I forgot to put 2 and 2 together, because it never occurred to me that a ministry organization might not, you know, work in a super nice building because of finances or principle. In eMi’s case, Steve knew a realtor from his church and got a ridiculously good price on this space, and it’s helped them save money over the years so they can move to a nicer place this fall. I didn’t know this when I first came, and although it was a shock, I’m not high maintenance and found it pretty hilarious. Any pokes at this place are all in good fun, because although it is pretty ghetto, I like it and my boss might be reading this blog and kick me out.
Our office is located in a pretty old strip mall with an unpaved parking lot. On the front door of our office is the sign: an 8x11 sheet of paper with our eMi Canada logo. Our office is on the second floor, and is built like an apartment with a kitchen, foyer, offices, and bathroom.
Can you find a brown door? That's our office
I don’t want to brag, but I’m the only intern with a view, and I sit near the microwave so I don’t have to get up to heat my lunch. This is the still-growing-nonprofit-organization life though, and it’s charming in a mold-stains-on-the-wall kind of way. But honestly, the staff has made it really homey in here – there’s a sofa to relax on in our little dining space so we can just sit, eat, talk, or pray. There are pictures everywhere and nice fabrics and posters from the different countries that the eMiC office has traveled to. Outside, when it’s sunny, Mark, Ty, and I go out and enjoy the sun on the roof in the back. There’s a barbeque and an unfinished gazebo and picnic table.
The Interns' Area (Black Laptop is Mine)
That window is my view
The sofa and dining area
Luke 15:11
Switching gears, a very cool God thing happened just last week. Steve and Barb have two sons, Michael and Brad, both who are in their mid 20s, working, and doing school at the same time. They are very cool (I don’t throw that compliment around lightly), live in a bachelor pad, play sports, have girlfriends and look like they both are on track for a great life. The difference between the sons is that Brad is a devout Christian who really grew spiritually from a long term YWAM (Youth with a mission) trip after high school and now is deeply involved in Church and loves God. The older son, Michael, went straight to work after school and hasn’t had the opportunity to get out of his normal routine. He’s never had the time to spend with God and his relationship with God is fragile – he’s always frustrated and confused. For a good while now he’s stopped attending church and is reluctant to attend some church functions. It broke Barb’s heart to see her son so lost and she always prays for him to come back to God and experience the love and grace there.
So a couple weeks ago, the pastor at C3 Calgary announced that he was going to share his testimony. Barb thought this would be a perfect sermon to pique Michael’s interest in God again, but she was uncertain if she could convince him to come. In what seemed to be perfect timing, Steve’s mom had visited Calgary that week but now needed a ride home, approximately 2 hours away by car. Michael volunteered to drive her and asked Barb if she wanted to come along; Barb thought it would be good to go and spend some quality time with him. When she came home that night, she was beyond excited and talked about the wonderful conversation they had together. Recently, Michael didn’t have anyone to talk to about his life and his problems, so the opportunity to get stuff off his chest and talk about his life, his girlfriend, and his thoughts on God was very cathartic. Barb was elated she could connect with her son again and Michael, having experienced the blessing of talking to someone who was willing to listen and care, seemed eager to accept her invitation to come back to church to listen to the pastor’s testimony.
The testimony went something like this: As a teen, the pastor was fed up with his childhood church and just left home, choosing to travel around the world. He proceeded to engage in a lifestyle of debauchery and illegal activities, culminating in some life or death situations (guns to his head) because he was neck deep in his sinful and wicked ways. In the end, he came back home weary of his lifestyle and broken. He was completely enthusiastic about becoming a Christian again, but in his hometown there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest for things he did before he left town. He was arrested and felt betrayed by God – why was he jailed when he was finally doing the right thing? As he spent some time with other prisoners, it was then he tearfully realized that these people live the life he had just stepped out of – crime and drug dealing – and this is where he was headed if there was no grace. Spending time in prison helped him appreciate God’s goodness and love.
The pastor asked for an altar call to those who could relate to his story – the lost son who wants to come home. That’s when it hit me – Michael is the prodigal son. He finally wanted to come home after a season of being lost and alone. But when you don’t understand God’s love, coming back is shameful and awkward. That’s why the prodigal son offered to work as a slave for his dad; he knew he screwed up big-time when he left. But the son’s dad welcomed him with open arms and celebrated the long awaited return. And God welcomes us with open arms and celebrates our impending return. And Michael’s family, oh my God, how his family was ready to embrace him if chose to he come back. Steve, Barb, Brad – they were all so ready to explode with love for Michael if he simply said he wanted to come back to the family and the body of Christ. So as the first several people were slowly moving to the front, I prayed a quick prayer that if Michael so chooses to respond to the altar call and “come home,” that shame be wiped away, that if he wants to come back to God, please God, don’t let embarrassment or awkwardness stand in his way.
Worship continued for another minute or two, and it actually happened. Michael – who is uncomfortable in Christian settings – walked to the front by his own volition and, not knowing nor caring about the people to his left or the right, just lifted his hands and surrendered with nothing to hide. Instantly, I felt the euphoria of a lost son coming home, but as happy as I was for him, I couldn’t imagine how much happier his family was. I just began thanking God, and before I knew it, I felt Steve brush by me to join his son on the altar, soon joined by Barb and Brad. The four of them engaged in a long group hug, and I could see tears running down normally light-hearted Steve’s face and a break in Brad’s suave personality as he gave his brother an emotional bear hug. Barb, the person I would expect to break down crying because she was pleading with God for her son’s heart all these years, was simply beaming. It was a nice, nice, moment as they talked and prayed as a family, all four of them rejoicing in God’s presence together for the first time in a long time, celebrating the return of one of their own.
I hope you don’t interpret this post as a vomit of everything that’s going on up here. I haven’t covered a lot of other events going on around here, but I try to only talk about events that are worth blogging about. The story about Michael may sound cliché and you may notice that it isn’t even my story. But, to use another cliché, it brought scripture to life, and if it helps me understand God a little more, I’m using it in my testimony. Even a missionary family, who I thought would never have to deal with children leaving the faith, can go through extremely trying times of brokenness and despair. But luckily I got to see the healing and mended relationships as well, and the happiness that ensues is contagious and made this summer’s experience worth it right there.
I can drink to that.
Literally.
Until next time,
21 year old Brian
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
More Cambodia
Hey everyone,
It’s been about a week since I last updated. I’m back in Calgary, CA, and I can’t believe the Cambodia part of the summer is already over. However, I’m not done talking about the trip yet. Let’s rewind.
Tuesday through Thursday was pretty much sitting in our house and working on the design of the home, like I said last time. Unfortunately, Leon and I couldn’t really do much structural analysis because the architects kept changing things and moving things around, making it hard to just buckle down and calculate that stuff. So instead I worked on the powerpoint. Even though I wrote ‘Proficient in Microsoft Powerpoint’ in my resume, I can’t say I’m very good at it. I usually take a back seat on the powerpoint aspect of presentations and the last time I contributed substantially to one was in high school for a Child Labor in China project.
Not very impressive. But, I’d been itching for some responsibility all week so I worked on it. The picture I showed a couple posts back was actually one of the slides, but that featured Ernesto’s model more than any skills I had. Below are some more shots of the building. Tall building, eh? By the way, our team is staying in the small building to the right, so it’s been nice living on the property and going out and doing measurements or whatever at any time we please.
I have also included the plans for each of the four stories of our house, drawn by Edward, our lead architect. I dare you to tell me you wouldn’t to live here, if you were an orphan and didn’t live in a nice home wherever you are checking your internet :P. Designing a house is fun in that you play around with different layouts of rooms and space to make the best possible arrangement. I think we did a pretty good job. From the 3d models you can see that it isn’t a big plot of land, and we couldn’t quite meet the vision of housing 45 students on this property in our new building. (The house we designed will hold about 22 students + staff, but Marie has been very open about building another property elsewhere in the future to house more students as they come).
You may notice that the 2nd and 3rd floors share the same plan, and they are meant to be a boys floor and a girls floor. I was surprised at how important Marie and Co. thought keeping boys and girls separate was, because it’s the first thing they mentioned when asked what they wanted in the Transition Home. I’ve always thought that such rigid rules and restrictions about keeping genders apart and severely cutting off their interactions can backfire and cause rebellion. However, I don’t think it will be too much of a problem with these orphans, who were raised the right way and I think are really chasing after God’s heart.
On Friday, we went back to the orphanage to do our presentation for Marie and the directors of Rescue. Our team covered the vision, master plan, layouts of each floor, structural considerations, and future considerations, but the only part of our presentation that really mattered was the 3d models. It was amusing how all they really wanted to see was the beauty of the final product, and I don’t blame them. The work that goes into it and the minute details and reasoning behind every decision can be unnecessarily pedantic. For example, the iPhone is probably one of the coolest gadgets in history, but I’m sure not every layman wants to know the code behind it all.
It was a wonderful feeling sitting up front and watching the directors smile and chatter in Cambodian as they saw what the future could hold. There’s something special about not being able to understand what they’re saying to each other as they hug and embrace each other. When we were done, one of the directors who had never spoken to us before stood up and addressed us through our translator. She was very, very grateful, and had an interesting remark about our project that no one on our team had considered. She said that now with such an amazing building for students pursuing college in the city, a lot more kids will want to study harder and be better students for the opportunity to live there. If in fact that becomes true, Praise the Lord!
We spent the rest of the afternoon around the orphanage. I saw all the kids I met during my first visit, but the younger ones were preoccupied with Leon because he had brought presents for all of them. Before he came on the trip, his son and daughter (6 and 7) had volunteered to talk to their classes to see how many toys they could donate for this orphanage. He had a whole suitcase for them! That was an awesome story to hear, that all these kids were willing to part ways with their toys to give to those less fortunate. Anyways, he was Santa Claus and basically got mobbed by the really young kids. I didn’t have anything to offer, so I walked towards the volleyball courts to see what else was going on. Guys from 14-19 were playing volleyball, and they were pretty skilled. I’ve never really played volleyball, so I was hesitant to ask to play even though I was at least half a foot taller than the tallest guy there. However, I had a heavy conscience regarding these older kids. Most visitors – me included – don’t give these older kids the time of day when they visit orphanage because it’s hard to resist the little guys who constantly pine for attention. I had noticed the teens were just doing their own thing in the corner during the birthday party the first Sunday we visited, and it seemed unfair to spend all my time with kids who probably won’t remember me in the future because they’re so young. I eventually asked if Leon and I could play, and I’m so glad I did. None of us really screamed or giggled in laughter, but there was a sense of satisfaction just hanging out with the teens, and they even flashed a smile or two in between their typical blank countenances. They didn’t get any presents from Leon, but I’m glad we didn’t ignore them completely – they’re also orphans, and they need love too.
After Friday we finally had time to relax and check out the city. I think open markets in Asia are interesting, so I’ll talk about them. Marie took us to the Central Market, which is a huge maze of shops with females trying to sell you what’s in their little booth, whether it be souvenirs, shirts, fake watches, etc. These women are FIERCE, man – if you have a little softness in your voice when you say “no thank you” after they ask if you’re interested in their products, they can pull you in and make you spend money or at least 10 min trying to think of how to get out. I didn’t want to get anything, but since we had 40 minutes to walk around, I had my fair share of encounters.
“Hello Sir! Come in sir?”
“No Thank You”
“We have your size sir!”
“No Thank You”
I had to repeat this to literally every woman I walked past. I wish I was 300 pounds. Then they wouldn’t have my size.
(Leon and Marie checking products out and bargaining)
I think my kind demeanor also negatively affects my negotiation skill. The general rule of thumb is to suggest a price half of their quote, and work from there. You can’t be afraid of losing the product by walking away and showing that you don’t need them – generally, this attitude causes the storeowner to say “stop!” and negotiations reopen. If you do this delicately enough but with some authority, you can get very reasonable prices. I SUCK at this. It’s not that I can’t stand leaving without buying the product, but I always feel like I’m screwing people over. In another occasion while we were sightseeing, we walked past a bunch of wolves kids with baskets of goods who immediately got in our faces. We shook most of them off after Leon bought a couple things, but I was bogged down by a girl who wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was at oldest 8, but she kept walking with me and telling me to buy a fan or a postcard to send to my girlfriend. I don’t have a girlfriend, but I’m glad a lot of Cambodians think I do. Eventually, we walked so far away from her other friends but she had continued to walk with me for a couple hundred meters. I finally said ‘fine, I’ll buy a fan.’ I couldn’t negotiate it down from 2 dollars (which I thought was fine, but when Ernesto and Greg heard it, they howled in laughter at how badly I got ripped off), so I just bought it to get her off my back. Well that was quite the purchase heard around Cambodia, because about 10 of her friends smelled blood and ran over and tried to sell me scarves, flutes, books, and the works. My fellow North Americans were already way in front so I couldn’t call for help. I was all alone and I could barely move because they were closing in from all sides. My knees were weak, arms were heavy. There was vomit on my shoulder already. I think I built a lot of character from that experience. I’ve never said no more in my life or walked so confidently. No wonder they think I have a girlfriend.
You may be wondering why I talk about markets, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg of me seeing my personality in so many different contexts. This trip definitely provided many new ones, and with that I’ve thought more and more about my identity. In my next post, I want to provide my complete thoughts on the trip. Sorry this is taking so long…it’s easy to be lazy after a hard day’s work. Stay tuned.
Brian
what am i gonna do with this fan?
It’s been about a week since I last updated. I’m back in Calgary, CA, and I can’t believe the Cambodia part of the summer is already over. However, I’m not done talking about the trip yet. Let’s rewind.
Tuesday through Thursday was pretty much sitting in our house and working on the design of the home, like I said last time. Unfortunately, Leon and I couldn’t really do much structural analysis because the architects kept changing things and moving things around, making it hard to just buckle down and calculate that stuff. So instead I worked on the powerpoint. Even though I wrote ‘Proficient in Microsoft Powerpoint’ in my resume, I can’t say I’m very good at it. I usually take a back seat on the powerpoint aspect of presentations and the last time I contributed substantially to one was in high school for a Child Labor in China project.
Not very impressive. But, I’d been itching for some responsibility all week so I worked on it. The picture I showed a couple posts back was actually one of the slides, but that featured Ernesto’s model more than any skills I had. Below are some more shots of the building. Tall building, eh? By the way, our team is staying in the small building to the right, so it’s been nice living on the property and going out and doing measurements or whatever at any time we please.
I have also included the plans for each of the four stories of our house, drawn by Edward, our lead architect. I dare you to tell me you wouldn’t to live here, if you were an orphan and didn’t live in a nice home wherever you are checking your internet :P. Designing a house is fun in that you play around with different layouts of rooms and space to make the best possible arrangement. I think we did a pretty good job. From the 3d models you can see that it isn’t a big plot of land, and we couldn’t quite meet the vision of housing 45 students on this property in our new building. (The house we designed will hold about 22 students + staff, but Marie has been very open about building another property elsewhere in the future to house more students as they come).
You may notice that the 2nd and 3rd floors share the same plan, and they are meant to be a boys floor and a girls floor. I was surprised at how important Marie and Co. thought keeping boys and girls separate was, because it’s the first thing they mentioned when asked what they wanted in the Transition Home. I’ve always thought that such rigid rules and restrictions about keeping genders apart and severely cutting off their interactions can backfire and cause rebellion. However, I don’t think it will be too much of a problem with these orphans, who were raised the right way and I think are really chasing after God’s heart.
On Friday, we went back to the orphanage to do our presentation for Marie and the directors of Rescue. Our team covered the vision, master plan, layouts of each floor, structural considerations, and future considerations, but the only part of our presentation that really mattered was the 3d models. It was amusing how all they really wanted to see was the beauty of the final product, and I don’t blame them. The work that goes into it and the minute details and reasoning behind every decision can be unnecessarily pedantic. For example, the iPhone is probably one of the coolest gadgets in history, but I’m sure not every layman wants to know the code behind it all.
It was a wonderful feeling sitting up front and watching the directors smile and chatter in Cambodian as they saw what the future could hold. There’s something special about not being able to understand what they’re saying to each other as they hug and embrace each other. When we were done, one of the directors who had never spoken to us before stood up and addressed us through our translator. She was very, very grateful, and had an interesting remark about our project that no one on our team had considered. She said that now with such an amazing building for students pursuing college in the city, a lot more kids will want to study harder and be better students for the opportunity to live there. If in fact that becomes true, Praise the Lord!
We spent the rest of the afternoon around the orphanage. I saw all the kids I met during my first visit, but the younger ones were preoccupied with Leon because he had brought presents for all of them. Before he came on the trip, his son and daughter (6 and 7) had volunteered to talk to their classes to see how many toys they could donate for this orphanage. He had a whole suitcase for them! That was an awesome story to hear, that all these kids were willing to part ways with their toys to give to those less fortunate. Anyways, he was Santa Claus and basically got mobbed by the really young kids. I didn’t have anything to offer, so I walked towards the volleyball courts to see what else was going on. Guys from 14-19 were playing volleyball, and they were pretty skilled. I’ve never really played volleyball, so I was hesitant to ask to play even though I was at least half a foot taller than the tallest guy there. However, I had a heavy conscience regarding these older kids. Most visitors – me included – don’t give these older kids the time of day when they visit orphanage because it’s hard to resist the little guys who constantly pine for attention. I had noticed the teens were just doing their own thing in the corner during the birthday party the first Sunday we visited, and it seemed unfair to spend all my time with kids who probably won’t remember me in the future because they’re so young. I eventually asked if Leon and I could play, and I’m so glad I did. None of us really screamed or giggled in laughter, but there was a sense of satisfaction just hanging out with the teens, and they even flashed a smile or two in between their typical blank countenances. They didn’t get any presents from Leon, but I’m glad we didn’t ignore them completely – they’re also orphans, and they need love too.
After Friday we finally had time to relax and check out the city. I think open markets in Asia are interesting, so I’ll talk about them. Marie took us to the Central Market, which is a huge maze of shops with females trying to sell you what’s in their little booth, whether it be souvenirs, shirts, fake watches, etc. These women are FIERCE, man – if you have a little softness in your voice when you say “no thank you” after they ask if you’re interested in their products, they can pull you in and make you spend money or at least 10 min trying to think of how to get out. I didn’t want to get anything, but since we had 40 minutes to walk around, I had my fair share of encounters.
“Hello Sir! Come in sir?”
“No Thank You”
“We have your size sir!”
“No Thank You”
I had to repeat this to literally every woman I walked past. I wish I was 300 pounds. Then they wouldn’t have my size.
(Leon and Marie checking products out and bargaining)
I think my kind demeanor also negatively affects my negotiation skill. The general rule of thumb is to suggest a price half of their quote, and work from there. You can’t be afraid of losing the product by walking away and showing that you don’t need them – generally, this attitude causes the storeowner to say “stop!” and negotiations reopen. If you do this delicately enough but with some authority, you can get very reasonable prices. I SUCK at this. It’s not that I can’t stand leaving without buying the product, but I always feel like I’m screwing people over. In another occasion while we were sightseeing, we walked past a bunch of wolves kids with baskets of goods who immediately got in our faces. We shook most of them off after Leon bought a couple things, but I was bogged down by a girl who wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was at oldest 8, but she kept walking with me and telling me to buy a fan or a postcard to send to my girlfriend. I don’t have a girlfriend, but I’m glad a lot of Cambodians think I do. Eventually, we walked so far away from her other friends but she had continued to walk with me for a couple hundred meters. I finally said ‘fine, I’ll buy a fan.’ I couldn’t negotiate it down from 2 dollars (which I thought was fine, but when Ernesto and Greg heard it, they howled in laughter at how badly I got ripped off), so I just bought it to get her off my back. Well that was quite the purchase heard around Cambodia, because about 10 of her friends smelled blood and ran over and tried to sell me scarves, flutes, books, and the works. My fellow North Americans were already way in front so I couldn’t call for help. I was all alone and I could barely move because they were closing in from all sides. My knees were weak, arms were heavy. There was vomit on my shoulder already. I think I built a lot of character from that experience. I’ve never said no more in my life or walked so confidently. No wonder they think I have a girlfriend.
You may be wondering why I talk about markets, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg of me seeing my personality in so many different contexts. This trip definitely provided many new ones, and with that I’ve thought more and more about my identity. In my next post, I want to provide my complete thoughts on the trip. Sorry this is taking so long…it’s easy to be lazy after a hard day’s work. Stay tuned.
Brian
what am i gonna do with this fan?
Friday, June 5, 2009
The Work Side
Hello again,
In this blog I thought I’d talk more about the work side of this mission’s trip. You’ve all probably heard from me that I’m designing an orphanage home for this ministry, but that’s not entirely true – I just said orphanage to keep it simple. The real story is that we’re building a home for teenagers who have outgrown the orphanage and need a place to stay as they enroll in University. The ministry we’re serving provides education up to a high school level and graduates its older orphans. These kids can’t stay at the orphanage anymore, but since the ministry doesn’t want to leave them on the street, they’ve asked us to design a Transition Home in the city as a solution for orphans who are looking to continue to higher education. The ministry has bought a plot of land and asked us to build a 3-4 story house that acts like a dorm for up to 45 of them – a place to live but also to hang out as well.
The past two days have been pretty busy for our staff – we’ve conducted interviews through translation with local contractors, engineers, and I’ve been able to witness the process of building a building from preconception to close to the final design. We all work at the kitchen table, and the architects have spent a lot of time drafting out plans and models in AutoCAD and Google Sketchup, while me and the engineer wait for them to finish. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a moment where your nice, prestigious education gets put to shame, but I get so much crap from Leon and Ernesto (junior architect). My nickname here is Berkeley because they contest that people who study books all day can’t do anything else. They are smart though. They’ve approached this project with complete confidence and constantly talk about things that are way over my head. I convince myself that it’s due to the fact that they’ve been in industry..but they’re not that much older than me. I just try to fit in by nodding along when they banter about beam sizes and laughing when they joke about so-and-so cantilever design.
I haven’t been able to see the orphanage the past couple days because we’re staying in our home to work. At first, I thought this would negatively affect my missions experience because everyone else’s story is about playing with the kids and having their hearts broken by the orphans’ innocence and joy. But this comes with the work we’re doing. It’s not like teaching English or building a house, where you interact with the locals all day. We’ve generally spent more time scouting buildings than building relationships with the Cambodian people, and when we’re not doing that we’re sitting around the kitchen table of our house. Our team has spent a lot of time together, but I’ve really grown to appreciate them. These are all professionals who have used a large chunk of their vacation days to provide their skills for God and work night and day to prepare the best possible home for these orphan kids. Tonight I’m leading a team devotion study about how we all make up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), and I’m glad I’m serving with a team of architects and engineers, because these are our gifts and this is how we can serve. No better than any other type of missions work, no worse.
So this missions trip is not turning out how I expected, but I’m still very much enjoying my time here.
Prayer Requests:
Allow me to find opportunities to be helpful, because I really don’t have much responsibility yet in this project
That I can develop deeper relationships with the team members and the locals
Brian
Mosquito Bite Count: 34
(Mom, I’m fine, you can stop sending emails to me and Greg)
In this blog I thought I’d talk more about the work side of this mission’s trip. You’ve all probably heard from me that I’m designing an orphanage home for this ministry, but that’s not entirely true – I just said orphanage to keep it simple. The real story is that we’re building a home for teenagers who have outgrown the orphanage and need a place to stay as they enroll in University. The ministry we’re serving provides education up to a high school level and graduates its older orphans. These kids can’t stay at the orphanage anymore, but since the ministry doesn’t want to leave them on the street, they’ve asked us to design a Transition Home in the city as a solution for orphans who are looking to continue to higher education. The ministry has bought a plot of land and asked us to build a 3-4 story house that acts like a dorm for up to 45 of them – a place to live but also to hang out as well.
The past two days have been pretty busy for our staff – we’ve conducted interviews through translation with local contractors, engineers, and I’ve been able to witness the process of building a building from preconception to close to the final design. We all work at the kitchen table, and the architects have spent a lot of time drafting out plans and models in AutoCAD and Google Sketchup, while me and the engineer wait for them to finish. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a moment where your nice, prestigious education gets put to shame, but I get so much crap from Leon and Ernesto (junior architect). My nickname here is Berkeley because they contest that people who study books all day can’t do anything else. They are smart though. They’ve approached this project with complete confidence and constantly talk about things that are way over my head. I convince myself that it’s due to the fact that they’ve been in industry..but they’re not that much older than me. I just try to fit in by nodding along when they banter about beam sizes and laughing when they joke about so-and-so cantilever design.
I haven’t been able to see the orphanage the past couple days because we’re staying in our home to work. At first, I thought this would negatively affect my missions experience because everyone else’s story is about playing with the kids and having their hearts broken by the orphans’ innocence and joy. But this comes with the work we’re doing. It’s not like teaching English or building a house, where you interact with the locals all day. We’ve generally spent more time scouting buildings than building relationships with the Cambodian people, and when we’re not doing that we’re sitting around the kitchen table of our house. Our team has spent a lot of time together, but I’ve really grown to appreciate them. These are all professionals who have used a large chunk of their vacation days to provide their skills for God and work night and day to prepare the best possible home for these orphan kids. Tonight I’m leading a team devotion study about how we all make up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), and I’m glad I’m serving with a team of architects and engineers, because these are our gifts and this is how we can serve. No better than any other type of missions work, no worse.
So this missions trip is not turning out how I expected, but I’m still very much enjoying my time here.
Prayer Requests:
Allow me to find opportunities to be helpful, because I really don’t have much responsibility yet in this project
That I can develop deeper relationships with the team members and the locals
Brian
Mosquito Bite Count: 34
(Mom, I’m fine, you can stop sending emails to me and Greg)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Not a real blog post
Hey all,
I had a long blog that I wrote in Microsoft Word 2007 on my laptop, but this computer can't read it. I apologize, and I'll be back soon. So in the next blog, I'll talk about more of the work side of the trip. Here's a the picture of the building we're doing -- more to come soon
Brian
I had a long blog that I wrote in Microsoft Word 2007 on my laptop, but this computer can't read it. I apologize, and I'll be back soon. So in the next blog, I'll talk about more of the work side of the trip. Here's a the picture of the building we're doing -- more to come soon
Brian
Monday, June 1, 2009
From Cambodia
Greetings everyone!
I'm actually kind of sad that this actual trip to Cambodia is only 8-9 days and I won't be able to update you all that much...so I anticipate maybe like 3 or 4 more blog posts when I'm here. Not to say my experiences in Canada won't be just as awesome, but there is something exotic about where I'm blogging right now.
I'm sitting in an internet cafe on my third day here in Phnom Penh, and our team has already done so much. We landed on Saturday and spent much of the day at the orphanage with Marie Ens, the woman who runs Place of Rescue Orphanage and hired us to build a Transition Home, as she took us all around meeting gramma's and orphans. Man, all those stories I've heard about friends and families who have interacted with little kids on missions are so true - they were so happy to see us, had no inhibitions asking to be carried, and generally were pining for attention the whole night. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with the kids that I didn't really pay attention to Marie as she laid out some structural and engineering concerns at the orphanage. So we'll see how useful I am as the week progresses, lol.
It was also amusing to see how bad of a dad I am on pace to become. I actually suck with kids, so their willingness to play with me and approach me made it a lot easier, but I still had some Brian moments (embarrassing moments). A particular moment occurred as I was walking around holding a kids hand. Leon, who is the brilliant structural engineer I work with, is a father of 2 and so knows how to do all the kid stuff. He had a boy on his shoulders and messed with him, making him think he was going to fall or spinning him really fast. Since the kid was having so much fun, my kid wanted to experience the same thing. I was like "Ok," but I had no idea how to get him on my shoulders. What you normally want to do is lift him by his armpits in front of you and allow him to make his own seat on your shoulders. What I did instead was squat down and have him crawl up my back to get on. The kid didn't really know what I was doing, but tried it anyways and he and i got tangled into some 2 man monstrosity that required help from other team members to get us apart.
Leon to the left
Our team went to a church service yesterday geared towards young adults, and the worship was awesome. It was entirely in Cambodian, but the fervor and passion I see in the worship team (identical to an American setup: guitar, elec guitar, singer, drums) and the congregation is something I can't say I see every week back at home as I go through my normal motions. They played How Great is Our God in Cambodian, and I was just so happy, not for Chris Tomlin and his name, but that it's so cool to see a culture across the world sing out in resonance with what we're singing (literally). It's the same song!! To think people are singing the same thing all aroudn the world... that's a beautiful image.
The day got more serious after church as we visited Tuol Sleng, the most notorious interrogation prison of the Khmer Rouge back in the 1970's. This was a converted high school, and in the rooms were walls and walls of pictures of victims, paintings of torture methods, and ankle-links and metal bed frames seemingly untouched since the place was vacated. About 15% of the nation was destroyed in those 4 years, and to paint a picture of the horrors, some torture methods that I am disgusted with included the officials pulling out victim's fingernails and submerging your head into poo-water to shock you. It was very hard to respond to witnessing the remains of a mass genocide, and I'm still pretty speechless when our team discusses it. I'm convincing myself that I just don't allow myself to believe it happened, but I honestly hope for a more emotional response (we're actually visiting the killing fields later this week) because I'm constantly questioning if there is something wrong with my heart... the fact that I''m not openly bawling or something.
I have quite a few more stories but I'm running out of time...to keep you updated, construction and design will dominate the next couple days (its not just orphans and tourism). Some things I hope you guys can pray about:
- That I can really embrace the role of a servant to my team and to the orphanage
- That God will really begin to reveal himself to me in this place
- Writing meaningful things here that you can sort of relate to
Below are 2 pictures of the orphans. I don't have any pictures with them because my teammates took those...I'll have them later. The boy on the left is the one I talked about above...the girl below is apparently super shy...but she really was comfortable with me and held my hand everywhere. I'm happy to have been her friend that afternoon.
Thanks for reading, and God bless
Brian
Mosquito Bite count: 13 :(
I'm actually kind of sad that this actual trip to Cambodia is only 8-9 days and I won't be able to update you all that much...so I anticipate maybe like 3 or 4 more blog posts when I'm here. Not to say my experiences in Canada won't be just as awesome, but there is something exotic about where I'm blogging right now.
I'm sitting in an internet cafe on my third day here in Phnom Penh, and our team has already done so much. We landed on Saturday and spent much of the day at the orphanage with Marie Ens, the woman who runs Place of Rescue Orphanage and hired us to build a Transition Home, as she took us all around meeting gramma's and orphans. Man, all those stories I've heard about friends and families who have interacted with little kids on missions are so true - they were so happy to see us, had no inhibitions asking to be carried, and generally were pining for attention the whole night. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with the kids that I didn't really pay attention to Marie as she laid out some structural and engineering concerns at the orphanage. So we'll see how useful I am as the week progresses, lol.
It was also amusing to see how bad of a dad I am on pace to become. I actually suck with kids, so their willingness to play with me and approach me made it a lot easier, but I still had some Brian moments (embarrassing moments). A particular moment occurred as I was walking around holding a kids hand. Leon, who is the brilliant structural engineer I work with, is a father of 2 and so knows how to do all the kid stuff. He had a boy on his shoulders and messed with him, making him think he was going to fall or spinning him really fast. Since the kid was having so much fun, my kid wanted to experience the same thing. I was like "Ok," but I had no idea how to get him on my shoulders. What you normally want to do is lift him by his armpits in front of you and allow him to make his own seat on your shoulders. What I did instead was squat down and have him crawl up my back to get on. The kid didn't really know what I was doing, but tried it anyways and he and i got tangled into some 2 man monstrosity that required help from other team members to get us apart.
Leon to the leftOur team went to a church service yesterday geared towards young adults, and the worship was awesome. It was entirely in Cambodian, but the fervor and passion I see in the worship team (identical to an American setup: guitar, elec guitar, singer, drums) and the congregation is something I can't say I see every week back at home as I go through my normal motions. They played How Great is Our God in Cambodian, and I was just so happy, not for Chris Tomlin and his name, but that it's so cool to see a culture across the world sing out in resonance with what we're singing (literally). It's the same song!! To think people are singing the same thing all aroudn the world... that's a beautiful image.
The day got more serious after church as we visited Tuol Sleng, the most notorious interrogation prison of the Khmer Rouge back in the 1970's. This was a converted high school, and in the rooms were walls and walls of pictures of victims, paintings of torture methods, and ankle-links and metal bed frames seemingly untouched since the place was vacated. About 15% of the nation was destroyed in those 4 years, and to paint a picture of the horrors, some torture methods that I am disgusted with included the officials pulling out victim's fingernails and submerging your head into poo-water to shock you. It was very hard to respond to witnessing the remains of a mass genocide, and I'm still pretty speechless when our team discusses it. I'm convincing myself that I just don't allow myself to believe it happened, but I honestly hope for a more emotional response (we're actually visiting the killing fields later this week) because I'm constantly questioning if there is something wrong with my heart... the fact that I''m not openly bawling or something.
I have quite a few more stories but I'm running out of time...to keep you updated, construction and design will dominate the next couple days (its not just orphans and tourism). Some things I hope you guys can pray about:
- That I can really embrace the role of a servant to my team and to the orphanage
- That God will really begin to reveal himself to me in this place
- Writing meaningful things here that you can sort of relate to
Below are 2 pictures of the orphans. I don't have any pictures with them because my teammates took those...I'll have them later. The boy on the left is the one I talked about above...the girl below is apparently super shy...but she really was comfortable with me and held my hand everywhere. I'm happy to have been her friend that afternoon.
Thanks for reading, and God bless
Brian
Mosquito Bite count: 13 :(
Thursday, May 28, 2009
First Couple Days
Hello everyone,
Before I start, I want to thank all of you who have supported me for my missions this summer in 2009. The stories and updates that are to come will be possible only because of all your help.
It's 1.00 AM and I'm currently in Vancouver International Airport waiting for a flight to Hong Kong. Before I board I wanted to drop at least one update before I get to Cambodia. The past few days I have worked at the eMi office in Calgary, and I've got to say it's been quite a blur. One thing I can really appreciate throughout the fatigue of transition and getting acclimated to Canada is living with another intern at his aunt's house - I'll elaborate later.
It's quite different working for eMi compared to last year at the Water District. First, my commute each way increased about 55 minutes. I went from driving down about 5 street lights to taking 2 25 minute bus rides and having to transfer. On the bright side, the weather is absolutely gorgeous. It just turned green here, and combined with the view of the Rockies in the distance an just a general peacefulness to the city, it is very pleasant to my senses.
Since I live with another intern, Edmund, I spend pretty much every waking moment with him. He's a 22 year old Chiense guy from Edmonton, and he's probably the most hospitable guy I've ever met. It really puts to shame my own half-hearted attitude of serving because of some of the things we've done. He's insisted I cook with him to save money, we bring lunch to work - leftovers :( -, and he's allowed me to sleep in the bed instead of the mattress on the floor. Beyond how he serves me, he brings snacks to the office everyday (that he doesn't let me buy the day before) and has made several friends on the bus that I normally would not approach. Everything I need he offers me without hesitation, and it's made my transition a lot easier.
The office environment is so great and chill. It's just 6 guys (at most) who work in a converted canoe shop, not that you guys can really picture what that looks like. (lol @ canada) I'll provide pictures once I get back. There's a kitchen/sofa/dining area in the between where the staff and the interns work. The staff doesn't hesitate to just engage the interns in 30-45 minute long stories or opinions, because I think they really encourage openness and a comfort level within the office. We pray everyday for a different eMi office and any other prayer requests, so it's awesome to just settle down every morning and lift up the day and an office to God. It sets the tone for a very stress-free day. However, I'm sure once I actually have stuff to do after I come back from Cambodia, I suspect I'll be much busier - but for now it's great.
So now that I've left Calgary temporarily, I have to say goodbye to Edmund as he's leaving for a year long mission trip in China. God bless him and me and you (the reader) too. I've been learning a lot about serving in humility from him, and I think it was God's impeccable timing of blessing me with his presence because serving is what missions are all about.
I'll be back soon, enjoy your next couple days.
Brian
Before I start, I want to thank all of you who have supported me for my missions this summer in 2009. The stories and updates that are to come will be possible only because of all your help.
It's 1.00 AM and I'm currently in Vancouver International Airport waiting for a flight to Hong Kong. Before I board I wanted to drop at least one update before I get to Cambodia. The past few days I have worked at the eMi office in Calgary, and I've got to say it's been quite a blur. One thing I can really appreciate throughout the fatigue of transition and getting acclimated to Canada is living with another intern at his aunt's house - I'll elaborate later.
It's quite different working for eMi compared to last year at the Water District. First, my commute each way increased about 55 minutes. I went from driving down about 5 street lights to taking 2 25 minute bus rides and having to transfer. On the bright side, the weather is absolutely gorgeous. It just turned green here, and combined with the view of the Rockies in the distance an just a general peacefulness to the city, it is very pleasant to my senses.
Since I live with another intern, Edmund, I spend pretty much every waking moment with him. He's a 22 year old Chiense guy from Edmonton, and he's probably the most hospitable guy I've ever met. It really puts to shame my own half-hearted attitude of serving because of some of the things we've done. He's insisted I cook with him to save money, we bring lunch to work - leftovers :( -, and he's allowed me to sleep in the bed instead of the mattress on the floor. Beyond how he serves me, he brings snacks to the office everyday (that he doesn't let me buy the day before) and has made several friends on the bus that I normally would not approach. Everything I need he offers me without hesitation, and it's made my transition a lot easier.
The office environment is so great and chill. It's just 6 guys (at most) who work in a converted canoe shop, not that you guys can really picture what that looks like. (lol @ canada) I'll provide pictures once I get back. There's a kitchen/sofa/dining area in the between where the staff and the interns work. The staff doesn't hesitate to just engage the interns in 30-45 minute long stories or opinions, because I think they really encourage openness and a comfort level within the office. We pray everyday for a different eMi office and any other prayer requests, so it's awesome to just settle down every morning and lift up the day and an office to God. It sets the tone for a very stress-free day. However, I'm sure once I actually have stuff to do after I come back from Cambodia, I suspect I'll be much busier - but for now it's great.
So now that I've left Calgary temporarily, I have to say goodbye to Edmund as he's leaving for a year long mission trip in China. God bless him and me and you (the reader) too. I've been learning a lot about serving in humility from him, and I think it was God's impeccable timing of blessing me with his presence because serving is what missions are all about.
I'll be back soon, enjoy your next couple days.
Brian
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