My Prairie Home

My Prairie Home http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/ God does not write the music of our lives without a plan. Our part is to learn the tune and not be discouraged during the rests. Sat, 2 Jul 2011 05:20:45 -0000 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:50:47 -0000 Hong Kong 2008 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/video/item/5/Hong_Kong_2008 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/video/item/5/Hong_Kong_2008 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:50:47 -0000 long-due update http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/148/long-due_update <a href="http://realimaginatn.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/R8YniwoKCCsAAE4FE8A1"><img class="alignleft" src="http://images.realimaginatn.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/R8YniwoKCCsAAE4FE8A1/IMG_3062.JPG?et=XOhc%2CSJ1SBLuc9rCyQgWgg&nmid=&nmid=83988914" border="0"></a>hey everyone.  i'm still alive here in vancouver, still a bike courier.  ...don't know where to start since so much has happened since my last update.  Life's fairly routine:  alarm goes off at 6:30am, press snooze until 7 or 7:30, head out to work with my bike around 8:15 (i'm now starting at home instead of bussing to the depot.  it saves me about 2 hours each day), bike about 40km until 4:30pm when i head back home.  Then I have from 5:30 to 11pm to waste my time and not do stuff i should do.  I have house work I haven't been doing, preparing a study on buddhism for fellowship, compiling a slideshow with Bena for my roommate, Dustin's, wedding, and keeping in contact with everyone.  If there's one thing i've learned from the past couple months, its that I'm really good at procrastinating and bumming around.<a href="http://realimaginatn.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/R8YniwoKCCsAAE4FE8A1"></a> changing gears, for those who don't know, me and Bena are travelling to HongKong at the end of May (after i come back to visit, for a week ... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/148/long-due_update Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:27:20 -0000 two months later... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/147/two_months_later... <A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/RyRK7QoKCqYAAHzqiT81"><IMG class=alignright src="http://images.myprairiehome.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/RyRK7QoKCqYAAHzqiT81/thanksgiving%20with%20Erwin%20and%20Kon.jpg?et=95gBu50oF6g%2CvZxR7Mowpw" border=0></A>It has been nearly two months since I moved here to Vancouver.  It's definately been a positive experience, with all the challenges i've faced, and the opportunities i've seized.  i realize how sappy that sounds... but felt like i should start off with something like that in view of my living on my own for so long now.  anyway, lots to update on. Thanksgiving was alot of fun, though I really missed you, family.  I also missed a traditional Thankgiving dinner!  We ended up - me, Bena, Merian (Bena's roommate), and her friends - going for all you can eat sushi and Korean BBQ.  It was neat, but certainly not a thanksgiving thing to do :P.  Afterwards we went to this frozen yogurt place and we hung out till late.  It was alot of fun!  Actually, then after we got back around 12am, we spontaneously decided to watch Momento at Erwin's (who lives in the suite next to Bena and Merian).  He has an awesome setup for movies, so I'm thinking next ti... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/147/two_months_later... Sun, 28 Oct 2007 08:37:37 -0000 Work, Laptops, and batcave http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/146/Work_Laptops_and_batcave Hola!  I am at UBC now printing resumes for additional job searching and to research laptops.  I don't have work today, which bothers me because they said I would be getting more hours, but then again, i can't complain about a day off.  Anyway, its about time for another update! So, I've been working as an ESL tutor at "Robson Conversation Club" downtown.  I usually work from 12:40pm-6:10pm (odd times, I know).  I tutor usually one on one each hour with a ten minute break in between, though sometimes I have two, three, or four students.  It's an interesting experience, and enjoyable alot of the time, just being paid to talk with Korean and Japanese exchange students.  There are some things about the job that could be better though, like being paid once a month instead of biweekly.  I asked about it and apparently it's the "Asian" way of business.  The pay too is only $10/hr, which I'm more or less ok with because I'm making as much as I did ... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/146/Work_Laptops_and_batcave Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:07:43 -0000 Life in Vancouver http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/145/Life_in_Vancouver <A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/RuoSiAoKCqYAACKugbE1"></A>hey everyone.  sorry i've been so silent the past two weeks.  we're "borrowing" our neighbor's internet signal until we get our own internet next week.  Its a very low signal and comes and goes frequently.  I also plan on getting my own computer soon, but i've gotta do abit more research on that yet. Well, let me start from the begining.  I arrived here in Vancouver the evening of Sunday 2 Sept.  Dustin and his dad came to pick me and Bena up from the airport.  Dustin had kept on saying how much of a dump our place is, but when we got there I couldn't see what he ment.  Nonetheless, it is a really old place.  We have an oven built into the wall, the overhead stove lights are so old we probably couldn't find a replacement for them if they burned out.  Also, there are no lights in half of the house.  And I currently occupy the only real bedroom in the place.  Dustin lives in a sectioned off area of the familyroom,... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/145/Life_in_Vancouver Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:04:49 -0000 Peru Update 3: The best and worst trip ever! http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/144/Peru_Update_3_The_best_and_worst_trip_ever <A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/Rsp3YAoKCqYAAE-5Wq41"></A><A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/Rsp3YAoKCqYAAE-5Wq41"><IMG class=alignleft src="http://images.myprairiehome.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/Rsp3YAoKCqYAAE-5Wq41/IMG_1739.JPG?et=TYVqVSbZ6swUAv8ZUuauMQ" border=0></A>Hola!  We are back in Lima, arrived yesterday evening from Cusco.  This past week traveling around Peru has been amazing and horrible at the same time.  To explain, we did, saw, and experienced some incredible things... however we were horribly sick with diarreah, headaches, fevers, loss of apetite, nausea, and alot of vomitting on our way home from Cusco.  Also our two main targets on this trip, Colca Canyon and Machu Picchu, weren't quite met as we hoped (in Machu Picchu's case, not at all).  But I'll elaborate further. So Sunday last week we were on our way to Arequipa with LAN airlines. It was an amazing sight when we took off from Lima and broke through the thick blanket of clouds covering the city.  We hadn't seen a sunny clear sky in Lima at all the previous two weeks, so that added to the moment.  We landed in Arequipa about an hour and a half later, sometime in the evening.  The airport there is tiny.  We then found o... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/144/Peru_Update_3_The_best_and_worst_trip_ever Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:22:42 -0000 Peru Update 2 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/143/Peru_Update_2 <A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/Rr6tYgoKCqYAACNFB1w1"><IMG class=alignleft src="http://images.myprairiehome.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/Rr6tYgoKCqYAACNFB1w1/IMG_1301.jpg?et=jsMspQjnc7afAtCWU8O8Bg" border=0></A>Another week has passed, and soon me, Bena and her mom will be flying to Arequipa and then bussing to Cusco and then back to Lima.  The mission team is on their way back to New York now and me and Bena just finished packing for our trip. I'm abit worried about it, if we miss a bus or can't go to Machu Picchu or if our bus is highjacked or drives off a cliff, if we're pickpocketed or heldup, or we get sick... well, to be honest, I am very relieved to have two books about travelling Peru as they have helped us make our trip possible... but I guess some "dangers and annoyances" I'd do better not knowing so as not to worry.  In anycase, God will protect us, so I don't have to worry. So, this past week has had some structure to it.  We woke up at 8am tuesday-friday to teach English class at 9ish, followed by computer class for people who have never touched a computer before. After that came sharing where one person shared a story or what they had learned (all o... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/143/Peru_Update_2 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:49:31 -0000 Peru Update http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/142/Peru_Update <A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/Rrc3ZgoKCqYAABklV741"><IMG class=alignright src="http://images.myprairiehome.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/Rrc3ZgoKCqYAABklV741/IMG_1778.jpg?et=VyC7MNUGHIF7Rbb0AdXUkg" border=0></A>So, it had been a week here in Lima now.  Me and Bena set off from Winnipeg Monday morning of last week to Toronto, where we met up with both my Uncle and Bena's two cousins.  We thought we wouldn't connect with any of them, but we ended up having spent out five hour stay in Toronto with Uncle Roy driving us all around, treating us out to eat, and walking around U of T campus. Me and Bena then set off for Peru, a 7 odd hour flight (the longest I've been on).  I was pretty excited to experience flight food (as many such simple things seem to amuse me), and we watched hana yori dango (a japanese tv series). The first thing I noticed when we arrived was all the Spanish.  It hit me like a brick the next day how helpful it would have been to learn a thing or two in Spanish ahead of time. But so far I'm getting by with just "gracias", "por favor", and "hola", and let my international hand signals attempt to do the rest :P.  The second thing I noticed was the huge bil... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/142/Peru_Update Mon, 6 Aug 2007 04:20:40 -0000 my sad life http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/141/my_sad_life i think i'm well due for a blog entry :P.  to sum up, things are busy!  I don't know when i can ever squeeze a minute in to do this or that (i'm VERY thankful for the long weekend and a chance to experience summer finally!).  I finished my winter term of classes.  got abit disapointing, but expectable results.  I'm just happy its done with... though at the same time, i miss it... i know that that was the only time ever in my life to go through THAT experience, and now time has carried me to where i am now.  (just some thoughts that have crowded my mind since exams ended).  As the time to move away from home aproaches, the more scared i get.  I guess exams added to the fear, that life is flying by, and i feel helpless trying to grab a hold of it.... during the summer i will have a) finished my degree, b) travelled abroad for the first time (since i was 2) c)move out of the house for the first time , d)move to another city! ...for the first time, a... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/141/my_sad_life Tue, 22 May 2007 01:34:05 -0000 World Since 1945 Essay http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/140/World_Since_1945_Essay So... I've been taking this course since last term, and it has been a thorn in my side.  It's really challenged alot of how I conduct myself in the world as a believer of Jesus Christ.  My prof is an athiest, and very openly so, and he tends to pick on anything Christian, and to be fair, "religion" in general (however showing favouritism to Buddhism because they're so harmless and peaceful).  And so the two essays he assigned in the course are very one-sided... but very deceptively and subtly so.  The first essay he assigned required us to read two books: The White Man's Burden by William Easterly and The Paradox of Wealth and Poverty by Little.  The first book is a book on economics and foreign aid, while the second is an arguement of why the West has a moral responsability to care about poverty and starvation in developing countries (Without invoking the name of God).  That was a difficult paper to write because I believe we have a moral ob... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/140/World_Since_1945_Essay Sun, 4 Mar 2007 06:28:53 -0000 Helping With Sunday School http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10015/Helping_With_Sunday_School http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10015/Helping_With_Sunday_School Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:19:19 -0000 Chinese Civ Essay Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10014/Chinese_Civ_Essay_Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10014/Chinese_Civ_Essay_Due Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:18:14 -0000 Critical Thinking Quiz 2 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10013/Critical_Thinking_Quiz_2 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10013/Critical_Thinking_Quiz_2 Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:17:36 -0000 Linguistics Exam 5 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10012/Linguistics_Exam_5 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10012/Linguistics_Exam_5 Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:15:29 -0000 Critical Thinking Assignment 2 Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10011/Critical_Thinking_Assignment_2_Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10011/Critical_Thinking_Assignment_2_Due Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:15:08 -0000 World Since 1945 Essay Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10010/World_Since_1945_Essay_Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10010/World_Since_1945_Essay_Due Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:14:32 -0000 Chinese Civ Essay Outline Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10009/Chinese_Civ_Essay_Outline_Due http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/calendar/item/10009/Chinese_Civ_Essay_Outline_Due Thu, 1 Mar 2007 04:13:50 -0000 Beatboxing playing Flute... aaahhh! http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/139/Beatboxing_playing_Flute..._aaahhh <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ZX5qdIEB0>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ZX5qdIEB0</a> http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/139/Beatboxing_playing_Flute..._aaahhh Sun, 25 Feb 2007 04:59:04 -0000 Valentine's Day in Vancouver http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Valentines_Day_in_Vancouver http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Valentines_Day_in_Vancouver Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:35:31 -0000 U2: Window in the Skies http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/138/U2_Window_in_the_Skies <A href="http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/RcAsBwoKCqYAAF6dhg81"> <IMG class=alignmiddle src="http://images.myprairiehome.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/RcAsBwoKCqYAAF6dhg81/windowintheskies.jpg?et=JBsqgAdDKDvtldPnsF%2CPvA" border=0> </A>  <A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VskbxuehP3I">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VskbxuehP3I</A> The shackles are undone The bullets quit the gun The heat that's in the sun Will keep us when there's none The rule has been disproved The stone it has been moved The grave is now a groove All debts are removed, ooh Oh can't you see what love has done? Oh can't you see what love has done? Oh can't you see what love has done? What it's done to me? Love makes strange enemies Makes love where love may please the soul and its striptease Hate brought to its knees the sky over our head we can reach it from our bed you let me in your heart And out of my head, head Oh, oh, oh, oh... Oh, oh, oh, oh... Please don't ever let me out of you I've got no shame oh no, oh no Oh can't you see what love has done? Oh can't you see? Oh can't you see what love has done? What it's doing to me? (I know I hurt you and I made you cry Did everything but murder but you and I But love left a window in the skies And to love I rhapsodize to every broken heart for every heart that cries Love left a... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/138/U2_Window_in_the_Skies Wed, 31 Jan 2007 05:24:45 -0000 Miracle! http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/137/Miracle I'm now registered in Chinese Civ, and don't have to worry about doing another term in the fall! thanks for praying, whoever you are :) "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14-15 lately I've been hearing "How to Save a Life" by The Fray over and over again on the radio, and just recently watched the music video and absolutely fell in love with it. Check it out! <a style="font-family: lucida sans unicode,lucida;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKxnJ5iyC-w">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKxnJ5iyC-w</a> (I'm glad a song like this is playing on secular radio) http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/137/Miracle Sat, 20 Jan 2007 19:03:04 -0000 Dejavu... waiting to see where God takes me. http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/136/Dejavu..._waiting_to_see_where_God_takes_me. In the hands of God... God's got his grip on the steering wheel.  And I wait to see where he leads me... For those of you who know about how I barely made it to Vancouver last year because of some technical difficulties, I'm kinda in the same boat again. For those of you who don't know, this is what happened:  I had "hooked up" with Bena the summer before last (not going out), and I was going to visit again for Newyears.  But when I got to the airport to check in, I didn't appear on the system.  it turned out that the mastercard didn't go through and the flight wasn't booked.  But the people at Westjet took pitty and put together a "standby" flight for me for later that day.  Now this was on Boxing Day, so most flights were packed, and my hope was resting on if someone didn't show up.  So I waited all day at home not knowing whether I'd be going to Vancouver or not.  In the end though I did fly and me and Bena started going out.&nb... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/136/Dejavu..._waiting_to_see_where_God_takes_me. Fri, 19 Jan 2007 03:35:41 -0000 Christmas with the family! http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/album/17/Christmas_with_the_family http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/album/17/Christmas_with_the_family Mon, 1 Jan 2007 17:56:45 -0000 Happy New Year!!! 2007 http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/135/Happy_New_Year_2007 wow, haha, again, been way too long since I last posted anything on here.  well... guess for good reason... though can't say there was good reason not to blog anything during the holidays... actually I should apologise to everyone, all my friends whom I haven't talked to for months!  guess I've been really lazy, combined with christmas business and family stuff (ha! break :P)  well, to be fair I have had a very free break, so I have no good excuse.  But I guess that's the beauty of blogging, I can apologize to everyone at once and still be a lazy bum!  haha, anyway, I hope everyone has been having as great a holiday as I have been (or better, better would also be good!).  my holidays started off... I would have to say, the best they ever have, with Bena giving me a suprise visit!!  It was awesome, yet very challenging in many ways because I wasn't prepared mentally for us seeing eachother physically and we both had alot of studying to do... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/journal/item/135/Happy_New_Year_2007 Mon, 1 Jan 2007 10:01:11 -0000 Shadow of the Colossus http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/reviews/item/10 Epic... that's all I have to say.... .... but since this is a review i'll say more :P. Erik, my brother, bought a PS2 on Boxing Day for $100 and then bought Shadow of the Colossus. However, the system didn't come with a memory card... and it cost a whole lot of money to buy one, so me and Erik played the game kinda non-stop for most of the holidays (well, and then Erik eventually got a memory card, but we played alot anyway... cuz it's a really amazing game!). The whole concept is that you bring your deathly ill (already dead?) woman to a temple where a booming voice calls out telling you how you can save her life (or bring her back to life?), by killing 16 giant monsters that wonder the land called collossi. The game environment is a map of beautiful hilly, desert, mountenous, valley and lake terrain free to explore on horseback. To find the collossi you raise your sword and light shines from it, and depending on where you point it the light will become concentrated or spread out... http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/reviews/item/10 Mon, 1 Jan 2007 09:22:56 -0000 Bena's suprise visit! http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/album/16/Benas_suprise_visit For those of you who don't know, Bena conspired with my family in getting her to Winnipeg two weeks ago. I was just studying upstairs when my mom called me downstairs and lo and behold, Bena was in my living room when I thought she was watching a movie with her friend Lucy in Vancouver! hahaha, anyway, here are pictures from her http://myprairiehome.multiply.com/photos/album/16/Benas_suprise_visit Mon, 25 Dec 2006 05:05:01 -0000