I've GRADUATED!!!!

'twas a glorious day, forecasted to rain, but thank God for holding the rain as He did in Oxford, where I punted upstream so wonderfully that we kept crashing the bank:


But it wasn't all that bad. :) The events leading up to graduation (from the time I typed TWO DAYS!! TWO DAYS MORE!!! in a few posts below) were multi-faceted, interesting, refreshing and really tiring at the same time. A good friend Wenjie came on the very Monday I handed up my papers, and we had times of good conversation, Scarborough air, beach-strolling, Betty's tea, nights of singing and worship -


That week my mom and bro came to visit, and we had good times of strolling around town and wonderrrrful mealtimes at Kathleen's, 'cuz my mom is an awesome cook -grin- Nice to bring them around campus and to the things I always go to (yccf/church/socials), the friends I always meet. It's nice seeing that they get along so well with my friends too :)


yup then next on we went to London, did all the touristy stuff like went to Tower Bridge, Madame Tussaud's, British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Natural Science Museum, Leicester Square, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Harrod's (where we had Krispy Kreme of course), the Globe, etc. Watched 3 musicals on 3 nights in a row: Spamalot, Les Mis and Phantom. Took a day out to Cambridge, and went back in the evening for a picnic with Meiyin. Went to the Chinese Church on Sunday, and had a meal at Eunice and Alvin's afterwards.




Then onto Egypt! Wow, a totally different experience... ancient civilisation, ruins of temples, myths and gods, the Nile (minus crocodiles) and its banks with pictures of everyday village life, camel-riding, hot 45 deg C weather, felucca-sailing, sitting on the swing at the deck of the ship. Nice chef, great food, bellydancing and turning-turning-turning man (apparently a traditional dance in Egypt), and a wonderful tour guide who was experienced, knowledgeable and funny, even if sometimes too much of a businessman. But all in all it was such a refreshing experience. :)




And then Barcelona. The beach!!! is beautiful!!!! The summer weather gorgeous. And the seafood absolutely yummers. The fruits there are absolutely cheap; we bought a kg of cherries for 1 Euro. Didn't get to have good Tapas, but we had wonderful Sangria. :) Water there is terribly salty though; brushing my teeth was a chore, and I couldn't bear to sing in the shower -sad-



And then to Paris. A city of beautiful people; of Art and European culture. Great wine, fabulously stinky cheese, beautiful churches, and really informative on art movements. Went to the Musee d'Orsay, Musee de Louvre, Eiffel, Champ-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, Moulin de la Galette, Sacre-Coeur, Notre Dame, to a flea market, etc. and we attended service at the oldest chinese church in Europe.



After Paris was back to York. Wei stayed for a day longer and we spent that day in the Designer Outlet, shopping -cringe- But anyway, mom and I moved to my place, where I hurriedly packed everything up, and then we moved to Shiao En's that Friday (Week 10). 'twas Dave and Lizzie's wedding the next day, and it was just fantastic being there to witness this occasion, to be reminded of the values and sanctity of marriage. 'twas awesome to catch up with friends I haven't been meeting up for really long too... Dave and Lizzie just look gorgeous!!



After resting for a few days, mom and I went down to Oxford, where we met up with Heng Chin, Rokey and Edwin. On the first night all of us (minus Edwin) had dinner at a Polish restaurant with Ailin and her family, and on the second day the guys and I went punting while Heng Chin and my mom stayed home to prepare a fantabulous lunch. After that we went down to 'the Bird and the Baby', as the Inklings so affectionately called it, that is - a pub, which notable people like CS Lewis and Tolkien used to frequent. It was too short a trip; wished I stayed longer!




Mom absolutely fell in love with Heng Chin and said if she had another son she would matchmake them. -grin- Anyways, after a few days we went up to Edinburgh, which was really beautiful. The Georgian architecture gave the city a rustic charm, and the uni accommodation in which we lived was beautiful - surrounded by flowers, a mix of modern and medieval-style blocks, and pretty pathways. On the 2nd day we met up with Ailin and her gang and took a bus tour (Haggis) to the highlands and Loch Ness. I had my share of Scotch whiskey, haggis, bagpipes and Celtic music, which was all-in-one a refreshing experience, but then also concluded that whiskey and sheep's stomach don't go down very well with me...




And so after that was graduation, after which Ailin, Jia Min, Jason, Cui, me and our family members went for dinner at Akbar's. Though I was feeling pretty numb to everything it was a beautiful day, and I won't deny choking a bit when I heard Hermione Lee and the vice-chancellor speak on stage. There was that one moment when I felt immense gratefulness... for a lot of things. But it'll be too rambly to elaborate, so I'll just insert pictures here -





And finally, a toast to all you uni-leavers, who're moving onto a year of work, of further studies, or of job-seeking. May God guide and lead you into your best and your very best. Love you all, and always will -