tis been slightly less than a week that I'm back, and it's been pretty interesting so far. Reshuffled the room's furniture with the brother and boyfriend's help, brought Alv back to see mom and to see my godparents and grandmother, spent pockets of time with him (we live 1 hr 45 mins from each other via the bus and tube! sigh.), met up with some friends in church, etc. Will be charting up various costs like driving lessons, medical fees (scheduled an MRI scan for my knee yesterday; might have to go for surgery but am still praying about it), music lessons maybe? A thousand and one things to do. But I must remember not to overdo things; not to fill up my time with unnecessary baggage without His grace to manage; to just zoom into the essentials that He calls me to.
Last week in London was spent catching up with people and trying to read for/write my dissertation. Alv did 95% of the packing for me and I'm incredibly grateful for that. :) On the Saturday before we left, Alv and I went to the Chinese school where Jia Lei teaches Bible Study every Sat to lead the children in some songs. Took two classes, the 4 year olds and the 7-8 year olds, and... man! I couldn't believe how precocious the children were. "Do you like singing!???" (myself in an attempt to enthuse them) "NoOOooOoooooO... singing is for BABIESSSS." (them, after which they shut their ears with their hands). Anyhows. We three had a great time with the kids together. :) Had some feedback from the senior teacher that I really needed to enforce discipline right from the start 'cuz the 7-8 year olds were pretty much climbing over our heads (figuratively)... Nevertheless, we managed to say the sinner's prayer with a little kid called Adrian and there were a couple of times I felt impelled by the Spirit to say some things to two kids. They did look moved, but only God can do the work in their hearts.
The kids, of course, very much took to Alvin. And his guitar. :)
On the last Sunday Beth came up from Guildford and we met for service at HTB, after which we (along with Alv and my housemate Jia Lei) laid a mat out on the lawns for a sunny picnic because it was HTB's 'Big Summer Sunday' (BBQ, hog roasts, games, films, etc. out on the lawns). Jun and Anna came along too so it was kinda like a farewell meet-up. Well wishes, tears, prayers, sandwiches, frisbee, and a temperamental sun. I'll miss these lovely people, HTB, England's lovely summer weather, and more.
But as I left there was already a general sense of an impending new season in life and I was ready to step towards it. God's been gracious in this interim period, and I hadn't felt such ease at home in the past 3 years. But it's been cosy at home, and my heart is very very much encouraged when I see the work that God has done in the lives of my mom and my younger brother over this past year - growing them to become more secure, confident and joyful in the grace and love of the greatest Dad ever.
This concludes my year in London then :) lots of memories, lessons, gifts and blessings, struggles. It's been an amazing 4 years of growth in UK, and I guess I'm all set to settle down in Singapore for the next 6 years at least. For now it's dissertation (deadline in Sept), followed by teaching for a couple of months till the school hols, then the commencement of NIE teacher training in Jan. Am still wondering if I should start a new blog, when I do I'll email round. Guess this is it for this one then?
am back in Singapore and shall be moving to wordpress soon, but there've been a gadzillion blog-worthy things about my last month in tbe UK that I've not typed up yet, so I'll keep this blog active till I manage to find time to write.
Meanwhile, this is from Suwen's birthday gig night -
Just came back from York and the dales, which were both beautiful in their own ways. York was a safe haven all over again, with familiar faces, roads, lawns and cobbled streets. Somehow there was a strange sense of detached-attachedness to everything there; perhaps from a sense that this part of my life is now over and I'm ready to move on, even if it saddens me a little to know I won't be seeing many people very much from now on.
The Dales were interesting, despite my bad knee. With Alvin's help I hobbled much along the Waterfalls walk, which had lots of inclines (upwards and downwards) and some climbing, and lots of sheep-gazing. (Or sheep-worrying for that matter.) But it was so beautiful, this last chance at a glimpse of natural greenery and waters for a long time at least. Besides the therapeutic effect of nature there was also that still happy sense of being together with him, hobbling on for 4 miles with his arm supporting my weight on the difficult tracks. Also there was some drama with an aged lady who tripped, fell and gashed/injured herself quite badly she couldn't get up from where she was. There was a crowd around her as we approached but no one there quite knew what to do. Alv ran forward and put his first aid skills to good use, attending to her wounds and making sure she was hydrated, before following the other aged man to get the ambulance all the way at the end of the trail. I sat by her and said some prayers, comforting her once in a while and talking to the ladies beside her. Alv came back and in a while a NHS copter flew down to pick her up, but Alv and I left before they moved her so we hope she's in good hands.
'tis strange that I injured my knee pretty badly (again) on Saturday at frisbee (again) even though an even more rigorous game at badminton earlier that week didn't do anything to it. But after I prayed for the lady who fell and continued with the trail, the knee got miraculously better, immediately - by 50%, then 80%... and within the next hour I wasn't limping anymore. Strange cosmic spiritual agencies and effects.
Anyhows I'm back in London and preparing to leave next Tuesday with a barrage of work on my shoulders and a load of things to pack. Do feel rather stressed about it but I hope it'll wear away with the exciting prospect of going home. It's been a while indeed, and I'll finally be settling down somewhere after 4 years of travelling. There's the inevitable wistfulness that weighs somewhat heavily on my heart right now, a sense of having to part with a lifestyle and with people I've come to love so much. But I trust that the same God who brought me through the vicissitudes of studying abroad will lead me through the torrents of reverse culture shock and work life.
I have about 3 months of holidays to finish up my dissertation anyway. :)