October 2, 2011

  • Yesterday I went to a mushroom excursion where we went to pick mushrooms in the forest =]. This is a Swedish tradition and it was supposed to very interesting as the tour guide was supposed to teach us how to pick mushrooms and which mushrooms are poisonous. But it turns out that the forest we went to didn't have a lot of mushrooms and the tour guides never really taught us how to pick either =[. All the mushrooms I picked were not edible or poisonous except for 3...and those I ended up throwing away anyways because I was scared to eat them =P. So much for my expectations haha...but it was still quite interesting being able to take part of a Swedish tradition =]

    Then after the mushroom excursion I went to Jessika's place for some really good home made dessert (three actually since she made one apple straddle, one cheese cake, as well as one mocha cake). She made them so that we could celebrate her birthday together, and I thought that it was quite special and kind of her to do that =]. Adrianne, her boyfriend, asked all of us who was attending the party to practice a spanish happy birthday song before hand, and although it was hard for me to learn and practice by myself, I think Jessika did get surprised by us and I think she was quite happy by our efforts =]. And it was amazing how the bunch of us (from South Africa, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, and Singapore) could gather together and talk for 6 almost 7 hours non stop about everything possible in life...from fashion to road infrastructures to criminology...its so fascinating to hear how different the culture and laws are in every single country! For example, I was shocked that France charges 70 euro to drive on the highway! And how in Singapore chewing gum in illegal. It shows to the extent how one thing one country takes for granted can be something prohibited in another country or require such costly expense.

    And I'm so glad that Jessika lives in the same building as me! It somehow feels like my home is more like a home now with all these awesome neighbors: Bernia, Yeo Joo, Jessika, Adrianne, Valerie, Nivi, Michelle...and I wondered why God chose this building for me instead of the christian family? =P I think I know why now. Just the other day while walking back home at night with Michelle from church she told me that she thinks that God is so good to her. Because the room that she stays in (two floors above me) is right at the corner, so she gets sunlight from both sides of the room which makes her room quite cozy all the time. "The Lord is so gracious to me! In South Africa there never is a winter and it never snows so God knows that I wouldn't be that used to it here so He gave me this room!"

    I am pretty sure its the same for me too. The God is gracious to me too and knows of my needs. That is why He gave me this room to live in =]. A kitchen all to myself so I can experiment with cooking without having to worry about burning up a corridor kitchen or being laughed at for cooking some very weird tasting dishes, two special ladies, one who lives downstairs and another two rooms beside me who taught me how to ride the bike (Just yesterday Bernia helped lead me on the road while biking so we wouldn't be late for our mushroom excursion trip. Quite frankly, I am still so scared of biking in the city!), and other neighbors who I know I can somehow depend on if anything happens.

    Tonight, we celebrated Karen's birthday at my place, and as we talked and shared, I heard Ka ka share her story about how she recently hurt her shoulder (Just on Friday actually). Apparently she was biking to Looma, this other city to see the beaches and a car hit her and ran away. At first she thought everything was okay and she got up to pick up her stuff but then realized that her head was bleeding. People then stopped by to ask her how she was on the road and an ambulance came to pick her up to the hospital. She shared with us how her after thoughts kept on traumatizing her as she realized how close she could be to the brink of death.

    I think this really shows how precious each day of our lives can be. I take it for granted too much. And I'm now even more scared of riding the bike...but I'll still ride it to school tomorrow.

    I am falling in love with this place and can't imagine how it would be like when I leave in January... =[