i guess i'll post it

i acutally wrote a post over the weekend? but didn't post it, i guess i shall post it anyway, make what you will of it, i'll be thinking more.

Sigh, guess i should give a quick update on how i am

I'm ok.
Practicum at Mental Health Association of Tulsa, Columbia TeenScreen Program has started. I'm pretty excited, only that right now it's admin stuff because the schools just started 2 weeks ago. Apart from the boring paperwork, the real part is screening kids for depression and suicidal tendencies.

I'm excited because it's something close to my heart. I personally can't imagine any 16 year old kid having a good enough reason to end their life, but i know it's possible. And yes, it's a little simplistic to treat every kid who screens positive like they have a mental sickness, but it's the first step to getting them help. 75% of Americans suffer from depression... chronic depression! It's a mental sickness yes, but i believe it could or could not be more than that.

right... anyway, gotta get back to work and to bed.
take care all..
=)

i feel burdened to ramble, so bear with me. Am currently reading three books (about 4 chapters a week) for an Honors class called Faith and Civilization... and it's been enlightening.

What struck me while reading is the how set apart Christian are from society, or popular culture. Many would say that they are antithetical and can never be fused together. The classic struggle, the world against the eternal.

The thing about Christians is not just that we follow Christ (though that must essentially be the most important part), it is not that we love each other and others, it's not even that we have a semblance of peace and hope that others cannot cling to. No... Being a Christian is to be called, to be holy, to be set apart.

Set apart in our worldview. Is there absolute truth? Would you believe that though 70+% of Americans profess to be Christians, only about 33% agree that there is absolute truth? If there is no Truth, then who is Jesus, what is the Bible and who on earth are we? If all roads lead to heaven then whose to say what's right and what's wrong?

Only God. If we can weight every "gray" issue against the clean pure white truth... then it wouldn't be gray anymore. Cos if you know what is white, whatever is not white, is not white. period.

It's so easy though, to convince ourselves that grey is close enough to white.

Yes, there are the big issues. Big issues like... premarital sex, homosexuality. abortion, divorce, cloning and war... But there are the little issues too...

I don't even know what i'm trying to say! I think that absolutes exist, and we better go and find out from God what they are, and then never let ourselves get even close to approaching grey.

Tu comprend?

Aujourd'hui, j'ai lire mon cahier francais pour trois heures! Mon classe cette semaine c'est Le Literature Francais. Nous sommes commencer a le Moyen Age. L'histoire du literature francaise c'est interessant, mais le vocabulaire est tres difficule pour moi. Je doit utiliser une dictionnaire tout le temps!

Sigh. yes, the struggle with "la belle langue francaise" continues...

PICTURES

Just as I promised.. pictures of the room. Heh.. if you try and use the bed as a frame of reference... You can see what the room looks like! The room, in cricular arrangement, starting from the bed and going right... is this...

The bed, then the shelf, and the guitar

view of the bed

After the guitar, a set of drawers and my closet, or wardrobe..
(I put the mirror up myself! =) )

view from my bed

then the door, a standing lamp and my desk...

the desk..

and then... back to the BED! =)
( the light made it weird, my shirt was orange, but the body pillow to the side of my head is pink! and the pillow on top of my head, that's striped orange, red and pink!)

me! happy on bed

And then we go outside to see Kathy! =)

Kathy doing her homework...

And then outside even more, to find the HUGE cat, Burbank!

Kathy and Burbank

That's mine, the 96 Toyota Camry. Care to suggest some names?

my car!

And then yes, this is home... from the outside! =)

the house itself

home for the next 4 months

I'm where I will call "Home" for the next four months. Or at least till I start talking about going back home, as in Singapore home. I wish I could show you pictures, but those will have to wait because I'm stuck without my camera.

So, i'm in transition...
Lets talk about the BIG picture, before we talk about the minute ones...

• I'm in my senior year. It's my last year to study all I want to study undergrad-wise.
• It's my last year in America. I have that much time to decide if I really love it or hate it.
• It's my last year away from family. Once I'm back, i'll be with family all the time. I guess this is actually really excting for me!
• And yes, It's my last year before I have to find a job and all.

While the big concepts cover everything, i'm also dealing with

• Driving a car.. urgh... and trying to find time to send it for a check.
• Get used to living off-campus. Which so far, is a blast... but has made me a little more lazy!
• Living with Kathy, an all-American grandmother who is graduating with me!
  
• Classses: this is a long one. I have challenging classes this year. Which is to say, as usual.. i will be working hard. Each class is like a mini transition, let me elaborate.
• Senior Practicum. This means that hopefully, i'll be working 2 full days a week, doing real social work.
• Faith and Civilization. This class is very "American" and big... and it's the Honors Fellow class. Intellectualism and critical thinking is neccessary. Heh, i need a huge mindset change for this one.
• Community Social Work. This class is hands-on and well... just a blur right now.
• Survey of French Literature. So far, this has been my most-feared class. But it seems alright, I have like 25 pages to read by tuesday though!
• Research Methods. Otherwise conveniently named as the "Kiel-ler class" (prof's name is Mr Kiel). Sigh, but it'd be fine!
• Being away from Singapore. I miss my boyfriend!!! yes... and I really miss being able to hang out with becks, hazel... miss mornings with cherie and seeing friendly faces around.

and that's that. But yes, this does mean that i should be back updating my blog more regularly as I have my internet back and all raring to go!

Pray for me yeah? that would be really nice...