Last night I went out to dinner with school friends. I hadn't seen people for ages, so I was not completely sure if we would still have things to talk about. Fortunately, the friendships are still there, and it was a fun night. I hadn't seen Natalie since school, I've only emailed her to keep in touch. But it was very good to see her again - she finally has her own horse! Daisy, Kim and Aghia are lovely too. We mostly reminisced and giggled about old school teachers and informed eachother about what other people from our school are doing now. It verged on gossip, it was hard to pull back sometimes.

It's good to know my friends haven't changed. These ones at least. There were some stories about a friend who I was close to in year 10 and 11, who grew in a *very* different direction to me. It kind of started in year 12, so I wasn't surprised to hear what she's like now. Still, it's sad. I do pray for her sometimes. I just thank God that did grow in the opposite direction - towards Him - instead of towards all night clubbing and drinking.

The friends I met up with yesterday, are just about the only ones still left in Australia. Abi's in New Zealand, Milly's in the US, Fi's in the US most of the time and Diana's in France. Sounds exciting to be travelling or living away from home - but really, right at this moment, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here.

I have a shiny new Tongan bible (tohi tapu) and hymn book (tohi himi). I can't understand much of it, but I can sort of understand when looking along with my English bible

Filipai 4:4
Mou fiefia 'i he 'Eiki ma'u ai pe: 'io, kau toe 'ai atu, mou fiefia.

Sione 3:16
He na'e ofa pehe 'a e Otua ki mamani, ko ia na'a ne foaki hono 'Alo tofu pe taha ne fakatupu, koe 'uhi ko ia kotoa pe 'oku tui pikitai kiate ia ke 'oua na'a 'auha, kae ma'u 'a e mo'ui ta'engata.

Aqua golf is fun....no skill required. I love games like that.

Well, I've been having fun doing absolutely nothing. Stine bought series 3 of Scrubs and series 2 of Futurama on DVD, so we've been spending most of our time watching that. Lots of fun.

Stiney is saying snnnnn without my prompting. This is good.

I just realised that I have a ridiculously low amount of face-to-face class hours this term. Cause I'm not doing my prac subject anymore, and one of my other subjects is external. So that gives me a grand total of 2 hours of class per week! Now there's no excuse for not doing readings and assignments :P

Prac is finished! And I didn't pass. That kind of sucks but it's actually okay, because I really don't want to do childcare anyway. Em, I don't want to discourage you, cause I really admire people working in childcare, but it doesn't seem to work for me. Not as a full time job, anyway. I can't imagine myself being a childcare room leader, which is probably what I would have to be.

There actually were some good parts of the prac. The children were lovely - most of the time - and I learned a lot about two year olds. Which will be good if I ever have my own kids. And I developed good relationships with some of the staff. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to the staff who had been really supportive to me, and they seemed very shocked that I failed. Also, over this last week, I've been able to share my faith a little bit with Ainsley, a non-Christian girl who works there. She doesn't really seem interested in Christianity for herself at the moment, but she was respectful of my faith and was open to hearing about it. So pray that something good will come out of that, and pray for Anita, the Christian woman working there. Even though I didn't technically pass the course requirements, I learned a lot about being a Christain in the workplace, and about perserverance (see, I didn't even need to go to women's day).

This has actually made me think more seriously about transferring to primary education, which I've been thinking about for ages but never really had a valid enough reason. If I continue with early childhood, I'd be finishing the course halfway through 2008 - not halfway through next year- , so I might aswell work towards a primary degree during that time. And, I found out that there's actually a bachelor of arts in early childhood, which I've already met the credit point requirements for - so if I can somehow work out that, my years of ech study won't go to waste. But that won't qualify me to teach, so I will have to do primary ed. aswell. So...I'm going to be at uni for a lot longer yet. I don't completely know all the details yet, but I'm looking into it.

I don't think it's a coincidence that my kindergarten prac was the only one with no complications or concerns. I think God is speaking to me through this. I actually can imagine myself as a primary school teacher.

One thing, if you can tell me...how exactly does the primary degree work? I know a little bit but I'd really like to find out more detail

God is good, and works all things for good for those who love him.

I talked to Theresa today and now we're going to Tonga after Christmas, not before. Which means.....................I can go to NTE aswell!!

Very exciting! SNNNNNN!

Some random snnnnn fun from the holy scriptures


'We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under snnnnn'. Romans 3:10

'God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still snnnnners, Christ died for us' Romans 5:8

'What shall we say then? Shall we go on snnnnning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to snnnnn, how can we live in it any longer...For we know that our old self was crucified with him so the body of snnnnn might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to snnnnn - because anyone who has died has been freed from snnnnn.' Romans 6:1-7

'What shall we say then? Is the law snnnnn? Certainly not. Indeed, I would not have known what snnnnn was except throug the law...but snnnnn, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment produces in my every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, snnnnn is dead' Romans 7:7-

Time for the weekly prac report...ONLY 1 WEEK TO GO!

It has been better this week...although I'd still rather be at uni, and I really miss you guys in all your craziness. Only two year olds could possibly make CU-ers seem mature! Well, after two weeks I'm getting to know the kids, especially those that come full time. So I'm getting better at managing their behaviour - which is still *really* challenging, as anyone who as ever looked after toddlers will know. But other times they can be completely charming, so I love them.

I had my evaluation on Thursday...it didn't go that well cause I really need to work on my observations and stuff. But my prac advisor was really nice about it, so I'm not particularly worried. It's all in God's hands, anyway. I found out today that one of the staff members is a Christian, which makes sense because she's been so supportive and caring for me. She told me today that she's been praying for me, and she asked me to pray for her too. So, it's good to have that Christian support.

Have a good first week of holidays, everyone.

I know it's very dorky...but I really like watching Australian idol. It's such mindless entertainment. Plus, this year one of the contestants is a cousin of some kids at church. So I indirectly know him. That makes it fun.

Mum just told me that whenever I cook using our oven, I need to subtract about 20 degrees from what it says on the recipe. And she only tells me now! So, it wasn't my fault that every single biscuit I made ended up burnt

I haven't posted on this for so long...but I've been extremely busy. I survived my first week of prac, only two weeks to go. It's really not the best prac I've been to. I think a lot of it is I just don't want to work in childcare - there's so much cleaning involved, it's ridiculous. At first I thought I was being made to do more cleaning than was reasonable, and some days I think I was, but I realised that cleaning is a huge part of being a childcare worker - along with observing kids, planning for kids, making sure the kids dont' kill eachother and ( only if there's time left over) playing with the kids. It's really sad, but thats the way it works. Anyway, I think this centre may be worse than others I've been to. My supervising teacher hardly notices I exist, and she's only there part time. Still, I've made friends with some of the staff workers, and I am trying to be peaceful and joyful through all this. It's really hard though.

Another really sad thing is, some of the kids in this centre spend more time there than I do. And I'm there 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Well, it's the weekend now, and I'm staying at home. I know there's a social on today, and I would like to go. If I didn't have to travel I'd go, but I'm honestly too exhausted to travel. I had a really busy, fun weekend last week. The college ball was great, cause it's always fun to see friends dressed up. I actually got to wear my yr 12 formal dress again! And, I love the contrast of that weekend. On Friday was the ball, and then on Saturday a whole lot of college people drove over to Orange for Jono's 21st, which was a barbeque and bonfire on a cherry farm. That was heaps of fun. We acted out a monty python scene and then made effigies of Jono to burn (for some reason), and there were lots of marshmallows to toast. Some of the country-bred kids were actually throwing fire balls around. It was great to watch, but I sensibly decided to watch from a distance!

I will get around to doing Ali's extensive survey thingie...but first I shall write about the bush dance.

The bush dance was fun! I always like bush dances, simply because they are bush dances and there's no pressure to look cool while you dance - it's all about silliness and fun. I drove up withs some people from college. It was Jules' first time ever at a bush dance, as she's from Korea and they don't have that many bush dances in Korea :P Anyway, she said she had lots of fun, and she is now an official Aussie. Lots of people from CU came aswell: Em, Pete, Alison, Tom, Bec, both Bens, Jono (although he counts as a college friend aswell) and I think that's everyone. And, in a nice coincidence, I met someone I used to go to highschool with, and her parents were there aswell. It's always good to meet up with someone you haven't seen for a while, and then find out that they are Christian.

Anyway...the dances were generally the standard bush dances, which is great. Heel and Toe, Strip the Willow, the Waves of Bondi, Drongo etc. And a bizzare Hungarian dance. Did anyone else notice that the last three dances involve bum shaking of some kind. Bush dancing is such good exercise. Fortunately, we had some breaks to go outside and talk and be merry. There was lots of giggling and memorable quotes/incidents. I can't remember specific words but here's the best of what I remember.

* Working out the conspiracy that Amanda is actually Ben Stiller - due to her Zoolander face

* Tom running away to the church of St Thomas/Ben wondering if he could climb the church, and if that would make him closer to God

* The burnt hot chocolate

* The 'and a pickle' face

*Giggling and laughing for no apparent reason

Yesterday I went to a farewell party for Leirelle from church, who is leaving today to go to school in Tonga. We're all going to miss her but I hope she has heaps of fun. And I'll be going to visit her in December.

I have way too many assignments. Living in two places does not help that. I downloaded a whole lot of articles on the computer at home, and this morning put them onto my laptop to take to college. And when I got to college, I realised that I had actually copied the wrong ones...it's annoying because I don't actually go home again until Sunday, so Stine is emailing me the right articles. It seems there is not enough time to do these assignments. And it's really hard to find information on one. Plus, there's the fact that I'm still feeling sick - that kind of sore throat, coughing, warm hands that stays weeks after I get over a virus. So I'm well enough to do everything, but sick enough to not want to do anything.

Even so, my family is growing. I have sisters and cousins and a crazy great-uncle. And, by the way, for anyone who heard the CU talk today, I like old gothic cathedrals and traditional litanies and candles, incense, etc.

I am now part of a very large, dysfunctional family. Amanda is my mum, Ali is my great-nana (who I am actually older than) and Kate is my imaginary friend. As I am an illegitimate child with no dad and no brothers or sisters, I needed to create a friend for myself. And apparently, according to Brett, I inspired him to wear silly hats to his small group each week - the hat madness is spreading! I suggest we have a silly hat day sometime soon, where we all revel in the madness of our silly/cool/interesting hats.

I'm going to Tonga in the Christmas holidays! At least, that's the plan. A family from church are visiting their family in Tonga, and they invited me and my sister if we can pay for our plane fare. I'm going to use the money Nana gave me for my birthday...and the great thing is, cause we'll be staying with family, I won't need to pay for accomodation or food. Only thing is, that would be at the same time as NTE - so unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to go to both. Going to both would be so fun, though.

Really good talk today. I think I'm going to listen to it tomorrow aswell.

This is for all the people I think read this blog. If anyone else is reading this, please comment and I'll add you too.

Katus: Kate's ability to speak very random phrases in equally random languages is cool. She develops some interesting theories and is always ready to report crazy quotes and happenings on her blog, and most of my photos from the past one and a half years come from her. She also says nice things about her female small group leader in the hope of getting more Pods.

Alison: Ali always compliments me on my hats! She's great to talk to and is always concerned with how people are going. She also thinks up fun games to play on MYC that involves brain work rather than extreme embarrassment or sporting ability.

Manda: Manda is very pretty and delicate looking - she is also hyperactive and bubbly. It's very difficult to stay in a bad mood when she's around. She's not afraid to be silly, which is cool, and she has very nice clothes.

Em: I haven't known Em that long, but she seems wise and mature, and she's doing early childhood, so she's nurturing aswell. Her gentle nature and love for God shines out and encourages whoever she talks to. She's fun to talk to, too.

Matt: Matt is hilarious, and I still remember planning the kids puppet play with him on NTE mission. He's always coming up with funny sayings but he's also very committed to serving God. Plus, he got me a pen with my name on it for my birthday.

You guys all rock!

I love hanging out at uni with CU friends - what else can I say? I didn't get to much of exo day, cause I had class. But I got to hang out at the end of it and go on the jumping castle. Being on a jumping castle with four hyperactive full-grown guys is a very dangerous thing. Just the whole idea of hanging around afterwards indefinitely is so cool - very Islander Time.

I visited the long daycare centre where I'm doing prac this semester...and I do think it's going to be very challenging. As a teacher and as a Christian. I couldn't work out specifically what it was, but there was something not so good about the centre. The kids didn't seem to be having that much fun, and the teachers seemed to spend most of their time telling kids not to do stuff. Aesthetically, the room was sort of boring. But maybe that means I'll be able to make it pretty. I think for this prac, I'll really have to rely on God, especially in the way I relate to the staff.

I think it comes down to the fact that I don't want to be a childcare worker. I can imagine myself as a primary teacher, I'm looking forward to that. But I can't imagine myself working in a long daycare centre fulltime. This prac is just something I have to finish so I can later get my degree.

Still, the day wasn't all bad. One of the kids came up with a quote about me that I really like. She asked me how I got to the centre today, and I said my mum drove me. So she said:

'So you're sort of a kid and sort of a teacher.'

That sums me up *so* well - I love that!

The college harbour cruise was interesting. It rained most of the day, but the harbour was calm which was good. The worst bit was waiting around for our boat to arrive. Dunmore Lang College also had their harbour cruise at the same time and place, so when we saw a fancy boat we got our hopes up until we realised that was DLC's boat. Our boat was less impressive in comparison but still was spacious and had an outdoor deck...even though it was COLD. So, I was happy. Heather came, and she and Jono actually had conversations about maths! They tried to involve me, but I explained that, as an early childhood teacher, my maths interest stops at number recognition.
The theme of this thing was dressing up other people. I was partnered with Jules, so we generally tried to make eachother look pretty. The same could *not* be said for other people, especially guys. Jono was wearing a garbage bag as a cape and Daniel was wearing Jono's blanket pants. John Williams was wearing something that wouldn't be out of place at a luau and Sly was wearing girls clothes - hilarious. It was also interesting to see who got drunk and who didn't. Only a few people got completely trashed, but then there were others who had just a bit too much. Still, with the boat rocking from side to side, sometimes it was a bit hard to tell! As usual, I only had one glass of wine.

THAT IS SO TOTALLY ORANGE!!!!

Uni starts tomorrow and I go back to college. I'm feeling a little dodgy, I slept for most of today. Still, I am looking forward to going back, sort of.


5 way MSN conversations are completely random and very fun