Happy Belated Australia Day everyone! lol. Aussie day was awesome. we got off work 2 hours early and went to the park for kids activities. every year canowindra runs a boring ceremony thing where they give awards to people who are amazing and some well known person gives a speech.... basically the only people who ever turned up were the people receiving awards and old dudes lol. this year however, we got permission to run kids activities to attract families and stuff. it was so much fun! we did facepainting (which i am amazingly talented at :) ) and baloon animal making (fairly good at that) and played games (i didnt get to play any) and a pinata (which i dont know how to spell but its that paper mache thing full of lollies that children hit). the kids loved it and so did we. so good
so exhausted! work is so hard man. and i am so sick of watermellons! im not sure if i already told you or not but now, whenever i close my eyes, i see watermellons! and then the other night i prayed in desperation "God make me let it go!". i then imagined myself dropping the mellons lol. im not sure if thats an overactive imagination or Gods sense of humour shining through. i like to think God was being funny :)
thursday was by far the worst work day so far. it was super duper hot and we had to work an extra hour to start making up for the lost hours on aussie day. i had to work extra hard too coz Tim Wagstaff was on his first time and got exhausted, so i had to pick half of his coz he kept missing them and then he ended up having to leave coz he was going to pass out. i was also really tired already so the day was just soooo hard. 3/4 of the way through the day Beau looked over at me and was like "wow. Marks gone white" and i stayed completely white until like half an hour after we finished. i got to the stage of stumbling as i walked and vision receding when i stood up too fast lol. i told myself i could do it though and refused to quit. and i made it! so proud of myself lol. and then Phill, coz hes a legend, gave me the next day off! lol. i slept in until 8! so good lol.
work was easier today (saturday) coz it was cooler. itfelt longer though for some reason. it just dragged on and on. i had been praying that God would renew me, physically and spiritually and he must have answered coz i just felt so great all day. even though i was physically tired i felt great. i even found myself encouraging others :) totally unlikely right?! me. encouraging *grin*
we have our first assignment this afternoon. well actually its a practice assignment. its on hospitality. hospitality is really important we have discovered. and our assignment involves preparing a meal and having people over for dinner. our practice tonight is at the park and the food we are having smells soooo good! we are having a green salad, potato salad and a pasta salad thingy. it might not sound good but it looks and smells amazing!! you people reading should be sooo jealous lol.
oh. our Korean student arrived this week. her name is Saerom. shes pretty cool and its really fun talking to her. we are having fun learning korean words and phrases lol.
we also have two new guys coming. Sam and Ethan. one of them arrives tonight and the other arrives some time next week i assume. i dont know anything about them... i will update peoples about them when i meet them :)
ok i should probably go help in the kitchen a bit... i will write another blog some time later. when i have time. which i dont have much of lol
Friday, January 28, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Meet My Nemisis --- Beaus's Alarm Clock!
Sunday night i got to bed fairly late, trying to enjoy as much weekend as possible or whatever, and so i knew i was going to be really tired the next morning but hey, it was worth it. (no it wasnt)
i set my alarm on my watch for 5am, which as you know i have to be up by, and i went to bed dreading the wakeup call... i did also notice that someone seemed to have left the room during the night and not come back (Beau as it turns out) but anyway...
at 4.40am Beaus alarm clock goes off... it was set onto the radio but it was super duper loud! i tried to ignore it, hoping it would turn itself off, or at least that someone else would turn it off. it got to the point though that i had to get up and turn it off... so i stumbled (more like rolled) out of bed, staggered across the room and clicked the button on top of the alarm. i then went back to bed hoing for a bit more sleep before 5. then, at 4.42 it went off again! nevertheless i tried to ignore it again... which also didnt work, so i got out of bed, seriously annoyed, and pressed a second button on the clock. then went and literally collapsed into bed. and THEN at 4.45 it went off a third time! seriously angry i jumped up, ran over, felt around for the plug, and triumphantly flourished the pulled out clock and felt deep satisfaction in seeing the lights go off on it! but it turns out that the clock has nine lives because at 4.46 it started beeping!! really loudly!!! i couldnt believe it! i yelled out "WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!" lol. im pretty sure josh laughed. he didnt come help me though i noticed. i then tossed the covers, stomped to the clock , yanked it in the air, pressed every button i could find, and then buried it under all of Beaus clothing lol. "at last!" i thought. im sure you already guessed that it went off again... at 4.47 or something. i gave up at this point. i was like "fine! im getting up!" and went over, turned on the light (blinding myself in the process) and uncovered my arch nemisis - the clock. i then found an on/off switch hidden on the back, which i flipped, and wasnt troubled again.
i had a shower then and came out into the common room. when i saw all the people with the heads bowed in a circle i loudly exclaimed "Beaus alarm clock went off SIX TIMES!" Millie then said softly "Mark. we are praying at the moment..." i didnt really register and said again "SIX TIMES!!!" lol. i then left the room, realising that i was interupting lol.
needless to say all my fellow students found my clock escapades highly amusing over breakfast.
i found out that Beau had left the room that night to sleep in the lecture room. he couldnt sleep and knew he would toss and turn. so out of consideration for me, who had told him im not used to having roommates tossing and turning in my room, he left to sleep elsewhere. he also admitted to setting the alarm early because he thought we were going for a run in the morning.... how wrong he was lol
and thats the account of my Nemisis. i hope i have your sympathy :)
i set my alarm on my watch for 5am, which as you know i have to be up by, and i went to bed dreading the wakeup call... i did also notice that someone seemed to have left the room during the night and not come back (Beau as it turns out) but anyway...
at 4.40am Beaus alarm clock goes off... it was set onto the radio but it was super duper loud! i tried to ignore it, hoping it would turn itself off, or at least that someone else would turn it off. it got to the point though that i had to get up and turn it off... so i stumbled (more like rolled) out of bed, staggered across the room and clicked the button on top of the alarm. i then went back to bed hoing for a bit more sleep before 5. then, at 4.42 it went off again! nevertheless i tried to ignore it again... which also didnt work, so i got out of bed, seriously annoyed, and pressed a second button on the clock. then went and literally collapsed into bed. and THEN at 4.45 it went off a third time! seriously angry i jumped up, ran over, felt around for the plug, and triumphantly flourished the pulled out clock and felt deep satisfaction in seeing the lights go off on it! but it turns out that the clock has nine lives because at 4.46 it started beeping!! really loudly!!! i couldnt believe it! i yelled out "WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!" lol. im pretty sure josh laughed. he didnt come help me though i noticed. i then tossed the covers, stomped to the clock , yanked it in the air, pressed every button i could find, and then buried it under all of Beaus clothing lol. "at last!" i thought. im sure you already guessed that it went off again... at 4.47 or something. i gave up at this point. i was like "fine! im getting up!" and went over, turned on the light (blinding myself in the process) and uncovered my arch nemisis - the clock. i then found an on/off switch hidden on the back, which i flipped, and wasnt troubled again.
i had a shower then and came out into the common room. when i saw all the people with the heads bowed in a circle i loudly exclaimed "Beaus alarm clock went off SIX TIMES!" Millie then said softly "Mark. we are praying at the moment..." i didnt really register and said again "SIX TIMES!!!" lol. i then left the room, realising that i was interupting lol.
needless to say all my fellow students found my clock escapades highly amusing over breakfast.
i found out that Beau had left the room that night to sleep in the lecture room. he couldnt sleep and knew he would toss and turn. so out of consideration for me, who had told him im not used to having roommates tossing and turning in my room, he left to sleep elsewhere. he also admitted to setting the alarm early because he thought we were going for a run in the morning.... how wrong he was lol
and thats the account of my Nemisis. i hope i have your sympathy :)
Friday, January 21, 2011
Week One - Orientation part 2
ok. seeing as i have some more free time i thought i would add more to my blog. and seeing as i have no idea what i said in my last post so if i repeat myself im sorry. you will just have to live with it.
on one of the first mornings (monday maybe?) 4 of us guys all got up early to go for a morning run. and when i say early i mean like 5am type thing. i regreted it the next morning lol. i lay there in bed thinking of reasons for getting out of it. at one point i found myself thinking "i know! when chris comes in here to wake me i will lie! i will say that i barely slept and needed another hour of sleep" ... my conscience made me get up though. which is good i suppose...
anyways, the run was hideous. being the most unfit i had to stop and start walking before anyone else. Jon (the dean) was nice though and walked with me. pretty soon we caught up with Josh who had stopped too. Chris and Tim were the only ones who made it the whole way. good for them i suppose. stupid people.
during the week we have had heaps of introductory lectures. for example, yesterday we had a lecture on purity. we read verses about being pure and then the guys and girls advised eachother on how they can dress and act to not make the other sex stumble lol. and also so they can avoid attracting unwanted attention from kids at youth etc. we decided that the girls had to wear turtle necks and pants below the knee. they protested at first but they understood the need. also, us guys have to never take of our shirts, even to swim, wear sleeves and pants no higher than the knee so we dont make the girls stumble. its so anoying but alright i suppose... nah im just joking. we arent that crazy lol
btw. just so everyone else reading this know, when i say that we are doing stuff that sounds cultish i am actually joking. we arent some crazy cult lol. i thought i should make that clear so people reading this go "oh my goodness! what is Mark apart of!" lol.
oh i am part of the cornerstone touch footy team! and im amazing. (naturally) . we play in town on mondays. last week we were smashed 5 to 1 but it was still fun. my personal goal was for our team to get at least 1 so im satisfied :)
the sunrises are amazing here. and we get to see them every morning on the way to work. so cool. the other day we arrived early at the Galeas and we watched the sunrise.
we had like a 2 hour community meeeting the other night. its a time to encourage and rebuke and give information to everyone. if i hadnt been next to Les i think it would have been torture. the information part was long and boring but Les made it fun by making funny, lame puns throughout. he's a champion lol.
lots of people here to be fairly musical. and half at least have nice singing voices. im imagining a very musical year lol. im not complaining though. music is the best :)
us guys have been going down to the little under Jons place every second day. its pretty fun. talking while doing weights. comparing muscles. laughing at others struggling at chin ups (mostly me laughing at Chris). etc. im hoping that by the end of the yera i will have mad guns lol. probably wishful thinking but hey, its worth trying.
i am starving right now... and, while sitting on the couch typing im looking over at the people cooking in the kitchen... well so far all im seeing is food flying through the air while people try cutting it with a knife, or spear it as it flies through the air. looks productive....
ok im going to go eat something before i whither to nothing...
on one of the first mornings (monday maybe?) 4 of us guys all got up early to go for a morning run. and when i say early i mean like 5am type thing. i regreted it the next morning lol. i lay there in bed thinking of reasons for getting out of it. at one point i found myself thinking "i know! when chris comes in here to wake me i will lie! i will say that i barely slept and needed another hour of sleep" ... my conscience made me get up though. which is good i suppose...
anyways, the run was hideous. being the most unfit i had to stop and start walking before anyone else. Jon (the dean) was nice though and walked with me. pretty soon we caught up with Josh who had stopped too. Chris and Tim were the only ones who made it the whole way. good for them i suppose. stupid people.
during the week we have had heaps of introductory lectures. for example, yesterday we had a lecture on purity. we read verses about being pure and then the guys and girls advised eachother on how they can dress and act to not make the other sex stumble lol. and also so they can avoid attracting unwanted attention from kids at youth etc. we decided that the girls had to wear turtle necks and pants below the knee. they protested at first but they understood the need. also, us guys have to never take of our shirts, even to swim, wear sleeves and pants no higher than the knee so we dont make the girls stumble. its so anoying but alright i suppose... nah im just joking. we arent that crazy lol
btw. just so everyone else reading this know, when i say that we are doing stuff that sounds cultish i am actually joking. we arent some crazy cult lol. i thought i should make that clear so people reading this go "oh my goodness! what is Mark apart of!" lol.
oh i am part of the cornerstone touch footy team! and im amazing. (naturally) . we play in town on mondays. last week we were smashed 5 to 1 but it was still fun. my personal goal was for our team to get at least 1 so im satisfied :)
the sunrises are amazing here. and we get to see them every morning on the way to work. so cool. the other day we arrived early at the Galeas and we watched the sunrise.
we had like a 2 hour community meeeting the other night. its a time to encourage and rebuke and give information to everyone. if i hadnt been next to Les i think it would have been torture. the information part was long and boring but Les made it fun by making funny, lame puns throughout. he's a champion lol.
lots of people here to be fairly musical. and half at least have nice singing voices. im imagining a very musical year lol. im not complaining though. music is the best :)
us guys have been going down to the little under Jons place every second day. its pretty fun. talking while doing weights. comparing muscles. laughing at others struggling at chin ups (mostly me laughing at Chris). etc. im hoping that by the end of the yera i will have mad guns lol. probably wishful thinking but hey, its worth trying.
i am starving right now... and, while sitting on the couch typing im looking over at the people cooking in the kitchen... well so far all im seeing is food flying through the air while people try cutting it with a knife, or spear it as it flies through the air. looks productive....
ok im going to go eat something before i whither to nothing...
Week One - Orientation
Before coming to cornerstone i agreed to writing a blog each week... im foreseeing this being a pain but i can see the usefulness. i suppose its something i can fill my time with on my days off... although there isnt alot of those... anyways, this is how my week started...
The parentals drove me here Saturday afternoon (15th? maybe?). i must say that i was pleasantly surprised with the area. the scenery is amazing and the space is larger than i imagined. i remember thinking "great! if i end up hating everyone i can just walk off into the wilderness and they would never be able to find me!" ... or something like that anyways.
I was greeted by Chris and Georgie, some familiar faces to help ease the strangeness of the place and everyone else :) i was then bombarded with people, names and faces, knowing that i could never ever remember them all within the next few hours. i decided when approached by someone i had already met to just launch straight into conversation, skipping over the need to greet with the traditional " Frankenstein! Hows it going mate!" and avoid the awkward "... ... ... im really sorry but i just cant remember your name!" and then when they tell it to you, you automatically respond with"oh hi. my names Mark. nice to meet you." and get the awkward "i know..." implying that they didnt forget my name so why arent they good enough to be remembered.... so yeah i tried to avoid that entire scenario.
didnt work though.
we then went for a swim, had a ritualistic slug ceremony, and then came back to meet the nezt lot of arriving first years.
Josh, my new roommate, i met in the dining room . He was wearing a singlet top, khaki pants and army boots. He had a decent amount of muscle on him i suppose and a short haircut. Then, when we showed him the room, he flicks out this knife, telling Chris and i how he wants to join the army and kill people... well he didnt say it like that but i remember thinking "oh my goodness. this guy is going to practice his knife skills and kill me i just know it. i better look up how to treat knife wounds..." lol ok so it wasnt like that but the tough fella persona seemed to come across quite a bit. hes a nice fella though. really polite and friendly. im considering nicknaming him joshy squashy just to see the reaction...
man writing this blog is taking forever. i will have to use less detail...
over the next two days most of the first years turned up. there is...
The Girls
This week we eased into work. I have now done two days of official work though. Watermellon picking. and i got the most painful rash both times. feels similar to a painful sunburn. not the greatest feeling ever. my skin is meant to toughen in a week or so though. or so i hope.
The lectures are amazing! i feel so sorry for all you people not here. you seriously have no idea what you are missing out on. there is so much i didnt know or hadnt thought about and am loving learning all this stuff. seriously. its the best.
i wish i could write more coz there is so much more to write but ive already been typing away for 45minutes and Tim has no one to talk to lol. so i will stop and go talk to him so he doesnt die of boredom lol. i will write later i suppose.
and i dont know how to end a blog...
umm... the end?
The parentals drove me here Saturday afternoon (15th? maybe?). i must say that i was pleasantly surprised with the area. the scenery is amazing and the space is larger than i imagined. i remember thinking "great! if i end up hating everyone i can just walk off into the wilderness and they would never be able to find me!" ... or something like that anyways.
I was greeted by Chris and Georgie, some familiar faces to help ease the strangeness of the place and everyone else :) i was then bombarded with people, names and faces, knowing that i could never ever remember them all within the next few hours. i decided when approached by someone i had already met to just launch straight into conversation, skipping over the need to greet with the traditional " Frankenstein! Hows it going mate!" and avoid the awkward "... ... ... im really sorry but i just cant remember your name!" and then when they tell it to you, you automatically respond with"oh hi. my names Mark. nice to meet you." and get the awkward "i know..." implying that they didnt forget my name so why arent they good enough to be remembered.... so yeah i tried to avoid that entire scenario.
didnt work though.
we then went for a swim, had a ritualistic slug ceremony, and then came back to meet the nezt lot of arriving first years.
Josh, my new roommate, i met in the dining room . He was wearing a singlet top, khaki pants and army boots. He had a decent amount of muscle on him i suppose and a short haircut. Then, when we showed him the room, he flicks out this knife, telling Chris and i how he wants to join the army and kill people... well he didnt say it like that but i remember thinking "oh my goodness. this guy is going to practice his knife skills and kill me i just know it. i better look up how to treat knife wounds..." lol ok so it wasnt like that but the tough fella persona seemed to come across quite a bit. hes a nice fella though. really polite and friendly. im considering nicknaming him joshy squashy just to see the reaction...
man writing this blog is taking forever. i will have to use less detail...
over the next two days most of the first years turned up. there is...
The Girls
- Amy who was a first year last year as well. she has red hair and is great at helping out all the new guys work their way around the community and how stuff works...
- Carmel from Swan Hill. short, talkative and as funny as ever. if you let her, she will probably talk non stop all day. and she has the coolest laugh coz when she does, her whole face wrinkles up in amusement.
- Georgie who i had already gotten to know well over the past two years. she would have to have one of the coolest senses of humour ever. she tricked me into thinking a spider was on my neck on outward bound and laughed hysterically when i jumped in fright. so funny.
- Jess W who is amazing. she hurt her ankle right in the first few days but didnt complain and did all the work anyway. legend.
- Jess C came late due to flooding in toowoomba. shes almost always encouraging people and she gets right into lecture discussions.
- Millie who is amazing. she has the nicest personality and always gives 110%. shes the best to have around when working hard and when haivng fun relaxing. totally awesome
- Alyssa (pronounced Aleesah) is the oldest first year being 27(?) she teaches early childhood. im really glad shes here and i think that we can learn alot working alongside her. her extra experience and wisdom shows
- Joshy Squasy my rommy. already told you about him
- Tim who is a league player. lol i love the fact that he is so much like Tim from Thailand. hes all buff and totally into the work and stuff. Tims awesome lol.
- Paul the wine guy (i added the wine guy part for the benefit of those FRIENDS fans lol like you Jenna) hes also older being 25 but that doesnt stop him joining in with all us young fellas (yes im still young. 19 is def young) hes got a mad beard going down and he is great value for conversation and stuff. he also has a great sense of humour. im so glad eveyone here seems to have good senses of humour. i think i would have died otherwise lol
- Chris... we dont talk about Chris. lol nah. Chris is great. talented and humourous as ever. no sense of personal space. always seems to catch you at your most embarrassing moments. its gonna be fun having him around all year.
- Jordan, who i have called jason, jackson, james, etc. because for some reason Jordan is just too hard to remember lol. its terrible i know. hes a great guy though. he came late but managed to become part of the group quicker than anyone else i think. he just fit straight in lol. great guy
This week we eased into work. I have now done two days of official work though. Watermellon picking. and i got the most painful rash both times. feels similar to a painful sunburn. not the greatest feeling ever. my skin is meant to toughen in a week or so though. or so i hope.
The lectures are amazing! i feel so sorry for all you people not here. you seriously have no idea what you are missing out on. there is so much i didnt know or hadnt thought about and am loving learning all this stuff. seriously. its the best.
i wish i could write more coz there is so much more to write but ive already been typing away for 45minutes and Tim has no one to talk to lol. so i will stop and go talk to him so he doesnt die of boredom lol. i will write later i suppose.
and i dont know how to end a blog...
umm... the end?
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