Home is where the heart is...

Well I am not exactly home in Sydney yet, but I'm with my family in Taiwan right now. It's so good to see my family and relatives again after a year and there is so much to catch up on. I try not to talk too much of "I did this and that in the US" because my friend told me people from home would be more interested in hearing about what's happening in the next few episodes of Desperate Housewives than my tales from the life-changing exchange experience :p

My sister took a few weeks off work in Sydney and we both had a blast in Taipei! So much eating, talking and pampering ourselves took place!



Last week, while my sister was driving down this really steep slope into a carpark, I asked her without much thinking, whether her foot was pushing down on the brake (what I meant to ask was how much pressure you need to apply on the brake - since there are no steep slopes at all in Champaign-Urbana). Ever since that, no one would let me sit in the drivers seat, let alone show off my newly acquired driving skills. :(

Hellllooooooooooo 2006 !! New Year thus new blog :) Also, time for making (and breaking?) those New Years Resolutions!!


Tallest building in the world! Taken from the lounge @ midnight

School does not start until 27th Feb (2 summer breaks in one year :D ) and until then, I hope I get lots done! I've registered for this online summer course (which started yesterday) on "HIV and Other Unconquered Infections". It sounds like fun but there will be weekly tests and and compulsory online posting a few times a week. >< For the next few weeks before I take off traveling again (I'm planning to visit Japan), I'm learning to write mandarin with Maddy, who is also in Taiwan for holiday :) I'm glad we came up with this nerdy idea :p I'm almost getting sick of shopping/eating/movie/tv surfing everyday. We are going to meet @ Starbucks in the mornings for breakfast and start our lessons when our brains are still fresh and functioning. Hope we stick to this plan...easier said than done right?!
I'm also learning how to relax and taking things slowly. The other day, I went to this dermatologist and she said from my skin conditions she could tell that I've been highly-stressed out and not getting enough sleep! This massage lady also said the same! I guess I've been stressed about registering for my classes next semester. As I went on exchange for a whole year, I have sort of stuffed up my academic calendar and now I dont think I can graduate in time (I am really not ready to do my thesis this year). Some of the classes I took in the US were not approved so therefore I cannot transfer the credits back to UNSW. I am also faced with the problem of deciding whether to do a double major (Statistics) or not.

Relatives and family friends love to ask me what I've learnt this year in the US, or if there was anything exciting that I'd like to share. I always get soo tongue-tied because I dont know where to begin - His blessings are countless. I guess all I can say is I've truly understood this year how real God is, and that His grace is really sufficient. Surprisingly, I'd never felt insecure or alone last year, for I know that He is present everywhere I go and knows me better than myself :) He is so faithful.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

"In the day of prosperisty be happy, but in the day of adversity consider - God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him. " ~ Ecclesiastes 7:14

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. ~Romans 12:2