No More North America.

Woo, last day in North America for two months.

Today was moving day, getting all of our furniture out of the four apartments we were renting. But, it started earlier, with a practice at 6:45 in the morning. That went well, considering the hour.

Anyway, the AM dial consisted of moving stuff and some cleaning as well. Cleaning up after 12 guys takes up a fair bit of time, so I had something to do at least.

Then in the afternoon was some last-minute preparations, and I'm going to bed early.

Oh yeah, in case you didn't realize, this will be the last blog for a stint. I'm not exactly sure what the story will be in Russia. I know there will be some internet access, but it will be quite limited. Oh well, you'll hear from me sometime.

Arrivederci.

100.

Darn. 200 short of some sort of 'This is Sparta' joke... Oh well.

I'm writing this early because as of 5:00 today, no more computer. It's staying in Vancouver because it probably will break/ not work there, and it'll be a cumbersome load to lug around.


Anyways, another fairly busy day. I basically am finishing up my packing, doing some last minute shopping for little things I'll need, getting together stuff to send home, so basically, a lot of running around is what's going on.

Arrivederci.

Packed with Packing.

I had a nice, productive day today.

I started fairly early, getting a drive out to Delta BC to help out/observe Jack out with some younger goalies, just to get used to the idea and all. Oh yeah, and Jack gave me even MORE stuff. He gave me some material from HMI (Hockey Ministries International), some toques to give to some Russian kids and a Bible from FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes).

Then for most of the afternoon I packed for outreach, getting everything organized and setting up a box of stuff to send home as well.

So that is what my day really consisted of, it was quite a good day all around.

Arrivederci.

The Aftermath...

...Can be simply cleaning up the wrapping paper, or it can be the literal math, calculating just how much you've blown on the holiday (cue the guffaws from the peanut gallery).

Anyways, a fun day. Emily from church came up to Vancouver and thought she'd hang out with me for the day whilst in the neighborhood.

First I introduced her to all of the folks from YWAM staying over here for the break, she was happy with a guitar and a few rugby players, so she was happy there. Then we took a plate of homemade cookies to the girl's apartment down the street and got her acquainted with the girls.

Mom (being the mom she is) sent Emily off with more Christmas stuff (clothes) and a large hug.

Then we decided to join the insane and head to a mall. On the skytrain towards the mall, my hat sparked a conversation with a pair of police officers. No, the hat didn't say anything nasty on it, it was from the police officer's hometown of Newcastle, England. Also the other cop there played rugby, so once again, conversation was easy.

Then after a while being in the mall, we returned to commercial drive to eat, went down Broadway for a bit, and returned home. Emily went to see a movie while I decided to take a bit of time for myself, drop some stuff off at the apartment and have dinner. Then Emily invited me to play scrabble with her family. The invitation for one who enjoys plays on words to play with words was quickly accepted, and we played scrabble till about midnight. Then I came home and packed up my hockey gear for a practice scheduled for tomorrow (now, today).

Arrivederci.

What is the Greatest Gift?

I don't feel like flat out describing my day really, I kind of want to make it interesting, sort of a reflection of the day.

The title is a question for my self, which I intend to answer through this entry.

Although I received many a gift today, but they all are dwarfed by two things. As great as an endless supply of snacks, photography magazines and clothes are, they simply do not compare to two things: Family by blood, and family through blood.

For seventeen of my eighteen Christmases, I have grown accustomed to having family all around in this time, from brothers and sisters to aunts and uncles, and everything in between. For many, this blessing is a given. However, there are so many families that are broken and shattered, I fear that there are also many who have never celebrated Christmas the way it was intended to be celebrated.

Just as much as I have realized the wonder of this first gift, I was also introduced to another family with whom I can celebrate this season. I, for the first time in my life, have been privileged with the opportunity to experience this second family in the way God fully intended it to be felt. Even without much in the way of possessions, each member gave what they could, some gave up their houses for an evening while others invested their time in preparing a meal or even explaining the rules to the card game 'Uno'. Each mentioned gift may seem to vary in value on the surface, but at the heart of them is where the true value lies. This Christmas has put this lesson in full view for me, which made this a memorable Christmas.

It also helps that it SNOWED... IN VANCOUVER... ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

Arrivederci.

3, 2, 1...

Almost there. Kids, now is the time to go to bed, if the pure ecstasy of the season doesn't keep you awake, which it probably does.

Anyways, today was pretty fun, I didn't do a terrible lot, but that's a reason I enjoyed today.

So first off, I went out and did some laundry, and shortly thereafter dirtied it up all over again by going out for a run. I'll need to go out and run a few times this week, as it is required by our coach, to be in decent form when we go.

So after getting the work and such out of the way, I talked to a few people at home, and watched a movie with some of the guys in the apartment.

But now it's time to go to bed, for my mind to be invaded by sugar plum fairies and such nonsense.

Arrivederci.

We Do It Soooo Much Better.

Woo, it's Christmas Eve eve.

Anyways, I went to church today, and they had a candlelight service in the morning... I've got to say, that was a bit lame. I mean, it's only a true candlelight service when the only visible light is candlelight. Otherwise, it's sub-par in my book. Not that the service itself was bad, but a candlelight service without true candlelight is just a service to me.

Other than the service, I didn't do a whole lot, I went to hang out again with friends, and I got to say goodbye to the folks down at the cafe playing jazz, it was a pretty good day.

Arrivederci.

Slightly Less Musical Than Expected.

A stroll down Broadway stirs up ideas of musicals and glamour. Not the 0ne in Vancouver though.

I did a fair bit of shopping, just practical things I will need for the next little while, nothing exciting.

I did however get to watch more of Prison Break tonight with some of the folks here, we plan on getting through season 1 this week, certainly an attainable goal.

Anyways, it's very late here, and it's bedtime.

Arrivederci.

Just a Little Talk With EVERYONE.

I'm pretty much out of names for daily blog entries. But I think it's noteworthy that I've come up with sensical titles for about 90 of my blog entries... Anyways, my day.

The only scheduled thing today was some cleaning before people left for their respective abodes. So since two of the four people in this apartment were leaving early in the morning, most of the stuff was done the night before. So there was a bit of work done, but our base director was happy with the cleanliness.

Then Sam and I jumped from apartment to apartment to see just how many people there were around, it was a barren wasteland compared to 24 hours ago.

I also called Kingswood camp to chat with people there who wanted to, since it was their camp Christmas party today. So I talked to a few people, for a LONG time, I think I clocked in at 2-3 hours of phone time today. My ear hurts.

Then for some reason or another, a few of the guys went over to the girl's apartment and a fair bit of time was spent there. I got to play pinball on the computer and got a pitiful excuse of a high score (1.9 million). Then for a few hours, we watched Prison Break, said goodbyes and such, and headed off to our apartments for the night. Sleep will follow.

Arrivederci.

Done.

Today was the final day of lectures for this DTS.

The class was all about little things we should know/have on outreach to make things go a bit better (i.e. Don't tick off customs officers, shower with clothes on to do laundry and clean yourself, fun little things like that).

So then we prayed for the outreach teams for a fair chunk of the afternoon, then we had our last supper. Which unfortunate for me and a few others, we had to clean up after, so that took a while.

Two of the guys in my apartment are leaving tomorrow, the other is leaving sometime on Saturday, so solitude is just around the corner. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I'm not sure. I guess we'll find that out, won't we?

Arrivederci.

Welcome to the United States of Euphoria...

...Population, me.

Today is a blur, I'll just get to the big stuff. I mean, we ate and learned, that's it.

Now for the big news. It's Hiroshima in the head, Nagasaki on the noggin. All signs point to a blown mind. Jack the goalie coach who comes out GAVE me a brand new pair of Bauer Vapor XXX goalie pants (NHL-caliber stuff) and a new. Pair. Of. Custom. Bauer. Goalie. Pads...

Just let that sink in.

A. New. Pair. Of. Custom. Bauer. Goalie. Pads.

These things are divine. Remember the stick giving off an aura a while back? These behemoths produce a halo. In fact, they clock in on the UV scale, you need SPF 15 to be in the same room as them. They are red, white, and blue, custom made to the specifications of NHL goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (ironically, a Russian), and are probably worth more than every other pair of pads combined. Excuse me while I both wet myself and salivate in glee. But the best thing? These pads are so light. Both of the pads together weigh maybe half of one of my old pads. Plus they are 3 inches taller than my old pads, so no more shots to the knees.

Pictures will follow shortly.
Arrivederci.

A More Wakeful and Less Child-filled Future.

A "Good news- Bad news" kind of day.

The good news? No more workouts at 7 AM in the morning. We had our last one today and it went pretty well. Me and two other guys ran it this morning, so you know it was good.

Anyway, our class had an activity today, one of those 'teamwork building' things. I mean the ones where one guy in the group is assigned to be difficult and the rest are physically unable to do anything, it's fun.

Then, the bad news. Today was the last day of going to help out at the nursery in Burnaby. But I'll still see one of the kids from there because her parents work at the base, so she'll be around.

Well other then that, nothing really happened today. But I don't mind that, it was a fine day in my opinion.

Arrivederci.

Paid in Full.

A bit of a 'Giveth and Taketh' kind of day, but still quite a good day.

This was the due date for the last payment for outreach, so there's your taketh right there. Though it wasn't as big of a payment as first expected, so it wasn't as bad of a taketh as previously thought.

Hockey was alright today, I didn't find it to be too good, but it wasn't anything special. I also felt kind of sick afterwards, nothing too bad, just feeling a bit off.

Cue the 'giveth'. My care package came from home, it was quite literally Christmas in a box. I've also gotten a few Christmas cards from some people at church, which I really appreciate a lot. Anyways, my long awaited birthday present came from Nick, a CD of my friend from camp a few years ago, it's quite wonderful.

So that's all I did today, quite a lot and sleep is well deserved.

Arrivederci.

All Work, No Play.

No, I didn't have a crazy working day, I got all my work done. And I did have fun today, though I didn't play at jazz again thanks to lack of instrument. Anyways, my day...

It was another fairly restful day. Church was good, it's reaching the climax of the season which I thoroughly enjoy, I enjoy cacophonous choral carols creeping out of church coffers creating chills. Hooray for alliteration.

Anyways, one of the highlights of the day was devouring yesterday's highlight; that giant caesar salad. It was shared between my roommate and I and it sufficiently answered the question of why the Caesars ruled the known world for so long, they just gave everyone salad so nobody would have any beefs, only bacon bits.

Then I had some long chats with each family member today, each one eventually signed in on MSN to chat. After finally finishing familial fellowship, I actually got to the work portion of the day, which didn't actually take a terribly long time.

At that time I went to eat supper and called the family just because things were slightly bleak on your coast based on what I heard so I thought I'd call to make the evening a little cheerier, to fit the weather.

Then I went to the cafe down the street to hear some jazz. It was pretty good tonight, a few less players than last week so it felt a lot more orderly which was pretty good. I got to talk with the bassist a little more (he's sort of the leader of the bunch) and ensured that his old Toyota van would start before walking back.

So that was my day, a a garden variety slightly more varied than the vegetables in my salad.

A Whole Wad o' Nuttin'

That explains my day in a nutshell.

All I did was rest. I stayed in most of the day and just rested, but this cold is certainly on it's way out now, so I think it could be gone tomorrow or the day after, which is a very good thing.

Ooh, and I also scored a giant salad from the other guy's apartment... They had 4 giant 'salads-in-a-box', and they only used 1 tonight, so I got the other one! So at some point in the very near future, I'm going to tee off on that salad and it will be grand.

Doesn't that last paragraph just give you an idea of how uneventful today was? Aside from a chat with my dad, a giant salad was the highlight of my day.

Which brings me to another highlight of my weekend, sleep.

Arrivederci.

Left side, Strong side?

After the last two practices, I'm might beg to differ. Someone or something of a higher power I think has a personal vendetta against my left side... You'll hear more about that later.

Anyways today we got to hear from Tom Hallas, the guy we were supposed to have speak this week, but couldn't because of his role in the memorial service for the victims of the Denver shootings. So anyway he made it out for today and just talked about encoragement and answered some questions regarding the whole incident.

Hockey today had me convinced that there is a vendetta on my left side. Remember two days ago when there were 2 shots in a row to my knee and one to the shoulder (both my left ones)? Well shot number 1 today was a shot directly to the left elbow, and that hurt for the rest of practice. Woo hoo.

Anyways, we also had a really big and fancy meal tonight kind of to mark the end of our lecture phase since when it actually ends, most people will be gone. So we had a really nice Christmas-esque dinner and one of the guys did up a slideshow of pictures from the whole DTS. I also got to play with a Sony A camera, which was fun.

So that was my day, a pretty fun one.

Arrivederci.

Less shin kicking.

Today was a big improvement from yesterday in pretty much every way possible.

I still felt sick, but not as bad as yesterday, and that bodes well with me.

So we had our last class with Alan McBryan today, and that went pretty good for the most part.

Then we had intercession for Russia today and for all the stuff going on there (the insanely high abortion rate, rampant AIDS, the 'democracy' of Putin...) so we prayed for that and more focused on the impact our team will have there. So that went pretty well also.

Then I had most of the afternoon off, ate dinner and retreated to the apartment for the night. I think I'll head off to bed soon, to get some good sleep.

Arrivederci.

A Kick-to-the-Shin Kinda Day.

Today was not fun. In many ways. In fact, I don't think it's a stretch to say it was not fun in very way.

I woke up this morning and came to the sad realization that I have a cold. I also didn't want to miss class because I'd feel bad for missing a class, so I went anyway.

Class was alright, I stiff felt crappy there, but I wasn't blowing my nose every 10 seconds for the sake of everyone else.

Then we had hockey, which wasn't a terrible lot of fun. Our student coach for the day decided that it would be good in the warm-up to shoot for corners, as opposed to the way you're supposed to, at the goalie. So that was quite ignorant of him and quite bothersome as well. Then in the net drill the same guy decides to drill a shot in the neighborhood of my noggin. It didn't hit my head, but instead my shoulder, specifically a spot without padding. About 5 shots later, I ended up with 2 shots in a row directly off the same kneecap, also sans protection. Ouch.

Then when we got back for a little class, some good news. Our game jerseys came in from Winnipeg, and they're pretty sweet. They're embroidered and all that fancy stuff. Everybody got their jersey... Except me. They screwed up the size for me and so I got a really small jersey so I don't actually know when mine will come in.

Then we had a second class for the day, which adds up to two classes (one more than I would have preferred). Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Arrivederci.

Shakaaaaa!

Do you understand how hard it is to come up with a title about 'My Day' 82 times without being repetitive? Anyways, here's today.

We were talking about more theology, today covering how God could work. The three dominant views being Calvinism (Everything is done by God's sovereign will), Arminianism (almost like Calvinism, but with a dash of free will thrown in) and more "Open Theism" (God sees every option possible until decisions are made, than it is certainty). So that's what we learned, along with the main arguments for and against each.

Then I got to go and do the whole nursery thing today. I didn't want to really interact with the kids too much today, because I have a little case of the sniffles. Kids plus snot equals disaster.

So that was really all my day was made up of, it was a fun day.
Arrivederci.

Change in Plans

Our speaker for this week is actually from a base in Colorado (not the Denver base, but one somewhere in Colorado, I'm not exactly sure where) so he canceled in the last minute to be with the group in Denver. So thankfully on 5 hours notice we had a guy fly in from Edmonton talking on 'a panoramic view of God', so we're really appreciative of his coming on such short notice.

Hockey today was cool, our coach has passed on the reins to students the last few weeks and it this practice was run by my roommate, our resident Edmontonian Alex and me. So for my portion of the practice I got to put people through some goalie drills, it's fun to see the challenges of shuffling without skates cut for a goalie.

So then we actually had the rest of the day off, because the staff were having a party all on their own, no students involved. So a nice restful night happened. But now I'm off to bed.

Arrivederci.

Sour Tinged Sunday

A good day, but completely tainted by dark and dreary overtones from the YWAM shooting.

I can't quite wrap my mind around the idea of losing two YWAMers forever. We did have one leave a while ago as you might remember and that day was a pretty big downer, and even then we all know she's alive and well at home.I can't grasp the idea of two people here being gone forever.


Well I went to church down the road, and that's where I found out about the YWAM shooting so that cloud was hovering over all of the events of the day.

Anyways, I did laundry and did some running and stuff, y'know, responsible stuff that I need to do once in a while.

I also got to play street hockey with some of the guys, we have a completely vacant parking garage under the apartment so as dark and void of natural light as it may be, it's presence is an invitation for hockey. So I did that for a while, it was pretty fun.

Then I went down the street to check in on the jazz group. I got to talk to them for a while, help put stuff away, just hanging out with them.

So I'm not sure how today was.

Arrivederci.

Saturday, that ever so lovely Saturday...

Oh yeah, sleeping in was wonderful. I didn't do a terrible lot today, just journals and such.

The hockey guys did however have an entire afternoon of watching hockey night in Canada at our coach's house. Because we're on the west coast, watching the entire NHL doubleheader of CBC is quite easy, since the second game only ends at 10 or so... So we did that whole eat drink and be merry thing for the afternoon.

That's about it, tons o' fun.

Arrivederci.

That wonderful day everyone works for...

Yup, Fridays mean Saturday is right around the corner, a very good thing indeed.

So today was a lot slower than the first 4 days this week, we were in the base for most of it. The only thing really outside the ordinary was I had an oral presentation to do on the phrase 'God is just" so that was pretty quick, just 5 minutes.

Then we had a hockey game. I felt I played fine, but it seemed like one of those games where nothing goes right at all, so we lost. We didn't have a scorekeeper so I can't give any specifics.

Anyways, that was about all that really happened today.

Arrivederci.

Onions n' Brussels Sprouts

Sounds like a crappy day from the title if I do say so myself, but it wasn't so that;s good.

Today was our last outreach day. I went to a drop-in/detox center in downtown Vancouver called Harbour Light, run by the Salvation Army. So the work there (at least for me) was essentially cutting stuff. A bit of an odd assignment for me, but certainly one I didn't mind. There isn't too much else to say about the harbour light outreach, though I did get to talk to a guy there who has 20 years experience in jail, so they get some people that need some help.

Anyways, then we had supper, but instead of the monotony of sandwiches or some kind of standard meal for 50, we got to go to an Indian restaurant. I for the most part had butter chicken with naan bread, which is good for culinary wuss like me.

So it overall was a good day, though I did find it somewhat tiring.

Muslims n' Buddhists

Today was the day our YWAM group went to tour some of the other temples around, to get to know some of the beliefs of where we are going. So we went to a local mosque since both Indonesia and Malaysia are two of the biggest Muslim countries in the world, with Indonesia being the biggest Muslim country in the world.

So we went to the mosque in the morning, it was pretty interesting. All the men had to wear collared suits and slacks. Jeans are shunned at the mosque, for both men and women. All the girls had to wear a hijab, or a head cover at least. So we had a little tour and a sort of 'Islam 101' so we can better understand the religion. It's really weird because they worship the same god as us, but they have different versions of our old testament stories. The biggest example is they believe that Abraham was going to slaughter Ishmael instead of Isaac. So there were a lot of questions asked, with some interesting answers.

So after leaving the mosque we went to a Buddhist temple, a more aesthetically appealing place. It was very Chinese in style, in the architecture and such. There were a lot of golden statues of various Buddhas throughout history, and oddly enough, many plastic animals. So then we had a chat with one of the workers in the temple about Buddhism, and how it works. It's really self-centered, all about searching for enlightenment, how important Karma is and how reincarnation is. A very confusing religion.

So then we came back to the base, watched a movie, and that's about it.

So tune in tomorrow for the smashing conclusion of our urban outreach week.

Arrivederci.

Homeless Dudes n' Prostitutes

There's a title that'll raise an eyebrow or two.

Our day started too early, with dryland at 7 AM, and it was a pain to do this morning. Bad start.

Then we came and had a quick little briefing about what we were to do in the afternoon. We were going to walk around downtown and the East side to learn more about them and what needs to be done to improve their state, so it was pretty much wander about time and learn more about the needs of the city. Considering how time and energy consuming that was for me, I hated it. We talked to a couple people, but it didn't feel terribly productive, though it could be in some distant far fetched way.

Then we walked over to the Coastal church, a church which is right in downtown, a rare thing. So they talked about how they started and their outreach into the downtown, and how it was mostly relationship based.

So after that we came back and ate supper. I didn't get to much, which also sucked.

Then we had a prayer walk in the nice little pockets of prostitution in Vancouver. So to start we prayed for energy, since I lacked it or any hint of a can-do attitude. So anyways, my group was sent to the downtown district around Robson and Granville, give or take a few blocks. It is notorious for it's nightclubs and adult toy stores rather than flat out stereotypical 'girls-on-corners' style prostitution, that's for the East side of town. So anyways, the energy prayer was promptly answered by two women giving out Red Bull, though we ironically didn't drink it.

Then we had our first really trippy experience. A part of our prayer walk was each group was given a rose (or two) with a little note on it to give to whoever needs it, a prostitute or a 'client', whoever we felt needed it most. So anyways, one guy in our group felt the receptionist at a local shop called "Madame Cleo's", so we prayed over him and the shop. So anyways, the guy walks in, and as he is talking to the receptionist, a troupe of half naked girls surrounds him, with a very limited wardrobe. So anyways, he gives one of the girls the rose, and they all were really touched by it. A very neat experience.

Then we prayed over some other clubs like the 'Penthouse', a club that has been in Van for about 50 years, and one called "Roxy's" which ironically while we were walking outside it was playing "Tainted Love". The second rose was given out by the girl in our group to the bouncer at Roxy's, a but guy named Chris. So anyways, everyone was really uplifted from that experience, despite the lack of sleep and energy to actually want to go in the first place, so it was a good night that made up for the rest of the day for me.

Anyways, it's late.

Arrivederci.

Last day of freedom this week.

At least, that's what it's looking like...

It is Urban missions week, so today we did a prayer walk along Commercial drive, praqying for the needs and such.

It's looking like the last day of free time because the next days will be BUSY. Tomorrow I'll be going 18 hours straight, so that will supremely suck. Hopefully, I'll get some time to myself.

Anyways, enough complaining. We had hockey today, AND I FINALLY BROKE MY SHER-WOOD STICK! I am so glad, because that stick as terrible. It was heavy, weak, didn't have a good curve, so it finally broke today... I replaced it with a Bauer with the Cujo curve (a good thing), though I'm now running low on spending money for Russia again.

Anyways, it's late, and that's about all that happened anyway.

Arrivederci.

Semi-snowy Sunday

It snowed even more today, though it got washed away by rain later.

Anyways, church in the morning was cool, it was the first time I've ever seen a Youtube video in church, about Britain's Got Talent's winner Paul Potts. The guy has some obscure job in Cardiff Wales, but is an incredible opera singer. Check him out on youtube, he's very deceptive.

Anyways, on the way back from church our resident Korean YWAMer decided to throw a snowball at me... Big mistake on her part. I ended up catching most of them and pelting them back at her. So the moral of the story: don't mess with a Canadian in a snowball fight.

So I also got to scan some drawings, maybe I'll post on within the next few days, there's some pretty cool ones.

Anyways, our night consisted of childcare for a church hosting a banquet at the Hyatt in downtown Vancouver. I got stuck in the baby room, so it was slightly louder than I cared for, but overall the night was fine.
Anyways, I have to get up extra early tomorrow, so it's bed time for me.

Arrivederci.

Snowy Saturday?!?

Yeah, it snowed... in Vancouver... In early December.

In meteorologic terms, this is a miracle. According to Glen and Lorraine, it normally snows around late December/early January, and only for one week of the year. Not so this year. Greg out resident Australian got to see snow for the first time ever, so he had an adventurous day.

Anyways, this day was actually kind of boring, all snow put into consideration. It was a bit disappointing as well, since I planned to do a few things, and nothing actually got done. Oh well, I've got some of tomorrow as well.

Arrivederci.