This Friday, Jessie and I began our very first small group! For weeks, we have been planning to host a bible study using Beth Moore’s “Breaking Free.” We worked from 3:30 pm to 6:00 (the time our friends were supposed to come), getting prepared. As an introductory, ice breaker session, Jessie and I decided to decorate prayer journals for a craft. After school anyone watching she and I would have been laughing at our attempts to run/ waddle down the hallway loaded with books and computer cases, trying to buy small notebooks at the student store before the bus left. Thankfully we made it on time and quickly arrived at our home. We then set ourselves to work, cutting appropriate sized paper, and ribbon so that our friends would have everything ready to start sticking! Finally it was 6:00, and Jessie and I said a quick prayer asking for blessings for the night. Our friend from school was the first to arrive and you might be surprised at me saying that she was the last to arrive as well. It ended up that one girl couldn’t come due to having previous engagements, another was sick and the last was hosting a middle school party at the school. However, this did not stop us from having tons of fun together! We talked, cut, pasted, read, ate, drank, prayed and giggled for two hours straight! The Lord blessed us in a way that we didn’t expect by giving us this time alone with a sweet and joyful friend.

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Last weekend, I attended my very first Model United Nations conference, and as you probably guessed, MUN is a way for students to debate and resolve United Nation’s topics. I entered the conference with an opening speech where I was shaken to the tips of my fingers the entire time I spoke, and ended the conference with over 40 speeches and points of information (POI). I was a delegate in the General Assembly (GA) committee which debated 4 issues, each resolution called for two resolutions to be submitted. I main submitted a resolution under the Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines. At the end of each debating session the house votes for or against the resolution, in our case most of the delegates voted for the establishment of the resolution so we passed! To sum up the entire conference in three words, I would say it was fun, invigorating, and exciting! I enjoyed myself so much and found something that I could really excel in! In the ending ceremony, there was one delegate in each committee (GA, Disarmament, Human rights, Advisory Panel, Security Council and Ecosoc) that was awarded the “Most Eloquent Speaker.” Jessie, my best friend Lara, and I won three of the six awards!
Our school’s Student News Club aired a broadcast about this conference… you can watch it below 🙂

Happy New Year! This is a little bit strange for me to say at the beginning of February but for the culture around me Spring festival (the lunar calendar’s New Year), is considered the season for celebration. This year is the year of the rabbit just as last year was the year of the tiger, every year according to the zodiac calendar, a new animal is chosen. This year while spending time with Malaysian friends, I surprised and delighted to receive several 红包‘s (hong bao’s)! It is an Asian custom (Chinese in particular) to give little red letters to children and other friends during the new year. The letters are filled with money, hence, just as we in American culture receive presents for Christmas, they get money. This is the first year that I’ve even been given a 红包，and I was ecstatic! Our friends the Chins gave me one, then their friends and their parents gave me one! How blessed I am to have such kind and generous friends!

This afternoon, Jessie, Maddie and I took my our electric scooter to run errands and check out the festivities of the New Year. Speedily driving to “China Unicom”, we payed for our home phone bill, then we grabbed two Mango bubble teas on the way back. Our original mission, was to buy butter for Mom to make some of her exceptional granola bars, however, the DIY (do it yourself) store was out of stock! Thankfully having a back-up plan, we rushed over to the “Good Friend’s Store,” an import store in our neighborhood. I love this time of the year, first of all because everyone, all of our Chinese neighbors, are bustling around much like we do during Christmas time. Buying fruit, decorations and fireworks, we see people all over the place carrying large red bags and boxes. It’s very interesting that, like Christmas, the color red is the mark of the season. Every day I am learning more and more about this culture around me… being so different, yet I have am growing to love it.

>> Last week, Michael, Jessie and I walked to a near-by, outdoor skating rink to meet up with some friends. On the way, Michael took some shots of Jessie and I with some new photography skills which he recently discovered. I am so impressed with his creativity and skills concerning photography, I have to admit, its also very nice to have a professional photographer available wherever I go. I can’t imagine life without him, there will be nobody to sit around and drink coffee with, study late at night with, and just talk to. Can you tell that I am dreading is departure?>> From iceskating to grieving my brothers graduation… how will I be able to cope without him?
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>> Amelia and I iceskating!>>

This afternoon, Jessie, Maddie and I took my our electric scooter to run errands and check out the festivities of the New Year. Speedily driving to “China Unicom”, we payed for our phone bill, then we grabbed two Mango bubble teas on the way back. Our original mission, was to buy butter for Mom to make some of her exceptional granola bars, however, the DIY (do it yourself) store was out of stock! Thankfully having a back up plan, we rushed over to the “Good Friend’s Store,” an import store in our neighborhood. I love this time of the year, first of all because everyone, all of our Chinese neighbors, are bustling around much like us during Christmas time. Buying fruit, decorations and fireworks, we see people all over the place carrying large red bags and boxes. Its very interesting that, like Christmas, the color red is the mark of the season. Every day I am learning more and more about this culture around me… its so different yet I have learned to love it.