Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Picture Perfect

In a rare moment of good internet.
Here : pictures from Faroe Islands.

Just the ones I have on the intranet.



I'll write more about the pictures and Faroe Islands and it's people soon.
I gotta run now.

cheers.


Monday, May 4, 2009

Box-Me-Up

so Svenja, my ship sister came up to me at the lunch line and said, "I went to a church this morning that really fits you. I think you'll like it very much."
" Ah, why? "
 It's the most charismatic church I've ever been to."

:) heh.

wow. I guess I'm more 'charismatic' than I thought. 

On the contrary, in the church I went to this morning - I sang a lot of old hymns I've never sung before. Almost everyone wore a coat, and some wore hats. Most had white hair - but they were such darling people! Firm handshakes, warm smiles, and the ladies really just smother you with hugs and kisses. "Go to India, child. You must go to India" - said the lady who'd spent 37 years of her life there as a missionary. 

I grew up in a charismatic assemblies of God church and in some ( a lot ) of ways, I will always remain one. But I've also learnt so much from the times I've spent in that close-knit Lutheran community in Bangsar. And my months ( years ? ) of searching during the uni-days saw me visiting every denomination - leading me to the conclusion - that we all have different ways of doing things anyway, and it's all about the love, y'know. Everything else is just an expression of that love. And that always reminds me of something Bono said :  "To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is even greater."

Being here in Ireland, seeing how the roads and people and walls and buildings and churches segregate and divide themselves -  makes his songs and words mean so much more now. 'It's all in the past now. It's all in the past.'. Yes it is - but that past is still too recent for comfort, and you could still almost feel ( or at least see ) its lingering shadow. 

Religion. Beliefs. Faith. Hope. 

All used interchangeably sometimes. But they definitely do not mean the same. 

I do not like religion. 


Sunday, May 3, 2009

Shamrock

Tomorrow morning, Sunday - Mountpottinger church.
I'm going with one of my favourite Russians - Alexey Osintev. :)

We're doing a short intro session about ship, ministry - and maybe a testimony.

Had dinner tonight in the house of an ex-Douloid ( 1982-1984 ). It was good. Breakfast for dinner's always good. :) And then of course we had to talk about tea, and coffee ( and kopi luwak ), which very quickly turned into a full-blowned discussion about weird foodtypes from around the world.

Ah food - the conversation starter, ender - and sometimes ( most times ) it just takes over.
But all in good fun.


I realise that I've been a very adventurous 'eater'.
But then again I'm Chinese.

brr.
I just added dried Whale meat and Whale 'blubber' + rotten raw sheep meat into the list of 'exotic' foods I've tried. ( Faroe Islands ) 
Ah, and the raw herring in the Netherlands.
I didn't try the Haggis tho. ( Scotland ) 

I have so much to tell but I don't know where to start.
"Ireland" is an interesting place and I have a feeling I've only seen one part of it. I'll have to go to the Republic of Ireland before I get a full grasp of the Irish, and the things that unite/divide them.

For starters, I just found out that there's Irish English and then there's Irish - like a real Gaelic language. And who St Patrick really was, and what is the significance of the 3 ( clover?) shamrock leaf. 

Time! Time's winged chariots are catching up, running after me.