So...i spent this weekend back in birmingham. after the hustle bustle, workin till no end and basic food dishes...it was time to get away and catch up with the people i love and the place i miss. i decided to come back possibly last tuesday...i really wanted to come back during the 24-26th of november cos the memrobilia exhibition was happening but i decided against cos a few of the BCECs were at the encounter weekend plus Betty wouldve left to go and start anew in Canada...so that really pushed me to come back this weekend. Fortunately, our department gave us the weekend off to take a break before we go off to france tomoro..which pushed my case even more!
so i travelled back with my friend charlotte...she gets off at bristol which is on the same track which was cool...at least if i get lost, im not alone! the trip back was not bad...had a minor headaches..but i think i get that from ridin the train...people prefer it to the coach but somehow, i prefer coaches at the moment.one train story: so, charlotte gets off her stop..and this woman sits next to me...i talk to her for a bit...her name was nadine...she was gettin off at cheltenham..told her i was gettin off at new street...awesome...goin to get back to my iPod now..nice to meet u...zzz. i awoke jus to see Nadine havin to get up cos she was in someones reserved seat...i offer to stand, she tells me to sit..ook...i meet the new lady...i think her name was Jane...nice to meet u..thanks...zzz.
i then was awoken by a prod... "yes?" "the woman who u were sittin next to wanted me to tell u when we approached New Street Station..." "ummm...is this it?" "yes" "OH! THANKS!" all i can say is that when i told mom bout that...she wasnt impressed. i was.
so, i get to new st..and i was bout to surprise sam at millies when someone shouted: "ROSS CHINN!!!" i turn around... "Ross....dude, is that really u?!" "hi Ken (Wee) !!" twas cool..seems he was ridin the same train as me...so we both went to millies to say howdy to sammy...waitin in the que...she looks up and waves and smiles at Ken...puts her head down..and then almost immeadietly springs it back up....it was funny...like a jack in the box...with a millies cap on. so i went to dinner with ken and i went back to see sam after work with tuuls...it was great to catch up with em already....only havin jus arrived. took tuuls back...saw her 'bombed out' room...then went to Sam's place to wave a hello to Sue and Oompah-kin...then went to catch up with em and they sent me back...bearin in mind, i still havent told my mom i was back..made an alibi i was still in the design studios and sam called her to tell she was comin round to return sushi mats...at 11pm..i dont mom will trust sam with stuff ever again now. so sam goes up to say hi...and then i pop my head round...mom goes really red and is shocked..matt comes runnin out and he was like "woah!" ah...twas great to see my family.
saturday, went to town with mom and matt and had a walkbout...then played hoops...then went to watch The Last Kiss with sammy....it was a good film...but i warn u bout swearing and sex scenes... "its cos they hang out with that long haired dude!" :p then..CURRY! mom's curry! DoUBLE WOO.
and sunday..back to the BCEC...didnt find it as weird as i thought it would be...everyone is lookin great...message was good today...really felt i took some timeout durin the worship to have a quiet time...which is somethin i havent done in awhile...so it was good to feel somethin...i jus knew i felt somethin..spent time with khang and debra for lunch at Caffe Gusto...then went home...conked out on the couch for 5 minutes...then back to the station...coach to glouster then a train ride back...fortunaetly, got the same train with charlotte back...she wore a big furry pink jacket thing...she looked like a pink flamingo wearin a human mask...and i dozed off on the train all the way back.
Paris next. au revoir.
I'm currently listenin to: "Evermore" by Hillsong United
So..today..being Sunday, is the 15th...that means:
I have been in Plymouth for a month.
A month. A month back in birmingham would have gone *click* just like that...it would just fly by...here, its only a month but it feels like 2..maybe 3...dependent upon the mood. i dunno...i dont feel any sadness anymore or bein mopey bout not bein in birmingham...yes, i do like the big birmingham city life...and of course i miss mom and matt...but,u jus have to get over that and adapt..like a chameleon. i havent honed those skills yet but because of the heavy daily routine..there isnt time to stop and think and take it in.
i havent found time to jus find peace...actually, i have occasionally...at night when things are quiet and settled,weather permitting...i go occasionally on a walk around The Hoe with my friend and we jus take it in and jus re-charge for the day ahead. Some nights are great cos the sky turns into this dark pinky red colour...add a little man-made lights from boats and buildings and lamp posts...and uve got this nice blend of colours.
i want to go on holiday. i want to get away from the plymouth independent livin life for more than jus a short weekend..not cos i dont like it...sure, i like it...i havent fallen in LOVE with the idea yet...a period of adjusment is still required but im doin much better than what i thought id be like...for example, i havent turned my underpants inside out in order to grant me an extra day's use. i promise.
anyway, i havent got much left to say...just been rushed off my feet. Church tomoro...Jem is takin me...we'll see what happens. and first Uni B'ton match is on monday...woot. i can feel someone's smile.
I'm Currently Listening To: "Stop this Train" by John Mayer
so gutted i cant be back in birmingham to watch her tonight! but yeah...if uve got a free evening..please go to the carling academy..shes awesome...this is one example.
So..ive been on the work mode for the past few weeks and i decided last night, i was goin to have a small night off...it was gonna start with playin badminton, then follow my friends to The Walkabout club cos the theme was "Cowboy night" and my classmates are beginnin to think i dont do anythin but play guitar, go on the computer and breathe...they should find that out soon enough but not last night! but yeah...i dont mind goin to places like that...but ive not adjusted to the "Club Scene". but that wasnt the point...i wanted to see my classmates out of the classroom where we can jus be normal....away from our 'jobs' !
so this is how it panned out: didnt go to badminton...i had a rough fall on sunday whilst playin at the trials where my legs stopped workin and i fell backwards and smashed a swing door nearly in half...muscles were aching.
9:00pm-walked for 10 minutes to the SU Bar to meet my friends only to find out they moved to another pub...which was across from where i actually lived! so i had to scurry back...hung out there and had a few laughs...bout to go The Walkabout at 10pm when..
10:00pm - *ross' phone rings* "gavin (canadian star wars gavin)?" "hey ross!" "hey dude! hows it hanging?" "not bad dude...hey, check it out...im in plymouth...i told u i was comin down to party with u!" "haha...thats funny dude..." "no im serious." "dude...dont lie man...i gotta be honest, i want to believe u but i think ur yankin my chain..." "no mate...im on this street called Vauxhall St" "huh?"
So yeah...it turned out Gavin and his brother Ben were in plymouth! they were supposed to be somewhere near Exeter and stay at a Travel Lodge but missed the turnin and somehow ended up in plymouth... or as i like to call: "Rosstown" :p joke.i dont say that.i promise. but yea..so they crashed at mine...Ben was jus shattered and wanted to nap in the car...but i managed to tell him that he could actually crash in my room...so the Lam brothers stayed at mine. Gav and I took a walk around the Hoe and had a good ol catch up time for bout 2 hours or so...was great to catch up with him and see how he was doin... Gavin wanted to crash so i took him back and i went off to Walkabout at about midnight...hung out with my friends till 2:30 when it closed.. then i crashed.and i awoke at 8ish today to see of Gav and Ben..then back to sleep till 10 before meetin with my design partner to take photos of cross sectional buildings and measure sound levels...well, guesstimate.
i leave u with this..i entitle this: "Teddy Bear Rummaging Through His E-Mail"
I'm Currently Listenin To: "Dirty Little Secret" by The All-American Rejects
so aside from scale modelling a section of plymouth... i managed to get a call back for the sunday trials for the bton squad...went today and played a few matches..some of the players are actually quite awesome...ive got some catching up to do! but yeah..call back is tomoro...so yeah...lets see.
oh, one of the best things that happened this week...so, i have a classmate called Gabe and he is this 35 year old dude who has a wife...hopefully if memory serves me right..shes called Jen. Anyway...Gabe brought Jen along to the carbeque last week and i managed to speak to her for quite some time...and she is the manager of the bread and pasty factory here in plymouth which ships to tescos and stuff...so yeah...spoke to her...got on well...very cool lady... so yeah, yesterday..i was skulkin around the studio and i bumped into Gabe...and he says; "my missus has somethin for u..." "umm...its not a punch is it?" "no no...*he shows me 2 plastic bags..." "umm?" "yeah...she felt really motherly towards u one day and decided to give u a few pastries and a pie or two..." *ross proceeds to hug gabe*
its so cool! God has shown me some good things this week...meetin new people...gettin to know the people i know better...them actually rememberin my name...heck, one dude even started saluting to me! yes..the power of the salute!
but yeah..so far, im tired...but its not bad...God is with me. ill be fine.
Imogen Heap's new single: "Headlock" and in my opinion..the best track on her album..."The Walk" comes close..but Headlock is my favourite...its Heaplicious.
So..yeah...title isnt relevant..Lighthouse Family...love em. i went with my classmates Josie,Alexandros and Emily to follow this route for our next project. basically, we are in a team of 10 to make a model scale of 1km of plymouth on a 1:200 scale...so today, we went to follow the route and take pictures and check out the landscapes and contours and prominent features...it was kinda good weather today. Nice and sunny...it was bitty rain a few days ago but the sun was out today which was nice. at 1pm, we had a team meetin discussin possible modes of makin the thing...had an inside joke goin with emily which was quite funny..like id laugh jus a lil too loud and josie would ask if im ok... "no no..im cool...its ok..jus the voice in my head..." "ahh...well, dont listen to him too much..." "cant do that right now jose...hes a lil too influential.."
our lecture in the afternoon at 4 was cancelled so basically, wasnt too rigorous..bought some cheese (ahhhh....easy like sunday morning..great song), oven ready breaded chicken fillets and a reduced box of 4 apple puff pastries for 25p.praise God for reduced food.
at 7:30..went to CU...it was alright..quite nice..people were friendly...met this girl called Jem which was quite cool... "so are u from malaysia?" "yeah" "oh cool" "are u?" "singapore" "cool..so what do u do?" "im a 3rd year architecture student" "no way...im a first year!" "no way!" "way." and it went on from there for awhile..shes like 3/4 chinese and 1/4 english but 100% singaporean feelin. nice maths if u could think bout it. "so where do u live ross?" "umm..central point?" "no way! i live there too!" "no way...which number?" "219" "get outta here..215!" so its cool...so after this sunday (cos hopefully ill get called back for the trials for the Uni Bton Team), hopefully i can go to her church..apparently its called the Waterfront Church and its apparently wicked...but yeah...nice to know another Christian in the buildin with a bit in common...i dont feel so alone spiritually. she holds prayer meetings at the architecture buildings too so thats cool..pray with other architecture students..should be fun. found myself signin up for another smaller group amongst the group for Bible study and further fellowship..so yeah...God blessed me today with that.
Okay..i should sleep..but i dont want to...then i realise hours later when i hit my head on the pillow; "why didnt i do this hours ago?!" but ah well..we'll see.
okey doke...must take my late shower and whatnot. hope ur well.
I'm Currently Listening to: "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve
So, today started off pretty lamely...i was back in the studio last night...my classmate had no idea how to do it after several hours of thinking hard..so i decided to stay and help her...so i didnt get in quite till quite late... so got up at like a ridiculous hour..somethin like 10:30 which was embarassin on my part...had a rough night...i live near the clubs so alot of rowdiness occuring outside...
decided to do a few things today...had to do my washing for the first time here! the experience was awkward...im not the conosseuir of the varieties of washing machine, so after puttin in my £2 some help from someone else who was waitin for her washin to finish...mine was underway...40 minutes later...went back to the laundry room to put in the dryer..50p. went back upstairs to eat...came down after half an hour...the clothes are still 40% wet. gee. so i put in another 50p..they are still not fully dry so if u look from the pavement at my room...u will be able to see the fine range of clothes i am wearin down the trendy streets of Plymouth (various "that shirt ross always wears" tshirts)
i also decided today, id try and have a go at some song writin...was awkward...i didnt have a subject matter...maybe a take on life? im not writin a song bout a girl cos ill leave that to Mr. Mayer and his groovy cats...maybe a song bout God? maybe a song bout my life and God? somethin! so, i had a go...came up with somethin...but i wanna write somethin simple but not simple...a nice arrangement of simple words but not somethin...i dunno...predictable. havin said that, i will end up with a finish product that is predictable (no doubt) and it will be so in vein with Mr. James Blunt that he'll want to cover my song. I'm Overwhelmed anyone?
so..tried..took a break...jus thinkin bout my week ahead...its actually quite busy..busier than last week cos i joined the CU and Bton society...first bton practice is tomoro at 7pm to 10pm and team trials are on Saturday..and call backs are on Sunday..CU is on tuesday nights...not to mention my nearly 30 hour timetable..but i will do it. ive been disillusioned...startin off here God-wise is hard right now...im bound down by tryin to do secular things with friends, and its hard when ur on own and u gotta do everythin else...sometimes i wanna spend time with God...but my head is not in the right place..there is always somethin to consider like my work, my washing...rubbish like that. the competitiveness between classmates is annoyin me...everyone keeps talkin bout the classes they are gettin, tryin to see who is the smarter mathematician, people who are so smug that it radiates like the sun..its hard when all u want to do is jus work hard and keep sane. im rambling. basically, its got my head runnin wild bout grades.
so, jus to kill time this evenin, i was on the apple trailer website..and i came across the film called "Facing The Giants", about a College American Football coach who is facin hard criticism from parents and havin to cope with other family issues...but there is a part where he is givin his pep talk "winning football games is too small a thing to live for..we're not here to be born,make money and die...so im here to present you a new team philosophy..We need to give God our best..and if we win, we praise Him and if we lose, we praise Him."
the background music was "The Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns...readin the lyrics really spoke to me. i think the film probably jus has the same ol plot...a nothin team comes to winnin...predictable. but i jus never imagined that God would drop a little of Himself in there..
Oh what I would do to have The kind of faith it takes To climb out of this boat I'm in Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name And they laugh at me Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed The waves they keep on telling me Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!" "You'll never win!"
Chorus: But the voice of truth tells me a different story The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!" The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory" Out of all the voices calling out to me I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Oh what I would do to have The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant With just a sling and a stone Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors Shaking in their armor Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name And he laughs at me Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed The giant keeps on telling me Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!" "You'll never win!"
But the stone was just the right size To put the giant on the ground And the waves they don't seem so high From on top of them lookin' down I will soar with the wings of eagles When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus Singing over me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
