Almost there....

Just to start off with a small story...
In one of the last blogs, I had said that I house sat for my aunt (my aunt and uncle went overseas for two weeks, during which I went ot Brisbane for a week).  So, I was house sitting for 1 1/2 weeks, and I did a pretty good job, except for a couple of days here and there.  The routine was that I would feed the dog and the fish and topped off the water in the pond before I left for work, and then in the evening, make sure the light was on in the back so that the dog sees the herons when they sit on the roof and stare at the fish at night.  There was one day when the water heater's pilot light went out, and I woke up to a cold shower.  So I went outside, fed the dog and fish, and put a hose in the pond to top off the water in the fish pond before going to work.  Then I proceeded to fix the water heater, which I thought would be a 5 minute job, but turned into a 30 minute job.  After I fixed it, I ran into the house, grabbed a bite to eat and noticed that the water level in the pond was almost over flowing!  Good thing I caught it... turned off the water and went to work.  Later in the same week, on Saturday I was going to the GLS 2010, and so I fed the dog and the fish, and topped the water, but then got distracted... no, it wasn't like "Ooo, bird!"... it was more like nature was calling.  And so, afterwards, I left to go to the GLS.  8 HOURS LATER I came back to find the water still flowing!  I spent about 2 hours fixing up the area, bailing out water overflowing to all over the back yard... the small fish mixed with the big fish (no one was eaten), and one big fish died (sigh.. one casualty).  Moral of the story... I'm fine house sitting as long as no pets are involved... not sure about plants.  On the flip side, I came home from church one Sunday a few weeks after, and found my aunt forgot to turn the water off as well (only about half an hour on, so no casualties)... so maybe forgetfullness runs in the family.  So, just a warning... I can house sitting is good if you have no pets... and maybe plants.

Job:
The job is going well... still reading.  Some readings are good, others not so hot.  I think I am going to go back to caffeine addiction through coffee if I can't stay awake through some of these articles and books.  I think the topic is interesting, but some people write in such a dry way that I am surprised that they didn't fall asleep when they proofread their work!  I've been to a few meetings where the entire mechanical and civil department gets together to discuss the huge problems that they are facing.  What I find amusing is that the problems they are facing with teaching their students, I have already faced and learned from in dealing with teenagers in the NYC public school system.  However, when I mention solutions at times, I am told that it is not the same as high school since it is "uni"!  So, I have learned to keep my mouth shut, and just sit at meetings, which I end up falling asleep at since I have no chance of contributing.  Frustrating... yes.  But I remind myself, I am the newbie, and thus the lowest on the ladder rung.  An example, is that one problem they are facing is that students are not keeping up with the work, and not responding well to the exams and work.  So, one professor/lecturer stood up and gave this 5 to 10 minute presentation on the "ground breaking work" that he has done, which boils down to - do an assessment test in the beginning of the year when the kids come in, based on exam results the lecturer must review some key points before moving on and scaffold his work, and in the end, pole the class as to what could have been improved in the class.  I sat there, after the presentation, and thought that I could have said the same thing and more... but what do I know?! (sigh... part of starting life over again).

On the up side, the contract for full time work will come in definitely in January, so that means that I can have the go ahead of finding a place of my own near campus.  I'll have a secure job for 2 years, with possibly a 6 month extension.  After this, I don't know where I'll end up.  It is for reasons like this I feel my life is on hold at times.  But I must remind myself that God has my life in His hands, and today is no surprise to Him... He knew today would come before I was born, and definitely before I began this journey.  So, live the adventure and just wait on some things.

Housing
I found a place to live... I am going to move out of my aunt's place in about 2 weeks.  I am renting a bedroom in a 4 bedroom house for $130/wk, which I hear is a really good price.  There are 2 guys living currently there, and hopefully another nice, neat guy will take the last room.  I'll have to meet the guys and figure out how bills and stuff work.  I don't know the guys who currently live there, and yes, there is a lock on the bedroom door.  Hopefully, everything works out well.  I'll sign a lease soon for 6 months first, and take it slowly from there.  Worst situation is that I lose the 6 months rent, and I move back with my aunt while finding another place.  Best possible situation is that I found a nice place to live for a while.

The place has 4 bedrooms upstairs, and downstairs is a kitchen and common area.  1 1/2 bathrooms, and it comes fully furnished.  Rent does not include utiliites, but how much can they be?  After all, I work all day and come home late in the day.  I think food would be the biggest bill & obstacle.  Maybe I can find cooking lessons to widen my skills :P 

I meet the landlord this week.

Church:
So, I am thinking of settling into The Rocks for many reasons... location, their evangelism, the energy, upbeat and modern, community...  I talked to the pastor today about where I can fit in, and there are several places that he has in mind such as part of the college group, or opening another cell group for bible study (they call it a "Link"), or reaching out to the Curtin University students, or helping with a recovery program they want to start in March.  ...  I'm excited.  At least here, maybe past experience can be used to help others.  I can't wait to see what God has in store.  =)

Driving:
Just to let you know, I am getting better at driving.  Today I was able to go up and down the gears with only one problem (i didn't downshift, and just hit the brakes at that time).  I am getting better, and most of the time, not all, I can hardly feel the shifting of the gears... I sometimes put too much gas though, and you hear the high revving of the engine, but there is no jerkiness in the ride.  Almost there!!! 

Other:
Holiday season started this week... Thanksgiving in the US came, and so on Thursday, I went out and had a turkey sandwich at Subways, and since they didn't have pumpkin pie at the supermarket, I just looked for something kind of sweet that my aunt and uncle can also have.. so I got jam lamingtons (it is like a 1 1/2 inch sponge cake cube with a layer of jam in the middle and covered on the outside with a layer of thin chocolate and sprinkled with coconut).  Holidays may be a bit hard the first year or two here, I guess.  I didn't feel like doing work on Friday, and the bible study group really helped out.  They are a bunch of really silly people when they come together...  it was nice.

On Saturday, I decided to do something and so I ventured out to Freemantle, or Freo as the locals call it.  Freemantle is a coastal town, and is a mix of having the South Street Seaport or Brighton Beach feel (in NYC) crossed with Park Slope (in Brooklyn) kind of feel when you are away from the shore line.  It was nice.. more exciting than other parts of the Perth area, but not as hustling and bustling as NYC. 

So I watched a solar model car racing competition between high school students in the park on a 15 meter track (it was cool... yes, I am a geek.. so what?), then I went to the Maritime Shipwrecked Museum (wasn't that interesting), had lunch at a place that was recommended for its pizza called "Little Creatures" (ingredients were fresh, but the pizza was not so spectacular... but the atmosphere was really nice)

I went to town to see the shops and watched a street performer climb "the ladder of death" while playing a guitar and said he'll swallow a flaming sword!  He took an hour to do this one thing, and the sword was only flaming at the handle... wasn't impressed.

At the end of the trip, I saw the blue version of the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard, and I saw a couple get married with a horse drawn caboose rather than a limo

Last thing, which I thought was funny...
Two weeks ago, my aunt was telling me how she is putting pressure on one of my cousins to get married.  Then my uncle and aunt turned to me, at the dinner table, and basically told me I was getting up there in age, and should get married.  So, I asked what they thought the solution should be to find someone... my uncle said I should take out an ad or post on facebook:

"Wanted: bride for marriage which will take place June 2011.  Must meet the following qualifications: .(list my top 10 qualifications list)...  All eligible single women need apply.  Either meet before hand or at the alter.  If ceremony completes, divorce is not possible."

This is my family here!
Happy Thanksgiving... hope to hear from you if you are reading.  Hope all is well.. goodnight.

The past 4 weeks...

It has been about 4 weeks since my last blog.  Alot has happened, in things, and thus I haven't had time to sit down and write, reflect, and update...

Job

Some things have changed, and some not, for the job.  On the research side, I have finished going through 15 books dealing with pumps, have written about 30 pages of notes on problems dealing with pumps, and about 20 pages of notes on how pumps work.  Now, I am starting on reading articles on pumps.  Days go pretty fast, and I don't really notice the time go by on the job, which is a good thing.  It is not as exciting as teaching in NY, but it is interesting.  I have til the end of February to read these articles and books, and write a report on them.  Starting March, I start working with real world applications of what I am learning.  Since there is an application part, it keeps me motivated to continuously read and push more.  I must admit, if there was no real world application, I don't think I would continue as much as I have. 

I've been to Brisbane for a conference on asset management, reliability, and condition monitoring.  Spent 3 days (8 hours each) listening to people give talks about the "latest" in these three fields, and at times, I thought that nothing has changed over the course of the 7 years in which I didn't do engineering.  I mean, it is the same technology, just being applied to different cases... reminded me of Ecclesiastes, when Solomon commented "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Eccl 1:9).  It put my mind at rest, in a way, since it means that I can pick up where I left off 7 years ago when I graduated with the PhD with not too much problems.  I tried to also to be sociable at times, especially during lunch and in between talks, but many people seemed snobbish (for a lack of a better term), so I made few contacts.  They provided dinner for 2 nights, but I figured "why would I want to sit down for dinner with people that wouldn't talk to me during the day?"... so instead, after 5pm, I wandered around Brisbane.  The hotel that I was put in was luxurious, and was a few blocks from the South Bank of Brisbane.  The view on the South Bank is shown in the first two pics below. 

The third picture is the after walkway you cross a bridge that connects the south bank to the north bank.  Brisbane's shops close at 7pm, so I wandered around the botanical gardens, took a ride on a big ferris wheel, wandered around the mall with the closed shops and down some streets (wandering aimlessly) and sat in coffee shops to read.  Dinner was either Subways, Burger King or japanese food... it was fun.  The most interesting thing about Brisbane is that at dusk, the fruit bats come out and fill part of the sky.  They hang in the trees (I stared at one til it started screeching at me.  I know it is bad, but I never saw one without the glass between me and it) and the possums come out late at night to raid the garbage.  Secondly, the public pools are open all night, and found along the South Bank... just to say, if NYC had public pools like those in Brisbane, I'd be there every day!

At Brisbane, I did meet the heads of the project that I am working on, and was able to introduce myself.  It is great to be able to put faces to names, so that when they are talked about, I know who is who.  The heads of the project say that funds will be released soon so that I can come on full time on a contract til 6/2013; hopefully by the end of the month.  :) 

At meetings on the job, I am allocated more and more responsibilities as time progresses.  I hope to think this is because I am being trusted more due to what I have been doing; but for whatever reason, it will be a big learning project with a huge learning curve.  In addition to my research duties, I was told that I have to "tutor" about 15 students in basic fluid mechanics, which I just reviewed in October.  After discussing it with the head of the dept, it seems like these students are mainly foreigners who may have english speaking problems, or reading problems, or don't know how to attack math/science problems and thus are in need of help on how to do problem solving.  After telling the head of the dept that I have dealt with these kind of kids in high school, and thus would be like high school teaching, he said "No!  It's uni!"  (uni = university).  I agreed, apologized, but smiled.  So, for the first two weeks in 2011, I am tutoring fluid mechanics... one step below college teaching!  :)

Church
I have come to the conclusion that I can't sit still in a church that doesn't reach out to the community.  I have had the long conversation with so many people asking about what the church does to help the community, in outreach, and in the church I have been attending, it doesn't seem like much.  I believe that there is a balance between calvinism and armenianism (predestination vs free will) in the whole scheme of things, I believe that the church is more for the person who is not in it than it is for the person who is (Luke 15:1 - 7  --> Jesus talks about a shepherd that leaves his 99 sheep to find the lost 1), and that the church should, more than all other organizations, help out the community and be known for their love.  For these reasons, I had left a big well known presbyterian church back home for a small church that exhibits these traits... and in the same fashion, I am wandering from the church that I have been attending for about a month and a half.  But how does one find a church where this happens?  If the Bible's teachings are like theory in school, how does one find where application of theory is done?  Last time, in Brooklyn, I prayed and God answered... with a blackout and a wandering to a church.  This time, it may be from the GLS and the need to find someone to talk to for lunch.  (I'll explain later)..

In any case, against the wishes of some people I met in the church I went to for a month and a half, I am currently checking out another church called "The Rocks" (http://therocks.org.au/new/index.php)  The Rocks is an indonesian based church (they merged with an existing church) and outgrew from there.  It is multicultural, only about 5 years old, and have a vision to reach the community and the world.  The pastor is an Indonesian who was schooled in DTS (Dallas Theological Seminary) and speaks with an American accent.  The first sermon that I sat in, he talked about the mission, vision and strategy of the church (if you are from NBT, you know what I mean)...  basically saying, he answered a bulk of my questions, before I asked them without knowing that I would come that day to church... God is good.  The pastor then met with me for lunch to answer my other questions.  I checked out their bible study for newbies to the church (its main goal is to create community), and it was fun...  I walked out of the bible study with the nickname "sifu", and I just had to smile.  Tomorrow there is a luncheon for newcomers with the church staff... I'll tell you how it goes.

Global Leadership Summit

I took time off from work (made up the work on other days) and went to the GLS 2010 for a Friday and Saturday.  It was great!  It is one of those things that recharges me every year. To hear from leaders in church and industry how to lead people, pitfalls of leaders, and be inspired by those who are risking much is worth the price.  I tried to get people to come with me, but with no avail.  I risked driving on the highway to get there for 2 consecutive days...

So, on the first day I was there, I had lost the people I had met at the conference in the morning, and decided to just find an empty table or find someone to eat with - you know, be sociable.  So, there was this guy Mike sitting at a table alone, so I introduced myself, sat down and starting chatting.  He asked me about my background, and which church I was going to, and I explained that I was transient right now and why (see small speach above).  He then told me about his church, called "The Rocks", and a brief history of it.  Then he called over the pastor, who chatted with me, and two other leaders in the church... They invited me to their church, and I said I would come, but didn't know when would be best to go, but nevertheless promised to show up at some point (see previous section for what happened).  The pastor sought me out on the second day, and talked with me some more ... we talked about the purpose of the church, how much is God in control of things, and a bunch of other things over lunch.  I believe in divine appointments... this may be one of them.

Driving

I know myself well, and to want to just learn to drive wouldn't get me motivated to practice.  So, for motivation, I signed up for the GLS, which is 30 minutes away on the highway, about 2 weeks before the summit started and then practiced knowing that if I don't make it to the GLS, I would have wasted money for the registration.  Needless to say, I made it.  Then, I figured that if I can drive there, I can drive from North of the river to south of the river for the Rocks -  40 minutes on the highway.  So far, I am doing well. 

I got a lesson last weekend from my cousin, Chad, who told me about shifting down, and starting on hills.  It's alot to learn, and the learning curve is steep at times, but fun... Today, I installed a radio in the car :)

If you don't know already, even though I have been driving since I was 18, the hardest part of driving in Perth is sitting on the other side fo the car (steering wheel is on the right side), driving on the left side of the road, and driving a manual car instead of automatic.  However, I must say, driving manual while shifting with your left hand makes more sense than shifting with the right hand. 

So the car that I drive looks like the following:

it is a 1998 Lancer, stick shift, pink on the hood and boot (trunk) while red on the sides, now has a radio, and roll down windows.  It was named "The beast" by my cousin, but I think it is a great car... much better than the shape of my first car, and a great one to learn how to drive manually in.

Other

I miss home sometimes... the places, convenience, the weather and such, but more so the people... 3 hours is a lot of time to think on the way to and from work, and so it is a lot of time to talk with God about stuff.  Incidently, I did pray for rain on Monday [long reason why but if you want to know, just ask ], and God was gracious enough to send some rain - we had a light sprinkling on Tuesday and a medium sprinkling on Wednesday....  one of the guys that I work with, who hates anything but warm sunny weather, says if I ask God again and it rains, that we aren't going to be on good terms!

And so, I press on...

I have decided that for Thanksgiving, which is not celebrated here, I am going to make or buy a turkey sandwhich to eat, and for Christmas, I am going to download from youtube a video of the yule log, and sit with my heavy winter coat and hat, sipping egg nog, in front of the yule log for a while.. maybe til I pass out since it would be summer by then.  :)

Miss you guys back home... I don't know who reads this, but if you do, please tell me how you are doing.
I'll write back soon.