Day 2

So today I caught the train up to Whistler. It's basically a whole town built around a ski field. I got up at 6:30am and my host family very kindly gave me a lift to the train station in order to catch the train up to Whistler mountain. The train journey took roughly three and half hours through beautiful mountains, lakes and waterfalls. There was an open carriage where you could get cold and take pictures without glass which was great. However I seemed to react badly to some pollen in the air and before long my eyes went very red and I looked slightly possessed. Took an anti-histamine later which sorted that out. I am not sure what the folk on the train made of me when my eyes were at their worst!

Once I got to the Whistler resort the hotel I am staying in let me check in early which was great! But I then found out that my all terrain vehicle tour had been cancelled due to lack of interest! Thankfully they let me re-book for the following morning so I can still go. So in the afternoon I took the gondola up mount Blackcomb (mount Whistler was closed due to building work installing a new gondola from Whistler to Blackcomb). It was brilliant to be able to wander around a bit of the mountain in the snow and take a few pictures. I was quite surprised to find that people could still use the slopes but as you can see from the picture there is still quite a lot of snow around!

On the gondola back down I was surprised to see what looked like a dog wandering around the lower (now melted) ski slope. To my excitement it turned out to be a bear! It was some distance away but already (on day two no less!) I have seen a wild black bear! It did result in a slightly bizarre language moment with the guy running the gondola. When I got backed down he asked how I'd gotten on and I replied very excitedly that I'd a had a great time and even seen a bear. He grinned at my widely and said that I probably shouldn't say that so loudly and then asked if he could have some. He thought I had said I'd had a beer. I should have just said "no, I meant a BEAR", or just nodded and moved on, but for some reason that I still quite don't understand I said "no, a bear", growled and acted as if I had claws. The guy said he understood what I meant and that there were a few of them around. He then shook me hand which either meant that he was trying to show that he didn't think I was too strange or that I can do a particularly good impression of a black bear. I'm not sure which.

Groundhog Day

One other thing I forgot to say is that I enjoyed being able to imitate the movie Groundhog day. When I got into the airport I was able to say (in my head anyway) "It's 7:30am Thursday 29th May 2008... again!". Bill Murray says something similar in the film Groundhog day which is a movie that still makes me laugh after having seen it a few times.

Seeing as how Canada is some 17 hours behind New Zealand I got to experience pretty much all of Thursday 29th May 2008 twice!

Arriving in Canada

I have safely arrived in Canada! A high point (so to speak) of the flight was getting a text in Sydney airport from a supporter in New Zealand pledging a very generous gift towards my personal report support. The long flight from Sydney to Vancouver was long, but I got the chance to enjoy a few movies. Didn't sleep so well on the plane so was very relieved to finally arrive.

Immigration was interesting. They seemed to question whether I really was coming to Canada to study! They asked why I hadn't paid all my study fees upfront, wanted details of where I was staying, and asked me exactly papers I was studying whilst comparing what I said with the invoice in front of her said. I am slightly offended to think that they thought I looked like someone who may try and stay illegally!

Had a great day exploring Vancouver but am feeling pretty tired now. Below are some pictures that I took today. The carvings done we saw today look similar to some of the carvings I have seen by the Maori in New Zealand. A particular highlight was being taken by my amazing hosts to see a bald eagle nest. I guess I identify with the eagle in it's baldness (although it doesn't look that bald)! It is great to see one of the things that I really wanted to see on my first day!

Off

So tomorrow morning I am heading off on a study break! This July see's me completing six years in IFES students ministry. As a result I have applied for and been awarded (if that's the right phrase) a sabbatical (more on futher plans for my sabbatical at a later date). The first part of which I am taking as a study break at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada. A significant gift from one supporter has pretty much covered the costs. I received an email informing of the gift literally within days of discussing what I might do on a sabbatical. It was a huge encouragement! God is so gracious!

So I'll be in Vancouver from the 29th May and get back into Wellington on the 16th June. The trip will include studying two papers (Paper 1 is Globalization, World Religions and Christian Mission, paper 2 is Acts of the Apostles) at Regent college and some holiday exploring Vancouver.

It's been a busy few months at TSCF what with my first time preparing for the annual audit of TSCF's accounts. I am more than ready for a break and a change of pace. I'll be updating my blog as every couple of days or so, so keep an eye on here. I'd also value your prayers that the time away would recharge my batteries and that I would have listening heart and mind as I study. Thanks!

New Perspective on the English

I was doing some catching up on blogs and whilst looking at Paul Windsor's I thought I'd follow his suggestion of keeping an eye on the top ten most viewed articles on stuff.co.nz as these sorts of lists provide "a windows into a nations soul".

To my surprise coming in at number ten (beneath "Meet Playboy's Playmate of the year", "Chef Ramsey wants out-of-season veg outlawed", and "Kangaroos trample Kiwis") on the list today was this article about the English being described as "self-important and irritating" in the new rough guide to England. I am not sure if this bothers me because it rouses some of my long dormant national pride at English being thought of in this way or because, to some degree at any rate, some of the criticisms are fair.

I realised a while ago that many Kiwi's have a sort of love/hate relationship with England. On the one hand they'd really like to visit and form some sort of connection with what some affectionately call "the motherland". But on the other hand they are gleeful when England loses at sport or somebody English does something embarassing or stupid. So on that basis it shouldn't really suprise me that an article that puts down the English is one of today's most viewed.

But it also probably says something about me and how the English people feel towards people of other countries that one of my first responses was "surely the Americans are worse?".

Tomorrow is Mother's day here is NZ. A colleague at work showed me this video yesterday (and the words certianly remind me of things that my mother has said to me in the past). It is an hilarious but accurate description of a day in the life of a mum. You can read the lyrics here. Happy NZ Mother's day mum!

A new chapter

Having blogged about leaving my old home, meet my new flat mates Mark and Loren, and enjoy the view from the balcony of our flat! Mark and Loren are marvellous and I look forward to getting to know them better. I have already much enjoyed their cooking, tastes in music and generally living with them.

It has been a complex few months for me for a number of reasons. This new home is a good thing and comes at the right time.

End of an era

Today saw the end of an era for me. I have moved out of my flat in Island Bay and into a new flat in Kelburn (more on that in another post). I have to admit that I started moving nearly two weeks ago but today I collected the last of my stuff and cleaned the Island bay flat ready for the new tenants. I am sad to leave but it is the right time to move on.

I am hugely thankful to John and Linda and their whānau (maori word for family) for all the hospitality and friendship they have shown me over the past year. I have enjoyed many meals, conversations, good times and their general care. I am very thankful to God for them all.

Humbling Witness

You may have heard on the news or from Andy and Nigel's blogs about the Mangatepopo river tragedy last week. I can only began to imagine what it must be like for the family, friends of those who died.

But the way that they have responded has had a deep affect on the media and on New Zealand in general. To quote one journalist:

Perhaps it was faith that enabled them to mourn their losses without rage or bitterness; without looking for someone to blame. Whatever the reason, I have never seen any group of bereaved people behave with such generosity of spirit.

As has been said by many, our prayers are with those who are mourning. But so too should be our thanks, both to them and to God, for the way that He has and is enabling them to be such a great witness in the face of such deep sadness.

The Annual Camps

The weekend of the 12th April saw both of the Victoria University groups go away on their annual camps. I spent Friday to Sunday with the Christian Union at Forest Lakes camp site. We spent the weekend looking at what is the gospel, how it applies to our lives and how to make use of opportunities that we have to talk to our fiends about Jesus.

It was both really encouraging and a real privilege to talk and pray with students as they wrestled with the issues. One particular highlight was a session on the Sunday where we all got into small groups and discussed ideas for reaching out with the gospel on campus for the year ahead. It was great to hear them learning from their experiences over the last year, and applying what they had learnt over the weekend.

On the Sunday afternoon we headed off to Te Poupatate Marae in Fielding to join with the International Christian Fellowship on their Marae camp. The camp provides an opportunity for International students to meet a whole new bunch of people, experience Maori culture, but most importantly an opportunity to learn a little more about Christianity. This was the first time that two groups have been able to combine for their camps and it was great to be able to have fellowship together and build relationships. The evening ended with a hangi (one of my favourite meals ever!) after which the CUers headed back to Wellington but I stayed on for the night with ICFers on the Marae til Monday.

I have to admit that with the passing of years I find the camps increasingly tiring. But they are hugely significant for the groups both in terms of teaching/training and building relationships. I came away from the long weekend really encouraged, thankful to God that I am able to partner with Him and the students as we seek to reach other students for Christ, excited for the year ahead and looking forward to sleeping in on Tuesday morning.

It all adds up

You never quite know what you might find yourself doing as part of your job. As a I blogged a while back my new job title is Systems Manager and Wellington Staff Worker. As part of the change I have just completed a course run by a local accountancy firm entitled Accounting Made Easy.

The course was very helpful and I have learnt a number of new things that have helped me get my head round TSCF's accounts and handle some aspects a little better. But I have come to realise that accountancy is far from easy and not always that interesting. But this is what God has led me to for the time being.

Over the next few weeks and I have to prepare TSCF's 2007 accounts for auditing whilst getting my head round the changes that have come in this month with the government pension scheme KiwiSaver. As a result I am taking a few weeks of campus because there is simply too much to do here in the office.

It is not too bad a time to be of campus as the next two weeks are the mid semester break. Over the weekend I am off to the Christian Union camp (where I am doing a session on using media and contemporary issues to talk about Jesus) and then to the International Christian Fellowship Marae camp. I'll blog about both of the camps next week, but the camps will be the end of my campus involvement for the next 4 weeks and the beginning of 4 weeks with my computer.

My Bacteria and me

So somehow I managed to get food poisoning. Apparently the form that I caught comes from chicken but I hadn't eaten any chicken or egg as far as I remember!

This is a picture of the bacteria, campylobacter, that took up residence in my gut. They look quite interesting but caused me a great deal of pain!

The centre for disease control describes what it can do here. It seems I had a fairly normal case as it laid me out for a week!

Folicaly Challenged

So after searching, well actually after no searching at all but by accident actually, I found a verse in the bible that is positive about bald people!

"A man who has lost his hair and is bald is clean." Leviticus 13:40

In your face Proverbs 16:31! So there you go. I am at home sick, and am bored.

Cricket

So last weekend along with some friends I got to go and see the England Vs Black Caps test at the basin reserve in Wellington. For those of you back in England please don't be annoyed but it cost around twenty five pounds for a five day (admittedly the fifth day was pretty short) pass for the test!

The TSCF office is a couple of hundred minutes from the office so I got to nip down during the Thursday and Friday parts of the game (sometimes there are benefits to working evenings!). One particular highlight was being there for Tim Ambrose hundred, Collingwood's fifty and to see England's score reach three hundred.

The balmy army were a sight to behold and behear (is that a word?). Their chanting was brilliant. One of my favourites was the one about Tim Ambrose to the tune of "you are my sunshine":

We've got Tim Ambrose, just like Ambrosia. They make good custard, comes in a tin. They make good rice too, that's not important. What's important's England win.

More about custard than cricket but very funny anyway.

Kiwi's are a lot more relaxed about sport than Brits are. During lunch anyone was allowed on the pitch to play. It was great to be able to walk on the ground (you could even talk to the grounds men about care of the pitch if you were so inclined, which I wasn't). I can't see that being allowed at Lord's somehow.

If live sport had been as accessible in the UK as it is here I think I would have gotten a lot more into it (and I am getting more into it). Being at the test the atmosphere is just amazing. I have seen two international rugby games live and two international cricket tests live. Which is four more games than I ever saw live in England but at the same time I paid less than half of what I would have had to pay to see similar games back in England.

Don't believe the truth

I just found this picture that I took a few weeks ago during orientation week at Victoria university. I found it very interesting as a comment on how some people think. Whilst I was taking the picture the owner of the car came running up and apologised and said he was about to move his car and asked me not to give him a parking ticket. I was slightly caught of guard by his thinking that I was a parking attendant but that's not important. I was surprised that the owner of the car was an American guy in his forties who was a tutor at the university. I was expecting a Kiwi geography student! I explained how I wasn't a parking attendant and how I was interested in the sticker on his rear windscreen, and apologised for taking a picture of his car without his permission. He was surprised that I was interested in the sticker and explained that he'd got it because he was concerned with how people got hung up on how they must believe what they think and how from his perspective that wasn't necessary at all. A bit worrying really.

Banana in a nutshell

Watched a film today called "Banana in a nutshell". It's a documentary written around the experiences of Chinese girl called Roseanna and her struggles with being of one culture (and her parents expectations that come with that) but having grown up in New Zealand. It is a very watchable and honest film. It gives a window into the tensions of multiculturalism for Chinese families.

One of the comments that really stuck with me was when the sister of Roseanne talked about her parents cultural background. She talks about how her parents grow up in China in the 70s and 80s but then moved to New Zealand. Their view of Chinese culture is based upon China in the 70s and 80s and they are trying to raise their children according to that worldview. But because they have lived in New Zealand for the last 20 years they are not raising their children in the way that their contemporaries in China are. Because their contemporaries have seen the Chinese culture change across the last 20 years and have changed with it. Roseanne's parents are stuck with a 20 year old version of Chinese culture and have raised their children according to it. What Roseanne’s sister calls a "fossilised version of Chinese culture".

It's made me realise that I will (if I don't already) have a fossilised view of England. I have not lived in England for two years now and may stay here for another three or more. I am sure that England has changed in the last two years, I wonder how much more it will change in another three?

It's helped me understand another aspect of reverse culture shock (culture shock that can occur when people return home from short, medium or long term stays in a different culture/country). I guess talking to people can help give a picture of what England is like, but the reality is that things will have changed. I wonder what the changes are and will be?

Criss Cross cultures

I had a really strange experience today. Someone asked if it was true that when English people used the term Asian they meant people from India or Pakistan. I was offended and said no! When I use the term Asia I mean people from Asian countries (Thailand, China, Malaysia etc.). But when other Brits were asked they replied that when they used the word Asian they did mean people from India or Pakistan.

It was then suggested that because I have been in New Zealand that maybe that had changed my perspective. That may be true but I suspect it is more to do with the fact that I have taken a few teams to Thailand over the last 5 years and how that has shaped my (still very limited) understanding of Asian cultures.

But it was disorientating to be asked how English people thought about something and to find that I can no longer speak to how English people think. I have been gone for two years now and been living in a different country which has shaped my understanding in various ways so I guess it was inevitable really, but disorientating none the less.

Title change

We had a meeting today about roles in the office. I now have a new job title! I was Wellington and Web Staffworker. My new job title is Wellington staffworker and Systems Manager!

Not a lot is going to change but for the next 10 months I will not primarily be responsible for the website. That is being developed by a TSCF graduate (to whom I am very grateful!). I will keep doing 3 days a week in campus. I am also keeping responsibility for the finance operations for till at least the end of the year as well as all the other IT type stuff that I was doing before. The combination of finance and IT systems stuff led to the new "systems" part of my job title.

It probably shows part of nature but I enjoy change within work so am quite pleased to keep the finance stuff for a bit longer. It gives me the opportunity (with the help of others who are more administratively gifted than me) to finish revamping the office finance procedures and I really am quite enjoying the finance stuff (how geeky do I sound?). I start a seven week course in accountancy next week which should be helpful if not necessarily always gripping material.

Rugby 7s

Thanks to a very generous offer from some friends, Anna and I got tickets to the second day of the Rugby Sevens. It was an amazing day! There was a great buzz in the crowd, we got to see some great rugby (England had a shaky start but managed to score a point by winning the bowl) and the All Blacks won the day in the end.

See Anna's blog for some more pictures.

A year

Well 2007 is nearly over. As I am writing is now new years eve in both the UK and NZ (various other parts of the world will have to wait longer, sorry).

It is a strange thought that in a couple of weeks that I will have been here in NZ for over two years. Much has changed in the last year and there is much to be thankful for: the work on campus has grown, New Zealand feels much more like home, Anna and I became a couple (be it a long distance couple), and I have again gotten to visit family and friends back in the UK. It has not always been straight forward but at the moment nothing negative is coming to mind at the moment. Having read another friends blog I am reminded that an easy life is far from what Christians are guaranteed. All the things that I am grateful for are from His grace and not things that I have earned, and this has served to increase my gratitude to Him.

Another friend had blogged about his favourite books of the year. I have read a few good books (if I was to do eight I have to confess that would probably have to include every book I have read in the last year!) but I decided to blog about something that stuck with me from earlier in the year.

It was part of the preaching course that I studied earlier in the year. An article we read explained how as preachers the temptation can be to preach to the actions/fruits of sin that we see in peoples lives. But if you just cut the fruit off it tends to grow back. What we need to do is preach to the roots that cause the actions/attitudes to grow in peoples lives. This is how the fruit is stopped from regrowing. By stopping things at the root.

An example of this is how as we can say that sex is good but only within marriage because God has said so in the bible. And that is by no means wrong, because that is what the bible says, but it is not a full reason as to why sex is good but only within marriage. When faced by temptation to sexual sin it is not always easy (though it should be) to say "the bible says that I shouldn't do this outside if marriage so I won't". Our hearts have been conditioned by various influences to not trust God. We need to address what is going on in our hearts that is causing us to doubt God.

The other danger of preaching to fruits is that of legalism. "Don't do this because God says you shouldn't" can come across as teaching people to behave in a certain way (and to make it worse people sometimes leave with the impression that this is what makes us acceptable to God). Our intention should be to see lives transformed. I don't know about you but I haven't been able to simply behave myself out of sin as yet.

For me personally it has changed how I engage with sin in my own life. No longer "I shouldn't do this" but more "I shouldn't be like this so why am I? What particular lie am I believing in my heart that is causing me to do this?".

There you go. My end of year reflection. Happy New Year. Maybe see you around on one side of the globe or another.

Holidays

Well. Just got back from my final trip to the the UK for a while. Anna and I spent a week with each others families and caught up with a couple of friends that we didn't get a chance to see on the last trip.

We had a really nice time. We had an early Christmas with my family on the 25th November (at least the date was right). We had a lovely day; all my family could be there which was a joy. All my nephews and nieces took a real shine to Anna with the girls prefering her over me at points! My mum had done all her Christmas baking so that it was ready for when I was there. We put up the Christmas tree and had Christmas dinner. My mum made all my favourite food (she pretty much did that for every meal we were there) for Christmas. We exchanged gifts from Anna and I to everyone else and everyone else to us. It really was like the real day and that meant so much to me. I miss my family a great deal but they made it a wonderful day and I really can't thank them enough or explain how much I enjoyed it. It was a joy, Thank you!

From there we headed on to Milton Keynes. Family are very important to both us so it was great to be able to get to know Anna's family better. We had a great time with them all and they made me feel really welcome. It was lovely to be around for Anna's nieces dedication and Anna's commissioning service. For the commissioning part of the servcie the church leaders gave a really helpful explanation of how Anna was remaining part of their church family and they were sending Anna out from them to serve in New Zealand not packing her off and forgetting about her. That was combined with one of the best explanations of the importance of behind the scenes type service in Christian work that I have heard in a long time.

Sadly the trip was over all too quickly and it was time for me to head back to NZ and for Anna to get on with final preparations for moving out to NZ and Christmas with her family.

The picture is of my youngest niece. The only Christmassy picture I have as I spent most of my time playing with a video camera rather than taking pictures. I'll play with the movie footage soon!