First Days In Melbourne Uni

I'm already feeling pretty drained at the end of my second day in Uni. I've got to get into the habit of sleeping early now that i've got 8am lectures on Tues, Weds and Thurs; which means that i'll have to wake up at 5.50am in the morning -.-""

How am i coping with Uni?

Well, the first two days of my 4 year tenure in my Physio course has really been hectic. I've been getting to uni as early as 8am and getting home at around 7pm on these two days -.-"" Also, it's been kindda hard finding new friends that i can truly feel comfortable with. I've made quite a number of new Physio friends, but it seems like all of us are still heavily bonded with our own friends from high school.. and we tend to want to hang out with our old friends during our breaks - i won't exclude myself from that group.

I found my PBL and Prac groups rather interesting so far, and i'm anticipating an enjoyable year once i get to know my peers a little bit more. It's going to be a different environment for me, and i'm going to have to form a different kindda culture in my friendships now that most of my friends are going to be Aussies rather than Asians. That'll be rather exciting and daunting at the same time.

While the PBLs and Pracs seems interesting, i find the lectures to be TERRIBLY BORING! haha! Especially the lectures in Principles of Biomedical Sciences -.-" The lecturer's entertaining and the content sounds interesting. However, I can't understand most of the stuff he's on about most of the time due to my virtually non-existent knowledge of Biology!!! Ahh!! I was very frustrated and depressed yesterday, but i prayed. And i put my mind to studying again. I borrowed Jerusha's Bio text book today and spent about 5 hours or so doing a self-conducted crash course on Biology. haha! It was tough, and kindda depressing to be studying so hard on the 2nd day of school, but i was able to grasp quite a bit of the fresh bio knowledge.. and it all seems to make sense now. It's not over though. I've gotta keep up with the pace lest i fall behind next week!

Joel, John and their family flew back to Singapore on the weekend. It's been fun having them here. Sleeping on the floor on the nights that they were here eventually took its toll on my mood, but i guess it was offset by John's eccentric nature and Joel's peculiar humour. John taught me how to make a special concoction of Milo, coffee, Nutella, water, and condensed milk. It tasted pretty nice actually. Joel was always cracking me up with his sarcastic remarks, his strong desire to DRIFT, and his constant cravings for ALCOHOL! Joel, you alcoholic! :P

I went on a Fungus leaders retreat to Mount Martha with Qynn, Sonja, Nicole Tan, Nicole Kee, Sue Ann, Adora, Pete, Zimmer, Will, Chara, Yvette, Vernis and Bryan. The view from the beach house that we rented was extraordinary. It overlooked the mountains, the local town and the sea! It had all the facilities one could ever dream of, including a balcony, all the channels on Foxtel, a pool table, a mini-bar, bicycles, trampoline, and even a SPA! haha!

We got to spend some time to get to know each other better. We created "story boards" of our lives which contained all the significant people, places and events in our lives. It was rather sentimental thinking back and reminiscing about all the nostalgic memories of the past including my granddad, lobby 7, east coast park, St. Andrew's, fishing at the canal with my friends, LWCC, the quarrels and significant scoldings that i had, etc. Then we shared our story boards with some of the others.

We drove down to Sorrento for a fish & chips lunch one day, and we played beach cricket along the beach at Portsea. I thought that it would be a terribly boring game, but cricket's actually pretty fun. Especially when you've gotta avoid stepping on all the sharp shells and seaweed on the beach before making a heroic drive for a catch!

Oh! One AMAZING thing that i managed to do was to watch an ENTIRE SUNSET! I spent a whole heap of time with various people in the Spa, which was located on the balcony which overlooked the entire area including the mountains and the sea. The view was breathtaking! Adora and i soaked in the Spa from 5pm to 8pm and we chatted while watching the sun slowly move down the sky, merge with the horizon, and then disappear into the deep blue sea. Oh, how i wish i could've caught it all on camera!

During the retreat, God reminded me that the year's going to be a tough one and that i'll be exposing myself to the arrows of the evil one by taking a step up into leadership at Fungus.
However,

Ephesians 6:13-20 says to "put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand..."

Basically, I noted these things:

• The "breastplate of righteousess" guards my heart and ensures that it always seeks after God.
• Defend myself with FAITH; which comes from perseverance and trust in God.
• "Helmet of Salvation" - Take comfort in my salvation and do not let the evil one deceive me. On the contrary, to let the JOY of my Salvation fill my heart when times are tough.
• "Sword of the Spirit" - Hide God's word in my heart so that i might not sin against him. To embed scripture in my heart and use them to combat temptation.
• Pray in the SPIRIT - Cover all my actions and activities with prayer lead by the Spirit and accompanied by faith.
• Be Alert to the sitations and emotions or others, and pray for them that the Lord might shield them.

Adora and i also sat down to chat about our goals for our little discussion group at Fungus through the year. We came up with three:

1. To motivate them to love the Lord and to actively seek after his Word daily
2. To develop close and personal relationships with each of them
3. To create an open and transparent attitude in the discussion grp so that no one will feel inhibited to share their worries or troubles.

I woke up early one morning and i sat on the balcony to admire the beauty of the God's handiworks. It was then that i was inspired to write this poem:

My Faithful God

The mountains, the seas
The creatures and the trees.
They lay in still adoration,
For the One who made them be.
-
They wait upon the Lord,
All quiet and still.
For they know that He is faithful,
He provides their every meal.
-
He makes the sun rise in the morning,
Bringing light for all to see.
He creates fresh dew,
To feed each thirsty tree.
-
My God is faithful,
With each breath He sustains me.
I wake in the morning,
For He has willed for it to be.
-
His mercies are new each morning!
His faithfulness never ends!
How foolish am I to doubt!
My Saviour, My Lord and Friend.
-

God
+ zac
2/3/08