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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Men's Camp!!!

Hey y'all!

I'm back from Men's Camp! Ok, I was back since Sunday. And English convo class that day had a really good turnout! Dawn came to visit too! Yay! Haha!

Anyways, Men's Camp was... hmm... not too bad. The activities were good fun, although a little more danger incorporated into it would be more exhilirating. But considering the oldest camper was more than 90 years old, the activities were pretty extreme already. Haha!

However, the first evening saw some pretty sexist jokes to the effect of "women are unreasonable creatures" that I didn't really like. Most of 'em were laughing but I just sat there, sulking just a lil' bit. Don't get me wrong, these men are faithful loving husbands or single adults. I bet they love their wives more than anything in the world and will gladly give their lives for them. But I guess it's just the highly testosterone-filled environment that's got everyone all hyped up.

Boys will be boys, y'know? Haha! Really. U can see all the guys doing all the activities like they're still teenagers! It's all quite amusing, really. And they enjoy doing the guys' stuff! And being a testoster-zone (as Max aptly put it), you can bet the level of competition is pretty darn high when it comes to points. Haha! That's what I don't really like also. Like, c'mon man, we're here to have fun & enjoy the activities! At the end of the day, everyone wins when everyone enjoyed themselves! But I suppose it's the people who're so calculative and egoistic that keeps track of and takes into account every little point they can squeeze in for the team.

And this particular guy in my team seems to always wanna outshine everyone else, as if to prove something, or to show that he is able. Like, whatever la... K, for example, abseiling. We had to do a 17m tall tower & abseil down it, meaning to walk on the wall la. Then there was also a 17m overhang, meaning there's no wall, just you suspended on a rope & lowered down by urself. So everyone did the 17m abseil, but only some did the overhang. On my 2nd overhang, I lowered myself all the way upside-down, just for the fun of it. Haha! And it was fun! But anyways, this guy, after seeing that, went up & did the same thing too... and nearly slammed his face into the ground, I heard. Haha!

Then there's orienteering (basically navigation). The goal is to have as many pairs in a team get to as many checkpoints as possible within 18min. 13 in all, distributed throughout camp. Our team's strategy was to have all but 2 go find the checkpoints & wait there. The 2 will then run around camp & get everyone's pieces of paper stamped at every checkpoint. This same guy had to want to do it on his own. So he goes running around camp by himself, getting as many checkpoints as he can. It's like, no team-spirit at all la! Ok, so you can do pretty well on your own. So what? Feel like smacking his attitude.

And then there's ungentlemanly behaviour... aiyah, don't feel like elaborating on that la. This camp has showed me the ugly side of male ego & male chauvinism.

On a more positive note, the 2nd session with Pastor Pat on Saturday night was more relevant to the camp. You could tell that he didn't have it planned, yet, it was just fitting into the day's activities. What I remembered was orienteering. Pat related it to life, saying that we all need a map and a compass in life. And as Christians who are obedient to GOD, our map is the Bible, and our compass is the Holy Spirit (or the other way round, I can't remember). I wanted to say you can't do without either one, but I paused to think, that maybe you could. Anyhoo, to identify with the relation, I had the pleasure (or displeasure) of running around the camp with the map alone, trying to look for a checkpoint. I thought I was at the right spot, but couldn't find the checkpoint anywhere. So I had to retrace my steps until I found something that I recognised on the map, THEN I realised that I was on the wrong track and was really running around in circles. To be honest, I was kinda shocked that I could get lost because I'm usually quite good with maps & directions. This goes to show that human instincts can be really wrong, even though it feels really right at the time. Maps are the way to go no matter how wrong it felt, assuming that you started from the right place and stayed on the right track. Spiritually speaking, sometimes following GOD's directions will feel so wrong, you'd feel so lost, and then ur human instincts kick in & you prefer to follow it because you're more comfortable with that. Wrong wrong wrong!!!

But here's the good news: GOD is like a GPS navigator, aka Navman. If you've ever used a GPS navigator before, you'd know what I mean. You input your destination, and the GPS tells you the fastest route to it. But if somehow u choose not to follow its directions, it'll re-plan your route and give you the next best solution. And it'll keep doing that until you reach your destination. GOD-wise, HE'll always have a way out for you should you decide to disobey HIM. HE is merciful & forgiving, so as long as you realise your mistake and you sincerely repent, HE will continue to guide you to your destination.

Oh yes! Of course, there's the 4-wheel driving! I have a new-found respect for these off-road monsters. It's really really amazing what these machines can do! Yes, we get a flat tire, 1 of us got stuck in the mud, things like that. But on the whole, the experience was... wow! There's this huge slope, I'd estimate to be at like 40° incline, sandy & rocky, meaning it gets really slippery... but the 4WDs go up it like nobody's business! And to appreciate the steepness of the slope, 1 representative from each of the 4 teams had to race up that slippery sandy slope, touch a stupid tree, then race down it again. I was the 3rd down, but the first down AND safe. What do I mean? The first guy who reached the bottom crashed into some rocks head first, had to be sent to the hospital to make sure everything was good. The second guy who reached the bottom didn't have shoes on, that's how he won me on the way up. But he had lots of cuts all over his feet... haha! So much for winning... I came down the long & safe way, as did Mark, who was behind me.

Here're some pictures from the camp! I'll get more when the church distributes them. =)

Beautiful dam when we were 4WD-ing. =)

This is just a field in the camp grounds.

Oh, this is the swimming pool at the camping grounds. Haha! But it was too cold for anyone to be swimming in there...

The lake where we played tennis across the water & people jumped in to save the balls and we canoed & stuff...

Just a nice reflection on the water surface...

Another reflection shot... This one looks surreal to me...

There's the overhang abseil. After this stage, we just drop off the ledge. Quite a thrilling experience, I'd say. =)

Yup! That's how u come down. I hung upside down on this...

This is one of the roughest roads the 4WDs had to tackle. And this is where the 4WD I was on busted one of its tyres.

The line-up of road monsters... haha!

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Andy (my would-be employer) came to my place just now to have another chat. Haha! I tell u, he's seriously tapping all he can from me sia. He wants me to beautify the company's webpage, create forms, debug, programme, create online lessons, and a whole lot of other stuff. Catching termites & photographing them still needs to be done, so you can imagine how hectic work will be if & when I start.

He wanted to see my Bachelor degree and my official transcript, so I showed him lor. Haha! And it's the first time after my graduation that I took it out to see. Nice! Haha!

Anyways, before he left, he said he wanted me to start work ASAP, but I told him I can't because I need to wait for the visa to be approved. He said he'll contact IMMI & ask if there's any way around it, like don't pay me but pay for my lodging & food & transport etc until I get my work visa. If that works out, I may have to start work next week loh. *sigh* That means I'll be moving down to the coast really soon. =/

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Oh ya, Karen came back today. Welcome home! Haha! Maybe you'll miss home & the people back there at first, but I'm sure Mel & Jun will tune you back to Brisbane life again. And Vic and Sam too, I'm sure. =) Cheer up ok?

Love me if you dare... 15:29
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