Fun Friday

This morning we had Prac Week meeting and got our prayer partners as well as discussed ideas on how we'll put on a church service for different churches we've been invited to in Melbourne.
So the guys are all heading out to go camping this weekend and the girls are having a slumber party in the conference hall, with movies, food, and some other sweet activities. It's going to be a fun night. Tomorrow night a bunch of us are thinking about heading in to the movies in Bowral:). I want to see The Avengers and The Lucky One is also playing.

Capernwray Term 2

So back to school, it was great meeting up with everyone again in Sydney and realizing how much I missed seeing them all.
Back to Capernwray with a new seating plan, new lecturers and so far, so good. I did some baking the other day and it's nice having some freshly baked cookies around to share and eat haha.
Well other than that not too much happening. We've had some meetings with our Prac Week team that goes out in May to Melbourne and helps at the ministries in the community. I'm really looking forward to it!

Good-bye

Friday April 13

So our flight wasn't until the evening, so in the morning we spent our time in the House with the brothers. In knowing that we were leaving, in each of our houses' they blessed us by praying for us and offering words of encouragement which left us feeling even more blessed than we already did. To top it off they gave us a card that everyone signed, and chocolate. We may have blessed them, but the blessing we received in return seemed far greater. Then Wai Cheung and his family took us to the floating restaurant for lunch, he is in charge of New Man House and acts sort of like a principal. This time we got food we actually enjoyed instead of weird, unsettling stuff. It was really sweet. Afterwards we went and had some pictures developed to give out to the brothers, this was our last blessing towards them and I know they were touched. The whole trip was well worth it and I would encourage anyone who has an opportunity such as this to go with a willing heart, ready to give, and prepared to bless and be blessed in return. God showed me so much in Hong Kong and has been really teaching me more on my return to Capernwray, I know there is even more in store for my future and I'm excited to see where God leads me.

Nearing the end of our stay...

Thursday April 12

Our last full day in the house and also Western Food Night. The morning was Market shopping with Woodseys friend Joe Joe who drove us around to pick up all the supplies we needed for Western Food Night. The Markets are quite interesting with the variety of stalls for vegetables, meat, and supplies. We went to a butcher, a spice shop, a vegetable stall, and some others all in the same area! You can really find everything there, although I realized that I would rather go to a supermarket, where the smell of dried fish doesn't follow you around. Then we passed a fruit stall and Woodsey insisted that we try a fruit called Durian which he said was something the Chinese LOVE!!! Seth went first and all the while Regan was getting a bit stressed out that he was expected to eat this mushy, yellow piece of fruit. Joe Joe showed us how it was done and finally Regan tried a piece. We all sampled it, but Joe Joe was the only one who really appreciated the taste.

The Durian kept "repeating on us" which is the nice way of saying we kept burping it up... It was another warm day and besides visiting the market for ingredients, we also went to the supermarket for 2L of pop and 15 tubs of ice cream. Once we got back to New Man House, it was time to start prepping for the meal. Honestly overall our team worked so well together and with the help of some Chinese men, we got the garlic chopped, the carrots shredded and the onions diced without too many teary eyes. We cooked for 140 people approx and had leftovers once they were served from our assembly line. One person to put the noodles on, another for the sauce and another to put two pieces of garlic bread, and finally the servers to take out the food. The only things that weren't ideal, was number one that we didn't have tin foil to wrap the garlic bread in, so the bottoms burnt and they didn't toast, and number two the ice cream was a little melted. All in all not big disasters! Everyone really appreciated the meal and it was great that all the brothers could come together and eat together.

English Class

April 11
We taught English class for three classes to the teenagers and it went alright. We talked about the Olympics and did some charades to get across each sport played, then we ended with a game of Bingo. The most difficult part was having all of us there to teach when there was about the same number of teachers as students. Overall it was a great experience, working together as a team to get across our own language in an effective way.
Then in the afternoon, Some brothers and helpers from Block 4 went to Ceshire Homes in the afternoon and Woodsey figured it would be a good experience for me to have, so I had the opportunity to go along. We walked there since it was just downhill from New Man House. The people there were older and most of them were in wheelchairs.We had to wear yellow vests and a security pass, and brought people from their rooms to our sing-a-long. I think they really appreciated us being there, since they probably don't receive too many visitors.The only problem was the heat and the fact that I don't understand Chinese...  add that I'm not caught up on my sleep and you've got eyelid fluttering Brianna through the entire afternoon. It was SO hard to stay awake and afterwards the guys told me that they were sure I fell asleep during prayer. We took the people back to their rooms after and were rewarded for our efforts with a cookie/chocolate gift bag and a can of pop. Then we got ready to walk back up the hill but were met by the van at the gate and got a ride back which was really nice!

New Man House

Monday April 9th

This was our day off and we started it off with McDonalds and Starbucks( I probably drank more coffee in two weeks then I have in 18yrs) anyways it was nice hanging out but pretty draining when we went to the busy, noisy markets. It also didn't help that it was muggy outside. Cheung Cha Island was nice, although the food at Mrs. Lambs wasn't... the island was really loud and crowded since it was Easter Monday. They had this festival to honor a goddess and were walking in a procession, hitting a drum and carrying burnt offerings. It was unsettling and not the nicest place to be. Overall though it was a pretty good day, we ate supper at about 9, at Triple O's. Supposedly a Canadian restaurant (according to the sgn) but they served Australian Roast beef, and New Zealand Fish. They did however sell poutine, Canadian...

Tuesday April 10th

A regular day in the house, the teenagers actually got to know me a bit as well. Sometimes when we had sport, they were down there as well and I played basketball with them once and won :). So it was nice being recognized around the property and pretty much everyone knowing my name.

Kowloon City

Sunday April 8th

I got a ride to Kowloon City with some of the girls, the lady who translates at Congregation picked us up in her really nice van. Not too many people have vehicles in Hong Kong unless they are quite well off. Woodsy told me later that him and the boys had been prepared for me to be in very low spirits after the girls house since they had talked to Libby. However, they were surprised to see me smiling and grateful that they had the hindsight to bring me a coffee and an apple crumble muffin. I had indeed left before breakfast at the girls house. After Congregation, we had to get started on Dessert, since we were serving that as well as having Games Night. We rushed into the kitchen once we got back and had some help from  the teenage Nepalese boys that spoke English. Woodsy took charge, calling out directions and getting everything measured out. He felt crushed for time, so we tried to work fast. This worked until he spilt a cake while trying to place it in the oven. We realized that we hadn't prayed. Mop and bucket, then regroup. We thanked the young boys for their help and sent them on their way, then prayed. The rest of it went smoothly, we had somehow bought too much cocoa and not enough chocolate bars, so Woodsy and Seth worked out a different combination to serve the same purpose. The Self Saucing Chocolate pudding ended up turning out beautifully and the guys loved it as well as the ice cream and coke. Games Night was also very successful, everyone got involved and our house leader Nic took note of the games so that he could play them again.