Life in the Last 3 Weeks

I’ve been back for about three weeks now.. So what have happened since?

1) I have been roaming around KL a lot with my dear old friends (old as in “we’ve been friends for a long time”) and enjoying GOOD FOOD that I do not get in America. *Burp*

2) I attended half of the Basic Life Seminar in my second week back. It’s basically a video seminar that teaches about how to live a biblically abundant life. Although I have attended this seminar before, I still learned a lot from the speaker

3) Joel came down to KL and we (including my family) went to Bangkok to visit my Aunty and to do a bit of holiday-ing. Over there, we had more GOOD FOOD and was also exposed to a whole variety of cheap clothes! So basically, we ate and shopped our hearts out during the whole trip Other than that, I was also exposed to the traditional Thai massage, as well as the oil massage for the first time. My lower back was significantly hurt by the tradiational Thai massage, so I know that I’m never going to do that again (don’t worry, it’s okay now, thanks to my mother’s “reversal” massage). However, the oil massage was really nice! A word of caution: They do the massage on your back AND front (I found out a little too late). We also met up with Amy/Attawan Wonapotimuke, my cute Thai friend with the long name Anyway, she was very helpful in helping us to translate and bargain. Thank you, Amy!

I currently do not have any pictures of our trip, but my mom wrote a pretty extensive blog post about it, so you can read more about what we did over here.

4) I visited most of Joel’s relatives last week!

That’s pretty much the highlights of what happened since I came back to Malaysia.

I think it’s quite obvious that I’ve not been blogging much.. But this is about to change! I told myself that I need to commit to blogging more so that people away from where I am will know what’s going on in my life. So please be patient with me!

I was thinking..

I can’t wait to go home!

He’s So Strong!

My God is so Big
So Strong and so Mighty
There’s Nothing my God cannot do
For YOU!

Think about it!

The mountains are His
The rivers are His
The stars are His handiwork too!

If God made the mountains, rivers and stars, kept them in place and is in control of all other created beings, he should be able to take care of my (and your) hectic Finals month schedule right?

Updates

It’s been awhile since Chinese New Year

Anyway, these are some things that happened since then:

1) School’s been keeping me busy. My classes are not terribly difficult this semester, but they do require a lot of work. They’re interesting though! For instance, in one of my classes, I was required to be “crippled”/be in a wheelchair for half a day. That was SO interesting! I bet you’ve never thought about how people who can’t walk go pee in the bathroom. THINK about it! I couldn’t figure it out! That project really gave me a new sense of respect and admiration for people who are physically impaired in the legs!

2) God has blessed me with many, many jobs this semester! I got an office job, a job accompanying the choir, a piano teaching job, a house cleaning job, a job teaching music theory.. I don’t have to ask my mom to help pay for my car insurance this time!

3) I and a few of my friends (actually, one of them is my cousin) decided to move off campus for next semester. We found a potential house that we are going to look at this Friday. I’m so excited!

4) Spring Break was amazing! This is the first Spring Break I got to spend somewhere of my choice. In the previous years, I was stuck with choir tour, which isn’t a bad thing.. But it is nice to actually make my own Spring Break plans for once Anyway, I went to Mt. Magazine (which is not very far away from Mt. Newspaper. Haha Kingsley) for a day trip. I also went to Wichita, Kansas for a short mission trip. I learned how to install insulation in a house while I was there Whenever I was on campus, I got to eat amazing Malaysian food (I’m not going to lie – we have the Best Malaysian cooks on our campus)! And my Spring Break ended with a day trip to Dustin’s house. We planned on going canoeing, but it snowed. On the 28th of March, when the trees and flowers were blooming >< So we played Taboo and Charades instead

5) God is moving on the University of the Ozarks campus!!!

6) I bought my tickets back to Malaysia! Joel and I are set to arrive back in Malaysia on the 1st of June! Can’t wait!

CNY 2009

This year, the Ozarks Malaysians celebrated Chinese New Year at Dr. Niece’s house. This is a first in Ozarks history!

We had a group of 50+ people (Malaysians and friends) meet at the house for a potluck dinner, and Boy was it a feast! We had all kinds of foods (curry, fried rice, fried noodles, meats of different kinds, etc.), and all kinds of dessert (sago, agar-agar, konyaku jelly, pao!). We even had Yee Sang!

At the end of the makan (eating) session, President Niece provided us with noise-makers, thingys that sound like firecrackers when you shake them, and other party gadgets. And as you can see in the following video, after we were given those “toys,” we started acting as if it were our grandfather’s house. We were really loud, as usual la And crazy too. But it’s okay, because the President joint in with the craziness. Hehe Ah.. Good times

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year la Remember to save me an Ang Pao ar!

Praying For Change

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
-Luke 10:38-42-

I’ve learned last year that being busy can be satisfying, as one will have the opportunity to accomplish more; however, being too busy can be really trying on one’s spirit. I have always been a Martha, and last year, I learned that really I don’t want to be her. With God’s grace, my eyes were truly opened to the pointlessness of worry and the consequences of stress.

Really.. Why do we worry?? It doesn’t take the problem away. It doesn’t make you feel any better about the situation. All it does is make you want to curl up in a ball and cry your eyes out, which, like I said earlier, does not help! So yea.. I’ve always known this. But this really only truly dawned upon me (made me go “OHHHHHHHH..”) late last year, right before my final exams. Oh yea, because of that, I did not stress out during my finals. Let me repeat: Anna Yong did not stress out during her finals week! Well, if I did, it was a teeny tiny bit la

Back to the main point, this year, I want to become a Mary. So this is my new year’s resolution: I long to know God more through more in-depth bible studies; I desire to have a deeper personal and intimate relationship with Him. And God-willing, I really do want to rid my life of stress and worry. I realize that this is humanly impossible, BUT all things are possible through Christ, right?

These are my heart’s desires..

I’m praying for change

Christmas 2008

It all started on Christmas Eve.. That night, I was asked to accompany the Christmas Eve service (on the piano) at First Presbyterian Church. It was a beautiful service that ended with everyone standing in a circle by candlelight, singing “Silent Night”

Also, at the end of the service, God gave me a rather unexpected Christmas present: A Big Fat Check! You see, I’ve been quite broke for the last two and a half months, and I was really worried about how I was going to pay for groceries and stuff during Christmas break because I can’t work at school at that time! But all is good now. Phew!

After the service, Joel, Susan, Angust and I headed over to Spring’s (my host mom) house for Christmas Eve dinner. It was fantastic! We had good food, good entertainment (Wii Bowling, Tennis and Boxing – they never fail to entertain), and good laughs. One of Spring’s sisters brought some really interesting and festive Sodas for us to try.. By festive, I meant Soda flavors that go with the traditional American Christmas meals: Turkey and Gravy (Yes! Turkey and Gravy SODA!), Green Bean Casserole, Mashed Potatoes (This was the most disgusting one of all), Fruit  Cake, and Cranberry Sauce (This was actually quite yummy!). So yup, we all had our taste of those sodas. They were interesting alright They tasted and smelled exactly like whatever they claimed to taste like, except they had a tinge of sweetness and good soda gas in them. Ick!

Then Midnight came, and.. Happy Birthday Me! I got to open my presents

The next day, Joel and I were invited to have Christmas lunch at the Walkers’ house. We had steak and shrimp for lunch! Their family tradition is to have non-traditional meals on Christmas day. Tee Hee

On Christmas night, the four Malaysians went over to the Do’s residence and spent Christmas dinner with four Vietnamese. After dinner, we played Uno, watched a movie, and.. Ate my birthday cake!

Yes, I just turned a year old

This cake was personally “handmade” by Phuong Do, the most amazing Vietnamese cook that I know! Waaa.. This is the second personalized birthday cake I had in a row. *Grins*

Christmas doesn’t end here! On the 26th, Dr. Lindstrom invited Joel and I over to his house to have Christmas dinner with his family – Swedish style. Waaaaaa.. *Mouth waters* It was Good! And after that, we played more of the Wii But this time, we played Wii Music!

So that’s about it for my Christmas 2008 experience. I still got teary-eyed and emotional when I read about all the happenings at home.. I really miss everyone! But nevertheless, I had an AMAZING Christmas/Birthday experience this year. I want to thank everyone who made Christmas yet another memorable time for me, and that includes the people who called, wished me on Facebook, gave me wonderful and meaningful gifts, gave me big tight hugs, etc. I especially want to thank Joel Chan, my amazing boyfriend, who took the trouble to make sure Christmas 2008 was a special one for me

I Won’t Be Home For Christmas…

…But these will be!

Ahh.. I love the Christmas season!

I really wish that I was home, and I really wish I could be with everybody back at home.. I really don’t know when is the next time I’ll actually get to spend Christmas in Malaysia..

Oh well. It’s okay though, Clarksville is now my second home, and I thank God for my amazing friends and church that I have here. It’s only been two days since school got out, and I already received so many Christmas invitations It looks like it’s going to be a rather busy Christmas! Haha.. It’s funny to think how I’ve adjusted to this small and quiet town; I didn’t think I would when I first came!

Anyway, there will be more updates about recent happenings coming soon

Stay tuned!

Missing everyone back home.. With much love <3

A Prayer

Dear Lord,

I need you..

I want you..

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Anna Has Been Very Lazy (And Irresponsible)

Let me tell/show you what I was up to in the last two and a half months

I went to Celebration City Theme Park at Branson, Missouri in August with Amy, Kellie and Joel. I got to ride Three roller-coasters!

In that same month, a few of us went to Fort Smith to celebrate Huei Yin’s birthday. And on the way back, we had an “adventure.” The car we went in broke down.. And we were 45 minutes away from home! So we had to wait for I think close to 2 hours for help. I believe this is one of the most “adventurous” and interesting birthday celebrations ever

I also started to volunteer with one of my church’s (First Baptist Church, Clarksville) Children’s Ministry called Awana. I’ve been assigned to work with the Awana Cubbies (3-4 year old kids)!
These kids have brought much joy to my life.. They make me laugh, they make me proud, they make me roll my eyes! I thoroughly enjoy working with them, and I thank God for this amazing privilege and blessing He gave me.

So a few weeks before school started, Awana had this “Back to School Water Blast” thing, and I went to help out. I got to play on the water “bouncer” (that’s what I used to call the inflatables )!

I also went hiking a couple of times! Twice to Mount Magazine, and once to Petit Jean State Park. I LOVE mountains

The second time I went up to Mount Magazine was with my new host mom, Spring Minett. She brought along her 5 year old daughter as well.. And I tell you, that girl (Indie) is the smallest and cutest thing!

This is her doing a little cheeky song:

Okay, I am currently overwhelmed by this post. Be patient with me There’ll be more updates to come (hopfully soon)!