Orientation Camp @ Quito -- March 2 to 5

It has been a pretty interesting week! I just loved bedtime -- with all that interesting talk with my guy tripmates xD Anyways, some of the workshops are pretty interesting. We got educated on how to live in a cross-cultural setting, and the importance of not getting into bed with the opposite sex -- or face dire consequences, such as mandatoryt marriage if we ever gotten a girl preganant. Boy, if that ever happen, I will bet my teachers face will turn purple =P. During these past days, I also have the opportunity to experience some Ecudorian local food -- such as Chicken Kababs and its wonderful fruit juices. Now when I compare it with the food I eat in Canada, they are pretty similar -- and that´s probably because I come from a Chinese background =D

I love Klevar -- he is a pretty hilarious guy. This is definately a big change from the regular classes I have with David. He´s also pretty nice to with his wallet -- he is the coordinator that treated us to those free kebabs after we found out that all the chickens that we have on our plate is raw =P We are almost coming to the end of the week -- which means we will be going to our host families soon. I am both excited and sad because I will be missing my peers but I will finally have the opportunity nto explore on my own and improve my Spanish.

Quito is such an amazing place to discover. It is so beautiful especially if you go to the highest point in the mountains. On March 5th, we are given the opportunity to explore Quito in pairs of four. On that day, we have such a blast with a special thanks to our amazing cab driver. He basically took us to all the best sights in Quito such as the angel tower, the musee that introduces us to Ecuadors history and many other higher points. They are simply magnificent -- both the views and the history behind it. I learned alot on that day such as how Ecuador became a country and the history of the Catholic Church. However, it is so unfair that the driver said that I am number four of my group simply because I am a guy =P All in all though, its an amaingly good day.

Looking foward to tommorow!! Write sometime soon

--With lots of love

Sammy =)

1st Day / Arrival in Ecuador

Its so exiting to be finally leaving Toronto! I am so pumped and anxious at the same time to be reaching Ecuador soon -- in approximately 7 hours! But boy, things always happen with airplanes and as luck will have it, we have to wait and transfer to another plane. This was apparently due to mechanical problems, and we ended up having to switch to three different flights. But hey, I think its a blessing in disguise -- Since Quito view is amazing at night. It is just like the city of ember :) I am looking foward to my trip -- and continue to build friendship with my tripmates. It is getting late now! Will write soon!

--Love,

Samuel =D

How To Install Love =P

Okay i know it's kind of random, but i thought it was good food for thought.... Hope you enjoy it! 
--Sam F. =)


Tech Support: Hello … how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install
Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first? 

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you
located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now.
Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running ?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge
and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt
from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent
memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will
eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High
Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and
Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed.
Can you turn those off ? 

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke
Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and
Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that
normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base
program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get
the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error
- Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

 Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set
up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In
non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before
you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the
following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your
Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The
system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty
programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all
directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely
gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.
Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying
themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but
eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed
and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure
to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in
turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

September Retreat reflection -- My hopes and fears: Journal #1

This is my reflection from sitting under a tree in a secluded forest for 2 hours reflecting on what I have learned from the September Retreat to Jackson's Point. Enjoy =D

From participating in the retreat, I am able to really revisit what I truly want to get out of this experience. From Day 1, I have experience a lot of new things, and taking risks that I would not have taken in the past. It was an truly amazing experience to having so much fun with other team members at the camp fire, and to try roasting and eating it for the very first time. From the electrical fence activity, even though I am very afraid to jump, I learned to trust other team members and relying on them for support. These experiences help me to rethink and confirm what I hope to achieve in this program. I hope that in this journey, I will be able to go out of my comfort zone, and through it experiencing new and exciting new things. I also hoped that these experiences will help me expand my knowledge, learning how to be independent and meeting new people and getting to know there culture. Through this retreat, I learned so much more about Ecuador, and also realize that it is important to treasure food, and constantly keep yourself clean (i.e. Washing your hands before dinner). I hope that I will continue to be able to experiencing new things, expanding my knowledge, meeting new people and challenging myself to go out of my comfort zone and learning to be independent.

 My brain can be acting pretty funny sometimes. On some days, I might be worried about going on the trip, and on some days, I will be pretty excited about the trip and forgetting all about those worries. Participating in this retreat really helped me to get to know more about my other team mate, and also bonding with them. I worry about whether I will be able to pull this trip off and sometimes I doubted myself whether participating in this program is a wrong decision. That's because none of my friends have any knowledge about this program and I worried that when things get tough, no one will be able to understand it. However, by getting to know my peers through this retreat, I know that they will support me when things get tough. I am also worry about how to fundraise enough to cover the expenses of my trip, and also leaving home and not knowing what to really expect in Ecuador. Even though there are going to be worries and tough and stressful times, I am going to constantly stay positive and optimistic. Through the Alumni presentation, I also learned that I should not doubt my decision and whatever pathways I choose, I am going to make the best out of it.

In my opinion, it is important to reflect on learning experiences so that you are aware of what you've learned and also congratulate yourself in making progress. I am sitting in the forest with other students reflecting on the experiences we had so far is because we can re-focus and seriously think about our hopes and fears in participating in this program. The forest offers a quiet environment, and it also offers a chance to calm yourself down.

Did you know...

Did you know that Scarborough-Agincourt community is one of the safest communities in Toronto? Yippee =D Now I can feel safe walking home at night =P

Welcome to my Journal! My very first entry =)

Hiya!

So this is my very first live journal entry. Yes, I've officially jumped on the bandwagon. Well, is it a bandwagon if it's not in the front of everyone's minds? It used to be. About 3 or 4 years ago everyone had a live journal. I don't know about that now. But oh well. Hopefully I'll be updating this quite regularly. But with school being so demanding at this time of the year, I can only do so much =D

I probably should explain why I'm starting a journal/blog in the first place. Now in February, I got accepted into a international volunteer program to Ecuador with my school board . Unfortunately, I won't be able to tell you the full name of the program due to the board policy =( (I guess they are afraid that we -- the students may back-stab them) However, when I say accepted, I mean I've been accepted with conditions. Their medical team is currently going over my medical files to make sure everything is normal and I'm not about to drop dead in the middle of the trip. Plus I will be required to pass a Spanish competency test so that they are satisfied that I can survive in Ecuador. I am very excited to go on this trip and am so thrilled to share my experience with you! So stay tuned =D

I would really like to share with you my day today -- but I'm so tired. However, it was an amazing day! It snowed/ Yes, that's right. It's October 28th and we got snow. Now it wasn't a lot and it didn't stay on the ground, but that's not the point. The point is, it snowed in =P

Alright, now I know this hasn't been very long but I'm going to wrap it up. It's about 12:40am and I'm getting tired. So I hope you enjoyed this first entry and hopefully my next one will be longer and maybe more interesting.

G'night!!

-- Samuel (Spacebar =D)