Dear Kitty,
it's Saturday, and I had my first lie-in for AGES this morning. Or rather, I would have done if I hadn't woken up so early by mistake. Still, I've got the Advent Carol Service tomorrow, so I don't need to get up for church in the morning.
Yesterday was, in a word, amazing. I got up early to learn my presentation for class - 'watashi no suki na koto', or 'my favourite hobby'. I talked about music, of course. I really hate public speaking, as you know, so I got really out of breath at the beginning of the speech - which everyone found funny, and I had to laugh as well. I relaxed a little after that, and the rest was alright, until I forgot the set phrases at the end. Still, it could have gone much worse. Kam, Michael and I went to Starbucks afterwards, and then Kam wanted McDonalds, so we sat in there and talked for about an hour. They've been taking the mickey out of me since Thursday because I've hardly seen any 'normal' films, but I don't mind because they're so much fun. I spent the afternoon sewing in my room, and then went to Cornerhouse at half five to meet all the other Japanese Studies students - and we went ice skating!!! Stef, Janie and I sang all the way to the rink - well, Stef and I sang, because Janie doesn't really know any English Christmas songs, but it was terrific fun. We were frozen when we got there, though, and then we had to queue for skates for fifteen minutes. Finally, though, we got out onto the ice. I was the first out of all of us, and I fell over at the first corner (oh dear). I'd managed to remember how to skate by the time everyone else appeared, though. Stef does speed skating, so we skated around together for a while and played a few games. Janie was teaching all the Japanese students, and Stef was doing her best to knock them all over - she didn't succeed, luckily. We spent the second half of the hour teaching each other random things - she taught me how to do crossovers properly, and I taught her how to do a waltz jump. I was glad to know that I could still jump, and I didn't notice that everyone was watching me while I was practising - they were very impressed, though.
The ice was terrible, unfortunately - they don't seem to understand the importance of smooth ice in the UK. Or, in fact, how amazing ice skating is! It really ought to be bigger here. Stef, Janie and I have all decided that we're going to do it heaps when we get to Japan. I had to leave for choir as soon as we finished, and we were rehearsing for Sunday when I arrived. We're doing Howells' 'A Spotless Rose', both versions of 'Adam Lay Ybounden' and Rutter's 'Nativity Carol' - hurrah! Andrew, David (Lacy) and I spent the whole break making silly jokes about The Borrowers and laughing - Andrew really reminds me of Hutchy, and he's absolutely hilarious. He was mouthing things at me all the way through the second half of the rehearsal (which confused Olga no end because she was sitting in front of him). It culminated in me doing the Batman Mask thing, which he'd never seen before - so he took his glasses off and looked a bit confused, and then poked himself in the eye when he tried to put them back on. That set me off terribly, and I couldn't sing for the next few minutes because I was laughing too hard. We carried on talking after the rehearsal finished, and he and David managed to get me so I was doing that really unattractive laugh when you simply can't stop and you can't breathe. The rest of the choir just looked at them and said 'oh dear, the Lacys have adopted a daughter'. Mark and David (not Lacy) watched me for a while and then said 'I think you broke her', which only made it worse. I came back from choir in the best mood ever - yesterday was fantastic, and I'm so glad it happened!
God has felt much closer lately, and I've been praying far more than usual. I just can't seem to stop thanking Him for everything! I love it when I'm just really happy - life is so much easier. It's a week until I go home, and, until then, I've hardly anything on - the service tomorrow, and a Chinese exam next Friday, but that's it. However will I manage? I wish it were Monday, though - my weekends always seem far too long and dull. I've spent today sewing and watching 1940/50 short films - not something I regret, but I'm a little tired of that now. Maybe I ought to find a new hobby? (Last time I said that to Dan, he said 'well, we could become one of those couples who have the same hobby and go to all the conventions. I think we should take up kayaking'. I said 'I think we should take up quilting', to which he replied 'how about white water quilting?'. We agreed that this should be a new Olympic sport.)
The only negative at the moment is eating, and I'm having a few problems. Still, onwards and upwards.
Yours,
Chessie
it's Saturday, and I had my first lie-in for AGES this morning. Or rather, I would have done if I hadn't woken up so early by mistake. Still, I've got the Advent Carol Service tomorrow, so I don't need to get up for church in the morning.
Yesterday was, in a word, amazing. I got up early to learn my presentation for class - 'watashi no suki na koto', or 'my favourite hobby'. I talked about music, of course. I really hate public speaking, as you know, so I got really out of breath at the beginning of the speech - which everyone found funny, and I had to laugh as well. I relaxed a little after that, and the rest was alright, until I forgot the set phrases at the end. Still, it could have gone much worse. Kam, Michael and I went to Starbucks afterwards, and then Kam wanted McDonalds, so we sat in there and talked for about an hour. They've been taking the mickey out of me since Thursday because I've hardly seen any 'normal' films, but I don't mind because they're so much fun. I spent the afternoon sewing in my room, and then went to Cornerhouse at half five to meet all the other Japanese Studies students - and we went ice skating!!! Stef, Janie and I sang all the way to the rink - well, Stef and I sang, because Janie doesn't really know any English Christmas songs, but it was terrific fun. We were frozen when we got there, though, and then we had to queue for skates for fifteen minutes. Finally, though, we got out onto the ice. I was the first out of all of us, and I fell over at the first corner (oh dear). I'd managed to remember how to skate by the time everyone else appeared, though. Stef does speed skating, so we skated around together for a while and played a few games. Janie was teaching all the Japanese students, and Stef was doing her best to knock them all over - she didn't succeed, luckily. We spent the second half of the hour teaching each other random things - she taught me how to do crossovers properly, and I taught her how to do a waltz jump. I was glad to know that I could still jump, and I didn't notice that everyone was watching me while I was practising - they were very impressed, though.
The ice was terrible, unfortunately - they don't seem to understand the importance of smooth ice in the UK. Or, in fact, how amazing ice skating is! It really ought to be bigger here. Stef, Janie and I have all decided that we're going to do it heaps when we get to Japan. I had to leave for choir as soon as we finished, and we were rehearsing for Sunday when I arrived. We're doing Howells' 'A Spotless Rose', both versions of 'Adam Lay Ybounden' and Rutter's 'Nativity Carol' - hurrah! Andrew, David (Lacy) and I spent the whole break making silly jokes about The Borrowers and laughing - Andrew really reminds me of Hutchy, and he's absolutely hilarious. He was mouthing things at me all the way through the second half of the rehearsal (which confused Olga no end because she was sitting in front of him). It culminated in me doing the Batman Mask thing, which he'd never seen before - so he took his glasses off and looked a bit confused, and then poked himself in the eye when he tried to put them back on. That set me off terribly, and I couldn't sing for the next few minutes because I was laughing too hard. We carried on talking after the rehearsal finished, and he and David managed to get me so I was doing that really unattractive laugh when you simply can't stop and you can't breathe. The rest of the choir just looked at them and said 'oh dear, the Lacys have adopted a daughter'. Mark and David (not Lacy) watched me for a while and then said 'I think you broke her', which only made it worse. I came back from choir in the best mood ever - yesterday was fantastic, and I'm so glad it happened!
God has felt much closer lately, and I've been praying far more than usual. I just can't seem to stop thanking Him for everything! I love it when I'm just really happy - life is so much easier. It's a week until I go home, and, until then, I've hardly anything on - the service tomorrow, and a Chinese exam next Friday, but that's it. However will I manage? I wish it were Monday, though - my weekends always seem far too long and dull. I've spent today sewing and watching 1940/50 short films - not something I regret, but I'm a little tired of that now. Maybe I ought to find a new hobby? (Last time I said that to Dan, he said 'well, we could become one of those couples who have the same hobby and go to all the conventions. I think we should take up kayaking'. I said 'I think we should take up quilting', to which he replied 'how about white water quilting?'. We agreed that this should be a new Olympic sport.)
The only negative at the moment is eating, and I'm having a few problems. Still, onwards and upwards.
Yours,
Chessie
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