Jen Lee's week 25 (4 - 10 aug 2010)

Hi folks,

to those in singapore happy belated national day :) hope you had a good long holiday...

i'm having a public holiday tomorrow (wed 11aug) too :) it's called Ekka (wikipedia says: The Ekka is the annual show of Queensland, Australia. Its formal title is the Royal Queensland Show. It was originally called the Brisbane Exhibition, however it is usually shortened to Ekka. It is the last public holiday of the year before Christmas and is celebrated as the unofficial end to winter).

Ekka started out as an agricultural exhibition back in 1876 but it has grown a lot since and it is apparently Queensland's largest annual event. I was thinking of going to the showground tomorrow with my friends but it's predicted to rain buckets so i think i will try to go on saturday instead. Hope there's good weather!

speaking of good weather, last Saturday when I went diving, the weather was fantastic, sunny with clear skies.

Unfortunately, the sea condition was quite choppy and I threw up quite a few times :( I don't know why...i have never been really sea sick before. But thank God, I was still okay to dive and once I was under the waves, I was fine.

We dived at this sunken ship called the ex-HMAS Brisbane - it was a guided missile destroyer that served during the vietnam war and was also deployed in the gulf war. it was decommissioned in 2001 and sunk in 2005 to create an artificial reef. It's interesting to think that the ship that was used to bring death has now become a centre of life in the ocean. Just look at the pictures i've attached and you'll know what i mean.

Almost every square inch is covered by coral/anemone/tunicate/sponge etc. and on top of that are invertebrates like marine slugs (aka nudibranch = naked lung, they breathe through this appendage sticking out of their back) and in the water all around are fishes of different shapes and sizes... I included the picture of the tail of a rainbow wrasse (i'm quite sure that's the name of the fish) because i feel it represents my forays into the ocean - i'm in an unnatural environment in a sense, so capturing the animals is that much harder because they are in their element...but even just a glimpse of beauty, as seen in the tail, is enough to draw me back, again and again... :)

i didn't get to see whales on this trip, although the dive guide said they heard whales at the dive site the last time...oh well, my quest to get close to the largest mammals in the world continues... I hope to go diving again soon :)

Because diving costs quite a bit (for the two dives on sat, i paid $144), one deciding factor of how often I dive is how much i earn at my part-time job at the massage place - thank God that I had quite a lot of customers on monday so i earned $142 :) Pls pray that I will continue to improve as a masseuse - although I have gotten tips, I hope to have customers who like me so much that they make bookings under my name. so far that has not happened yet :)

School work is going ok - although the readings and assignments are beginning to demand a lot more of my time. Pls pray for good time management and speed in reading/writing academically. I realise that my winter break, almost two months, made it a bit hard to get back into school work at the efficiency level I was in before (which was not that efficient actually but at least i don't recall falling asleep so much during my readings :P)

One last prayer request has to do with my digital video production class - we're required to make a short documentary/narrative video during the semester. I am having a hard time thinking of what to do. I have one idea, but it's pending approval from the director of this clubhouse for people with mental health diagnoses to fulfil their potential.
The organisation is called International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD) and this is from their website:

The emergence of Clubhouses around the world demonstrates that people with mental illness can successfully participate in society through education, employment and other social activities.

ICCD Clubhouses offer people who have mental illness hope and opportunities to achieve their full human potential. They provide:

* A place where people with serious mental illness – who are known as “members” – participate in their own recovery process by working and socializing together in a safe and welcoming environment.
* An organization that operates on proven standards coordinated by ICCD and effective in over 300 Clubhouses worldwide since 1989.
* A community-based approach that complements available psychiatric treatment.

The personal stories of members and their families and an increasing body of research provide evidence that Clubhouses provide a holistic, inspiring and cost-effective solution for people living with mental illness.

What i hope to do is to help tell some of these personal stories, but I don't know if anyone would come forward for my video...if people's faces have to blurred out/they have to sit in the shadow throughout the video, it's not going to b very interesting visually. The backup plan is to have a video about the people who work with the clubhouse members, what are their experiences like. My contact, who works at the Stepping Stone Clubhouse has asked me to send him more details and he will ask his director on Thursday. Pls pray for favour, that I will be able to do this project with them.

Finally, I've happy news to share :) On monday i got an envelope in the mail that contained a certificate of commendation from UQ's executive dean for high achievement in my first semester. I think it's their equivalent of Dean's List - which I've never been on - hehe :) really want to thank God and praise Him again for helping me through my courses.

Please pray that I will continue to work hard and smart this semester, for His glory, amen!

Thanks for reading, God bless you all and take care,
love,
jen lee