Saturday, October 31, 2015

Sorrow and Joy

I'm writing this on my phone as I ride the Canada Line to YVR, as I prepare to embark on my first vacation in three loooooong years (i.e. Romania - London 2012). I stayed up late packing last night/this morning and my eyes are incredibly heavy, but that should give my internal clock a nice headstart when I'm in Guangzhou for a "cute" 15 hour layover (thanks China Southern). I remember a teacher in highschool telling us that you learn a lot about yourself when you travel alone and I've been looking forward to having this personal reflection time and not having to be concerned about anyone except myself. It sounds selfish, but its true and I'm exhausted and have a huge sleep debt to pay off. I like sleep.

Sorrow

I should clarify that this is about physical sorrow.

This past Tuesday I was folding up a letter to fit into an envelope. I pressed the last fold firmly with both hands in the center and pushed outwards to make an even crease, but I forgot about a staple at one corner and my hands have been increasingly super dry because of the weather/eczema.

By the time I was aware of the staple, it was too late as I was already internally screaming and squeezing the tip of my finger to stop the bleeding. I had pushed outwards so fast that my dry skin caught the underside of the staple and wedged into my flesh. The force from my impeccable folding skills forced one side of the staple to completely un-staple. Long story short, my finger wound is finally closing up after many days of agony each time I wash my hands.

Oh and later that day, I tried a colleague's IO Hawk (aka what the media calls "hoverboards" or mini-Segways) and my body ate the cement sidewalk in front of our office building because overcompensated for the robotic movement and panicked. While trying to bail, I must have leaned forward which caused the thingy to accelerate and yadda yadda yadda, the road rash on my left arm and hand is also finally healing too. Yay me.

Joy

I already mentioned it at the top, but I'm on vacation! After meeting my old Bible study leader in Guangzhou for dinner (yo, Bobby!), the second leg of my journey will take me to Melbourne, Australia to visit my grandmother and other super cool relatives.

I'm so glad.... dare I say it, joyful that I'm finally getting time off work and won't have any responsibilities anywhere! Sure I'll be missing my little brothers and sisters at church for GRAVITY on Friday nights as well as the Whitecaps FC's first ever home playoff game, but I still feel relieved. Did I mention I like sleep? I like sleep.

I'm finishing writing this post at the departure gate at YVR. The dream is real. God is so merciful to me and I don't deserve it.

I probably won't be posting much here, but stay tuned to Twitter if you want to know if I'm still alive down undah. XD