Rushi Youth Camp

When most of my friends were away to Melbourne, I joined Rushi Youth Camp. Initially, I signed up for the camp for I thought holidays would be quite boring since there's nothing much to see or visit in Adelaide. Besides that, I guess it would be a good chance for me to know more about Buddhism while enjoying the camp.

Honestly, I didn't put in much hope for the camp as it was a small camp with as few as 20 participants. However, I guess this would be an advantage for the committee to come out with interesting yet meaningful activities as a small group of people was easier to be managed.

It was a 4 days 3 nights camp held at Zhu Lin Temple. The first day was kicked off with some "break-the-ice" activities so that all of us could mingle well with each other. Then, there was some introduction to basic principles in Buddhism. The day continued with station games and sitting meditation. Significantly, it made me realised that I had A LOT of wondering thoughts. In fact, the amount of wondering thoughts I had gave me a shock. I didn't sleep well at night as it was too coooold and I didn't have any experience in dealing with the coldness. (PS: after that I wore 5 layers of clothes at night =P)

Generally, day 02 was light and easy. We had Tea Zen and games. There was a game called Travel Around The World which I personally think that it was quite meaningful. I actually played this game at Botanic Garden outing. This game is best played with about 16-20 people and all players are divided into 4-5 groups. For each group, there are different rules for playing card games. While the game is running, everyone must remain silent. For each game, the winner will move to another group on the right while the loser will move the another group on the left and the game continues. The interesting part of this game is that the one who moves to another group doesn't know about the rules of the new group he or she is in. The aim of this game is to win as many times as possible by figuring out the rules of other groups. However, the underlying lesson of this game is to teach us to adapt to new environment by respecting others' culture. ^^

No doubt, we had many other interesting activities in the camp. One that is worth mentioning is Experience Night on day 03. It reminded us about the four things we need to undergo in life, birth, old, sickness and death. Also, it reminded us to appreciate what we have, and be thankful to the people around us. At most of the time, we tend to neglect and think that what we own are supposed to be there for us but we seldom realise that they do not necessarily need to be there. So, be grateful. =)

I think it's all for the camp. I know this post is kind of late anyway. =P

"Marathon"

It feels so fast, and now one week is gone!! So far, I spent my holiday visiting South Australia. Poor me, unlike most of my coursemates, I don't have any interstate plan =(

The holiday kicked off with Hooi Lie's birthday party. (Now I understand the hassle of hosting a party.) All of us were so busy with the food, venue and stuffs. Anyway, glad that it turned out to be a success and we had some leftover for the next few days. I guess I was the most delighted one as I don't need to worry about what to eat for lunch and dinner.

The next day was laundry day. You can never imagine it, we spent the whole day washing clothes! Thanks to the dearest exams, we hadn't been washing clothes for quite some time and our clothes piled up to 6 bags!

Moving on, it was time to release our stress and satisfy our "girlish nature" and hence our next destination --- Tea Tree Plaza. As an obedient + good girl, I didn't shop much. =P However, I believe that the main reason was that I had shopped too much before the exams and my pocket is seriously weeping now. Another new experience though, as Tea Tree Plaza is way different from the shopping malls in Malaysia. Unlike most shopping malls, Tea Tree Plaza consists of only three floors and most of the shops are located on the ground floor. Still the same old view, there aren't many skyscrapers in South Australia.

After that, we decided to visit Hahndorf. Hahndorf, situated in the Adelaide Hills, is a German settlement in South Australia. The most "interesting" part of our visit that I will never forget was the weather. It was a cold, windy and rainy day. The wind was so strong that you can feel yourself being "moved" by the wind and when it came together with the rain, it was freezing coooold! Before I forget, we visited some handicraft shops and a museum depicting the history of the German in South Australia. And of course, we didn't miss the chance to try out German food. Also, we visited Beerenberg errr... shop and Hahndorf Farm Barn. Beerenberg... shop visit was supposed to be a Beerenberg farm visit if it was spring. Too bad, when we reached the farm barn, it was almost the end of the visiting hours. However, we were so lucky that the keeper let us in for a hands on experience of feeding sheep with milk. Need not to say, it was sooooo exciting!!!

Read on, it is not the end yet. Haha... Alhough we were tired, there were still plans going on. After some discussion, we moved on to Cleland Wildlife Park the next day. There was no much difference between Cleland and other wildlife parks in Australia. Apparently, we saw kangaroos, wallabies, wombat, Dingos, Tasmanian Devils, koalas, water fowls and other reptiles. One of the lessons that I had learnt was wallabies are tamer than kangaroos. Haha...

After coming back from Cleland, we rested for one day. But I spent the morning hanging around at a charity food fair organised by Chuen Lu's church at Goodwood and the afternoon loitering around Rundle Mall. Zhi Hui had a friend visiting so we spent the night out for dinner with her friend.

Port Adelaide trip was generally a cruise trip to see dolphins. Apparently, the wind was strong too but I was growing smart to know what to wear nowadays. Haha... I will stop here for this moment. The activity coming up is a four-day-camp organised by Rushi Youth Group. ^^

Holiday

I can't believe it!!
Exam is OVER,
and holiday is HERE!!!

To someone:

Happy 1st month anniversary! =)

Anticipate

The last paper of this study period --- COMM is scheduled on tomorrow. And, it's one day left before I can shout out the three-word-phrase I AM FREE!!!!

After COMM, we will be busy preparing for Hooi Lie's birthday on Sunday. *I'm soooo looking forward to the post-exam-and-birthday-party!!* UV 1005 is the host this time. =P

Due to that, I'm seriously moodLESS to study. HELP!!!