To Our Guests
[at the Embassy Suites... written on a card placed on our beds every day]

In ancient times there was a prayer for
"The Stranger within our gates"

Because this hotel is a human institution to serve people, and not solely a money-making organization, we hope that God will grant you peace and rest while you are under our roof.

May this suite and hotel be your "second" home. May those you love be near you in thoughts and dreams. Even though we may not get to know you, we hope that you will be comfortable and happy as if you were in your own house.

May the business that brought you our way prosper. May every call you make and every message you receive add to your joy. When you leave, may your journey be safe.

We are all travellers. From "birth till death" we travel between the eternities. May these days be pleasant for you, profitable for society, helpful for those you meet, and a joy to those who know and love you best.

-------

Thought that was pretty cool... it makes it comforting to be here.

Go Cornhuskers Go!




So here I am in Lincoln, Nebraska, home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. OK, so this city isn't as small as one would imagine (it is the capital of Nebraska state, afterall), but it certainly looks like a sterotypical American mid-west "hick" town...

*Everything* is Cornhusker here... even the highway, but I guess that's expected. I actually can't wait to go to an American college football game though, to see the loyal fan base out in full force (even though they're not doing well this year -- they were the champions a few years back). That won't be this week -- I'm coming back on Thursday in time for the CBV. So.. actually, I really should get back to studying.

But just wanted to say that my hotel room is *sweet*! We're at the Embassy Suites [and it is a huge hotel here... actually, the buildings here are pretty big, although you don't see much people around] and I have a full suite to myself. Pretty much, I have a living room / office, not to mention a microwave and bar sink if I wanted to make some basic food.

Too bad I'm just enjoying the room on my own though [you could comfortably sleep 3 people here, at least!]... but that's okay, I need to study. =p

I'm here with the engagement partner and manager... and I got a free counselling session on the plane, haha... hm... *should* I do a MBA? =p

As usual with going to the States, I'm full after every meal because there is so much food... good thing I can better digest everything because as a good Chinese person, I brought Chinese tea bags from home... =)

Yes! I've told my dad... and he's receptive! There's a plan... get ready to roll, Yam... =)

I guess I haven't felt *stressed* in a long time... pretty much since before summer. Even though I generally like the stress, this times it seems like I don't know how to deal with it... it's been too long, haha.

Praise God for giving me a good summer -- I actually took advantage of most of the 35 hour weeks. Of course, the reason why I could is because I slacked and procrastinated, and now it's all tumbling down on me. The main thing is, I REALLY NEED TO STUDY!!!

I can't believe I worked most of the day today, and I had to go to Jonathan's mission sharing night. I really dragged my feet there, and was frustrated the entire drive. But God is always present and I know I needed to be there...

It was amazing to hear about God working in Turkey, about the change going on in the country, in the people whom he met. The time of worship was much needed because I really needed to let go of my worries, *my* stresses, *my* time... but refocus back onto God.

And I really needed (need) to be humbled... God is the one who works to change; *He* is the one who works through us. If we weren't here, I'm sure God would find a way through someone else... this is not an argument for shirking, just that the focus cannot be on ourselves.

Thank you, Jonathan... as I've said many times, you have always been an inspiration to me. I've learned from your struggles last year upon starting up Delta and still look to Delta as an example of something that started from a vision of one who only wants to live out your life for God... I've learned a lot since God put you in my life.

[And you called my bluff, eh ;p]

Everything happens at the same time... ah! It's funny how murphy's law works -- and I already don't have it that bad...

But my weekend is already starting to roll and soon enough, I'll be in sunny Lincoln, Nebraska.

"Oh no, Nebraska! Is there a plainer state I ask 'ya!" [At least I'll get studying done then!]

Oh yes, Nebraska!

I'll be sure to take many pictures of... corn. Yum!

Can't wait until next Saturday when I'll be off camping with friends... really looking to the quietness after a week of whirlwind hecticness...

Back to trying to write more "meaningful" blogs...

A while ago, we had a TCCC English congregation praise and worship night. It was great -- I really enjoyed the worship, which included singing a number of songs from Urbana (since 80% of the worship team went in December), and the wonderful time of open sharing, which I wrote about before.

There have been a number of other things that have reminded me about Urbana, such as a picture on Andrew's blog and worshipping at the Michael W. Smith and MercyMe concert. And I am reminded of my experience there, and of the commitments that I made.

The main one was to go on a short-term mission trip this year -- ashamedly, I've foregone that plan for the remainder of the year. Due to my laziness, I basically missed all the deadlines in May for the summer / early fall trips. I *did* have a Plan "Z" opportunity to go to Australia with Pastor Tim. However, even though I know the experience would have been great regardless, it didn't feel right to me to go on the trip (I think he's off in a few weeks).

I felt that if I went, I would be going for the sake of going, so that I would fulfill my commitment. What I really want to do is to experience a cross-cultural trip... and as much as Australia would open my eyes, I didn't think I would be challenged in the way that I wanted to be. Granted, God works in many amazing ways, I don't think my heart was truly in it to go to Australia this time.

So now, I need to diligently look for opportunities and apply... I actually did have a potential opportunity in China last year, but had many apprehensions from my family given the political climate of the country. But for some reason, I never really looked into Taiwan... Hm...

And now that I *have* disclosed this -- please keep me accountable to my commitment... good intentions only go so far.

I finally watched Fahrenheit 9/11. Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and appreciated the structure that any effective persuasive communication would embody: logical appeal, ethical appeal and emotional appeal, in that order.

Although knowing that the movie is entirely propaganda and every point must be taken with a grain of salt [since really, who really knows the truth in this matter to make a reasonable evaluation?], I could not walk away without thinking:

"I wonder if we will identify the 'mark' when we see it..."

Or to continue the thought, albeit along a somewhat horrifying train of thought, "I wonder if we've all already taken the mark but don't know it yet."

I'm not a radical apocalyptic type of person, but I must say that the movie was quite unsettling for me, and it's difficult not to think about the end times... "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" -- Revelation 13:4

... Hm... are we ready?

Of course, this is probably just another part of the emotional appeal of the propaganda... who knows?

Ran off this weekend on vacation with the girls...

Thanks Janey for doing the blogging. =p

A gkyam dorkism...

Well, we all have these, don't we? Or do they only occur to a select few? =p Thought I'd share this story for your amusement...

The Michael W. Smith, MercyMe and David Crowder concert was held at Kingswood theatre at Wonderland. Since security has heighted over the past few years, there are bag checks going into the park, and they even check purses!

For those who know me, I am a big advocate of taking Vitamin C to prevent illness, and I swallow these huge Vitamin C pills [referred to as my horsepills] instead of buying the chewable kind. I have a few of these pills in a sandwich bag in my purse and often offer them to my siblings at the dim sum table... haha... my brother laughs and says he doesn't want to accept any drugs under the table -- literally. Even though I've been lazy lately and haven't taken them in a while, I've just left them in my purse, still in the ghetto sandwich bag.

So as you probably know where this anecdote is heading, the huge pills certainly raised an eyebrow at Wonderland security and when asked what they were, I could only sheepishly answer, "um... they're Vitamin C pills". Luckily, the security guard just kind of laughed at me, "fake" sniffed the bag, and let me into the park.

I guess it's a good thing this happened to me because otherwise, given my absentmindedness, I probably would have left them in my purse while trying to get into the U.S. on vacation, so I could have potentially saved much unnecessary hassle... =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Seattle and Vancouver has been fun, especially just "hanging out" and catching up with people... seeing how people are doing now and where people are headed in the future.

Just one incident that I'd like to share now is about Alaskan Ling Cod:

Patty, Tim and I went out for seafood in Seattle and on the menu was an item "Alaskan Ling Cod". Pardon our ignorance, but we did not know that this was a type of fish, and thought that there was a typo and that it should have read "Alaskan King Cod". So when Patty ordered, she ordered "Could I please have the Alaskan [softly]... ing [back to normal] Cod?"

The waitress, being of relatively perky character responded with, "Sure, the Alaskan LING Cod."

Anyway, it was a lasting moment for me because it reminded me of Ally McBeal [and of course, *everything* relates back to Ally Mcbeal... haha]. During the second season there is a character Ling Woo [played by Lucy Liu] who is extremely cold -- her theme song when she comes onto the scene is the Wizard of Oz's "Wicked Witch of the West".

Since Ally and the other members of the firm hate her, they refer to Ling as "*L*in*g*" with a "hard L, hard G". Of course, Ling corrected everyone: "My name is Ling, with a soft 'L', soft 'G': 'ling'."

Anyway, this totally does not make sense without a live example -- does anyone know how to rip a scene off of a DVD to a relatively small size and host it on the Internet?? Please let me know!! =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Arrived in Pittsburgh with no problem! My impression of this city is quite pleasant -- during the landing I saw a lot of green and many neatly lined houses. It reminded me of a "perfect neighbourhood" like in the "Truman Show". The aerial view shows lots of green, perfectly round trees, nice winding roads with driveways leading up to houses with wide lots... too bad I didn't take a picture.

So, of course, flight delays are inevitable. It seems like every single flight has been delayed lately. Although we appeared to be on schedule leaving Pittsburgh, it turned out that some repairs needed to be made... what better a time to catch up on lectures, blog a bit, and finish my Web-based Learnings for work! Haha...

Ok, turns out that the first plane was not flight-worthy and we had to switch planes... SO... 2.5 hour delay... gotta learn the importance of being flexible in a just-in-time environment...

So my vacation is on the *bestest* of starts... but it's a vacation... it's also been nice to travel alone too. Kind of refreshing. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Vacation!

Vacations are actually kind of stressful -- so much has to be done before going away -- especially when I am in the middle of an audit at work. Sigh... why do I care so much? Oh well, pretty much everything is taken care of... it's just weird that I send work emails at extreme hours of the day.

My destination is Seattle. I'm meeting up with Patty and visiting the west-coast people. Really looking forward to talking to people again and just hanging out... not to mention see whatever sights are there in Seattle and Vancouver. I'm so unprepared... well, the past 24 hours has been a whirlwind of activity to finish everything that I needed to do for work in addition to scheduled gatherings.

Mahjongg is always fun -- too bad we didn't total up the score to see how much I can collect. =p Haha... dinner with some high school friends was really nice too. Very reminiscent of "old times" especially with Sherrie's scrapbook for me; very thoughtful of her! I chose to go to a restaurant in the Distillery district -- it's cool there! I would go back, perhaps try to see more of it in the daytime. I guess it won't be as "happening" when it turns cold though.

So my itinerary is as follows:

Outbound:

Sunday, August 22:
Depart Toronto at 3:29pm, arrive Pittsburgh 4:40pm on US Airways 2300
Depart Pittsburgh 5:55pm, arrive Seattle at 8:02pm on US Airways 781

Return:
Depart Seattle 11:20pm, arrive Pittsburgh 6:48am on US Airways 36
Depart Pittsburgh 7:50am, arrive Toronto at 9:08am on US Airways 2260 -- right in time to play softball playoffs!!

Well as at 2:42pm, my flight is delayed for at least half an hour... it's only at the airport that I have time to blog now, using dial-up courtesy of EY. =) I guess I could technically work on my Reporting package now.. haha. Hopefully the flights turn out okay! Anyway, it's nice to quiet down and blog... it's been a crazy week.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

No bookings tonight... please leave a message.

Finally, some quiet time to myself. I was really looking forward to a quiet house this week [despite having to take care of the house], and it is really nice. I don't think I've ever used my computer in the kitchen before, so that I could blog while cooking and eating my steak a la Edward Yam, not to mention blog for the past month and the next. =p And all in one shot -- no bother to ration the posts from my stores.

As alluded to earlier, I've had a whole bunch of thoughts that have been backlogged and I just haven't taken the time to document them. Not that I really like to use my blog as my weekly (or monthly) thought repository, but writing essays or pieces really took too long than I cared for. I also admit that I like to refrain from deeply personal thoughts on my blog for the sake of my facade. =p I really do need to journal and process my thoughts though, otherwise fleeting thoughts are simply valueless, and I suppose that strangely, the internet is likely the most transparent form of communication there is.

In terms of busyness, August is, for me, comparable to the December Christmas season. It didn't help that my birthday "week" also turned out to be one of the busiest weeks at work since busy season. So after a week of sleeping no earlier than 3 a.m. in any given day, I am reeling... It must be bad when all I feel is,

"God... I miss you...."

Spending time with people has always been important to me, and this month is no exception. But without God's strength to carry me on, socializing, as much as I enjoy it, is really draining. So I thank God for nudging me when I need it (otherwise, I could very well still be bubble tea-ing after a movie and a late dinner) and giving me a quiet house to re-energize and revitalize at the right time. Hm... perhaps the self-inflicted guilt of not going on vacation with my family was an unnecessary side effect to a blessing in disguise.

Thanks to everyone who dropped a note or "celebrated" my birthday on Thursday. As much as it is *my* day, I honestly don't enjoy the attention, but it *is* a great excuse to get-togehter with people. [Much better, of course, than spending the entire evening at work!! Which was a probable event for me last Thursday!] Not that the "celebrations" are over yet... but I am truly enjoying this year's birthday.

It was great to have dinner with my family and some close friends together. Family...

I've been to a couple of weddings this year, all very nice and meaningful... contrary to what people may perceive, I think I am pretty emotional -- in fact, I cry *really* easily. But weddings don't particularly touch me... until at the banquet, if it's a western-style banquet, the bride's dance with the father is what does me over.

Perhaps it's because I'm a girl (i.e., I'd hope to be a future bride), the love between two people pales in comparison to a father (or parents) who spend all of their adult life working and toiling so that the daughter can leave home and start a life anew... how selfless and beautiful is such a love. I know that I experience it every day, and am a product of it. I think that if I were to do the western style and dance with my father at my wedding, I would completely break down and bawl... mainly because of many years of pent up appreciation and gratitude that has yet to be directly released.

Yet, would I / do I cry for my heavenly father who has done amazingly more than I could ever imagine? Yes... I have in the past... recently? I think I've been a lot more jaded and caught up in the pace of the world than to reflect on it. But thankfully, Friday's TCCC English congregation praise and revival night attempted to get us to think back to the time when we first accepted Christ as our personal saviour. I really enjoyed the beautiful time of worship, the inspirational testimonies, and the open sharing.

I've never really seen a successful "open mic" style sharing at TCCC before. But on Friday, it was encouraging to see Harry share first without refrain, and great to hear people's honest struggles and stories of praise. I think the longest bout of silence was only one minute! [Mind you, this is not just a "pass the {item} around the circle"-type share -- it was a "go to the mic at the front of the crowd"-type of sharing.] That night brought me back to many times of sharing at CCF. A transparent kind of sharing that is characteristic of true community. It's exciting to finally see / feel it at church. It is also a challenge for myself to play a part in developing this community that has started...

Back to friends... I had a wonderful time of dinner and post-dinner [at the office, nonetheless] with some of my closest sisters-in-Christ [missed you Ina...] in "Joy Luck Club" fashion, to enjoy each other's company, laugh at each other's quirks and dorkisms [no, not just Anita!], chat about our careers, spirituality, communities, and of course, guys [in general! Well it was for me, at least...! since only the younger two members are in relationships =p]. I'm glad the latter was not the only topic of conversation. =) Despite being in all different years, I consider them all to be peers whom I admire and strive to embody their various characteristics. It is our peers who walk alongside and pick us up when we need it, yet, understand the trek while we are walking it, unlike mentors or other authoritative people who have walked ahead of us.

Of course, thanks again to everyone who dropped a note or took time to see me last week! I do appreciate it very much! Oh yes, going back to my "get-in-shape challenge", the target date *was* my birthday -- and I felt pretty good a week prior to my birthday. Last week I just ended up eating and eating... as expected, I suppose. At least, I *do* feel pretty good physically! I highly recommend working out before one's birthday because the age is felt to a much lesser extent!

Thanks to Andrew for David Crowder's "Illumination" -- now I am officially in the "club"! Thanks to Jonathan for "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" -- I really look forward to further developing and sharing ideas from the book. And thanks to Brian for a chance to see David Crowder on Sunday! The Michael W. Smith / MercyMe concert was great, and featured the David Crowder band as the opener. As eBrian has already raved... it was amazing to see the artists perform together! I also liked MercyMe's use of media to complement their songs -- much better than Michael W. Smith's creation of a big Windows Media player screen [i.e., just moving shapes and shades]. It was also neat to see how David Crowder would perform his music live since it includes so many electronic components. I wonder what programs are being run on those computers, which form an integral part of the band. =) All in all, it was a great time of crazy jump-in-the-air worship, reminding me of Urbana.

Anyway, even I think this is getting really, really long now... but thank you for reading this far. I think this would be a pretty good gauge to separate my real friends from those otherwise.. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Busy busy busy...

I'm finally suffering the consequences of 3 weeks of procrastination at work, in addition to convergence... why does everything happen at the same time??

Oh well, at least this can make me smile in the meantime:



*That's* why I changed my name from my normal "GY" to "Yam" something, to be consistent. Haha, I love my family... I love YAM. [Not to mention that we were the only ones online at 3 in the morning...]

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

-------------

Addendum:

Haha... the YAM-wit race is on... =p

I was debating whether or not to release this publicly because I don't know if I was ready for this level of transparency, but perhaps this information will be beneficial to everyone and not just high school students. =P I present to you my blog for my Relationships 101 Sunday School class at TCCC:

Relationships 101!

If you do want to read it, please give me feedback and accountability for what I teach... it is important that it is God-honouring and upright because those who teach *are* held to a higher standard.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Seinfeld and Superman... haha... I think this is really funny, nicely written. =p

So... less than two weeks until my "get into shape" deadline! But it hasn't been that bad -- despite not shedding as much volume as I would have liked, it's been great to increase my strength and endurance in the pool. Hopefully any increase in swimming endurance will transfer to endurance in running for our double-header Ultimate frisbee game on Monday! Patty and I have also been trying to teach ourselves the butterfly stroke... too bad learning to swim isn't that easy from the internet, but I thought this site was pretty cool and helpful [so *that*'s how you breathe!]

The Prayer of Jabez - 1 Chronicles 4:10
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,
"Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!"
And God granted him what he requested.

I finally bought and read this book. When it first came out a few years ago (and was free off the 'net =P), I must say I was pretty skeptical about it. I didn't see how anyone could take four simple verses and stretch it out to suggest a new attitude or a new faith. But that demonstrates how much faith I lacked at the time, as well as how much I looked to myself to accomplish what I wanted to do.

I highly recommend this book to anyone truly seeking to stretch your faith. It is inspirational and really gave me motivation to trust God to provide in *all aspects*, no matter how big. There really isn't anything that God cannot do, however, the idea that "anything is possible" has always been a difficult-to-grasp concept for me. But this book really demonstrated the power of asking God for amazing blessings, including making use of my most scarce resource: time. And really, the point is not to figure out or understand God, which is something I often try to do, but just to have faith -- even though I constantly say I strive to have faith -- it is evident from reading this book that I have a long way to go. But since God is always faithful, His hand is with me every step of the way. Faith....

Lazy Saturday afternoon...

I haven't had a Saturday when I had no plans in the daytime for a while...

But it was good because I need to prepare for Sunday School class tomorrow [I should really sleep] and got a chance to pick up some golf lessons with my uncle at the driving range. This comes extremely timely because the EY golf day is on Tuesday! Haha... we'll see how *that* goes... =P

For dinner, I caught up with a high school friend with whom I haven't seen in 9 months! But she's a crazy "do whatever she wants" type of person, and is experiencing the start of a budding career in movie production design and co-ordination. Also got a chance to watch some other high school friends play roller hockey and really missing my gang of high school friends. So I'll try to make it out to their games every so often...

And somewhere in between all of these, I managed to sneak in 6 episodes of Ally McBeal season 2! Almost halfway through now...

Hopefully Sunday School will be okay tomorrow, that the students will warm up to me and that I connect with them, and that I can wisely facilitate anything that may come up from this easily difficult subject. =P

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Somewhat ashamedly, I played my first ultimate frisbee game on Monday! [Ashamedly because my high school friends and I have been making fun of our friend who is participating in three leagues this summer...] The game also informally kick-starts my mission (and PL's mission) to get back into shape over the next 6 weeks! ["In shape" for me is defined as my state in 4B when I took "TKO" class at Waterloo.] So, I am off to join Bally's to hopefully go swimming at least twice a week. Hopefully swimming will also increase my endurance because I was pretty winded after a couple of changes of ultimate. And I'm too slow at keeping track of the directions! Otherwise, it feels great to just run around. =p

It's nice to have a clean room again, especially a clean desk for me to call it my "office". At least devotions / reading have been going well for the first couple of days of this new initiative. Hopefully they will keep up... Following from my previous blog, I have been terrible at taking the time out to read the Bible and to spend in reflection or meditation. But now, I'm very motivated to get back into the Word and to study it deeply. So get ready, small group... =)

It's been great to feel like everything is starting anew, to be refreshed in all aspects: spiritually, work, church...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Well, I *finally* got around to cleaning up my room... although I am still far from finishing! It's been pretty gross in here, after so many months of treating my room as a "hotel" with no room service.

Some things that have surfaced:

- my MHQ karaoke membership card! =p
- a Bible study guide that I got from Urbana on "Relationships" for $1! I figured that for $1, it was virtually a no-risk investment! And it was because...

I'll be teaching the high school students on Relationships this summer at TCCC! Haha...we'll see how things go. =p I'm very excited and thankful for this opportunity, but it does mean that I will need to give my time up to God so much more. I know I haven't been very good at that for the past month... ever since I got a rest from any particular examination, I've been going out a *lot*. [Part of my "work hard, play hard" philosophy...] On one hand, it's been good to catch up with friends, or meeting new ones. But on the other, I admit I've been pretty reckless at disregarding the importance of personal quiet time to spend with God. I was reminded by one of the devotions from My Utmost for His Highest by Osward Chambers on June 18: You do not know when His voice will come to you, but whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him. And in terms of surrendering, I think I have slipped a lot from where I was, once upon a time. So now, being able to recklessly surrender my *all* is again something that I am trying to work on, by His grace...

Back to cleaning my room, at least my desk surface is more clear now. The main motivation was to do my devotions at my desk rather than on my bed; with a clean study area I'll be more inclined to study or read. Target of five out of seven...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Back to the one post per month quota... although, going forward, I really do hope to post more. Despite my complaints about the time it takes to post, I do realize the value of journalling my thoughts through this medium, and I have a number of thought-threads that I've been meaning to get down... just a matter of time...

I've found myself to be very sluggish lately -- it feels like I haven't *thought* about anything of substance in the past while. But not only in terms of substance -- I've just felt *slow* in general. Anyway, to rectify that, I've taken to playing video games, haha! No RPG's... that would take too long [I *did* start FFIX upon returning to Toronto in September but obviously didn't go very far in that =P], but one of my two favourite puzzle games: Intelligent Qube ("I.Q."). The other is Devil Dice, but that takes too long [especially with two players... once, I played with my brother and I ended up being really late for a dinner because we didn't want to stop -- we got up to level 99 =P]. But I.Q. is great for strategy, memory, and agility! The music in this game is really funny, too. =P

Needless to say, this past week and on Canada Day, I've spent more time playing video games than I would have really liked to... that's the problem of "filling up" my time when I could really spend that time in prayer or reading.

But the game is just so fun! And I need to build up my I.Q. so that I can systematically achieve "true genious"! Haha.. =P

OK, still not a post of substance, but it's a post nonetheless. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

[Breathe]

CFA has come and gone... thanks for everyone's prayers! Hopefully, everyone I know passed!

Finally, I am enjoying some time to update my blog, clean my room, watch Ally McBeal (finished season one now.. no onto season two!), and play piano.

And also... catch up on some sleep... =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Yes, I hope to share some stuff from summer conference... but in fact, I still wanted to share some more stuff from Urbana before... things are coming, just slowly.

So, I think I've found a solution to the crappy Blogger template. May I present, my Hong Kong blog!

Haha, jokes...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

My MercyMe Undone CD came today!

Something new to listen to on the drive to McMaster Campus for the TCCC Summer Conference. Really looking forward to getting away from everything in the city (especially work...) and finding rest in Him.

Have a good long weekend!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Wow, I guess this new interface is *simple*, at least, although I just started typing so I can't really form an opinion about it yet...

Just wanted to post a quick note to achieve a generally-accepted minimum quota of at least 12 posts a year [yeah, I guess that's pretty few] -- it's amazing you guys still check this site!!

Well, April 30 has come and gone, so tax pool has been over since. Now to file my own return... =p

I am now back downtown catching up with all the work that I left a month ago, and everything has definitely piled up! [sigh]... I'm especially not looking forward to the remainder of May. On top of that, CFA is only 3 weeks away! SO... many prayers be needed for strength and energy... don't think I can really afford to sleep many more Saturdays away. =p

Otherwise, it was great this week to catch up with my UW (accounting) classmates for a couple of birthdays, considering it is (somewhat) post-busy season for all of us. It's additionally better with a designated social co-ordinator so all I need to do is print the email for the time and directions to attend the events. =)

Prayers will be needed for me to remain patient with my manager (yet another new senior manager in our group.) Following from our small group meeting on Friday, it is such a struggle to maintain our integrity as Christians at work, and it basically stems from pride [like... it was natural for me *not* to respect this guy because he doesn't seem to know Canadian GAAP at all.] But there's no excuse -- we are to lead worshipful lives, and doing so means that we need to get rid of *everything* that displeases God, and most difficultly, that is our pride. And even when we *do* keep our cool and act the way we're supposed to, the next challenge is to avoid being proud of being humble. Tricky... tricky...

Praise God for giving me the opportunity to play for worship at church! It has been something that I wanted to do for a long time now. It'll take a lot more time for me to get comfortable at the front of the TCCC sanctuary though; the size of the congregation is *much* more daunting than the intimate setting of KWCAC in Waterloo.

Back to studying...Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Hong Kong - I've been in the E&Y Metro North office doing tax returns. [Luckily, I got out of doing an audit with a certain senior manager.] And this has been quite an experience... I feel like I'm working in Hong Kong again.

My four other co-workers are from HK... so all day they speak Cantonese and listen to Chinese songs... even when the manager is around. Listening to them speak Chinese all day (especially the very rapid-fire "dissing" type of conversations characteristic of Cantonese) makes me feel like I'm in Hong Kong all over again. And going out for lunch (and dinner) is like in Hong Kong too... going as a group to a Chinese restaurant, ordering the standard drinks [lemon tea, lemon iced tea, HK-style tea]. Furthermore, the girl-guy ratio was 7:1... also typical of the HK office. =p

Too bad the office isn't business dress. =p

And even the attitude of the staff is like HK... anyway, it's all too funny.

The best was on Monday night when we stayed late... the manager put the Hockey game on, but right after he left, my coworkers changed the channel to the Chinese drama, and we all worked and watched until the show was over.

And today we went to the Chinese grocery store to buy lots of Chinese/Japanese snacks and candies! Hey, did anyone notice that the Frutips blackcurrant candy changed...?

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Sunrises... - Admittedly, I pulled a number of all-nighters this busy season for work, albeit some more self-inflicted than others. =p Driving home from the office one night/morning (whichever you prefer) during the sunrise made me think about the last time I actually watched a sunrise... it would have been during Masters studying for finals.

... and can you believe how time has flown by over the year?? Even though it doesn't feel very long ago, it's incredible how much stuff has happened over the year... term 5A... vacationing in the Dominican Republic... moving in with Joyce [I only lived with her for one term although it feels pretty long]... term 5B... hardcore (and other more lax days) of UFE studying... UFE... cruise... and then all of a sudden work hit, and it's April again! Crazy!

Along with that, it's interesting to see where God has put me over the year, where he has placed my ministries and my communities... change... and learning how to embrace it is important, I think... because you never know what God is going to throw in your path (in amazing ways).

And I am quite pleased to say that despite going through crazy work schedules (and experiencing school sleeping schedules all over again), I still look forward to the challenges of work... I refer to my reflection in October. I still look forward to developing my soft skills like project management and communication, learning how to senior, and learning how to positively impact those at the workplace. And note the last line there: again, I praise God for answering my prayer regarding church... =)

-----

On a side note, I watched "The Producers" today... the characters in the musical are funny (kind of like Will and Grace =p), although I wouldn't say the humour was my type of humour... Nonetheless, it's funny how a whole scene was devoted to a bunch of disgruntled accountants ["Unhappy... very unhappy... unhappy... very unhappy..."] (I think all of us accountants who went appreciated that scene the most =p) And I can say that ALL I could think about was you, Bullpen Larry!! haha.... =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

So I guess it's been a while since I've *thought* about anything... at least, nothing worth blogging about. =p

For the past while, whenever anyone asked me how I was, I would just respond with, "As usual... work is busy..." And of course, this *is* the accountant's busy season -- most companies have December 31 fiscal year-ends, so right afterwards (i.e., January and on) is when the AUDIT begins... I don't do have anything to do with tax or the tax season! [That's just something separate.]

But as I reflect on the past few months, I look back and see God's hand along the way, even if I didn't have much to say going through it... various reflections:

TCCC - Toronto Chinese Community Church - I have always considered this church to be my home church since high school, despite hardly coming back during my five years of university. Upon graduation, I was quite motivated to come back and "re-integrate", even though it is often something very difficult to do. Nonetheless, circumstances arose and I answered the call to become a small group leader, despite not knowing anyone (the church has grown tremendously over these five years!). However, God answered my prayers of coming back to TCCC, and it has been a huge blessing.

Without this small group, I don't think I would have been able to get out of this busy season pretty much scot-free... they definitely helped ground me after a number of busy weeks at work... ("Guys...for tonight's program can we just pray and sing... I can't handle doing anything more than that....!!") [The nice thing about leading... you can do whatever you want... =P but of course, I'm willing to do what *you* guys want too!!! =)] And these people (and the other small groups) are definitely the start of our community at TCCC -- not to mention the changing face of the English congregation choir. =)

I can't believe they don't sell the series in North America!! The only online retailers are from the UK or Australia.

The show is so funny! So witty! And... so relatable! Haha... Episodes are only 40 minutes so I watch them at night... Too bad I really need to study for the upcoming CFA... Ahh!!

[Ally McBeal party, anyone?? =) ]

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

So at the advice of my slacker friend from work, I decided to change my link to something more interesting than "E... Y... E... Y... Ernst & Young..." -- g2000.com.hk has a promotion! No shipping charges!

[I hope this is a relatively *good* post, Dan boy!!]

and UNTIL NEXT TIME, THIS IS GLADYS YAM!

As usual, I cannot pass up a chance to blog about love and relationships. In particular, a response to Jonathan's initiating question,
"What does it mean to be in love?" And a corollary question of how does love in a dating relationship differ from all of our other relationships, since we are called to love everyone?

As we generally know now, the Greeks had four different words for "Love":
1. storge (storge), which describes a natural affection especially of a parent to his/her child;
2. philia (philia), which describes the love of a strong friendship;
3. eros (eros), which describes loves between the sexes, and which does not necessarily include sexuality;
4. agape (agape), which describes the self-giving love that only comes from God.

Although by no means an authoritative resource, I thought I would look to C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves to better understand Eros, which seems more the topic at hand. [On an aside, I found some sound recordings of C.S. Lewis himself on the topic (just an introduction). I thought this was kind of neat especially after hearing about Tolkien forming his character, Tree Beard, after C.S. Lewis' slow and booming lecture style.]

Interestingly, the Greek New Testament neither finds any instances of Storge nor Eros. Nonetheless, Lewis has demonstrated much insight into the human condition to warrant some investigation into his work. Lewis' bases for his essay, then, are much from his background of the Classics, Aristotle in particular, (since obviously the Greeks first used these different Greek words for love.) Of course, Lewis tempers these principles with God's Agape, which was a rarely used word until Jesus' time. [I apologize for the one-sidedness of the following discussion as I paraphrase Lewis, and he writes from a male perspective:]

Eros is that state which we call "being in love", or the kind of love which lovers are "in". Often, Eros sets on simply by a delighted pre-occupation with the Beloved - a general, unspecified pre-occupation with her in her totality. Eros makes a man want not only a woman, but one particular woman. Eros is fundamentally a "need-love", but changes intensively to the point that it sees the object most intensely as a thing admirable in herself, important far beyond her relation to the lover's need; Eros changes this need into a pure "appreciative-love". The distinction between giving and receiving is obliterated.

The event of falling in love is of such a nature that we are right to reject as intolerable the idea that it should be transitory. And contrary to common belief, Eros does not aim for happiness. It is the mark of Eros that when he is in us we had rather share unhappiness with the Beloved than be happy on any other terms. To be in love is both to intend and to promise lifelong fidelity. Total commitment, reckless disregard of happiness, transcendence of self-regard -- Eros almost speaks like God, like Love Himself.

And Eros, honoured without reservation and obeyed unconditionally, becomes a demon, where we can turn "being in love" into a sort of religion. The real danger appears to be that lovers will not idolise each other but that they will idolise Eros himself. A couple whose marriage will be endangered if they have idolised Eros -- they expected that mere feeling would do for them, and permanently, all that was necessary. When this expectations is disappointed they throw the blame on Eros, or, more usually, on their partners.

In reality, however, Eros, having made his gigantic promise and shown you in glimpses what its performance would be like, has "done his stuff". But it was we who must keep them. We must labour to bring our daily life into even closer accordance with what the glimpses have revealed. This is something all good lovers know, to "take the rough along with the smooth", etc. But of course this is not possible without humility, charity, and divine grace. Thus Eros, like the other loves, but more strikingly because of his strength, sweetness, terror and high port, reveals his true status. He cannot of himself be what, nevertheless, he must be if he is to remain Eros. He needs help; therefore needs to be ruled. The god dies or becomes a demon unless he obeys God.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Your kingdom come, your will be done...
Fourth of a series from Urbana 2003.


For me, breaking out of self-comfort is difficult. I guess with adequate financial resources, I've never had any *need* to stretch myself by lowering my comfort level. But since Urbana, I have been a lot more conscious of thriftiness... For example I really try to bring my lunch to work more...

But this leads me to struggle with materialism a lot more... what level of comfort is not acceptable then? Is anything more than bare minimum considered be frivolous? Is it bad to buy a leather jacket since it is just for aesthetics? Or a brand name jacket? Besides, isn't the ability to enjoy earthly comforts a gift and blessing from God?

On one hand, these could be thoughts to rationalize my frivolous lifestyle. On the other hand, these are practical questions to consider...

Your kingdom come, your will be done...
Third of a series from Urbana 2003.

On the evening of the first full day (Dec. 28), we were already confronted with a first decision point: Renounce your idols.

What defines your reality? Your family at home? Friends and classmates with whom you spend most of your time? The pursuit of success? The pursuit of happiness? The pursuit of peace?

If we let anything other than God define our reality, we practise idolatry. Wow. Quite a powerful challenge... I mean, "idolatry" is usually associated with tribal peoples or naive historic peoples... not me... but there isn't any more denying it...

Geri Rodman (a Torontonian!) described three broad arenas of idolatry, all relating to the strengh of the self:
1. Self-glory or self-fulfillment: to be noticed, praised, special, unique, accepted...
2. Self-comfort: complacency and lukewarmedness of following Christ's commands and challenges...
3. Self-empowerment or self-reliance: creating ourselves to be elitist and prideful...

If we are followers of Christ, then we *must* lay down our idols, and turn to the kingdom of God, which goes back to my previous point of single-minded obedience. God does not want anything less. But it is all worth it with his promises: "Strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well" [Luke 12:31]. He promises much more than we can ever imagine.

Your kingdom come, your will be done...
Second of a series from Urbana 2003.

Single-minded obedience. I just *had* to borrow this chapter title from Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship because it exactly embodies what we were challenged with right off the bat.

At the first evening message (Dec. 27), Rev. John Stott prepared the challenging message of nonconformity. Specifically, there were three challenges:

1. Challenge of Pluralism - do we have different ideals for different situations/circumstances?
2. Challenge of Materilaism - how preoccupied are we with material things? Do we really look to things above?
3. Challenge of Relativism - do we recognize God for the sovereign Lord, the absolute truth?

The above concepts are increasingly prevalent in society today. However, as Christians, we are called to swim against the stream and to be different from the prevailing culture. But not only are God's commands negative (i.e., "do not ..."), he has a positive message as well: We are to be like Christ, and God helps us along with the Holy Spirit [2 Cor. 3:18].

I think at that point, I only took the message in to my head... not yet to heart. God wants to meet us alone. He will not take anything less than our everything, and at that point, I still had a number of barriers and struggles that hindered my meeting with God. Fortunately, the first seminar that I went to on the first full day was the prayer ministry, "Barriers to Intimacy with God", which allowed me to free myself from anger and bitterness that were likely attacks from Satan. I truly think that attending that prayer ministry opened the door to experience God like I never have before, and definitely, that remained with me at least for the remainder of the conference...

I seem to just get these links from people, but this is another funny
video clip..., although not as funny as the DDR-like one, but still pretty impressive. =p It's also a nice practice of French. Note that it's slightly long... and does not end until his "Merci!" Haha, enjoy. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Your kingdom come, your will be done...
First of a series from Urbana 2003

Urbana was a conference held in the city of Urbana-Champaign, outside of Chicago, from December 27 to January 1. It is a conference about global missions, challenging all Christians to follow God's will to "go and make disciples of all nations".

This was actually my second time. I went back in 2000 (they only hold it every 3/4 years) although at that time, I can't say I got very much out of it for a number of reasons... but this time, my heart became in the right place (well, better than before, and not right off the bat either), and I was able to take the messages and challenges to heart.

So for the past few weeks, apart from the long first two weeks of January, CNY celebrations, the chaos caused by the snowstorms... I'm still trying to process what happened in those four days in my head... although the long drives to/from work as a result of the snow were somewhat instrumental in allowing me to think. =)

Some initial impressions of Urbana: Worship is always up there on this list. It is a result of the sheer volume of people in one place at one time... but another part of the volume that makes it amazing is the diversity. To see so many people of different backgrounds come together and worship together is just awesome.

Speaking of diversity, it was really refreshing to have a small group with people from different backgrounds. [We are assigned small groups by the room arrangements in the dorms for evening sharing and morning Bible studies. ] My small group was generally from the American Midwest, a bunch of them were home-schooled, from very small towns, and they are studying a number of different subjects at university. At my first Urbana experience, my small group was generally, Asian (female) from Toronto.

It was cool to see people who did *not* look to complete their education as a first and foremost thing in life. "What? You took two years off to go on a missions before finishing your undergrad?" It was inspiring to hear people's stories and see their faith lived out in their lives.

It was also cool to see people who did *not* take a technical approach to reading Scripture (they were all Artsies =p), and to see how they immediately look to applying Scripture to their lives.

Another thing, it was very, very nice to share with people who opened up immediately... unafraid of being vulnerable upfront. That is rare in my experiences with sharing time, but I know that it is difficult for me to do. Somehow I think it has to do with Asian face... and definitely my facade...

The last initial impression that stood out to me was unity. The conference is huge, but it seemed like all the speakers and seminar leaders had some scripts to reinforce each other's messages. I remember this being significant to me the first time around too... and the effect to me is just incredible, to show that IVCF is in full force training and encouraging people to follow God's will as their sole objective... it's no wonder that they can put on such a conference. Amazing.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Kung hei fat choi / Gong xi fa cai!

Too bad Chinese New Year (CNY -- too lazy to type it out!) crept up on me this year... I would have loved to go to First Markham with people on the weekend and join in with the crowds, but I didn't realize last weekend was the only weekend before CNY... the joy of working a lot... [sigh]... oh well, I'll have my mahjongg fix tomorrow night, haha.

I totally miss CNY in Hong Kong... especially having experienced it while working. For the people who go to work on CNY, no one does any work! All the staff basically scope out the partners and managers who are handing out red pockets, and everyone lines up! No shame! And then onto the next one! It doesn't even matter that as auditors, we don't know the managers at the client's! Really funny, but really fun!

I also remember going with my aunts to the mountain cemetary by public transportation... so when we got onto the bus, here comes a person bringing an entire cooked roast pig onto the bus, complete with cherry eyes and everything! Incredible Chinese people! But the [yeet lau]-ness is the best! Haha...


Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Praise God for his rest... It's been crazy... and this is just the start of busy season...

Check out this link. Normally, I would consider this a bastardization of classical music, but the DDR-side of me must give this guy "props", haha... it's hilarious... =)

Urbana stuff coming...!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I'm back! *Only* after about an estimated 4 hour delay... anyway, just wanted to praise God for taking care of my friends and me in the past week at the Urbana conference, in Chicago, and on the way back home... will have much to share later, but need to sleep first. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

The Yam children's Christmas dinner party was a hit! Haha... it was great to have the four of us take over the kitchen, and everything turned out great!

It was great to get together as a(n extended) family again to spend time with one another... and I certainly got to feed my mah-jongg craving this Christmas too! Haha... I guess the weird genes of the Yam family most likely come from my mom's side, which makes it technically a "Choi" thing... we had a lot of fun until 2.30 am playing 4 rounds of mah-jongg while listening to our parents sing karaoke and dance (ballroom =p) in the small living room... haha... it's so funny. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Merry Christmas!

It's been quite a hectic Christmas holiday especially given my limited number of free days this year, and having to take care of various things for work...

I finally got to take a breather at a weird time today: waiting for the rest of my party to arrive at the restaurant for our occasional "cousins' get-together". It was finally a time where I could just sit, reflect, and praise Him for his unceasing strength, blessings, grace, and love, and especially for his ultimate sacrifice that frees us from the consequence of sinfulness...

Christmas service at church tonight was quite unexpected -- I knew there was a big production going on but I didn't expect an orchestra in addition to the mass choir... it was all pretty cool, and quite amazing. It's an awesome feeling to praise together in a large setting... I'm definitely looking forward to it at Urbana. =)

This year has also been really nice just to hang out with my family. That's the beauty of having 3 siblings... we can play mahjongg or Scrabble together without having to find extra people... or in the spirit of the Yam family, we can just be weird together. [We come home from bubble tea tonight at 12.30 and our dad just finished making some fish soup.] Haha... it's great. =)

Merry Christmas everyone. =)

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
-- Isaiah 9:6

Ah... the annual Christmas "booking" game. I've switched from Excel to Palm Desktop software this year, haha.

This is also the first year that I have to find time after work to meet up with people who are back in town, not to mention consider how busy work is in the next week and a half... and it has been doubly difficult because time is even more limited since I'm leaving for Urbana on the 26th and I'm gone until the 3rd...

Crazy!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Oh Toronto...



I haven't gone skating at Nathan Phillips Square since high school... and there were surprisingly relatively few people there tonight! Coupled with the warmer than seasonal weather, it was a beautiful night! =)

On an aside, I was just randomly thinking today... technology has definitely brought the world closer together... communications are so much easier to keep in touch with people whom we've lost touch... but the most significant medium is neither email nor instant messaging, but rather, Google. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

So, now that CFA level 1 is over... what next?

Talks of CA.CBV are in the air... are there any takers?? But it's all a result of my upbringing: you can never have enough education. =p

Haha... although, it *is* nice to take it easy again now, not having to study after work. SO... maybe I'll find some time to have some "parties"... sophisticated ones only, of course. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

No time! No time! Can't believe there is only like... 2 weeks until Christmas! I have so much work to do before that... and I just kind of started another client today too...

Haha, as a result of last week's machine hours, I think I've readjusted my sleeping schedule to 2am... although, I'm not completely sure whether I had shifted it earlier than 2am for real anyway... =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

All finished! Haha, we'll see how it goes... results come out early February or something like that. I've been so disorganized with the CFA -- didn't meticulously look over the examination ticket and instructions, leisurely walked to the centre prior to the exam, didn't have my ziploc bag to hold my personal belongings... and if it weren't for Jonathan, I may not have had brought my calculator into the exam centre. =p

SO thankful this week is finally done with -- it was crazy at work, and I was trying to put in as many hours as possible studying -- "machine hours" are a lot harder at work when there is no real downtime to take power naps, but praise God for carrying me through it!

After the exam, we spent the rest of the day winding down watching the Leafs game (probably the first game that I've watched (almost) in its entirety), and playing an intense game of Scrabble over James Bond "Die Another Day". It was just nice to relax... at least for now before I have to catch up on a lot of work that I've backlogged from two weeks ago...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Ah!!! NEED TO STUDY!!!

CFA exam is on Saturday... doesn't help that this week is a busy one at work!!!

This week has been going back to university "machine hours"... which I have been sustaining somehow all by His strength...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

"Praise God praise God praise God!"

and "Thank you thank you thank you" for the many congratulations that I've received today! [To me, it is still "today" because I have not yet slept. =p]

I found out that I passed the UFE (Uniform Evaluation) today, marking the passing of the last major hurdle in the path to becoming a Chartered Accountant... but anyway, I guess it was still a "not a big deal" type of day for me because (as I have written below,) I think I moved onto my "next stage in life" after coming back to Toronto. However, it was nice to get a day off of work and get woken up shortly after 12pm to a number of congratulatory phone calls. =)

But as usual, upon looking back, I am evergrateful for the very much support that I've received from all ends over these years, and am in awe when recognizing all these good gifts that come from Him, the Father of lights.

Especially regarding personal achievements, it remains a struggle to imitate Christ's humility, to
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. -- Philippians 2:3-4

Work has been busy enough so far, but not as bad as it could be -- still expecting much worse to come. =p But having to study on top of working is slightly more tiring than "usual"... so I guess that's why I haven't had too much time to reflect lately... well, really, it's my own fault for misprioritizing...

Some thoughts regarding "life back at home":

It hit me a few weeks ago that I am finally *here*. I have done *it*, achieved *it*.

What, exactly?

The concept of education, in which my parents submerged me at a very young age, and constantly throughout my upbringing: "If you don't get a good education, you won't get a good job!" Despite these constant reminders, my parents were great in that they never put any pressure on me... and it turned out well for me because I guess I possess the necessary discipline for self-directed learning in an environment with *very* much freedom.

So starting with elementary school, I took to their challenge and strove for excellence in academics (while staying well-rounded with multiple extra-curricular activities, of course =p). Come to think of it though, I guess I internalized this challenge very early on -- I don't really recall my parents having to really sit down with me to do homework or anything... And despite a little rut in middle school (the worst two years of my life at J.B. TYRRELL, =p ) I continued to develop this concept, and sought to strive for excellence in all that I did.

I thought it was pretty funny that, during university, my mom would call me every so often and constantly tell me to sleep more, go out more, go find a boyfriend... [haha =p] because I shouldn't study *too* much. Regardless though, the reality of now having graduated from university suddenly set in on that day, and having been blessed with a good job upon graduation, I realized that I am *here*.

Wow. What now? *This* is it? [Not that it didn't feel good -- as from my previous entries, I *am* looking forward to working and just life in general as an "adult." =p] But I guess it's normal to experience "graduation syndrome", and that's how it hit me... finally achieving what I have been striving for, for approximately 20 years...

It's exciting. =)

As much as I liked university, I am very excited to work, build new relationships, try to balance life, find spirituality in the bustling city... it's very exciting. And something to really embrace... =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

[Not really a blog of substance... =p]

When I was in elementary school, beginning to learn English and the *ways* of Canadians, I always thought it was funny how sportsplayers only had their last name on their back as an identifier -- funny because the names sounded so natural and normal... so good thing no Chinese people played professional sports (back then) because then, it would sound so weird! "Lau passes it to Kiang..." No, doesn't really work. =p

But now, after all these years, "Yam" (by itself) actually sounds *normal*... who would have known... =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

GO.... YAM!! =)




Haha... yes, that is my sister, Karen Yam!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Last Saturday, October 25th marked the eighty-seventh convocation for the conferment of degrees at the University of Waterloo. Like all other convocations, the ceremony was long and monotonous, except for the occasional holler and cheer by appreciating fans.

However, this convocation was unique because it conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa to Ms. Pamela Wallin. We then had the privilege to receive Pamela Wallins' address to the Convocation, which, as a broadcaster and journalist by trade, was *much* more engaging than any other Convocation address that I've heard before.

Her message wasn't really original -- by now, even before graduation, we would have already heard x number of generic "charges to anyone enterring society," and indeed, the Convocation started with a [very drawn-out and slow] message by the Chancellor (Mike Lazaridis, Founder, President and Co-CEO of RIM) about the virtues of integrity. [It was like he had just woken up. =p]

But at least, Pamela Wallin's address was engaging, unlike many other convocation addresses... I was going to try and remember what she said, but here is only a brief summary -- i can't remember exactly. =p

-------

Generally, with graduation comes freedom, and with freedom comes the burden of choice -- indeed graduates will be faced with many more choices, and in making those choices, the following are good guidelines to form a framework for decision-making:

1. Be a realist. "An optimist looks to the long run as what is important. A cynic thinks the long-run is irrelevant. A realist believes that what happens in the past determines the long run, and that you can choose what that long run will be like."

2. Character trumps knowledge -- how you treat people speaks louder than how smart you are.

3. "Be stupid." -- meaning, be open-minded. Allow room for other concepts or opinions or ways that are different from yours, and learn from them.

4. Success is how you adapt to your circumstances. Especially given our rapidly changing times, one must constantly reinvent oneself, so a successful person will be able to move along th environment.

-------

Anyway, again, these aren't really revolutionary concepts, but it *was* nice to hear them from a dynamic speaker.

On an unrelated topic, I hope this blog will change the Google ads off of the "relationship problems" topic, e.g., "Save the marriage!" "Relationship saver" "Stop divorce now". Really, the blog was only about clicking... =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

O Canada...

It's kind of funny that when autumn rolls around, I often hear talk (usually about endeavours of Chinese parents) about [fung yip tun / feng ye tuan] -- roughly translated into: leaf tours. My parents actually went on one for the first time this year, taking a bus to Muskoka for the sole purpose of viewing leaves. Upon their return, my mom likened it to driving on the DVP...

Personally, I think the best leaves are on the Bayview Extension. =p

On an unrelated topic, pursuant to my friend Ina's blog re: "clicking", I would like to post this response:

I believe in clicking. =) This does not mean that I do not believe in the commitment and follow-through part though -- on the contrary, I believe that "agape" love is the only love that a relationship *should* exhibit. So to decipher through the different thoughts, I think this is an issue of a normative theory vs. a positive theory, where a positive theory outlines an empirical, practical viewpoint of what actually *happens*, whereas a normative theory outlines how a relationship *ought to* operate.

Starting with the normative theory, I believe that God created love as defined by himself -- unconditional, selfless, sacrificial -- He chose to love us first. Similarly, in a relationship, I think it *should* also be a rational choice to love the other party-- a choice that is not deterred by irrational emotions or circumstances. So can arranged marriages work? I think they can, as long as the parties fully commit to their relationship and work on it.

Onto to the "positive" side, I think that society has perhaps "watered down" love to be based more emotions, and I think it is true that in general, we are more non-committal than historical peoples. However, our society has given us the freedom to choose whoever we would like to "test" as a potential spouse, which can based on any number of factors or standards we choose. So to assist our choice, here is where I think "clicking" comes into play [yes, finally, my point. =p]

Clicking, to me, is simply a preliminary gauge of compatibility, the initial attraction that draws people together. Although it is not necessary (see above re: arranged marriages), it is part of today's times. Definitely though, it is not an end-all... from the "clicking" part, will two people understand how they jive, and see what activities or things in general they can pursue together to really become part of one another's lives and find God's will for them together. Without the clicking part, I think it is difficult to find the ways in which two people can grow together.

In summary, I think clicking is an important start to two people's journey together -- a journey that involves a lot of exploration and searching -- so without a general level of compatability and similar interests, I think it is very, very difficult. Again, I reiterate that ultimately, the goal is to find "agape" love, as love is *supposed* to be. =)

Thoughts? Comments? May the floodgates be opened. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Finally went out to a client today -- it was fun. =) This is one of the aspects of being an auditor that I enjoy very much: being able to go outside (i.e., not get cooped up in an office all day) and talk to new people and learn about new businesses.

Get to sleep in too, because the client is in Markham... very nice. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

So thus commences my "career" -- I've been back home for two weeks now, the first week going through training and this week doing "real" work.

As much as I am enjoying myself, (and I am!) I guess it is kind of surreal to think that I am achieving what I used to dream about in junior high and high school. Always part of the keen group, we planned our courses for all of high school going into grade nine... of course, there were annual adjustments, but that's just a fact of life -- you make your assessments and choices, and when new information comes, you incorporate them into your assessments: Bayes' theorem in Stats. [Haha... been studying for CFA.] I guess change was just something that I dealt with without really thinking about it.

As for work, it's been nice. =) It's exciting to try the challenges of balancing work with life -- the fun of meeting up with people lunch, or dinner or drinks after work, to be part of the rigourously-timed GO-train culture [hurry up! i've only got six minutes!] and enjoy whatever else in the remaining time [TSO!]. Perhaps I am still enchanted with working full-time... I'll reassess myself after busy season. [But then again, I always *have* been the workaholic, machine-type... =p]

I especially look forward to developing my skill set as a "senior": the first level of supervisory, I suppose. In any case, to me, it's cool understand the significance of this position not only for functional purposes (i.e., to complete an audit), but also in the development and growth of staff, where interpersonal relationships are of utmost importance, coupled with technical and soft skills development. It's exciting to build on my foundations that I learned being a leader in extra-curricular activities -- and not only that -- if CCF didn't have so many activities to necessitate strict time management, I think I would have much harder time now --> so yes, make sure you make use of school to also develop your soft skills too... !

In the end, the concepts of leadership, mentorship, teaching... and also of time management and organization... they are the same regardless of a corporate or a Christian context. Next... to see where I fit in the church...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I can't believe how tired I was -- slept for over 17 hours -- I haven't done that since third year, I think.

Anyway, again, my classmates and I just got back from a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas. Our ports of call were San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Martin, Netherlands-Antilles; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Nassau, Bahamas.

San Juan is a quaint, historic city, and we took a walking tour around Old San Juan. The main interest points were La Fortelezza, which was originally constructed as a fort, but which is now used as the residence of the governor of Puerto Rico; and the Castille, which was the real fort which was constructed after La Fortelezza was found to be in a bad location for its purposes.

St. Martin / St. Maarten is a resort town -- very small, but has really nice beaches, so many high-end resorts are there. We went snorkelling here, and walked around the French side. St. Martin is interesting: half is owned by the Netherlands, half is owned by France.

St. Thomas is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we mainly went snorkelling here... there were a LOT of fish! And since many tourists come here, the fish are not afraid of humans, and will swim up to us, so it was pretty cool to swim around schools of fish.

Nassau, Bahamas doesn't really need to be explained... high-end resort town, including the Atlantis Resort. We had the opportunity to visit Atlantis... it's huge and very nice! Very much like those big Las Vegas hotels, but with much better beaches, and an awesome water slide. Potential spot for our next vacation... =p

When we were not on shore, the cruise ship had a lot to do – the Explorer of the Seas has capacity for 3,114 passengers, and boasts an ice-skating rink and a rock-climbing wall. In the evenings, after the after-dinner entertainment, we were either people-watching in the Royal Promenade Café, dancing in the Chamber nightclub (when they weren't playing songs from the 70's =p), or in the Dizzy's nightclub, enjoying the Latin / Jazz band while watching people salsa / latin dance.

The average age on the Explorer would be the 40's… so the entertainment and music were mainly geared towards that age group, which made some things kind of boring. Good thing for Dizzy's nightclub, and ultimately, our companionship.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I'M BACK!

Cruise was awesome -- very good time with my classmates, and got a nice (controlled) tan.

More to come... very tired right now... =p

Until next time... tired...

PACKING IS SO [MAH FAAN]!!!

Very, very tired... there is way too much stuff in my room from moving back home... no time no time!

Haha... off on vacation with my classmates on a celebratory, post-UFE cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Ina has a nice summary of our ports of call. =p Will be back in a week! =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Waterloo, I bid thee farewell... and I guess yesterday was a good day as any to experience what will probably be the last of my "machine mode" days -- the days are so much more difficult in full-time... and the body does not get any younger. =p

I will miss Waterloo. The barbeque yesterday reminded me about the community of believers that is there... this community that has been a major source of my growth over the past five years... this fellowship that never ceases to amaze me by seeing how much God has blessed it abundantly -- the number of ministries and the size of the events that are prepared, all by students (!) who juggle many, many other things at the same time… and the act of serving and how rewarding it is when we surrender our lives in service – I just saw how much I have neglected this area in the past few months… This fellowship will likely be the most dynamic fellowship that I have been a part of... whose members enthusiastically seek to strive for spiritual maturity to become men and women of God, and whose members are among the most talented people I know...

I will miss it all. But back at home lay challenges that we are destined to encounter, and whatever we have learned in the comfort of that community, we are to apply it elsewhere and to teach it to others -- no gift is useful if it is not shared... and the difficulty level is augmented as we need to juggle full-time jobs (!!) with everything else. And as daunting these challenges appear, God does not give us more than we can handle – and if he has given much more than we think is manageable, it is humbling to know that he does that only because he is willing to entrust us with those things… and all we really need to do is demonstrate faith.

But Waterloo, I will be back every so often to re-experience a glimpse of this community… And location has never changed how much care about people…

So until next time, this is (still the same) Gladys Yam. =)

T minus 1!!

Finally, the (first) day of the Uniform Final Evaluation has come -- essentially, the culmination of our university career!

Well, really, we just want to get it over with... this study period has been long enough. =p

Good luck, all... =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Joyce: The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. -- Zephaniah 3:17

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

-- Psalm 95:1-7

UFE studying is coming along -- actually, getting tired of studying, and want to just get it over with! (One more week to go!) But I'm enjoying my remaining time in Waterloo though...

I woke up at 6:30 for some reason this morning, and managed to catch the sunrise:



So pretty, so peaceful, so nice. =)

It's also kind of amazing how I can manage to do stuff when i'm half asleep and without glasses. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Change. Uncertainty. As much as we, as humans, hate it, there is no avoiding it.

For me, I think the first real encounter with change was in grade four when a good friend moved away. Fortunately, my friends and I were able to continue enjoying the rest of our elementary school careers after only a short grieving period. After changing schools a couple of times, we encountered Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in Chemistry. ["No duh… what kind of principle is that??"] And now in Masters of Accounting, we had an entire course devoted to Change Management.

One of the more interesting articles that we read was Surfing the Edge of Chaos by Richard Tanner Pascale, Mark Milleman, ad Linda Gioja. This article parallels the dynamics of survival by complex adaptive systems with those of organizations. Although the focus is different, I think the principles are also applicable to individuals. The most noteworthy one:

Equilibrium is a precursor to death

"What do you mean??" was my first reaction, especially considering the intended topic of this blog. In Chemistry, we learned that all reactions tend towards the equilibrium state; finding balance or equilibrium is often the objective to most efficiently utilize resources.

The authors argue their case based on a law of cybernetics, which states that survival of any organism depends on its capacity to cultivate, and not just tolerate, variety in its internal structure. For example, fish in the ocean are subject to many threats and variation, but are more robust as a result. Compare those fish to fish in aquariums, which are much more sensitive to the slightest disturbances.

Thus, yes, equilibrium is an objective, but not an end goal. To be able to cultivate variety in an equilibrium state means that we must not only be adaptive to change, but actively embrace it. As my friend Sherrie says, (who is on the more extreme end of the "embrace" spectrum,) "Life is about change: change means progress, and progress means that life is not stagnant. I certainly don't want to live a stagnant life."

Our comfortable lives now are only a result of *some* generation of individuals who decided to pursue a better life abroad. Consistent with the principle of the markets, the higher returns require the higher risks – and definitely, not only referring monetary or tangible rewards – think of the risks that people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Martin Luther took, and their effective rewards.

Although death as a result is a huge exaggeration for individuals, the significance of being averse to change is emphasized.

Looking to Scripture, nowhere does it indicate that we are to be happy where we are. In fact, complacency is one of the greatest dangers that we are to avoid. Instead, we are to constantly develop, mature, and transform ourselves [Philippians 1:9-11, Romans 12:2].

And even though uncertainties are inevitable along the way, we are comforted by his promise to guide us:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
-- Proverbs 3:5-6

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Regularity, what a concept.

After having training in Toronto for 2 weeks, and currently adhering to a regular study schedule, it feels nice to go into a routine and just prepare for the UFE, which is on September 16-18... so that is coming up *very* quickly!! In any case, it has been quite nice... I guess to me, the UFE is just like any other final examination, and that's a good thing, because I *love* finals. Haha...

I *have* been sleeping early too! Usually, no later than 2am, which is quite significant! This brings me back to my pre-university days! Haha, it feels good to be regular though. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Praise God. =)

It's this time of year again... if you know what I'm referring to. =p

In any case, I guess this is supposedly also kind of a "big year," with graduation, UFE, and whatnot... and yes, I praise God for bringing me through these five years of development. But as these five years draw to a close, these accomplishments were not the significant things that touched me today...

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from an old friend in Toronto. We were never really that close, and we didn't talk very much throughout my university life, but there were those times before when I guess I took some time to listen to his ranting and helped him figure some stuff out. It is humbling to see that he remembers and still appreciated little things like that... it has been very encouraging to receive simple notes from a number of people... much more appreciated than any gift I could ask for.

I am not proud of the many friendships with which God has blessed me over all these years...

But I am in awe from seeing how God has worked throughout all of my friendships, to know that people are touched and inspired and challenged not by my prompting or wisdom, but by His guidance and work... it is truly amazing to know that it is God who has used me in my weaknesses, and to be blessed with seeing the many fruits of his work.

It has been nice to hear from many old friends back in Toronto, and I look forward to going home and reconnecting from where we left off. And to a select audience, you know who you are, it does not mean that I will disconnect my friendships here, but that God will continue to challenge you in many different ways... as He continues to challenge me in many different ways in my new, old environment...

Praise God. =)

"Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge Him.
As surely as the sun rises,
He will appear;
He will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
-- Hosea 6:3

test test testing the new blogger interface -- i guess i haven't been here for a *long* time! =)

Yes, indeed, convocation was fun on Saturday... thanks to all who came out, especially if you came from afar! =)

Even though convocation is intended as a celebration of academic achievement, it was a significant reminder to me of God's grace... of the many, many blessings that he has bestowed on me: beautiful weather =), opportunity to study, strength to get through the program, wonderful family, fun and caring friends, a community of believers... all despite my sinful human nature... our God is indeed an awesome God. =)

Here is my family [yes, I know, my siblings and I all don't look alike =p] and a sample of accountants: 3 more months to go, and we shall reconvene in October! =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

What excites me?

I don't know, actually, I can't really pinpoint it. For one thing, I *really* do not care about my birthday... and really, very few significant events excite me... except that I started to jump up and down when I found a classic Stabilo Boss highlighter at Grand & Toy last term... so I don't know. =p

Hm... about anniversaries... I think it's interesting to see how different people regard them. [And maybe you can enlighten me, Sherrie] but I wouldn't be bothered to celebrate subannual anniversaries! Haha... [Sherrie: I just think your 9-month blog entry was funny... =p]

I suppose my analysis is as follows:

Birthdays, anniversaries all celebrate history: the completion of milestones, but yet the journey does not end. Besides, I don't particularly wish to celebrate aging. =p The few events that *do* excite me are perhaps just the celebrations of completion, for example:

ARCT Convocation - the end of I-don't-know-how-many-years-of-piano-practising and perhaps the development of expression and passion...

CCF Grad Dinner - the end of a short period where God has developed my spiritual walk and molded me into his servant, where I have been taught by many people and where I hope to have impacted others...

and finally:

My B.Math Convocation - the end of 4 years of post-secondary education has quickly come to an end, and I invite you to come join me this Saturday, June 14 @ 12pm outside the Student Life Centre at the University of Waterloo for pictures...

Hopefully it will be as fun as stationery! =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I guess it's about time for an update... a summary of my going-ons in the past month:

April 20 - 27: Dominican Republic was a nice break, and it was fun to just hang out with my classmates for a week on the beach. =) Aside from the fun, it was awesome to see huge and beautiful God's creation... the expanse of the sea, the calming crashes of waves along the shore, the cool evening air... this hardly captures the scene, but I guess we can all imagine... =)

April 28 and on: Back to Waterloo for accounting UFE training before class on May 5. For whatever reason, I was *extremely* looking forward to training [really, no sarcasm there.] I was not at all sleepy despite my lack of sleep! Mainly because the topic for the first day was Assurance, and I knew I really need a brush-up of my technical skills in that area.

I know I often complain about my class (of accountants) being too keen... and they *are*!!! At the same time, I know it is something to really cherish. I mean, what could be a better study environment? Everyone's keenness is a natural motivator: everyone collectively creating an environment where a positive work ethic [*no* one is ever late for class... *everyone* does all the assigned readings in preparation for class...] and competence (technical, verbal, written, analytical) are respected, where everyone mutually encourages one another as we all proceed towards the UFE... even if it's out of fear of falling behind, it is a motivation just to be in this class. =p

Although it's only been a month since our last vacation, we're already planning our post-UFE cruise. [UFE is September 16, 17, 18.] My classmate scared me the other day: "You know what, in four months, we'll be on a cruise!"

Aiya... huge reality check for me. I am nowhere near being technically competent and able to succinctly write cases to pass the UFE! As a result, machine-mode has been engaged... for the next 3 and a half months... haha...

Of course, I know that my source of strength comes from God alone. No way could I sustain 20+ hour days on my own. =p

The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
— Psalm 29:11

Yes, yes, yes, I am back!

Sorry I didn't really get many chances to blog over this past week...

In case you don't know from where I'm coming back, I went to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic for a week with my classmates!

I *just* got back, but I have to get back to Waterloo tonight, and take care of some other stuff, like tuition... ugh... errands... =p so give me some time to update, please? =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Hey hey hey, quick blog...

Haven't had a chance to use internet, but will try to soon...

Trying to keep myself as white as possible, but that wasn't too effective since we played tennis at 12 noon today!!

Crazy? Yes.

Anyway...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

One more exam to go! But it's going to be a crazy week just making sure I take care of all my errands and living arrangement preparations before I leave on Friday and come back for training on April 28...

Here's an interesting article that I read today... well, maybe only especially interesting to me. =p

[excerpted]

We like to walk and talk, study says
By Roma Luciw, Globe and Mail Update

When it comes to cellphones, Canadians are among the world’s chattiest.

According to a study issued Monday by Ericsson Canada Inc., only the long-winded Americans ramble more than we do, logging an average 29 minutes a day on their mobile phones.

Meanwhile, Canadians spend an average of 19 daily minutes on their cellphones, well above the global average of 16 minutes. (Worldwide results were gathered from Brazil, China, Japan, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the U.S.)

Still, the Ericsson research shows that Canadians favour landline phones over mobiles by a large margin, spending 103 minutes a day on the fixed-line phones. The global average was 68 minutes a day on land phones.

More than half of Canadians, 56 per cent, own a mobile phone, compared with a global average of 68 per cent. Sweden topped the list of cellphone nations, with 93 per cent of Swedes owning a mobile phone.

Canadians spend an average of $41 a bill on their cellphones, lower than a global tally of $60. In comparison, Canadians dish out $50 a month on their regular phones and $34 a month for Internet access.
...

Anyway, my only reaction is: 19 minutes?? That's *nothing*!! =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam

What a day... actually, what a week. It's been one of those really long weeks... I can't believe management project was only 3 days ago — it feels like it was at least a couple of weeks ago. I guess time just stands still when we're having fun studying for finals... LOL =p

On an aside, I went to the passport office with a friend today because we both needed to renew our passports. Having been cautioned with a personal horror story, [two Fridays ago, Vonne went to get hers done and the process took upwards of 6 hours, (?!?)] we decided to trek out early and get there by 8:45, when the office opened. Duration of process: in and out in 45 minutes. Nice! So the moral of the story is, if you want to get your passport done quickly, go early in an ice storm. Also, on the way back, I thought this was worth capturing:



I tell you! Icicles are really hazardous! They're scary! =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Completed! I must say, I was quite impressed with our management group, turning around our 30% project in a couple of days... I would estimate the number of productive hours that we spent on writing the report and preparing the presentation to be less than 24 hours. =p Yesterday, Teresa's house was basically the "management project house"... her housemate is in our class too. Typical of accountants — this looks like a typical audit team. =p

But now that our management project is complete, we have now finished all of the work for this term, which means that I am back into final exams mode.... [sigh]... finals, oh finals... how I enjoy thee...!! LOL... Back to my home away from home away from home in DC! =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.