An Update!

Hello Friends! Greetings from Fort Wayne, Indiana in the USA.
It's been a while since my last update and so much has happened!

After returning from Sydney I had a few more weeks to finish writing my thesis. I had a lot of time to devote to it since all other school activities were over and most of my friends were moving out of our building. But finally the day came and I was able to turn in the finished, bound thesis entitled "Bjork, Buskers and Songbirds: Realism and Revision in the Musical Genre".

After that I had a very short break until my friend Kim arrived from California! The two of us did a whirlwind tour of New Zealand in just 8 days, ending up in Auckland for my final Sunday at church. We flew back to California together and were greeted at the airport by another friend, Brynne. Then I flew to Chicago just in time for Christmas Eve. Whew!

Now I am staying with my parents in Fort Wayne until I figure out what's next. It will be another month or so before I get the grade back from my thesis and officially graduate, so stay tuned for more news on those events. Thanks again to all my readers and to the many people who have supported over these last few years. I am deeply grateful and eager to reconnect with you in person sometime soon!

To close for now, here are some pictures from my last weeks in New Zealand.

Here is Kim and I with some icebergs.

The beautiful Lake Pukaki.

Sleeping Seals in Kaikoura!

Sunset in Wellington.

The Weta Workshop gift shop.

The view from a Hobbit hole.

A misty day at Cathedral Cove.

A rainbow in Mt. Cook Nat'l Park

Pictures from Sydney

Hey all! Here are some pics from my trip to Sydney:


I met up with my friend Steve and his buddy Dave. Sydney was the last stop on their tour of Australia, so I was really glad that it coincided with the end of my semester.


We took a lot of pictures of the Opera House...


...and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.


We happened to be in Sydney over Thanksgiving so we had a little feast for ourselves:

Yum! In the absence of turkey, chicken and steak are a perfectly acceptable substitute.


We went to the aquarium where they have this awesome tunnel through the shark tank!

Sydney skyline!


It was a great trip! We walked and saw a lot of the city and ate a lot of food. We did manage to get some surfing in which was good, and we saw the movie Australia! How could you pass that up?

In other news, the completion of my thesis also means the end of the Year Without Music. If you remember, I decided not to buy any cds or music until I was done as a way to practice good stewardship and self-control. So to celebrate the end of this phase, I went and bought a new cd: Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits. I was after a few favorites by him such as "From St. Kilda to Kings Cross", "Everything's Turning to White" and "From Little Things Big Things Grow".

Now this doesn't mean I am going on a cd buying binge. On the contrary, I feel that itch less than I used to, but it's nice to allow myself the treat occasionally.

DONE!

I have so much to write about from these past few weeks, but for now let me dwell on the satisfaction of completing my thesis!!!

The last few days of work on it was mostly fixing typos and rephrasing tricky sentences, and making sure I had the correct format. I spent hours trying to get my table of contents looking nice and sensible. The final draft is 80-something pages long!

At this point I had done the best I can possibly do, so there was nothing left to do but send it off to the bindery. They put it all together like a book, and in a few days I should get it back from them so I can submit it to the office. You get to choose the colour of your cover, so I chose yellow, the brightest colour they offered.

One of fun parts about finishing my thesis was writing a dedication and acknowledgments.
Here's what I wrote:

This Thesis is dedicated to my parents for their unfailing love, support and encouragement over great distances; and to my sisters Bethany, Brynne, Emily, Kim, Kimiko and Rachel, because we all do different things.
I gratefully acknowledge Nabeel Zuberi who thoughtfully advised and guided me through the entire process of writing this thesis; and to the faculty and staff of the Film, Television and Media Studies department at the University of Auckland for invaluable instruction and support. Also, I owe much gratitude to the Biola University Financial Aid Office of La Mirada, California for financial support, friendship and enthusiasm that has supported me during these last few years of study.

If you see a typo in there, please do not point it out to me, or I will lose my mind.

I also wanted to take this moment to thank you: the many other friends and family members who have supported me during this great adventure. While I wasn't always the most reliable correspondent, I am grateful to all of you who take an interest in my studies and travels, who have prayed for me and encouraged me. I couldn't have done it without you.

That's all for now, but check back soon for some awesome pictures from my trip to Australia, some more stories from these last few weeks, and (hopefully) some news about what is next for me!

Books

If you look down on the sidebar of this blog, you can see that I just added a link for my Shelfari page. Shelfari is a website where you can keep track of what you are reading, write reviews of books, and connect with other bookworms. I pretty much just use it a glorified list of things I have read in the last year or so. I had it in my head that I wanted to read 52 books this year, and I think I am well on pace to do it (it helps that I read a lot of children's fiction). Click through to see what I have been reading lately. Recommendations welcome!

Transition Begins

I have finished teaching in my tutorials for the year! Last week I gave my students a practice essay to work on, talked about symbolism in a film called Jindabyne, and then set them free to study for the exams. Some students left me with very polite and sincere thanks which was nice.

The family I often babysit for recently moved to Sydney, Australia. After church on Sunday I went over to play with the kids and say goodbye. They were both a little sick, but we still managed to jump on the trampoline, hide under laundry baskets, ride bikes, and throw balls around. Since I am planning to visit them when I go to Sydney at the end of November, it was really more of a 'see you later' than a 'goodbye'.

Did I mention that I'm going to Sydney? I will be meeting up with my friend Steve Yao (Hey Brother!) I am looking forward to seeing the city, surfing and catching up with friends.

But before I can even think about enjoying any of that I have to finish my thesis! Back to work...

Tired...

Taking a break from editing my thesis... At this point in my revisions I am looking at about 31,000 words completed out of a minimum of 36,000. It blows my mind to think about it, so I'm not going to for the rest of the night. I also have to prepare for my tutorials tomorrow but I think that might fall slightly to the wayside for now. Last week was great fun as I got to teach on Singin' in the Rain--best job ever!

I am following the baseball playoffs as best I can and I am nervously excited to see if the White Sox can pull a win out of this series against the Rays. Even if we don't we have still managed to do better than the Cubs, and that is what matters. Go WHITE SOX!

So a few weeks ago I played at a coffee shop event we had at church. I was originally told that I would be doing two songs. A few weeks later, on the day of the event I was told that I would be playing four to six songs. I ended up playing seven! Luckily I had been practicing hard all week. Here's the set list for those who are interested:
---Strength to Try
---Favorite Place
---Hope
(break)
---When You're Gone (aka Dysfunctional Love Song)
---Noah and the Banyan Tree (Ben Bishop cover)
---Smaller Than I Was (new version)
---Farther Along (traditional hymn)
When it was all over I jumped off an amp doing the windmill and scissors kick and then set my guitar on fire. Just kidding.

Exciting news: I received my absentee ballot in the mail! I showed it off to my German friends who would gladly fill it in and vote for Barack Obama if I let them. I was just disappointed there were no Communists on the ballot this year...

Random Rules:
Tombstone Blues --- Bob Dylan
Amy in the White Coat --- Bright Eyes
Thou Shalt Always Kill --- Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Farewell to Ernest --- Jyotrinda Moitra and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Second Chance --- Liam Finn
Daughters Will Tune You --- Danielson

Good night!

Spring Break

This semester is just flying by! Right now I am enjoying two weeks off for spring break. It's not really that much of a break for me since I have to grade essays and revise four chapters of my thesis. But I do get to sleep in everyday, so no complaints here! The other nice thing is that spring is on the way! We've been having increased amounts of sunlight and warmer weather which is a welcome change from the cold and rain we've had for months now.

Here are just a few last pictures from trip to the South Island. This is Milford Sound:

This is what happens when fresh water and sea water meet.

Recent Playlist:

"Let It Be Me" and "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne

"Creature Fear" and "The Wolves" by Bon Iver

"While You Were Sleeping" and "Ash Wednesday" by Elvis Perkins

"The Big Guns" and "Handle With Care" by Jenny Lewis

"I Will Explode" and "Better to Be" by Liam Finn

"Daughter" and "Grey In L.A." by Loudon Wainwright III

"Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "The Call" by Regina Spektor