Hail.... stone!

Just a quick update since i should be going back to study. More work waiting for me! I want HDs. :)

THERE WERE HAILSTONES!!!

Gosh. First time i've seen them. And to think i used to believe hailstones were actually stones. How silly. Anyway, weather was soo cold for the past few days. God's giving me glimpses of winter i think. Gd for psychological preparation. But hey. I won't be suffering too much from winter! :) If you know what i mean.

Anyway, sun's out again today. I finally did laundry. Feel the sense of accomplishment. I refuse to use the dryer unless absolutely necessary. It costs $1 per load. That would mean 100% extra in addition to my $1 washing cost. Ha.

Cognitive dissonance

Ha. I think this blog has become abit like my journal already. Records of lotsa thoughts and memories. This entry is my own encouragement to myself, since i was amazed at the coincidence of what i learnt during both my slacking & studying recently. Psychology is so cool~ If only i had one more elective to take, i would have taken psych A & B.

Was watching the show 'Liar Game' that Patrick so sweetly gave to me as bye bye pressie. It's a bit like 'Hunter X Hunter' the anime, but this one's a real life psychology jap drama. About this organization that believes that all humans are evil deep down, will lie and take advantage of others for their own benefit, so they organised this Liar Game to see who the best liar is, with tons of money as reward or at stake. Glad to say that the show ends with lotsa hope for us all, cos there was one girl who was truly pure and showed everyone that it is possible to stay pure even in an evil environment. This was great encouragement to live 'in the light' in the midst of darkness.

One small psychology snippet for everyone! It's a rare cartoonish bit of the show, but explains quite clearly about 'cognitive dissonance'.



According to Wikipedia, "cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where "cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance)

Even as i continued to ponder, i surprisingly read in my notes, a few days later, this part about a book by Robert Caroll - 'When prophecy failed'. "According to his theory, ppl cannot tolerate conflict btw diff states & experiences for very long."
They'd usually deal with them by:
1. avoiding this conflicting evidence
2. seeking a grp support for the original belief
3. reinterpreting their beliefs

Prob that's why YPM / OCF to is so dear to my heart. I feel comfortable to be with the ppl of the same belief! And it's my grp support, and helps correct and impart some of my beliefs. Plus a boldness booster cos i can't avoid certain conflicts, but got to tackle them head on. So even in the midst of busy-ness, i shall try not to stop attending ocf! For others back home, ypm ya! :)

I think everyone experiences the same feelings as me. Maybe not as badly sometimes, cos i'm easily influenced. Ha. The triangle in the 2 choices (refer to video) is not always as clear as it should be, or i let cognitive dissonance make it blurry. I guess that's why i've got to continually spend time with God isn't it? If not i won't even know which stand to take, let alone decide on that stand. Esp when there's a new covenant:
'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.' Ezekiel 36:26-27

Okies. That's all. Hope ppl were entertained. My main source of homesick remedies are blogs now. Ma-ta-ne.

P.S. to Patrick: Love the show! Thanks for giving it to me. Just one thing. It was scary!!! I know it's really just tiny tiny bits of music, and a mask that made it scary, but i'm really faint-hearted you know? Warn me first next time k?! haha. Other than that, love the show!

Headlines

Gosh.
Myanmar's cyclone + China's earthquake... Thousands of ppl dead and missing.
Urgent need for prayer.
Time to restock and reflect.
It's the beginning of the end.

ha

Today i shall just blog abt 2 funny things, cos i wanna sleep soon.

One:
Boo. Some ppl lack passion here. When they play DOTA, they can play it without any emotion at all!!! Just stare blankly at the screen and play. HOW CAN THAT BE? (instantly sings song: "So sad.. so sad.. it's a sad sad situation" if only cousins, esp criss, were with me, we'll sing together.) DOTA is more fun than that! Killing heroes, getting items, helping friends, FIRST BLOOD/MONSTER KILL/OWNAGE. Haha.. Yes guys?

Two:
Conversation of the day when i was talking to someone, take A to be that person, and B to be the friends around A. It went something like that.
B: Aiyo.. You slept so little for the past two nights. Why you so stressed??
A: Desperate times need desperate measures!!!
B: Not so bad.. You don't have that much backlog...
A: No~ Exams are in 6 weeks!!!
Ha. Can you believe it? Now i've got someone to spur me on.
(haha. no offence to A. I really had to blog it. Couldn't stop laughing. Your name will remain confidential~)

YAY

Added note: *HAHA. Okies. i was just thinking about my bro. then the only other ppl that came to mind was his clique. LOLS. *apologises* That list includes dg, leney and patrick! of cos along with my whole batch. which i haven't been really catching up with. haha. oops. and... my cell grp + everyone who had exams.. haha. won't leave out anyone like that. hope everyone aced all their papers! heard yanling was really stressed. was Chem ok?

Congrats to all those who finished their exams! Even though i'm not one of you, but... i can feel all the excitement, and wanna help celebrate abit too! I think there's... Bro, Stell, Eeling, Aaron, Cal and... who else? Helu? Anyway.. Enjoy some of the bestest... like hanging out with friends, eating chocolate (esp whatever Ee Ling is gonna bake) and sheepishly grinning at each other. NOT laughing at those who still hasn't started hols. haha. Have fun~

Additional paper time

There's a very interesting system that Flinders has for international students who come from countries that don't have English as their 1st language. You get an additional 10 MINUTES for EACH HOUR of the exam. Almost all my seniors from Singapore do that.. But our first language IS english... We just have 2 1st languages! We're bilingual! And i'm proud to be one... Sigh. I'm so going to need that 10 minutes. It's 1/2 an hour for my 3 hour paper!!! And it gets worse in subsequent years. But... i think i know what i have to do. :(

Intuition

Got this test from J's blog and i actually got the same score as him! Maybe cos it's only a short test of 20 qns. Oh... i was hoping that i'd get a higher score for emotional intuition though.. :(

Your Score: More Scientific

You have:
77% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and
62% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph on the right represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored above average on emotional intuition and well above average on scientific intuition.Your scientific intuition is stronger than your emotional intuition.

Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake. Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.

Try my other test!
The 3 Variable Funny Test
It rules.

Kings

I felt a small percentage of the pain God felt because i spent 5 and 3/4 hrs straight, in the library reading 1st and 2nd Kings. Sigh... Why did it turn out that way.......?

How Great is our God...

Got em' back!

I was so scared to open my 2 essays up... but after refusing to touch them for a whole day, i finally picked up the courage to do it.

AND I PASSED! Praise God!!!

I've been very unmotivated this week. Didn't do much work at all. I need more fuel...... :(

But i've been spending alot of time singing. Haha.

Time for a song dedication:

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

I was in need and I needed a friend
I was alone and I needed a hand
I was going down, but someone rescued me
My God cares too much to say
His mercies are new every day
I get down to pray and then help is on its way

I walk by faith and not by sight

When things go wrong it’ll be alright
Cause someone greater is watching over me
My God cares too much to say
His mercies are new every day
I get down to pray and then help is on its way

Now in faith I believe
I got everything I need
I walk by faith and not by what I see
I’ve got friends in high places
I got someone I can call
And I’ve got someone watching over me

1st exam in Adelaide

Many gd things happening.

Went abit crazy studying, so i ran 10 rounds around the big field.

Bio mid-sem down! I did ok i think. But i know that i've yet to master the 1st 6 weeks yet. Shall read through it one more time. Some time later. Ha.

I've got my exam timetable! It's possible to change the dates so that i can come back earlier... Yay. Shall make it happen.

Sam's friend, Rafe, came to visit. Cooked us a scrumptious dinner even though he claims he doesn't know what he's doing. Jap curry, stewed chicken that tastes very much like 'gong1 bao3 ji1', scrambled eggs with tomatos and sliced mushrooms with ikea swedish meatball sauce! They helped me buy a polka dot quilt cover set as well! Haha. Polka dots!!! (for my quilt which has been coverless for a very long time...) $24 seems pretty cheap.

Have been watching iron chef, and learnt a new beef and potato stew recipe. Looks fantastic. So wanna try it, but i'm quite unwilling to spend money... Hmm. Should i?

Quite glad to still have friends in S'pore still talking to me, on skype, phone, email and msn. Thank you for making me still feel loved. And lotsa updates about YPM. Street E, new guy in town, BGR talk, and lotsa growth spiritually i hope? Go YPM. Many changes, but stay united, grow in love and show it in action.

Many gd things, but still uneasy somehow... When i'm back in my room, i just feel like i'm missing something. Still wishing i'm back home maybe? Afraid that i'll do badly for any module? Unsure of my own vision, and thus the direction i'm heading? Feeling strongly that theology is getting too tough for me?

1 verse spoke very strongly to me - Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. Psalm 126:5

Anyway, have been really impressed by Rohit during OCF bible studies. Each time he shares, he usually backs up what his opinions with a relevant verse from the bible. Such sound knowledge! Asked him about how he does this, and he shared about a sermon he once heard. The pastor spoke about 'Hiding God's word in your heart'. And even though his bible was open on the pulpit stand, he never once looked at it. He spoke from no notes, no references, yet the many verses he quoted were all spot on! Wow. I'm going try to start doing the Sunday School practice.