happy new year

It's interesting how the change of one digit in the year makes everything seem like it's a fresh start (even thought you're only one day more mature and lived since Dec 31st). In any case, I'm still excited to see how the next year unfolds.

generosity

We went carolling for 2 hours and we made $60. PER PERSON. amazing.
This was so much more successful than last time at Dundas Square. (I'm too embarrassed to even state the amount we made that time....)

That's really encouraging. An interesting thing to note is that it seemed like we got more donations when we sang traditional Christmas carols as compared to songs like Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Coincidence?

cookies and caroling

So all day yesterday we were at church baking -- sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispies, crushed candy cane sprinkled cupcakes, and mint chocolate brownies. many hours. many failed ones eaten... and then they cancelled the concert that night because of the snow.
We kind of expected that that might happen, but we baked the 250+ items nevertheless. When I heard it I was a bit disappointed. What were we gona do with all those cookies?!
Well, we figured we'll just save them for church and we all ate a whole bunch for dinner haha. But I can't say that it wasn't worth all the work. Actually, I really enjoyed the day baking and it was a success (despite some really hard cookies). If we can't finish them all we can give them away!! (haha if you get a nicely wrapped bag from me, you know the reason!!)

This reminds me of another unexpected incident that happened in the past little bit. For Intercordia fundraising, we went Christmas carolling on downtown street corners hoping that shoppers rushing home with their treasures would take a break and spread a little generosity.
But I was most touched one time when I saw, during our singing, a homeless lady. She sang along with us and asked us to sing her favourite Christmas hymn. She thanked us and smiled a huge smile (even though we all didn't really know the words to O Come O Come Emmanuel and it was pretty off key). Then one of the people in our group stopped to talk and even offer the woman her gloves.
Now we were all there trying to raise money for our trip. And there one of us was giving something to someone that needed much more than we did. That act was so simple yet selfless.
Yeah, it's great to receive donations for ourselves. But if I had seen someone needing a meal, some change, etc. on the way home, I shouldn't hesitate to give. It could be argued that we wasted our time on the street corner singing our hearts out because we gave our fundraised money away. But I could just an extra hour tutoring next week. Or not buy the unnecessary new shirt for myself. Isn't that what Intercordia is about anyway?? "To see the world through the eyes of your heart". To see the great human needs that exist in our world and have the compassion to make a difference however small it may be.
Cancelled concerts, fundraising.. these opportunities might turn out to be something we didn't expect, but unexpected doesn't mean bad or regret!
Looking forward to carolling again this afternoon :)

figuring out blogger

I'm not much of a blogger. Never have been. But I want to remember as much of this Intercordia experience as I can.

So I've got my giving page up and running now :: http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=2571 and my support letters are being sent out. People are always willing to help a good cause. But I keep wondering what makes me different from those other ones?

Well let me tell you about Intercordia...
So this program (which I'm in through UofT) is all about social justice and international development. They want to make students aware of and exposed to the real world issues to challenge them to step up and make a difference.
And that's why I'm going to Honduras. For 3 months I'm going to be volunteering in a community medical clinic. It's exciting to see what differences I'll find there. But what I am most appreciative of is the fact that they put us with a host family for the 3 months there. We eat with them, play with them, live life with them. See how they may be just the same as us underneath those cultural differences.
They call it "cultural immersion." I call it the scariest yet maybe the most exciting opportunity ever. Once I'm there I can't go back. Back to the security of home, the security of my mostly Chinese Canadian exposure, the security of my stereotypes and assumptions. I can't wait!

Now the only obstacles are raising funds and figuring out how to work this new blog...