In need of sleep!!

So I have been working for almost 2 months now. The work life is not too bad. I have been spending quite a bit of time in the offices doing stage 1 investigations. In order for the company to make money, I need to get the research and report all done in 16 hours and right now I am way over time...so need to cut back on the time i spend on the researching. I have 2 new projects and I hope I can stay some what on time with them.

Up till this week, I realized I was still on a bum/student schedule in terms of the amt of hrs I sleep. I have developed a twitch in my right eyelid from the lack of it....time to sleep early. I found it easier said then done because there are always things that I can do.

Another reason I am not getting enough sleep is because my weekend has been spent hanging out with ppl visiting Van. 2 weeks ago was Steve, last week was Anna and PT and this week will be Andrew and Bonny. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my weekends very much but everything has a price. The highlight of last week was all the laughter and the pretty much nonstoped eatting with PT, the "wife", and the rest of the Vancouver gang.

There are more people visiting before the end of summer and I am looking forward to that!!!

until next time

The "Complete" Randomness

Today, it is the last day of being a bum. I can't wake up anytime I want anymore, I can't do what every I want during my days any more, I can't go watch movies in the middle of the day in the middle of the week anymore. All changed with my signature on a piece of paper. I just accepted an offer and will be starting tomorrow. So, a lot more predictability is added to my complete randomness...well, at least from 8:30 to 5:00 Monday- Friday. I am actually looking forward to some structure in my life. It is going to take a bit to adjust but it will be alright. We'll see how it goes.

Until next time...

The not so random randomness

It has been a while since my last post...so what's new? Nothing much really...I get up, and I look for a job...well not really:

1. After much consideration, I've decided to teach English Sunday school till June at my church. I've been told that group, the high school kids, are difficult to work with. I am not too sure what to expect nor will I be able to get through to them but I am sure there is a divine reason behind it and that maybe I can't get through but God can.

2. I am a year older...nothing new there, people get older year by year

3. Still looking for a job. The job search is a bit slow. Sometimes, I am wondering if the employers are really that picky or am I doing things wrong. A lot of the companies I've talked to are looking for intermediate ppl, they are people with 10-15 yrs experience and they are hard to find cause there are just not that much around. Until they find the intermediate ppl, they won't hire new grad or juniors since there are no one to mentor them. That's the situation in BC anyway, going to expend my search to Calgary now.

4. The new church search is on hold currently given that I am helping out with the Sunday school but I am still looking for a new fellowship with other recent grads and young professionals.

5. I am still searching for a direction, there are just so many possibilities and not too sure which way the Lord wants me to go. There is also the question of what do I do with the time I have right now.

In the mid of all this, I learn that I need to be more patient. Most companies I talked to is requiring me to wait either because they are busy or looking for Int. ppl or the boss is away. How does one learn patient anyway?

I also learn that I worry too much. I have to constantly remind myself that the Lord will provide every day. I know that I should not have to remind myself if I have completely surrender the control of my life over but it is easier said then done and the danger is you might think you have but really, you have not. So when do you know you have truly hand over control?

In terms of the direction, I don't think I can make any conclusion yet. I mean, you can't just sit there and wait for the direction to come to you, you gota get up and do some work and try and see if it is what the Lord wants for you. In my case, I still think it is too early to say what I am pursuing is not what the Lord wants for me.

I have been told that I should take advantage of the time I have right now. I need to search for a direction and use the time productively, search for a reason why I am given this free time. I am open to suggestions as to what I can do with this time.

I guess those updates are really my prayer requests. I appreciate if you can keep me in your prayers.

Until next time - Johnny

Life Without Structure

So, what do I do these days??

Well, I look for jobs to apply to, type cover letters and broadcast letters and complaining about the online resume submitting system to fellow job seekers. I found that when I have really no plans for the day, it is hard to get up till 11 am and it did not help that I was having trouble sleeping the pass week as well. But then, why wake up when all you have to look forward to is typing letters? To pass time, I watch DVD that I borrow from the library. I think I need to find a job quick before I go nuts from having nothing to do!!

This week has been better, I have schedule a few things in during the day so waking up is no problem. Met up with a former classmate and just chill and hangout which was a nice change of pace but the biggest surprise of all is asked to be interview for a job that I did not apply to!! What happened was I submitted my resume to the Waterloo office for a position they have at that office but they forward my resume to the Vancouver office who did not advertise they are looking for ppl. It is true that 80% of the jobs are hidden and not advertised...so, network network network! I do hope I wow the interviewer on Monday...alright back to interview prep...going through all the service CRA offers. I am up to B :P

Zambia - Day 10 , 11, 12

Bye Zambia!

Circling over London as we wait to land

Going back to Calgary

Day 10
Our ride back to Lusaka was alright, nothing exciting happened and I ended up sleeping for half of the way. After a quick walk through the flee market, it was off to the guest house. While waiting for the room, we saw survivor with all African ppl. It is the same as the one we see in US and Canada but only with African host and all African ppl. I joke around with one of the team members as to which wild and remote location they would be send to because Africa is pretty wild and remote already. We joked that they should send them to New York and one of the challenge is to fill out an IRS income tax form correctly.

Day 11
Today, two of the team members left already and it was warp up meetings and packing. The biggest excitement was me trying to figure out how I am going to carry two drums back to Canada since they can’t be carry-on.

Day 12
Today, we got up extra early to go to the airport because we heard the flight was over booked. At the airport, we ran into some delays since British Airways’ computer was having trouble hooking up with the satellite and the data base back in England. We were delay for a total of 3 hrs and because of this we got a free hotel room for it. I try to stay up for most of the flight to adjust my time zone since I arrived in Calgary at 7 in the evening. The flight was uneventful which was a nice way to end off the trip.

Zambia - Day 7,8,9

I realized that I miss an update, I was too consumed with finishing my resume so to make it up, I’ll do a longer update

Zambia Day 7
In all honesty, I can’t quite recall what I did today, I know it is more meetings to talk about the working of RPC and some of the results we came up with for all aspect of the project, so it is a day full of meeting. Everyone is pretty burnt out by the night so we all went to bed pretty early.

Zambia Day 8
It was Saturday. It was a special day causes first of all, no meeting!!! Second? We went to a safari game farm. The game farm does not have any cats which were unfortunate but it did have all the deers and buffalos, zebras and giraffes. We all rode in one of the safari trucks that you find in the movies which were pretty fun. I’ll let picture do the speaking. On the way back to the school where were staying, the bus had a broken bearing and we had to wait on the side of the road for about 20min for a new bus to come. We all praised God that we were safe and that there were no car on the other side of the road cause the bus swerve to the opposite lane. That night, we had a BBQ/meeting to present our findings to some of the RPC share holders. The food we ate in Zambia was pretty similar to the food in North America but instead of potato or rice, they eat a white paste made of grounded maize. It is very bland and you eat with your fingers. The BBQ was great.

Zambia Day 9
Sunday is always church day and in Zambia is no exception. The team was divided up into 2 or 3 and we all went to different churches. The church I went to this Sunday not only had the big speaker at the front of the room, there were big speakers at the back of the room too. Good thing we were sitting in the middle so our ear did not bleed. This service was very similar to the service we had in Lusaka, very engaging and very high energy. After the service, we jumped on the bus and were on our way back to Lusaka. Throughout the time in Lusaka, we notice lots of stickers on the bus and cars have reference to God. Initially we were joking around with the stickers. One of the buses has “Only God Knows” stickers and we were saying Only God knows how we survive that ride but there is some truth to that statement.

Until next time...

Zambia Day 5 & 6 - Meetings and Meetings

Pics of the School

Zambia Day 5
Today was mostly more meetings to talk about the processing plant as well as the business plan. A couple of us went to meet with the Ministry of Environment to ask about the environmental standards and the impact assessment that we have to write before the start of construction. The meeting went very well.

The place where we stayed in Ndola is a school set up by a group of aussie missionary to teach locals different trades skills. The school has very nice landscaping and the rooms are quite comfortable. The window has a screen so the bugs will be able to fly in. For the pass few mornings, I discovered that I have been bitten every night. I soon realized that the screen gave me a false sense of security because it has a big hole in it.

That night, a few of us went out into town with our guild to an internet café. It was nice to get connected with the rest of the world and let everybody know that I am still alive. It was quite freaky to be in town at night as there are not much light on the streets and since we are foreigners, lots of beggars were asking for money but we all made it back safely.

Zambia Day 6
Today is special as we have a little field trip to an orphanage. The meeting today was used to compare the processing machine quotations and discussion on the business plan. There are quite a number of kids at the orphanage ranging from babies to elementary school age. All the kids have HIV but you can’t really tell because they are all so energetic. The orphanage consist of three cute little house. We spend the time there playing with the kids. For the rest of the day, we had our meetings. I notice that throughout the day, I get very sleepy when after every meal especially lunch time. I think they should have something like Siesta but then, the whole day would be Siesta.

Zambia Day 4 - Ndola

After breakfast, the team is ready to get started and eager to look at the site. There was much work to be done. There were a number of meetings that needed to be schedule, we were still hunting down surveying equipments, and we also needed to make up the schedule for the time we are in Ndola. I spend most of my day trying to figure out how big an area the composting facility needs with the limited info I have which went no where. In the afternoon, we went to walk the site which RPC was in the process of buying. The site is about 4.5 aches, it has a stream running along the bottom boarder and has very nice trees on it. The site has a two way slope and has a 30m drop from top and bottom. Next to the site were a bunch of mud houses own by farm workers working the land RPC going to buy. The villagers were not too happy with us walking around the site since the sell has not been finalized yet. We quickly drew a crowd since we are so good looking and all. The crowd was not hostile but at one point one person said “no white no fight.” Soon after that, we quickly went back to our base camp. We had a short meeting to discuss the site and we concluded it will be very expensive to put a processing plant on a sloped land. Lots of sand will be needed to level the land. That evening, we told RPC our finding and suggested finding a new site and gave them a set of guidelines. What happened with the site really show me how critical the service eMi is providing. If RPC has brought the site, then they will spend a lot more money on the land and might not be able to sell the chicken for as cheap as they want. After dinner, it was a time of sharing and it is off to bed.

Zambia Day 3 - Enroute to Ndola

Meeting with the Ministry of Work

On this Monday, we were schedule to meet with the Ministry of Work and then travel by car to Ndola where the site is. The main goal of meeting up with the Ministry was to hunt down a copy of the building codes and standard as well as environmental regulations and also determine some of the building practices and water treatment options. The Ministry was really friendly, and very willing to help. Just like us, they have never taken on a project this big and are very interested in the things they can learn from it. Part of the willingness also comes from the fact that this project has the potential to feed the poorest of the Zambia as well as diversify the economy and the agricultural industry. One of the biggest goals of the meeting was to determine if they are willing to have a partnership with eMi. Foreign professionals are forbidden to do any work in Zambia unless they are partnered with a local professional. I am happy to say they are glad to help us out and partner up with us.

After the meeting, we decided to head downtown to grab some lunch and exchange some local currency before we head up to Ndola. As we were walking back to the car after lunch, a group of locals came up to us. They distracted all of us and stole from one of the team member. The person did not realize he lost some money until later on in the night.

The car ride up to Ndola was very interesting. The ride is supposed to take about 2.5 to 3 hours. There were a total of 8 guys and we have a 7 person car plus some luggage. We managed to somehow get everything and everyone is the car. I can tell you that we got to know each other very well after the ride. We also made lots of stops to switch seat, every round, one person will get the front passenger seat. It was kind of like musical chairs. Even though it was very tight and cramp in the car, we still manage to stop and pick up 3 watermelons. With all the stops, the total trip took 6 hours. By the time we got to Ndola, we were are very tired and hungry but it was an awesome car ride. Lots of sharing, story telling, and bonding.

Lusaka - Day 2

We are all worshiping!!!

You can see one of the big speakers they use in the center of the picture

After a night of sleep, I had pretty much adjusted to the time zone. It was rather easy to correct for the time zone this trip because all my flights were overnight flight and all I had to do was sleep on the plane. Today was Sunday and the team was invited to Bethel International Church in Lusaka. That church service was sure interesting. First of all, it remained me the Aerosmith concert I went to. I was about 5 m from the stage at that concert. At church, we were given guest sits at the front of the room. 2 meters away from us was one of the big speakers you find in large halls and concerts. They crank the volume so high that the amp overheats and shuts down occasionally. There is so much distortion that would make any electric guitarist jealous. I think I lost as much percentage of hearing from the Aerosmith concert if not more. I assure you that is sure way from keeping people from following asleep. The church service start at 9 and by the time we left at around 12 they were still going. The style of preaching is very charismatic, lot of interaction between the preacher and the congregation. We stood up for worship and that’s at least 30 min, then we stood and “pray” for tides and offering and that’s at least 30min. That prayer felt more like a sermon than a prayer. Then came the sermon and that about 45 min, we gone over at least 5 passage and each of them can be a sermon in itself. We stood again and “pray” for another 45 mins. Again, the prayer felt like a sermon. My legs were so tired by the time we left. On my way out, I was trying to remember the sermon but I can’t really remember what was said since it felt like I listened to so many sermons and so much information were given. After lunch, it was a meeting to go over the Royal Poultry Company and prep for the meeting with the Ministry of Works.

Until Next time...

Zambia – Day 1 - Lusaka

After a brief meeting with Mike and Alex in Toronto, 2 hrs nap at Heathrow, 4 movies, and 20 hrs in a plane, my team leader, a couple of team members and I arrived in Lusaka at 6 am in the morning. We were greeted by Derek, the visionary, and his ministry friends. There are very kind, friendly, and accommodating, they can’t wait to help us carry our bags. Our first destination is the guest house where we are going to stay for the first 2 days. After a quick lunch, we decided to hit up the capital and check out the area. Zambia is more developed than I expected. Then again, I don’t know what to expect. There are lots of cars on the roads, the main roads are paved nicely, there are westernized shopping plazas, most people have a cell phone, and all the houses have pluming and electricity and there is even a Subway, the sandwich shop. Zambia is like any other Africa country when it comes to the separation between the rich and poor. The separation is very visible. We drove thought the ghetto and it is just devastating. It is impossible to explain what I saw and just what I was feeling. It was hard not to look at things and the situations with a western point of view but even in Derek’s pointer of view, the environment is very hash. The road is not paved, the houses are very small and very close together, no proper drainage for the sewage. Derek told us that all lot of these can be fixed with proper urban planning and simple engineering solutions. Derek himself grew up in the ghetto and the only tool that got him out of it and moves him up in society is education. That is good to know because I see lots of elementary school around and the university have a lively campus as we drove by. During the evening, the rest of the team members arrive and Derek shared about his life and his vision for Zambia. I was truly touched and moved by his faithfulness to God. Derek gave has already given 7 years of his life for this project. He recently lost his house because he lost his job and is getting by with picking up random teaching job here and there. Even under these circumstances, Derek push on with the vision and truly relaying on God to provide all that he needed, from day by day physical need to spiritual needs such as direction for the vision. He is an example of giving one’s life for God’s purpose and how he has been living his life has challenge me to be more faithful and to give my life to God but at the same time, it is so hard to let go. I still need to pray for strength and work on it with God’s directions.

My new favorite airline!!

The Lusaka Airport and my Team leader Greg glad to be on solid earth

A market in the ghetto

A traffic light in the heart of downtown Lusaka.

Until Next time....

Not so Alive but still kicking

So, I thought i did not caught any thing but I found out I caught a flu as I woke up sat morning. The flu has pretty much sucked the energy out of me, I feel light headed at work and I am too tired to go on by 10 at night. Due to this, I really have not sit down and type up my Africa experience. Will get on it as soon as I feel better.

Currently some thing been on my mind. I have been a nomad for the last 5 years, moving every 4 months, home city does not feels like home but at the same time don't really have a place to make it a new home cause I was moving so often. One of the by product of the co-op program I guess...am I the only one who have this feeling?

until next time...

Alive and kicking

Back in good old Canada the frozen tundra. After 100 emails (most of them are for keeping me entertained during the day) and a few important one...it is off to run some errands. Overall, the trip has been amazing, I did not pick up any sickness to my knowledge other the a little stomach problems. So much has happened during the 2 weeks and my thoughts are a bit disorganize...I guess more details about the trip in a later post once they are organized.

until next time

Long Weekend & Flight info

Long Weekend:
This long weekend has been restful, I slept pass noon on one of the day hopping this twitch right below my right eye would have gone away but it did not although it is getting better. I have no clue why I have this twitch but I want it to go away. I headed out to downtown again on sat and went to the Glenbow Museum. It is similar to the ROM but way smaller but still a fair sized museum. Knowing that I will be away for two weeks, I got my starbucks fix by having a green tea latte. The expresso shops in other parts of the world are ment for people to slow down and enjoy a cup of coffee while waiting for a friend to arrive and go on to do what was planned. But I noticed in Canada, most people are just rushing in and out of the shop, grapping their caffine and on with their busy life. Maybe for your life style, you need to rush but i think it is still improtant to slow down once per day. Now...all I need to work on is that someone I need to meet up with. Other than the museum, I did not do much, packed a bit for my trip and went to the mall to pick up a few things. If you are wondering if I had turkey for Thanksgiving...well I did not. I had sushi instead which was a bit off but I am not complaining. So it was a good quiet long weekend.

Flight Info:
So in a few days, I will be sitting in a plane for 20 hrs flying to Zambia. I think I am going to bring a book or two to read. Any suggestion as how I can entertain myself?...I wonder if British Airways hire cute flight attendants?...I'll let you know!

Leaving Oct 12:
Calgary 2:00pm Air Canada AC1154 -> Toronto 7:45pm Oct 12
Toronto 11:55pm British Airways BA 96 -> London Oct 13 12:00 noon
London 7:15 pm British Airways BA 255 -> Lusaka 6:15 am Oct 14

Returning Oct 24
Lusaka 8:50am British Airway BA 254 -> London 6:05 pm Oct 25
London 11:55 am British Airway BA 93 -> Toronto 2:40 pm Oct 25
Toronto 5:00 pm Air Canada AC 133 -> Calgary 7:10 pm Oct 25

Until Next Time...

Just making it as a Spanish model

So, I weight myself for the first time in a few years yesterday and boy, I lost some weight. To be a Spanish model, the BMI needs to be at least 18....well, I come in at 18.5. Maybe I should consider modeling...on second thought, maybe I should just put on some weight.

Until Next Time...

Fighting hunger, Ghetto bathroom upgrade, Last day of Summer

Fighting Hunger:
Zambia is one of the most stable countries in the region politically, however, it is still ravaged by HIV/AIDS and poverty. The total life expectancy of the population is 40.03 years, as of 2003, the HIV prevalence rate in adults is 16.5%, 50% of the population is unemployed and 86% of the population lives below poverty line. As said on my project leader’s blog, feeding of the soul often becomes secondary to a population whose only goal for each day is to feed the body.

Derek, the visionary behind the Royal Poultry Company (RPG) wants the company to :
-Provide nutritious, affordable food
-Create jobs and establish businesses with Godly, ethical practice
-Improve and expand regional, eventually national agricultural conditions
-Direct proceeds into a fund dedicated to providing financial resources for church development throughout Zambia.

RPC’s goal is to establish hundreds of self-sustaining and individually owned poultry raising and feed growing farms around central supply, education, and processing facilities. In order for this to become reality, RPC needs to train, supply, and develop the market for micro-enterprise poultry farmers, organic feed growers, and market vendor. As this becomes established, the availability and quantity of nutritional, affordable food for low income families will be increased, more jobs will be created, local farmers will be educated and profit from RPC will be designated to establish a national church growth fund.

My task at Engineering Ministry International (eMi) will be to Master Plan and design the first buildings for administration and teaching facilities, supply and warehouse buildings, fertilizer blending plants and mature bird processing plants. A team of 13 volunteers consist of Architects, Mech., Civil., and Elect. Engineers as well as Project/Construction manager, and Surveyor will be traveling to Zambia from Oct 12th to 25th.

It is a privilege to be working with a group of professional who are giving their own time, energy and resources for this project that is directly fighting against poverty and malnutrition. Please pray for financial provision, our preparations, our ability to catch the company’s vision, our families back home while we are gone, and our unity as a team because few of us will have ever met each other before we land in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Feel free to email me for more information and check back for updates.

Ghetto Bathroom Upgrade:
So, on thursday this week, I was informed that our 3rd world Ghetto bathroom had an upgrade and now it is consider to be a nd world Ghetto bathroom. What made the difference? A toilet paper dispenser...








Last day of Summer:
On the last day of summer, I head back out into downtown. There are way more people walking around than last week most likely due to the nice weather. But then, there still nothing much too do in downtown. While walking around, I made a hit list of museums I am going to check out. I walked by Holt Renfrew again and the sexy jacket I saw last week is still there but it looks like they are changing their displays. The picture did not capture the full glory of the jacket

1st week of Calgary

It has already been 1 week. I still can’t really get settle in, it is not that I am not getting used to the city, the fact is I am moving into a new place first thing Oct, I can't really unpack. Staying with my project leader is pretty cool, I have to constantly watch what I say and I do as he has 3 young kids, a fourth grader, a first grader and a 1 year old…the one year old is the cutest. So all filters are on and I must say they are over worked because I don’t want to set a bad example or I don’t want them to get in trouble because of me. My project leader said that he is prepping me for the mission trip as well as being a parent. Oh the horror! I have not even given marriage a single thought yet let alone having kids. Maybe I should work on finding that special lady first. The weather has been improving, It was 21 C today. I took advantage of the nice weather and explored downtown a bit. Compared to any downtown, Calgary’s downtown is dead. There are all but 10 people in one block. I checkout out the Calgary tower, spend 30 min hunting around for the visitor info center and walked along 8^th ave. I found a pretty cool bookstore with live music every Friday and sat night, fell in love while walking by Holt Renfrew. I was told later that 17^th street is busier so that’s going to be another week. For those of you who are intrigued by what happened as I walked by Holt Renfrew, you’ll just have to wait and find out.

Until next time…

The Ghetto Bathroom

First weekend in Calgary and the snow had fallen already during the three days I am in town. I must say, Calgary is a quiet town. I am currently staying at my project leader house and in front of the house, there is a bunny that sit underneath a tree for most of the day. If you ask me the highlight so far, I'll tell you that it must be the eMi office....or more specifically the ghetto bathroom at the office.

Until next time

Truth...

Does the truth hurts?
How will he handle the truth?
Will the truth brings about an unpleasant reaction?
Are his reaction 100% certain?
How should the truth be handled?
prevaricate?
Is prevarication the best thing to do?
Will he learn of the truth via other avenues?
How will he reacts than if he does?
Are his reaction 100% certain?
Is prevarication the best thing to do?
Will the truth really hurts?
Does prevarication hurts?
Will the truth hurts more or will prevarication hurts more?
Does the truth really hurts?...

Until next time...

In the Dark

Once again, I am left in the Dark...I really should be used to this feeling but it feels so foreign every time...