November 30, 2003(Sunday)

I led music in the morning: "He is exalted", "He", "God you are in charge" (from ACM), "Come Revive Me", "When I looking in Your Holiness" and farewell to Ricky/Ellen because they will return to Toronto and move on to Beijing next week. We had Sunday School afterward; my way of "memorize verse/devotion competition" works even on adults! During the luncheon, I taught Wilson (Mrs. Cheng's son) math because he told me that he like math. I really challenge his brain.
I went directly to MB church afterward and led song in the thanksgiving service: "Inside Jesus", "Give thanks", "Thank You", "Thank You Lord" (ACM's Short Song #4) , "Thanks to God", "if". No Sunday School because this is a long service. I led "big Group sharing" in fellowship. I created a lively and fun environment and I believed that people enjoy it, even though it may be "too much" to some of the conservative Chinese. However, I always led this way in Canada. We also discussed about the wedding of "ball son" that will be held in January 11. Every time when I go to MB church in the past few months, people would give me good food and I brought food for this week.

November 29, 2003(Saturday)

I went for jogging and then wanted to take the shower. However the water pump switch is almost broken; therefore, I can't take a good shower. I was quite angered (The MBA textbook, long distance telephone, elevator.... adds up!) that I broke the switch. Afterward, I short-circuited it and then used the house main-switch as the controlling device. However, late at night, the housemate removed the switch and planned to purchase another switch. For some reason, my laptop had problem too! The "g", "h", "F4", "backspace" keys won't work. It seems like that life is rough here.
I took the GMAT practice test in the afternoon. I was a bit disappointed that, after several days of practice, I only obtain a score (640) slightly higher than my test score (630). This score is good enough for most universities (at least, I am accepted into IU, the top 20 in US ) but not good enough for top universities (Stanford, MIT, Yale....)
I went to practice music at two churches and tried to write this online diary without the "g", "h", "F4", "backspace" keys from laptop.

November 28, 2003(Friday)

Since I am not a Venezuelan resident, I can only stay in Venezuela for 3 months. I went to Venezuela in Sept 5 after the Colombia trip. It is almost three months and I need to exit and return to Venezuela. Therefore, I went to Curacao today; I went there in April 10 already. I asked Che So to order taxi for me to the airport; this time it is a difference type of taxi so I have to phone her in the morning (which woke her up) to confirm that.
I arrived to the airport at 9:30 and had breakfast there. Since my company will pay for this trip, I don't have to be cheap. I did not eat a lot yesterday in order to accumulate for today. The 45 mins flight arrived Curacao at 12:20. When I saw the car rental in the Curacao airport, I suddenly wanted to rent a car. It costs US $50 for a round trip between the airport and the downtown. It costs US $52 to rent the cheapest car for a day. I have never driven a car outside of BC or Alberta; I felt so weird to drive again. I am quite surprised to find out that this is a standard drive. I thought that I will not drive standard again since the Maxima in Vancouver will be sold soon. Yeah! I felt so good to drive again! I drove carefully especially for the first 15 mins. I also laughed and smiled while driving because I felt that I am back to somewhere that I am familiar again. Life without car in Venezuela is very inconvenience. I have to ask people to drive me, or take metro (because I want to avoid the taxi cost).
Since this is the second time I am in Curacao and I also have a car, I wanted to drive to as much place as possible. I decided to go to the most East side of the island (which is only 20km from the airport). There is very little road sign; the road names are in Dutch too. Moreover, the map is not detail enough. Therefore, I am not sure where I am driving; I used my intuition and luck to drive. Since I am so adventurous (I do not really know where I am, and I have the pressure that I need to go back to the airport on time), I do not mind to get lost in the middle of nowhere (literally) a little bit. I am pretty familiar to the road condition in Curacao now.
There is a lot of Chinese restaurant on the way. Therefore, I had lunch in one of those places. This restaurant did not have chair for the customer (actually, there is only three high chairs). The servers and owner are inside the house (cage?) and the customer (me) is standing outside to eat. (See photo). This is for security reason. I talked, in Cantonese, to the owner Mr. Lam about the situation in Curacao and Venezuela. I introduced myself as someone from Venezuela and born in HK (ignore the fact that I am a Canadian citizen because I don't want him to think too high for me). The salary in Curacao is better than in Venezuela (minimum wage of US $500 vs. $200) However the job situation deteriorated for the last few years (same as Venezuela). There is also quite a lot of Chinese here, working either in a restaurant, grocery or laundry.
After 3.5 hours of driving fun (1pm - 4:30pm) in Curacao, I went back to the airport. I arrived Venezuela at 7:10pm. I had a good and expensive (Cdn $23) dinner (Steak & Caesar Salad, Margarita drink and chocolate milkshake) at TGI Friday. Margarita is some kind of alcohol drink; I had that in a Christmas party at Telus's boss Don's house in Dec 2000. I seldom drink alcohol and this is the first time that I felt that I am a little bit drunk. (I did not deny it, as other people say "I did not get drunk"). Normally my pulse is 69/min and at that time it was 84/min. My face is a little bit red and I had a little trouble to focus when I am looking at a distant place. However, I have experimented and I can walk straight line. This effect only last for about an hour.

November 27, 2003(Thursday)

My MBA textbook is not yet here; I asked my co-worker Jose to borrow a Financial Accounting book. He is the CFO of the company and I have consulted with him a lot of time about the MBA-related issue. Even though he is about 20 years older than I am, he is the only co-worker that I can talk to about non-work related stuff. (But limited to MBA and business stuff).
There is problem with customer Magnabyte and I went there from 12-6. Their problem is resolved easily; I did not go back to Desca afterward because I am supposed to go to Fondo Comun at 5. The driver from Desca should pick me up at 4:30 but I was told at 5:15 that he is lost somewhere in the city. They told me to go by myself, yet after 5 mins they told me to postpone the trip. I stayed at Magnabyte and got some time to read the Accounting book that I borrowed. Basically, I am starved with staying ahead of MBA; this feeling is escalated because I can't get the textbooks. So I know that I will really spend a lot of time to study when they arrive.
I went to church for music practice. I tried to teach them to sing "Shout to the Lord" male's harmony. However, it does not really work. Consider this group of talent, I am quite disappointed. Ellen Lam happened to be there and told us bluntly that we do not sound good.

November 26, 2003(Wednesday)

The first thing that I think this morning is that the MBA textbook is not here. I am so "mum". I emailed the bookstore; they told me that if I want them to email again, I have to pay the books again. I am very pissed off and angered. This is not their fault, but this is not my fault either. The books cost US$350. I used to normal delivery method which costs me $44. If I use the UPS method, it would cost me $240. Now I have to waste the US$400 and repurchase again; I hate the Venezuelan postal system (in fact, I hate the telephone system, elevators, traffic situation as well).
My MBA professors emailed me about their comments on studying PhD; I am quite excited by that. I shared this news with Carmen, dad and Hansel. However, most likely I would not make the application deadline (early January); moreover, I want to upgrade my GMAT. I can study several more terms of MBA to see what I really like. Now I really wish that Cisco would hire me and help me to pay my tuition.
I went to Ricky's house for dinner and then went to church for the combined-church prayer meeting for Dec 1, 4's meetings. I left in the middle because I need to go to CanTV. It takes me about 30 mins to walk from church to CanTV; most of these are small street so taking Metro or bus would not give me any advantage. Mario asked me to do the upgrade on their system but found out that their current software version does not support this upgrade. Therefore, after calling Mario to verify, we went home. This is the second time that my trip is wasted.
Because of my passport problem, I will go to Curacao again this Friday. Here is the schedule.

Nov. 28 (Fri)	DC930 Caracas - Curacao 11:20 - 12:05
Nov. 28 (Fri)	DC 930 Curacao - Caracas 18:00 - 19:40

November 25, 2003(Tuesday)

Today is another quiet day. I performed the Desca VPN PIX firewall configuration for about 1 hour. I went home for dinner (I started to have enough of my typical dishes).
MBA Text books have not yet arrived; I felt that I am wasting this week doing nothing and not staying ahead. I accumulated the "wasting time" psychological effect. Therefore, I studied GMAT at night for about 2.5 hours and I felt much better now. I also hope that when textbooks arrive, I will study in full force.
In fact, I am really disturbed and annoyed by the fact that the MBA textbooks are not here. I hate the Venezuela postal system; also the MBA bookstore wants me to pay for all the textbook again (about US$400!) if they have to ship me. I have not received anything yet and I am really pissed off with this.

November 24, 2003(Monday)

I went to work and email professors about the PhD program in different business school. I went home to cook dinner again and practiced piano. Today is a quiet day; I would have a tough time to write in the time sheet. (However, I am sure that once I have this thought, my next few days will be busy).
I studied GMAT at night. I have already taken this exam two years ago but I hope to upgrade the score. Wow, the exam is tough. Even the math is not as easy as I thought. I don't want to take this exam! But this is the time to show my determination, consistency and discipline. The road will not be easy but I *WILL* get over it.

November 23, 2003(Sunday)

I went to Baptist church and led Sunday School. Our classroom is the sanctuary. The kids run around when they are there; and whenever someone walks by, people are distracted. I don't like this place but there is no choice.
I went home and then went for another run today. The housemates all went to work (they work 6 days a week and never have holiday during weekend because that is the busiest time in restaurant) so I can practice piano and violin freely. I stayed home for the rest of the day. This is a boring and quiet weekend. However, I know that big thing is coming at me soon. My MBA term will start in a week; I will be the singspiration leader for the upcoming Sunday and also the Dec 1, 4 outreach meetings.
I called Carmen and the phone card does not work again. I need to think of some evil wicked plan to torture the engineer in that company. (And I am sure that whenever internet does not work, other people would have torture plan for me too)

November 22, 2003(Saturday)

I had a short hair cut today and then went to Parque del Este to run for 49 mins. I had a good sleep after the run. I was supposed to go to church for music practice for Dec 1, 4's program. However, people can't make it. I am so bored today to be at home all the time so I went to work to surf the internet and download MBA material. (It is surprised to know that there is about 7 people, out of 30, at work) I am still waiting for the MBA books to arrive and in the mean time I tried to browse through the MBA website as much as I can because I like to stay ahead.

November 21, 2003(Friday)

There is nothing to do at work. I downloaded MBA material for next term. I have ordered text books for about two weeks and I expected them to arrive late because of the unreliable Venezuelan mailing system. The term will start in Dec 1. In the mean time, I will download as many material and prepare as much as possible because I love to stay ahead of the game.
I also researched PhD program in Business. My dream job is a university professor; if I want to become one, I want to (but not have to) get a PhD degree from one of the top universities (e.g. Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale). Their requirement is high and my GMAT score is low. I don't think I will be able to make it, unless I do exceptionally good in my MBA degree. I will see whether God will open the door for me or not. (Carmen: I know that it is very tough for you because you do not know the future for sure. Neither do I. But I know who holds our future. Let's see what God leads us)
I went to Ricky's house for dinner and talked to Ellen for quite some times about the life of an expatriate (those that work oversea). There is gossip among these people because of the small circle. But as long as I do not care, it would be fine. Then I helped Ricky to translate the Bible study material for Sunday School from "Purpose Driven Life". Afterward, they invited me to see movie because Wilson (Mrs. Cheng's 11 years old son) and another person from church is going too. I turned down the invitation because I want to do some work at home. They said that I am discipline. In fact, I hate to work or study during a Friday night previously but I have gotten used to it after without going to Friday night fellowship for 1.5 years.

November 20, 2003(Thursday)

After the two final exams, I am relaxed. I am thinking about my future option, e.g. job, study, Carmen's option, etc. I went to Banco del Caribe in the afternoon because the Cisco TAC engineer needs to get a file. It turned out to be an easy job. I typed one or two commands and the file is here. The difficult thing is to figure out a way to move this 2M file from the server to my computer so that I can email the file. One of the people there has a portable USB memory stick and it is very useful. I need to get one myself too because most of the time I have to move file that is larger than 1M.
I went home to cook dinner, read Bible and slept early.

November 19, 2003(Wednesday)

I went to CanTV this morning because Mario received some software update from Cisco and he wanted me to apply. I wonder why he does not tell me earlier (but he just found out) so that I can do it altogether last week. However, I found out that CanTV does not have certain equipment (Intrusion Detection System) so it is not necessary to download the file. That means, the trip is void. However, I do not really mind because there is a Cisco-EMC seminar in the morning and my boss wanted me to go. I do not want to go to this Spanish seminar and this is a good valid excuse. BTW, when I first went to CanTV, they told me that there is problem and I thought, "Oh no!". It turned out that the keyboard is blocked for one of their servers. They will fix it themselves by rebooting the machine later.
I went back to Desca during lunch and wanted to take my exam. When I first arrived, people told me that there is problem with the IPTV Server. Sounds like that it is affected by virus. I will talk to the LAN administrator tomorrow about it. Then I take the C530 (Economics) final exam. It was a 3 hours exam and I completed it in two hours. It is quite challenging but I did ok. I felt relieving after the exam.
Suddenly, I wanted to take the other exam as well. Actually, we were given between Wednesday to Saturday this week to complete the two exams. I always like to be ahead and I am really good in taking exam. Therefore, I took this challenge and did the 6 hours Quantitative Analysis (use Microsoft Excel) final exam. The practice final exam was difficult and I am ready for the uphill fight. However, I was quite shocked when I looked at the real exam. It is a lot easier than I thought and I can't think of anything else to do after 1.8 hours. If I did not make any serious mistake (i.e. mis-interpret the questions), then I should score a good score. Now I have finished the two final exams and the text books of next term have not yet arrived. I have nothing to do (besides full time job and full time church work). I am bored!
Prayer meeting usually held in Wednesday night but I heard that they changed to Thursday night this week. However, when I called Mimia after the exam, she told me that it is changed back to tonight. No one told me because they thought that I am busy this week with exam. Pastor Philip and Ruth from Toronto's Canadian Baptist Ministry came to check how the churches are doing. They are Caucasians and do not speak Chinese nor Spanish. Therefore, they talked in English and I translated to Chinese. This is the second time I do translation; last time it was the 2001's Winter Conference. I believe that I did a really good job because I can think fast (I am always proud of my brain) and I can talk fast, loud and clear. It is quite challenge at first but since I took two exams today, my brain moves very fast already. It is quite fun.
In order to celebrate my accomplishment today (two exams plus translation), I called Vancouver. I talked to Carmen and also parents for a long time. Too bad that Hansel is not there or else I want to see how he is doing too.

November 18, 2003(Tuesday)

Nothing much happened at work. There was a group meeting and I pretended that I understand everything. I went to practice music for the Dec 1 outreach. I am being picky and have a really high standard for this group of talent.

November 17, 2003(Monday)

There is nothing much happened in the work today. I also went to the bank to deposit US money because I request my company once in a while to pay me salary in US dollar (Since there is currency control in Venezuela, my company does not have enough US money) for my MBA tuition. Even the bank does not do the deposit for us. They stamp the cheque and then I need to go to some kind of FedEx to delivery the cheque to my US bank.
I felt a bit tired and frustrated today in work and in life. I called Carmen and she encouraged me and I felt much better afterward.

November 16, 2003(Sunday)

I went to Baptist Church this morning for song leading. We sang "Inside Jesus" (ACM), "Action Faith Hope Love" (ACM), "Come Revive me" (ACM's "Come Revive me"), "Prince of Peace" (ACM's "Prince of Peace") and "You are King" (ACM's "You are King"). Afterward, I led the Sunday School for the "Purpose Driven Life".
The church people asked me to go out for food but I need some rest for the remaining of the day. Therefore I went home to take a break. Afterward, I led song in MB Church. The song list is "The Whole World Praise" (ACM's "Come Revive me"), "Seeking" (ACM), "Mas Que Palabras", "Prince of Peace" (ACM's "Prince of Peace") and "Please Send me" (ACM's "Prince of Peace"). Actually when you are reading my diary now, I wonder whether you care and understand the song lists.
I studied and practice MBA during Sunday School Time. And then we had MB Youth fellowship and we had our first group Bible Study. The attendant dramatically decreased in this period because this is close to Christmas and people are busier about work. I went home to organize some of the music song lists that I will sing. It is very difficult to keep track of everything. I will lead song again in both churches in Nov 30, and the Nov 30 in MB church is a Thanksgiving service so something special is needed. And then there is Dec 1 and 4 combined churches outreach/revival meeting and this needed to be a blast because the worship team is the elites from two churches. I will lead songs again in Dec 14. The big thing is the Dec 24 Chinese Place outreach and I need to prepare the song list for that soon. There is only one song for Dec 25 Christmas MB Church life game program so I don't need to worry about it. My responsibility combined any three busiest worship leader in VCAC/Fraserlands, yet the standard must also be high (although it would not be as high as the Fraserlands worship team). I have no idea how long I will be in Venezuela and I must use every single opportunity to serve the churches.

November 15, 2003(Saturday)

I went for my weekly run at Parque del Este. I also studied MBA for my upcoming final exam. I arrived to MB Church at 4pm. YiSon and William (another kids) have birthday party at church. Mrs. Chu invited me to host the game for the kids. This is a challenge to me because the age of the kids spread from 2 or 3 yrs old to 10 yrs old. Also, they speak Spanish since they are local born. We played for about 1.3 hours. The younger kids dropped out in the beginning (my first game is "eagle chase little chicken"). There is about 6 or 7 older kids (7yrs - 10 yrs); it is good because there is no advantage that anyone can take. We also played other games, e.g. music chair, throw handkerchief, "bear play dead", blind chicken, guest leader, Jesus says, two dragons compete for marble, have mouth hard to speak... I did not think that I do a good job because even though they understand my Chinese, they talked among themselves in Spanish. It is especially hard to think of some item for them to guess (for the "has mouth hard to speak" game) because they don't know what I suggest to them and I don't know what they suggest to me due to the language barrier. Also, I can't involve all the parents that are sitting around and the little kids (younger than 6 years old) who are running around. I need some helpers.
We practice music at church. Then I went to help Luisa for translation; she will move to Miami next January and she needs me to translate the receipt into English for her.

November 14, 2003(Friday)

The first thing that I thought when I woke up is what breakfast I should eat. My mind was totally captured by this thought during the morning routine (piano (my violin is broken), sit up, devotion). I cooked myself a really good breakfast. I had instant noodle, vegetable, sausage and eggs. I never cooked so full breakfast, except mom cooked for me. I was still hungry after the breakfast but I don't want to eat too much.
I went to CanTV from 9:30 - 4:30. The TAC engineer was solving the problem and I was a faithful coordinator. I went to grocery shopping and practiced C520 for the night. I went to church for music practice and it was very smooth. Previously my team has some local-born Chinese and they can't read Chinese. They have to write "cheluta" (sound translation) for each words that we sang. They did a good job but this took too much time. Therefore, we tried to rearrange the team so that everyone can read and write Chinese in my team.

November 13, 2003(Thursday)

When I was doing my devotion in the morning, I felt the need to do fast and pray. It is because I have been a Christian for a long time and have never done that. I am always thinking about the earthly thing and there is a lot of thing that I needed to pray about. Therefore, I had four pieces of bread for breakfast, some salad for "brunch", a sweet at noon and water for the rest of the day.
There are several things that I prayed.
• My life purpose statement
• Carmen, dad, Hansel's involvement and the VCAC drama outreach
• My future work
• Dec 1, 4, 24, 25 outreach at Venezuelan churches.
• My family's spiritual life

After going through the fasting, I discovered some truth about myself. I really look forward to cooking and love to eat!! This is a shock to me especially because previously in Vancouver I always don't like the fact that dad always cook. I thought about food and cooking so much during the fasting time, more than anything. I am not extremely hungry, but I need control or else I will eat. I really admire those girls that have diet because they want to be thin. Also, I can't imagine how people can fast for over 2 days and those people that fast during the 1989 June 4. My dad also told me that he can't eat for 48 hours because of medical examination. My discipline and mental power (which is considered to be my strength) almost break down (not that I will be crazy, but I will go to eat) and how can they do it? This fasting really exposes some of my weaknesses.
I think more about God and have a better time in prayer too. (Even when I fall asleep in the middle of prayer and woke up briefly, I still remember that I am praying!) Since I have such a hard time in fasting, I really need to have good prayer or else the effort is wasted. It turns out that I feel close to God and my prayer is better. This solves the problem that I always complain about my dry prayer life. So this is an interesting (but not enjoyable) experience. I will see when I should do it again. (I am not mentally prepared to "suffer" again anytime sooner)
I went to CanTV to solve their problem with the TAC engineer. Once again, there is not much that I need to do but I still needed to be around. I went home at 8:30pm; during my trip to home, I am struggling whether I should cook or not. And when I arrived home, the housemates are cooking and the smell is good. My tongue is so tasteless. I am looking forward to brushing teeth because the toothpaste tastes sweet and good.

November 12, 2003(Wednesday)

CanTV phoned me last night that there is problem with their IP Phone network again. Therefore, I first went back to Desca and opened the TAC case. Let the TAC engineer check the system during my travel to CanTV. I am an expert in multitasking, partly thanks to my "boiling water exercise" in Vancouver home. However I found out that since the password is changed, the TAC engineer can't check the system. Also, I have to wait 25 mins for people to open the door. I am too efficient but people here are too relax and too slow. This is good for me as an employee so that I don't really need to feel stress. (However my boss is still pushy)
I was in CanTV from 10:30 - 4:20. I am waiting for the TAC engineer's troubleshooting most of the time. Therefore, it is not necessary to use my brain. I went home to take my late lunch / early off afterward.
I had dinner at Ricky's house. I asked Ellen about the life of being the wife of Expatriate (those who work aboard). I asked her so that I can share with Carmen about Ellen's opinion. In conclusion, we don't need to feel worry. There is a lot of thing to do and people are very friendly. Carmen would be able to find job too.
After prayer meeting, I went home and think about my life's purpose statement. I have finished reading the 40-day "Purpose Driven Life" book and this is my life's purpose statement:
• Motto: Life is not necessary to be long, the most important thing is to be exciting (abundant life)
• Purpose: Jesus would stand up and welcome me home (Acts 7:56), tells me that I am a faithful servant.
• Be a manager of money, not owner of money. Support church work with tithes and offering
• Be a tent-maker and serve God with Carmen and my family in wherever He put us in.
• Family is more important than serving and money
• Don't over-focus on money. The highest rank that I hope to achieve is the director level, at most the VP level.
• Don't focus on materialistic enjoyment.
• Have a few non-Christian friends so that I can bring them to Christ.

November 11, 2003(Tuesday)

Another relax day. I took a longer lunch so that I can read some MBA book. I MSN, ICQ and phone Carmen in the afternoon and talked a lot about our future budget, her career future and family relationship. Glad that no one disturbs us during the whole communication. We also research on the online web design certification program because she has the artistic mind and the online program would allow us to go to wherever we need to be, similar to my online MBA.
I paid the rent at night and also the electric bill of my share. We have a water pump; the landlord always complain me that I did not turn off the water supply outside (so that water will not leak outside) and that I should only use it when I am taking a shower because the electric bill is expensive. I need to turn on the water pump when I am cooking or washing dishes but they did not like that. I am too pissed off for the last several months after all these complaining so that I pay additional Bs 20,000 electric bill on top of my normal Bs 10,000 (Cdn $6) electric bill. This is the only conflict that I have between me and other housemate here, but it really bothers me. After I gave the additional money, they do not want to receive it and said it is "ng ho yee see" ("not good meaning" in Chinese). But I insist of paying this money so that they will not complain in the future.

November 10, 2003(Monday)

Today is a relax / waste of time day. I basically accomplish very little during work except browsing around. Ricky also wrote a public email that he will leave Venezuela between two or five weeks. He has helped me a lot and gave me opinion about work-oriented issues.
I went to Che So's house for dinner and talked about some church issues. Then I went home and called Semson and talked to him about church and serving issues too.

November 9, 2003(Sunday)

I went to church at 8:15 because, as an overall music coordinator, I want to inspect how the other worship team is doing. They were late and not too prepared. I am quite disappointed and I gave a 3-mins talk at the end to convey my expectation. Afterward, I taught the "Purpose Driven Life" Sunday School. It was very disturbing because kids were running around.
We had a group meeting about December 1, 4 meetings. They wanted the two churches to have their song offering time. I said that, since I am the overall music coordinator, I would have my own arrangement. Also, they wanted me to co-operate with two other people to prepare the flyers. I said that, either I do it by myself or I don't do anything, because I am busy and have no additional time to have meeting. Later, Paco told me that my attitude is not good and I am quite "hu". I admitted that, because there is a lot of work and Carmen is not besides me to remind me and gave me elaborated feedback, I may make some mistakes without knowing it. I am still a quick temper person.
I went for another good run in Parque del Este and had a long (1.4 hrs) afternoon nap. I felt a lot more charged afterward. I went to Dr. Chu's house for dinner and MB Youth Meeting. I am good and efficient at holding meeting; I can accomplish a lot within a limited time.

November 8, 2003(Saturday)

I had a good run in Parque del Este. And then, I found out that my violin (the older one; I gave my favorite one to Hansel to practice) broke. The nut in the end of the violin that is responsible to hold all four strings broke. Therefore the four strings fell apart. I do not have the equipment to fix the violin; therefore, I cannot practice violin until someone fix it. The last time that I can't practice violin for over 1 week is July - September 1990 when I was in Edmonton.
I went to church to practice music with two churches' elite for the December 1, 4 outreach and revival meeting. I have longed to practice with these group of talent for a long time; this hope almost was fulfilled this year's Chinese Day but bad thing happened (refer to my September and October online diary). Finally they can co-operate. I will challenge them with my highest standard.

November 7, 2003(Friday)

I need to leave Desca at 8:30 with co-worker Alexis to go to customer site Banco Exterior. I arrived at 8:30 and he arrived Desca at 9:10. Therefore, I got the entire 40mins to check email and update diary. I felt so great leaving after this morning-computer-daily-routine.
There is problem with the demo at Banco Exterior and I need to help troubleshoot it. Even though Alexis's position and experience is much junior than I am, he did most of the thing. And most of the problem is because of the customer's firewall; therefore, I have nothing much to do. I was there from 9:40 to 4:40.
During lunch hour, it is too far from home so I went to the mall nearby. This is one of the very few times that I walk aimlessly in the street or in the mall in Venezuela. I felt very relax. This mall has lots of people and like a small scale (about 10%) Metrotown. I am enjoying my time!
I went home to have a late afternoon nap; I found that I am very sleepy and not functioning if I do not have my afternoon nap, no matter how many hours (even 8.5 hrs!) I slept the night before. Then I went to the grandmother of Shirley to help fix her computer. I was there in Sept 19, 03. Her belief is a cult (the very spiritual denomination and not only believe in Jesus); she is very devoted and serious to this belief. She needs to check email for the daily prayer and goes on-line everyday to listen to the sermon. I still can't believe an 80+ years old Chinese old woman would use computer. However, her computer skill is very little; she can't really distinguish when to use double-click and single-click. When checking email, she needs to follow each step exactly; if there is slight variation, then she would freak out. This time, someone sign-off her yahoo account and she has no clue how to sign in so she asked me come to help.

November 6, 2003(Thursday)

I tried to fix the IPTV because some of us can watch TV from computer and some can not. I don't know why yet. I uploaded my resume to the Dice and Monster job board. I will upload my resume to more places later. I went home to cook "fried" instant noodle mixed with ketchup, eggs and instant noodle sauce. One of the main advancement I had in Venezuela is that I learned how to cook more than steak, sausage and eggs. I also studied MBA C520 (Quantitative Analysis, using Excel) today for several hours. I was doing the practice exam. Wow, it is hard. Even an analytical person like me has a hard time to make it work. I don't know how others will be able to finish it.

November 5, 2003(Wednesday)

I am being too nice at work because this is my character to be Mr. Nice. Usually when the janitor is wiping the corridor and when I need to cross the corridor, I walk on somewhere else so that I won't step on the wet floor. However, for most other people, they just walk on it and the janitor has to wipe it again after they finish walking on it. Today, after they are wiping the floor in the kitchen but before the water is completely dry, I need to go to the microwave to heat my food. They told me something (in Spanish) which I guess that, please stay off the kitchen and how long are you going to stay in the kitchen (after I have entered the kitchen). I don't think that they will do this do the big boss or other people. I am not in the mood to do them a favor but on the other hand I do not know what they are talking about. I want to argue back. If they know English, I will tell them that "you are janitor and your job is to clean the floor. I just need to use the kitchen for several minutes so shut up." I did not say anything and completely ignore them because I do not know Spanish to argue back (well, they did not argue with me. they just nag at me) Also, if I say anything negative (and they happen to understand), then I do not have the required language skill to explain my action and they will keep on talking on my back because I do not have any ally in my work environment. I guess that I am too nice most of the time and they took it for granted.
I need to fix the two IP/TV servers. They gave me one of the servers and forgot to give me the second one. I asked them to take it from the storage room but they were extremely slow. They were chatting around or doing something else. I was really pissed off and asked them to bring me several times. Finally I went down to take it myself. I finally finished fixing the IPTV and I felt good about this. However, for some reason, some of us cannot get that to work yet. It may be something to do with the fact that they have not download some Java thing.
I went to Ricky's house for dinner and then went to church for prayer meeting. Mrs. Lam suggested that I did too many actions for the Sunday worship singspiration. Probably I am not coming from a conservative church (even though I still think that Alliance Church and HK's church is still conservative) and I used to gather with young people, my leading style is more "young".
We discussed about who should be the committee for the Dec 1, 4 outreach/revival meeting. They wanted me to be part of it because I am leading music. I felt tired and turned down because the committee needs to arrange the accommodation and transportation for the short term ministry too. I would rather focus on the song leading and the year end's outreach. I felt that I need more sharing with others rather than purely church-business-related talk.

November 4, 2003(Tuesday)

Seems like God is teaching me patient. My "Telcel Fijo" phone plus long distance phone card is not working as usual. And now both the elevators in my office are broken and my laptop is broken again. The screen is very dim and I have given my laptop to someone else to fix. This has happened several times before and I hope that it will be fixed within several hours. I don't think I am learning the lesson yet though. I am still mum easily.
I went to Baptist Church for the join-meeting with MB church for the year end outreach. We talked about the outreach and revival meeting in Dec 1,4. Pastor Harding Ng from Toronto and other short term ministry will come at that time. I will be responsible for music for both nights. And there will be another outreach in the Chinese Place in the end of the year. We are still deciding on the time and I surely hope that it will be after Dec 26 because Carmen will come after that time. Nevertheless the first choice is Dec 24. I will be responsible for both the music and the games. I want to volunteer for MC too. Originally I got the most vote but they thought that I am doing too much. Also, I suggested Carmen to be MC if she is here. I really want to co-operate with Carmen. I am quite firm that I want to be MC and I hope that I don't leave bad impression to any person. This will be the largest project I have done after the 10th year anniversary for Baptist Church in Mar 15, 16 this year. I really want to make it a good one and require a high standard from everyone. I hope that I would not do anything wrong and offense anyone if I require too much.
I am quite confused about the MC thing and I really wanted to talk to Carmen. And the phone work!!! Miracle. After sharing the whole story and before we ended with a prayer, the phone card has no time. So I call again with another phone card (same phone card company, and using the same phone). And the old problem (automatically hang up after one minute) happens again. But I am thankful that I can share my burden with Carmen.

November 3, 2003(Monday)

Desca has four sites: Miami (US), Caracas (Venezuela), Maracaibo (Venezuela) and Bogot?(Colombia). We need to have Virtual Private Network (VPN) between these sites and I am the engineer that write the proposal and implement the design. I worked on this for several hours today.
I worked on MBA stuff at night. I finally finished all the homework and assignments for both the C520 (Quantitative Analysis) and C530 (Economic). I am about 2 weeks ahead; I can finish that about 10 days ago but I was focusing on the EMC certificate and wedding homepage.

November 2, 2003(Sunday)

I led music at Baptist Church in the morning. The songs are: "Doxology" (I made the lyric and use children song), "Hevenu Shalom" (from ACM's "Prince of Peace"), "He", "If", "Come Worship God" (from ACM's "Come Revive me") and "Power of Your Love". Afterward, I led Sunday School "Purpose Driven Life". We will use this book as a reference for the Sunday School in the next 12 weeks. Instead of split the group according to age, we pre-destined the group. Most of my group members are Chinese Youth though. They are happy to be in my class again.
I went to MB church afterward for leading music in the worship again. The overhead projector failed in the beginning so I have to make some adjustment. We sang the songs are: "Doxology" (I made the lyric and use children song), "Inside Jesus", "Praise you Hallelujah" (from ACM's "You are King"), "Wonderful hand" (from ACM's "You are King"), "Because of Lord's name", "I come before You with prayer", "Shout to the Lord" and "Prince of Peace" (from ACM's "Prince of Peace"). Some of us skipped Sunday School because I explained to them how to play the "life game". We will play this game during Dec 25. The MB youth fellowship is "Game night". We played the game that we used to play when we were children.
Semson asked me to be the overall coordinator (project manager?) for the outreach that will be held in the Chinese Place in the end of the year. (Yes, I am also the program coordinator for the MB church's Christmas outreach playing "life game") After some thoughts, this is very important to me. First, because I have to make a really high-quality event to show it to the committee in the Chinese Place because they complained about our performance during the Chinese Day's performance (Actually they were complaining the Lui's family but they thought that these people represent church, which is not true). Second, Carmen will probably here at that time and I really want to show her how much I transformed (ok, I mean, God transformed, but used me as a channel) the two churches. The feeling is like a little child made some accomplishment and very excited to show it to his parents. In addition, this is quite likely that it will be my last major project in Venezuela; this will be the best gift I can give to these people, who treated me like a family member. Moreover, I need to set an example for people who will host program in the future. Lastly, this will be a joint effort between the Baptist and MB church. My vision and mission in Venezuela is to do something to unite this church. I *must* give them a positive and happy experience in this serving opportunity. Dear God, I need help!
In order to allow me to call Vancouver, I purchased a "telcel fijo" telephone. It is a wireless telephone that has the base station somewhere in the city. For some unknown reason, it always failed when I call Vancouver. Either the phone line is busy or the phone automatically disconnected after 1 min of talking. Sometimes it works and most of the time it does not work. It drove me EXTREMELY crazy and I have sworn many many times because of this stupid telephone. However I am stuck with it. The initial payment is about Cdn $100 and each month I pay about $15. I really want to be violence and break this telephone. It may be the long distance telephone card too. It cost about $6 for each 88mins call to Vancouver. It is quite cheap but I feel that this card is not "compatible" to the telephone.

November 1, 2003(Saturday)

I went to Parque del Este for weekly jogging. Then there is a church council gathering at Ricky's house from 2-5. People were late; we talked about church stuff, so this is just another informal council meeting. I went to Baptist church for music practice from 5-7 and then went to MB church for another music practice until 9:30. I called Carmen and we discussed about our wedding homepage. She gave me good suggestion but with my limited skill, I am not sure whether I can satisfy her requirement.