i got to witness this at the game.  they start marching at abt 2:20.

so i decided to upload them quick before i forget/get bogged down by other things in life.  all the photos can be viewed here.  they're in reverse chronological order, but whatever.  anyways for those who don't have time to browse through the photos i'll put some below:


welcome to aggieland!



the crowd at midnight yell



andrew and i conforming to the sea of maroon



food at the tailgate



the stadium is packed!



blake and me



UT's band

i just came back not too long ago from my short thanksgiving trip to texas.  it was nothing short of phenomenal.  photos will be up once i get settled down and clean up my room (which is quite a mess now) and get started with my algebra pset (which is due on tues), but they will be up.  eventually.

blake, the director of manna, andrew and i left for the philly airport on thursday morning and flew into houston at abt 4pm.  rented a car and drove for abt 2 hours to college station, where texas a&m is.  the part of texas that we drove through was really not too different from other parts of the US- greenery, some ranches, not the desert i had pictured in my mind (although some other parts of texas are like that).  we dropped off our stuff at the gustafson's house, where we would be lodging.  paul gustafson is a freshman in manna who lives in college station, and even though he wasn't going home for thanksgiving, his family was kind enough to extend their hospitality to us.  paul's mum always made sure that we were fed :)

paul's dad, bob, is actually a princeton alum, class of '75 i think.  what's even more amazing (coincidental, or should i say God-incidental) is that he majored in math in pton, and is now a math professor at A&M.  he shared a lot of stories abt math in pton and in general with me, giving me a better understanding of the department, and i guess how the Christian faith fits in the whole picture.  i really thank God for letting me someone who is both deep in academia, esp math, and is also a strong Christian.

dinner was spent with blake's parents at the dixie chicken, which is basically a bar i think.  it apparently sells the most amt of beer per sq ft in the whole world :)  right next to the dixie chick is an alleyway that is covered with thousands upon thousands of beer bottlecaps.  crazy stuff :)  after that we went to the stadium for this tradition called the midnight yell (even though it was held at 8pm this yr :P)  basically the night before the game with UT, students would gather in the stadium to rah-rah themselves.  6 guys, called yell leaders, basically led the cheers.  we went through some cheers, there were little peptalks/speeches, and there was a short poem recital that symbolized the sch's fighting spirit.  the fans in A&M are often called "the 12th man", in that they are just like an extra man on the pitch for the team.  there was one part during the ceremony where the lights in the stadium went out.  at this time guys were supposed to kiss their dates, while those that were single would use their lighters/cellphones to shine on those that were kissing :P

the next day we met lauren (blake's wife) and little andrew (their kid) at the tailgate before the UT Texas A&M football game.  for the uninitiated, tailgating is when before the game, families just get together, set up tents and chairs and chill out.  lots of food, kids throwing footballs around.... a great family atmosphere.  pton has a little bit of tailgating too, but nothing on the scale that we saw in aggieland (that's what college station is sometimes called, pple in texas a&m are called aggies).  we hung out with some friends of lauren from college.  great food, great company.  andrew and i each got a maroon shirt to blend into the crowd (maroon is a&m's colour).  before the game there was a parade where the band marched in along with the corp, that kinda reminded me of army :P

the game itself was AMAZING.  there were over 88,000 pple in the stadium, mostly dressed in maroon.  our seats were pretty good, i had a quite a good view of the whole game.  although A&M was supposed to be the weaker team, we played really well and won the game :)  that makes it 2 out of 2 for me- for the 2 games i attended, both times the team i rooted for won :D  what really struck me was the sch spirit.  the cheering, the students standing up throughout the game... and i think more than that, the fact that so many alumni came back to watch the game.  i wish pton had that.... i guess AC had that to a certain extent, but not really either.  different.  but really the aggie sch spirit is a sight to behold.

for the rest of the trip blake was showing andrew and i around the campus and the places where he had hung out while he was still a student (he was class of 2000).  college housing is really quite different there- only freshmen live in dorms, the rest pretty much live off campus.  campus life must really be quite different.

all in all this trip was a good break from life in princeton.  i haven't done touched work since tuesday evening... being in texas showed me the other side of college life, "the other education", as they call it.  one thing that will always stick in my mind is the hospitality of the pple there.  the gustafson's, blake's parents, lauren's siblings and friends.... everyone treated us like family, i felt so at home.  many times i would feel just like one of them, even though just about everyone else was white while andrew and i were asian.  i hope that in the future i'll be just as hospitable.

so that kinda sums up my short trip to the south.  i'd definitely love to make another trip down there sometime :)  for now it's back to work/sch/my life.  haha.  3 more wks till HOME! :D

today kinda marked the start of the thanksgiving break for me as i conveniently skipped my morning class to go to new york.  i would have gone for class, except that i had to catch the 10am train while class would end at 955....

and i had to catch the 10am train because.... i was having lunch with ted (manna alum, class of '07)!  ted was my small group leader last yr.  it was great catching up with him again, hearing his perspective on life/work/whatever and me filling him in with regards to things in manna/princeton.  i wish he was still in college!

after that i spent the whole afternoon shopping by myself.  i had a number of things that i needed to get, but i didn't really achieve my goals :(  i walked all over soho, then chinatown, then 5th ave.  i must have gone into at least 50+++ shops.  haha.  i realized that shopping alone is not so fun.  cos you have no one to talk to, and you don't have any second opinion on items that you want to get.  oh wells.  next time i shall drag some unfortunate soul to shop with me :)

i then dropped by albert's place to have dinner in chinatown with some of the AC peeps: albert, mike, lim hui, mel and gin wei.  we had a little dim sum + regular chinese food.  it was kinda funny, in that there was a wedding going on in the restaurant that we were eating in.  superrr cheena.  hahaahaha i shall make sure my wedding does not end up so cheena.  not that cheena is bad or anything... it just seems, cheesy i guess?  i will make sure the floor is not red...

after that i met up with some manna peeps (andrew, gyeong-sik, julia, grace and stella).  we had some amazing chicken & rice thingy that's along 53rd st, then we went kboxing in k-town!  i think (i have to admit) that was my first time kboxing.... haha.  it was quite funny.  stella and julia are great singers!  haha.  i couldn't really sing my voice sucks :(  anyway we are just in time for the last train back to princeton.  amazing day, i'm really glad that everything kinda worked out in the end (except not getting some of the stuff i was looking for in NY).

i'm flying off to texas tmr!  will be watching the UT Texas A&M football game on friday, that should be absolutely AMAZING!  till then, be blessed!

IT SNOWED THIS MORNING! :D

in the last entry i forgot to post the lyrics of one of the hymns that we sang today in church.  reminded me a lot of my church back home, which i miss a lot btw.  the words are so beautiful.... we do have One who intercedes for us all the time :)

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I Am
King of glory and of grace
One in Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased with His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God

after a full wk of day-long rehearsals, captives of ashland (the name of the musical) has finally run it's course.  we had a total of 4 shows, with 2 on saturday, all of which i think went pretty successfully :)  much as i'm going to miss playing with the band and the actors and all, for now i'm pretty glad/relieved that it's over.  it's been fun, but it's been tiring too!  i need my sleep :)

playing in the musical was really a lot of fun.  totally not what i expected coming into this semester.  i remember feeling very apprehensive about having to rehearse on sundays and "hell-week".  i didn't think i would have that much time, nor that i would enjoy doing that kind of stuff.  well i guess i do enjoy performing to some extent.  maybe that's why i'm in the praise team for manna.  playing in a band is such an awesome experience... praise team is somewhat like performing i guess, performing for God...  i feel so much joy playing :D

God has been so amazing this wk.  even though i had rehearsals pretty much every night, i found myself with more free time than i thought i would have had.  work also became easier this wk, so even though i had 3 problem sets and 1 lab report, they weren't as hard as they usually are.  God simply makes everything work together :D

ok now i just need to get some rest.  and vacuum my floor and get my room in order it is such a mess.  time to get my act together!

and texas is coming up :)

"For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; ..." Prov 6:26

wow.

[edit: i realized that this post presented women in quite a negative light.  haha.  of course i meant the above as an example of how women have tremendous influence.  so in defence of women, i shall post the passage all women fear!  Proverbs 31!]

(v10 onwards)
Who can find a virtuous wife?  For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.
She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants.
She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her housefold, For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants.
Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all."
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.

ack i just lost my entry.  but anyway i'll type out whatever i can remember.

today was the last rehearsal for the musical before it performs tomorrow.  the last run-through was very encouraging.  just abt everything was in place, except maybe volume control.  i'm excited!  i'm really glad that i got to play in this musical.  it reminds me so much of my strings days in acjc.  rehearsals everyday leading up to syf, staying back late in sch, playing the same things over and over again... good times, good times...

God has been really good to me during this stressful period.  work seemed to get a little easier this wk, which was good considering that i had much less time to work on the problem sets.  sleep hasn't been too bad either.  been working on 6-6.5 hours a night, which wouldn't have been enough for me last semester, but appears to be sufficient thus far.

i have to get down to doing my course selection for next semester as well.  choices, choices....  i'm trying to plan my courses so that i have no classes on friday, allowing me some free time to travel, maybe to NY and boston :)

thanksgiving is coming up real soon.  i'm going to texas with blake, the director of manna christian fellowship, along with some others to watch the football game between UT and texas A&M!  really excited abt that.  well not that excited yet, because all my focus is on the musical.  i shall rant and rave more abt texas once the musical is over.

today 2 sophomores and 2 freshmen went out for ice-cream.  while they were at the ice-cream shop, it started raining like cats and dogs.  the 2 freshmen were well-prepared with hoodies to shelter them from the storm.  the 2 sophomores however, weren't smart enough to bring an umbrella of sorts.  thus the sophomores ended up being drenched from head to toe, while the freshmen were nice and dry.

and you would think sophomores would be better prepared than freshmen eh :)

anyway today's rehearsal was pretty disappointing at first, but i guess it was a good wake-up call for everyone.  we missed quite a few cues (some were extremely crucial), and in general it was not at performance standard.  i think we can learn lots from this experience though.  we're learning how to work under stress, and we're identifying the trouble spots and ironing out the kinks.  it's going to be a great show :D

today was a much happier day for me too.  after coming back from florida i felt quite out of the whole sch thing, and the past wk was just rather confusing/tiring/no idea what's going on in my life.  today that cleared up somewhat, and i think that the Bible/verse reading in the morning definitely had something to do with that.  anyway do continue to pray for me :)