CHRISTMAS!!!

I am so done for the semester and it's AWESOME!!! Now I get a three week holiday to eat, sleep, and fill out the accreditation packet, YECK. But I am home now for the holidays, kinda still wishing a bit that I was in Guinea for the holidays where it is 35 degrees. I wonder when you will hear me stop complaining about the cold. Emma went to Guinea to see Laura, I'm quite Jealous, but I did send a package for my Guinean friends. I hope Emma goes to meet Faith and Lazare. I wish I could be there. Somehow I think that it isn't really cutlurally acceptable to surprise people with your arrival there because they want to be ready to receive you. But still, so often I think how fun it would be to surprise them by going there and just showing up at the door. It would be a much better reaction that in Canada... but then they would be mad cuz they weren't ready to recieve you... and yet at the same time, they are so used to people just showing up unexpected. Hmmm interesting. I guess it's different if you just came spur of the moment then some big trip that you had to plan for.
Anyways, back to the fact that it's Christmas.... Hmmm don't have much to say about that. Do you ever think of Jesus' return at Christmas. Since my Prayer class I have been thinking about that and it is really a neat thing to ponder at Christmas. Christmas is afterall a celebration of beginnings and the coming of Christ. Well this year why don't you ponder the second coming and what that will be like. Are you ready? He says it will be soon (like I told Jenica, he said that 2000 years ago, BUT there is no reason to believe it won't be tomorrow or in a year). He is coming and He has a marvelous place for us if we are ready. The end.

IT'S DECEMBER!!!

Hey, Guess what!! I finished all my Christmas Shopping! It happened Yesterday. I was reading in Starbucks in Chapters and then when I was done I thought I would pick a couple things up. Then I figures since the mall is right there, why not drop in.. just one specific store. But then I thought of another store and before I knew it I was done!! On November 30TH!!! (Happy Birthday Jenn Heagy!). It was a good day, got me reading done, Got my Christmas shopping done AND it was NOT -39 degrees Celcius! Praise God.

So, Did you ever notice that at this time of year the stores get really busy and it is quite easy to get annoyed with so many people EVERYWHERE! And you just wish the stores weren't so crowded when you went in? Well I had one of those moments in Walmart and I thought to myself "Why do I get frustrated with a crowded walmart? I mean I have been to Guinea where the market is way more crowded and I don't get at all annoyed. What is wrong with me?" I couldn't figure it out... UNTIL... I had an epiphany. Some lady cut me off all in a hurry, and then another cut me off in a hurry like 10 seconds later, and I thought "That's it!!! Of course it is, Why didn't I realize it sooner?" It must be that it is really frustrating because everyone is in such a hurry and quite disrespectful and not only that they all look grumpy while they are doing it! In Guinea even when they are in a hurry they aren't usually in superspeed and they still pay attention to people around them... they may push to get through but that's ok! because they aren't worried about personal space and sometimes you just get used to it because you know you need to push to get by people too! But if you push here they just think you are rude and impatient so instead you have to wait 5 minutes to get by people that refuse to move and wouldn't like if you pushed through. It was quite an epiphany I know.

Hey did I mention there are only 24 days until CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!
(and 2 till my birthday)