My last post was not so much a post as in copy and pasting my work into an entry. For those who got a chance to read it, thanks! I hope you enjoyed it. Dad, I loved that you read it and commented on it. It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone about my life and what I’ve been doing recently. God’s blessed me with a lot and most definitely keeps me on my toe with his surprises.
As many of you might know, I’m studying at in Boston and am enjoying myself. It is a very different environment that Hong Kong and as much as people say this is a city- compared to HK, it is still quite the suburb area. Well okay, maybe I am exaggerating but shops and restaurants here close by 10pm and bars are 21+ so there is no where I can hang out after 9:30pm! Not even a coffee shop…. so that is a downer really. The weather is also one of the unique aspects of Boston. As many of us would say, the weather is very ADHD. It changes from hour to hour, day by day and even the weather forecast can’t always predict what will happen the next day. To my surprise, it hasn’t been snowing as much as I thought it would be but my campus is located in one of the windiest corners of Boston!
School is going well, I am enjoying my classes for the most part. This is the final week before Spring Break and I have got tons of papers and a really hard midterm but I know with God’s strength and help, I will be able to get through it. At the end of the week, I am flying to California to visit Brian, Karie and Polly. Three of my good friends from Cambodia last year. I am looking forward to having some fellowship with each other, baking, walking around exploring San Jose and San Francisco and relaxing for a week away from the cold and school!
Besides school, I have met some great friends in and out of college. I have met friends who know the city of Boston and its been nice being able to explore when I have time. One of the best times in Boston is getting together with a friend and being able to sit or walk around talking for hours. Perhaps that is similar to my life in HK, except in HK we’d be sitting in a bar or a lounge till early hours in the morning!
This semester, I joined one of my friends as a co-host on the underground radio station of my college. We air every Sunday night from 6-8pm Boston time. Our show is called Young Fire Radio, with an hour of contemporary christian music and pop culture talk (or whatever we are interested in and want to talk about!) and the second hour of urban hip hop R&B christian gospel. The last 15 minutes is the old rush segment playing old gospel goodies. It has been a blast co-hosting with my friend, I am getting more comfortable in the studio whether it be playing music or talking in the microphone. It is definitely one of my highlights every week.
Please check us out and tune in for our show!
http://youngfireradio.tumblr.com
Facebook: Young Fire Radio on WECB.EMERSON.EDU
Tune in at http://wecb.emerson.edu
I don’t want to keep you much longer but I do want to end up something my co-host Miss Liz and I were talking about last night on the show. As you all know, Tiger Woods has been on the media for weeks, months now! I feel like it’s been forever and he is still constantly the attention of CNN. I was surfing around the other night and came across parts of his apology. This part in particular caught my attention and reminded me of our own lives.
I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them.
Think about it. Does that apply to you? I know when I read it, I thought about all the moments that I convinced myself normal rules don’t apply. Honestly, I probably break those rules at least once every day. Isn’t it ironic that we learn these core values ever since Kindergarden and yet we consciously make excuses and do what we maybe should not be doing?
“I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me.” How often do you tell yourself, oh I’ve worked hard today so I deserved this and that no matter what happens or what the consequences are? It’s times like these when I need to remind myself that everything I do is for God’s glory. God will bless us and give us glory in his time and in his ways.
Lord I thank you for all your blessings. I thank you for always constantly being with even when I am feeling homesick, even when I fall into temptation knowing full well of what I should not be done. I pray for everyone who is stressed with school and midterms this week, that you would be with us and give us patience and wisdom to finish everything we need to do. Father God, I want to be a fig tree filled with fruit. I want to cry out to you in public so that everyone may know your good works and your unconditional love.
Joanne Lam 
Jo, you are quite a thoughtful writer and thinker: quite impressive for the blog of a freshman. A few things in response on the fly. I am buried with work reading right now. Boston and Cambridge have many great cafes that will allow you to hang out with good coffee or tea till the sun is much closer to the eastern horizon than the western. Work gets me that way sometimes, so perhaps i’ll show you. If not, i have many uni friends from there who would be happy for a new friend. I say go the NGO route without worrying about if it is christian or not. In many ways, non faith based groups do a better job of reaching more folks and certainly can do it without any overt ulterior motives like prosthelytizing. http://www.ikat.org and http://www.pih.org/home2.html are both ones i have worked with and one is based in boston. Enjoy the rest of your stay in cali and good luck in school.