so... five months since the last update! where to start?
things didn't fall into place quite as neatly as i was hoping it would work-wise, and i have yet to see most of my work 'come into fruition' - this was frustrating, scary, disappointing, etc., and sometime at the start of last term i felt very... lost. it was as though i had been trying to swim from one end of a pool to the other completely under water, and i finally came up for air thinking i must be close to the edge and found that i was only halfway across the pool and had been swimming diagonally instead of straight across. but not all is lost. i did make my way across half the pool, and swimming diagonally meant i explored more of the pool (not sure this works as a metaphor...), but anyway, long story short i just need to put my head back down and 'just keep swimming', this time while trying to keep my eyes open under water.
badminton! so much badminton over the past five months, but i'm not complaining. i made it into the uni team, and even played a couple of games for cambridge - i remember being so nervous my first game away, it was ridiculous! there was barely any pressure put on me, but still i really can't remember the last time i felt that nervous. now i empathise a lot more when i see world-class players making (what seems like) silly mistakes in important games - i used to think, 'come on! this is what you've been practising so much for! don't throw it away just because of nerves!', but yeah, i guess it's not as easy as it seems. and i think somewhere along the way i lost some of my confidence, and i was just tired out from everything put together so that my playing suffered towards the end... i still play better than i used to though (and a good thing too, given i've been playing around four times a week), and catz won cuppers in both ladies and mixed (i.e., my college team won this inter-college badminton competition) so i would say badminton was generally positive all around. except for the half-hour cycles in the snow/rain/freezing cold to get to uni practices on friday nights. that wasn't positive.
and of course, wedding(s) planning. we've been making progress! and i'm now back in malaysia to do (hoepfully) my last bit of fieldwork as well as sort out what i can for the wedding, because the next time i come back we'll probably be two weeks away from the wedding here (and we will be legally married!)! from the last time i posted, we've taken care of a few other big ones: the dress, a website, the guestlist, one set of invitations, flowers (mostly), one set of flights, most of the paperwork needed for registration in portugal (which was a bit complicated because i'm not portuguese), i've just ordered the rings... so yeah, moving forwards. still lots to do though - suit, saree, cheongsam, photographer(s)/videographer, the other invitations, shoes, makeup and hair,...
one of the things that has stood out for me recently in this wedding process is how nice it's been to invite people to the weddings, to see them excited, even touched, about being invited. now people are starting to book trips and plan travels, and it's so nice to be a part of that and to look forward to them being a part of the weddings. and as i've said before, we're really grateful to have been blessed with family and friends who have rallied when we've needed help, who have taken time out of busy schedules and gone out of their way to find out a bit of information for us, or have gone (and will go) around with us from place to place looking for something we need. in that way i feel as if the wedding has already begun, that this planning process is an important aspect of the wedding itself, not just the lead up to it.
and on that note, i am also thankful and proud that this process has been a happy one - i think it can very easily become a chore, a source of disagreements, and the breeding ground for dissatisfaction, when two people have to work on a project over a prolonged period of time. both have to pull their weight, there has to be give and take, there has to be indulgence but also restraint... and it can be difficult to pull off without issue. i guess we still have a few months to go (and then many, many, many, many, many, many years after), but i'd say we're doing just fine. and that's reassuring. =)
i really need to start doing shorter posts to i don't end up writing novels like this one!
"when i was a child, i talked like a child, i thought like a child, i reasoned like a child.
when i became a man, i put the ways of childhood behind me.
for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
now i know in part; then i shall know fully, even as i am fully known."
- 1 corinthians 13:11, 12
things didn't fall into place quite as neatly as i was hoping it would work-wise, and i have yet to see most of my work 'come into fruition' - this was frustrating, scary, disappointing, etc., and sometime at the start of last term i felt very... lost. it was as though i had been trying to swim from one end of a pool to the other completely under water, and i finally came up for air thinking i must be close to the edge and found that i was only halfway across the pool and had been swimming diagonally instead of straight across. but not all is lost. i did make my way across half the pool, and swimming diagonally meant i explored more of the pool (not sure this works as a metaphor...), but anyway, long story short i just need to put my head back down and 'just keep swimming', this time while trying to keep my eyes open under water.
badminton! so much badminton over the past five months, but i'm not complaining. i made it into the uni team, and even played a couple of games for cambridge - i remember being so nervous my first game away, it was ridiculous! there was barely any pressure put on me, but still i really can't remember the last time i felt that nervous. now i empathise a lot more when i see world-class players making (what seems like) silly mistakes in important games - i used to think, 'come on! this is what you've been practising so much for! don't throw it away just because of nerves!', but yeah, i guess it's not as easy as it seems. and i think somewhere along the way i lost some of my confidence, and i was just tired out from everything put together so that my playing suffered towards the end... i still play better than i used to though (and a good thing too, given i've been playing around four times a week), and catz won cuppers in both ladies and mixed (i.e., my college team won this inter-college badminton competition) so i would say badminton was generally positive all around. except for the half-hour cycles in the snow/rain/freezing cold to get to uni practices on friday nights. that wasn't positive.
and of course, wedding(s) planning. we've been making progress! and i'm now back in malaysia to do (hoepfully) my last bit of fieldwork as well as sort out what i can for the wedding, because the next time i come back we'll probably be two weeks away from the wedding here (and we will be legally married!)! from the last time i posted, we've taken care of a few other big ones: the dress, a website, the guestlist, one set of invitations, flowers (mostly), one set of flights, most of the paperwork needed for registration in portugal (which was a bit complicated because i'm not portuguese), i've just ordered the rings... so yeah, moving forwards. still lots to do though - suit, saree, cheongsam, photographer(s)/videographer, the other invitations, shoes, makeup and hair,...
one of the things that has stood out for me recently in this wedding process is how nice it's been to invite people to the weddings, to see them excited, even touched, about being invited. now people are starting to book trips and plan travels, and it's so nice to be a part of that and to look forward to them being a part of the weddings. and as i've said before, we're really grateful to have been blessed with family and friends who have rallied when we've needed help, who have taken time out of busy schedules and gone out of their way to find out a bit of information for us, or have gone (and will go) around with us from place to place looking for something we need. in that way i feel as if the wedding has already begun, that this planning process is an important aspect of the wedding itself, not just the lead up to it.
and on that note, i am also thankful and proud that this process has been a happy one - i think it can very easily become a chore, a source of disagreements, and the breeding ground for dissatisfaction, when two people have to work on a project over a prolonged period of time. both have to pull their weight, there has to be give and take, there has to be indulgence but also restraint... and it can be difficult to pull off without issue. i guess we still have a few months to go (and then many, many, many, many, many, many years after), but i'd say we're doing just fine. and that's reassuring. =)
i really need to start doing shorter posts to i don't end up writing novels like this one!
"when i was a child, i talked like a child, i thought like a child, i reasoned like a child.
when i became a man, i put the ways of childhood behind me.
for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
now i know in part; then i shall know fully, even as i am fully known."
- 1 corinthians 13:11, 12
