Day Whatever: Are you from Sweden?

OMG!!! I can’t believe Mitchell (Aussie) actually asked me that question this evening! Are you nuts? Do I not have the Singaporean accent honed over the years? Admittedly, some people say that I don’t sound like a true Singaporean; a little Ang Mo, a little Indonesian, or a little something else. Make up your minds, people.

I’m a global citizen. The world is my home. Can?

The weekend passed so quickly. I had a great time with the guys over. It seems gossip is the operative word of the weekend. Who got promoted, became pregnant, gave birth out of wedlock, etc. Hey, I have to be updated about the things going on back home. I cannot afford to go back and offend people, can I? Imagine asking a recent divorcee on her marriage. It would be a social faux pas, just short of a social suicide.

I had my first duty as the lectern yesterday in church. I took the first reading and it was one of my more familiar parts of Genesis, so I was very comfortable with it; Genesis 9: 8 – 15.

8
God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
9
"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you
10
and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark.
11
I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
12
God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you:
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I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
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When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,
15
I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.

I thought I did a pretty decent job until the end of the passage. Then I realised. Shoot. That was too fast. The English speaking worshippers should not have problems understanding what I read, but those who do not have English as their first language or as their mother tongue, will feel that it was too fast. True enough, they did not catch what I read. My bad. I must and should read much more slowly next time.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

I reckon I know the passage so well that the words simply flew out without me needing to think too much about them. My bad. Next time, I should choose a passage that I’m less familiar.

I’m officially stuck at SLU, experimentally that is. No, they are not with PCR, purification and whatnot. These are only the precursors to the real deal. The experiments with the machine are going nowhere. The results obtained after modifying matrix are utterly rubbish. Nothing seems to work unless we (I) use the matrix supplied with the chips. What now? Even the people at SLU are lost. We have to consider our next steps really carefully now.

My brain hurts…

Today’s study group had a tough discussion. It was a very heavy theological session. Enjoyable but it kills too many brain cells. Not fun when one is tired. Mitchell said it best. We shouldn’t humanify God; his time is not our time; his actions are not ours.

My brain really hurts…

I chatted with Mitchell and Grace (both from Australia) this evening after the Bible study group though. For some crazy reason, Grace had the impression that Singaporeans love wooden spoons a lot. She caught a scene on TV where there was this huge group of Singaporeans chanting ‘Singapore, Singapore’ and banging on wooden spoons. I’m guessing it’s our National Day. Seriously, if someone (like Grace) caught that on TV, not knowing its context, he must be thinking we are mad. Perhaps some are, particularly those at the stadium. But I don’t enjoy such activities, so it doesn’t apply to me. I’m perfectly sane, hor?

Everyone is just so interested to hear some Singlish. I’m really sorry. But it’s not like tap water. I can’t sprout Singlish at command. It comes naturally like spring water when I’m conversing to Singaporeans otherwise I sub-consciously (or naturally) use Standard English. But explaining the use of lah, loh, meh, and so on is not that much of a problem. They are, in actual fact, only particles. But getting them in the right context for foreigners is a rather difficult. I hate it when they add lahs to every sentence and think they are speaking Singlish. It’s an art, ok? There is a lot more to Singlish than you think. Lah is not everything.

And guess what. I have musical hands. *grin* Mitchell asked if I play an instrument out of the blue. I had to question why he asked that since that was so sudden and the conversation was not heading anywhere in that direction. It seems he feels my hands looks like they play some instrument; my fingers look musical in nature. They do??? Thank you! It looks like my years of playing music did make my hands obtain more class. Oh well, maybe I should start playing music professionally then. At least my hands will suit the occupation.

One last note. Why is it not spring yet? It’s so freaking cold today! And for the last few days as well! Winter seems to have been extended this year.

Update: The weather has been more than 10 below zero for two days now. Freaking cold can?