Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?

Final Thoughts #2

2010-11-22T01:35:00.000-08:00

Since arriving back in the States two weeks ago, I have done a lot of processing on my own, as well as through conversations with my brothers, and I am really sensing that the flame in my heart for L.A. and my community here has been reignited. For those of you who don't know, I happened upon an overseas position with OMF while I was in Taiwan. I inquired about the position and was seriously considering committing myself to a year; however, after learning more about all that goes into applying for the position and how far in advance I would have to make a commitment, I spent time checking my heart on the matter. I don't believe that there is a right or wrong in my decision to stay or go, but the more I am here and with my community, the more I believe that settling in here for a while is best. By "settling in," I mean that I want to move in a direction of finding a job, learning out to support myself better financially, learning my trade better (preferably whilst making money at the same time), and focusing on my community. I am always down for traveling here and there, but I'm reaching a place where I'm tired of putting off what I want to do here in L.A. I have never been so excited to work and better myself. That's a pretty good sign as far as I'm concerned.

While I am feeling the desire and the call to stay in L.A, I believe that the trip to Asia was extremely beneficial in that I made some great friends and got to broaden my perspective on our world, and life in general. I know that the contacts I made with OMF will come back around. I am still considering doing short-term video work for them here and there if there is opportunity for it, but I just have no desire to commit right now to something that wouldn't begin until almost a year from now, especially if I'm not even sure the job is something I'd actually want to do. I hope and pray that I will return to Taiwan and Hong Kong one day though. I'm very thankful to the Lord for allowing me to go on that journey, and for bringing me back safely. I am also extremely thankful for the friends, work, and ministry opportunities that He's given me here in the City of Angels (love this city by the way).

Alright, well, that's all the updates I have regarding my journey to Asia. Thank you all for reading. I hope you weren't too bored. As far as future blogging goes, I'm not going to promise anything. I tend to back off of blogging when I'm not traveling. My hope is that I will begin to write more often. We'll see...

Blessings!

A.W.

Final Thoughts #1

2010-11-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

Doing missions overseas is no cake walk.

This is a concept of which I knew but had not seen. After spending a month in Asia visiting various missionaries, however, it became a reality. First let me say that I am not about to try to talk you out of missions (if you happen to be considering); rather, my hope is that you are more inspired to go into the field. I believe it is a common misconception amongst young Christians that to go overseas and do the Lord's work will be this awesome, romantic adventure where hundreds of people are saved day in and day out, and every day is "payday" as you get to see the results of the work the Lord is doing through you. Though I had heard that missions was not easy at all, I still maintained this romanticized view of it.

While in Asia, I met some amazing people -- some who had been around for 15+ years, and others who were just starting out in missions -- and none of them carried this mentality (especially the 15+ years people). In fact, some of them seemed pretty tired. They have seen and experienced a lot -- good and bad. They are on the front lines of the on-going spiritual battle that most of us in the American church tend to forget about with our comfortable lives. Some of these people have experienced (more than once) horrible illnesses, and others have lost loved ones. When I heard some of their stories, my first thought was, "Okay. Take note: Do not work in long term missions." My romantic view of seeing the world and doing Kingdom work broke down. "There is nothing fun about this," I thought to myself. However, as we spent more time with our new friends, and joined some of them in their work, I began to see how much joy and strength they had inside of them. Despite how tired they looked on the outside, you could sense the fire that raged inside of their hearts for the people to whom they were ministering. It was encouraging to see the missionaries who had been in Taiwan for over 15 years still pushing onward with such joy despite the difficulties. I was seeing all the encouragements of Paul on the subject of hardships being walked out.

Despite the point I'm trying to make with the subject of this entry, I want you to know that no matter how hard life gets whether your in missions or not, we have joy and strength and endurance in the Lord. Doing missions is most definitely a great adventure. I don't want you to think I am saying it's never enjoyable, and there is no fun involved whatsoever. But I share all of this because if you are considering going into long-term missions, please check your heart and your mind on the matter, and make sure you are doing it with the knowledge that the road ahead is quite bumpy. Sure, these missionaries are tired a lot of times, but they love what they do and their ability to move forward every day comes from the Lord. They live very raw, stripped down lives where they don't have the comforts of the "American Dream" to distract them from the fact that Jesus is our only hope in this life. As my wonderful brother, and pastor, David said last night, there is nothing evil necessarily about the American Dream, but when it becomes the bulls-eye of our life then we truly miss what Christ is calling us towards.

I am in a season of life where I'm processing through and considering whether or not to focus on media in missions. So all of these thoughts are at the forefront of my mind. My hope is that this entry helped to break down any misconceptions about working in missions, and that it was more encouraging than discouraging. Please feel free to comment, or ask questions and I can go into more detail on my thoughts. I feel that this entry was a bit scatter-brained, but then again I always feel that way about my posts because I feel that I am pretty scatter-brained on a daily basis. As I continue to process things from my trip, I will post more "Final Thoughts."

Blessings!

A.W.

Taiwan Update 3

2010-11-06T11:11:00.001-07:00

My only excuse for not updating this blog in a more frequent manner is that internet has not been as easily accessible recently. To follow up on the previous post, our hike in Kaohsiung with David Ullstrom and the students was very enjoyable. Only two students and an English teacher showed so we had a small group, which was nice. We attended David's church that Sunday. The service was in Taiwanese and Mandarin, but Kenny translated for us. They had a guest speaker who was visiting with his family from China. He shared about the medical work he's been doing for AIDS patients in China. People with AIDS there are outcasts. They receive no love and acceptance from anyone, so it is great that this man and his family are working to fix that. What a great ministry. We wrapped up our time in Kaohsiung by hanging out with Sara and her sisters. They live in an apartment building with all the teachers and their families, and they threw a "Fall Festival" for the kids, so we helped pass out candy and play games.

Monday night was our last night in Tainan, so we went out for a hot pot dinner with our friends Li, Louis and Joan. Louis let me drive him there on his scooter, which is technically illegal since I don't have a license here, but he said the cops wouldn't really care in Tainan. I almost hit a parked car within the first 2 minutes, but after that I got the hang of it. Scooters are great! Elijah drove it back and about got in a wreck. Poor Louis almost died multiple times. Aside from that, we had a blast. Tuesday, we took the train north to Chai Yi where we stayed with an OMF affiliated youth mission. They needed a few Westerners to pass out flyers to the students who pass by on their way to the cram schools where they learn English (with normal school and cram school, students spend somewhere around 10 hours every day in school -- insane!). We didn't have to pass out flyers until 5pm so we had the entire day to do whatever we pleased. We rented scooters for 100NT (roughly $3 US), and drove them out into the countryside. It was the most fun I've had on the entire trip. I enjoyed every minute of it. Eventually we passed out flyers, and did our best to make it fun. I played guitar out in the street to attract attention while Kenny and Elijah kept score of who gave out the most. Elijah had the most success since he's white, blonde, and blue-eyed. We ate dinner with the head of the mission, Sean, who just happened to be from Columbus, OH. Elijah started to feel sick again so he went to bed early, and Kenny and I passed out more flyers after the kids got out of the cram school.

Now, we are in Taipei. Elijah and I are staying with the parents of Kenny's friend, Henry; and Kenny is staying with his father. Taipei has been a blast. We've had great food and met some really cool people who work with OMF here. We had a nice home-cooked dinner with Kenny's father's family. Henry and his parents have also been taking great care of us with food, and whatever else we need. They took us to a nice hot pot all-you-can-eat buffet, and we ate enough to hold us over for a couple days. I didn't feel too bad though because we went right after a 4-hour hike in Yangmingshan National Park. A couple days ago we visited the National Palace Museum which was okay, but definitely not as interesting to me as the Hong Kong Museum of History. That evening we joined up with our new OMF friends (Tim, Jennie, Miriam, Feli and Erene) and went to the Shilin Market, the largest night market in the world, and ate a ton of food that was not healthy for us at all. I felt sick.

Today we had lunch with Kenny's uncle, aunt and cousin. I had a really good time talking with them. They shared a lot about Christianity in Taiwan and China, and the work that ministries like OMF and ORTV (Overseas Radio and Television) are doing to reach people through ministry and English teaching. We spent the afternoon helping out with the Kids Club that Tim, Jennie, etc. run at a park. We ended up playing Four Square the entire time. I had a blast. The kids were hilarious. After that, we went to "snake alley" with Tim and Miriam. We went to a restaurant that served snake meat. They had massive pythons in cages at the front of the restaurant. Elijah and I shared a plate of snake meat. It was actually pretty good. Kenny and Miriam did the really weird stuff. They bought a variety of drinks that included snake blood, snake venom, snake semen (dead serious), snake gall bladder, and a couple others -- disgusting. We capped off the night with a trip to a comedy club. They had like six different comedians perform, and only two or three of them were actually decent. I don't think it was worth the price of admission but I had a good time with everybody.

Tonight was a our last night with Kenny because he is going to Taichung to visit his other uncle's church, and we are staying to go to the ORTV church and check out the ministry. I'm hoping I can make some good connections with that ministry. Anyway, it's so late here, and I'm quite tired. I just had to update while I had internet for an extended period.

I can't believe this trip is almost over. Sad day. Pray that the Lord will grant us wisdom and guide us as we go back to the States. I'll eventually write a post that explains more about what the Lord's been doing with me on this trip. But for now, goodnight.

Taiwan Update 2

2010-10-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

My opinion on Taiwan has yet to waver, as we are fully enjoying our time here still. This country and it's people are absolutely beautiful. I like just walking around the NCKU campus by where we're staying and just soaking it up -- the students heading to and from classes, and others packing out the recreational areas; the beautiful architecture and landscaping; the countless rows of scooters and motorcycles parked in the lots. We hardly ever eat at the same place twice because there are so many great options, especially in Tainan City. Our friends Li, Louis, Joan and Grace all make sure we get the best of the best. We've also had a few amazing meals at Kenny's grandmothers' apartment. You have to love a good home-cooked meal.

On Sunday, we attended the service at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (where we are staying). It was all in mandarin, and we didn't really have a translator until the end. The best moment of the service was at the very end of one of the hymns when, in the second of complete silence after the final note rang out, an old woman behind us released a very loud burp. The timing was amazing! Elijah and I did our best to suppress our laughter -- it wasn't easy. After the service, we joined in on the community potluck. We met a girl named Rae (not sure about he spelling), who was of Asian ethnicity but was from Oregon. She is teaching English in a nearby town, and attends Good Shepherd regularly. I found out she went to Wheaton College, and we had an immediate connection since Chaz and another friend of mine, Justin, went there. She knew who both of them were though she didn't know them. We enjoyed talking about our Christian college experiences.

Anyawy, we are currently in Kaohsiung, which is a little further south than Tainan City. We are staying with an OMF missionary couple, David and Ruth Ullstrom. They have been great hosts. We're so thankful for them. Most of our time in Kaohsiung is being spent observing the ministry that's being done within the OMF community here. We've attended a prayer meeting each morning at the Ullstroms' church, as well as two other bible studies connected with another church in the area. I met a girl named Ansy at the first bible study (she also attended the second one), who was from Cardiff, Wales. We got to talking after I mentioned that I worked in media and was seeking the Lord's guidance on whether to focus on media missions this next year or stay in L.A. She mentioned that she did some video work herself, and that she knew of a media job opening within OMF. They've apparently been looking to fill it for a while now, and so, of course, I immediately emailed the contact she gave me to find out more. I've already exchanged a couple emails with OMF and it's only been two days. It seems like an awesome opportunity for me, but I don't want to get into the details of it right now. Please just pray that the Lord would give me wisdom as I weigh all my options. I'll be meeting with OMF when I get back to L.A.

While I'm in Kaohsiung, I am also visiting a good college friend of mine, Sara Hatcher. It's so great to see her. She is in her third year of teaching at Morrison Academy (a great school by the way), and working with His Hands orphanage. She cooked me and the guys dinner last night, and then took us to His Hands. We sat around for over an hour, and held/played with babies. That was one of my favorite experiences on the trip so far. I am looking forward to visiting with Sara more this weekend. Always good to catch up with old college pals.

Tomorrow, we are helping the Ullstroms' church take a group of university students on a hike in the hills. I'm not sure of all the details, but I know we'll be doing some ministry with them, and after the hike, everyone will have dinner back at the church. The guys and I are looking forward to it. We've all been craving more ministry opportunities.

PRAYER NEEDS

Wisdom and guidance for all three of us: Kenny and I are both seeking the Lord on whether or not to seek out long-term jobs with salaries and do ministry on the side, or to commit to full-time ministry for at least the next year (we have opportunities for both); and Elijah has to get his schedule of classes together as he prepares to return to Shelton State in January to study Civil Engineering.

More OMF workers in Kaohsiung: David has been sharing a lot about the work that OMF is doing in Taiwan, and has mentioned more than once the need for more missionaries in the south. They are lacking in strength in comparison to the north.

Thanks, Everybody!

Blessings!

A.W.

Taiwan Update 1

2010-10-23T01:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there's a lot to cover since my last update, but I'm going to do my best to keep it as succinct as possible.

Elijah and I wrapped up our last few days in Hong Kong with a trip to Lamma Island, a couple trips to Mong Kok, a random trip way out to the middle of nowhere, and then we attended another service at The Vine. Lamma Island was one of my favorite moments of our time in Hong Kong. We took the ferry out to it, and then spent a few hours just walking around and taking photos. It was nice to be somewhere away from the masses. It was a lot of walking and my feet and knees were killing me but it was very peaceful. I was also glad we got to attend The Vine one more time. We sat with our new English friends, James and Alexa. I hope to visit them again someday. They are wonderful people.

Flash forward -- We are now in Taiwan. We are based in Tainan City, which is in the southern part of the island. Kenny is staying with his grandmother, and Elijah and I are staying in a mens dormitory owned by the aforementioned grandmother's church. The living conditions are not quite as nice as they were in Hong Kong, but the cost of living is much cheaper here and, so far, I've really enjoyed the people. The weather is pretty rough due to typhoons. It's actually kind of nice to have rain for once. Living in L.A, I don't really miss the humidity, but every now and then I kind of miss the rain. In Taiwan, they have a long period of typhoons, but once they're done, they have 2-3 months of no rain which is kind of nice. I wish I could combine that weather schedule with the dry heat of L.A.

We've had the opportunity meet quite a few wonderful people. Elijah and I have gotten to know two of the guys in the dorm well -- Li and Louis. Li has kind of become our point man for living here since we are not staying with Kenny. He has done a great job of showing us around, and we eat breakfast with him every morning. He's a funny guy. He's getting better, but he's been quite nervous around us as he speaks in English. Today, Louis took us to lunch, and then showed us around their campus. Their school is called National Cheng Kung University. It's quite nice.

The most fun I've had so far since being in Taiwan was over the last couple days. Kenny's friend Joan and a couple of her friends took us up to Taichung, which is in between Taipei and Tainan along the west coast of the island. We stayed at Joan's alma mater, Tunghai Univeristy. The night we got there, we walked around the night markets and ate new, interesting foods, and then drove to a lookout point to look at the skyline of Taichung. The next day (yesterday), we drove 2 hours into the mountains to a hot springs resort. I forget the name, but it was really nice (only cost 7 or 8 USD!). Kenny, Elijah and I all bought speedos because people don't wear board shorts to the springs. I never thought I would ever wear a speedo, let alone buy one, but I did. If you haven't seen the pictures on my Facebook page yet, check them out. You should get a good laugh. I know we did. After a few hours at the hot springs, we drove out to a flower farm. Our time there didn't last long because it began to rain, but it was nice nonetheless. We took Kenny to the high speed rail station in Taichung after that because he's spending the weekend in Taipei, and then the rest of us drove back to Tainan.

That's all for now. I'll post more of my thoughts later. To sum Taiwan up so far though, it's a great place -- great people, great food, great prices, great sites, etc. We'll see if that assessment stands after my time here is done ;)

Until next time!

A.W.

Hong Kong Update 3 -- some random thoughts, etc.

2010-10-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

This update is going to be a bit helter-skelter as I don't feel like typing up a long, well-composed post.

A couple things that I have noticed about Hong Kong:

1. The people here are as plugged in, if not more than the States. Everywhere I go, most everybody is talking, playing, emailing, etc. on their phone, iPod, iPad, etc.; and I've seen a lot of people with their headphones in. Being from the U.S. -- specifically L.A. -- this sort of thing is not uncommon, but I feel as if it's just more common here.

2. Another thing that is common in the States is print advertisement; and in L.A., most of our ads are film, tv, fashion, etc. Here, in Hong Kong, I have been bombarded by fashion ads -- posters, massive billboards, small billboards, electronic marquees, massive LCD screens, TV, magazines, and the list goes on. As a result, most people here dress pretty fashionable.

3. Everyone smokes.

(I think the first three points could be summed up by saying that Hong Kong is a more intense version of Los Angeles)

4. Also, you don't drive a car here unless you're wealthy and can afford a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, Ferrari, Porshe, etc.

Update:

Two days left in Hong Kong. Kenny is already in Taiwan. Elijah and I head there to meet up with him on Monday. Hong Kong has been fun, but I'm ready for some Taiwan. Not to mention, money's getting tight, and it's hard to have fun in Hong Kong when you don't have much money to spend.

I think I could live and work here...maybe not. I don't know. Hong Kong is cool and now I have contacts. We shall see. We still have a lot of trip to go, and a lot of people to meet.

Song of the trip so far for me (can't get it out of my head) -- "Forever Reign" off the latest Hillsong Live album.

Until next time!

A.W.

Hong Kong Update 2

2010-10-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, Humidity, how it's been a while. Call me spoiled, but I miss air conditioning. We have fans in our flat but I'm still hot and sweaty from just sitting around at night. It's been relatively cool since I've been here due to cloudy skies and some rain. Today was our first day of sun, which is great, but it meant no more cool.

Yesterday (Monday), Kenny and I went out to lunch with MSI (the organization that is housing us), and then we visited their office. We spent a good amount of time with one of their directors, Ian Chng. He explained in more detail what they do, and talked with us about future missions/work opportunities with them. He also laid some wisdom on us in regards to waiting on the Lord and not running too far ahead when it comes to missions. It gave me some good stuff to chew on as I decide whether or not to commit to traveling and producing videos for missions for a year, or planting myself somewhere and making money for a year. After MSI, we hung out at one of the many shopping centers in Hong Kong, saw a movie in Mandarin (had English subtitles for me which was nice), and had dinner with an old coworker of Kenny's.

Yesterday was the first day that Kenny and I were intentional about sitting down and praying at the beginning of our day, and it's awesome to see the Lord move in response. We asked for guidance and for open doors to future missions opportunities, and I believe we received via our time with Ian at MSI. It could be a year or more before our meeting with him will bear visible fruit, but the door was opened. If nothing else, we definitely acquired wisdom from our brother.

Today, since the sun finally came out, we took a cheap bus ride to Sai Gong, which is on the east side of Hong Kong. It's on the water, and there are a lot of seafood restaurants because there's a lot of fishing there. All the restaurants had big tanks with live fish, crabs, lobsters, etc. out front. It was cool to see all that sea life. We walked around some and then just sat outside McDonald's and read until Kenny's friend, Andrew, joined us. I read for a little while, but decided to turn to people watching instead, which turned out to be more entertaining. There were a lot of internationals (Brits, Americans, etc.) there, which I concluded was a result of there being a nice school in the area. We eventually walked around some more, ate dinner, and then made our way back to the flat.

Please pray for more appointments like the one with Ian and MSI for us. Also, Elijah joins us tomorrow. Pray for safe travels for him.

A.W.

Hong Kong Update 1

2010-10-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

First off, Hong Kong is a crazy city. It's packed full of people, and all the buildings are tall. I don't think the city ever really dies down. There's so much to take in; I'm having trouble processing it all.

Kenny and I are the only ones here so far. Elijah will join us on Wednesday because he and I missed our flights (silly mistake on both our parts). I changed my flight before he did so it was cheaper for me to come a couple days later whereas he had to wait a week for it to be cheap. Anyway, we were totally blessed right off the bat to have a place to stay provided for us. We are staying on the Kowloon Peninsula in a flat provided by an organization called MSI (not sure what it stands for yet). It's a pretty nice location. We haven't really gotten a good chance to explore our area yet though. We're going to do that tomorrow. We have been using the MTR (subway system) a lot which is okay because it's cheaper to travel by train than by taxi or bus.

We've been hanging out with a few of Kenny's friends who came to visit just for the weekend -- Andy (from Thailand), Ray and Eva (from Taiwan)-- and another friend of his, Andrew, who is here studying for a while. We also met up with a guy named Sam who does ministry with his family here (thank you, Drew Crofton, for connecting us with him). I've had a blast hanging out with everybody but it's been tiring at the same time. We've done a lot of walking around in various areas -- Mong Kok, Lan Kwai Fung, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui, etc. (for those of you who know Hong Kong). Mong Kok is the most densely populated area in the world apparently. Lan Kwai Fung and Wan Chai have a lot of cool bars, and I saw a lot of internationals (Brits, Americas, etc.) hanging out there.

My favorite part so far was going to church today at The Vine located in Central on Hong Kong Island (again, thank you Drew Crofton, for the recommendation). The Vine is a cool English-speaking church, and is led by a couple British pastors. The worship was wonderful and refreshing. One of the senior pastors, John Snelgrove, spoke out of 2 John on Truth, which was a solid teaching that Kenny and I both fully enjoyed. After service, we made friends with a young couple -- James and Alexa -- that had recently moved to Hong Kong from London for work. They gave us their contact info, and we will probably meet up with them later this week. We also made friends with a couple women who had been sitting next to us during the service. They gave us some information on things to do and see, and then we all took the ferry back across to the Kowloon side together. I snapped some cool pictures of the city skyline along the way. I'll post a few of those to the group page, but the rest are in my Great Asian Adventure album on my profile.

That's all I have for right now. I'm quite tired as I am still getting over jet lag. Until next time, be blessed!

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/25/10

2010-04-26T17:39:00.001-07:00

I woke up around 5am because I wanted to watch the sunrise. CK and Mike were up, but they both went to bed shortly after I arrived on deck. Eric joined me once Mike crashed. We watched the sunrise and took tons of pictures. It was absolutely stunning. I had seen plenty of sunsets on this trip but had not seen a sunrise. I loved it.

We spent the entire morning sailing back to Fajardo. I started reading my Bill Butler-signed book (I haven't finished it yet but it's quite fascinating). Around 1pm, we anchored in a reef off a small island about an hour from Fajardo, near the northeast point of Puerto Rico. It's a hot spot for snorkeling. CK wanted to show us a good time after all our work since we had gotten back so early. It was my first time snorkeling, and it was so much fun. I didn't see anything too crazy like a barracuda (apparently they are everywhere down there) or a manta ray or a shark, but I saw tons of beautiful fish. We grilled and ate some hot dogs while we dried out, and then took off for the marina around 3pm. On the way, we found calmer water, and Mike and I got in the dinghy so I could get a couple boat-t0-boat shots of CK and Eric sailing by us. Despite the calmer waters, the dinghy still rocked much easier than the sailboat, and it was hard to film but I think I got what we needed.

We arrived at the fuel dock around 4:10pm, filled up, and then docked Eugenie in her slip by 5pm. We took showers, which felt great, and then met up with CK and Bruny at a liquor store/bar. We had a couple beers and met a guy named Brad, who was my age and originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He's a dive master, and moved to Puerto Rico 5 years ago to teach scuba diving. He was getting ready to head back to the States to finish school though. After drinks, we all (including Bruny and Brad) went back to the boat. We cooked a nice steak dinner, had port and beer, and conversed until 11pm. Then we said goodnight, and Eric, Mike, and I conked out for what would be our last night on Eugenie, and my last night in Puerto Rico.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/24/10

2010-04-26T17:33:00.001-07:00

We spent the day just drifting within 30 miles of our drop point for Cam #2. I got a good bit of reading done, and actually finished my book, The Wastelands (Book 3 of 7 in the The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King). I was proud of myself considering I can be awful about finishing books. I also spent time listening to the ipod and chatting with the guys. Around 3 or 4pm, the guys got a second fix on the camera which confirmed that it had surfaced. We were surprised because we didn't expect it to surface until 1 or 2am the next morning. So, we set out for it, and picked it up just as the sun went down. It was pretty cool to get to pick this one up in the dark. You could see the bright strobes flashing in the swells every 5 seconds. I filmed the retrieval as well as I could in the dark. This pickup, like the drop, went much smoother. As soon as the camera was onboard, we popped open a bottle of wine, and set sail for Fajardo. CK and I rustled up some dinner. He prepped the burger meat which included mixing in chopped onions, montreal steak seasoning, pepper, salt, and mustard. I grilled them as such, and baked a couple batches of potato wedges. We were all quite satisfied.

I took an early watch with CK. Around 1am we saw some strange lights in the distance. It looked different than normal ship lighting we had seen so far, and we saw a helicopter lights flying circles around the other lights. CK thought it was maybe Coast Guard. I went down to monitor the radio, and a call came through in a French accent that said something along the lines of: "Sailing vessel at 19 degrees North (listed off our coordinates), this is French warship...," and I forget what else, but they basically wanted to communicate and see what we were up to. I thought to myself: "What in the world?! French warship!?" CK climbed down into the galley, and I looked at him and, in a shocked voice, said, "It's the French." He looked as puzzled as I did I'm sure. He picked up the radio and said, "This is the captain of National Geographic Research vessel, Eugenie I. What are your intentions? Over." Yes, CK loved the name drop. I missed the rest of the conversation because he sent me topside to keep an eye on things, but the name drop definitely worked. Apparently, he asked them if they read the magazine, and they said they did and that it was a great magazine. Then he said, "So do you want to cross starboard or port?" The French went on their marry way after that. CK joined me topside and said that it was the first time he ever felt any respect from a Frenchman. Feeling good about himself, he went to bed. Around 2am, not long after CK crashed, I had Mike take over for me. Crazy night.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/23/10

2010-04-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

We sailed out of the harbor around 2:30am. Eric and Mike slept while CK and I stayed on deck. Mike joined me on watch about 40 minutes after CK had passed out, and then I crashed shortly after. I got a few hours of sleep before I was back on deck. We spent most of the day just hanging out on deck reading books, talking, snacking, etc. We reached our drop spot around 3pm, and dropped at 3:51pm. This drop went much smoother than the first. We attached the ship chain to the base as well as some sardines in hopes that we could attract some cool species of fish to come eat them, and get it on camera.

From there, we got a sat fix on Drop Cam #1, and we set sail for it. We retrieved it at 5:45pm. Eric and Mike had to go out in the dinghy and grab it in the midst of 5 ft swells (some maybe bigger). The mission was successful so far. The rest of the night, we ate hot dogs and chilled on deck. I went on watch around 8:30pm while the others watched Sukiyaki Western Djiango, which I had already seen. I sat on deck in my rain gear braving the wind and occasional splash while listening to worship music until about 1am. At that point, Eric took over, and I went to bed in the aft cabin. I had the best night of rest while sailing yet. It was a little cooler in that cabin, which helped tremendously.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/22/10

2010-04-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up feeling pretty rested. CK was already off running errands, finding new weights. Eric and Mike slept a little longer. Once they woke up, CK returned with some old iron ship chain from a ship junkyard -- perfect weights for the drop -- and then he ran off again. Eric, Mike and I went looking for coffee. Sizzler wasn't opened yet so we went to a little shop called Captain Mike's where CK was hanging out, and we got our coffee.

After we filled up, Mike went off to get some more ship chain. CK introduced Eric and me to a guy he had been telling us about. His name was Bill Butler, and back in 1989, he and his wife were shipwrecked in the Pacific. They spent 66 nights on the ocean in a 6-foot life raft. He wrote a book about it called Our Last Chance. We talked to him for a bit, and then both Eric and I bought a copy of Bill's book, and he signed them for us. I could've spent a few hours with this guy. You just know he's full of stories and wisdom. However, we had to keep going about our day.

Eric and I went to Sizzler once it opened, had coffee, and checked on the shipping status of the parts. Then we checked on our dinghy, which had deflated over night for some reason. We figured out the source of the leak, and then informed CK so he could pick up some patching for it. Mike returned with more ship chain, and then we all went back to Sizzler for lunch. Afterwards, Eric, Mike and I went shopping for extra groceries and medicine. I called Mom while we were out to let her know all was well. When we got back, we moved Eugenie to a new dock because we were in the fueling slip. Then we spent the afternoon cleaning her, fixing the dinghy, tidying up our storage, and waiting on our parts.

The parts came around 6pm. Bruny came to see CK and steal him for a bit because their anniversary had been the previous day, and they had both forgotten about it (hilarious!). Eric and I cooked up a nice Italian meal -- pasta with chicken. After dinner, Eric and Mike built Cam #2, and then we all crashed.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/21/10

2010-04-20T15:50:00.001-07:00

I awoke to find my face caked in sweat and whatever oils were left from sunscreen -- yuck! I freshened up and had some breakfast -- poptart, banana, and diet coke (too hard to make coffee). I went topside, and everyone else fell asleep because they had been up real late. ERic joined me shortly after though. The conditions were a little rougher. The wind had picked up and the swells were probably 4-5 feet. I handled it okay for most of the day though. We pretty much just sailed all morning, and reached the drop spot around 11:30am. Eric, Mike, and I were all feeling slightly seasick. Mike especially because he spent a lot of time in the galley putting the exteriors on Cam #1. Eric was probably not as bad as Mike or me. It's really hard to find motivation to work when you have motion sickness, but I pushed through.

The first attempt to throw the cement buckets in the water failed epically. One of them broke off and sunk to Davy Jones' Locker. Fortunately, we still had bags of sand that Eric and I had filled on our prep day. So, after struggling to get the reflectors on and throwing up my breakfast, we finally tossed Cam #1 overboard. It was very stressful in the midst of the wind and swells but we got it off and I captured it, so in that sense, it was a success.

From there, we set sail for San Juan to get our part for Cam #2, and refill fuel and water tanks. The ride back was intense -- into the wind, 5-6 foot swells, and salty water splashing over us every 30 seconds. I set myself up in a nice reclined position, and dozed off most of the afternoon. We had sandwiches for dinner because it was too difficult to make anything else. They tasted great though, and I kept them down.

We arrived in San Juan around 2am. CK and I were the only ones awake at that point. We docked right next to a beautiful boat named the "Blue Guitar," which just so happened to be Eric Clapton's boat. Unfortunately, there were no sightings of Mr. Clapton himself. I assume he was in the city. Shortly after CK and I laid down to sleep on deck, we got kicked out of our spot by the La Rumba party boat. Apparently we were in their spot. So, we found a new spot and finally crashed.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/20/10

2010-04-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

We had an even earlier start (5:30am) this day. We grabbed coffee at Starbucks, and set out for the marina (we were staying San Juan, and it's an hour and a half drive to Fajardo). We spent most of the morning and early afternoon doing last minute prep work, which included making new weights for the drop cam. We bought two 50-lb Quickcrete buckets, mixed them up with some rocks and water, and loaded them on the boat.

The drop cam needs 50+ pounds to sink it to the bottom. The weight is attached by multiple magnesium links that dissolve after around 30 hours, and then the camera floats back to the surface. Once it reaches the surface, we get a satellite fix on it and pick it up.

Once we finally got everything loaded, we took a shot of the best rum I've had, Don Barrilito Rum, and set sail. Sunset on the ocean is absolutely stunning. It was a beautiful evening of sailing. We had dinner after dark-- pork chops with sauteed onions and peppers, and green beans. It was an amazing meal. I stayed up with CK for the first watch, but the motion sickness meds I took were knocking me out. Eventually, Mike came up, and I went back to bed in the bow cabin. It was very different sleeping there while sailing because the bow was bouncing on the waves, but I still slept pretty well.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/19/10

2010-04-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

We got an early start and spent the first half of the day finishing prepping for the trip. We had to assemble the cameras, and found out that one of them was missing a few parts from it's external ring frame which holds the reflectors (a strobe light flashes every 5-10 seconds and the reflectors pounce the light out so that the camera and pick up footage in the blackness of the trench). Eric and Mike got it worked out to have the parts shipped to San Juan, and we would pick them up after we dropped off Cam #1. We loaded up the boat in the early afternoon, and found that Jim (the owner of Sail Caribe) wanted CK to go with us for the expedition because he was worried about his boat going out beyond their typical charter boundaries. So, we added CK to the crew.

Once we loaded all the equipment onto the boat, we set sail for the Northeast side of a small island called Palomino. IT was a great ride out. We saw a sea turtle along the way. We connected with Adam, who had chartered a dive boat, and got to work. By the time we got to the spot, I wasn't feeling to well from prepping my EX-1 (HD camera for those of you who don't know) in the galley. But I filmed the guys from topside as Adam filmed underwater, and made it through without throwing up. Mike was in the water with the drop cam trying to assemble the exteriors in the current which we decided would not be a good idea once we're in the trench. He was struggling against the current just off the island in water that was 80 feet deep; there was no way he was going to be able to do that in 6 foot swells out in the deep. The reason he assembled in the water for this test was so Adam could get shots from underneath. After Mike finished assembly, he dropped it multiple times so Adam could film it dropping. Eric, CK, and I chilled topside during all of this. After about an hour, Adam's underwater housing unit for his EX-1 started to leak, so we called it a day, and departed for the marina. Along the way, I emptied my stomach off the stern into the bluest water I've ever seen. That was quite an experience. I definitely felt better after that though.

Once back at the Marina, we said goodbye to CK for the evening, and spent the night on the boat. We had steak (the boat has a little grill on the stern) with green beans and baked potatoes, drank wine and rum, and talked the night away. I eventually passed out in the bow cabin, and had a wonderful night's rest.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/18/10

2010-04-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Eric was feeling much better, but still suffering the effects of a cold. We met the Nat Geo diver, Adam Geiger, who was only going to be with us for a couple days, and discussed logistics for the shallow water drop cam test, which we'd be doing the next day. Eric, Mike and I then shot off to Fajardo where our boat was docked at the Puerto del Rey Marina. No one was at the charter office, so we wandered around the marina for a bit. We eventually stumbled upon our boat, which was being cleaned by Captain Keith Lehman and his wife, Bruny.

Captain Keith, whom I will refer to as "CK" from now on, is originally from Canada, and moved to Puerto Rico in 1995. Soon after, he met and married Bruny, who is a native of the island. They both work for the charter company, Sail Caribe.

After we connected with our people and our 38 ft. Hunter sailboat named Eugenie, we spent the rest of the day running errands and prepping for the expedition. We had dinner that night at the hotel with Adam, and, knowing that we'd be getting an early start, made sure we got a good night's rest.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - 3/17/10

2010-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico alone to connect with National Geographic Engineers, Eric Berkenpas and Mike Shepard. Mike met me at the airport because Eric had fallen ill with food poisoning. We dropped of my luggage, and then went down the street for some dinner and drinks. It felt nice to just chill and chat and get to know Mike better.

Nat Geo Expedition in Puerto Rico - Intro

2010-04-19T14:20:00.001-07:00

Between India and Israel, I had 7 weeks to kill, so I defaulted to editing an India recap video, writing transcription for money, and finding ways to waste time. One day, Drew was chatting online with our friend Matt Berkenpas, and it turned out that Matt's brother, Eric, worked for National Geographic as a Lead Engineer. Matt was asking around to see if there was anyone who wanted to pay their own way to Puerto Rico to help document a Nat Geo expedition down there for his brother and his brother's partner. I immediately jumped at the opportunity. It cost me close to $500 to get myself there at the last second, but I did it. I saw it as a worthy investment into my future (Nat Geo? Resume enhancer anyone?).

The nature of the expedition was to sail 90 miles north of the island to the Puerto Rico trench, and do a couple test drops with a cheaper concept for deep sea cameras to prove that it works. The deepest part of the trench is called "Milwaukee Deep," and has a maximum depth of 28,231 ft (8605 meters). That is what we were aiming for. I went along as a volunteer videographer to obtain topside footage and interviews. I was excited and very nervous all at the same time because I hadn't really been a decent-sized sailboat, nor had I been on a boat out on the "deep blue" ever, and we were about to spend 5 days on one.

I have an entry for every day, which should come to a total of 8 posts. I hope you enjoy them and that they satisfy your questions about the trip. If not, comment and ask away. I'll be glad to answer what I can.

Enjoy!

Finally updating my travel blog...

2010-04-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, I've been lazy, but I'm finally getting around to posting about my last two trips: Puerto Rico and Israel. For Puerto Rico, I wrote about each day on one of the last days so most of it will probably not be in present tense. As for the Israel trip, I'm just now writing everything out (I was real lazy about writing on that trip unless something significant happened).

I know it's a lot of reading to catch up on everything, but I hope it's not too dull and that you enjoy it.

Blessings!

Mumbai 2/14/10 (Last Day)

2010-02-15T14:14:00.002-08:00

The original plan for today was to split in to various groups depending on what you wanted to do today. Everyone would go to one of the IJM folks’ churches, and then we could tour South Mumbai, shop, go to a Bollywood film, go to the Arts Festival, etc. However, due the bombing last night in Pune (about 4 hours from Mumbai), which killed 9 foreigners and injured many more, our plans became fluid. IJM staff was worried about have large groups of foreigners out and about, so we had our own little church service in the Drawing Room at the Hyatt, and then rotated out to a market in smaller groups.

Our church service was amazing. We worshipped some, and then Don Gerrod, the guy who’s stepping into Andrew’s position at Crossroads gave us a little thought for the day based out of Isaiah 9 (I’m currently running on very little sleep with a killer headache on a long flight back to the states and I’m having trouble recalling the details of his thought). After he was done, we circled around the IJM staff that were with us, and prayed over them. During that time, I felt a strong tug on my heart to pray over Andrew and Don and the transition that they are both going through. So, we got into that, and as I began to pray over them and over Crossroads, I broke down. I couldn’t even get the words out after “Bless this family.” I still cannot pinpoint what triggered it, but I just lost it. It could be that I feel a part of the Crossroads family now, and that separating myself from it is painful. It could also be just a build-up of emotion over the week. As I mentioned though, I am in no state of mind to go any deeper with my psychoanalysis of that moment. I need sleep.

I wish I could have another week in India. I wish I could have more time with the Advait family. If anything in what you’ve read of my trip has grabbed your heart, please make it a point to pray for these girls. They all have dreams, and they all deserve to have the opportunity to chase after them. Also, pray for the girls who are currently on the line, and whom IJM is looking to rescue. And lift IJM up as well. They are doing a great work all over the world, and specifically here in India. Also, this is the hard one, please pray for the perpetrators -- the pimps, and the people who force these girls into sex work. My initial emotion towards these people is anger, and that’s okay, but I really believe they need prayer as much as these girls. This city is such a dark place, but there is hope. I have seen it. And I suggest, that if you ever have the opportunity to see it for yourself, you do not hesitate to seize it.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings!

Mumbai 2/13/10

2010-02-15T14:14:00.001-08:00

Our entire group went out to the TLC and blitzed that place. We had a construction team working there most of the week, but there’s so much work that needed to be done -- a lot of painting and landscaping.

I mainly worked with the mural painting team one of the rooms. It was a blast. I cannot say I’m a great painter, but I did enjoy it. My hand was so unsteady. I found it hilarious. The finished product was quite good, and that’s what matters. I took a lot of footage of the change that took place in the TLC over the week. It is pretty awesome to see.

The coolest thing we did was we wrote prayers on the accent walls in the girls’ rooms before we painted them. So, the prayers won’t be visible, but they’ll be there. I love the concept of doing that for the girls. Making that home a dwelling for the Holy Spirit is key. The girls need as much prayer covering as possible.

Tonight, we all went out to a great rooftop restaurant in Bandora, which is a cool place for shopping and hip restaurants and bars. The meal was great. We got to try a lot of different foods. My favorite thing was definitely my drink, a Mango Lassee (sp?). It was a mango yogurt-is drink. The view from the terrace was pretty nice too.

Mumbai 2/12/10

2010-02-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

Every morning, the whole group gathers after breakfast, and Robbie leads us in worship. It’s such a blessing to be able to do that. I was always under the impression that we could not do something like that in India. Oh, naivety. I just had to make a comment about it.

Anyway, the days just get better and better. Andrew told me to take the day off as a videographer, and to hook up with the work team of my choice. It was a hard choice at first because I enjoyed being with my work team, but the Photography/Arts&Crafts team was going to Advait. My heart was with the girls at Advait so much that I had to go back. So, I joined Photography for the day, and had an amazing second day at my favorite place.

We kicked the day off with some more Bollywood dancing -- always a good way to start the day. From there, I just hung out with the photography group. We got to teach the girls how to use digital cameras, and then let them take as many as they wanted. On top of that, we brought photo printers, so the girls were able to pick their two favorite pictures and print them out. In Arts & Crafts, they made picture frames for their photos. It was great to see how excited these girls got over everything. The girls took a lot of photos with the group members and me. Some of them were making a fuss over not getting to have more than two photos, but all is well because Crossroads is donating the cameras and printers to them, and giving them all the pictures that they took. I love it.

After two days in a row at Advait, my heart was truly knitted in with the Sisters and all the girls. I have Sister Bonita’s email, so I will be able to correspond with them, which really excites me. As we left that place, I asked God to please allow me to return some day. I feel pretty confident that I’ll return to this country at some point, and will get to see some if not all of the girls. I cannot get the image of some of their smiles, and the sounds of some of their laughter out of my head.

Two little moments I will not forget about today:

1.) As I was saying goodbye, the girls were writing their names in my moleskin journal, and one of them shook my hand and said, “Please pray for me.” Ugh. That ripped into my heart.

2.) The last little moment was as we were walking away. I turned around and saw one of the girls whose smile has impacted more than just me this week, and I smiled at her and gave her that “Oh. You” point (not sure if that translates at all). She broke into her big, infectious smile and laughed. That’s an image I will always treasure -- joy on the face of one who has experienced some of the darkest things anyone could ever experience.

Mumbai 2/11/10

2010-02-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

First off, let me just say that the breakfast spread at the Grand Hyatt is amazing. It’ll be hard to go back to my average breakfast in L.A. -- coffee and a banana.

Although I am the videographer for this trip, I was attached to the Song/Dance/Health&Hygeine work team -- Marcus, Robbie, Jennifer, Nikki, Tracy, Roberta, Linda, Erin, and our IJM group leaders, Melissa and Michelle. We went to Advait today, the semi-government home headed up by Sister Bonita, whom I mentioned in the previous post. There are close to twenty girls in the home, and they are all wonderful.

Most of the first half of the day involved me filming the murals that were painted last year by Crossroads folks, participating in Bollywood dances with the girls, and then trying to gain permission to film some of the girls. Robbie, who used to work for Vineyard Music and is a music leader at Crossroads, led the girls in some singing. He recorded them singing along to a couple loops he created on the spot with his guitar, and then, why we danced, he mixed the song together and played it back for the girls. It was awesome to see their faces light up as they listened.

After talking with Sister Bonita, Melissa, and Michelle, and then making a couple phone calls, I got the “Ok” to film the girls. So, I filmed most of the afternoon group of girls participating in the singing and dancing, and capturing the interactions between them and my team. I was also blessed to be able to film messages from the “major” girls (18 and older) to Crossroads. Their faces will be blurred in editing, and their names unrevealed, but it was just great to be able to capture the messages.

I was amazed to see so much joy and laughter in these girls who have been through so much darkness. There was one girl who was visibly unhappy. She participated in some of the singing, but none of the dancing. She hardly smiled. As I talked to Sister Bonita, I discovered that her friend had run away yesterday. They were from the same community, the Devandasi Communit. In this community, girls are thrust into prostitution as soon as they start menstruating. Their parents tell them that it is their job-- it is their purpose. Ridiculous! Anyway, The runaway had told the judge and her parents at her court hearing that she wanted to stay at Advait. She liked it there and wanted to study. Her parents told her that they would have nothing to do with her. So, obviously, guilt an shame were dropped on her, and now she’s lost in Mumbai, and her parents have already moved away, so she cannot go to them.

As far as how most of the girls ended up at Advait, some of them were promised jobs, and when they showed up for work, they were sold as sex slaves; and a good number of them were promised to be married, or were married, and then their fiancé, or husband sold them off. My heart broke when I heard the latter about one of my favorite girls at the home. It breaks even as I write about it now.

It was a great day. However, the men capped it off with a tour of the Red Light District. We hopped in a few different vehicles with an IJM Investigator in each one, and drove around for a good hour. The Investigators pointed out all the active brothels, as well as the ones that they had shut down already. It was very interesting to see, but it was very intense. The strongest emotion I felt during the tour was anger. Most of the brothels are just a hole in the wall amongst the various stores. I saw many taxis in which a man sat in the passenger’s seat up front, and two sex workers sat in the back seat. In one of those taxis, one of the two girls was holding a baby.

Our one scary moment was when we went up one of the side streets, and were supposed to turn left just before we hit the dead end, but our driver didn’t turn. We found ourselves unable to go forward anymore, and for a moment, we were unable to go backwards. We were surrounded by pimps, and one of them walked up to the open passenger’s seat window where Marcus was sitting, and asked us if we wanted to come in to the brothels. Phil and Marcus both immediately rolled their windows up. Thankfully we didn’t have to linger too long, and were able to get out of there. Our vehicle could be recognized by some pimps, and associated with IJM’s investigations, so we had to be careful about hanging out too long. In retrospect, it’s not that scary, but in the moment, I believe we were all at least a little nervous. I remember Phil saying, “This is a bad place to be stuck.”

Anyway, I’m glad I got to see it all, but it’s definitely not anything enjoyable. I’m just so thankful the Advait girls are safe, and are not working “the line.”

Mumbai 2/10/10

2010-02-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

Today was a very productive, and very wonderful day. Andrew and I went over to the Transitions Global Transitional Living Center (TLC) home with Kathy Stout-Labauve, who heads up the after-care program from the IJM headquarters in D.C. I took a lot of shots inside and out of what the house looks like before our construction/cleaning team is done working on it at the end of the week. I also shot interviews with the heads of the TLC and Sister Bonita from Advait, one of the other semi-government girls’ homes.

After the TLC, we moved on to Deonar, which is a government-run girls’ home. When we got there, our landscaping and mural painting teams had already gotten much of their work done. There were girls everywhere, and they were great. We had to have the teachers heard them into one of the buildings so that I could film the work that had been done so far.

It’s for the girls’ safety that we cannot film them. We have to protect their identities. If we are fortunate enough to film at one of the homes, their faces have to be blurred, and names unrevealed.

After I finished filming, the girls came back out, and we all returned to our work. I helped out a bit with the landscaping. It felt good to get my hands dirty for a good cause. Once I was done, I just sat and observed. One of the girls came up to me with a baby (I wasn’t sure of the mother, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her), and she handed her off to me. Kim, one of the IJM staff who was there with permission to take photos, snapped a series of pictures of me holding the child. The girls loved it. I held her for 5-10 minutes, and then decided to hand to her back off to the girl who gave her to me. As I did, everyone was like, “Oh no!” I looked down, and the baby was urinating. Some of it landed on my leg, some on and in my bag, and the rest on the ground. It was hilarious. The girls were big fans at least. Sure, it sucked, but I couldn’t help but just laugh over the matter with the girls.

Today was much more enjoyable to me than yesterday. I enjoyed spending time with these girls, who are the reason we’re here in the first place. As I sat and observed at Deonar, I began to thank God that these girls were in a safe place, and my heart began to break. Fortunately, a baby was handed to me to distract me before I broke down in front of everyone.

For dinner, our IJM friend, Ashley, took a handful of us to Café Goa, which was a chill restaurant where they do poetry readings, and have karaoke. The food was great, and I really enjoyed just kicking back with new friends.

Good day.

Mumbai 2/9/10

2010-02-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

I really don’t know how to start writing about this trip. I guess I’ll start with the basics:

First off, I am in Mumbai with my cousin, Andrew Peters (Yeah. Same name), and 30-some other people from a church in Cincinnati, OH called Crossroads. They are partnering with International Justice Mission (IJM) to assist in the after-care of girls who have been saved from sexual slavery. Andrew asked me to come as the videographer to document the trip because Crossroads’ video guys are all busy, and, of course, I jumped at the opportunity.

So, here I am. We are staying at the Grand Hyatt, and it’s definitely the nicest hotel in which I have had the privilege to stay. We got in late last night, and I did not sleep well. I woke up at 3:30am, and then I was in and out until I finally decided to get out of bed around 6am. The Hyatt’s restaurant where we eat breakfast is amazing.

We hit the ground running with a touring around with the Mumbai Magic tour group. We saw a good bit of the city on our way to our first stop, Elephanta Island. We took boat across the Arabian Sea to the island, and visited the caves in which a place of worship to Shiva was carved out sometime between the 5^th and 8^th centuries (if I remember correctly). It’s no longer a place of worship, so we were able to take photos, but I was still not able to film inside the caves. However, the outside was a different story. I captured some very entertaining shots of monkeys, goats, dogs, and even paid an old woman for a shot of her balancing a stack of bowls on her head (most people want payment in return for allowing you to film them). We took the boat back to the city, and went to lunch at a wonderful Muslim cuisine restaurant called Khyber. From there, we headed off to the Chor Bazaar where you could find just about anything you needed. It was more of a market for locals than a market for tourists. I did not do much filming, as it was very dangerous to be walking around with a nice camera. I was able to take some shots from the hip as we walked around.

We at dinner at the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana with the IJM staff from the Mumbai field office. We had a great time eating, fellowshipping, and praying for an operation that’s taking place tonight in one of the brothels.

Overall, it was a pretty crazy day. Mumbai traffic is worse than anywhere I have ever been. It’s amazing how the people don’t wreck every five seconds. I’m worn out. I can’t wait to interact with the girls in the homes this week.

"Amazing Grace" and Wilberforce -- something to think about

2010-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

I finally watched the film, Amazing Grace, which is the story of William Wilberforce and his relentless pursuit for the abolition of slave trade in England and its colonies.

Verdict: Thumbs Up.

There were two scenes that caught my attention more than others. Both scenes take place early in the film when Wilberforce is trying to decide whether he should give himself to politics or religion.

FIRST SCENE

Wilberforce, who seems to be leaning towards religion at this point, meets with his good friend, William Pitt, who tells Wilberforce of his plans to become Prime Minister and to have him at his side in the government. Here are the last two lines of the scene:

WILBERFORCE: No one our age has ever taken power.

PITT: Which is why we're too young to realize that certain things are impossible, so we'll do them anyway. I need an answer, Wilber. Do you intend to use your beautiful voice to praise the Lord, or change the world?

I love Pitt's response. That's something to think about those of us who have dreams that we wish to accomplish, but feel that all the odds are stacked against us. Despite tradition and any expectation placed upon us by someone other than ourselves, do we dare chase our dreams? The part of his response with which I am not on board is where he separates praising the Lord and changing the world. This is where the second scene gets me.

SECOND SCENE

Wilberforce has dinner with a handful of people who will become his close friends and allies in the fight against abolition: Thomas Clarkson, Olaudah Equiano, and others. Equiano and Clarkson show Wilberforce the shackles that are used on slave ships, and demonstrate how they are used. Equiano shows him the brand on his chest from when he was a slave. At the end of the scene, Clarkson looks at Wilberforce and says:

CLARKSON: Mr. Wilberforce, we understand you're having problems choosing whether to do the work of God, or the work of a political activist.

The lady at the table, Hannah More, follows up:

MORE: We humbly suggest that you can do both.

I love it! -- merging your gifts and passions with your desire to do the Lord's work.

It seems that Wilberforce's faith and hope [in Christ] was the driving force behind his work in politics. Without it, I don't suppose he would have endured as long as he did, which would have changed the course of history for sure (I'm not suggesting that slavery would never have been abolished, but that it would not have been abolished as early, and countless more lives would have been lost. There are other results that I could speculate on, but that's not the purpose of my post).

Anyway, I enjoyed the film, and I can only hope that my faith and hope [in Christ] comes through in all my work, and that I may also be an agent of change for the better in this world.

A Letter to Non-Believers by Shane Claiborne

2009-12-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

Hey! So, I read this letter from Shane Claiborne that I thought would be good to share as a follow up to my last post where I touched on my frustration with Christians.

Here's the link:

http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2009/shane-claiborne-1209

Please read whether you believe or not.

Blessings!

Burdened by the homeless, and frustrated by "Christians"

2009-12-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

So, I went to the Cincinnati Bengals game with some friends yesterday, and afterwards, I saw a couple things that burdened/frustrated me:

1) I saw many homeless people. They had positioned themselves near the stadium so the hoards of fans would have to pass them. I hear a lot of talk about how many homeless people there are in Los Angeles, and it's so true that L.A. is the homeless capital of the nation, but when I saw the people in Cincinnati, it opened my eyes to how many homeless people there are all over our nation. I hadn't seen so many homeless people in one spot (and in cold weather) since I did a night of work with the homeless in San Diego. It was moving to see all these people, and to think that they had no place to call home, or to be warm during the cold holiday season. I don't really have a major point with all of this other than to say it was heavy on me to witness it.

2) I saw what some people would call a "Hell, Fire, and Brimstone Preacher" standing on a box in the street, wearing a smock that said "You Deserve Hell" on it with Bible verses listed underneath, and condemning the passing Bengals and Lions fans for being sinners. He also passed judgement on us fans for watching football. I guess he didn't care to much for the fact that we had skipped, or cut out early from church to go to the game. So lame. Anyway, my friends and I stopped to listen to him and another man arguing. I assumed that this other man, who I will call "the father" as he had just finished watching the Bengals beat the Lions with his son, was a Christ-follower by the way he argued against the preacher (who might have actually been a Catholic priest, but I'll still call him "preacher"). I don't remember everything that was said, but essentially the preacher asked the father if he believed that we all deserve hell, and the father said, "Yes. I do." This made the preacher quite satisfied until the father continued, and told him, "But you're not telling them everything." He's quite right. The preacher was only telling these fans half of the story-- the first half, which is the hopeless half. I wanted to scream, "GRACE!" at the preacher, but I knew that wouldn't help. The father went on to talk about the love of Christ, but the preacher kept shutting him down. I also thought about going up to the father and telling him to just leave the preacher alone. Arguing with people like that does nothing, but enlarge their pride. They want you to argue. So stupid. But, of course, I said nothing, and my friends and I continued on. It frustrated me for a good while, and it still does when I think about it. All you can do is pray for people like that though.

Anyway, I just wanted to share about being burdened by the homeless of Cincinnati, and being frustrated by "Christians" who CYOP (create your own program) and choose not to follow the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Blessings!

My Unaffordable Christmas Wish List

2009-11-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some items that I would love Santa to bring me for Christmas. Unfortunately, neither he nor I have the proper finances to acquire them at the moment.

1. Final Draft 8 (professional screenwriting software)

2. 1 TB G-Raid hard drive

3. A legit still camera (i.e. Canon EOS Rebel T1i)

4. A legit high definition video camera (something along the lines of a Panasonic AG-HMC150)

5. Latest iMac

6. Final Cut Pro Studio

So, yes, basically I would like items that set me up to do actual freelance videography work, so I can make money.

Fingers crossed.

Thrice: "The Weight"

2009-11-06T10:57:00.001-08:00

Lyrics from one of my new favorite Thrice songs. Love it!

THE WEIGHT

There's many who'll tell you they'll give you their love,

But when they say "Give" they mean "Take,"

They'll hang 'round just like vultures till push comes to shove;

They'll take flight when the earth starts to shake.

Someone may say that they'll always be true,

Then slip out the door 'fore the dawn.

But I won't leave you hanging on.

Another may stay till they find someone new,

Then before you know they'll be gone.

But I won't leave you hanging on;

No, I won't be that someone.

And come what may, I won't abandon you or leave you behind

Because Love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.

And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;

I won't run away, though the storm's getting worse and there's no end in sight.

Some talk of destiny, others of fate,

But soon they'll be saying goodbye.

But I won't leave you high and dry.

Because a don't mean nothing

If you can't haul the weight,

And some of them won't even try,

But I won't leave you high and dry;

I won't leave you wondering why.

And come what may, I won't abandon you or leave you behind

Because Love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.

And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;

I won't run away, though the storm's getting worse and there's no end in sight.

And storms will surely come,

But True Love is a choice you must make

And you're the one that I have set my heart to choose.

As long as I live, I swear I'll see this through.

And come what may, I won't abandon you or leave you behind

Because Love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.

And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;

I won't run away, though the storm's getting worse and there's no end in sight.

Ugh...Processing

2009-10-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Much has happened since my last life update. But I am not going to take the time to fill what few readers I may have in on everything that has happened. If you read my last life update post, you'll remember (or won't since it' s been almost 2 months) that I mentioned my grandfather was preparing to pass on. Well, he did shortly after I wrote about it. I flew back for his funeral. Despite the not-so-great circumstances, I had a wonderful time with family that I don't get to see often. Thanks for your prayers.

So what's on my mind now? Too much to write about, but I will say that I am in a weird, unmotivated mindset. I have some great travel/work opportunities coming up in the spring, but nothing major between now and when I go home for Christmas. I feel as though I'm in a state of just plan old survival. It's like I've let my mind go because all I can think about is getting home for Christmas. I've been picking up some random jobs here and there which has been a blessing, but I feel as though that is all that is ahead of me until I go home. When I work, I don't feel like this, and that's nice, but I typically have a few days off in between work, and that's when I feel tired and unmotivated. I'd give just about anything for it to be Christmas now, and for the new year to start.

Why do I want to get home for Christmas so bad? Well, for one, there's a certain girl I want to see, and two, I'm ready to start a new year. It's as if I've given up on 2009. Wow. That's sad. Now, the proactive, reasonable side of me says, "Get your ass in line, Andy. There's so much left to do in 2009." I'm more inclined to follow the voice of reason. There really is so much left for me to do here in L.A. in '09: I have more random jobs that lie ahead of me. I have people to meet. I have a script to work on. I have songs to finish writing.

(Despite all that "given up on 2009" crap, the girl is definitely the main reason I want to go home. Just being honest.)

Ah yes. I love processing in writing for you all to read. Anyway, all of that just to let you know where I'm at in life currently. There's so much more, but don't have the motivation to write about it all ;)

Thoughts: Compassion

2009-09-01T00:08:00.000-07:00

Once again, trying to process thoughts. Hope it makes sense, and is helpful to both you and me.

#1: What is compassion?

According to Webster's, compassion is a "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it." Pretty good description. I would add that when we desire to alleviate the distress, we expect nothing in return.

Being compassionate requires that we be aware of those around us, and not be blinded by our own pride or selfish agenda. And not just being aware, but longing to do anything to help those in need. This includes people who may talk bad about you, or who have caused you pain in the past. I believe the biggest enemy of compassion is selfishness. When we are selfish, we only care about ourselves and that we are comfortable. We are too concerned with doing what we want to do that we won't take the time to help a stranger, or even a friend. For those of us who are Christians, we know that Christ felt compassion for the lost-- stranger, friend and foe ((Mark 6:34). This leads us to the next question...

#2: Can you call yourself a follower of Christ, and not have compassion for others?

You can't pick and choose those for whom you have compassion. If you have compassion within you, you have it, and if not, ask the Lord for it. I believe we all have compassion within us, we just don't all allow it to come forth because we are too prideful at times. I do not believe you can pick and choose whom you will have compassion for, and then call yourself a compassionate person. Christ had compassion for everyone. I can't think of anywhere in the Bible that specifically says he had compassion on everybody, including the Pharisees, but I'd like to believe that he did despite how much they disliked him and how many times he stumped them with his wisdom. They were lost-- sheep without a shepherd, and, as I said before, Christ had compassion for those who were lost. As Christians, we are called to be like Christ, and with that comes compassion for others, especially those who are in need.

Extra thoughts:

Now I say that I believe we all have compassion somewhere within us, but thanks to certain people in my life, and my skeptic side, I feel that some people are just more compassionate than others. Or, I wonder, is it just that we show it in different ways? I know people who are Christians that sometimes I wonder if they have an ounce of compassion in them. I'm not talking about "Christians." I'm talking about people who follow Christ, and love the Lord and His will. Yet, still I wonder, do they have any compassion in them? And how does that affect their walk?

I sometimes find myself not wanting to have compassion for certain people, but like I said, you can't pick and choose. It frustrates me, but I can't help but have compassion for them. I wonder if Christ ever felt that way towards the Pharisees.

I consider myself a compassionate, sensitive person, but I also know that I have a lot more growing to do. I think the best way to go about it is to ask the Lord to break our hearts for what breaks His-- to break down our pride and selfishness that we might get ourselves out of the way and allow Him to step in. We can ask the Lord to show us compassion that we might learn how to show it to others. So many people in this world have been hurt by Christians, or the Church, because of our lack of compassion towards them (homosexuals, muslims, Hollywood, people who've had abortions, other denominations, etc). Christ would have compassion, and would open his arms to these people, so why won't we?

As always, please feel free to comment and add your own thoughts on the topic. I'd love to hear them because I'm sure there's so much more to it.

Blessings!

Update on Life

2009-08-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

So, I'm back in L.A. after an amazing summer at the Ranch. I'm looking for work, and not having much success. Can't expect too much in the first week though. I do, however, have a contact to possibly to media work for a non-profit organization called Rock for Justice. Hopefully something pans out there. Also, my mom's dad, whom I call "Dadcu" (Dodd-kee), which is welsh for "grandfather," is in very bad health. We're all pretty sure he's on his way out, and it could be a day, a week, a month....who knows? This might sound kind of bad, but I hope that for his sake, he goes sooner than later. The last time I got to see him, me and the family prayed with him, and I'm at peace with that being my last moment with him. I'm just restless over getting the call that he's gone. If you're a praying person, please pray for my family, and for little pain as he prepares to pass on.

I'm going to do my best to get back in to posting on here more regularly. It was difficult this summer. I was pretty busy. I hope you haven't given up on me ;)

Blessings!

UPDATE: Second Wind #2

2009-07-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

We're two days into Second Wind #2. The Israeli high school kids are here from Ariel, Israel as well as 300-some other kids. It's going to be a good two weeks. I can feel it. Last week was so slow and laid back (it was a Father-Daughter week). It felt like we did no work, and somehow had a video at the end of the week. The next two weeks will be the complete opposite of that. Your prayers are much appreciated.

Speaking of Israel, I am seriously considering going over there at the turn of the year with the Ranch. So, your prayers about that are much appreciated as well. I need to have $250 non-refundable deposit in by August 1st, and the trip is filling up. The problem-- I don't really have that much that I can deposit at the moment. Greg and I are going to talk with the Ranch about going over there and making a new Israel video for them, and if we do, we're hoping they'll pay our way. Who knows? We'll see. For now, it's Second Wind time.

Blessings!

God answers prayers...

2009-06-29T09:58:00.001-07:00

but He loves to do it in His own time, and not ours. Haha. I love it!

So, I was having knee problems as I mentioned in my last post, and I was getting ready to go on the Wilderness trip. The trip involved much hiking, and it was the ups and downs that really caused my knee to hurt. So, needless to say, I was a bit worried about doing the trip. I tried to talk my way out of going on it, but Greg needed me to do it with one of the new video guys because I knew the trip really well. I got my knee prayed over 3 or 4 times for healing, and nothing changed, so I accepted the fact that the Lord probably had a lesson to teach me.

I went on the trip, and the first day, I kept praying that the Lord would be my strength, and that He would help me through the Wilderness with my bum knee. Wouldn't you know it, my knee didn't feel any better or worse, so I took that as the Lord answering that prayer for strength. (He loves to step into our weakness and be our strength) The second day, we got up at 4am to climb Mt. Etna and watch the sunrise with the kids, and my knee held up on the way up, but it hurt pretty bad on the way down. I was a little frustrated at first, but I never got really upset or discouraged.

So, I made it out of the Wilderness with little-to-no knee pain. Praise the Lord! The amazing part is that it's been 2 days since that trip now, and my knee is at 90%. I feel no pain. So, in retrospect, the Lord said "I'll heal you. But not until you learn dependence upon me as your source of strength, and not your own legs." Make me laugh.

Within our video crew there's been a theme of learning dependence upon God in desperate times. It's our own fault too. About 3 weeks ago, we all felt that as a group we needed to be desperate for God. We talked about how we are out here doing a job that we all love, and that some of us are seeking a career in, and how a lot of the other summer staff are working jobs that they don't necessarily enjoy and have to depend on the Lord to get them through every day. We wanted that sense of desperation. So, we got on our faces and asked for it. Over the next week, we experienced a theft (Greg and Chase's laptops, my electric shaver, my headphones, and other various personal items-- weirdest theft ever since my laptop and other very expensive equipment was left), and my knee got busted up. At the end of that week, we were in a time of worship and prayer with some of the staff, and the Lord reminded us of the desperation we had asked for, and showed us that He's been allowing us to experience that. Funny how He answers prayers. Chase and Greg both talked about how even though they both lost their laptops (Greg runs a company off of his), they both had a peace that transcends understanding over the whole situation. Chase made a good point that we are not our own, and therefore, nothing we have truly belongs to us. I heard it said in a sermon once that we are not owners of anything, but only managers (something like that).

So, yeah, all of that to say that the Lord answers prayers, and He does it in His own way and His own time-- the best way and the best time.

Well, I'm off to the coast for a couple days to film and hang out with the junior high group. They sleep in the Redwood Forest tonight, and then go surfing tomorrow. Wednesday, we'll got jet-boating on the river, and eat one of the best meals of the summer. I love my job!

Be Blessed!

Ranch Update

2009-06-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

So we've done two videos so far, and today marks the first day of the first session of Second Wind. All the campers are junior high and high school kids, and it's usually a fun, yet insane two weeks for the video crew. We had a couple days over the weekend, and I don't know why, but I was in a funk (mostly yesterday). I think I was just tired. Also, I'm pretty bummed because somehow my left knee got out of whack. I thought it was just sore from doing 3 laps around the wagon wheel (roughly 3 miles) last week, but it's still hurting. Going up and down stairs, or hills, and running are not kind to it at the moment. So I have to go easy for a while which means no JH Sports for me. Sad day. Better to miss JH Sports, and be healthy for the Wilderness in a week (the Wilderness involves a lot of hiking).

Anyway, enough complaining. I'm still having a blast overall. I've been playing rhythm guitar for worship with Ronnie Freeman, and I love it. I've also been leading worship with Trenton (Ronnie's lead guitarist) on Monday nights for the staff. I'm loving that too. Well, I'm already pretty tired, and it's only the first day, so I don't have much to say. I'll try and update sooner than later and tell some stories from Second Wind #1 (there are 2 every summer).

I hope you are all well.

Blessings!

So far at the Ranch...

2009-06-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have been having a blast! I've really been connecting with other staff. I see some good friendships forming out of this summer. The video boys are all awesome. Two of them have not had much experience but they are excited to learn and seem to catch on pretty well to what we're doing. The other one has had a fair amount of experience, and for him it's just a matter of learning the Ranch system of things. All in all, it's a great group of guys, and we're going to make good videos this summer.

As for the more serious side of things, the Lord has really been breaking me down, and stripping me down to my true being. He's healed wounds from the past that I had no idea were affecting me in a negative way like they were. I've gained a lot of freedom just by renouncing lies that I've believed about myself-- thinking I was too weak, that being sensitive was bad, that I wasn't good enough, that I wasn't good-looking, that I wasn't smart enough, etc. The Lord is showing me, who I truly am-- who He created me to be. I am a warrior with a tender heart. I have the heart of King David. I'm a worshipper and a warrior. A picture I got was of me as a lamb, and I look all innocent and helpless until I open my mouth and roar like a lion. I'm beginning to see that He has plans to use me and my heart of worship to reach people wherever He may take me (around the world I hope ;) ). So, a lot has changed within me, and is still changing even over two week's time. I can't imagine what He has planned for the rest of the summer.

There is so much freedom in the Lord! When I was younger, I began to believe what the world told me about myself instead of what He told me through my parents, and other people of faith. I accepted the lies of the world that I wasn't good enough. I've lived for so long without self-confidence, and in a state of fear. But when I accepted the reality that I am a masterpiece of Father God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth (and so are you!), and I accepted the reality that my confidence is in Christ alone and not in this world, I began to feel free of fear and felt a new wave of confidence come over me. I can see it in the way I interact with others, and in the way I lead worship.

It's an amazing feeling to know that you are loved by the God of Heaven and Earth, and that he longs for you, and has so many great things in store for you. He just wants us to let Him love on us, and to take us where He wants to take us. He is a Mighty King, but he's also a loving Father. We are not servants, but children of the one true God. That's a reality I'm finally beginning to accept, and I love it!

Please leave some comments, or questions (if you have any). I'd love to discuss this further. I hope you are all well!

Blessings!

P.S. Here's the Ranch:

CURRENTLY...

2009-05-18T22:51:00.001-07:00

...READING: "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti

...WATCHING: "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"

...LISTENING TO: "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire

Life, the Great Adventure

2009-05-15T00:22:00.000-07:00

Usually the people who don't have their lives clearly laid out ahead of them wish they could see what's ahead, and the people who do have their lives clearly laid out ahead of them wish they could have the adventure of not knowing. A good friend brought that point up to me in the past week. I've been so worried, and stressed at times over what lies ahead. It's just something we all have a tendency to do at some point in life. Really, we just need to relax. Just sit back and enjoy life. That's not to say, kick back and do nothing. All I'm saying is don't let the circumstances of life bring you down. The good Lord knows our needs, so we do not need to worry about what tomorrow holds. Love it!

I am the type of person who does not have clear direction in life, and the aforementioned statement about those kind of people is true. I do tend to wish I had it clearly laid out ahead of me. But as I sit here and ponder over all of this, I realize that I really am glad that I have no clue what's ahead. It makes it all the more fun.

Live in the mystery. Find that place where you're content with where you are in life, and just keep on truckin' ahead. Around every bend in the road is a surprise of some sort. Good, or bad, would you have it any other way? I know I wouldn't. There's something to learn from every experience in life.

So, get out there and live life. Take it all in-- the good, and the bad. Don't look at what someone else is doing, and wish you had their life. Focus on your own road, and don't forget to have some fun along the way ;)

Life is the Great Adventure!

Hooray for speaking to myself. I hope there's something good in here for you guys.

Blessings!

Really, America?

2009-05-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

Kris Allen over Danny Gokey in the American Idol finale? You got to be kidding me. Since when did 14-year-old girls' love for cute boys (married or not) trump pure talent? I definitely think Kris is talented, but, as one of my good friends said, we already have a Jason Mraz (and others like him). Danny's sound is so...Danny, and good. Not to mention, whenever he sings, you can just feel the passion and the soul behind it. Anyway, American has voted, and once again proven that we are lame. I look forward to hearing Danny's album when it comes out because you know it's coming.

Wow. I just blogged about American Idol. Never thought that would happen.

Blessings!

What Is True Beauty?

2009-04-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

Note: I am writing strictly from a guy's perspective here.

I find myself asking this question quite often actually. Every time I hear one of my guy friends, or even myself, say something along the lines of, "She's got a cute face, but she her body...not so much" (or vice versa), I actually feel a bit of disgust. Our culture is so nitpicky about people's looks. Who says a girl isn't beautiful if she's not fit, or her boobs are big enough, or her butt isn't nice enough, etc.? Well, the truth is, most guys do. And we may not all truly feel that way about it, but we allow ourselves to slip into that mindset. I know I do. And, as I said, I feel disgusted by it. So, I want to know: What is true beauty? How do we define it?

The typical Christian answer would be: "See them as God sees them?" Alright, then, how do I do that? It's easier than it sounds, people. Also: "Beauty is on the inside." True, but I can like a girl's personality all I want, but if I don't find her attractive otherwise, how does that work? I mean, I'd like to think that I would view my future spouse as a very beautiful woman (inside AND out).

Anyway, I really don't think there's an actual answer for all this. I will say this (and it goes for both guys and girls): there's nothing wrong with thinking that one person is more attractive than the other. I'm not saying we shouldn't voice our opinion amongst our friends, but I just don't like getting the sense that a guy would write a girl off (or vice versa) as not worth his/her time because he/she isn't attractive enough. I've just noticed that in L.A. it's all about appearance, and I get tired of hearing, and saying, the aforementioned quotes. I think the female gender, as a whole, is beautiful because they were created as such. Now, whether I, personally find a any specific girl attractive or not is different...or is it? I really don't know what to think. I just want to hear other people's thoughts because I'm quite frustrated over it at the moment.

To all the girls reading this, you are beautiful, and I say that genuinely. To all the guys reading this, please keep me accountable in how I talk about women.

Give your thoughts now!

Update on "I.D."

2009-04-27T19:58:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!

For those of you who know that me and the guys start filming our webisodes project a couple weeks ago, I wanted to give you an update.

We are now at the midpoint of production, and we are looking ahead at our biggest weekend. We have two major scenes to shoot this coming Saturday and Sunday -- a party scene, and a concert scene. Despite the tough weekend ahead, we are all excited, and prepared. So, far the footage has looked great, and everybody's done a wonderful job. I'm so excited to see this all come together.

Blessings!

Good, Unsafe Art?

2009-04-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Let me preface by apologizing if this post is a bit all over the place. It's me thinking out loud.

I went to a discussion group that LAFSC (the film studies program I attended my last semester of college) puts on for it's alumni once a month, and the speaker was one of the professors. He posed a question along the lines of, "Why are you as filmmakers afraid to make good, unsafe art?"

You have to ask yourself: What is unsafe art? People responded with various answers: Art that may cause your family, or community where you grew up to ridicule you (note: this is from a Christian view point); or, art that faces questions we may not have the answers to (I like that one).There was much discussion regarding the latter.

"Evangelical" films (Facing the Giants, Live Fast Die Young, Left Behind, etc.) focus so much on this mentality of knowing the answer -- God (Pray to Him, and He will kick the field goal). Why not pose questions through relatable material that may lead to that answer instead of telling people how it is right up front. Let me step outside of film to explain this better.

Non-Christians are so turned off by Christians because we like to tell them how it is up front. "Turn or burn." We come off as having all the answers. Yes, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but who's going to listen to you if you sound like a know-it-all prick (Face it. We do sometimes). We really have to form trusting relationships with those around us, and let our lives speak. Remember, actions speak louder than words (cliche, but so true). Christians are as human as the prostitute on the street corner, or the guy pretending to be homeless so you'll finance his addictions. Let's jump back to film.

To me, good art is something that moves people -- something that provokes. It's telling a great story, and facing the truth of the world we live in, and not running from it. It's relating to those who are watching in the theaters, or at home. Personally, I want to write stories of love, sacrifice, and hope. I love redemption stories. And I may use some foul language, sexuality, and violence to tell these stories. It's the world we live in. I've been thinking about how I always tell people that I want there to be truth in my films. I can't write something that doesn't portray some form of truth. How do I do that as a Christian who wants to write films? Many Christians will say that I shouldn't have foul language, sexuality, and violence because it's wrong, and it will turn people away from Christ. But to not face those things would be a lie. I'm not promoting that content, but it's relatable to my audience. It's everyday life for some of these people. Last night, we talked about how Christians put so much emphasis on the content of a film that sometimes we forget about the message. For example, there could be a film that ultimately is giving a bad message to children, but as long as it's PG, it's okay. Well, what about the films that are R for their content, yet tell amazing stories of hope and redemption, or pose questions that provoke people to positive action? To me, those are great examples of good, unsafe art, but Christians stamp a big old NO on the film because its rating.

I believe that as a Christian in the film industry, I must allow myself to be vulnerable-- to be human. I want to tell stories that contain truth. Sometimes there the story may not end in redemption, but it may get people asking important questions. Now, let me just say that I fully believe that there is a line to be drawn. Every filmmaker is different. While I know Christian filmmakers who can easily tell stories involving explicit sexual content, I don't believe I could. I don't have a problem with some, but I have to know my limits. That could just be where I'm at in life right now, and maybe someday I'll be able to move the line a bit. I don't know.

Just to add to all of this-- besides being unsafe art (whatever that means to you), it should be done well. People respond better to quality filmmaking. Don't make a sucky film, and then write it off as okay because it tells people about Jesus, and the Church fully supports it. John, last night's speaker, mentioned that he has hope that the Church will one day see past a film's rating and embrace it for its powerful message (something along those lines). I'm right there with him. Good for movies like Facing the Giants that remind those of us in the pews that God answers prayers, but bad for movies like that the don't relate well to those on the streets-- not to mention, I don't fully agree with the "God will kick the field goal" theology.

Just for kicks-- films that fall into what I am promoting through this discussion despite their content: The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Crash, Magnolia, The Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, Amelie, City of God, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Lord of War, Man On Fire, Stigmata, The Exorcism of Emily Rose (really good, but not recommended for those who are extremely sensitive to demonic stuff like myself), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Slumdog Millionaire, Saved, Garden State, Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, and much more. Also, I have not seen these movies, but from what I've heard, they belong on this list: The Wrestler, Gran Torino, and The Apostle.

Anyway, I hope this made enough sense, and wasn't too hard to follow. I would love to get feedback. It's all just a discussion anyway. I don't have the answers. Please take time to share your thoughts.

Blessings!

The Time Has Come...

2009-04-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

For me to resume my blogging. I've been keeping up with a blog for screenwriters called The Rouge Wave, and the blogger, Julie, likes to emphasize that "screenwriting is only one kind of writing and that you should develop the muscles and the skills to write for other mediums." So, resuming my blog is my way of working out my writing muscles. I would like to update my blog at least once, if not a few times per week. Please feel free to leave comments.

Everyday life for me consists of waking up to the sound of one or more of the guys preparing breakfast, or having a conversation amongst themselves. Both Chaz and I sleep on air mattresses in the parlor room which is right next to the living room and kitchen. It bothered me at first that I would be awoken by others' morning activities, but I quickly got over it, and decided that it's best that I wake up earlier with them than sleeping in and wasting the day. The rest of the day involves a good mixture of devos, listening to music, checking email and facebook, reading something (Variety, The Rouge Wave, a book, etc.), playing video games, working out, and looking for work. It's a great life, but doesn't provide much income.

I was working on and off as a production assistant for the reality television show, Wipeout. However, they wrapped up their second season a few weeks ago, so I am out of work with them for now. I am kind of in a tight spot because Greg and I head to JH Ranch on May 23rd to work on the video crew for 3 months, so I can't really commit to any long term work. Hopefully, I find a few short term gigs that will help me make it (financially) to the end of May. The next month and a half is going to be a bit of a busy time for me, so that also makes finding work difficult. Greg and Jake created a short web series a while back, and we start production on it this coming weekend. On top of that, I am about to write my next screenplay. I've been developing it over the past couple months, and Jake's been helping keep me on schedule with it all, and now it's time to start dishing out pages. So, to sum up the plan for the next month or so: script pages during the week, and web series production on the weekend. I'm excited!

Well, that is all for now. Time for one of my favorites activities of the day: Lunch!

Blessings!

Heading Home

2008-08-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

So, here I sit in the Media Village passing the time until I leave. It's 1am here. 3 hours til I head out. It's pretty crazy to think about. I can't believe it's all over. Everything that I've been working towards as far as 4 years at Asbury goes is completed: Los Angeles Film Studies Center and the Olympics. Now, I am done with Asbury. Weird. Being here at the games was absolutely amazing. I really don't know how else to describe it. You had to have been here to really know what I'm feeling right now. Television does not do it justice. My advice to you is this: If you ever get a chance to go to the Olympic Games, GO!!

Highlights from the last day of work are: I ran into Vince Vaughn in the Silk Street Market, I worked closing ceremonies, and danced my feet off at the wrap party after closing ceremonies.

Tim, Megan, and I were on our way out of the market yesterday before we had to go to work, and out of nowhere, here comes Vince Vaughn down the escalator. Totally random! Tim spotted him, and then tried to play it cool and not approach him. I said to myself "Heck! This is a totally crazy opportunity to talk to Vince Vaughn. I'm going for it." So I did, and Megan followed. I said "Hey Vince!" and proceeded to shake his hand and ask him what he was up to and whatnot. He asked what I was doing, and I told him I was working the broadcast of the Games. He said that was cool! Haha. The look on his face when we saw him and he saw us was "Oh shoot. Americans." We never asked for his pic or his autograph though, so hopefully he thought we were cool for that. Who knows? He looked like he was ready to get out of the market though. Understandable. I started to follow him down the next escalator because I wanted to continue our conversation, but Megan pulled me off of it because she didn't want him to feel like we were stalking him. Psh!! I didn't care. I wanted to talk to him more. Oh well. I laughed about it all day long as it continually crossed my mind out random it was that I met Vince Vaughn in a market in China. Especially since I spent 4 months in LA this year and never met an actor of his caliber.

Closing ceremony was pretty cool. It definitely was not as good as opening ceremony, but I still enjoyed it. I'm pumped about the London Games in 2012. I hope I can go. I'm going to at least try to apply for the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010. That would be sweet. After the closing ceremony ended, I spent the entire long walk back from the Bird's Nest to the IBC trying to find a volunteer worker to trade shirts with because I had been wanting one of their shirts since day one. After being turned down by like ten guys, I finally found an awesome guy named Journey (yes, that is his chosen English name. it's stinking awesome!) to trade with me. I gave him two JH Ranch tshirts and a pin because I was so happy that he wanted to trade. I told him he was my new best friend. In fact, I yelled it out loud so that all the passersby could here me. Haha.

The wrap party at the IBC was intense. They had DJs and free drinks. I didn't drink, but I did dance the night away. It was a lot of fun. I said all my goodbyes to the producers, camera ops, and loggers. My goodbye to Hank was probably the hardest. He's my brother. I'll miss him. Maybe I'll move to Taiwan and work for him on his travel show. Anyway, I gotta finish of my last bit of packing and whatnot. I hope you all enjoyed my Olympic blog. I might post one more blog once I'm home, but after that, I will probably cease my blogging for a while. I'll do my best to let you know when I resume. Thanks for reading, and for you prayers and support. Love ya'll! God bless!

AND THANK YOU CHINA!!

The Fun Isn't Over

2008-08-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

Sadly, things are winding down here in Beijing, but the fun isn't over. I'm still having a blast. Since my trip to the Wall, I've gotten to be a VIP at the Volkswagon showcase, see Steven Lopez win his quarterfinal Taekwondo match, eat a free meal at McDonald's, go out for dinner with Dr. Owens and friends, shop at the Olympics superstore, and get my pic with the USA Beach Volleyball Gold Medalists, Dalhausser and Rogers. There's a lot of little stuff inbetween, but those are the major highlights over the past few days.

The VW sponsorship day was great. Adam had nothing to do, so he tagged along and I think he's glad he did. Our contact at the VW showcase was Stephan (pronounced like 'steffen' not 'steven'). He's from Germany but speaks very good English. He's a really cool guy. We pretty much hung out with him all day. He got us VIP passes for the showcase, so we got to hang out for a couple hours in the VIP lounge. We got free drinks, food, and internet. We shot some crowd stuff, as well as some of the "higher-ups" at VW who were there. It was awesome.

The next day we went out to shoot McDonald's sponsorship. It took us an hour of walking in the rain to finally meet up with our contact from McD's because our producer couldn't just tell us to meet her at McD's or the Bird's Nest. Instead, we were supposed to meet her at some random parking lot, but she had no idea where it was and neither did we, so we ended up walking around the Green for an hour in the rain. Our ponchos were good for 5 minutes and then became useless. Anyway, we finally met up with our contact, Jackie. We followed a multi-cultural group of kids around and did some interview with them as well. The plus is that we got to go inside the Olympic Village and see athletes. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone I recognized. There was one USA girl I saw that I was pretty sure was Lolo Jones, but I couldn't remember her first name exactly (I was thinking "Lulo") and I didn't want to look like an idiot by asking her for a picture and not knowing her name, so I froze and missed out. Oh well. That night, a good group of us (Asbury students) went out to eat with Dr. Owens at the Great Wall restaurant. It was really good. Then we did some shopping in that area, but I didn't buy anything. Wasn't in the bargaining mood because I was tired and my feet were still soaked from earlier. Good times. My shoes smell awful, but I'm wearing them on the plan anyway because they're the heaviest pair of shoes I have and I don't want to pack them.

Last night, Tim and I hit up the Olympic Superstore. It was crazy packed and overwhelming but we survived. The best part is that we had to wait in line to get inside. I'm happy with my results though. I think I've pretty much finished my shopping. Good deal. After that, we met up with some fellow Asburians and Dr. Owens and got a group picture on the Green. Chinese people kept jumping in with the group and getting their own pics. It was hilarious. We were like celebrities. I mean, I already get my pic taken randomly while I'm walking around by myself, and so do the others, so when you put us all together in one spot for a pic you can imagine what would happen.

The biggest highlight of yesterday though is definitely me and Marian getting our picture with Dalhausser and Rogers. If I hadn't waited behind for Marian to grab her bag while everyone else headed towards the Green, it would have never happened. Good thing I'm a good friend. She's the one the saw them too, so lucky me. They had their gold medals around their necks too.

Pics from all these events are posted in my gallery. Check em out: http://picasaweb.google.com/andywpeters

The Great Wall

2008-08-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

I had the day off yesterday, and took the opportunity to go see the Great Wall. I left around 11, and it took me 3 hours to get there by subway, bus, and "taxi." The bus ride was the longest part of the trip. I went from its starting point to its end. One of the later stops on the trip, a guy at the stop saw me and rushed onto the bus and harrassed me about a Great Wall pamphlet. I'm guessing he wanted to take me there so he could make some money, but it made me nervous, and finally the bus lady kicked him off. When I got to the end of the line, another guy was at the bus door waiting for me. He said "Great Wall?," to which I answered, "Yes." He led me to his car (not an official taxi), and I was a bit nervous, but I rememberd that Marian had gone the day before and an older lady took her to the Wall in her own car too, so I figured it was all good. People just want to make money, and taking tourists to the Wall is a good way to do it. My driver turned out to be a really nice guy even though we couldn't really communicat well with one another. He waited for me while I hiked the Wall, and then took me back. It was a good deal.

The Wall was absolutely amazing. I was in awe of it. You can imagine it all you want, but you have to walk it to really know what it's like. My imagination ran wild as I thought about what it was like when it was first built and soldiers stood guard along it. Crazy stuff. I think it's the most amazing historical piece of architecture I have ever seen up close and personal. I went to the Mutianyu part of the wall which wasn't very crowded. I rode up a ski lift up to the Wall, and then went to the right which turned out to be the steepest part of my hike, but I could only go so far until I reached an overgrown part of it that visitors couldn't hike on, so I turned around and went back to where the lift was, and then headed up the other direction which wasn't as steep. It was more of a rolling sidewalk feel than the other direction which felt like the ultimate stairmaster. I spent about 2 hours on the Wall, and then headed down a little after 4pm. I could have spent a couple more hours hiking it, but I needed to get back. Plus, the Wall closes at 5pm. To get down you have to take a tobbagon (spelling?) on wheels down a metal chute. It was awesome! I posted pics from my Great Wall adventure, so check them out.

On the bus ride back, I met a couple from Dallas. Their names were John and Michelle (didn't catch the last name). I talked to John the entire trip back to our subway stop which really helped pass the time. They were both very nice. It was nice being able to speak with someone after a full day of not being able to communicate easily. I enjoyed the silence on the Wall though. It was some good focus time. I'd love to go back someday.

P.S. I met US swimmer, Aaron Piersol two days ago, and got my pic with him. Check it!

One great night...

2008-08-17T15:57:00.001-07:00

So, it's my first early morning, and it's not really that early compared to some of my friends' mornings here. I got into the office around 6:50 and no one is here, so I figured I would take time to blog it up.

Things are going great still. The biggest thing that's happened, as far as my experience here, since my last post is that I got to play in the fountains with some Chinese children. I'm aware that that may not seem to be a big deal compared to all that is going on around me. I mean, it's just the Olympics and all. But the other night, my crew was out and about on the Olympic green filming some crowds and whatnot, and the fountains outside the National Stadium came on. These are the kinds of fountains that come up from the sidewalk, and they are synchronized to music. Tons of kids started running and playing in them. We were done shooting for the most part, and Hank was just shooting some shots of the kids playing, so I decided to join in the fun. I got some pics and a few video clips of it all. It was just an amazing blessing to get to do that because I had been waiting for a chance to really connect with the people here in a real way, and it's hard when there is a language barrier and I'm busy working and all. Playing with the kids was a great way to break the barrier, and their laughter brought real joy to my night. I got to a race a girl through the fountains and back...3 times! And, of course, she beat me everytime. I also had a splash fight with this little boy that was hilarious. He wouldn't run through the fountains with me though. It was an amazing night to say the least.

Other than that, I saw USA beat Spain. We were shooting crowd shots (we're doing a lot of that right now). Nadal was sitting about 5 or 6 rows down from our ENG platform. Ada and I tried to take his picture, but he wouldn't turn around. A couple of my friends got to see Phelps win his 8th medal, which was sweet. I watched it on a big screen on the Olympic Green.

Some notable things in the past week have been seeing Nadal play, seeing the Williams sisters at a match I was covering, watching some awesome table tennis matches, and shooting in the Water Cube. Today, we're doing some sponsorship filming. I think we get to go to the Bird's Nest at some point. I'm excited about that.

Working here has been a great experience. Despite some of the 15-17 hour days I've pulled lately, and being really tired at times, I have loved every minute of being here. The people I work with are all wonderful. I hope I get to stay in touch with some of them, if not all.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Both are much needed.

God Bless!

Rain, tennis, and swollen ankles...

2008-08-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

That pretty much sums up the past 3 days. It didn't rain today however. It was actually a nice day. Hot in the sun, but a nice day still. It wasn't real humid, and we could actually see some blue in the sky. The past three days have been shooting tennis matches. The first day got rained out in the late afternoon which gave us enough time to make it to the USA vs. China basketball game which was sweet. The venue was packed. Yesterday was a full day of tennis. We worked around 15-16 hours. My crew was the last to leave around 1:00am and we only left then because the it started pouring on us. The match wasn't over yet. Today was another 15 hour day of tennis. It's like midnight here and i'm just getting ready to leave the IBC. Gaynor and I have a call time of 7:45am tomorrow for a full day of table tennis. We were the last two crews to leave tennis tonight, and we'll be the first crews to go out tomorrow. Fun stuff. Hank's not happy.

On top of everything...my ankles are swollen from so much standing and walking around. I have cankles! Haha.

Things to note: I saw Rafael Nadal play yesterday, as well as saw the Williams sisters watching another one of their teammates play.

Watching so much tennis has made me want to play really bad.

Sorry my post is kind of disoriented and scattered, but it's late and I'm beat. Hooray for long hours!

Until I post again...

Let the Games Begin!!

2008-08-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Since the last post, I have found the market we looked for, and went shopping there a couple times. It was a lot of fun bargaining with the vendors. I spent 20 minutes trying to get away from a vendor lady who was trying to sell me a Peak Performance jacket that I didn't want. She started out at 520 RMB, and when I resisted her long enough that she went down to 130 RMB, I decided I would bargain with her, and offered it for 100 RMB. I got it for 110. Haha. Jeremy got some good video footage of that chaos. It's a nice jacket.

As far as work goes, I have yet to go into work any earlier than 9:30am (that changes tomorrow), which is completely different than what I expected. Work is great. I love the people I work with. We spent our first full day today shooting Archery. My crew (Hank and Ada) was in the "Blinds" (a box about halfway between the archers and the targets that sits off to the side and allows us to shoot the archers from a front angle). It was hot in there, but we survived. Hank taught me some Tai Chi while we were in there. We can take free classes at the Media Village, and if I have time, I may check it out. It's pretty cool. The few days ago, all the ENG crews went to the Tennis venue to check it out because we'll be working there tomorrow, and Roger Federer was practicing. We spent a good deal of time just hanging out in the seats close to the court watching him. I posted some pics from it on my picasaweb site. That was pretty darn cool.

Now let's talk Opening Ceremony...

IT WAS AMAZING!!

To start it all off, none of our ENG crews were assigned to work the ceremony, so we were all bumming about it. The night before, we all get phone calls telling us to report to work at 4pm the next day (we were originally told to take the day off), so we all got excited. Jeremy, Adam, Tim, Matt, Marian, and I were the only ones that actually got to "work" the ceremony. The others had other assignments. I say "work" because we were technically working, but all we really did was sit and watch the whole thing. Also, Marian didn't actually work it. She got a ticket through a contact she had in the upper echelons of the Olympic broadcast. So, we were all pumped to be there, and thank God that we were because it was so awesome. I kept thinking about how blessed I was to be there. The performance moved me like no other performance in my life. It couldn't help but think about how around the world some of these countries are waring with one another, and here, for these 2-3 weeks, we are all united. The realization of that reality made the atmosphere in the Bird's Nest all the more bone-chilling. I was actually moved to the brink of tears during the "You and Me" song when the globe came out of the ground and the faces of children worldwide came onto the screens. I have a ton of respect for the ceremony's director. I feel like he unleashed every centimeter (they use the metric system here of course) of his artistic ability into that ceremony. An American opening ceremony could not top what I saw last night. China raised the bar for Opening Ceremonies in my opinion. The torch lighting was absolutely amazing as well. I still can't figure out how they got the torch into position during the parade. I wasn't paying attention. I predicted that it would be up there somewhere though. Hank didn't believe me. I also predicted that the torch bearer would fly up to the torch. Once again, Hank didn't believe me. I'm just that good.

Not to rub it in anyone's face or anything, but it is impossible to know what that ceremony was truly like without having actually been there in person. TV could not do that experience justice (I know because I watched some of it this morning). I say that just to let you all know just how stinking awesome of a ceremony it was. Absolutely amazing! Once in a lifetime, and I thank God so much for allowing me to be there, and not just there, but here at the Olympics in general. I can't get over how blessed I am to be here.

Well, I hope you all are doing well. I'll keep you updated on how the rest of sports shooting goes. Tomorrow, we've got a full day of shooting tennis, and then we're going to the USA vs. China basketball game later in the evening. I'm pumped about that.

Goodnight and God bless ya'll!

First Day of Work

2008-08-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

While it was technically my first day of work, we didn't really work. It was more of an orientation day. We were told who are crews were and what we'd be doing. Each crew consists of a camera operator, a camera assistant (me), and a logger. My camera op's name is Lee Cheng Wei, but he goes by Hank. He named himself after Tom Hanks. When I told him that Tom Hanks was one of my favorite actors, he smiled and said "Life is like box of chocolates." It was funny. I like him. Our logger's name is Ada and she's a local Chinese student. I haven't gotten to know either of them very well yet, but they both seem really nice, and they speak pretty decent English which is nice.

We spent an hour or so in the morning getting a presentation on the new P2 HD cams from Panasonic that our camera operators would be using. It was pretty cool. A Japanese guy from Panasonic gave the presentation, and one of the Chinese guys was filming him with a Sony mini-dv cam, and another one of the camera operators looked at him and told him to get rid of the Sony because he might upset the Panasonic guy. He was joking of course. It was more funny in person I guess.

In the afternoon, we went over our assignments and whatnot. My crew is covering archery, tennis, and table tennis during the first week. I'm not real sure what we'll be doing the second week. We'll probably be sent out on random assignments. It's looking like I'll be work around 10-11 hour days and having enough time to still get to the markets and stuff in the evenings. Good deal.

We got done around 2:30pm and a group of us were going to go to the Great Wall, but found out it closes at 5pm and it would probably be useless to try and go at that time, so about 6 or 7 of us went to the Forbidden City instead, and then hit up a food court in one of the malls. After that, we proceeded to ride the subway around looking for a market that Jeremy and Tim had been to once, but failed to find it. Now, I'm just beat. We got some hilarious pics at the Forbidden City (which we saw very little of, so I may have to go back). I'll try to post them soon.

Again, the Chinese workers here are so darn helpful. I love it! They're great.

Day 1

2008-08-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

I'm in China! That's crazy! Haha.

Anyway, the flights over went smoothly. I'm pretty sure I lost feeling in my butt at one point during the 13 hour flight though. As soon as I arrived the Olympic volunteers (locals) hounded me with assistance. It's been wonderful. Everywhere you go, they smile and greet you and genuinely want to assist you in any way possible. It's quite humbling. When I arrived at my apartment building, one of the bellboys grabbed my bag and showed me to my suite. When we were getting on the elevator, he let me go in first, and then asked "May I come in?" I was thrown off for a second, but quickly responded "Yes you may." Haha. I thought to myself "Of course you can! You have my bag." Anyway, he was very kind and showed me to my apartment suite. All the suites have 4 single bedrooms. The accommodations greatly exceeded my expectations. The bellboy asked me what time in the mornings it was okay to come clean my room, and how often they should do it. I had no idea, so I said 10am every 2 days, and, of course, I've only been here one night, and my room was clean when I got in this afternoon. It's amazing how well we are treated here. I feel like I should tip these people but they won't take it.

I don't start work until the morning of the 4th (tomorrow), so I spent today walking around and whatnot. A group of us (Asbury students/grads) went to church this morning at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. It was pretty cool. Dr. Owens (Media Department Chair at Asbury) was there with his family, so it was good to see him. Afterwards, Adam, Jeremy, Nick, Tim and I went to the International Broadcast Center (IBC) to report in and pick up our uniforms. We got lost real easily. It was quite the experience. We laughed a ton today. I think we made our impression as the loud and jovial (yes, I used the word "jovial") Americans here in Beijing. We realized we were the only ones talking and laughing on the buses and subway. It was hilarious. At one point, we were all squished together on the bus and cracking up, and when the doors opened, a man took a picture of us...weird. After the IBC, we came back to the Media Village (where we live) and rested until dinner. Around 30 of us Asburians went out to eat with Dr. Owens and his family at a really good Italian place. We were there a while tellin stories and laughing (stupid loud Americans as usual).

On a sad note, my plan had been to go to the Great Wall today, but we spent so much time getting lost at the IBC that we ran out of time. My hope is that I will get a chance to go before I leave.

When we checked in at the IBC, our supervisor explained our jobs to us a bit more. I'm an ENG assist which basically means that I work as a handheld camera assistant along with a few others, and we go around and shoot footage for some events (not all). We will be covering a few events over the first week, and the second week we will be doing more of a documentary. Our supervisor told us that we wouldn't be working too late, and that things will slow down as the days roll on, which is much different than what we had expected after hearing horror stories from past Olympics. So, although we're aware that we'll still be working hard for long hours at certain points, we were relieved to hear that it won't be as crazy as it has been in the past.

Well, I'm beat, and I start work in the morning, so it's time to get to bed for me. I will update as often as I can.

Lates!

PS The interpretor during the church service called Lebron James, "Lebarn." It was hilarious

Following the Crowd

2008-07-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

So I noticed a trend amongst my fellow colleagues who are joining me in Beijing for the next 3-4 weeks...they're all doing an Olympic Blog.

I figured I'd join in on the fun.

I will do my best to keep you all updated on my experience in China, but I am assuming that I will be working really long hours and be really tired, so I cannot guarantee an daily update.

Enjoy! I know I will ;)