retreat
It's so good to have almost all of COSDU back from their holidays. There's a frenetic energy that marked our mini-reunions. That being said, we've begun our usual pattern of 'stations'. Sr. Theresa heard about our indecisive inertia when hanging out groups of larger than four. She's christened this phenonmenon: Stations (start, stop, wait, start, stop, wait).
Thursday night we popped by each others places, and there was always someone new to welcome back at each house. Even Sue Lyn called and she said hi to people other than the ones she called.
Friday, I finally got around to doing what I've been meaning to do for some time. Then met a few COSDUans for dinner. It was strange sitting right in the middle. I wasn't exactly part of the main conversation between Keith, Cornelia, Brian, Sabrina and Sean. Yet I wasn't really part of the conversation on the other side either. I seemed almost a world away from Christine and Shu'an who were seated at the other end of the table. They had a profound discussion about literature. On the other end of the table, Sabrina was taking in all the bawdiness that comes with being around Keith.
Saturday, I was in bed most of the morning. I was feeling lethargic that day for some reason. Can't put my finger on it. I told Brian and he said he was feeling lethargic too. Perhaps it was the impending semester. I helped out in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the committee retreat. My spirits lifted when half the committee turned up to help us carry the food to Chaplaincy.
While they were around, the Australia-NZ Bledisloe Cup match was about to start. We watched the national anthems and the Haka. For the first time in a while, I could feel my hair standing on end during the Haka. A good sign. :) This time I felt the challenge being shoved in the Wallabies faces. The look on Waugh said it all - he looked... scared. The match ended 21-50 in the All Blacks' favour.
I didn't really get to watch the match. It was 8-8 when we came back from Chaplaincy. Michelle and Shanti joined us for dinner.
Sunday. Mass at St Carthages, then the confirmation (I almost typed 'wedding') rehearsal. Jason, my 'Godson', was made cross-bearer! :) Edna and Samantha are the candle-bearers and Sean will bear the chrism. Most of the confirmants are kids! Some couldn't be a year over 10. I had to run through with the newly-invested altar servers what they should do on the day. Brought back memories. :)
Had lunch with the committee, then conducted my games and session for them. Never knew watching the 'make the square' game could be so... errr... entertaining. :) Everyone's blindfolded, given a length of rope and the object of the game is to make a perfect square from the length of rope. The committee did it in 15 minutes. Well done! And they got themselves in a serious tangle at one point. They worked well together to get themselves out of that jam.
The next game, we played what I termed "The Tower of Babel". Okay, I didn't know what else to call it. The comm split into two teams and they had to build the highest possible free-standing structure to support a bucket filled with 3 litres of water. Group 1 were very calm and decisive. Their basic structure was built quite fast. Group 2 were more haphazard and seemed to be having a lot more fun. They were constantly laughing! They managed to finish their structure before the allocated time ran out. Even though they were one person short, their structure was the taller of the two AND it held up under the strain of the weight.
One thing I noticed - perhaps I'm wrong - the current committee has put a premium on trusting one another. I observed that both groups used this word quite a bit. Well, that's wonderful. :)
Was really sleepy after the session.
-----------
The left brain-right brain thing. Christine, Damian, Ee-Wei, Florence and Shu'an did the test with varied results. Some were spot on, others not so.
Thursday night we popped by each others places, and there was always someone new to welcome back at each house. Even Sue Lyn called and she said hi to people other than the ones she called.
Friday, I finally got around to doing what I've been meaning to do for some time. Then met a few COSDUans for dinner. It was strange sitting right in the middle. I wasn't exactly part of the main conversation between Keith, Cornelia, Brian, Sabrina and Sean. Yet I wasn't really part of the conversation on the other side either. I seemed almost a world away from Christine and Shu'an who were seated at the other end of the table. They had a profound discussion about literature. On the other end of the table, Sabrina was taking in all the bawdiness that comes with being around Keith.
Saturday, I was in bed most of the morning. I was feeling lethargic that day for some reason. Can't put my finger on it. I told Brian and he said he was feeling lethargic too. Perhaps it was the impending semester. I helped out in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the committee retreat. My spirits lifted when half the committee turned up to help us carry the food to Chaplaincy.
While they were around, the Australia-NZ Bledisloe Cup match was about to start. We watched the national anthems and the Haka. For the first time in a while, I could feel my hair standing on end during the Haka. A good sign. :) This time I felt the challenge being shoved in the Wallabies faces. The look on Waugh said it all - he looked... scared. The match ended 21-50 in the All Blacks' favour.
I didn't really get to watch the match. It was 8-8 when we came back from Chaplaincy. Michelle and Shanti joined us for dinner.
Sunday. Mass at St Carthages, then the confirmation (I almost typed 'wedding') rehearsal. Jason, my 'Godson', was made cross-bearer! :) Edna and Samantha are the candle-bearers and Sean will bear the chrism. Most of the confirmants are kids! Some couldn't be a year over 10. I had to run through with the newly-invested altar servers what they should do on the day. Brought back memories. :)
Had lunch with the committee, then conducted my games and session for them. Never knew watching the 'make the square' game could be so... errr... entertaining. :) Everyone's blindfolded, given a length of rope and the object of the game is to make a perfect square from the length of rope. The committee did it in 15 minutes. Well done! And they got themselves in a serious tangle at one point. They worked well together to get themselves out of that jam.
The next game, we played what I termed "The Tower of Babel". Okay, I didn't know what else to call it. The comm split into two teams and they had to build the highest possible free-standing structure to support a bucket filled with 3 litres of water. Group 1 were very calm and decisive. Their basic structure was built quite fast. Group 2 were more haphazard and seemed to be having a lot more fun. They were constantly laughing! They managed to finish their structure before the allocated time ran out. Even though they were one person short, their structure was the taller of the two AND it held up under the strain of the weight.
One thing I noticed - perhaps I'm wrong - the current committee has put a premium on trusting one another. I observed that both groups used this word quite a bit. Well, that's wonderful. :)
Was really sleepy after the session.
-----------
The left brain-right brain thing. Christine, Damian, Ee-Wei, Florence and Shu'an did the test with varied results. Some were spot on, others not so.
