Say What?

First off, thanks guys for all the comments! I love reading them and it's like my only connection to some of you so thanks for those.

It's a great sunny Saturday afternoon and I've just come in from having a picnic lunch outside with the crew, and playing some volleyball on a court that Joseph, the good-lookin' janitor, made us on the second level of the property here. Now I should get on to doing a Bible assignment, but before hand, here's something I wrote up a couple days ago about this week:

Here are the highlights.

On Tuesday we had a guys night and that was an incredible time. We went over to a friend of Dale's who owned a huge property. At his house we drove a beat up car with smashed out windows (but with an amazing engine) around a dirt track on the back part of his property. (He had a huge field for his cattle, chickens, goats as well.) The first time we got driven around by the owner, Matt, who was an expert at driving the car and doing all sorts of tricky things like super huge drifts on the dirt, 360s... the car handled well. So we got two laps of that fun with him and then we had the opportunity to drive around the track ourselves. (With him in the passenger seat this time.) A couple guys went and some were great at maximizing the car's potential but there were a few stalls when the car was driven into the bushes that surrounded the track. (The car had standard transmission. It was usually just kept in second gear and they'd whip around on that.) So after one of the times where we all went to push the car our of the bushes, and to get it started again, the guys talked me into driving. So it was my first time driving standard! The owner took me through a few of the things to look out for on the course and told me how to do some of the tricky stuff.
The area where we all watch is also the area where all the drifts, 360s, tricky stuff is done, the rest of the course is basically about going fast, except for one corner where we have to slow down. So the owner told me when we approach the main area, where tricks are done, to go on the far left and when I turn the corner, crank the wheel super fast to the right and hit the gas pedal to the floor. This was going to get the car drifting at the very least, or even better, making a 360 in the dirt. The 4 guys before me all were able to do it with varying degrees of success. So after I figured out the clutch I got going and started whipping around the track. When I reached the watching area I got really excited and floored it THEN started cranking the wheel. The result was "traumatic", "amazing" and "scary" as the guys put it. Apparently I came within 6 feet of the guys and the truck which transported us to the track. I ended up "drifting at 90 degrees" and careend into a huge bush. Jonas, who went prior to me also ran straight into a bush in a different area and we actually had to get the truck and some rope and man-power to yank it out so I was thinking the same thing would have to happen to me. But once I entered the bush since I'd still had my foot floored on the gas, I shot straight out up back onto the track for the second lap. It was amazing. Later when the guys asked me what must have been going through my head when that was happening I said "nothing." Really, I had no idea I came that close to hitting them, all I remember was that I knew I was going straight into the bush and that I hadn't followed the directions properly or else I wouldn't be heading in the wrong direction.
Next time I reached that area, the owner told me to come to a complete stop and reminded me:
Steer hard first THEN floor it. He was obviously really serious because he had just seen me almost run over the whole crew, but apparently the guys who saw me getting instructions from the car said I was laughing. It was heeps of fun. Needless to say that was the talk of the next few days... how I was able to drift at that angle, my recklessness, and how I almost nailed them.

After the paddock racing we went back to the house and had steak and then when it got dark, we went possum hunting. I was with two Alaskans, Robert and Ben, and Bryan (from Alberta). Our driver/hunting-expert, Matt, took us around a mountain. When he saw any red eyes, whoever had the gun would hop out of the car and would try to gun it down. (We had a shotgun.) Bryan went first and he nailed one possum out of a tree, and he was really happy. After a long time of searching Ben shot two down. We were on private property, so there were barbed-wire fences everywhere, so we'd be hopping over them into the trees looking for the dead possums. That was the funnest part for me, because I didn't end up getting a chance to shoot. (Neither did Robert.) I wasn't really that keen on shooting so I was alright with that. On the two that Ben shot we went hiking up a steep-ish hill looking for the possums. The only way we could see anything was our driver who was holding a spotlight. For awhile down the hill I held the dead possums while Ben hopped back over the barbed-wire fences. We'd all hold them by the tail very triumphantly. (These possums are a lot cuter than the ones in North America. These look like miniature bears with long tails.) We got back to the Crossing at 11pm all muddy while the girls had already fallen asleep after their night of fondue-eating, foot massages, fancy dresses and chick flicks for their girls night.

On Wednesday, after a work day of working in the kitchen cleaning everything imaginable (and I thought some of the jobs I did at home were pointless) we had a good stir fry which I made along with Cara and our head cook, Sheryl, we had another indoor soccer night at the high school. (Becoming a tradition.) Our lecturer for the week, Richard Neville, from Christchurch, in his 40s/50s, came with us and he was the most amazing goalie ever. The team I was on consisted of: Jordan, Kelsey, Cara, Sheryl and Richard. Cara and Sheryl don't play soccer but they were serviceable. Jordan and I were the two main threats and we were always looking for eachother. We both had 6/7 goals each, in a losing cause. Against us, was the "janitor"/events co-ordinator, Joseph, Joel, Jonas (triple Js... they've formed a pretty tight bond), Amber and Hanna. It was a really even match, something like 19-17. After an hour and a half I was down with cramps all over the legs and by the two hour mark Jordan was cramping too so we kinda dwindled at the end. Today I bought banana's though so I should be good if we play again. But Richard was the MVP. For about 30 minutes, nothing got by him. He was fearless, going down on the ground, looking like a hockey goalie, taking balls off the head, and smacking the ball down to the other end. Richard was also a great lecturer, which I'll get to in a bit.

Meals continue to cause major laugh attacks for me. So far I've had a couple of drinks and desserts go out my nose. The details:

Laugh attack #1.) Wednesday dessert: (We only have dessert twice a week, so this is a big deal.) Joseph came to the table and asked Robert (both Americans) if he remembered what John McCains slogan was.
Robert: In the movie Die Hard?
Joseph: No, in the election.
*Butterscotch pudding out the nose*

Laugh attack #2.) Thursday dinner: Pizza. Michael takes a bite of pizza and says something that sounds like shay. Joel catches on and after each bite he says shay as well. I'm already at this point, but the pinnacle is after a 20 times of hearing this word when I ask Michael how this word is spelled.
Michael: S-A-Y
*Water out out the mouth*
Needless to say I wasn't expecting that spelling. Turns out he's just saying the word "say..." in a really interesting way.

Laugh attack #3.) Thursday night lecture: We're going around the class reading a passage from Genesis and it's Michael's turn to read a verse. (He's right before me.) After everyone had just read the verse normally, he says his verse with overwhelming enthusiasm that gets me going, BUT it's my turn, so I have to calm down quickly, and I manage to get through all the words, except two. Bryan, infront of me shouts "TWO MORE WORDS! Almost there" while laughing and I mangage to say "near" but even then, I start laughing again. Eventually I was able to say "Sodom" in fragments, and the reading continued. Good thing Richard, like Werner, has a sense of humour and joined in on the laughter.

Laugh attack #4.) Saturday lunch: As we're discussing all the times I've laughed this week (apparently Joel is keeping a tally of all the times I laugh in lectures... it's up to 15 after 3 weeks of lectures), Colin asks me if I've ever had food go through my nose as I'm laughing. He asks me this just as I'm drinking water, and water goes through the nose and I'm gone again. Although everyone finds it funny how much I laugh (Robert: Where have you been all of my life?) it's Colin who finds my laughing the funniest. He goes on to tell me he asked this because his girlfriend, Faith, once had food go through her nose and it was painful. (Maybe Heather or Rebekah remember this?)

The more important matters... what I learnt this week... those will be coming soon in another blog post.

Richard's lectures this week were on Genesis. Going through some of the stories at a deeper level.