so Christmas (yes it's all just a big chronological mess, but it's almost the end of the year so it's all got to go before it's out!)
it was awesome!
i thought i might feel a bit homesick but i really didn't.
the reason: i was with people that i really love anyway.
it started with a big english breakfast (with food brought from england by roger's sister) and was a bit of a food frenzy for the next 48hours.
after breakfast we opened presents (i was totally surprised by the generosity of people)
jace was there (he's eight) so it was awesome. he got so excited, dancing around while the presents were being opened, and it meant that we played with his presents pretty much till lunch. (yay for wii fit snowboarding! i might spend most of my time on my ass when boarding in snow, but with the wii i kinda kicked it! so much fun!)
the main meal was lovely, totally cooked by roger (he wouldnt let the rest of us near the kitchen) we just chilled out and did the whole cracker, christmas hat thing before evening games.
it was a very good day.
all but one thing. it rained all night so i woke up to the most non-white day we'd had in days! the snow was gone!
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
christmas day
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Rebekah Tait
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what would you do if...?
what would you do if you had the option to choice the 'if...'?
what would you do if you couldn't think of anything you could do if?
it's hogmany.
it's the end of the year.
it's 1430 and im still in my pjs.
it's snowing outside.
it's time to think about the possibility of maybe moving.
the quota for belly button contemplation is full for the year.
what would you do if it was another year tomorrow?
well anything more than i've done today would be a start.
happy new year!
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Rebekah Tait
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Thursday, 25 December 2008
prelude to christmas day
Growing up, my brother and I had an advent calendar. A big christmas tree hung on the wall that my mum had made for us from green material with red and gold numbered pockets of different textures. And of course, i big gold star pocket on top for the last day.
We would split the numbers, one person got odds, the other evens and we'd switch every year (to determine who got the gold star.)
When we were small, a sweet would be waiting in the pockets, but as we got older (and more mischevious, unable not to peak) things got a little more interesting. Each morning we would find a piece of paper sticking out of our pocket, on which would be written a clue. We had until the end of the day (often with some help) to decifer the clue to find a gift hidden somewhere in our house. The were never big, just silly things that my parents had found for us (and a couple of sweets thrown in for good measure) but it was always a lot of fun and was probably the part of Christmas we looked forward to the most. (especially when you figured out the other person's clue before them...)
So when i left for uni i presumed this would end (since i wasn't in the house to find things anymore) but my brother was scandalised and so next i knew i had a pile of pre-parceled, numbered, wee gifts, this time with clues relating to what was inside. When my brother left, the same happened to him (to the cheerful amusement of both our flatmates, and since it had always been a bit of a group game, mine were generally roped into the whole thing with me.)
So when i left for new york i presumed this would end (since i'm not in the country anymore) but (and i can't blame my brother this time) about a month ago a parcel arrived for me, inside which was a load of odd numbered, pre-clued little parcels and a note with instructions. It was a lovely little reminder of family and friends and most of the gifts or clues were fairly personal (not in a sappy way, my parents don't really do schmultz, more like references to black adder quotes i used to use too much, or three marshmallows (a little stale) my dad had wrapped in cling film to go with some individual hot chocolate) it was lovely.
Today I opened my last parcel and it was awesome! New Scientist magazine and marks and spencers knickers! neither of which there's really an american substitute for, and both of which i love.
I'm guessing this year will probably be the last for the calendar (although i have been wrong about that a few times before) but it's a tradition that has served us well, and i'll be glad to pass on if i ever have kids.
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Rebekah Tait
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Wednesday, 24 December 2008
christmas eve
tis the night before christmas
she thought with a pause
'im in new york,
for the season with Clause!'
specials on tv
kids bouncing off walls
food stuffed in till up-chuck
and homeward bound calls...
nb: apparently 'the night before Christmas' is the most parodied poem ever written, i stumbled across a couple that made me laugh a little more than i should probably admit...
'An Ernest Hemingway Christmas' - It was the night before Christmas. The house was very quiet. No creatures were stirring in the house. There weren't even any mice stirring...
'An Intellectuals Christmas' - 'Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence,
kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of domestic rodent known as Mus musculus...
Anyway, back to the point.
It just occurred to me yesterday, while walking round the city checking out shop displays and Christmas decorations, that I'm spending Christmas in New York this year. How cool is that?!
The city was fantastic full of last minute shoppers, kids in insane queues for the Rockefeller ice rink, the Macy's 'miracle on 34th st' window displays and a light show at grand central station that we happened upon by chance. every romantic seasonal stereotype was there so for once i decided to join a friend in being a tourist, walking for miles to soak in the sights.
It was awesome!
Today is Christmas eve and Jace was round for the afternoon. He's eight, and bouncing off the walls with excitement for tomorrow. Roger prepared dinner for tomorrow and the rest of us (since we weren't allowed to help) played board games and did last minute things of our own to get ready for tomorrow. And then there was the eating. mince pies and British chocolate (taken over by Roger's sister for the holiday) oh i might explode but it was good.
It's only 6weeks till i leave here, i can't believe it, and Christmas is weird being away from family, but it made me realise how soon that is. it feels like i just got here a few weeks ago.
it's a real white new york Christmas. ace!
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Saturday, 20 December 2008
a real Christmas
today was another fantastic day!
i was talking to someone today who made a very good point. if the news was our only sorce of information about the reality of the world we live in, it would be pretty dire. it only ever seems to show all the bad stuff.
of which there is a lot.
but there is also an awful lot of good in the world. there are a lot of good people out there and a lot of very generous people.
i helped to organise Christmas presents for the guys we go see on the mobile soup kitchen and was staggered by the amount of generosity i saw. people who showed what Christmas is really about. even though financially people are feeling a strain here, they still gave to those who are less fortunate than themselves.
everybody on our list got a personalised gift bag full of winter supplies and ontop of that, people brought in about the same amount again in extras, just incase anyone was missed out.
it wasn't until i was pulling it all together this week that i realised just how much stuff had been donated.
so today we got to do the fun part!
the snow's really bad and the temperature was low, but it's days like this that motivate you to go out even more than sunny ones, realising that people live outside in this. (and feeling a little guilt at struggling to feel my toes despite several layers ontop of thermals.)
i had the job of finding and organising gift bags (since i pretty much recognised the bags and names by heart by this point) out of the side of the van and to say that people were thankful was an understatement.
i felt like santa clause (although didn't like that i was being thanked for what other people had done, i'd only organised it) people couldn't believe that they were getting presents and were, even if for a second, like wide-eyed innocent children.
i got to talk to almost everyone today, and i loved that we knew each other by this point (a lot of them joking with me about the fact that i didn't have a camera today - i had to have free hands for climbing into vans sorting presents.) a couple of the older guys who i have a particular soft spot for gave me a hug and were speachless, tears in their eyes.
two people in particular really struck me, encompassing the entirity of the feedback we got.
the first was a homeless lady who on recieving her bag said how that was the only present she would get this Christmas. she's litterally on her own.
the other was a man at the last stop we visit. he's a kind gentle guy who will have a laugh with you but doesn't like to impose himself. he took the bag, thanked us and then left.
a few minutes later he runs out possing all over the place and exclaiming how great he looks in his fantastic new jumper. he couldn't believe that he's got something so great.
to me it was a just a jumper. to him it was so much more.
i had such a great time today! in theory it was hard work, and it took my toes a good hour to get the feeling back, but it really didn't matter a bit cos this is exactly what christmas is all about. cos this is exactly what jesus was born for.
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Friday, 19 December 2008
snow!
today was fantastic.
first of all it snowed!
white, clean, powdery, big snowflakes
i think (other than in the mountains) that was the most snow i've ever seen! it was really cool. we got around 6inches of snowfall today and are scheduled for more over the weekend and some seriously cold temperatures through the week.
it did have a downside though.
other than the obvious implications for any of the homeless folks we'll be goin to see tomorrow, driving was more than a little interesting.
we were on a mini mission today, and it was too important to stay off the road, but the van skidded on more than one ocassion on the way.
our mission was a pretty cool one, although i didn't quite realise how much till we got to our location. we went to pick up some toys for the kids of families at our pantry from this guy who's donated toys for the last few years.
so we turn up at this office block type thing and go into a room full of guys wrapping toys, with tables up the side of the room covered in toys, split into age groups.
it looked like what i thought was stereotypical non-profit organisation headquaters. then the boss guy came looking like a very well-to-do lawyer. not stereotypical for the setting.
neither were the toys. taking a closer look when he told us to take whatever we needed i realised these were not small, stocking filler type toys, they were big things. quality baby dolls and remote control dinosaurs type toys.
i later found out that the boss guy is actually an attorney who runs this every year, getting donations (although from what i can gather he does most of it himself) of toys and giving them to people who need them. and from what i gathered he goes above and beyond for families in need in the area appart from toys once a year.
the guy seemed a bit stressed out (not surprising when i realised that he's organising all this ontop of all his normal work) but what struck me was how geniunely giving this guy was. just as we were leaving he handed us extra bags, that he'd personally saved for us, of clothes and gloves and stuff.
it was awesome, but more than a little surreal. i was totally overwhelmed knowing how much these toys will be appreciated, and that people like that exist.
you can't make this stuff up.
sometimes it feels like i live in a movie or something cos the people i meet and places i go and things i get to experience never fail to surprise me. (and you guys don't get the half of it!)
i love Christmas! and i can't wait to go see the guys tomorrow and pass on the gifts folks brought in for them!
and i love snow!
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Rebekah Tait
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Tuesday, 16 December 2008
a few days till christmas
it's the run up to christmas and it's all just a bit strange.
christmas for the last few years has felt a bit strange, a mixture of being aware of post new year uni deadlines and then last year when we all changed venue and spent it with family in three different locations.
this year im away from family altogether which is weird, well, blood related family anyway. i'll miss them, but i'm with my second family here so i still feel at home. i've always maintained that the people i'm staying with are like second parents to me, and the last few months with them have made them mean even more to me so (other than with my first parents) i can't think of a better place to be at christmas. (and then of course there's the extended family of the people in the church i go to that decided to unofficially adopt me...)
there's a lot more light here. moer light through the day. we havn't had a single misrable cold grey day on the run up to christmas yet. it's just not right!
Christmas was always the big shiny red and warm day in the middle of the crap that is a northern hemisphere wet winter. (which we'd inevitabley get dragged out in carol singing at some hospital or housing estate to spread some cheer while freezing our giblets...)
instead, this year it's a shiny warm day in the middle of lots of crisp blue days with twinkly nights. (not the stars since you can't really see them here, but the emense amount of ornamentation on the houses in the area it's so insane that it's kinda cool. there's even one house by me that has it's own radio station, when you tune into it the lights are all timed so as to give you a show along with the music.)
all in all, Christmas is a very different experience this year. not worse, or better, just different.
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Thursday, 11 December 2008
Cinema
Cinemas have always fascinated me.
The last time I went to the cinema I couldn't for the life of me concentrate (John Travolta as a dog with identity issues, funnily enough, wasn't quite enough to stop my mind from wandering that night... although the hamster had it's moments.)
I spent a lot of the time considering 'non-disbelief.'
Before you can enjoy fully, a movie (or any story for that matter) it has to bring the viewer, listener, whatever-er, to a point where they are entering into it in some way. It's the point when you stop being aware of the protagonist (or the aparatus being used as one) and think only of the story being told.
It's something that I find fascinating. A similar thing happens when you are in the process of remembering something. You become simultaniously at two places at the same time; vaguely unaware of your surroundings while you put yourself back in the time, place, etc that you are recolecting.
It's pretty cool that humans can do that, but the film in question got me thinking about the other side of that.
The dog had been lead to believe that he was the charater in a tv series, (truman show-esque scenario) but then a chain of events leads to him being released into the real world and suddenly he doesn't know what's hit him.
So what if our society has reached the point, or dangerously close to, that all those authors like Ray Bradbury were warning us about, or even earlier, Plato and his cave?
Society perpetuating non-disbelief to the point that we begin to loose the ability to step back and be aware of the reminants of popcorn sticking to our feet?
Has media become such a mainstay in contemporary culture that we run the risk of seeing things as they actually are?
Yesterday I went with some friends to check out a new cinema that has opened as a possible second site for the church and it was truly weird to be shown around, taking photos of theatres etc. but nevertheless really cool. (esp when he gave us a tester of their brand new imax theatre.)
But it got me thinking again about the phenominon of cinema and wondering again about that old lenon (i think) statement that it's 'the opiot of the masses.' I don't think it's true for cinema parsay but he might have a point when society looks to the media for it's grasp on reality.
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Rebekah Tait
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Monday, 8 December 2008
picture copout
Today I opened an email that made me laugh (well actually i got three that made me laugh but that's beside the point.)
"Dear Beckie are you dead. If you are don't bother to reply to this e-mail as I know that it might be inconvenient."
(my granpa has a very Scottish sense of humour)
A lot has happened in the last little while and I'm not sure where to start, so instead I'm going to follow the old adage 'a picture paints a thousand words' and use some photos instead.
Spent a cold thanksgiving morning in the city.
Went out through the Hamptons to the end of the island with some friends where the shore looks just like where i grew up...
... except for the wildlife.
Was blown away by the generosity of Christmas gifts that folks have given for our homeless guys.
Found a card (I never thought that actually happened.)
Did some baking with a friend.
Attended a massive gingerbread house making party. And got a little carried away with my house... it even had a coal pile out the back.
Saw the first snow of the season on a rather early sunday morning. The other guy who stays here at weekends had never seen snow. How cool!
Had a great time meeting up with the New Orleans team yesterday for a look over photos etc. Great company and great food. I got insight into why Clemenza tells Rocco to 'Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.' There are a tonne of Italians on Long Island, and they brought their food with them. So when someone brought freshly made cannoli from the best bakery on Long Island (apparently) I had to try one.
There is but one word... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
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Rebekah Tait
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