The end is near: #8
My last ever Ancon is over and done with.
And what was it like? Click on this link and watch this video. It's the most amazing video I've ever seen. At least in the last month.
Throughout the week, I was prepared to have some significant 'final moments' with my friends and with the EU in general. But it was hard to make them happen, just because most of my friends have moved on already. And there were so many new people that I had never seen before. There were 600 people there this year (160 more than last year) and it was so easy to get lost in the crowd.
The crowd listening to Rowan's talk.
So after the first couple of days, I decided to forget about grasping for those elusive final moments and just enjoy myself. The conference was really great in its own right. This year we were looking closely at the Holy Spirit, and it was amazing. There were so many challenging things to consider. The review group I was in got on like a house on fire. Everyone was open with their ideas and opinions. It was really comfortable and lovely.
Review group #5
My first closure moment came on the Tuesday night, when I found myself eating dinner with a bunch of friends who had all started in the same year as me. Yeah! We laughed so hard remembering things that happened to us when we were in first year, remembering how complicated Ancon was in 2005 and sharing stories about the different times that Katay had thrown chalk at people in classrooms. The second closure moment was like this but better: the grads night on Wednesday. Matt came, and all my graduate friends, and we sat together during the main talk and it seriously did feel like first year! I was sitting with the same people again! Half the grads that came back were people who began uni with me. Hooray!
Some of the cool science kids
On Thursday night, the pressure was on to do something memorable. It was my last ever night at Ancon, and my last ever night with the EU. Except that I was sick. Someone had brought a bizarre kind of disease with them to Ancon and by Thursday night almost everyone was infected with it. I was feeling really run down with coughing, so I sat at the back with my friend Amy. The talk was out of this world, it was so inspiring and challenging. It also went an hour overtime. At the end of the talk we stood up to sing together and I stood on my chair looking out over the crowd to read the lyrics off the projector. There were 600 people spread out in front of me, praising God and dedicating their lives to him with their voices, and I think that was the moment. I realised that I God will keep working through the eu whether or not I am there, and that's OK. It was the best moment of the conference. And depsite hacking up my diseased lungs, I kept singing with joy and it wonderful.
600 people singing All You Need Is Love by the Beatles
Anyway, I'm home now, and I still have this stupid cough! I went to the doctor and discerned that it wasn't swine flu, which rocks. But it won't go away.
I'm off again tomorrow for another holiday. The count down to full time work is on!
And what was it like? Click on this link and watch this video. It's the most amazing video I've ever seen. At least in the last month.
Throughout the week, I was prepared to have some significant 'final moments' with my friends and with the EU in general. But it was hard to make them happen, just because most of my friends have moved on already. And there were so many new people that I had never seen before. There were 600 people there this year (160 more than last year) and it was so easy to get lost in the crowd.
The crowd listening to Rowan's talk.
So after the first couple of days, I decided to forget about grasping for those elusive final moments and just enjoy myself. The conference was really great in its own right. This year we were looking closely at the Holy Spirit, and it was amazing. There were so many challenging things to consider. The review group I was in got on like a house on fire. Everyone was open with their ideas and opinions. It was really comfortable and lovely.
Review group #5
My first closure moment came on the Tuesday night, when I found myself eating dinner with a bunch of friends who had all started in the same year as me. Yeah! We laughed so hard remembering things that happened to us when we were in first year, remembering how complicated Ancon was in 2005 and sharing stories about the different times that Katay had thrown chalk at people in classrooms. The second closure moment was like this but better: the grads night on Wednesday. Matt came, and all my graduate friends, and we sat together during the main talk and it seriously did feel like first year! I was sitting with the same people again! Half the grads that came back were people who began uni with me. Hooray!
Some of the cool science kids
On Thursday night, the pressure was on to do something memorable. It was my last ever night at Ancon, and my last ever night with the EU. Except that I was sick. Someone had brought a bizarre kind of disease with them to Ancon and by Thursday night almost everyone was infected with it. I was feeling really run down with coughing, so I sat at the back with my friend Amy. The talk was out of this world, it was so inspiring and challenging. It also went an hour overtime. At the end of the talk we stood up to sing together and I stood on my chair looking out over the crowd to read the lyrics off the projector. There were 600 people spread out in front of me, praising God and dedicating their lives to him with their voices, and I think that was the moment. I realised that I God will keep working through the eu whether or not I am there, and that's OK. It was the best moment of the conference. And depsite hacking up my diseased lungs, I kept singing with joy and it wonderful.
600 people singing All You Need Is Love by the Beatles
Anyway, I'm home now, and I still have this stupid cough! I went to the doctor and discerned that it wasn't swine flu, which rocks. But it won't go away.
I'm off again tomorrow for another holiday. The count down to full time work is on!