A Time of Thanksgiving

God has manifested Himself in a way so real here that i just want to give thanks for what He has done. I'm thankful for:

1. Internship opportunity.
I've managed to get an internship here with one of the newspapers in Brisbane -- the Courier Mail. It wasn't easy. I had gone to see the school internship coordinator way after applications for internships had closed, but she was nice enough to bend the rules slightly. After which, i had to convince the head of journalism in my school that i was good enough and would be totally committed to it during the internship, because they don't normally send exchange students to their industry contacts. My journalism tutor helped me a great deal. Even though it's only a week, it's good enough for someone who hasn't even written for any school newspaper at all. Thank God for the open doors!

2. Peiqi and her housemates.
She managed to get out of a really bad housing contract and found a good place with two Singaporeans whom she subsequently realized that i knew! I had met them before when they came to my church once. They're in the Brisbane branch of my church. Isn't it just amazing?

And it's great that peiqi is in Brisbane and staying with people i know, so i knew where i was going to stay the moment i got the internship (Brisbane is an hour plus away from Gold Coast so i definitely had to get accommodation nearer to the Courier Mail office). Everything just fell nicely into place :)

3. Good grades.
I confess that i haven't been studying very hard. I still study, just maybe not as mug as in s'pore. But thank God that i've been achieving higher than average grades. Even if the grades don't count ultimately.

4. Awesome sister with awesome friends!
I've been working very hard on an investigative feature last week about Australian universities and foreign students. My awesome younger sis in Melbourne provided me her friends for me to interview, and also got her friend from Monash University to obtain a journal article that i was desperately looking for but couldn't find anywhere in my school database. It was an interstate effort which accomplished what my school librarians couldn't do. Thank God for a wonderful sister and her wonderful friends :)

5. My parents.
I wouldn't have been able to come here and enjoyed myelf so much if not for the efforts of my parents who always scrimp and save to give my sisters and i the best they can. Thank God too for self-sacrificing parents!

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:18.