I'll have to save it for another time, but I want to relate (one of these days) my two boat experiences. One was a flat platform, electric-motor kind of boat (anyone know the name of this water vehicle?) and the other was a canoe!

A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. After staying up until past 3:30am and then scurrying around during my lunch hour and waaaay too long printing, sorting, editing and packing... at long last I mailed my job materials! They need to get to UW Law School by tomorrow afternoon. I feel like a new woman.

Wedding Dress (Derek Webb)

If you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I’d ever need
or is there more I’m looking for

and should I read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want

I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
and I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child
Though I don’t trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side

I am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

Because money cannot buy
a husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

Imagine an 1890s stone Romanesque church in an ethnically-diverse neighborhood. The sanctuary is located on the second floor, up a flight of steep curving steps, and the floor is a creaking wood. With the stain-glass bright behind him, the pastor, who is an Englishman or Irishman, speaks with great conviction in his booming, full-timbre kind of voice. (Of course his accent makes him seem even more intellectual.) The singing of praise songs is so joyful and people aren't inhibited in expression by raising their hands, doing a little dance and spinning around. When the people clap and groove, it seemed like the whole earth and sky were moving to praise God! The congregation prays over the high school group, going to serve in Uganda. They also pray over this week's urban ministry. Another woman will lead a trip to Thailand for a Habit for Humanity trip, building houses for the poor.

This was a Sunday service at Christ our Shepherd this past weekend. The pastor spoke on "Justice" - that is, being a just person, a just people, and understanding our God who has a heart of justice. It was realy neat to be at a church where there is both a high view of Scripture and a whole-hearted commitment to its teaching, as well as the same kind of outward-looking focus for missions and surprisingly, social justice/service!

On the wall, a large tapestry proclaims, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations - Mark 11:17."

Been hanging out at the Georgetown Law Library today to do research for an assignment, and will again tomorrow. It's pretty quiet around here, not surprising that their summer school term is already over. There are a bunch of 3Ls studying for the bar, with their hefty review books. Blech.

I also keep thinking about Salina's nonfiction story about the library security guards. They wouldn't let me in with my iced coffee. However, they do let me drink water in my lidded Nalgene bottle! I am sneaking my Ritz crackers however - being really careful not to make noise or leave crumbs!

I'll be meeting up with Ming and a few of her friends (or friends of friends) for dinner. Jeremy Eng & Jessie (his fiancee, did I mention that happened recently?) are set to join us too.

Roommate issues have begun to emerge. I say I want to learn to love others (including my "enemies") but sometimes the hardest ones are the ones closest (in relationship or just mere proximity) to you. Pray for grace for me and from me. Thanks.

Another exciting evening in the DC life of Anne Chiu.

My roommate Lauren and I were finishing up a late dinner (around 9pm) when the doorbell rang. Lauren was expecting a friend, so she got up to answer the door. I called out to her, "Be careful who you open the door to!" or something to that effect, as I walked the other way into the kitchen.

Looking over at the door, I saw her open the door, look out, then slam it and lock it behind her as she started running towards me. She had this weird agitated look on her face. I asked her, "What's wrong?" as she picks up her cell phone and starts dialing.

"There is a strange man at our door, and he said, 'Don't worry, I'm unarmed.'"

So I started to feel a little scared too, as she was dialing 911 and reporting the incident that a strange white man with "little hair" and a striped shirt was hanging out in front of our doorstep. I kept asking her what happened, was he scary-looking, etc etc. Neither of us wanted to go over to the window to see if he was still there. What if he was?!?! I also began to feel particularly vulnerable standing in the kitchen where the door opens to the backyard.

Later on, after the 911 dispatch lady called back and asked if he was still there, I went over to the window and carefully peeked out of the blinds. Whew, no one there. Lauren and I sat down, and we tried to figure out if he was a psycho, homeless man, or what.

It suddenly dawned on me that perhaps he was a friend of one of our roommates (who is currently away on vacation.) I had this friend of hers a couple times, and by the description Lauren gave, it matched. Lauren hadn't met this friend before. And he seemed like the type to give a joking remark like that since Lauren was being cautious about opening the door to strangers.

The door rang about an hour later, and Lauren told me to answer it (we knew her friend wasn't coming over by this time.) This time I asked several times, "Who is it?" and got the reply, "Is Robyn (our roommate) in? It's Wade." Ohhhhh! It was the friend I was thinking of. "Just don't slam the door on me again... that was nice... really." Needless to say, it was a rather awkward first meeting for Lauren and Wade, and he didn't really feel like coming in after the "warm welcome" we bestowed on him.

But who could blame us? Our next-door neighbors had been burglarized, I had been groped by some stranger, and it was late evening in DC... and why would someone say "Don't worry, I'm unarmed" when that's assumed and you're saying it b/c you actually are armed?!?! Plus, we're a house of paranoid females!

Ah well, better Wade than a psycho at our door!

Screen on the Green was awesome. It's an outdoor movie event held on the National Mall (the famous place with museums and monuments) that occurs every Monday for 5 weeks in a row. People bring their blankets, lawnchairs, food, and sit down on the grass for a movie at sunset.

Last night's showing was Cat On a Hot Tin Roof with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor (when they were both young and gorgeous.) Good movie. I was surprised at how everyone was so "into" it... cheering and laughing at what is no high-tech action blockbuster.

The weather was amazing... not humid and very cool.

We sat between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument, both lit up like in those surreal postcards. It was beautiful. I suddenly realized, "I'm in DC!"

I had a bit of a scare on Saturday evening.

I had taken a walk/jog and got sidetracked at a BORDERS store for an hour or so. It had started to rain, and it had gotten dark too. I hadn't planned to stay out so late (by then it was close to 8:30pm.) I took the Metro home, and started jogging home because the sky threatened more rain.

There was a young man walking ahead of me on the inside sidewalk near a large federal building. The area was rather dark and there weren't any other people around, except across the street by the gas station. As I ran behind him, I saw him step towards my direction.

As I passed him, he grabbed my butt! I was so shocked and angry and turned around to face him. "HEY!" I yelled at him, thinking, What do you think you're doing?!?!?!!! He was also facing me and snarled back, "Shut up!" in a mean, intimidating way. He looked as if he was walking away in the opposite direction by this time.

I wanted to yell back and make him explain himself, apologize, whatever. But then I realized I was in this pretty dark and isolated area with a man who obviously didn't have any qualms about harassing women. I realized that the situation could definitely escalate if I made him angry, and so I decided it wasn't worth it. I felt disgusted with him and turned away to run home.

On the way home, I kept thinking, am I just going to let him get away with that? I felt violated, angry and a little afraid of the other pedestrians on the street. I thought perhaps I should call the police, but my first thought was to just get home to safety.

My roommate Lauren convinced me that I should report the incident, and cops came over to our house at around 1:00am. There was another incident of a woman groped a few blocks away from our house, and the police wondered whether it was the same perpetrator.

I'm thankful that it wasn't a more a serious or scary encounter. I think this guy was just looking for a cheap thrill, and thought it'd be funny to grab an unsuspecting female. Even though it was a relatively minor thing, I was surprised at how emotional and scary it was. It made physical violence towards women a much more real thing... that I can somehow identify a little bit with those women or children who have suffered at the hands of so much more.

To the women - please be careful and don't be naive in assuming that there will always be someone (e.g. spouse, boyfriend or whoever) to protect you. Take your own safety seriously and be sure to take measures to learn how to defend yourself.

To the men - although there are some exceptions, most of you will not be able to truly understand the fear women carry around (or that lurks in the back of their minds) on a daily basis. Please be sensitive to the experiences women face, and please do not ever belittle any abuse (physical, emotional, etc.) or violence they suffer. On the flip side, please go the extra step in protecting your sisters, female friends, and other women.... we all appreciate it!

I'm feeling fine, don't worry, and will take begin to take steps to become more like Sydney Bristow (i.e. butt-kicking, street-fighting heroine of ALIAS) in the near future.

My first amusing Metro story

I was riding the Metro (subway) one morning last week. It was a rather crowded train, and I was standing near the doors and holding onto the rail along with about a dozen other commuters. I needed to make one transfer from the Red Line to the Orange Line.

We had reached one of the stations before my transfer point when there was a sudden growing commotion in the next standing area (roughly eight rows of seats between the standing areas) and we could all sense the rising panic among the commuters in that area, and like a wave at a football game, this panic seemed to swell through the rows of seats toward our standing area.

"What's going on?!?!", "Huh?!?" and other exclamations were heard. And our standing area people started panicking. I thought someone must've pulled out a gun! The doors opened, and we all pushed to bolt out of the train. I heard a woman yell, "Calm down, calm down!" I was struggling to get out too, and I think the woman thought we'd create a stampede.

Many commuters started exiting, saying, "I'm just going to walk from here." Everyone seemed bewildered and alarmed. But it looked like nothing had really happened. We were all scratching our heads and wondering what had caused the panic. It looked safe enough... no crazy gun-wielders in sight. I decided to just re-board the train.

There seemed to be a collective release of stress and sigh of relief, but everyone still seemed rather shaken up. It's kind of an intense city, and it seems like even nearly 2 yrs after the 9/11 attack, people are still wound up pretty tight. Even a foreigner like me, the mob mentality and fleeing survival urge is very strong and when it comes down to it, I'm pretty fearful for my own life.

A guy near me started chuckling and shaking his head. I asked him, "What happened?"

He said, "Somewhere, there's a mouse that's laughing at our expense."

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Jonas & Katie Thorrud! Their vows were touching.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy & Michelle Yang! They are such a cute couple.

I haven't been interacting with so many Christians in a long time. I live with them, work with them, and go to church with them. And my friends here are mostly (if not all) Christians too. It's really awesome. After being fairly isolated during first year law school from fellow believers, this is a real nice change.

It's not as if there's necessarily a very big visible difference. My classmates at school were all really nice, decent folks. But it's like there's a deep sense of fundamental understanding between Christians... which is mostly comforting, although sometimes frustrating. That is, I know that I can speak freely or they'd be able to understand more readily/easily
certain things with these people.... but then again, sometimes there's too much expectation that they should be or act like something more than they are (meaning, they should be super-Christians and not mere humans - haha).

But overall, I am very thankful. I've been given a great work environment and living situation. The Lord is good.

I would like to update you on my work and experience here at the IJM. However, due to the more sensitive and confidential nature of the organization, I was thinking of writing a series of email updates in lieu of posting them on the www. If you're interested in receiving these updates, please shoot me an email at:

achiu@ijm.org

Thanks!

Isaac (alias: Jack Bristow) joined me at the office today. After we gave him security clearance (haha, j/k) I showed him around a little, introduced him to most folks, and then took him underground to our daily meeting with the Big Boss (the big G God, not the little g Gary Haugen.) Hanging out with Isaac is always a learning experience - very fun and engaging and I always am introduced to new things. We talked of think tanks, evangelism & social justice/action, conservative and liberal Christians, etc. etc.

I have my first funny Metro (D.C. subway) story to tell, but I'll have to save it for tomorrow.

I've just discovered that one of the interns in our office is the son of Os Guiness, a fairly well-known Christian author. Waddya know! Pretty cool.