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02/10/09 - It's October, and for the past four years, October usually brings something new into my life. From joining the Taman Wahyu Church (2005), to starting some solid temporary work (after being unemployed for over a year following my Gap Year) (2006), to applying for the CELTA course (2007), to getting a job with Tesco (2008) (Wow, my first year with Tesco's gone quick!), I desperately need something new to come into my life this month. There have been quite a few pre-Christmas overtime cuts for next week, which has given me Monday and Tuesday off, so I will need to use the free time to write to more schools, colleges and language centres to try and get a volunteer teaching assistant placement somewhere.

Watched my second free movie this past week, courtesy of Google Video, seeing Born Into Brothels, a documentary film about an American photographer giving photography classes to some kids living in the Calcutta Red Light District, and publishing and selling their work in America to raise money for them to send them to a decent school, and to get them out of the slums.

It was quite a moving film (as was Slumdog Millionaire and Kannathil Muthamittal, but any Indian-based film is moving for me), and the woman did some great work with them, which I'd love to try and do myself. Technically I have, having assisted in the spiritual development of two young girls (Theeba and Ranjita) of a temporary prostitute (Shanthi), with one girl apparently now in a Christian care home, plus I've taken atleast a dozen young people to my church. Just a shame I couldn't stay long enough to keep up the good work...

09/10/09 - I had a very interesting and informative Sunday evening after church this past week, after I went for dinner with one of my church friends, Rosalyn. I had a long chat with her about some of the problems I've been having lately, and she gave me some very good spiritual advice, telling me to not let the thoughts of others distract me and to focus on and pray for what I want and need in my life, be more open, and that I shouldn't be so dependent upon going to Malaysia just for happiness. It was very inspiring and I hope I can put what I learnt into practice.

I had two days off this past week, mainly due to overtime at work being cut, so I spent Monday and Tuesday sending letters to local schools and colleges trying to get volunteer placements to be a teaching assistant, so I can get some experience to go with my qualification. Also, tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of the Huckool 'franchise', and the first anniversary of HuckoolPhotography.Com and HuckoolBlog.Com. Shame my web designing on the sites has gone a bit stale lately.

16/10/09 - I've had an extremely busy week, after a more relaxed one the week before. On Saturday I attended a Sunday School training class at a Tamil church in East Ham. There was a Tamil class first, which focused round the psychological aspects of teaching, then we had a class in English by Duggie Dug Dug, a popular song and dance composer for Sunday School and Youth groups (which the Ashford Baptist Church are a big fan of), which seemed to focus more on learning song and dance routines (marketing?), with a bit of psychology and sign language teaching.

I was very interested in the East Ham area itself, it was like being in a colder, solid, and slightly more multi-cultural version of Chennai, India. There are a lot of Tamil shops in the area too, where most Indian clothing and accessories etc. are imported and can be purchased. The church I attend was also very interesting, with Tamil writing inside and outside the church, which seems to solidly make it a Tamil church. I may attend a service there some time; the only bad thing about East Ham is it's in East London!

Also this past weekend, we had a dedication and baptism service, having two babies dedicated, and two people baptised. It was a really nice service, and was a good opportunity to test my camera with the new lens I bought. I was hoping the lens would improve the lighting and focus for my camera, but it was simply just a wide angle lens, so not much improvement to the quality. There aren't many lens that fit with my camera so there's not much I can do to further improve what I've got, but atleast my camera looks a little more professional now.

After my lack of hours last week (due to two days off), I went into overdrive this week to make up for it by doing 50 hours, a golden week; I'm suprised that I'm not finding it particularly tiring though. Also, I received a response from Adult Education regarding my volunteer teaching assistant letter, and sent me an application form. I'll have to get it done as soon as possible, and hopefully I'll get a good response.

23/10/09 - Four weeks to go until my sixth trip to Malaysia, bags are getting slowly packed. Work was busier than usual this week, mainly due to Asda being closed for a few days for renovation work. Been doing well with my driving lessons, and might be ready to take my driving test by the end of the year, should I pass my theory next week.

30/10/09 - Had my driving theory test today, and am extremely frustrated to find that I failed. I controversially failed by two marks on the Hazard Perception test, after I was deemed to have 'clicked too much' (where the computer declares you possibly tried to cheat) on one of the video clips, which cost me the two marks I needed to have passed. I was suprised I passed the multiple choice questions, but I fear they'll be my downfall when I take my theory test again some time in the future.

I decided to take the opportunity to visit the Manor Road Tamil Church in East Ham this past week, just to meet some new people and see other UK Tamil churches styles of worship. It was a really nice service, and I met some great people there. I did miss Palmers Green a bit, but I'm personally getting a bit frustrated that I have to give so much time and money to have a brief personal life every Sunday. The sooner I'm settled in Malaysia with all my close friends, the better.

I've been watching the 'World's Strictest Parents' on BBC Three, with this week being in India. I was impressed by a youth project they showed, where slightly well off children went into the slums to give 'manicures' to the kids (brush their hair, clip their fingernails etc.), and tidy up the local area. I also find it funny how all the families featured are strongly religious, and use religion in keeping their kids well disciplined, whilst the rebellious kids from non-religious Britain shock them with their laziness and vulgarity for a couple of weeks.