An LCCC Christmas

Our annual LCCC Christmas socials are always loads of fun, and this year, the tradition continued. At 5 PM, LCCCers trickled into Jason's apartment for what would be a night filled with food, fun, and fgames (trying for alliteration there).

This was the most decor Jason's apartment had ever had. Ever.

Nomnomnom.

The execs prepared the main dishes for the potluck, with food ranging from lasagna and fried udon to salad and Jason's exquisite, hard-to-prepare white rice. General members chipped in by bringing drinks and cookies. To top it off, we ordered in some barbecue chicken!






Halfway through dinner, we were joined by special guests Sherman and Belle, the latter of which is from QCCC! LCCC was extremely honoured that Belle chose to come to LCCC's Christmas Social instead of QCCC's ;) It was a cozy scene, with guests arriving fashionably late, lights decorating the otherwise bland apartment, and a faux fireplace set up on Jason's monitor.

After dinner, the group sat down to have some present-filled fun! Led by Alana, we played an intense game of unwrapping presents as quickly as we could while wearing gloves and a Santa hat. The goal of the game was to unwrap the many layers while the other players rolled dice to try and get a specific combination, in order to get their own chance at tearing apart the layers. The presents ended up being hand cream, used Catholic playing cards, Sorry! Revenge, cute reindeer slippers, and a brand new Airzooka! Shouts and laughter filled the apartment as players attacked the wrapping paper with teeth and ferocity (and consequently kept Jason's roommate from giving in to itis).

 

We also played another game, dubbed the "Windsor CCC Game", which is a combination of Taboo, Charades, and describing something with one word. The group was split into two teams and they competed against each other in a test of memory and describing. In the end, Team Sherman beat out Team Belle 61-53.

The night was capped off by a visit to London's Lighting of the Lights Festival. The group wasn't able to make countdown, but the lit trees were still beautiful and colourful as always.

[Insert Light of Lights pictures here if Sherman ever decides to upload them.]

The night could not have been more perfect. Visitors, fireplaces, presents, food, games, snow. We're all looking forward to our next party at Chinese New Year (when we expect alumna Viatrix and honourary LCCC member Chris)! Good luck with exams, and Merry Christmas! :)

Merry Christmas from LCCC!

LCCC Conclave

Friday, October 18th was a big meeting for LCCC as we gathered to learn lots about the Pope! We started with a fun game of Pope Jeopardy, which had a lot of difficult questions! But that's okay, that just meant it was more of an opportunity to learn :) 

Pope Trivia!

Congrats to our winner, Seline (1550 pts). George was in a close 2nd place with 1250 pts... Jason was last because he's dumdum

We followed up the Jeopardy with a fun animated video summarizing how to become a Pope:

Then Jason went on a long-winded spiel to share about his World Youth Day experience in Rio de Janeiro over the summer. It truly sounded like an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience that all Catholic youths should try to go to at least once. 

His spiel was long-winded for a reason, though, because just as he finished, their special guests from Toronto arrived! Viatrix, LCCC alumnus, and honourary LCCC member Chris made it in time for the last part of the cell, which was the best part - the LCCC Conclave! 

We did our best to mimic the papal election process, using boxes and plates and saying the proper lines. 

"I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected."

Our ballots, which say "I elect as Supreme Pontiff..."

After six rounds of ballots, Jason was finally elected as LCCC Pope. Unfortunately, we weren't able to burn the ballots inside Middlesex College, so we played a video of white smoke instead! Jason arbitrarily chose the name of Pope Stephen, although "Pope Urban" came in a close second. 

A hand for Pope Stephen, everybody.

And thus concluded one of the best cells of the year so far :) Afterwards, LCCC went out to dinner at Congee Chan with their special guests and then hung out at Janet and Sharon's apartment, playing Mafia and Telestrations, having a blast. 

We'll be gone for a couple weeks as we take a break for exams and Fall Study Break, but hope to see you the first week of November!

LCCC Cells (Collage and God's will)

On September 27, LCCC members were given 2 questions ahead of time:

Because who doesn't love arts and crafts?! 

Members had to either bring in a picture/object/quote, and discuss in small groups how it relates to these 2 questions. We generated a lot of great discussion. Thank you everyone for sharing! Afterwards, we all gathered for a fun collage-making time!






The meaning behind this activity is that the church is like a collage—we're God's collage. Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". We all come from different walks of life, and with the help of Christ, we're able to make create a work of art altogether.

We were all able to channel our inner creativity :)

Final product of the night:

So is the last time you'll see this collage? Guess you'll have to wait and see.....

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For our cell on October 4th, we discussed God's will. We started off with a couple of ice-breakers (Spiritual Telestrations). We also played an activity where LCCC members were given scenarios and had to choose between two options that would lead them to different areas in the UCC (along the way, snacks were provided). We gathered to discuss what our opinions of God's will, what does His will mean for me, how do I follow His will etc. It was a great night filled with lots of food, fun and good discussion.

LCCC Summer Social 2013: We are JUMPing in the light of God...

It was mid-August, which meant a couple things:

• School was only two weeks away
• Only two weeks of summer were left 
• Everyone in the GTA was confused why the weather was below 20ºC
• THE TIME WAS RIPE FOR OUR LCCC SUMMER SOCIAL! 

The day started off with a trip to the lovely Erindale Park in Gary's hometown, Mississauga. Frisbees were tossed and board games were played as LCCC enjoyed a day of beautiful weather! The marquee board game of the day was Things In A Box, where we all discovered that certain LCCC members don't like sharing their Holy Communion >:(  

(Okay, maybe all of us.) 

Our merry party of eleven then headed to mass at [name of parish has been deleted to preserve said parish's reputation because {you'll find out in 5 seconds}]. To all the mass-goers out there - have you ever been to a mass where:
       a) There's no music?

       b) It ends in 40 minutes because of a)?
 

If your answer to the above question is "no", then jump in a time machine and go to the mass we attended, BECAUSE IT WAS THE LEAST MUSICAL AND SHORTEST MASS THAT MOST IF NOT ALL OF US HAVE EVER BEEN TO! 

Granted, I'm sure the choir had some reason for not being present, but some of us were seriously considering breaking out into an acapella "Receive the Power" for communion. 

Anyway, after mass, we all headed to the main event of the day - SkyZone Trampoline Park! Despite having an extra 20 minutes to work with because mass ended so early, we somehow managed to be late anyway, mostly because we made a pitstop at Micky D's and Nofrills to stock up on water. Luckily the staff were feeling generous and gave us an extra 10 minutes. We chucked dodgeballs at each other (accidentally hitting innocent little kids in the face... hehe...) and performed Olympic-worthy flips (into the foam pit, anyway). 

The day concluded with dinner at Bayview Garden Chinese Cuisine, an hour of karaoke, and... a SURPRISE BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR GARY! , whose birthday had passed a week before. 

sang yut fai lok ah~!~!~!~111

It was a superb day for LCCCers who had been missing each other's company for three and a half months. We look forward to seeing you this upcoming year as we continue to celebrate our faith as a Chinese Catholic Community in Western - but first.... GT in a few days! God Bless!

P.S. Thank you to our wonderful chauffeurs for the day, alumnus Viatrix and honourary guest/accompanier-of-alumnus-Viatrix, Chris (: 

P.P.S. Another thank you to our other honourary guests, Ms. Lam from UTM and Mr. Tam from McMaster. We hope you had a good time!

A Day of Surprises: LCCC Mystery Cell 2013

The day began with five of the six executives of LCCC meeting at Concrete Beach, half an hour before the final meeting of the 2012-2013 LCCC year was scheduled to begin.  It was a little chilly, so they quickly decided to meet at Centre Spot to go over the planned activities for the day. The cue cards were distributed to each exec, and Viatrix hurried off to UCC379, where some of the general members were already anxiously waiting.

Alana, Gary, Jason, and Irene moved deeper into Center Spot to avoid the risk of being seen by nosy general members. They chatted for a while, and when 4:50 PM came, Alana, Gary, and Jason left for their respective stations. Irene stayed behind for a little bit since her station was the closest of the four at Alumni Hall. This worked out to the advantage of the other three because they each had to take one of the secret scrapbooks prepared for the departing execs from Alana’s ever-present backpack. They each grabbed a scrapbook so that general members could sign them as they visited their stations. Alana headed to Health Science Building, Gary to Delaware, and Jason to Middlesex.

Meanwhile, Viatrix and the curious general members were in UCC379, entertaining themselves by playing Draw Something and trying to figure out what the surprise was. 5:00 PM came, and Viatrix divided the members into four teams of two, finally revealing to them the instructions of the game. It would be like The Amazing Race, with the teams going from one station to another. At each station, the teams would have to answer two Catholic trivia questions. Given four chances per question, team members were forced to do silly punishments if they answered incorrectly. Punishments ranged from making team names and cheers to giving free hugs to strangers. When the questions were answered correctly, the teams were given cue cards that had clues to the final destination of the day: "SING K"! It was a chilly – but fun – afternoon for all.

Around 6:30 PM, all the teams and execs convened inside UCC, recounting the fun they had in the afternoon. Stories of talking with strangers, fun songs, and even injuries were told. The group eventually found itself on the bus heading downtown, where they had a very cramped dinner at Taste of Asia’s miniscule karaoke room. They supped for two hours, chatting happily and even welcoming a couple strangers (ish) from Waterloo into their midst! At 9:30 PM, the group rushed to take the bus to Star Karaoke, the surprise place for the day.

This was the moment the group had been waiting for the entire night. The departing execs had planned surprise letters for the group – and what great letters they were! The three letters were memorable and heartfelt as Irene, Terrence (who hadn’t been able to make the final meeting because he had a symposium the next day), and Viatrix made their final impressions on the club as undergraduate members. Then came the best part of the night. People who had to leave early purposefully stayed behind just so they could be a part of the joy that would follow afterwards. Alana, Jason, and Gary presented the scrapbooks that LCCC had been working on for weeks to Viatrix, Irene, and Joyce (who was there to accept it on Terrence’s behalf). The “WHAT”s that came from Viatrix and Irene were unforgettable, and made the surprise that much better. Everyone spent the next half hour flipping through the three scrapbooks, admiring the photos and the collective efforts of the members of LCCC (minus the Old Ones). The rest of the night was spent – what else? – singing their hearts out to songs of a language foreign to this blogger.

A special mention must be given to Marianne, who originally took the initiative to contact LCCC in February. An exchange student from Singapore, this night was the last time that LCCC would be seeing her, as she would be heading back to her home after April. She was a valuable member of the LCCC community, attending every meeting and easily making friends with everyone. We’ll all miss you Marianne – hope you had fun and you won’t forget us!

The LCCC 2012-2013 year was a big step forward in the history of the club. Some members saw each other on a weekly basis, and others not so often, but everyone became fast friends. The community feeling that had long been sought for was finally beginning to become established. The seeds had been sewn, and the roots had planted themselves. The flower, though, is still blossoming. This was truly a year that opened up so many opportunities for 2014, 2015, and beyond. Sweaters were designed; ideas were created; true friendships were formed; and traditions were started.

The seed has been planted, and it is well on its way to becoming beautiful. To the London Chinese Catholic Community of 2013-2014: Your chance to celebrate your faith, to become a community, and to nourish your relationship with God is here.

God Bless, thank you for the year, and have a great summer! We’ll see you all soon!