happy easter

It's about full immersion, about falling into something elemental and wet. Most of what we do in worldly life is geared toward our staying dry, looking good, not going under. But in baptism, in lakes and rains and tanks and fonts, you agree to do something that's a little sloppy because at the same time it's also holy, and absurd. It's about surrender, giving in to all those things we can't control; it's a willingness to let go of balance and decorum and get drenched... the hope, the belief, is that a new day is upon you now. (Anne Lamott)

The sea is falling from the sky today in Malaysia, that's the only way I can explain it.

Earlier today, as I was heading out in my Easter attire, I thought to myself, "I have to remember this weather, this is probably the warmest, sunniest Easter I'll ever have."

And now my backyard is a rain forest, the rain is deafening, my house is cold, and the power is flickering, haha.

I found myself missing Easter at home today. I didn't realize how much I loved the hymns, the trumpets, the lilies, and even the black jelly beans (sick) until they were missing. And, for the first time that I can remember, I didn't have any holiday plans.

On Thursday, we had a prayer/fast day at STS and went through the stations of the cross. This was neat for me, because it took a story I was familiar with, but I was hearing everything for the first time-- in Malay. My favorite memory of the day is a funny one; we were acting out the story of Jesus' betrayal, and one of my students had the role of cutting off the guard's ear. He proceeded to lung forward with all his might, and attack the "guard" with a pencil. And then ran away. It might not sound so funny, but it was hilarious.

Tonight we're going to cook a nice dinner for a few students and maybe dye eggs! And of course, get ready for school tomorrow...

berdoa untuk hujan

I just returned from family group, and was reminded of something I've been wanting to write about for about seven months now-- prayer.

Prayer here is a bit different. First of all, there is a much larger emphasis on the importance of prayer. Both the churches and the seminary have weekly prayer meetings (often referred to as corporate prayer). It is also very natural, and almost expected, to pray aloud. For example, if someone is leading a prayer at the front of the church, everyone else will speak their own prayer aloud. I often find this fascinating; I love to sit back and listen to the mix of languages all praying together. But, at the same time, I find it difficult to leave my quiet Lutheran roots behind and also pray out loud. I feel conscious that everyone else will be listening to my prayer, especially when it doesn't fit within the ebb and flow of Melayu. But yet it holds you accountable-- by praying aloud there is no time for your thoughts to wander. Either way, I have a feeling that one day soon this traditional pray-er will miss being surrounded in one mutual, multilingual prayer being offered up to God.

It rained yesterday for the first time in I don't know how long. The rain here is different; it seems to stop and start at a moment's notice. It also rains in sheets, harder than I've ever seen it rain. The rainy season is officially over, and Malaysia has taken on a new personality in the dry, or burning, season. Everywhere you go there are brush fires, a stark danger that is difficult to control. The rain came as salvation yesterday, in the form of wet earth and cool air. As things returned to green, I sat back, listening to the chorus of frogs, and wondered where they hide in the rain's absence.

the long-awaited KL, part I

Ever since coming to Malaysia, and even before, I've heard a ton about KL. No, not heard, but been asked. The most common question-- Have you been to KL?
No? When are you going?

Well, for starters, KL is on peninsular Malaysia, and is nowhere near where I live. However, I could not live in Malaysia for a year and not visit the capital or West Malaysia.

This week was reading week at STS, so I got together with Kelsey and Erika (two fellow volunteers), and we headed off to explore Kuala Lumpur for a few days of touristy fun.

We flew out on Wednesday night after work, and reached our hostel. We had decided on staying at the YWCA, a transit hostel for women and families. I think we all got a kick out of the place; it's defined as a "throwback to another generation" and we were all seconds away from singing "it's a hard-knock life for us..." Even so, it was in a great location, provided memories of freshman year of college, and gave us a bed to sleep in; who could ask for more!

Thursday we started bright and early getting to know the city. It was really easy to travel around as there are buses, trains, and taxis everywhere. We started our day getting free tickets to the sky bridge of the famous Petronas Towers, then headed over to the Lake Gardens. The gardens were established by the British, and now have varying gardens, parks, and sights to see. The highlight for me was the chance to canoe! Us ex-camp counselors were in heaven, to say the least. After that, we saw the main sights of KL, including the Central Market, Masjid Jamek Mosque, the colonial district, and Independence Square. We finished our day meandering down the crowded stalls of Chinatown, bargaining for deals. And like true Malaysians, we stopped for "supper" at 10pm at this delicious Indian restaurant.

Friday was a unique day in traveling. I'm grateful we waited until now to travel to KL, because I think it was extremely fun to visit a place when you are already familiar with the culture (and have a fluent Malay speaker, thanks to Erika). KL is really unique in that there are huge Indian, Malay, and Chinese populations. Since we were a little bit savvy in communicating and getting around, we traveled north of KL to the Batu Caves. The Batu Caves are a Hindu temple and shrine, which host the huge festival of Thaipusam each year. There is a giant shrine of Muruga, and we climbed 272 steps up to the caves. While it is simultaneously a worship space and a tourist attraction, it was really neat to see.
After the caves we headed even further north to a place called Templer's Park. Luckily some local kids had the same idea, and when the bus dropped us off on the side of a highway with only monkeys in sight, we followed the group of eager kids to the rumored waterfall. This was one of my favorite parts of the day-- we had stumbled upon a park where the locals go to picnic and spend the day swimming. It was refreshing and fun to befriend some local students our age, and splash around with the kids.
That evening we walked around Little India, and then ended up in an area called Bukit Bintang, which is well known for its malls, nightlife, and live music.

Saturday we took a day trip to the historical port city, Melaka (Malacca). Melaka was formally a huge trading town because of its position on the coast. Melaka also has huge influences of each of its colonizers, emigrants, and local people-- all over the city you can see Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese and Islamic architecture. We spent most of the morning lost in the city, wandering from one sight to the next. There were many churches, temples, mosques, old forts, and museums to see, as well as a big Chinatown and a street full of neat little art galleries. Overall, it was incredibly touristy, but good to see the beginnings of Malaysia. A funny part was when we stopped for lunch at a little Kedai Kopi; they realized rather quickly we weren't tourists when we ordered things like duck rice and three layer tea, and knew when our order was wrong. A delicious find in Melaka-- fresh, hot pineapple cookies.

After a day full of walking, we took the bus back to KL for one more evening there (Melaka is a different state from KL. Malaysia has 13 states altogether, with Sarawak and Sabah on the island of Borneo). We spent some time people watching at the City park, and then headed over to a place called Kampung Baru for the night market. Kampung Baru is the Malaysian section of town, and I have to say, it felt like home. If I didn't look up to see the skyline, it was just another quiet evening in the kampung. If you haven't gathered by now, a huge part of the culture here is the food. At the night market there were stalls and stalls of food, with people just sitting and enjoying each other's company. It definitely had a different feel than Chinatown or Masjid India. Unfortunately I had already eaten my fill, and just had to enviously eye the fried bananas, noodles, satay, and teh tarik.

I definitely enjoyed visiting KL, but I have to say I am tired out from the sightseeing and walking. Upon our return to KK, it was a welcoming sight to see the smiling faces of David and Awm Kee, two friends from Myanmar, to pick us up at the airport. While the weeks of teaching ahead do seem a bit daunting, I know Easter is right around the corner. My traveling bag will be empty for a while, with a few adventures hopefully planned for the end of May.

Anyway, if you're looking for a fun and cheap vacation spot, KL comes highly recommended.

the long-awaited KL, part II

The Petronas towers, at night.

The most famous sight on KL's skyline

(and I've been on that connecting bridge!).

Erika and I in our hostel.

Lake Gardens-- the orchid garden

KL has a lot of neat architecture, with beautiful Islamic influences

Masjid Jamek Mosque

The Batu Caves, a Hindu shrine and temple where Thaipusam is celebrated each year

You can't forget the food! This meal was beyond heavenly.

Mee goreng, rojak, curry, and roti bom, for about six RM.

Translation: delicious.

Templer's park, swimming in the waterfall

Christ Church in Melaka (Malacca)

The ever infamous trishaws in Melaka

on the news tonight

This semester in my advanced English class I gave a current events speaking assignment. It began as an idea to get the students more comfortable in speaking English formally. The assignment was pretty standard-- read a current event article from an English paper, write a summary on it, present the summary to the class, and then lead a class discussion on the topic with discussion questions. However, this assignment has turned into one of the best assignments I've ever given, and here's why.

First of all, I am blown away by the students' fluency and critical thinking put behind their presentations. Again, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I forgot that they are all future pastors, and fairly effective public speakers.

Second of all, these presentations have been informative beyond belief. Not only have I received information about the government in Myanmar or the latest dispute about property fraud in Malaysia, but I've received actual opinions. This in itself is one of the wonders of living in a foreign country-- you gain a perspective you could have never had otherwise.

In the class, the students have the freedom to express their discontent: with the government, politics, and the lack of freedom of religion, generally taboo topics in daily conversation. It's been really amazing for me to just sit back and listen as they formulate their opinions, discuss their plan of action as a future church leader, and decide ways to address it within their own communities.

It's always a really humbling experience for me as a teacher when I finally admit that my students know a lot more than I do. When you get down to it, they have had years of life experience that I have yet to have. I mean, while I was in high school, some were already married, working, and travelling. But, for me to be an effective teacher, I had to come to this realization, and be comfortable teaching with this knowledge.

Anyway, I just wanted to take the time today to highlight one of these great presentations. This particular student was presenting on the concept of 1Malaysia. 1Malaysia is a fairly new concept, set out by the Prime Minister. Its focus is to unite the people of Malaysia, though the people and religions are many and diverse. I've heard a lot about 1Malaysia since coming here (it's advertised constantly), but this class was the first time I had the chance to hear the perspective of the local people.
To summarize, my students proceeded to discuss their feeling of the concept's falseness, and how it is only a slogan of empty promises. They discussed the difficulty of uniting a nation of such vast differences, and how religions will always clash. They highlighted the unfairness of a government that doesn't support its lower class workers, and that the idea of a cohesive nation is impossible to imagine when unfairness is a daily occurrence.
My curiosity was growing-- was there anyone in the class that thought 1Malaysia could be achieved? Did they all think that it was impossible for different religions to get along, especially in the light of recent bombings within Malaysia? Can religions even unify within themselves?

These questions hang not only within our classroom walls, but within the whole country of Malaysia. I feel very privileged to be a weekly fly on the wall for these rising questions and conversations.

laughter is the best medicine

As you may know, I've spent a good portion (or all) of the last week being really sick. While it's always unfortunate to be sick, especially in another country, I luckily have a few good stories from it all.

Last Monday, I had to get some blood work done. If you know me well, you know that doctors and I don't have the most pleasant past. So, needless to say, I hate blood tests, shots, and anything else that has to do with being poked and prodded.
When I go for a blood test, it's my rule of thumb to let the nurse know of my fears and common habits. So here I am in Malaysia, trying to explain to the nurse that I usually faint-- except "faint" is not in her English vocabulary. I begin to act it out, much to the amusement of the other men in the lab. She understands, and tells me not to be nervous. But I am nervous, especially when I have to sit by myself in silence giving blood. So of course, I feel faint afterward. As I sit with my head in my hands, the men chuckle in the room. Atleast I learned a new vocabulary word that day...
To make matters even better, she remembered me when I came back three days later.

On another evening, I experienced the kindness of two friends and students from Myanmar. They were in town, and wanted to know if there was anything particular I wanted to eat. Ahh, how thoughtful! Another idiosyncrasy from the sick-- if I'm hungry, I usually want to eat something unhealthy. Could I ask for what I really wanted to eat? Kelsey assured me that it was okay to ask, and that they were going to bring me food anyway, so it might as well be something I would enjoy. So embarrassingly I asked for what I really wanted to eat. And, a half hour later, I was enjoying my greasy food in the company of friends. They insisted that we had to take care of each other, we were the international students. We were each other's family. So greasy food, stories from home, and prayers later, I was well taken care of.

Finally comes a story of misunderstanding, a common occurrence in my daily life here. Since I was sick, I stayed home last week and had to miss out on the STS faculty and student retreat. I was greatly disappointed I was missing this community builder, but knew my body would prefer the sleep. Most notably, I had been excited about the prospect of the fishing competition at the retreat. I sent a text to a student with a common English greeting-- a "have fun without me" message. I wrote, "you'll have to catch a fish for me!"
Well, I'm not sure what I was expecting. But on Friday afternoon, I had two live fish in my apartment to eat.
Luckily, Kelsey knew how to fillet a fish, and we fried up a feast. Yet again, I ended up eating my words!

I'm happy to report that I'm back to work, and after a round of antibiotics, I should be as good as new. Just in time for a short vacation with friends to Kuala Lumpur (see added point on map, in West Malaysia) on Wednesday!

a million dollar day

Remember "million dollar words" from your third grade writer's workshop? Well, I do, and I choose that phrase to describe two experiences I had today.

The first one is from my family group. Family group meets once a week with students, faculty, and staff of STS. I chose to join a Malay family group, just so I could get in that conversation time each week (that I wouldn't necessarily have otherwise). Sometimes, I feel that this was a great decision, and other days I am lost in the dark and frustrated, paging through my dictionary. Either way, I always feel that it gives me a good perspective on how my students may be feeling at any given point in my own English class.

Today for family group, it was my turn to lead (this means providing food, drink, Bible study, and sharing for an hour). I chose to lead one of my favorite camp devos-- you create a representation of your faith from tin foil, and then explain it to the group. Though I had a bit of tweaking to do; my audience was now a group of seminarians, instead of ten thirteen-year-old girls. I chose a verse from 1 Corinthians to share. I wrote out word for word my greeting, my directions, and my explanation in Malay. Even with everything ready, I was nervous. Really nervous. Do I have enough chairs? I have coffee and milo, will one pot of water be enough? I wanted to speak Malay, but if it's half in English, is that okay? Should I try to read the Bible verse in Malay, even though I know it will be slow and full of mistakes? Are the snacks okay?

Eleven people entered my house, and we began. It was an interesting feeling, to be leading this Bible study and, at the same time, have no idea how it was going. I saw people's tin foil figures, picked up the few words I recognized, but for the most part had no idea what they were sharing with each other. The only thing I could do was put it in motion, and let it be. As I was sitting there I was overwhelmed with a sense of relief and calm. What had I been so worried about? It reminded me, so often we try to control things in life, when no matter how hard we try, we can never fully understand or control them. It wasn't my hour to be worried about.

The second story comes from one of my tutorials. I have been teaching one of my students from China since September. When I met her, she couldn't even speak enough English to introduce herself. She is an avid studier, and motivated in general to learn English. Lately, we've been diving into nouns, since the structure of the language makes sense to her, all she is lacking is the vocabulary. A family friend from home sent me a Chinese-English picture dictionary, and at first, I was unsure of how to use it; I couldn't read the Chinese characters. But of course, I'm not the one that needs to read it. So, to jump start our noun learning these next couple weeks, I copied the most important pages for my student. We'll be learning fruits, vegetables, body parts, animals, and shapes, and at the end of short dictionary I included a page of musical terms. One of the main things I learned from Wartburg was if you want to have a good lesson, have it meet the interests of the students. I find this to be no different with my adult students, so of course I included the music for Zhang Yi. We have often spent our time together singing-- practicing words to English songs, sharing songs from musicals to see if we know the same ones, singing hymns and carols. She often will play the piano, and I sing along.

In our lesson today, we start flipping through the pages, pronouncing some words, talking about where we will start learning. We get to the last page, and after going through a few music terms, she turns to me. She thinks for a moment, gathering the words she wants to use. After one try, I'm still confused. She looks up a word in her dictionary-- the definition, to touch, affect. Together we put together a question, "why did you teach me this?" For me the answer was easy, of course I knew she liked music, so I thought she would want to learn it. But it obviously meant so much more.
She felt touched by my gesture. But I'm the one that is really touched.