Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Nutcracker

     One time in high-school/middle-school I had the "privilege" of going to see The Nutcracker. It's probably considered a very great thing for a girl at that age to experience, possibly to be cultured or something. I don't know that I left any different though. I am glad I went so I could learn about what a ballet is and it was a fun thing to do as a family, but I think probably a big thing I got out of it was I am not a person who enjoys ballets.
     I don't say that it's not my favorite for no reason. Actually I have a few reasons. For one thing, there is a story that the people are acting out, but it is not clear. In order to understand what is happening, you have to read the paper that you get at the entrance or have someone tell you. I mean what's the point of dancing all around the stage if you are the only one who knows what you're doing, Clara? Also rather than just coming out and doing or saying something, they draw it out and just dance around while you are waiting to see them get to the point. I mean what is "The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies" all about? Why don't all the sweets just say they are excited?
     My point here isn't to tell you about the Nutcracker, or even my opinion of it. Really the other day I went to a cultural event here and it reminded me of The Nutcracker. I went to a local cultural dance that the town I am staying in puts on. It was actually VERY interesting to watch, but like The Nutcracker, the story line was hidden in the brochure I got upon entering. It went something like a girl was stolen by a scary man when she got left in the woods by herself and another man saved her. Now I'm sure the performers would say there is a lot more to it, but that's the core plot. I have to say though that the constant chanting and costumes and fire kept me very intrigued the whole time! I guess it's another part of experiencing culture. I've included some pics I took so you could get a little glimpse into the traditional costumes and dance here.
     On a final note, the very interesting part about it is that it is much more than just a cultural event, but a religious one. This is how they call out to beings beyond themselves, whether that's spirits or other things. Also in the end of the dance a man actually runs through a fire and SITS in it  because the priest blesses him and a spirit empowers him to do it--so they say.

When the girl was taken.


The man that took her.



stone carvings


Today I took a walk around the area that I’m living in to talk to the Father about the people living here. It was perfect weather for a walk and I am glad for the opportunity to do a job so important, but so easily overlooked. The time really made me reflect a little bit on how much more I need to talk to the Father in my life.
While I walked I was reminded again of how many people there are here. Everywhere I turned there were people working in their stores, doing construction, harvesting rice, playing outside and driving by. It was interesting to watch all that is going on.
One thing I passed toward the end of my walk was people carving idols/temple things out of stone. As I watched for a few minutes I remembered a story that our friend Luke wrote about. He mentioned that Paul was in a city and he caused a big stir because people were buying less idols and things related to the temple of Diana. I began to think, since I am asking the Father to change over this whole village, these men will surely lose work!
After I got home I spent some time reading the story and it was so interesting to have just seen a situation with so many parallels. Someday soon, I hope that there is such little interest in these idols that these men are making like what happened in the story Luke told!
It is always such an encouragement to see how the world is so accurately reflected in a book written over 1,000 years ago! The Creator surely knows us and His Word speaks into the situations we are in!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

culture shock


The typical McDonalds meal of course is Fried Chicken and Rice right? I mean there are a few other options, but isn’t that what almost everyone orders?

Or maybe that’s just on this island! Haha.

Last night we went to McD’s and I think I only saw one person other than us with a burger—and the place was crowded!!!

I guess that’s living in a different culture!

Since I’ve been here I have been surprised many times at just how different Asian culture is from the other places I’ve been. The way they eat is different—no knives. If there is silverware, it’s a spoon and fork. The fork is used to push everything onto the spoon. Rice is a must at every meal. If you don’t have rice, it’s probably just a snack! And SPICY food is the specialty :) Also mornings start very early. Everyone is up and out around 5:30. They go to the market, sweep the road outside their house and begin cooking for the day! People and relationships are very important, and life is at a much slower pace. Things also take a long time to do here. Most of the food is made from scratch, the roads almost always have tons of traffic and it’s very hot.

I guess it’s a little bit funny to realize, but I didn’t really think I’d have culture shock. I thought, “Oh that’s what those Americans who came to Czech went through. I’m not like that though. I’m experienced.” Haha. I should’ve thought that through a little better. Each day it seems that I’m learning about how differently people live than we do in the US. Yesterday we went out to a village to the home of some friends and that was even more different. Image not having four walls but more like a half wall or two and the rest curtains—in your whole house! or replacing your toilet with a hole in the ground for starters. The roads to get there were ROUGH too, and apparently for this part of the world, they’re pretty good—we didn’t even need four-wheel drive!

I’ll continue to write about cultural differences, but I thought you’d like to get a little bit of an idea!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

HERE!


Made it here safely and there are a good number of stories I’m sure I could share, but just wanted to let you know that I’m here.
I arrived to my friend’s home late Friday night my time and slept through most of the night—which is pretty impressive since it was daytime according to my internal clock :) Then Saturday was a restful day here at the house. We had pancakes for breakfast and just hung out, went to the store, and had dinner with friends. I was also able to unload the fun stuff I brought over from grandparents and the store.
So far today I woke up REALLY early—5:15, no alarm :) and went and watched friends finish their ½ marathon and 10k. It was exciting and MUGGY! But we got to see a beautiful sunrise and the ocean from a distance. After the race was over we went to the pool and I got local food for lunch. I’m SO lucky that I’m somewhere with PLENTY of SPICY food!
Tomorrow I’ll start language classes and have an intensive week with that as well as some orientation to the culture here!

In flight

Wrote this in the airport waiting between flights...


I can’t believe it! I’m on my way!
I just left this morning my time and I think I’ll get to my destination tomorrow night… by the time I post this I’ll have that figured out.

But as I’m waiting between flights I just wanted to say how perfectly things have been working out!

-I think I have everything I need
-I was able to get my boarding passes al right at the first check-in of my trip and my luggage is also checked in all the way! No hauling heavy suitcases around in the airports!
-My mom and I made it safely and stress-free through the city to the airport
-The first flight FLEW by! (hooray for on-flight movies)
-I met some cool people travelling on 2 flights with me
-I only lost ONE thing to security in London! (goodbye moisturizer)
-I got to celebrate my mom’s birthday early with her
-I got to visit friends at Mountainside, ABC and the BI :)
-MANY people have been encouraging me and talking to our Dad about me
-My mom and I spent ½ day talking to our Dad in preparation!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

preparation

just a little bit more from the conference...

this is all of us, right before we headed out! Great group and we all learned so much together!



and here are some of my notes. haha. so thankful for Kate's crayons!(P.S. there are many others I typed, but these were the most photogenic notes.)