Return to the "Golden Bowl"

From 1990 until 1993 we lived in the small provincial capital of Angthong which means ‘golden bowl.’  I’m not sure why it has this name but it was our home for three years.  Angthong is one of the smallest provinces in Thailand.  It is about 100 km north of Bangkok and the province is filled with rice fields and temples.  Our son, Matthew, was born during our time there and many fond memories remain as well as some hard-learned lessons.  We got a chance to go back for a day but we wondered if we would be able to find anyone we knew since it had been almost 20 years since our time of living there.  This, of course, was before the days of email, internet, cell phones, facebook, etc so it was difficult to stay in touch with people.  

       We did not have our own vehicle so we had to rely on public transportation, motorcycle taxis, and our feet on a very hot day.  We ducked into a few shops that we used to frequent to see if some of the same store owners were there.  That didn’t go very well.  We then decided to go to the area where the first house we rented was but we found that it had been torn down.  However, the neighbor across the street was a well-known man in town that we knew so we went to his house.  The woman who came up to meet us while the dogs were barking turned out to be Somkit’s wife.  We recognized each other right away and had a good time visiting.  Somkit died eight years earlier of a brain aneurism.  His wife told us that just the week before we showed up she and her daughter were talking about us after seeing an old picture.  It was a picture of Ann (their then 18 month old) and Christina (about 3+) with Matthew in the background.  She pulled out the picture a little later which you will see below.  Ann now has an 8 month old daughter but she was out on business.  We asked about locating the father of my best friend, Itti.  We were reminded how to get there.  His house was still the same.  As we approached the house a policeman asked us what we were doing.  After I told him he smiled saying that he was an in-law of the family.  Going in we met Itti’s younger sister and his father.  They treated us like royalty.  Itti tragically died in a car accident less than two years after we left Angthong.  We have been very concerned about Noy, his widow, and their son, Geng.  Itti’s insurance had lapsed and so Noy was saddled with paying off the totaled truck that Itti had been driving.  We wanted to stay in touch with her but had lost contact.  Itti’s sister called Geng and we talked on the phone.  He has gone on to graduate from college and has been very devoted to his mother.  We got Noy’s number and we talked to her later!  She has been working in the same factory job for almost 30 years.  We hope to get a chance to see her in person. 

We walked back to Somkit’s house and got to see Ann.  They invited Christina (who wasn’t with us) to come to visit them.  Later, we tried to find some other old neighbors but we were not successful.  However, we left Angthong very glad that we had the opportunity to meet some people we cared about.  Our hearts and minds were flooded with a ton of memories from many years before.  

 Our first house was just on the other side of this fence.  Now gone  :<

 Itti's father who is now 75. 

 Itti, my dear friend who passed away 18 years ago. (it's the year 2555 in Thailand now).

The picture of Ann & Christina.  Matthew is right behind Ann's right shoulder.  

 Barbara with Ann's mother, Ann, & her eight month old.

The main street coming through Angthong. 

Retooling

One aspect of a sabbatical is to “retool” for the future and so I was encouraged by a former colleague and mentor, Dr.  Larry Dinkins, to attend a three day seminar that he was leading  on orality.  A large percentage of people in this world are either preferred oral learners, barely literate or illiterate.  A preferred oral learner is someone who does read but prefers to learn in an oral method or a method other than reading.  This has nothing to do with intelligence.  Some who are not literate are very intelligent but they may have lacked the opportunity to learn to read. 

Many cultures in the world enjoy stories.  Stories can be easily learned and transmitted to others.  The majority genre of the Bible, by a large margin, is narrative yet we in the West tend to teach everything in an analytical manner and often miss the simplicity of the story.  We get so bogged down analyzing the details that we can miss the big picture.  So, the seminar focused on learning to teach in an oral, story-telling manner and to encourage those listening to participate rather than to just sit and listen.  I had a great time learning with the rest of those attending the very “hands-on” seminar.  We were not allowed to take any notes and so we had to rely on our memory which is what oral learners do.   I will seek to incorporate what I have learned in the near future. 

 Larry Dinkins in action

 We got together for dinner with Larry.

 The Orality training I did in Bangkok was in English but then we went to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) where I got to participate in an afternoon session in Thai.  These are members of the group in which I participated.

            Larry working with a group.

      I came away with an even greater admiration for Larry than I had before.  He has returned to Thailand after ten years in the U.S. in which his dear wife, Paula, battled cancer.  Paula fought valiantly but was finally called home to be with her Savior.  Larry could have returned to his former post as a professor and cruised along teaching in the same manner as he did in years before.  He finished a PhD in Education during his time in the U.S. so he likely has a LOT more info to teach but instead Larry is someone who keeps pushing ahead to learn and grow.  Rather than doing what is easy and comfortable he wants to find out what is truly most effective in helping people to learn.  He is setting a wonderful example of someone who is not afraid to change direction and is always striving for excellence.  Thank you, Larry, for being a huge blessing to me along my sabbatical journey.  

Back to School

One great privilege during our Sabbatical Journey is to be able to spend time with Christina, our daughter, who has come back to Thailand to start her teaching career.  This is actually her third time back to Thailand but our first time in sixteen years.  She will be a guest blogger to give a report on her new job.

Teaching at International Community School (www.icsbangkok. ) has been a wonderful experience so far. I have been settling into Thailand well, and really enjoy my job. I am teaching 2^nd grade, and I have 14 students in my class.  Half of my students are Thai and the other half is a mixture of nations.  We just finished out first quarter at school and my students have all done very well!  I have been staying very busy with the work, but am able to occasionally get out and do something on the weekend. I have gone to several large parks in Bangkok, as well as several large shopping malls. Thai people seem to take their shopping malls very seriously. The shopping malls here are huge and have everything one can think of…some of them even have themes-such as each floor being a different country or famous city. A couple of other weekend activities I have done are going to the largest weekend market in Thailand-Chatujak Market, going to the beach in Pataya-on a school retreat, and going to Safari World-where I was licked by a giraffe! Right now we have one week off for our fall break…it is a much needed break after being so busy with school! It has been nice to have my parents in Thailand, and am looking forward to a week with them in Chiang Mai.

                We got to visit Christina’s classroom.  I was able to read the afternoon story to the students and Barbara helped several days in the classroom grading papers and aiding in several projects.  We have been very impressed with both the school personnel and the facilities.  We stayed in an apartment on the floor above Christina so we had several meals together after school.  Christina is also seeking to improve her Thai language ability and is attending a Thai church.  It’s great to be able to see our wonderful daughter’s situation and it is a real answer to prayer.  

Story time.

Science Experiment.

Role-reversal.  Christina used to help Barbara teach but now it's the other way around!

Talk about growth…

Grace, our friend who lives in Guangzhou, took us on a tour of her city a few weeks ago.  Among the places we visited was the very new downtown area that is a good example of the extremely rapid growth of China (which is no secret).  In our journey in the country from which many of our good friends have their origin, we saw several huge new train stations, we transitioned through several gigantic new airports, we witnessed beautiful landscaping of public areas, and saw construction cranes everywhere building new high rise buildings.  The new Guangzhou downtown area was a very large open space to walk in that prohibits motor vehicles, has a super fancy mall down below the street level, and is laid out very pleasantly.  The new subway lines feed into the area.  Interesting architecture marks the new business skyscrapers. There was also a brand new children’s museum and a very fancy new library.  At night the buildings are outlined with multi-colored LED lights that continually change.  One cannot help but be impressed with all the growth.  Of course, there’s more to growth than just building structures.  Every government faces decisions as to how to spend tax revenue.  I’m sure not everyone is benefiting from all aspects of the growth but the investment in public transportation is one area that should benefit most everyone.  There is heavy investment of both private and public money in China and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of either. Grace invested heavily in us using her whole day to show us her city and taking us to eat delicious food.  Thank you, Grace! 

 With Grace in the older section of Guangzhou

 The wide-open public square area of the newer downtown area.

 The new opera house that my sister, Lisa, would enjoy.

 That's a TALL building!

Moving sidewalk leading down to the mall and to the subway.  

Where have all the bicycles gone?

I used to be amazed when I saw the pictures of hundreds of people riding bikes in China in a massive column.  I often wondered how a person who needed to make a turn could safely maneuver out of the crowd without running into anyone.  Unfortunately, I missed the era when the bicycle was king in China.  Yes, there are still bicycles but many have been replaced by cars.  I did see a lot of pretty neat electric bicycles and electric scooters. One has to be careful when walking because electric bikes don’t make any noise to alert you that they are behind you.  But as I watched traffic move as a passenger in several friend’s cars, I think I discovered how the bicycles were able to move in and out in traffic.  For I think that they maneuver cars a lot like they used to maneuver their bikes.  What I mean by this is that when someone wants to turn or change lanes they just do it with little regard to who is already there or coming.  Most people who drive cars in China have only been driving for a decade or so.  Before that time there just weren’t that many cars on the road.  This means that many went from riding bicycles to driving cars in a very short time span.  People cut in and out in front of others in a most entertaining manner.  The amazing thing is that I saw few accidents and no road-rage.  From my observation, people are much more patient when driving in China than in the U.S.  When someone cuts right in front of them many don’t even honk their horns.  If you are coming to the U.S. to drive better give a little more space and use your signal because some people can really get angry when they are cut off unlike the patient drivers in China.  

Sorry for the poor image.  Here come some trucks deciding to merge into traffic.

Hong Kong Reunion and Virtual Party

We had another great reunion with dear friends - this time in Hong Kong.  Curt and Lina, our gracious hosts, opened up their place and Lina fixed a delicious meal.  Dwellings in Hong Kong are small due to the high population, relatively small amount of land available, and the high housing prices.  Curt and Lina’s home is actually in a hotel which rents the upper floors as longer term living places.  It includes a small kitchen and two small bedrooms.  They have two short bunk beds in their “guest” bedroom because there isn’t enough room for regular sized beds.  They still house many guests who are don’t mind a little bit of cramped quarters.  They had a friend on the same floor whose family was away and so we were able to stay with him.  He gave us the “master” bedroom so we had a great place to stay for four days.  They even had washing machines downstairs so we were able to catch up on our laundry which is a big thing when one is on the road for three months.  There were ten of us (including Ping’s niece whom we didn’t know) at the reunion but we wished we had more.  So, we invited a couple of people to be with us virtually.  Glen had helped us put much of our China trip together so he joined us via Skype.  A little later we were talking about Brian & Wee so they joined us for a while as well.  Our time of fellowship and prayer was sweet.  Yet we look forward to the day in which there will be no more parting in the presence of our King.  Until then the journey continues. 

 Lina in her kitchen.

 Nine plus Glen via Skype.

 Mighty Ping holding Brian and Wee!

Dr. Hongjie Zhang in his lab.

Hong Kong Beauty

When I used to think about Hong Kong, what came to mind were high rise buildings and crowds of people.  Yes, there are plenty of both of those but there is also a lot of VERY beautiful scenery.  We were treated to these sights by Ping and Phyllis.  Ping has only been in Hong Kong for a few months.  She moved there to join her husband, Hongjie, who left about ten months ago to begin his research and teaching at Hong Kong Baptist University.  They were part of our church for about 12 years and we miss them dearly.  Phyllis completed her Master’s degree while in Chicago and has been back in her hometown for a number of years.  It was great to see her again!  Such reunions have been the highlight of our trip.  We got to see where Phyllis teaches and carries on important work.  Ping took us to the university where she is working, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.  It has to be one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever seen with great views of the bay below from almost every point on campus.  The next day we went up to the top of Hong Kong Island which yields fantastic views of the city and the water below.  We also visited some nice beaches.  Our ride to the airport was also filled with views of peaks, valleys, and bays.  Hong Kong is a beautiful place with great public transportation, lots to see and do, and the home of some dear friends.  A great place to visit on a sabbatical journey!

 Dim Sum Lunch with Phyllis and Ping!  Delicious!

One of the views from Ping's campus.  A tough place to concentrate on studies!

 View from the top.

The observation deck where we had been standing overlooking the city below.