“Another summer day has come and gone away, in either Paris or Rome and I wanna go home…”
Well, truth be told, when I was in Paris and Rome I didn’t feel that way. I was quite happy to be where I was and it’s hard to believe that it ever happened. It feels as if the things we did and saw, the different worlds we experienced never happened…like it was all a dream. But it wasn’t, I really did travel around Europe for two months, with a group of people I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen on my own, though it was partly due to the various personalities that our group worked so well…I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
I have never seen so much art in my life, and I may not be able to visit another museum or gallery for a couple of months lol. Oh, and thank you leaders…every time I go any where now can’t help but think “bus buddy and tent mate!” only to realize that neither my bus buddy or tent mate are here.
I’ve learned so much on this trip, about others, about myself…and I’m not really sure if I’ve even really broke the surface yet. I’ve met people and seen places and things that I never could have dreamed of…and it was amazing to see how God worked in and through us throughout our travels and experiences. In many ways it’s hard to describe a trip like this (though I’m happy to show pictures and tell stories to any who would like) I feel blessed to have been a part of it, and grateful to all those who worked so hard to make it a good trip.
So thank you, one and all…those on the trip, behind the scenes and those who were praying for us while we were gone.
now…if you’ll excuse me, I have a few more assignments to finish
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for almost two months; it’s gone by so fast, but I’m just about ready to go home.
Today we were in Brussels taking a tour of the European Parliament, and something about the motto of this political body struck me. Their motto is ‘Unity in Diversity’, and already one can see the implications of this. If you know anything about Europe, you know that it is indeed a place full of diversity; in language, culture, and beliefs. In Belgium alone there are two main language groups. Apparently there is some talk (though I’m not sure how prevalent that talk is) about there being some desire for the language groups to separate and have the French speaking part join France and the Flemish speaking part join the Netherlands. This would mean the end of Belgium as a nation.
As I was thinking about this problem, it kind of reminded me of home, and the relations between Quebec and the rest of Canada. Quebec has long wanted to separate from Canada, and language is one of the major issues involved. It also made me think of how diverse our own nation is. Canada is considered a melting-pot of cultures as people from all over the world have come to our shores, for various reasons, and have brought pieces of their homelands with them. With diversity can come some big problems, so one of the questions that keep bouncing around in my head is wondering if and how we in Canada can adopt this idea of ‘unity in diversity.’ What can we do to create a nation where our differences don’t divide us, don’t bring us down, but rather work to build us up to be a strong and healthy participant in world and domestic affairs.
Well, roughly a month into the trip and I’m still alive! yay! Alive is a good thing. So much has happened that it’s a bit hard to know where to start…we’ve seen insanely decorated churchs and people who beg outside them, we’ve seen dogs in clothing stores and cities built on swamps. There is an entirely different atmosphere here, and even that changes between the more northern and southern parts of Europe.
I desire a greater sense of connection with this place. I know the history and I kind of wish it was more a part of me, but it’s not. I’m not ‘homesick’ per se, but I am looking forward to being home.
One thing that a friend and I were talking about are the difference in names here from North America. What we in North America know as Vienna is really Wien and it is the same in other countries here as well….so why don’t we call them by their proper names? Why is it that we think that everything needs to have an English equivilent?
Well, here we go again…once more it is time to leave this fair land in the pursuit of knowledge and adventure. Though this time ’round I find myself coming to the trip with a bit of uncertainty coloring my excitement.
The other day our group got together and had a time of sharing; we each were to share where we were coming from as we got ready to go to Europe. At first I found myself drawing a blank and then as more of my classmates shared I found that I didn’t really want to voice where I was coming from because I didn’t really want to admit it to myself.
One of the most common themes brought up was that this trip could be a good bonding time for our class. This brought up mixed feelings for me, because this was one of the seemingly unspeakable thoughts plaguing my mind. I have often found it difficult to make friends, and when I do, I find that I’m unsure as to where I stand with them. This uncertainty is mainly from past experiences when those I considered to be good friends used and abused me. Being tossed aside like worthless trash is hardly good for one’s self-esteem, but at any rate that’s where I stand.
In the deep, dark places of my heart I long for deeper relationships, but I also dread getting closer to my classmates because it will make it that much harder for me to leave them next year. There are those in my class who, sadly, I don’t really know and then there are those who I consider to be family. I want to be closer, but I fear the heartbreak that is sure to come.
And so this is how I begin this newest adventure, with fear and uncertainty and the faith that whatever happens God will see me through…
After all…what could possibly happen, living with a bunch of people on a bus for two months?
It’s funny really. Here I am sitting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a city I never thought I would see again. When I fist came to this city 5ish years ago, I was told that the experiences that would come would change me in ways I’d never thought possible. Well, I’ve been to Thailand, home and back again and though I was told the same thing about this trip, I still don’t see it.
Sure, maybe it’s because I’m still in SEA, still too close to all the experiences that are supposed to bring about these massive changes of my being, but I don’t feel any different. Sure maybe I may look a bit different, but that’s what happens in fair-skinned person vs. THE SUN! But really now. Maybe it won’t be me who notices, maybe it’ll be my friends or my family at home, who have to listen to me talk and talk over and over about the things that have happened here.
Sometimes I wonder if people are too worried about change. Yes, I’m sure it’s almost impossible to go through an experience like this one and not come out changed in one way or another, but it doesn’t have to be the huge, monumental, life altering change that is ‘expected’. Maybe, just maybe, it’s in the smaller, seemingly indiscernible changes that end up making the difference.
I am fair skinned, I am pale, I am white…and after a few hours at the beach yesterday, I am now red as well. It’s interesting, I am red and I am white, the two colours of my nation’s flag. Being the ‘white girl’ in Asia means a number of things, one being that I stick out. Walking down the street in the Philippines or here in Malaysia, I stick out like a sore thumb, the giant white girl (and yes, I’m pretty much a giant here). On TV, both in the Philippines and Malaysia, I’ve seen ads for skin whitening products. The people here want to look like me, they want to be white, which is a pretty strange concept for me, I know the drawbacks, like really bad sunburns that make you look like a walking veggie. Why is it that no matter where a person is in the world, there seems to be this desire to be something or someone other than who or what you are.
This experience is still stretching me, I’ve tried new foods (something that is very hard to get me to even think about) like mangoes, and seaweed salad and squid. I’ve trekked through the jungle, swam in the ocean (a warm ocean!) and have become closer to different people on my team. This place is amazing, it is wild and beautiful in a way completely different than my home. Where I come from, mountains, pines, cedars and maples rule, here, it’s tropical. It’s different but still breathtaking to come to a part of the world that is rarely seen by people like me.
Soon we’ll be making our way to Thailand, a return trip for me and a first for many of my friends. We’ve been through so much already and we still have just over a month left in this trip. For now it’s difficult to even begin to think about how I may have changed because of this. I’m sure I have, for it seems unlikely that a person can take part in an adventure like this and not come out changed in one way or another. And so the adventure continues onward.
So this is the start, the start of a new adventure with ‘new’ people, to new places. It was a bit of a jolt, coming from a nice relaxing holiday with my family, and jumping straight into classes and work. Now this might not seem too different from a normal school term, but it is, oh it is. In a short period of time, my class and I will be off to the other side of the world, to some of the mysterious lands of Southeast Asia. But before we can leave for Asia, we must make it through our intensive courses. It is through the History, Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Religions courses that we will be able to have a better experience of the cultures that we will be coming in contact with. Truth be told, I know very little about the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam, and nothing about the Histories of these regions. Taking these different courses, before I leave on the trip, will help me gain a better understanding of the cultures that I will be experiencing in a few short weeks; needless to say, a course that is compressed into such a short amount of time cannot possibly express everything that might be possible to learn in a longer time frame, but the things we learn now will help us when we get there. I wonder how much more we will be able to appreciate the adventures to come, now that we have some background to these places and people we will encounter.
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