SE Asia 2009

bus rides and bobby pins

June 23, 2009 – 12:16 pm
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (1)

Shortly after returning from the recent Asia travel study term, Nicola had an experience with someone that impacted him.  His blog entry below speaks of the importance of the travel study terms for both our students and the people they interact with.

Redemption

Nicola Gladwell gave me a bobby pin.

During a long bus trip this April, I got out the handwritten draft of a short story and my AlphaSmart Dana word processor.

I balanced the Dana on my lap, then realized there was no comfortable–or even uncomfortable–way to prop up the sheets so I could type them. On the back of the seat in front of me was a tightly screwed-on strip of plastic that held the chair cover in place. I tried forcing the edge of a page under that, but had no luck.

Bother.

It was then that Nicola, seated across the aisle from me, came to the rescue. She removed a bobby pin from her hair and handed it over. I was at a loss what to do with it.

“What do you suggest?” I asked.

She took the flat prong and worked it under the strip of plastic, creating a clipboard. I slid a few pages into the bobby pin and they held.

Brilliant.

Later on, we introduced ourselves and chatted a bit. She asked what I was writing.

“A newspaper column,” I said.

This was a lie.

The short story was an early draft, and I never talk about writing so new. It wasn’t much of a lie, however, because I planned to work on a column later on.

“May I read it?” she asked.

“Uh . . . no.”

I know better than to lie and was embarrassed that I have been instantly, though unwittingly, caught.

There was wireless internet on the bus, and she had her laptop open.

“Take a look at my website,” I told her. “There are things there you can read.”

I gave her the web address and she sampled a poem and an essay and said some very kind things about them.

“Now that I’ve read something of yours, you should read something of mine,” she said.

My Dana isn’t wireless, so I asked her to email me the link and promised I’d read it when I got to my hotel.

I have something to confess. Because Nicola is a college student–an undergrad, in fact–I had low expectations. Whatever it was she had written would be, I was sure, devoid of serious thought and lacking in decent craft.

The internet, as is often the case, had a surprise waiting for me.

Nicola wrote about a recent trip to Asia, telling how things that are of small consequence here, are valued and used there. Redeemed, if you will.

She gave as an example, painted car tires being used as plant pots in the Philippines.

She gave as an example, the Asian practice of eating all parts of a beast, including the snout and feet.

She gave as an example, a dollar-store toy that we would scorn in the west, having value in the hands of a Filipino girl.

She gave as an example, the scrap tin that is used in many huts in Manila and Bangkok.

I could appreciate what she was saying, for I’d seen the same thing in Africa.

In Kenya, a dirty, twisted piece of wire is not trash, it is something that can be cleaned and carefully pounded into an attractive pair of ear-rings, often with no more tools than a flat rock for an anvil and a discarded engine bolt for a hammer.

A useless piece of wire redeemed.

I could follow the path that her examples laid down, but was not prepared for where they led me.

“I loved Thailand,” Nicola wrote. “I could live in Chiang Mai.

“I would ride to work on an elephant and guide rafts on mountain rivers for a pitiful living, seeking wisdom from aged monks and taking a masters in sustainable living or linguistics at CMU.

“However. I have a problem. I can’t get it through my head — you have to help me.

“There are over two million prostitutes in Thailand. In [the province of] Chiang Mai, all of them are brought from destitute Burmese villages and trafficked through the village of Ma Sai on the border.

“I was in Ma Sai. I bought a pen. And a necklace.

“All Burmese teen girls traveling through Ma Sai leave without their virginity and thus their hope for a future and marriage, and almost half leave with an AIDS death sentence from their first few weeks in the industry.

“What does redemption mean to a sex slave in Japan, in Bangkok, in Kuala Lumpur?

“If I see so much of what we call garbage being redeemed throughout Asia, isn’t there a way to redeem the consequences of societal chastity, idolatry, obligatory merit-making, hierarchical systems, and poverty?”

I still have Nicola’s bobby pin. I am thinking of framing it and hanging it on my wall.

This will remind me not to judge the abilities and motivations of others.

This will remind me that the life we are blessed with here is not the life most people enjoy.

This will remind me that redemption is everyone’s responsibility.

This will remind me that Nicola, who was her way home for summer break, planned to visit with her family for a couple of days then head north to Ontario.

Ontario, you see, has set a goal of planting 50 million trees by 2020, and Nicola was going to help plant some of them.
http://www.johngovernale.com/articles/redemption.html

Where is the rice? Which means: where is the love?

April 25, 2009 – 10:49 am
By Alex Henderson | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

We are all back home from Asia. Though we only had rice twice in our SSU meal-plan diet! Yet it is obviously the most superior food on the face of the planet. In Asia we had rice with every meal, and this helps prove my superior-food point! They even made their desserts out of rice. They also had special rice dances, and even members of our team were moved to do our own rice-dancing.

Did you know that the USA Rice Federation on www.usarice.com says this about rice:

“[Rice] is nutrient dense and contributes over 15 vitamins and minerals including folate and other B-vitamins, iron and zinc”, “[Rice] is an energy food, supplying carbohydrates that fuel the body’s physical activity ” and, “Triggers the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain that helps regulate and improve mood”

I’d be impressed if I weren’t already.

Since we’ve been home in North America we have had wheat grains with almost every meal. Did you know this about wheat grains. According to youtube.com in a video titled “The FDA Conspiracy & Bleached Flour, Austin Nutrition” (here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg5x-zUS5N8):  “various chemicals are used in the bleaching process, one of which is floride dioxide…”

Floride dioxide you say? That seems like a hastle! Why bother bleaching our food my North American friends when rice is already white.

The conspiracy video also says bleached flour: “spikes your blood sugar” among other undesirble things. Needless to say wheat flour is an evil in North American culture.

The Business of Redemption

April 24, 2009 – 11:06 am
By Nicola Gladwell | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (2)

Mind-held Thai expressions tease my tongue. Each essay determinately engaging with the SE Asian sex trade…

I have had a line ringing in my mind since our return, mingling with the leftovers of Asian dialects:

In the business of redemption.

What does it look like to be in the business of redemption?

I am reminded of: plant pots made from painted car tires in the Philippines; a Malay man’s obsession with mundane rocks allowing him to find a wealth of value in his collection of unique stones: singing boulders, growing gems, and petrified wood; in eating meat, Asians use the whole of the beast: even if this meant finding pig snout on my plate in the Philippines and chicken feet in a Malaysian curry; a dollar-store toy that we would scorn in the west has found new value in the hand of a Filipino girl, as does the scrap tin finding its place in the sea of huts within Manila or Bangkok.

In the business of redemption. what does it mean?

Perhaps it means finding value in imperfection- in another’s garbage, setting it free from judgement and compartmentalizing snobbery.

I loved Thailand; I could live in Chiang Mai. I would ride to work on an elephant and guide rafts on mountain rivers for a pitiful living, seeking wisdom from aged monks and taking a master’s in sustainable living or linguistics at CMU. However. I have a problem. I can’t get it through my head- you have to help me.

There are over 2 million prostitutes in Thailand; in Chiang Mai all of them are brought from destitute Burmese villages and trafficked through the village of Ma Sai on the border. I was in Ma Sai. I bought a pen. And a necklace. All Burmese teen girls traveling through Ma Sai leave without their virginity and thus their hope for a future and marriage, and almost half leave with an AIDS death sentence from their first few weeks in the industry.

What does redemption mean to a sex slave in Japan, in Bangkok, in Kuala Lumpur? If I see so much of what we call garbage being redeemed throughout Asia, isn’t there a way to redeem the consequences of societal chastity, idolatry, obligatory merit-making, hierarchical systems, and poverty?

In the business of Redemption.

Thai vocabulary, redemptive ideas, thoughts of the summer, and efforts to summarize my year at SSU swirl around my mind. I feel reminiscient of a Hogwarts student awaiting the next school year, or Arnold buckling his seatbelt in the Magic School Bus. I feel like all my life I have been taught to stand on a gymnasium line or sit quietly without being told why, and now my experience has set my mind free from dictated learning. Let me ask questions, don’t break life to me gently, let me dive in and let me experience both the joy and the pain of humanity. What will I learn next year?

I think redemption would be a good business to get into.

There and back again, a student’s tale.

April 24, 2009 – 11:01 am
By Geoff MacNeill | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

So I thought the last post was the final and concluding one, so here’s to P.S’s…

Travel terms, yeah they are pretty great. I suppose they just kind of match my personality. I love being in airports, sleeping on uncomfortable chairs in the lobbies. The anticipation of who the heck is gonna be sitting next to you on the plane is usually exciting as well.

Side note* On the return journey from Bangkok to Hong Kong, I sat next to two young hip Jewish Israelites. One of them even recited from the Torah, or another piece of Hebrew literature, out loud (but somewhat softly to himself) during the flight. I thought they were pretty neat guys.

I also like getting on long bus rides and reading or listening to music, contemplating the events that had just happened and of the things to come. And then getting off and realizing that your earthly possessions can be packed into a suitcase or backpack. It’s pretty freeing.

And then there’s walking through foreign countries; sights, sounds, and smells are all new experiences these are also great aspects of traveling. It’s this I think I like most; the cultural exposure. Seeing how others live their life helps me understand my neighbor and their culture a little more, it makes them a bit more familiar and less like the unknown stranger.

And yeah, education.  This also helps with the understanding process. I left SE Asia feeling like I could emphasize and maybe even sympathize with their struggles and hardships. Some of this came from seeing injustices in the streets, but to get a better understanding of the root causes behind these social issues comes mostly from class room lectures.

My hardest struggle about traveling; meeting people. Kinda weird eh, sometimes I think I am a people person but most of the time I am not. It takes me a while before I can actually warm up to friends and new acquaintenances, I’m a bit of an introvert. I hope over time that this can change… but for now, it’s one of the aspects that makes travel a growing process :)

So now we are back, and it’s life as it was before, but I am thankful. I love traveling but having a home-base to come back to makes the uncomfortable airport beds/chairs all that much better and worthwhile. I know I have a roof over my head, great food, and a comfortable bunk bed to come back to! Although I really like traveling, I also love my culture and it’s familiarities. We have it pretty good in Canada, it’s a great “home-base”.

So maybe I’ll leave this blog by challenging myself and others. Canada isn’t perfect and terrible things are happening here that we have to address, but comparatively to other countries we are pretty much living in the land of milk and honey. So pray about it and try and see if God is leading you to spread His justice and love in places that are lacking it right now. Micah 6:8.

life on preservatives

April 22, 2009 – 9:10 pm
By Raymond Funk | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

I feel like I sometimes live life on preservatives.
I’m home. I’m back in north america, or what I used to know as home and hopefully still do.
I feel different but I don’t see different. I’ve been here for three weeks, trying to adjust my body to a different time, to different foods, and funny enough trying to adjust myself to what I had been used to.
what am I doing? I am trying to adjust back to what I am used to?! what am I used to?
I stop.
everything has changed but everything is the same. 3 weeks ago I was on my way to new brunswick from Bangkok, a place I guess that few people from new brunswick have been. 8 weeks ago I was in a rainforest, and I slept in a house with an old man who spoke only Malay and offered us nescafe 3 in 1 and cookies and biscuits. now I am in my room, checking facebook for messages and preparing for summer in alberta. time has lapsed 10 weeks since I was in my room, checking for facebook messages and trying to prepare myself for southeast asia.

3weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks. what does time do? I am still myself from one moment to the next. what I decide to do carries on with me into the next moment and continues, yet I am the same person who was here 10 weeks ago. but I am a different person. I’ve written assignments on what I’ve experienced and learned while on my term on Southeast Asia, and I have learned much about the history and culture of people and places that were previously unknown to me.

how has this changed me? how has this made me a different person? the history, the culture, the communities, the food, the homestays, my classmates. I have grown closer to people. I hope. I’ve been learning over the past few months that people are not something to be afraid of. but rather it is not knowing people that brings fear. I’ve also been learning that time is something to be less afraid of. it is through the passage of time that growth happens. rather it is not being available to live and grow in the passage of time that brings fear.

I’ve been finding new joy in the people around me and the days as they come and go. I have a greater appreciation for each person as I get to know them better. And I hope that I will find I’m learning to live less on preservatives. I don’t want to be kept in the same place and in the same state.

“As I see the day stretched before me

in all of its mystery and predictability

I give it to You

and ask that You would walk with me

through the minutes and hours

keeping me awake and available

to You

and to whomever will cross my path”

~ from morning prayer by Joel Mason

Re Entrance into the SSU Community

April 22, 2009 – 3:32 pm
By Kyle Jaster | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

My experience with re entering the SSU community was quite difficult. It wasn’t difficult because SSU had changed or the people had changed, it was actually quite the opposite feeling. It felt like everything was the same, and that was the problem. I felt like my life had changed so significantly because of my experience in Asia that in some way I didn’t fit in at SSU any more. I don’t think that it would be a fair statement to say that the people at SSU didn’t change because I’m sure they did too. The difference was that their lives had changed under the same contexts it had always been in and mine had changed in a completely different world, with different issues, different challenges, different thought.
At first it was kind of upsetting and uncomfortable. However, the dynamic of SSU and the people it inhabits made for an incredible re entrance into the community. The bond that all of us Asian students had built in Asia allowed us to lean on one another for support for the first little while, and then eventually when we were comfortable the rest of the community was there to accept us.
Now after being back for over three weeks things feel pretty comfortable and regular again. However, what I don’t want is to feel too comfortable, I don’t want to forget what I have learned in Asia. It is a good thing to feel challenged and a little uncomfortable sometimes. Getting back into the ‘groove of life’ or into the ‘routine’ can be a dangerous and easy place to be. Challenge yourself daily!

I Still Hate Potatoes

April 22, 2009 – 7:57 am
By Tira Ingersoll | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

For as long as I can remember I have detested potatoes. I still eat them, and do not complain when they are served, but I do in fact hate them. I was thrilled when we were heading to Southeast Asia, where potatoes are not a staple in every meal; I was looking forward to two months of a potato-free existence. Throughout the two months the only thing I ate that involved potatoes was the occasional plate of french fries when I found myself tired of rice or fish or unrecognizable foods. Though I did not love the food in Asia, I loved that I could eat freely without worry of eating a potato.

When we were in Asia, before we came home I remember thinking that I would be a very different person; that I would have changed drastically in the two months we were gone. I could not pin-point how I had changed and figured I wouldn’t be able to until we came home, but I knew that I was different. I remember feeling anxious on the bus-ride from Saint John, and especially as we turned the corner and our eyes met the familiar big yellow house on top of the hill. I remember looking forward to interacting with people who hadn’t gone on the trip so that I could see the change in myself. But as I stepped off the bus and began greeting people, hugging and talking to them, I could not see it. In fact I felt almost exactly the same as I did when I left. I was horribly confused. I had had so many great experiences, I had met so many interesting people, I had learned so many new and exciting things. Why could I not see the change in myself?

As the days went by, and then weeks, I could not see a drastic change within myself. And still after having been back about 25 days, I am not an entirely different person than I was two months ago. I know that I have changed, how could I not. I have seen things I had never seen before; I have met the most interesting people and learned from them; I have listened to lectures and to my peers and I have learned from that. I have become more aware of the world around me and developed a true concern and care for it. Even small things like my tastebuds have changed as I find myself enjoying spicy food now. All of my experiences in Southeast Asia have changed me, I am different, however, in spite of all these things there are parts of me that have not obviously changed. I still hate potatoes.

A Whole New World

April 21, 2009 – 7:31 am
By Alicia Farnham | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

I hardly know where to begin!

It seems like a lifetime ago that I stepped out of the Toronto airport and breathed the crisp and cold air of Canada again after two months of the perpetual sauna-soaked air of Southeast Asia: with glee, I spread my arms out, threw my head back, inhaled dramatically and refused the jacket offered me right off my aunt’s back.  The whole trip feels like a dream–even the heat!  And yet, the more time that slips by and separates me from that experience, the more I seem to absorb from it.  I can’t answer the demands from well-meaning friends to tell them about my trip; I can hardly remember more than one specific story at a time (such as the ill-timed story on how I took my relationship with squatty-potties to the next level: this went completely unappreciated by my mother, busily preparing Easter dinner!) but I feel the whole experience all in one piece as a completely indescribable…enlightenment?  That might sound really corny or implausible but I can only explain what it is that has changed for me, as a result of this trip, as a feeling.  To be more exact, I feel larger, not by physical measure but inside somewhere, deep down; there’s something new there that wasn’t there before.  Maybe it’s just things like being able to say ‘I know what a traffic jam reallylooks like’, or ’I've seen how people in a poverty-stricken nation can be rich without money or justice’, or ‘I know history that other people can only hear about on the news, where it’s unrestricted by government leaders’ (because it’s different somehow, perhaps more valuable, when you know lecturers to be risking their safety or their reputation to tell you about their country).  Or I can skim a textbook and get a chill when, upon glancing at a picture and receiving a strange wave of deja-vu, I realize I’ve stood in front of that very same ruin, seen it in colour and even taken a picture of it!

Above and beyond all that, however, I think what I feel most in reaction to Asia 2009 is merely the fact that I no longer have a dark void where all knowledge of Southeast Asia is concerned.  Dark voids are burdensome things and a person doesn’t even notice how heavy they are until they’re gone!  (And by ”dark voids” I suppose I mean ignorance or lack of knowledge.)  I am so incredibly gladI have had the opportunity to go to these three countries–even if learning about and experiencing them doesn’t make me an expert, I’ve learned so much more than just the politics of Thailand or the security issues in the Philippines or the day-to-day Islam in Malaysia, and I can boast epiphanies both personal, interpersonal, spiritual and even academic!  I can hardly believe there was a time I was anxious enough to consider not going at all!  In short, pre-Asia, in-Asia, and post-Asia are periods of my life that have opened up a whole new world for me and I wouldn’t dare close my eyes now!

catching the sunrise

April 20, 2009 – 8:55 pm
By Crystal Ruis | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (1)

I woke up, breathed in the brisk, cold, New Brunswick air and forced myself to get out of my sleeping bag.  I knew that if I did not see the sunrise I would heavily regret it.  I looked over to see my friends putting on their extra layers of clothing, fearing that we could miss the sun awakening if we did not hurry.  I exited the tent, ignoring the sudden shock of the icy air hitting my face and ran to catch the new sun rising.  I ran along with my friends to the clearing on a rocky cliff overlooking the lake above the trees and looked into the clear sky.  I had made it just in time;  good morning sun.

As I sat in awe of the natural beauty surrounding me I thought back to one of the first days on my trip to Southeast Asia.  I was in the Philippines and had woke up early to watch the sunrise on top of a mock boat beside the house I was staying at.  The utter contrast of that moment to the one I was experiencing now was astounding.  In the Philippines the air was so hot and humid you could taste it, and the sun stretched over miles of green rice fields and palm trees.  The differences between the two settings of Canada and Asia are undeniably different, but in that moment I was struck by the realization that I was watching the same sun.  All of the sudden I was connected once again with the land that I had left behind, and the world as massive as it is, had become small.

As human beings we are scattered across the globe, separated by geography, ethnicity, and religion but in reality we are similar to one another and  also connected by the very things that keep us apart.  A child in Malaysia has the same desires for friendship and family as a child born in America, and a faithful Catholic woman in the Philippines is driven by the same stronghold of religion as the man in Canada.  Everyone in this world holds the same human value as the other, and the sooner this is globally recognized the sooner things will start to move forward into much needed change.  My goal upon returning from Asia has been to never forget the things that I learned, the places I experienced and most importantly the relationships that I had built with the people of each nation.  There is so much to learn from one another in so many ways, and I am determined to continue to acknowledge the value and worth in all people, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they believe in.

One day I woke up, and I wasn’t in Asia any more.

April 20, 2009 – 1:06 pm
By Margaret Sider | Posted in SE Asia 2009 Comments (0)

Ah! It seems like forever since we have been back from Asia! (longest three weeks in the world…

I have had to say this a million times already, but Asia really was a great experience. I loved it, and I learned from it. I was changed and challenged. And I really don’t want to lose everything in the craziness (or perhaps, the familiarity) of being back. Maybe it is just about taking the time to really process and think about everything. Intentionally.

I don’t just want to be changed by the experience, I want to know what has changed about me! I have to think about things and come up with some good realizations…

Dearest Asia trip,

Thanks for giving me some good days, and for putting up with me on my bad days. We all have our moments. Sometimes when we are traveling, everything is just way more intensified though. So thanks for sharing, taking, lending, borrowing, giving freely. Thank you for teaching me the richness of appreciation and the depth of gratitude. You reminded me of what is truly important in life and taught me how to grab a hold of it and make it a reality. I loved the mindset that you put me in. Aware. Thinking, or not thinking, learning, understanding, tired, vulnerable, perceptive, ready.

You were great, but now you are done.

And I’m going to need to figure out how to take all that I have learned back into regular life! A life too often lacking in the novelty and spontaneity you provided, where I sleep in the same bed every night and don’t always wonder what to eat, do, or say.

It is different. But, you showed me how to welcome change.

So thanks again.

Love,

one you have inspired and disrupted, for the better.

p.s. I miss you already.