Dublin

July 20, 2009 – 2:44 pm
By Shelley Perry | Posted in Alumni Abroad Comments (1)

I can’t remember what it is like to travel without the aim of academic pursuit. Two undergraduate trips at SSU that took me to Western Europe and South Africa set a certain standard of travel that has me absorbed in learning about the history, culture, and social climate of every country I visit.  Perhaps less of tourist, but also less of a vacationer!  Now, a few years after my undergraduate degree, I am working on a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies–this academic venture has taken me across the Atlantic once again to a country in which I am a very obvious stranger: Ireland.

It has been one week of a four week trip–one day I am tourist, the next a student, and another, a representative for St. Stephen’s University and our extensive travel study programs.

Although my accomplishments my first few days merely involved staying awake after an extremely long red eye through London, I did have the opportunity to get acquainted with Trinity College in the heart of Dublin. Trinity College is the starting point of my research on Irish Catholic Immigration to Atlantic Canada. In learning the basic of TC library use, however,  my suspicions were confirmed–most of the primary sources I need are scattered around Ireland at local history site (archives, libraries, museums, etc.).  I didn’t imagine there were any sources Trinity College didn’t have as it contains over 4 millions books–copyright laws automatically give them a copy of every book published in England. I have more respect for a degree in Library Studies now more than ever…I can’t imagine having to catalog and organize all those collections!  In fact, only about 20% of Trinity’s sources are on the shelves for public access–the  rest are stockpiled or electronic.

I suppose some people are wondering (and the rare few maybe even interested) what I am actually studying here in Ireland.  Well, this is all research for my classes at St. Stephen’s University and eventual Masters thesis.  Specifically, while I am here, I am focusing on a research paper called “Cultural Transfer and the Irish Immigration Narrative in New Brunswick.“  Of course  I am looking at Irish settlement in all the Maritimes, but often New Brunswick (Saint John and St. Andrews) was an entry point for Irish immigrants.

Here is a short excerpt from my project proposal which i am using as an outline which may give you an idea of exactly what i am doing way over here across the Atlantic:

The Irish Diaspora is a compelling field of study in both Canada and Ireland. With the help of the Ireland Canada University Foundation, I plan to explore in depth the historical phenomenon of cultural transfer and the Irish immigration narrative in New Brunswick and Maritime Canada. Through the study of the Irish exodus and the eventual settlement of Irish Catholics in New Brunswick (1765-1850), Atlantic Canada as a whole will gain a clearer understanding of the Irish contribution to Canadian identity.  This work will provide a detailed case study of early Irish settlement communities in the province of New Brunswick (particularly the Miramichi and Saint John regions) to determine what cultural traits and traditions were both left behind in the “Old World” and which were kept in particular “New World” settlements.  To achieve this research objective, a thorough analysis of the cultural transfer of early Irish communities is essential. I plan to uncover the ideals of these early immigrants, how their expectations were met (or not met), how the economic and social status of the Catholic immigrants in particular affected their migration and settlement choices, which folk traditions were kept and which were lost, and finally how fully appreciating the Irish Diaspora in the Maritime Provinces will help preserve Irish culture and enhance Canada’s Irish identity.

The Irish Catholic settlement communities in New Brunswick remained unassimilated longer than other regions of immigration in the region.  They still retain a vibrant Irish identity.  As such, these communities can be used as a case study for both Irish and Canadian scholars alike.  However, to be credible, this research initiative must have access to significant sources contained in the archives and libraries of Dublin; sources such as emigration and ship records, censuses, newspapers, and periodicals, as well as immigration and folk literature and related first-hand accounts. The Irish people in New Brunswick have much to offer both Canada and Ireland, but cultural transfer and the Irish immigration narrative needs deliberate attention and investment. As one scholar of Irish Diaspora Studies put it, “If Irish Diaspora Studies – and, indeed, Irish Studies – is to be anything more than a ragbag of predilections then we must make good scholarship our first aim.” (Patrick O’Sullivan, University of Bradford, 1997).

I plan to post regular updates about my experiences here in Dublin and beyond, so keep checking to learn more about my FASCINATING research topic, as well as some other cool pieces of information about life in Ireland.  I am also using this time of study and reflection as a bit of personal pilgrimage so please keep me in prayer as I  journey throughout the Emerald Isle.

With Love,

Shelley

SSU Turkey/Greece Trip 2010

July 9, 2009 – 9:11 am
By Mary Ellen | Posted in Greece & Turkey 2010 Comments (0)

Hello all, the dates for the next SSU Ministry trip to Turkey and Greece have been set and spaces are filling up quickly. You can review the itinerary by clicking here.

The SSU Ministry Program’s travel/study tour to Turkey and Greece  is set for March 11 – 27, 2010. It’s important that we establish a firm list of those who are committed to being on the trip. To facilitate that please contact Lorna Jones at lornajones@ssu.ca or call her at 1-506-466-1781. As I’m sure you know, spouses of Ministry students are encouraged to participate! This trip is also open to any friends of SSU. To secure your place we request an immediate deposit of $100 CAD.

The flights are now the following:

March 11 …  Departing Boston at 5:55 PM on Alitalia Flight #615

March 12  …  Arriving in Rome at 7:45 AM

Departing Rome at 10:05 AM on Alitalia Flight #704

Arriving in Istanbul at 1:35 PM

March 27 …  Departing Thessalonica at 6:35 AM on Alitalia Flight# 733

Arriving in Rome at 7:25 AM

Departing Rome at 10:15 AM on Alitalia Flight # 614

Arriving in Boston at 2:35 PM

The travel company that we are using, Pilgrim Tours, will help with any connections to and from Boston, if you wish. You would contact them directly for this assistance and pay them for that portion of your trip. For this service email Tim Nyce at tnyce@pilgrimtours.com . Please confirm your place on the trip with us first.

The estimated cost of this program is $4500 CAD. This includes:

  • round trip air from Boston, Mass
  • domestic flight in Turkey
  • 13 nights lodging at 1st class hotels
  • 2 nights standard outside cabins on Mediterranean cruise
  • breakfast and dinner daily, all meals on cruise
  • full time English speaking tour guides in Greece and Turkey
  • services of long distance deluxe motorcoach
  • all guides, entrances and transportation as appear on itinerary
  • Turkey visa (for US and CDN participants)***
  • tips to drivers and guides
  • SSU admin fee (no extra tuition charge)

If you are meeting us in Turkey and arranging all your own flights, then the estimated cost of your program will be $3500 CDN.

The costs are higher for this trip than previous ones because the cost of everything has risen and we have added 2 extra days, to explore the Cappadocia region, plus a domestic flight in Turkey.

***If you are not a Canadian or American citizen, you will need to obtain and pay for your own entry visa into Turkey, if one is required. This may need to be done ahead of time or upon entry.

You will be responsible for buying your lunches every day except for the 2 days on the cruise ship. We usually stop at interesting local places to eat during the day’s activities. You will also be responsible for any tipping apart from the guides and drivers. It is recommended to leave about 1 Euro a night in each hotel room for the cleaning staff, and you will be expected to tip the cruise staff about 10 – 15 euro. At present the Euro is about $1.38 USD / $1.58 CAD.

We will not have the exact charge for the trip until we know the number of participants.   The payment schedule is as follows:

Now: $100 CDN

November 6, 2009:  $ 600

December 14, 2009:  balance due

You may wish to purchase travel insurance through Pilgrim Tours.  The cost would be about $275 CDN (to be paid with November payment) and would include trip cancellation, trip interruption and travel medical.

***We require that everyone have some form of travel medical insurance. You can purchase this from your local insurance agent if needed.

For those who are travelling as SSU students, you will already have received your readings and assignments. Please direct any questions to Peter at pfitch7@gmail.com . For those not going for credit but interested in some extra reading, email Peter for this information.

Please feel free to email me, Mary Ellen Fitch (mefitch@gmail.com ) with any questions about the travel.

We have a limited number of seats available. Students have top priority and then spaces will be filled as deposits are made.

This trip is sure to be a great adventure, learning experience, and time of connecting and fun with an amazing group of people.

Blessings, Mary Ellen

Alumni Adventures: Shelley Perry in Ireland

July 6, 2009 – 1:28 pm
By Shelley Kadatz | Posted in Alumni Abroad Comments (0)

Shelley Perry

Our very own Shelley Perry is heading to Ireland tomorrow and she will be posting on the SSU travel blog regarding her exploits and adventures while she is away.

Make sure to check in for her updates or sign up for e-mail notifications at the top of the blog page (Just click the white button).

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

Suu Kyi can’t get out, Hmong can’t stay out

May 21, 2009 – 1:14 pm
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in Uncategorized Comments (0)

While in Southest Asia this winter, SSU students learned about current issues, including the political state of Burma and the hill tribes in northern Thailand.

There has been a lot of coverage regarding Burma’s champion for democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi.  Slated for release at the end of May after 13 of the last 19 years in house arrest, an apparently unwanted American entered her house without permission a few weeks ago.  Now the Burmese junta is eager to find a way to remove her powerful political presence from what many believe will be staged elections next spring, which the junta is touting as the return of democracy to Burma.  The UN, many major world powers and several NGOs are working to get Suu Kyi out of prison and out of house arrest.  Is this really the role of external influences and individuals like ourselves, or should Burma be left to settle the issue internally?  If you think the rest of the world should have a say, throw your own voice in the mix by joining one of the following petitions directed toward the UN or Burma’s government.

Avaaz.org

Amnesty International Canada

Online petition endorsed by the Canadian Friends of Burma

Just a short hop away, and attracting far less attention, is the plight of the Hmong people in northern Thailand, who also live in other surrounding countries.  They are in Thailand as refugees because they currently face persecution in Laos because of the Hmong’s history of fighting against the communist party/government there.  The UN has initiated repatriation efforts and Medecins san Frontieres (MSF, otherwise known as Doctors Without Borders) provides food and medical aid to this displaced people.  However, the Thai military are now steering the Hmong people back to Laos against their wishes.  Because of these actions and the Thai military’s pressure toward MSF to stop food supplies, MSF has deemed it necessary to withdraw from the Hmong camp they serve in, leaving no services available to this displaced people who don’t want to go home. I haven’t found a way to speak out on this issue, but if you find an opportunity, let me know.

Check out the news coverage at BBC News

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!