memories of Asia

This amazing tree jumped out at me one drive home this week. It got me so excited because I associate this tree with the beginning of spring in Asia, particularly Korea. It looks like there are no leaves, like the blooms just appear out of bare branches, until you look more closely and notice a few green leaves. I didn't know we had them in Austin, and am now wondering if God has given this one to me in particular to add joy to my drive back and forth each day.

In Asia, this tree (I don't know the name, do you?) marked the beginning of spring. The beginning of spring in Korea, and more especially in China, was always greeted with a lot of joy because of the long, cold, dark winters. (And I love winter!) In Austin, spring comes more as kind of a run-on sentence that began with fall and had a few commas of winter thrown in. So, it's not as anticipated.

This tree sighting is part of a happy few weeks of memories that are coming back to me through phone calls from people I've known in China, whiffs of smells I only connect back to China, and meeting a lot of new people at work who ask me about China and Korea. Tonight, I have two of my best friends from my time in China coming to visit. They're coming from Pennsylvania and California and it's their first time to Texas! We're going to make a fast and furious trip at the end of the week to visit two other families from our time there. It's almost like as soon as I decide to commit to being here, the gates on the flood of memories of my "past life" have been opened to keep me from getting too comfy here. I don't mind that.

surfacing

So, I've been a real slacker about this blog. I re-enter here with a picture of a whale tail surfacing. I went to Hawaii recently for a few days with my family and took this picture from the coast (with the help of a stranger's telescopic lens!).

Last semester, I was a substitute teacher in Austin. I enjoyed the flexibility of it and getting to see so many different schools and students. If I had a bad day, there was always a new job to look forward to the next day!

I finally decided to commit to a real job again, mostly because I have no idea when/if I'll go back to Asia. So, I applied to some openings in the Austin district. The school year started and I still didn't have a job, so I kept subbing for a week or so. I finally got a few calls about jobs and had an interview just before I left for a trip to Hawaii with my family. (See my sister's blog post for more on that.) That school called to let me know they wanted me on the day we flew out.

So, I started my new job the day after I got back to Austin. I'm now a 5th grade math teacher in East Austin! It's my first time to be an elementary teacher, and I have a lot to learn. My class was pretty crazy the first few days, and there's still a lot of room for improvement.

I've noticed a lot of the sassy attitudes of individual students change to cooperative attitudes with just one or two one-on-one conversations during recess, lunch, or after school. Once they see I'm a real person and we get to connect on some level, it's amazing how much nicer they can be in class. So, I have hope for the rest of the semester!

narcissism version 25

These "25 Things About Me" have been all over facebook, so since I have so much to still get done tonight (even without a Superbowl party), I thought I'd procrastinate a little more. I posted it to facebook and since I have been really neglectful of this blog, I'm posting it here too, just to get something new up.

1. I'm a lyrics person. If I don't connect with some phrase in the song, I generally don't like it.
2. For this reason, it helps if I know what a song or two means before I can really enjoy a live show.
3. My bedside tables are full of stacks of books.
4. Since I got an Austin library card, I've filled up my online hold list with books and then had to return some without finishing them because I more than I could finish before the due date.
5. I took piano when I was a kid and played cello in the middle school orchestra, but can't play either one of them today.
6. I really wish I could play a musical instrument.
7. I love public transportation (especially in cities where many people use it), but since moving back to Austin, I've only taken the bus once.
8. When I drive somewhere alone (which is often), I sometimes feel a little guilty that I'm wasting gas, so I love sharing rides to places.
9. I just got a full-time job again after being back in States for over a year, but I'm probably more confused than ever about what the future could hold.
10. I love my church, even in all of our imperfection.
11. My mother is an artist and my dad is a physicist. That results in me being generally okay in a few things but not really great in anything.
12. I enjoy cooking for other people.
13. I used to love all things Taco Bell, but now can't really stomach the idea of eating anything with meat there.
14. Winter is my favorite season, especially in places where it's actually cold. I love snow, hot drinks, wearing sweaters and hats, and the anticipation of spring.
15. I lived in Seoul for 2 years and love Korean food. Bring on the kimchi!
16. I bought a used Canon digital Rebel from a friend. Now when I go places and pull it out, camera buffs assume I know technical photography stuff, but I don't. I usually just use the automatic features.
17. Since living in South Korea/China, I am used to hanging my clothes to dry. (A house with a dryer is extremely rare there.)
18. My grandmother (whom I live with) is opposed to hanging clothes to dry and gives me a hard time about it every time. She does not believe saving energy is worthwhile.
19. I love (visiting) West Texas. Cotton rows, amazing sunsets, feeling like you can see the whole half of the world you're on, being with family.
20. It's hard for me to sit in front of the TV without something else to do at the same time.
21. I love learning about other cultures, histories, languages.
22. I like it when I can break the American stereotype in someone's mind.
23. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in Asia. A good portion of my material possessions are still there, boxed up at a friend's apartment.
24. I'm really open to anything the future might bring.
25. After years of trying to convince Christians in the States that we are all missionaries, I'm finding it harder to live out a missional life here than it was in Asia.

2008 books

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." -T.S. Eliot
(Experimented with close-up shots when the sun came out after a rain this week.)

I've put up lists the past two years of the books I've read. This year, I'm only posting the ones I think are the best of what I read.

First-Person Accounts:

Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs

An interesting perspective from a guy who tries to follow every command in the Bible.

Animal Vegetable Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver

Made me think seriously about America's and my relationship with food.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich

Insight into the perspective of the working poor.

Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin

Apparently this is a classic and I didn't know about it – a white guy colored his skin to look black in 1959 and wrote about it.

The Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris

Faith, Culture, Church:

Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

My first Bonhoeffer book – more to follow!

Jesus For President, Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw

Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell, Don Golden

Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture, Lesslie Newbigin

Thought-provoking, action-inducing looks at American/Western culture and the gospel.

A Tree Full of Angels: Seeing the Holy in the Ordinary, Macrina Wiederkehr

Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, Richard Rohr

How come the Catholics seem to have the corner on contemplative wisdom?

Free To Be Bound: Church Beyond the Color Line, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today's Church, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Both of these are about crossing our society's boundaries to live in community.

Life With God, Richard Foster

A balance to his earlier work, Celebration of Discipline.

Speaking My Mind, Tony Campolo

Made me think hard and re-examine what I believe.

Fiction:

Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson

Home, Marilynne Robinson

In the Beginning, Chaim Potok

Davita's Harp, Chaim Potok

Potok and M. Robinson are two of my favorite authors.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Biographies:

Hudson Taylor, Howard Taylor

Mountain rain: A biography of James O. Fraser, Eileen Crossman

Missionary biographies keep the fire lit under me.

Etc.:

Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History, Bruce Cumings

China's Christian Millions, Tony Lambert

Still trying to understand East Asia! These books were helpful.

What Are People For?, Wendell Berry

My first Wendell Berry book. He was (and still is) way before his time. We desperately need his perspective.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard

I think I've said this before, but Annie Dillard is a genius.

Wesley

I'm back in Austin, enjoying friends, cleaning up a few piles of clutter, getting back into a sort-of routine. For you non Facebook friends, I thought you might need a few pics of Wesley and his dog (puppy is his favorite word) to tide you over. I have posted all of my pictures here if you want to see (a lot) more.

I'm in Kentucky with my family, visiting my sister's family. So many interesting things to photograph here! Pictures of the nephew to come later. :)

listening, reflecting

Thanks to reading (and discussing with a great group of people) Jesus Wants to Save Christians, I've been thinking more about hearing the voice and the cry of those around me. That's what my bus trip in July did for me. The people I met broke through my walls and got to my heart. That's what talking to the homeless (on a day when my defenses aren't too high) will do for me, too.

I went to Church Under the Bridge yesterday and spent most of the time talking to a homeless guy who I usually see at the ARCH. He loves to talk, to joke, to relate to people. He talked about how the people are so grabby with the free stuff (they were giving away mittens, hats, etc.), so we talked a little about how change in people's lives only really comes through relationship. He said, "You're right. You've got to listen a lot." He's a hurricane Ike evacuee who's only been in Austin a little while. I wanted to take him to coffee, but everybody else I knew had left at that point and I was so cold all I really wanted to do was go home. I leave encounters like that knowing I've got to respond, but I'm still unsure of (or perhaps unwilling to recognize?) the next step.

Some other things that I've been reflecting on the past few days:

• My friend wrote about being in the defrosting (what I'm calling listening) stage she's in on her blog.

• Sojourners has a list of ideas for a peace and justice Christmas.

• Another friend linked to this photo Advent calendar from the Hubble telescope that will leave you in awe.

• And this Mankind Is No Island video I saw on another blog is a must see.