Home Thoughts From Abroad

Situated just 30 kms off the coast of northwest Malaysia, between the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca, Langkawi consists of 104 islands most of which are uninhabited. The main island is peaceful and relaxed and nowhere near as crowded as similar places in Thailand.

The shores of the islands are fringed by wide beaches of white, fine grained sand and are perfect for strolling, swimming or lapping up the sun.  Although this is the high season for tourism, the island was very quiet and the beaches almost deserted.

Although we had just a three day weekend, it was beautiful and wonderfully refreshing.  We would however, caution you that if you every get to Langkawi, you do not want to stay at the Langkasuka Beach Resort.  It is definitely not as advertised on the internet! A lovely resort at one time, it has badly suffered from the all too common malaise: a lack of maintenance. But we rented a car and scoped out some great looking places for a return visit to this beautiful island.

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Last night I had a neat opportunity to attend the Mehendi and Sangeet Party for my friend Evangeline’s son and his fiancee, Dr Niruben and Dr Monica.  The Indian people love family, colour, music, dance and food so it was a warm, happy event with wonderful food.  Apparently it is usually only for women but this included the men as well and was held at the home of the bride’s parents.

According to wikipedia: “A Sangeet or Ladies Sangeet is an event in a Hindu or Sikh wedding. This event takes place 2 or 3 days before a wedding in a Banquet Hall or if a small affair, then at home. Ladies are the only people to take part in the event. Some men are there if they are close to the bride or groom. During this event ladies will sing traditional Indian songs, and joke around with guests. This event is also like a dinner and dance, because there is a lot of dancing and lots of food!

Courtesy of the Internet… “Mehndi is the art of applying Henna on the body. It is a beautiful form of temporary body decoration. Mehndi is a traditional form of decoration for both men and women in countries such as India, Morocco, and Pakistan. It is generally used for special occasions, particularly weddings.”

The ladies wore beautiful, brightly coloured outfits and everybody loves to dance.  Even the little tiny girls already knew the moves.

Two of our three ‘children’ are in Calgary, and the picture out there is not pretty. The Economist reports:

Extracting oil from the sands took off in the late 1990s, boosted by technological advances that greatly reduced costs. Sitting on the equivalent of 173 billion barrels of crude, the provincial government dreamed of making Alberta a new Saudi Arabia (with moose instead of camels). Although some, such as Peter Lougheed, a former premier, called for “orderly” development, a wild rush ensued, causing provincewide labour shortages. Even servers at fast-food restaurants had to be lured with an iPod or other inducements. Now, though, employment is slumping: Steve Vetter, a manager at a firm that services the gas industry, says it recently had 50 applicants for one job; two years ago it would have been lucky to get any.

Extracting oil from tar sands causes more carbon emissions than traditional drilling. At some projects, leaks of toxic material have polluted waterways. So even if the credit crunch eases and the oil price steadies, Canada’s tar sands may face tougher scrutiny from their main customer. The United States has hitherto been an enthusiastic buyer but the incoming Obama administration, packed with environmentalist hawks, may prove much less so, especially as the Democrats also control Congress. Henry Waxman, a Californian green crusader, has become chairman of the House energy committee. He wrote part of an energy bill passed in 2007 that seemed to ban American government agencies from buying oil produced from the tar sands.

It will be a further damper on investment in Alberta if the Obama administration enforces the ban. Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, who will meet Mr Obama soon after his inauguration, said this week that the tar sands would be one of the stickier subjects on their agenda.

On top of the oil bust, Canada’s other commodity exports, such as lumber, are also suffering collapsing demand. After years of good growth, the economy will shrink this year. Mr Harper says it will take up to five years of “big, comprehensive” government stimulus to dig it out of the deep, black hole it is in.

We recognize that all things are in the Lord’s hands. But the Lord doesn’t promise that we will escape unscathed from the problems that beset our world. Our prayer is that Dave and Liz will be able to hold on the jobs that they have – as difficult a task as that might be – through the hard times that we all see coming.

For the complete article on Calgary’s bust see:

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12932252

We are most relieved to have Dad safely through this procedure.  Sounds like it was pretty unpleasant but he is a trooper.  Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts.  Only time will tell how successful it has been.  For the moment he has some heavy duty pain killers for any post-op pain that are keeping him comfortable.

He will now begin to wean himself off the anti-convulsants and see how things are. I am praying that this will, at last, give him some much needed relief from this nasty condition.

With Steve tied up with course development for teaching in Cambodia, I had the joy of spending the day Saturday helping with the introductory city tour for the new staff. It was great to be reminded of how beautiful KL is when seen through the eyes of a newcomer. It really is a privilege to live here, but I guess we have said that before.

Taylor’s College brings in new teachers in January and July, at the beginning of each semester. January tends to be the small group as they frequently recruit new graduates and new retirees who generally become available at the end of the school year in Canada. Sunday evening we hosted a BBQ to welcome the new Director and his wife as well a new couple who are both teachers. It was a very relaxing evening with a fine group of friends.

I never take my camera to school (which is one of the reasons that I don’t do a lot of posting on the kids I teach) because it is not safe to do so. Transparancy International recently conducted a survey in the world’s capital cities by leaving a cell phone in a public place and timing how long it took for somone to swipe it. They also left information in the phone so that whoever took it could return it. I forget who came in first (I think it was Helsinki) but I do know who came in last: Kuala Lumpur. Phones were swiped the fastest and returned the least right here where we live.

You know where this is going, don’t you? Last week I took the camera to work. I thought that I really should start to blog a bit more about what I do all day. I thought I had put the camera in my backpack, but when I got home I discovered it wasn’t there. I caught a cab and raced back to work, but by then it was gone. I felt like a fool, because I definitely do know better by now.

But here’s the upside. Tonight we bought its replacement: a Canon Sure Shot just like its predecessor. Like the one it replaces it has a 4X optical zoom, but it is about half the weight with twice the size of screen and fits easily into my phone pouch that I wear all the time now. Much nicer to handle, much harder to lose.

Now here’s the nice part about being in Asia. Three years ago I bought the Canon 620 for about 500 bucks. Today I bought the Canon 1000 for about 200 bucks. That included batteries, a case and a 2 gig card. We got personalized attention from a courteous and knowledgeable saleswoman and I feel much better, thank you!

Karaoke is a national pastime in many of the countries of Asia. Not genetically wired to make a fool of myself in front of total strangers, so far I have been able to avoid it.  This is harder than you might think, as it is available in restaurants, bars, outdoor functions and in many homes. Our neighbours in our last apartment were addicted to it! There are also elaborate facilities dedicated entirely to karaoke. Liz’s friend Chonie would be in heaven.

I finally broke down and went with Steve to one of these places, only because it was a staff get-together and because it was a birthday celebration. The Red Box is one of two karaoke businesses at our local mall where you can rent a room for an hour, or two, or an entire evening.  Rooms vary in size from those that accomodate 2-4 people up to rooms that will accomodate 20-30.  Each room is lined with tables and leather couches, and comes fully equipped with four remote mics and a great variety of videos.

I hate to admit it but it was great fun. There was a fabulous hot buffet meal as well as a salad bar, sushi bar, and dessert bar that was available for grazing throughout the evening. Of course, if you put twenty very gifted teachers – many of whom can not only sing, but are genetically wired to perform – in a room with four microphones and a captive audience, you have entertainment.  And all this for only about $15 Canadian. Should I sign up for singing lessons?

Undoubtably, Phuket is a very lovely island with some amazingly beautiful sights to see.  However, it is also probably the most commercialized tourist destination that we have ever visited.  Although it was so recently decimated by the tsunami, there is very little evidence of that.  Hotels and restaurants are rebuilt and hopping with over weight and under dressed tourists.  The beautiful beaches are lined with chairs and umbrellas for rent.

The highlight of New Years eve was watching the Chinese Lanterns,which are essentially four foot high hot air ballons made of rice paper. 

You light the wick and watch the balloons float out over the Andaman Sea until they burn out. 

With hundreds of them up in that air at any given time, floating gentlyand quietly, it really was spectular.

We spent one day on a boat trip to several islands in the Andaman Sea, which where very lovely. 

Phi Phi Island has gorgeous bays amongst giant outcroppings of rock and coral reefs, where we snorkelled and watched the dolphins romp.

This is the time of year when our emails are full of sweet and sometimes inspiring messages from friends and acquaintances who wish us well by sending us a story about some kind deed done somewhere that has had an effect on someone. As well-intentioned as these stories are, there is an impersonal element to them. The events didn’t happen to us, or to someone that we know, and although the story is touching, we can be forgiven for wondering to what extent it has been embellished. The story sounds a little too polished in the telling.

Here is a story, told by our son Jon, that has not been embellished or polished in the least. It is not about someone who later became famous, nor is it important that you send it on to ten friends. It comes with no promise of future blessing, but we think you will be encouraged to read it. And perhaps, if you go and do likewise, you likewise will be blessed.

See for yourself at http://www.jonandnic.com

The is the final stage of our video effort. We tried – unsuccessfully – to upload to our weblog direct from our computer, but the file is apparently too large. So this is the best we can do. Thanks for your patience. Have a wonderful Christmas!