On Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  I've never really had a bad Valentine's Day, but when asked to give a presentation about the history and traditions of Valentine's Day in the United States, the first things that popped into my head to talk about were the bad things....the kid that didn't get very many Valentines in his decorated envelope in first grade - maybe he was dirty, or poor, or God forbid! Abused and damaged - not real sociable, in short...the high divorce rate in our country...the commercialization of  love and the consumerism that not only drowns Valentine's Day, but turns weddings into spend-fests and detracts from anything remotely resembling the love of which we dream as youths...

I'm an idealist - I'll be the first to admit it.  Unfortunately, it's a very fluid transition for idealists to become the nastiest of all cynics - especially when we see that things aren't as they "should" be.  I've done my time as one of those and I've chosen to try my best to never limit other people, or myself even, by the harsh judgement of "should".  So the question remains - why did I automatically associate Valentine's Day with all those bad things?

Living here in Indonesia, even with its thousands of motorbikes and cell-phone dependent populace, my newly-arrived eye sees a very straight-up kind of place, but also very kind.  It's real.

Houses are built in a way that doesn't force them to compete with nature, but to cooperate.  My house is open AND closed.  I can close up my room, but walk out into the living area that is almost like a covered courtyard (I have to look up to see that space was intentionally left for air to flow freely without allowing in any rain)

When I order a meal to go,  I don't receive more packaging than product - my breakfast (when I eat out) is wrapped in brown paper with a tiny plastic bag holding the piece of chicken and succulent broth.

In one of my offices, I've noticed a smart reuse of paper that creates paper pads and scratch paper.  In addition, neither of my offices has a bunch of paper products - cups, plates, paper towels - we have washable items and real towels!  It's like being at home! I often think about how things such as this impact the landscape - if you only have a handful of trash to burn at the end of a week, is burning it really that bad? (I don't know the answer to that one - just hypothesizing ;-)

And people get married.  They not only get married, they seem to stay married (for the most part).  It could be that I've seen a fair share of couples who are obviously in love - some of them in spite of religious differences or other social constraints, but this country seems to be infused with love - of self in the modesty of many of the men and women, of place in respect to democratic principles, of history in honoring a diverse heritage, and of foreigners as shown by the hospitality I've received as a guest in this gracious place.

Anyway - I guess what I'm trying to say is that life here seems to me to be INTENTIONAL. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intention)  I do feel as if we're trying to get to that place in the US.  We want to be there.  We're trying to gain an awareness that creates a better world - we talk the good talk...

And that's got to be why I had the negative associations of Valentine's Day.

In reading a little to prepare for my presentation, I read that one of the most common legends of the history of Valentine's Day relays that Valentine was imprisoned and eventually executed for basically fighting the status quo.  Whether or not it was because he married men and women in direct defiance of law, or he healed a blind girl with whom he fell in love, or even that he fought against the powers that be by not converting to the specified religion, he operated intentionally and with LOVE.  Are we ready to do that?  I hope so.  Happy Valentine's Day.  Let love rule.

Nuts and Bolts

Thank you all for taking the time to read about what I'm doing and thinking.  I am grateful to have so many friends and acquaintances who have expressed an interest in keeping up with me and my experiences.

It has recently dawned on me (primarily due to the number of emails and Facebook messages I've answered) that some of you don't really know how I got to Indonesia, what I'm doing or maybe even why I chose this path.  This posting is an attempt to answer those questions.  It's a little long, but comprehensive (relatively :-)  If you have questions or if you think I've omitted something, please feel free to post in the comments and I'll get right on it!

2007 was a year of transition.  My ten-year marriage had ended, my daughter graduated from high school and my position as a development associate was eliminated (oh yeah, and my car blew up, the day I lost my job...weird, huh?) Being a person of faith, I considered the magnitude of those events and decided that it meant I needed to refocus my energies.  I took a job at a restaurant opening in my neighborhood.  I had read good things and the owner seemed to be a great guy.  I thought it would be the perfect place for me to plan my future.  (I was right)

During the two and half years of my employment, I worked as much as I could, but still managed to get out and about.  I traveled to Mexico, Costa Rica, Minneapolis, Japan and New Orleans - not to mention the fun trips to the mountains and beach.  I really enjoyed life, made many new friends and never lost sight of the fact that I was supposed to be planning my future.

I thought seriously about law school, grad school and selling the house to move to Costa Rica, among other things, but as idealistically dreamy as I am, I'm also rather practical (I hear some of you laughing - but I'm serious!)  It dawned upon me that no matter the direction or station of my life, one thing has always been a constant: my faith in God; more recently, my relationship with the church as the body for that faith.  Things were beginning to come together.  I had been a member of my church, Plaza Presbyterian,  for almost 10 years, served as an Elder and a member of the choir, as well.  I remembered that the Presbyterian Church (USA) had an active and respectable World Mission program.  http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/global/   In April of 2009, I began the application process.

In the fall of 2009, I went to Louisville, Kentucky to spend two and a half days interviewing for the two positions to which I had applied.  One I thought was consistent with my experience in planning and one seemed to be a good fit for my new endeavor, teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (certified in August of 2009).  As I sat in the waiting area, I knew that I was on the right path - on the table were a New York Times and Atlantic magazine.  (My undergraduate degree was in political science)

The discernment process was long, thoughtful and full of unexpected "ah-ha moments"!  There is a saying that God doesn't call the prepared, He prepares the called.  It was, and continues to be, a humbling process.  People who know me know that I'm not perfect - I struggle, as many of us do - I think too much, love a lot and strive to be a light, but alas, I am human :-)

The path to Indonesia, honestly, was not the one that I originally thought was the way. I had NO experience with that language (French and Spanish, yes, but an Austronesian-Malay-based language? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language  Not so much!)

As time progressed and I learned more, both actually and spiritually, it became evident that I should be in Indonesia.  In April of 2010, I was offered the position as English Teacher and Teacher Trainer serving with longterm partners, Duta Wacana (sounds like "Dootah Wa-CHA-na"), a private Christian university www.ukdw.ac.id and  ICRS (Indonesian Consortium of Religious Studies www.icrs.ugm.ac.id), a consortium of three universities that offers an international PhD program in inter-religious studies.

I have been here a little over two weeks now.  During the week, I split my time between Duta Wacana and ICRS, as well as take Bahasa Indonesia (language) lessons, manage a daily walking regimen and update my Facebook page regularly, among other things.  I've been fortunate to participate on two social/cultural tours sponsored by ICRS, I've gone to a couple of really cool art events and yesterday with the head of the English Department of Duta Wacana and his wife, I got to experience a program celebrating Chinese New Year's hosted by the students of Duta Wacana.

If you've visited my Facebook page, you've seen that I live in a beautiful guest house.  There are scholars from around the world, mostly from the US right now, but there is also a lovely woman from Myanmar, who enrich my experience and help me adjust.

I am thankful to be here - I am grateful for the relationships that have sustained me over the years and for the new ones that are so special to me now.  As I mentioned before, it's only been a little over two weeks, so my perspective is one of newness, adjustment and gratitude.

If you'd like to continue with me on my journey, please choose to "follow" this blog or to friend me on Facebook.  I love to share, grow and learn.  Thank you for your time, prayers and happy thoughts!