Weeks come and go

We have colds. Maybe even the flu - I don't have a fever, but W was feeling under the weather when he used my computer. Usually, I'm ruthless about avoiding touching stuff but I didn't want W to feel worse. So here we are...

Saturday, February 15, 2020

The weekend was busy - when W and Kirsten leave for Community Dinner Bandung tonight, they leave me behind, fast asleep. I'm coming down with something - I'm just plain tired. W's cancelled all his morning appointments, but he goes to the dinner tonight.

Sunday

Meanwhile, we're moving forward a few administrative items. The business meeting at the international church went well. It's so good to work with a peaceful group. We ask each other probing questions but the discussions are amicable. That's heartening.

The flowers Ibu Fenny sends this week are beautiful. Ibu Titik takes them home to bring a smile after her husband's hard work keeping the accounts straight. So I choose a few items and pop them in a long cylinder for our front table. It's an interesting arrangement.

We have lunch with friends. The waitstaff brings us the most delicious appetizer: goring something, a kind of fritter. I always enjoy the shrimp flavor - I who don't like fish. I'm happy that our friends like it too.

Monday
Ugh. We really are under the weather. At least it's warm outside. Josh takes the study while W and I stay out of sight. Anytime we pick something up, we sanitize our hands. No one needs this!

My college roomie sends two pictures. This is her driveway today, in 2020. There are big banks of snow, plus more on the ground.

This is the same driveway in 2015. Bonnie says there was very little snow in years past.

"We have to get used to winter again," she writes with glee. She loves the cold of the dead of winter as much as I like the heat of a tropical summer all year round.

 I take the time to do a bunch of book reviews. I need to get through about 50 books in the next few weeks. Academic reading is what's called for. Skim the covers and the content, determine the audience, and then write a review. Is it worth reading or not? My blog is here if you want to read it.

I like to read all kinds of books - psychology, leadership, and art. Romance novels and thrillers. Fiction and non-fiction. It's all interesting to me. I have a few favorite publishers and look forward to their new books.

Our lunch of lettuce wraps is delicious. Sumi cooks fried rice that we put inside lettuce leaves, flavored with hoisin sauce. 

While I'm writing and reading, I often watch a long-running Korean drama. After almost 80 1/2-hr episodes (!), I'm finally past halfway. It's taken ages - months! to get to this point. Every detail is so drawn out! At this rate, it will take the rest of 2020 to get to the end of the story.

I enjoy learning about Korean traditions. The families care about such different things than our German family of origin. Korean Christian history - especially the effects of pentecostalism - mixed with Buddhist roots. Those two combine in a unique culture of duty and care for others.

It's a world apart from Chinese and Japanese dramas, which I occasionally watch for contrast. The other Asian stories seem violent. The culture is also power-and-shame based, like Korea. But Chinese and Japanese values seem quite opposite to Christian morality. A Christian core value is loving God and your neighbor. That never comes up for China and Japan. The Chinese highly value filial loyalty and ancestral obligation. (It's vital not to shame your family, but that's based on duty and appeasement instead of love.)

The dramas are entertaining, but also totally fascinating for a student of culture. (My PhD is in Intercultural Studies.)

Besides, I prefer to stay home with a drama rather than go to a theatre for a movie. I don't have to choose what to watch. Whenever I'm in the mood for the screen, I pop on an ongoing tale. The cinematography is advanced and the consequences of unfamiliar choices keep me interested. I can't predict what will happen.

Cough cough. I better log off and get back to book reviews and the agenda for our team meeting tomorrow.

Read more:
*Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? 2 Samuel 12:9

*Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Moravian Prayer: Loving God, may we always remember to turn to you when we are weak, fearful, or self-righteous. Remind us of your presence, even when we are clinging to sin, that our strength comes from you. May we put you first and follow the guidance and direction you provide. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.