2003 Trip to Japan, etc. #10
2003 Trip to Japan, etc. #11
2003 Trip to Japan, etc. #12
On to Thailand
The Golden Triangle
Sunday in Chiang Mai
Monday/Tuesday in Chiang Mai
Getting Around Chiang Mai
Back in the U. S. A.
Conflicts in Iraq
Q's and Cues
Baghdad

2003 Trip to Japan, etc. #10
03/03/01

Nagoya International School, which my wife and I along with other interested parents helped to establish for students desiring to continue their education in English-speaking countries, is now in its 40th year of existence. It now has over 300 students representing 22 different nationalities, about half of whom are Japanese. Teachers come from 8 different countries. I served as Board Chairman at three different times; my wife taught in the preschool department for 22 years; our children attended that school and our grandchildren are students there now while our son serves on the Board of Directors. Thus, our ties to the school are long and deep. It was a joy to visit the school and talk with teachers and administrators about the past, the present and the future. We went on a tour of the classrooms with a group from the Nagoya British-Japan Society and agreed to meet with men who are gathering information about the school's history for a prospective book. Over twenty years ago, I began an inter religious dialogue group that met once a month. Buddhist and Shinto priests, Christian pastors, leaders of other religious groups and people of no religious faith attended and expressed their beliefs or opinions for mutual enlightenment or for the better understanding of those present. The group has continued to meet over the years since we left the country and the leader regularly sends me announcements of its meetings. I was happy to attend the February meeting (on a Japanese holiday) in a Buddhist temple and to give a talk about our retirement community and how faith is reflected in life. (549)

2003 Trip to Japan, etc. #11
03/03/04

The primary purpose of this trip was to consider the future of a church we had established fifty years ago. The Japanese pastor is now at retirement age but there is no one to take his place. Since there are many Filipino workers in this area, we had hoped that a pastor of one of our churches in the Philippines could come to see the situation and consider the possibility of coming to minister here, but he could not obtain a visa. The Mission Pastor of our home church in the U.S.A. did come, however, and I served as his interpreter when he preached and spoke to our pastors and church members. One of the highlights of our trip was the meeting of previous listeners to the "Daily Word" telephone service, noted in the "Introduction" to this homepage, organized by a couple of English teachers. Over twenty attended, including an 86-year-old woman from a distant city in another prefecture, who boarded a train at 7:30 in the morning to arrive at the 1:00 o'clock meeting on time. After my wife and I spoke about our present life in Florida, each one present told of their current situations--all in English. A couple of reporters were present and an article with a picture appeared in a newspaper the following day. Many years ago, another missionary and I began the first Amnesty International group in Nagoya and for a number of years, I composed the English message to be copied on postcards by members throughout Japan and sent to foreign governments requesting the release of prisoners of conscience. Now there are five Amnesty groups in Nagoya and on my last day in Japan, I was happy to attend the meeting of one of them. (550)

2003 Trip to Japan, etc. #12
03/03/07

During our visit to Nagoya, we had many meetings with old friends, some of whom have visited us in Florida. We went to the area where we used to live and were surprised at how it had changed. A large new house is now on the lot where ours used to be. We visited with our old neighbors and stopped at the small "kishimen" shop we used to visit often with our son and family for a Friday evening meal. "Kishimen" are flat noodles that are popular in Nagoya. The proprietor/chef and his wife/waitress greeted us warmly and served us a tasty supper. We also made a visit to the Asian Health Institute and stopped by the Nagoya International Center, on whose boards I had served and my wife has had meetings with mothers/ children she taught many years ago. But beside these planned visits we have had unexpected meetings. Three different times in a supermarket, my wife was greeted by women she did not recognize at first. One was a lady she had taught English to 35 years ago. Another was the mother of a child she had taught in preschool and a third was the grandmother of a child she had taught. In a nearby beauty parlor, she met a lady from a city over 40 kilometers away who had visited our home in a different city about 50 years ago. When we stopped at an out-of-town restaurant where we used to eat at times after returning from our church in a different city, the waitress recognized us and called out our name while greeting us. A man sitting in one of the booths recognized our name and told the waitress where we had lived in Nagoya. He had been a mailman and had delivered our mail. (551)

On to Thailand
03/03/09

On our last day in Japan, our son transported us and our luggage to the airport. Some people came to the airport lobby to see us off but we were surprised while walking on the elevated walkway from the departure area on the third floor of the airport to the airplane to look out the window and see a couple waving to us from the sidewalk about 40 meters away. They also had come to see us off. Following the five hour trip to Bangkok, the weather was very different than in Nagoya. The temperature had risen from 10 degrees to 30 degrees Celsius. That is why we had to fill our suitcases with clothes for both winter and summer. At Bangkok Airport, I was surprised to see an automatic money changer, into which I put a 10,000 yen bill and received 3,545 baht. After going through immigration and customs, we saw a man carrying a sign with the name of a hotel near the airport where our daughter had made a reservation for us. He took us to the hotel where we spent the night. The next morning, before we boarded the plane for Chiang Mai, we walked around the block and were reminded of Japan many years ago. Both in Nagoya and Bangkok, I again activated the alarms while going through security because of metallic items I had neglected to put in the trays. At Chiang Mai Airport, I found a different kind of automatic money changing machine into which I inserted my credit card, pushed a button and received a 500 baht bill. Our daughter, the editor of a book publishing company in Chiang Mai, had come to meet us. Although she usually rides a motorcycle, she had asked a friend to drive a car to take us to her home. (552)

The Golden Triangle
03/03/12

We are now in the Kingdom of Thailand where there is a national holiday on my wife's birthday because her birthday is the same as the king's. He was born in the United States the same year I was. Now, he is the longest reigning monarch in the world. For our first meal in our daughter's home, she invited a couple of her friends, who helped prepare a Thai meal. Fortunately, we were able to add the ground chili pepper ourselves to regulate the sharpness of the taste. Before coming to this country, we had often heard of the "Golden Triangle," where the three countries of Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), and Laos meet. Famous, or infamous, for the production of opium circulated around the world in years gone by, it is now producing a variety of teas. Our daughter had arranged for us to join her on a trip to that area in a van with a driver/guide. Along the way, we visited famous sites including temples, beautiful flower gardens and the royal villa of the "Princess Mother," mother of the present king. We saw a number of different hill-tribe people in their traditional garb and stopped at some markets to shop, look around or drink tea. We presented our passports to walk over the border into Myanmar and spent time walking through the markets there, both shopping and refusing the repeated solicitations of many sellers of products we did not want to buy. From a mountainside, we were able to view the rivers and the three countries that come together at that place. After spending a night in the mountains, we again traveled the winding roads back down to the city of Chiang Mai, some 250 kilometers away. (553)

Sunday in Chiang Mai
03/03/13

About 95 percent of the population of Thailand is considered Buddhist, four percent Muslim and less than one percent Christian, but Sunday was a busy day for us in Chiang Mai as we visited Christian churches. First, we went with our daughter to the Protestant Thai Church she attends and plays her flute to accompany the pianist. Although it is unusual for native speakers of English to attend that church, English hymnals were accessible, the order of service was printed in English and headphones were available for those who wanted to hear a simultaneous translation of the sermon into English. The preacher on the day we attended was a lady member of the church. On the way home, we stopped at a Roman Catholic Chapel where a new stained glass window behind the altar pictured Jesus on the cross with his hands lifted up toward heaven, symbolizing the resurrection. In the afternoon, we visited the Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Centre, where exhibits and video presentations informed us of the history, customs, way of life, arts and culture of Chiang Mai. Then, we went to the "House of Love," a Christian home for hill tribe mothers and children who have AIDS. Our daughter serves at this home once a week and the 23 residents presented a program of music and dance for us. After that, we attended the English language worship service of the Chiang Mai Community Church. Over 600 people were present for the contemporary music combined with a Bible-based sermon by the pastor who is from England. Afterward, we ate with a couple from Australia, friends of our daughter, who are engaged in medical work here. (554)

Monday/Tuesday in Chiang Mai
03/03/16

Men in saffron robes are often seen in Thailand. They are Buddhists who have vowed to spend a certain period as a monk. During that time, they are dependent on the kindness of others for their daily food. Early on Monday morning, I saw many monks walking with empty bowls from a monastery on a hillside to a street where temporary tables had been set up and filled with food, drinks or flowers to be given to them by common folk with deep bows or on bended knees. In this way, the givers also are believed to gain merit. Later, I had an interesting conversation in a temple with a monk who spoke English while my wife visited a seamstress to have a dress made with the silk material she had purchased in Myanmar a couple of days before. In the evening, we had dinner with a couple who have applied for admission to the Penney Retirement Community, where we live. On Tuesday morning, we went with our daughter to the Chiang Mai Prison to meet prisoners from foreign countries. Our daughter makes such a visit once a week to encourage these men serving time for a variety of crimes in this foreign land. Using voice amplifiers, we spoke individually with prisoners from Egypt, Germany, Malaysia, Iraq and Pakistan who were behind thick glass windows. In the afternoon, we visited the New Life Center, a Christian center for women and girls from hill tribes who, although they live in Thailand, are not considered Thai people. There are about a million people in eight different hill tribes with their unique garb, language and customs which are not limited by national boundaries that do not have the rights of citizenship. (555)

Getting Around Chiang Mai
03/03/19

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand. Many streets are lined with small shops that extend over the sidewalks, including many cafes or eating places serving special kinds of food which we enjoyed. In the hill country, people walk along roads in their traditional garb, but in the city, we saw few people walking. There are many cars, but motorcycles are also very popular. In regard to public transportation, there are no busses but a couple of smaller vehicles are available. The most common ones are painted red and resemble a pickup truck with a roof over the back section and two long, cushioned seats facing each other along the sides. These vehicles, called "song taew" in Thai, meaning "two rows," go up and down the main streets and pull over to the curb when hailed by a person seeking a ride. Before boarding, the driver is informed of where the passenger desires to go and a mutually agreeable price is decided, which varies according to the distance and the number of passengers. Sometimes a short detour may be made to accommodate a passenger. Since there is no English term for this vehicle, I encouraged my daughter to coin a word for it and she is considering the term "Passenger Pick Up" or "PPU." A three-wheeled motorcycle, which has a seat for up to three passengers behind the driver, is also available and the three of us have used both vehicles in our moves around the city. Since our daughter lives adjacent to the Chiang Mai University, we enjoyed a walk through the campus of that school and visited her office at the book publishing company where she is the editor. (556)

Back in the U. S. A.
03/03/23

On the final "day" of our trip, we boarded a plane in Chiang Mai on Wednesday evening, disembarked at Jacksonville Thursday evening after flying for a total of about 20 hours and sitting or walking around the Tokyo and Atlanta airports for about 14 hours. We spent the night in a motel near the Jacksonville Airport and the couple that delivered us to that motel 38 days previously picked us up on Friday and brought us home. For the first couple of days after our arrival in this country, we really felt "bushed" after a very enjoyable, meaningful, tiring trip. Although both of us have invisible physical problems and were without medical insurance while overseas, we were enabled to endure and thank God for the many evidences of his providence, protection and blessing and for the kindness of so many old and new friends whom we continue to remember in our prayers. Having reached the end of the series of messages related to our trip to Japan and Thailand, I apologize for relating so many personal experiences but I did not have a dictionary or reference material on hand and sharing my observations was the simplest thing to do. Now that I am back in the U. S. A. and have decided to continue this service for the time being, I will return to more traditional themes, but I would like to read the comments, criticism and suggestions of readers, along with their preferences for the types of messages desired. Now, the focus of international attention is on Iraq, whose capital, Baghdad with its many gardens, has been called the "Abode of Peace." Let us pray that this description will once again be appropriate before long. (558)

Conflicts in Iraq
03/03/26

Archaeology, the scientific study of the life and culture of ancient peoples, excavates and examines graves, buildings, tools, pottery, etc. of ancient cities. One of the earliest civilizations in human history developed in the land of Mesopotamia about 6000 years ago. There are over 4000 sites in that land, which is now called Iraq, that archaeologists fear may be damaged or looted as a result of the war that is now being fought there. Thus, fears related to the present situation in Iraq are not limited to conflicts between the armed forces of Iraq and those of the coalition led by the United States. There are other forces that have been in conflict over the years in that nation. One is between the two different traditions in Islam: the Sunni and the Shiites. The Sunni, which comprise about 85% of all Muslims, follow certain rituals and laws that are rejected by the Shiites, who recognize a different order of leadership succession following Muhammed. In Iraq, where 97% of the population is Muslim, over 65% are Shiites and there has been internal conflict between these two traditions over the years. There is also a long-standing hostility between Iraqi Arabs and an ethnic group known as Kurds, which are primarily Sunni Muslims. The Kurds, who occupy adjacent areas of Turkey and Iran also, desire a nation of their own and have been fighting to attain that goal for many years. So conflicts of various kinds are evident in Iraq and even in other countries, demonstrations both in favor of and against the war are being held. A peaceful world requires both mutual understanding and determined effort. (559)

Q's and Cues
03/03/27

We read many articles these days related to the country of Iraq. The name of this country is unique because its name, in English, ends with a q, the 17th letter of the English alphabet. The word "alphabet," signifying the letters of a language arranged in order is derived from the names of the first two letters in the Greek alphabet, "alpha" and "beta." Japanese, which makes use of thousands of Chinese characters in its written language, does not have an alphabet, but it does have two different syllabaries. The letter q is unusual for various reasons. Very few words begin with q. Q is almost always followed by a u and it does not have a distinctive pronunciation. Rather, it has the same pronunciation as k or kw, so q is quite queer. There are four homonyms in English that have the same pronunciation as that letter. One kind of "cue" is a long, tapered rod used to propel the ball when playing pool or billiards. Another kind of "cue" is a reminder or a signal to begin a speech or to do something. This word may also be used to signify the letter q. Another homonym, spelled q-u-e-u-e, signifies a long braid of hair or a waiting line of people or vehicles. There is an English expression to "mind one's p's and q's," meaning to be careful of one's words and actions, not to make a mistake. This probably is derived from teachers' admonitions to children learning to write for a p and a q are very similar with a bulge on opposite sides, but another explanation is that in a beer hall, drinkers must make distinctions between "Pints" and "Quarts." In the world today, both individuals and nations should mind their p's and q's. (560)

Baghdad
03/03/30

Baghdad In ancient times, the area now occupied by the mideastern country of Iraq was called Mesopotamia, derived from Greek words meaning "between rivers." The main rivers in this area are the 2,740 kilometer long Euphrates and the 1,850 kilometer long Tigris, both of which originate in the mountains of eastern Turkey and join together at the Iraqi city of Basra from which they flow into the Persian Gulf. Both of these rivers are noted in the creation story related to the Garden of Eden found in the 2nd chapter of the Old Testament book of Genesis, verse 14. From ancient times, rivers have been a convenient means of transportation and many ancient cities were founded along rivers. One such city is Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, which is situated on both sides of the Tigris River. The present city was founded in 762 and became one of the most important cities in the world of that day, both commercially and culturally, which is reflected in the tales related in the world literature classic known as "The Thousand and One Nights" or "Arabian Nights." Baghdad is, by far, the largest city in Iraq and most of the country's industries are located there, including the making of carpets, leather, textiles, cement, and tobacco products. As the capital city and the headquarters of the government and military forces, it is a natural target of the forces seeking to overthrow the present government. However, it is the oil reserves in other parts of the country that are most valuable in the modern world and it is too bad if people's lives are being sacrificed to gain control of or to hold on to these resources. (561)