Quantcast
Channel: Beit Emmett
Viewing all 433 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Kobe

February 5, 2015, 4:20 pm
$
0
0
Our day in Kobe (January 31) was delightfully unpressured. There were nice things to see, but we didn’t feel the pressure of Tokyo and Kyoto where we had limited time and so many possibilities of things to see and do. The kids liked the sound of a cable car ride so we rode the elevated subway two stops and then walked the rest of the width of Kobe’s narrow coastal plan to its northern hills. There we rode up the mountain to a hilltop (400 meters above the city) herb garden and resort. Like the gardens at Kyoto’s imperial palace this would have been spectacular in a few months. As it was, we enjoyed the indoor greenhouses (more Valentine themed decorations) and winding our way down through the gardens (amidst snow flurries). 

For the second half of our walking descent we ventured off along the many mountain trails past Kobe’s drinking water reservoir and the lovely Nunobiki Falls. Part of the fun of these outings is that we often run into others from our ship. At the falls it was a student in one of my classes from Bosnia and another student we have enjoyed getting to know from Sumatra Indonesia. 




Once down the mountain we set out to find lunch of sushi. I do not seek after sushi, but it was a must do in Japan. Everyone agreed—and everyone liked it. We started out with tame omelet sushi and cucumber rolls along with grilled salmon and grilled eel. Surprisingly the grilled eel was the favorite which necessitated a follow up order. Everyone but Marie also tried the raw salmon and/or raw tuna. The second order of raw tuna had wasabi which caught Joel off guard. His initial response was to spit it out but he toughed it out and ate it all. Sarah joined me in trying grilled octopus. They were small enough for one big adult bite, but Sarah’s mouth missed a tentacle so we all laughed as her eyes widened while chewing with one leg hanging out of her mouth. Chopstick ability improved with each piece of sushi. It takes practice to dip the hand formed rice loaf and top layer of fish in soy sauce and get it too ones mouth all in one piece.

We then walked through more of downtown Kobe towards the water front. There we saw a monument to the 1995 earthquake and the reconstruction of the heavily damaged harbor area. We then visited the Harbor Land mega mall. Throughout our Japan stay wee had been keeping our eyes open for a Pokeman store. We had hoped Kobe would have one, but unfortunately it did not. The mall had a ToysRus store, so Marie had the great idea to check there. Wallah, it had one aisle dedicated to Pokeman stuff. Joel and Will each found some fun souvenirs. It was Saturday and the store was packed with young families with their children. The current demography of Japan is that of an aging society where many choose not to marry or not to have children. ToysRus did not represent that demographic reality at all. Nor did the crowded food court and our next stop of Baskin Robbins—delicious ice cream ordered and served in an amazingly efficient manner to a long line of patrons. Our final stop in the mall was a grocery store for between meal snacks on the boat—chocolate was the common denominator for most of what we bought. We then walked back long the water front to our ship. We arrived with 1 ¼ hours to spare before the on-board deadline. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of others a head of us, which meant we finally were able to board with two minutes to spare before be penalized with one hour of delayed departure next port for every 1-15 minutes you board late. The slow up was a laborious security check to make sure that no-one smuggled in alcohol (students always try which means all water bottles must be emptied) or dangerous items (a samurai sword was hidden in one student’s pants).

We set sail at 20:00 with a drumming send off and blue search lights shining. On the hill was a lit sign of Kobe and an anchor. 
























↧
Search

Kobe to Shanghai

February 5, 2015, 4:46 pm
$
0
0

The voyage from Kobe to Shanghai lasted two days. The MV Explorer is a fast ship, but it goes slow enough to allow for two teaching days (so the A day and B day classes can each meet once) between ports. There were lots of fishing boats in the waters between Japan and China. 





Tuesday morning February 3rd I woke up at 5:00--a half hour before my alarm. I wanted to watch as much as I could of our approach into Shanghai. By 5:30 am I was showered and up on the top fore deck in the cold dark. I got there just in time to see the ship turn left/port/southward from the mighty mouth of the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) River into the good sized Huang Po tributary. From there it was exciting for this geographer to see the lamp lit container docks alive with unloading and loading. The river was full of boats of all sizes. I heard two on-shore trumpeters—one practicing scales and another that seemed to be blowing a Chinese revelry from a military base. Joel joined me on deck at about 6:00 to enjoy the procession of boats. Leading our way was a pilot ship whose lead always leaned left so that downstream sailing ships would move further to our left to allow us room to pass. It was quite an obstacle course (the captain said this is the most dangerous port approach of the whole voyage). Many ships and barges were anchored to large buoys in mid channel. At one point we came to a complete halt while waiting for stalled ship to get out of our way. The pilot ship approached them to get them to move, but apparently learned that their engine was broken so we waited until there was a traffic opening for us to slide by. By 8:00 we were docked at the international cruise dock just to the north of the Bund and directly across for the amazing skyline of Pudong with its forest of skyscrapers all built within the past 25 years.


































↧
↧

Shanghai

February 5, 2015, 5:41 pm
$
0
0






The on-ship wait for Chinese immigration processing took longer than expected, but we were finally off the boat by 11:00. We wound our way through streets in the general direction of the Bund, which we finally found. To me, who has long taught about Shanghai at the Mouth of the Dragon (the Yangtze), opium wars, treaty ports, and Special Economic Zones, it felt almost like a pilgrimage to finally see the famed waterfront and Pudong rising across the Huang Pu River. Before we knew it we were hungry and in need of a place to eat. We ventured off the Bund to see what we could find. Not much, so we consulted the Lonely Plant which mentioned a good steamed bun (one of Shanghai’s specialties) restaurant so off we went in an unplanned direction leaving the Bund half explored. The steamed buns and dumplings plus a side of Szechuan beans and steamed Chinese cabbage hit the spot for all of us.








We then visited the interesting multi-story Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, which has some great exhibits about Shanghai’s growth. We just missed the 4:00 entry deadline for the Shanghai Museum so we decided to see how successful we would be in riding the subway northward for an evening performance of the ERA Acrobatics Show. The subway was pretty straight forward (especially after I found an English language subway map at the info desk) and even easier to machine-purchase tickets than Tokyo. When we emerged from the Shanghai Circus World stop on the red line we bought tickets for the show and then found a mall with many restaurants. I was all excited when we found and agreed on a Malaysian restaurant only to then have to give up after waiting and waiting (first for a big enough table and then because they forgot about us). Plan B was quick KFC! The acrobatic show, with it bicycling girls, hand walking, hoop tumbling, pottery balancing/flipping, plate spinning,teeter-tooter flipping to towers of men, running on outer and inner loops of a large hamster-like wheel (one of our favorites), flying through the air while wrapped in ribbons etc. etc, was amazing and even better than I remember from the first time I ever saw Chinese acrobats on the Ed Sullivan show. It was a three-line ride home on the subway.











 Next morning we were up extra early for a pre-planned SAS Field Program called Sunrise Tai Chi. Our family plus five students were bussed to the central People’s Park where we met a 20 year old Tai Chi master (he has been studying for 15 years). I had pictured us being taught by an older man with a white beard (ala Mr Miyagi in the Karate Kid), instead we got the kid. He was very patient and worked individually with each of us to get the moves right. He seemed to like to pick on me. It helped when I finally figured out (after he showed me how easily he could pull or push or twist me) that the moves are based on what you would be doing in combat with another person. It was a cold but fun outing. The only unusual part was that I had pictured us doing this in a park where other groups of mostly elderly people would be doing similar types of exercise. Not so. The only other people were three park sweepers and a few other passer-byers who found us westerners to be great entertainment. Perhaps we didn’t see others because we were in a far corner of the large park up on top of a Starbucks! The wooden boardwalk had some loose boards so we had to Tai Chi carefully lest we step on one and have it flip up and us fall down. The nice thing about being atop Starbucks is that afterwards we all went in and had some warming cocoa or coffee.













We returned to the ship to then re-load and head out for a final day in Shanghai. We walked the length of the Bund to old town (our original destination yesterday) where we had more buns and some noodle soup for lunch, visited the City Temple (Taoist), and shopped in the adjacent bazaar (wristwatch for Will, solar powered waving cat for Joel, and some gifts for Sarah’s Sinophile friend Sally). We then took the ferry across to Pudong where we enjoyed a trip up the Pearl Tower—the clear Plexiglas floor on one of the observation decks was a bit nerve wracking. Surprisingly interesting was the large Shanghai museum on the ground floor of the tower. It had great life size dioramas depicting life in Shanghai through the centuries. The forecast called for sunny skies today but thick smog kept visibility low and wreaked havoc on all of our throats. We bought face masks to use for tai chi but they fogged Marie and Joel’s glasses. Sarah wore hers all day. Interestingly, our first day was cloudy but had much greater visibility.  Took the subway back across the river and then walked the rest of the way back to our ship. No long line this departure (most are off traveling over land/air via Beijing to Hong Kong) so we had plenty of time to spare. At 6:00 we all awed from our river front mooring as we watched the colorful lighted buildings of Pudong come alive. After dinner, Joel, Will and I went up top to watch the amazing sight of our ship backing down the Hung Po until traffic cleared enough for it to do a 180 degree pinpoint turn (with the help of tugs). I then stayed up top in the lounge and on deck watching (20:00-22:00) until we reached the confluence with the Yangtze.







































↧

Hong Kong

February 7, 2015, 7:44 am
↧

Sunday in Hong Kong

February 8, 2015, 3:34 am
$
0
0


It has been four Sundays since we have been able to attend a regular LDS Church service, so our main plan for today was to find a Hong Kong ward to attend. Thanks to LDS.org we found a few options and addresses. Joining us were Semester at Sea LDS students Emily and Andrea (who join us each Sunday evening on broad for a short, small service). All of the listed English services were in the afternoon so we decided to go to a 1:00 service in Kowloon. I had attended this same chapel a decade ago and figured it might still be a ward primarily for Filipina and Indonesian workers (it still is). In the meantime we decided we would ride the subway north to see the LDS Hong Kong temple and then take another subway to the chapel. When the multi-story, multi-purpose  temple was built it included space in the lower floors to be used as a regular meeting place for wards (the Manhattan temple later followed the same pattern). I did not realize until today that a few years ago that chapel space was incorporated into the temple (for locker rooms etc) and that a big LDS chapel was built across the street--which is why I was confused by the addresses listed on lds.org. We left our ship at 10:00 and walked into that chapel at 10:50 to take a look before going to see the temple. To my surprise a Cantonese sacrament meeting was just starting (the last meeting of the three hour block of meetings) and a kind and observant usher welcomed us in and told us that we were welcome to stay and that they had headphones and a translator (a local who served his mission in California) to assist us. Before we knew it we were sitting in two side rows near the front complete with head phones for translation and English language hymn books. We enjoyed good talks on the importance of temples and the worth of prayer in helping to overcome challenges. It was also great to sing. Afterwards we were greeted by many members. One of the elders who welcomed us was from Mapleton, Utah. We then walked across the street to see the temple and to enjoy its small, but lovely garden. While there the Temple President and Matron arrived (they and the mission president have apartments in the building) and came up to greet us. We learned from them that not only does Hong Kong have a sacrament meeting on each day of the week--to accommodate all of the foreign workers (mainly from the Philippines who only have one day off during the week and it is not always a weekend day), but it also has temple sessions on some Sundays for those who only have Sunday off. We all loved this end to our stay in China. The seven of us then had lunch together. We then wound our way back to the ship via Hong Kong's busy streets and a visit to the local temple of Tin Hau-- the local goddess of seafarers. We set sail at 20:00 just as the nightly light display began. It was quite a sight to see so many buildings on both sides of the harbor flash with such a wide assortment of colors and designs.



↧
↧

Hong Kong to Saigon

February 14, 2015, 12:40 am
$
0
0



The two day slow sail from Hong Kong to Saigon passed through the contentious South China Sea (West Philippine Sea? ) where China and Vietnam spar over control over the Paracel islands and China, Taiwan, Vietnam, The Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia are all at odds over control of the Spratly Islands—tiny islands, islets and reefs that are uninhabitable, but where all of these countries have set up stations (on much expanded reefs and islands) so that they can then claim the hoped for oil and natural gas in the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of each island. As we sailed this sea I taught my political geography class about the Law of the Sea with a focus on the South China Sea.

 


Sailing from the South China Sea up the meandering Saigon River took several hours. I spent from 7-11 am up top watching the whole journey.





mangroves






"All Safe" in Indonesian











The ornate steeples of a CaoDai Temple in the distance. It is a syncretic religion unique to Vietnam that revers the likes of Victor Hugo and Sun Yat Sen as saints.




Attempting to right a half sunken barge.





Close call.






↧

Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City)

February 14, 2015, 2:09 am
$
0
0


Once docked we set out to see what we could accomplish. First on the agenda was to take a dress of Sarah’s to a tailor and have a replica made. Next stop was for haircuts. We then explored the massive Ben Than market where the boys picked out soccer jerseys, Sarah got some funky pants, Marie did an about face when she saw a rat, and we all got some new fruit to try—red rambutans (hairy fruit). We then meandered through the city in route to a water puppet show. We passed a sports complex with soccer and basketball practices going on. Ringing the complex were sports stores—one of which included a BYU basketball for sale. Then while eating rambutans in a park we watched a few games of foot badminton. It was entertaining enough that we went back to one of the sports stores and bought special shuttle cocks. We figured kicking the shuttle cocks back and forth would be good coordination practice for soccer. The 50 minute water puppet show was lots of fun. It fulfilled a requirement for Sarah’s world performance class. We all had pho (noodle soup) and spring rolls for dinner. Not a bad first day in Saigon.






 planting rice


 dance of the fairies


 The talented puppeteers.

 Rush hour traffic.

 Decorations for Tet (Vietnamese New Year's)






Thursday the 12th we went on a SAS field lab out to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. This was the first stop of a very sobering day. The tunnels were built by the Viet Cong as a hiding place from where they could then launch raids and attacks on nearby US military installations. Will was chosen to demonstrate how to use small camouflaged openings to enter the four level warrens. Once he disappeared behind the guide, he then peered out through gun holes in a camouflaged bunker and then emerged from another tiny hole. Joel and Sarah and the 20 students in our group all then had a chance for a photo op. The reforested area (agent orange defoliated all of the trees during the war) was pocked with large craters. We got to all crouch through two sections of tunnels, visit some of the bunkers used for hospitals, cooking, meetings etc. Most troublesome were the recreated models of booby traps used to stop the American and South Vietnamese soldiers. I visited a different section of the tunnels 11 years ago. At that time I remember thinking that had I been a few years older I (because of my size) could have been one of the tunnel rats sent in to ferret out the Viet Cong or I could have been one of the soldiers killed in a burned out US Army tank that still stands above the tunnels. Our guide--who lost an aunt who was killed by the French early on and then three uncles--some fighting for the south and some for the north--did a great job of explaining the war and the tunnels. He even used maps and images on his i-pad. 


It was an entertaining drive to and from Cu Chi watching the crazy traffic of Ho Chi Min City and then passing through rice paddies, rubber plantations and small villages.
 



 Don't text and drive!


 Rubber trees above the Cu Chi tunnels





 Bomb crater






Coming out the other side.

 In front of the undergorund bunker with holes to shoot from. Will could look out and see our feet.





 sandals made from old tires




Booby traps


 School field trip.



On the way back I discussed with the students about how I grew up during the Vietnam War being taught that is was a war to contain the spread of communism. Since then I have come to realize that it was much more than that. For the Vietnamese it was first and foremost a war for independence. Had the West granted Ho Chi Minh’s request for self-determination at the end of WWI or the end of WWII, there would have never been a Vietnam War. Instead Ho Chi Minh turned to China and Russia for backing which is why I grew up be taught that he was just a clone of Lenin, Stalin and Mao. When asked if Ho Chi Minh was a communist or nationalist. Our guide replied that he was first and foremost a nationalist. I shared a few quotes from Robert McNamara’s autobiography (US secretary of Defense during the war) in which he explains 1) “We misjudged then--as we have since--the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.” 2) “We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.” 3) “Our misjudgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics in the area and the personalities and habits of their leaders.” (The lessons of war: Mr. McNamara’s View, Christian Science Monitor, April 28, 1995)











Back in HCMC we enjoyed a delicious lunch. The kids all ate the calamari in the soup and also fried. Rice cooked in lotus leafs and curry was also very good. My favorite was the tempura morning glory and shrimp.









Our final stop was the War Remnants Museum. The museum uses images—mostly from photo journalists on both sides of the conflict—to show the horrors of the war. We started out in the agent orange ( a defoliant) room, which was a bit too graphic for most of us. It was disturbing enough to Will that twice he came to me once we were in other exhibits asking me for money to go back and put in a box to help victims of agent orange. Then today when an agent orange victim approached us on the street selling trinkets, it was Will who suggested we buy a souvenir magnet from him. Will also told us he prayed tonight for the victims of agent orange. I took photos of many of the photos to use in future lectures. I have included a few here that touched me this visit.





Hauling supplies from the north to the south along the Ho Chin MInh Trail.



Photos by Larry Burrows for Life Magazine showing James Farley out on a helicopter mission where several of his commrades were shot and then back in base where he breaks down in tears.



Such fear in their faces as she and her children flee bombings.


Mother and children a year later

  Such suffering all the way around.





Back at the ship we enjoyed a refreshing swim (our first on board) with some of the other faculty kids. The pool deck is usually full of scantily clad sun-bathing students, but most of them were off exploring so it was great to have the pool to ourselves.





Day three was more laid back. We explored the local market, trying a few more new tropical fruits. Then took a cab (Marie really liked the small sized Toyoto van used here for taxis) across town to the Giac Lam Buddhist temple. We then had a delicious lunch at Pho 2000 (good enough for Bill Clinton to eat at). The long central park was full of red and yellow flowers and flowering trees for sale--to be used as Tet (Vietnamese New Year’s) decorations. We found a travel agent and booked a Mekong Delta tour for Monday. Enjoyed a McDonald’s ice cream cone—and some free wifi so the boys could play a game or two on their i-pod. We hit Ben Than market again for more shirts for the kids. Had chilled coconut water to drink. Picked up Sarah’s new dress—very nice—she wore it home. Quick visit to the French built post office (with wonderful French era maps) and Catholic church and then caught the shuttle bus back to the ship for swimming, dinner, visiting and blog writing.












 Ho Chi Minh amidst the Buddhas ?!







 I am hoping this is a Spratley Island poster to use in my geography classses.

 Dragon fruit decorations for Tet.





Four foot tall chrysanthemums.



 Bin Than market and the crazy traffic in the traffic circle







↧

Preparing for Tet

February 14, 2015, 2:50 am
$
0
0


Hoang (above), a student in my world geography course who emigrated to the US at age 8, invited some of his SAS friends and professors to join him in helping to make a special Tet dish at the home of some local friends. These friends (mostly students, many of whom met on facebook) decided to make 300 steamed bundles to distribute to homeless elderly people on New Year's (Tet). They bought all of the ingredients and did most all of the work, but they let us join in. We're glad we did.


Joel helped cut large leaves into rectangles.


 Four layers of those leaves are folded (one for each corner) and laid into a wooden mold.

 Then add a layer of uncooked sticky rice.

 Some minced bean sprouts

 Some beef and pork

 More  bean sprouts and rice. Then cover with more leaves and tightly bind with six rattan cords.



 Will folding a leaf and Joel learning how.


 Sarah's leaf mold


Noah, the son of a faculty member, is a happy friendly talkative kid who loved by everyone on the ship. The way students respond to him reminds me of how the Jerusalem Center students responded to five year old Will.



It takes 8 hours to boil the rice and meat.



Once these two pots have done theri job, they will be filled with a second round of bundles.



Sarah's finished product.




We worked in the front patio/living and under a tarp outside of a home on the outskirts of Saigon--way on the outskirts of Saigon. It was a long taxi ride in which we got lost for a while and almost turned back, but we gave it one more try and wound up at the meeting point (a street market). We are glad we stuck to it.


 A neighboring home, typical of the long narrow homes of Saigon.



Happy Americans, Vietnamese and a few others nationalities thrown in for good measure all working together for a good cause.


Dish washing
↧
Search

Sunday in Saigon

February 16, 2015, 6:32 am
$
0
0


Even with a slow beginning to the day, Will was not quite up to going out into the city at 10:00 am. Marie volunteered to stay behind so Will could have some down time. Sarah, Joel and I headed off to the Independence Palace which was originally the presidential palace of South Vietnam. It was built in the 1960s and has the architecture and furnishings to prove it. There were reception rooms, dining rooms, a game room, cinema, library, map room and living quarters, plus a roof top retreat that was intended by the architect to be a place where the president could go for mediation before making important decisions, but instead became a place for roof top parties. Beneath was a warren of cement protected war rooms and bunkers from where the country could be governed if the palace was under attack.


President's command center in the basement bunker.

Taking a break. (Sarah's wearing her tailor made dress)

North Vietnamese tank near the place where they plowed down the gate to enter the palace grounds in 1975 signaling the end of the war and the beginning of a united Vietnam.

We then met Marie and Will at the Cathedral (the shuttle bus drop off point) and from there we made our way to the air conditioned delight of an upscale mall (no communism here) where we shared a baguette and pizza like pastry. The kids also had blueberry muffins and I and enjoyed a kimche filled croquette. We all enjoyed a fresh lime smoothie.



We then took a cab to the local LDS branch. Since the LDS Church has only limited official recognition in Vietnam there are no listings of church times or places on LDS.org. Months before coming someone mentioned to me on a facebook inquiry about attending church in Vietnam that there was a LDS-Vietnam facebook page. There I found inquires and answers about places and times. Two branches were listed for HCMC. One met at 9:00 further out and across the river which would have necessitated an earlier departure than we liked. The other was listed as starting at 2:00 and was in district 1, which is the central part of town. The latest inquiry was from last fall so I worried that times and places may have changed, but since I had no other info to go one we set out to see what would happen. We arrived 50 minutes early (I was unsure of how long of cab ride it might take and we had nothing else to do) and found an unmarked house with an open gate and a welcoming guard. The address and start time were correct, although next week the branch will begin meeting at 9:00 am. We walked in and met some early arrived members and a set of missionaries. There are 12 young missionaries currently serving in HCMC and four in Hanoi (Vietnam is part of the Cambodia mission). In order to not raise suspicion or draw attention, the Church has decided that all non-senior missionaries serving in Vietnam must have Vietnamese ancestry. One elder was from West Valley—his parents emigrated to the US years ago. Another was raised in Cambodia. The senior humanitarian couple was from Utah and was not Vietnamese. 

Most members in the branch were young single adults. There were no youth in the branch and only a few primary children. Joel helped pass the sacrament. The three talks were on Zion. We all then attended gospel doctrine. The lesson was on the miracles a Jesus. The instructor did a very nice job and there was lots of class participation. Also doing a great job were the three different members who provided simultaneous interpretations for us and for the senior missionary couple. The whole experience of being in a small branch using a rented house to meet in reminded me of missionary days in Indonesia.



We then headed out to get dinner (Pho 2,000) followed by a walk back to our ship. The one downside to an otherwise enjoyable day was the trauma caused by Will changing his i-touch password (on the shuttle ride into town) and then immediately forgetting it. He tried various permutations with no luck and got locked out. Sarah and I then spent part of the evening trying to figure out what to do and it looks like it will have to wait until faster internet in Singapore and will entail Will losing his photos and perhaps some of his games. Very sad.
↧
↧

Mekong Delta

February 19, 2015, 7:09 pm
$
0
0
Monday we arranged for a guided tour of the Mekong Delta. It was a wonderful excursion. It was just the five of us plus a guide and driver in a van. The two hour drive from Saigon to Cai Be, which passed through emerald green rice fields dotted with sarcophagi (above ground tombs), was made all the more interesting because of the many Saigoners who were loaded up on their motorcycles to return home for Tet (New Year). The road was jam packed with scooters heavily laden with 1-4 passengers with luggage and gifts tucked in-between. Tet is the one time during the year for many workers in Vietnam when they get a week off from work.  It reminded me of pre-Thanksgiving or Christmas travel in the US or returning home (mudik) in Indonesia for family gatherings at the end of Ramadan.
We boarded a long boat that took us through the waterways of Cai Be. Our first stop was a water side complex that highlighted local food production. We saw how rice wine was made, how rice wine can be flavored by adding snake carcasses, scorpions or fruits, how rice paper (for delicious spring rolls) is made, how rice is puffed, and how grated coconut is turned into candy and caramels. Then we got to sample some of these treats including some jasmine herb tea.
We then passed through a floating market where boasts were laden with fruits and vegetables for sale. Then as we crossed out into one of the Mekong’s nine main distributaries (called the nine dragons) the kids all got a turn at driving the boat. We then boarded two smaller paddle boats (like gondolas in Venice), donned protective Vietnamese cone shaped hats and then cruised through the canals of one of the many Mekong islands. The water was more than six feet lower than the high water marks of docks and roots. When I asked the guide if this was just the result of it being the dry season he explain that the water level is lower that usual this time of year and he explained that dams upstream in China are the cause.  
After our island canal float we walked a path through many fruit gardens—the main product of the island. I was in heaven. We saw durian blossoms and ripening durian fruit (this fruit smells to high heavens and is either loved or hated), papaya, jack fruit, red guava, longan, banana, and bread fruit. We then stopped at a patio of one of the farm houses to sample some of the local fruits. Yum!
We then boarded our original boat to traverse another Mekong channel to another island where we had a delicious lunch of grilled elephant ear fish (from the river) that was then rolled along with basil, lettuce and cucumber in rice paper to make a delicious spring roll. We all liked it. This was followed by rice with curry and stir fry and then pineapple and jack fruit for desert.
We then headed back to the van for the drive back to Saigon. Our guide was uncertain how holiday traffic would be so our day in the delta was a bit abbreviated from most tours to ensure we had enough time to be back on board well before the 18:00 deadline. We lucked out with very light traffic—everyone was headed out of the city not to it. Our only delay was being pulled over by a motorcycle cop. The driver knew exactly why—the cop wanted some money for new year’s, which he got. Corruption knows no boundaries.
Back in town we passed a government billboard that looked to me like it was Spratly Island related. We were just a few blocks from our port berth and so I set out with my camera. Next day in class, my Vietnamese student confirmed what I suspected. The woman’s heart are the Spratly islands—with oil derricks and protective ships and sailors to defend them (from the Chinese). Good stuff for my classes.
The plan was to set sail early the next morning, but strong river currents delayed our departure until 11:00. After my 11:00 class and lunch I head up to the very windy top fore deck to watch the remainder of our four hour sail down the Saigon River. It was a busy day. We passed two container ships along the way. More than once I wondered if passing big ships would collide or if small fishing boats would be plowed under, but no collisions happened. At one point the ship’s photographer mentioned that it sounded like we were passing a bird preserve. I could hear the birds but not see them. Then further down stream I noticed tall cement buildings with no doors and only tine openings. I wondered what they were. Then I heard the bird sounds and remembered once reading about such structures built for swift birds to build their nests of saliva These nest are then gathered and sold for use in traditional Chinese medicine and in expensive bird’s nest soup. Once upon a time these nests were only harvested from large caves in Borneo, but increasing demand has led to innovative ideas and new jobs of Vietnamese villagers
That night there was a nice sunset on the South China Sea followed by the bedtime appearance of dozen of fishing boats.





























































































↧

A wonderful life: Norda Agnes Fife Emmett

March 2, 2015, 5:29 am
$
0
0
My wonderful mother, Norda Fife Emmett passed away at the age of 87 on the morning of March 3, 2015. For the past 15 months she has been living with my sister Mary and her family. Mom was ready to go. The pain and weakness caused by slow moving lung and kidney cancer made it hard to do the many things she loved: gardening, quilting, reading, traveling and living in her own home. What follows are some photos of her life mostly taken by my dad over the years.


With her grandpa AJ Fife in Brigham City ca 1930


With her brother Bill ca 1937

At the Sinks in Logan Canyon, 1947


1948

August 20, 1948 Wedding day

1953 with Bill

1955 with Bob

With Bill, Bob and Chad in Providence 1960

1962 with Jake

 With Mary and Jake, 1962


 1962 Providence


Grand Coulee Dam 1962

With Tom, 1964

Temple Square 1967


1968

1969, Washington DC


Abilene Kansas 1969

Targhee with Mary and Tom 1973

 
Sending Chad off on his mission, 1975

Grand Canyon, 1981

1983


New Year's Day fondue dinner. 1987


Four Generations 1987: Veara, Norda, Mary, Emily


 Tom and Shelly's wedding 1989


 Family reunion in Nauvoo 1992

 1996, Mission in Connecticut

2001 St. Louis Arch. The first of several road trips mom and dad took with different cohorts of grandchildren.

2004, chopping onions for curry

 Youngest grandchild, Will 2006

With Great-Grandchild Jack Emmett 2007

 Happily using her new snow blower throughout the neighborhood, 2009

 With great grandson Jack Falslev, 2009
 
  Christmas 2009

August 2013



2013. Norda's beloved live Nativity with grandchildren and great grand children. This was the last one at the "Twin Pine Ranch".

Great-grand twins Timothy and Emmaline, 2014

2014

When I signed up for semester at sea, mom was in good health, but when the time came to leave, we knew she might not make it until our return. I called her from Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. During the Singapore call, she told me she was worried (that is what she does best) about our going to Africa. I assured her that we were going to safe countries and that there was no need to worry. I also told her that I loved her.

Word of her passing came via e-mail in the middle of the Indian Ocean half way between Yangon Myanmar and Cochin India. India is about as far away from Utah as you can get. Travel distance and time, plus teaching duties, mean that I won't be able to make it home for her funeral. I will miss joining in the celebration of her wonderful life.

Last Sunday as we were getting ready to sail from Yangon, I got an e-mail from Mary saying mom had taken a turn for the worst. I then quickly replied with the following letter for Mary to read to mom.



Dear Mom,

We just got back from our Sunday morning service abroad ship. We had to set sail from Yangon earlier than planned so we all had to be on the ship last night instead of today at noon. That means that we now have had one Sunday on ship that was unscheduled. This means that I don't have to be teaching classes and the kids don’t have to be doing home schooling. It also means that we were able to hold our little church service at 9:00 am in the peace and quiet of a classroom. Usually we meet at 6:15 pm after classes and before evening lectures when the boat is more chaotic. All seven of us have given talks so today I decided we would watch a conference talk. On the day before we left I dropped by Deseret Book and bought the dvds of the October 2011 general conference for just such occasions. Last night I looked at lds.org to skim the talks to see which talk would fit our little group best. I chose Elder Cook's talk about "songs we cannot sing." (In hind-sight that talk was very appropriate for our current situation.) He talks about life and how things happen that never seem fair or right, but when viewed from the eternal perspective it always works out ok. He then told the story of Alma Sonne (from Logan) and five other missionaries who gave up their tickets on the Titanic so that all six could sail home together. One of the elders was delayed a day and Elder Sonne felt that since they all arrived together they should all go home together. Then he told of a young mother from Provo who had gone to London to be trained as a mid- wife. She chose to sail on the Titanic thinking the traveling missionaries would add a measure of protection for the journey. She was one of the few women who died, and it is thought she was tending to those injured in the iceberg crash. She left young children at home and many songs unsung. Elder Cook noted how it seems sad when someone leaves life before being able to sing all of the songs they should have been able to sing.

Mom, I think you have sung many wonderful songs throughout your life. You have raised six amazing kids. You supported dad in his schooling and work responsibilities and in all of his church callings--which meant sitting alone for many years at church. You served valiantly in many church callings and as a missionary. You taught school children how to read. You created a happy, loving, beautiful, clean home and a lovely, flowered, edged, raked yard. You planned and prepared countless meals and family gatherings which have resulted in a close knit family that really does enjoy being together. You taught us our first songs, encouraged us to play the piano, showed us the joy of reading, baked homemade bread, made raspberry jam, traveled the world with us and to visit us, wrote to us every week of our missions, made quilts for everyone in the family and for many others too, published years of family letters, established family traditions that are now being passed down through the generations, and you encouraged us to follow our dreams. Your life has been a life of love and service.

I love you and I love all of the beautiful songs you have sung.

Wising I could be there to visit with you, to sit with you, to give you a hug.

Chad


↧

Singapore

March 8, 2015, 6:28 am
$
0
0







After our early morning arrival, our first destination of choice in Singapore was the amazing Singapore Zoo. The ship berthed right under the gondola to Sentosa Island and alongside a mall where we changed money and where we purchased a two day subway and bus pass which we then used for a 45 minute journey out to the zoo. Once there we spend six happy hours watching animals in very open and natural looking enclosures. Our most favorite by far was the large colony of orangutans (orang=person, (h)utan=jungle). They lived on a large island with plenty of logs to climb and they lived above the pathways of the zoo on platforms connected by ropes. They could not descent to ground  because all of the trees they could use were wrapped with hard to notice electrical wires that restricted total free roaming. The oldest had toe touching hair that looked like it had just been washed, braided and then combed out. We watched in awe as mothers carried clinging children up logs and along ropes—by hand and on tight roping walking feet and as children swang by themselves on high ropes,. We also enjoyed watching the large clan of Ethiopian baboons, a large komodo dragon, and up close sleeping and eating fruit bats. We also found animals and signs for each of our Chinese zodiacs. For lunch we ate at a Singapore style food courts where we could choose from Malay, Indian, Chinese or Western food. We shared a fruit cup and the kids got to try their first dragon fruit. Since it was the first day of the two day national holiday for Chinese New Year’s, the zoo was packed with people, mostly non-Chinese Singaporeans with single Indian men being the most dominant group. 

Next stop was at Newton Circus, for old time’s sake. Back in November 1975 my group of eight Indonesian bound missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints landed in Singapore to get our hard-to-come-by visas. The process took a week and so we slept on the floor at the mission home on Bukit Timah Road. At the time Singapore would only allow one foreign missionary to serve in the country. He along with two local elders were the only three missionaries in the city. They took good care of us awe struck elders. Several times during the week we walked a block up to the food stalls at Newton Circus. I remember trying fresh squeezed sugar cane juice but can’t remember what other new foods I tried. What I do remember thinking was “think of the germs!” (TOTG). To my Utah senses the small stalls did not seem all that sanitary. At the time, little did I realize that Singapore’s government regulated food services were far and away more sanitary than what I would soon experience in Indonesia. Whenever I am in Singapore I head to Newton Circus (even though  there are now many many more hawker centers scattered throughout the expanding city). Many of the stalls were closed for the holiday, but enough were open for us to have a delightful culinary experience. We ordered chicken sate (satay) with peanut sauce that has a definite Indian curry twist to it, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, bar-b-qued manta ray, and stir fired greens. We ended with fresh fruit smoothies. My only regret was that we didn’t have a week to try more hawker centers and other foods. One student found a list of Singapore’s’ 48 best dishes. His quest for the two days we were there was to try as many as he could. He almost succeeded. Some day I want to have that be my quest. 

We then walked to the Bukit Road LDS property. Long gone is the small chapel with a separate mission home and office in the rear. It has all been replaced by three story stake center.
We then rode to the Chinatown subway stop where we walked around to see the New Year’s lights. 
Back at the ship I spent a few hours in the cruise arrival center hoping the wifi connections would be fast enough to upload some photos to the blog and most importantly to access i-tunes where I planned to swipe clean and then re-boot Will’s i-touch. No such luck. So next morning we headed out to Orchard Road where plan B called for using the faster eifi at the Holiday Inn Express. It was faster (I uploaded all of the Mekong Delta photos) but for some reason it would not ever complete the re-booting process for Will’s i-touch. Prayers were not answered today (or maybe they were, if Marie has been praying for the sometimes troublesome i-touch to no longer be a point of contention because of too much use). Plan C had us find three different i-stores (there are no official apple stores in Singapore) and an A (for Apple) store in three of the many Orchard Road high end shopping malls—sadly all of these stores (but not other stores) were closed for Chinese New Years. Looks like our next chance to restore his i-touch may be South Africa. I had high hopes for Singapore, but the holiday and a seeming benign neglect for all things Apple (sometimes I could not even get connected to apple sites) did technologically-challenge-me in. 

We enjoyed excellent Thai food for lunch (which boosted spirits) and then we hurriedly explored the new harbor area with its new bay surrounded by land filled urban growth now sprouting skyscrapers. Most interesting were the ship-topped Marina Sands hotel (would love to try its expansive roof top infinity pool sometime) and the durian looking performance center. We then wandered through colonial Singapore. In 1975, I took a photo of the river filled with small sampans and lined with historic store houses. Now the river has been Disneyized—cleaned up and then decked out with a sanitized re-creation of neat looking Chinese store houses. That seems to be Singapore’s modus operandi--clean up untidy rivers, housing and food establishments and reprocess them to be clean, safe and efficient (what I like to call Disneyification).

We swang by the Raffles hotel and then hustled back to the ship before the 17:00 deadline. While Marei and the kids lined up, I used up some of our remaining Singapore dollars to replenish our stash of snacks—Toblerone chocolate, Kit Kats and gummy worms were a hit.  










The zoo occupies a peninsula in this reservoir--where Singapore drinking water is stored. A few years back Singapore began worry about water security. It gets most of its water from neighboring Malaysia. But to wean itself from that dependency, Singapore now processes "New Water" made clean in Singapore's high tech way from sewage and other non-typical sources of drinking water.



Lime freezes--with a top decoration of a mother oranutan nursing her infant.





Komodo Dragon--from the Indonesian Isalnd of Komodo

Joel was born in the year of the dragon.













Quite Orchard Road















↧

Sunday in Kerala: Memories of Mom/Grandma

March 8, 2015, 7:04 am
$
0
0






It is Sunday Morning on the Malabar Coast in the State of Kerala in the country of India about 45 km south of Kochi at the Abad Turtle Beach Resort.  When in port, most students and faculty head off ship for most, if not all, of the six days we have in each country. This often involves expensive journeys, for example, from Shanghai to the Beijing and the Great Wall, Saigon to Ankor Wat, Cochin to the Taj Mahal etc. Before coming we decided that our one big off ship adventure would be to spend three nights at Etosha National Park in Namibia to see the wild animals. However, at mid-voyage we found us all longing to be off the ship for a night or two so last week I started hunting on-line for a place not too far or not too expensive where we could go while in Kochi. I found a modest beach resort that fit the bill so yesterday we caught a cab (a bit cramped for the four in the back seat) and headed south past Kerala’s many Christian Churches (no LDS branch yet here, the closest one is in Coimbatore over four hours away) and many communist party signs and images. We all then enjoyed bobbing in the Indian Ocean on a white sand beach lined with palm trees—very idyllic. 

Today for our “worship service” we took some time to remember our mom and Grandma. We also enjoyed a little more beach time—mom would have approved. 

Here are some of our memories:

Sarah’s first memories: Grandma came to visit and gave me a quarter. I took my first doll (a gift from Santa) to Logan for our Christmas gathering. I showed grandma the doll and the subject of a name came up. Grandma said, name her Penelope and so I did.

One of Joel’s first memories: The road trip to Vernal with Grandma and Grandpa (that last of several road trips that included cohorts of all of the grandkids) He remembers petroglyphs, a picnic lunch, and visiting the dinosaur museum. 

Sarah remembers the gift bags grandma prepared for the Vernal road trip which included Sarah’s first journal. 

The kids all remember the fruit snack drawer. Grandma always let them eat more fruit snacks than their parents.

Will remembers playing fun things at grandma’s like bongo board, pool, swinging, soccer, and playing games (including pistol shooting coins into the coin bank).

One of Will’s first memories was an Emmett family trip to North Beach at Bear Lake. 

We all remember delicious breakfasts of aebleskivers or English Muffins with homemade jams (raspberry is a favorite).

Marie remembers Norda’s planning and preparation for all of the family gatherings—including preparing the curry long before hand and making lists and schedules when everything would happen. Norda was the hub of all of the family gatherings. 

We still use over twenty quilts mom made for us over the years. When we were first expecting Sarah, grandma arrived with five baby quilts for us to use. These quilts have been used to cradle babies, to sleep under, to cuddle in, to picnic on, to build forts with, to back yard sit on, and to camp with.
Sarah: I remember grandma telling me that she didn’t go to any dances in high school so it is OK if I don’t go to a dance. 

Chad remembers his moms’ care when he had the measles at age 5 at Christmas time, when he broke his leg and arm his sophomore year and every other time he was sick enough (you had to have a fever or be throwing up) to stay home from school. 

Christmas gatherings will always be a favorite: every bed room full, aebelskiver breakfasts, nativity and family singing, wonderful decorations, ski boots lined up in the back hall, making ham and cheese sandwiches for our lunch at Beaver Mt. visiting and playing with cousins, playing the player piano.

She had a green thumb. She took care of her raspberry patch so she would have enough jam to last through the years. 

Bottled salsa, chokecherry jelly, freezer raspberry, strawberry and peach jam. Homemade bread after school with honey and butter. Banana bread and cheese. Snickerdoodles.

Chad remembers Sunday dinners of pot roast, new potatoes, and fresh from the garden vegetables—beans, tomatoes, swiss chard, zucchini.

Her love of BLTs—she and dad enjoyed on average one a day during tomato season. 

Hard worker, always on the go, not good at just sitting. 

She always sent thank you notes. Sarah remembers when Grandma didn’t think she would feel up to attending Sarah’s performance in Oklahoma she sent a letter apologizing for not being able to go (in the end she did go).

She and grandpa gave each of the kids a set of scriptures for their baptism. 

Joel remembers answering the phone and having grandma carry on long conversations with him with her doing most of the talking. 

On occasion moms advice to me as a father of willful children was to just “hug and kiss” them. 

Thirty five years of coordinating the Emmett family quarterly newsletter, which were always appreciated especially when living abroad. 

Sarah: I remember going to Lagoon with grandma. She brought Capri Sun to drink—which I always liked.

Sarah picked wild flowers while hiking at the family reunion at Grand Targhee. Grandma gave Sarah and Camilla an award at the end of the reunion for being such happy hikers. Little did grandma know that Sarah’s dad had told her it was illegal to pick wildflowers, which then made Sarah cry, which meant she wasn’t as happy of a hiker as grandma had noticed. 

Sarah: She had a multitude of sweaters. 

Gifts of Christmas decorations, family history photos and books, Norda’s t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Traveling for a month in the motor home, spending a week at Lake Powell on a house boat, spending a day at Beaver Mountain and always having plenty of good food to eat.

Encouraging her children to learn to play the piano, to learn to play either the clarinet, trombone, cornet or violin, to learn to swim, to learn to ski (she was our Little Beaver companion when first learning), to learn to ice skate (she made our own back yard skating rink), to learn to type, to read good books. These learnings have been passed on to the next generations.

Her love of travel with dad and with the family. 

Having faith in us and praying for us. We always knew things would work out for the best if we were at the top of mom’s prayer roll.

Her love and devotion to her parents, Bill and Veara. Her love of the “whole famdamily”

Her untiring efforts to hold Family Home Evening (loved the taffy pull), family prayer (intercom announcement at 7:25: Family Prayer five minutes!) and family scripture study.  Her love of the gospel of Jesus Christ. “Keep the commandments”



Sick Joel surrounded by four of Norda's quilts.


I purchased the pieced batik fabric in Indonesia as a missionary and then Norda and her mother Veara quilted it for me.






Vernal Temple with the youngest set of grandkids.


North Beach Bear Lake

Hogel Zoo for Joel's birthday


Family reunion at Targhee









A few years ago mom gave us this dill pickle ornament. Finding it hiding in the Christmas tree is now a fun family tradition.

Christmas dinner.

Wearing our Norda sweatshirts and shirts--Christmas gifts over many years.

A gift to every family. It includes the story of Norda's grandmother Agnes and great-grandmother Margaret who crossed the plains in the Willie handcart compnay.




Joels' baptism day.


Such a fun basement.

Such a fun backyard.

 Beautiful garden

Sarah at a Christmas family vacation stay at Beaver Creek Lodge. Part of Dad and mom's spend the inheritance plan.

Baby Will

Like mom, we now bottle our own salsa, grape juice, and chokecherry jelly.

Vacation to Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal.

Four corners

Missouri

Granddaughters Sarah, Katie and McKinley who love to ski like their grandma.

Recipe for a back yard ice skating rink. Wait for it to snow. The put on your skis and walk all over the back yard tramping down the snow. Spay the matted snow with water from the garden hose. Let freeze over night. Repeat four times. Watch the kids learn to skate. (chad is blue)

Mom was not a big fan of funerals. For years she told us she did not want a funeral, or if we did have one, it should be short and sweet. Before I left I told her that if I was asked to give a short talk at her funeral this is the story I would tell:

At 5 foot 2, I was the shortest boy in my sophomore class at Logan High. I don’t remember being overly concerned about being short, but I do remember wondering how I would fit in to a society that seemed to value athletic prowess—of which I was limited in both desire and build. Luckily I had an inspired mother who came to my aid.  I’m not sure how she did it, but in the midst of raising six kids, mom decided to enroll in an evening institute class. The course of study that year was the Old Testament. One evening in class they talked about Samuel’s calling of a young David to be the next king of Israel. I don’t know what her thought or inspiration process was that night, but something compelled mom to come home and share a particular scripture with her short sophomore. I remember to this day her reading to me 1 Samuel 16:7: “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature: because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” I don’t think mom added any commentary or tried to liken the scripture to me but nonetheless, pow! it hit me. It was OK that I was 5’ 2. It was OK that I wasn’t a big football lineman or a tall basketball player. It was OK to be short and freckled and wearing glasses. The Lord looked on my heart, not my height, not my freckles. That night I realized that God loved me no matter what. I also realized that my mom loved me and that she was watching out for me. It was perfect timing. I was able to put aside pressure to try and measure up to the expectations and interests of others and focus on doing what brought me joy and fulfillment.  Thanks mom.

My one contribution (from afar) to mom’s short funeral was to modify the lyrics to “Oh There’s no Place Like Home for the Holidays.” My niece Emily (I believe) came up with the idea to have the grandchildren sing this song. I agreed and so one morning on ship while my world geography students were taking a mid term exam I figured out some lyrics. It was hard to do without humming or singing our loud. Years ago (perhaps over 30 years) mom came up with an idea to modify the lyrics of holiday comings and goings (Tennessee, Pennsylvania etc.) in the song to fit our family members as they went and came on missions. I somehow inherited the annual job of modifying the lyrics. What first started out as a list of cities where the five sons and one son-in-law served missions (…Whether Logan, Nauvoo, Gifu, Bandung, Elkton, Taijong, London, Oh There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays…). Once generation three started to serve missions it became too hard to keep the list of mission cities updated so then I started to focus on new additions to the family. Every Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Night and now a few days after Christmas we would all gather (50 plus in recent years) in the front room of mom and dad’s house to re-enact the nativity (with costumes mom helped gather on her two trips to the Holy Land to visit me) and then to sing such favorites as “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, I’ll be Home for Christmas, Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, etc. 

Here are the lyrics from our Christmas sing along the last two Decembers:

Home for the Holidays 2013

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home

We gather each year at the twin pine ranch
To eat some aebelskivers
Sing some songs and do some skiing at the Beav.
We welcome Greyson, Maggie, Jacob and Jay Emmett to the clan
From the mid west, west coast, Wasatch Front
We gather all together.

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home

Home for the Holidays 2014

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home

We gather each year as a family
To eat and sing and ski
And we welcome new folks to the family
There’s Stefan, Timmy, Emmy, Lydia, Olivia and Smith
From the mid west, west coast, Wasatch Front
We gather all together.

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home

Here are the lyrics for Mom’s funeral.
Home for the Holidays—Norda’s Funeral
Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home

Grandma Emmett always welcomed us into her lovely home
There we’d visit, play and feast with those we love.
In love we gather now to send her off to her mansion up above
 “Save a place for us, we’ll join you there and gather all together.”

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home

Thanks for the wonderful memories mom. We will always love you and will always miss you.





↧
↧

Singapore to Yangon

March 8, 2015, 9:23 am
$
0
0
We set sail from Singapore at 19:30. I stayed up top for at least two hours watching the extensive industrial (container ports and refineries all on land fill extensions) west side of Singapore pass by. I could see the lights of Indonesia off in the southern distance. I stayed up top until we had entered the Strait of Malacca-for where we could see fireworks in distant Malaysia. There were plenty of ships anchored off Singapore harbor and then at the entrance to the strait. Next morning I got a much better look at the busy shipping corridor. I had thought we would be able to see Sumatra or Malaysia but the strait is wider than I imagined.

Because we were traveling in a high piracy areas through the Strait of Malacca, our creative crew tied a scarecrow in an orange jump suit up on the rear fourth deck railing to scare off would be pirates. They also aimed high powered hoses off the rear to help repel them. The captain didn’t seem too worried. He reported to our executive dean that the MV Explorer could outrun any pirate ship that approached.

It was a foggy morning arrival in Yangon.









Crescent moon





Sun rise on the Strait of Malacca



 Four ships in the strait.






 Pirates beware!



Irawaddy delta from the Rangoon River









 Yangon Port

↧

Buddhas and Stupas: Day One in Yangon

March 10, 2015, 8:36 am
$
0
0

The Cruise port for Yangon is part and parcel of the industrial Yangon Port about 45-90 minutes east of the city where the Rangoon River is deep enough to handle larger ships. For our first day in Yangon we rode the bumpy shuttle bus into town. We were dropped off in front of town hall in the midst of old colonial buildings, a park with Independence monument and a golden pagoda (Sule Paya) filling the traffic circle. After exchanging money we caught a cab to the must-see Shewdagon Pagoda complex. Very impressive and a bit overwhelming in terms of size and total numbers of Buddhas. Fun to watch were the small Buddha shrines—one for each day of the week—surrounding the large central stupa where believers (and others) can bathe the specific Buddha (representing the day of the week they were born on) once for each year of life. Doing so brings blessings. Everyone was barefoot and the tiled walk-ways were all most too hot in the late morning sun for our temperate climate feet. Unfortunately most of the pagoda was skirted in gold burlap as new gold leafing was applied underneath. Fortunately, there was free wifi in the enclosure so we could send out an instagram photo noting our arrival in Myanmar (my Sprint phone service did not work in Myanmar).





We then found a nice Burmese restaurant where we were able to select an assortment of vegetable and meat curries to eat.

After lunch we visit the large (65 meters) reclining Buddha—which we all liked. Of interest there were a collection of Buddhist tales/parables that all seem to highlight the troubles caused by despotic rulers. Reminded me a similar warnings in both the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament. I wonder what authoritarian leaders in Burma thought/think of such teachings? 




Our final Buddha was a large (46 ft tall) seated Buddha. It was less crowd so I sat down with the kids to rest and we ended up discussing the teachings of Buddhism. A nice moment. 

As we were about to leave a nice Burmese college student named Moe struck up a conversation with me. He spoke English very well. He told that he was an orphan who had been raised in the large monastery adjacent to the Big Buddha. He still lives in the monastery, but as a student not as a monk. He contributes to the commune by teaching the new crop of students English. He then offered to take us on a tour of the monastery. Much of it occupied large colonial era homes. We got to see the young men studying and where Moe and others rolled out mats at night to sleep. I gave Moe $20 for the tour, but he wanted more. I gave him another crisp new $20 bill and he asked for one more. I declined giving him a third. I would like to think it was a chance serendipitous encounter with a nice Burmese, but I also wonder if it was an intended encounter as a way of raising funds for the monastery. Nonetheless, it was a nice opportunity to see and learn more about Buddhism.



↧
Search

Poltical Geography of Myanmar

March 11, 2015, 6:08 pm
$
0
0














Each class taught on Semester at Sea is required to include an 8 hour in-country field lab to go along with their course (it counts for 20% of the grade). I proposed doing my field lab for Political Geography in either Vietnam or Morocco, but for unknown reasons I was assigned Myanmar—a country I had never been to. Last fall I started to try and figure out what would work for my lab. I found a reference to a quirky drug eradication museum that sounded interesting. I hoped it would talk about the role of opium profits in financing the Shan insurgency. I also read about the home of Aung San the nationalist leader. It too sounded interesting—and a good place to highlight the nationalist movement. A final option was the national museum with an exhibit of the various nationalities in Myanmar. In the end, our local travel facilitator mentioned that he had a friend who worked for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs who could brief us—that sounded like a great addition so we dropped the national museum. Before our field lab, we talked a lot about Myanmar in class and I prepped students with a list of questions they should be thinking about.
On Wednesday February 25th we set out after breakfast. During the 1.5 hour drive into Yangon, our excellent guide Bunny talked about the history and politics of Myanmar including recent democratic changes in Myanmar. She was very open about the changes and even noted that if she had told us these things a few years ago she would have been sent to a “reeducation camp” (prison). That’s progress. Our first stop we the Drug Elimination Museum. It was indeed quirky (an animated claw reached out as if to grab drug users and pull them down to hell) but it also illustrated how outsiders (Portuguese, Dutch and British) brought poppies and opium use to Burma, and how the state is trying to eradicate poppy growth in the Golden Triangle by such things as crop substitution. The hoped for displays and information about how opium revenues have been used to fund the Shan insurgency did not exist, but instead there were displays about how the government was on the move to wipe out drug production in the Shan and Kachin areas, but without mentioning the tie between drugs and insurgency. The students enjoyed the visit, but it was not as directly related to our class as I had hoped.


Next stop was the Aung San museum. (We also drove by the current home of his daughter Aung Sna Suu Kyi.) It is in the home where general Aung San lived when first married and where he lived when he was assassinated in 1947. It was nice to see where Aung San Suu Kyi spent her early years. This museum was a good place to reflect on issues of colonialism, nationalism and democracy.

Our final stop was at the UNOCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) office. There we met with three officials who are working with refugee Muslims in the Arakan State and with refugees from the government and rebel fighting in Kachin State. The three (from Austria, Denmark and USA) were very careful to remain neutral. They noted the disputed use of names—Rohingya vs Bengalis. It was interesting to hear how the international community (NGOs and governments) has been helping these refugees and how UNOCHA coordinates it all. Also of interest was to learn that cyclone Nargis was the catalyst for the entry of foreign aid into Myanmar. The three officials all told of their educational and career path which was of great interest to the students. 

 On the way back to the ship Bunny answered questions and then I held a 30 minute debriefing in which students commented on what we saw and learned. It was nice to have Bunny there to help me in answering some of the questions that came up. There were a few minor points where I felt Bunny was not giving a complete story (she said there had never been a Shan insurgency, it was just drug lords that were fighting the government) but for the most part she did an excellent job of covering the field lab objectives.
↧

Yangon Day Three

March 17, 2015, 2:37 am
$
0
0


While I was off with my students, Sarah was also participating in a Field Lab for her world theater and performance class taught by Adrienne Moore from USU. Sarah got to see how wooden marionettes are made and then she was taught how to use them and then finally they got to watch a performance of Burmese marionettes. 

Meanwhile, Marie and the boys ventured into downtown Yangon where they went to the big People’s Park near Shwewdagon pagoda. Their report was that the guide book made it sound more exciting than it really was. The boys did enjoyed kicking a soccer ball around. They then got hamburgers for lunch at Harley’s. Will’s report is that the hamburgers would have been better with lettuce, but they had to abstain given the pre-port recommendations from the ship’s doctor (and common traveler’s sense) to avoid uncooked vegetables and unpeeled fruit. Marie dutifully requested no ice in the fountain drink, only to realize after Joel had already downed half of his that fountain drinks more likely than not are made with tap water. After lunch they returned to the ship and went swimming. 





Next morning we all headed out to see more of the city. Our first stop was the river front Botataung Pagoda. It is unique in that it is not a solid mound (like most pagodas) but has a gold lined interior of pie-piece shaped chambers, one of which houses a shine which encases a hair of Buddha. While exploring Joel started to have stomach troubles (perhaps the result of yesterday’s Sprite). He attempted a bathroom break, but we were required to be barefooted while in the pagoda precinct which did not make using a smelly squat toilet very attractive. Once outside Joel had his first ever Coke (from a can)—which I have found has medicinal properties when confronting traveler’s diarrhea. We headed out walking, but before too long, Joel was in enough stomach pain that Marie and the boys decided to head back to the ship to take it easy. Luckily Joel’s stomach problems did not worsen and also lucky is the fact that all of us survived Myanmar and India without serious digestive problems.







Sarah and I had a delightful time exploring. We checked out bookstores (she bought a copy of Animal Farm--since George Orwell lived in Burma), we admired British architecture (much of which is in serious decay and even abandonment), we bought a delicious pomelo which we peeled and ate (peeled yourself fruit is OK) in the peace and shade of a catholic church yard, we bought a newspaper, we had a delicious Thai lunch, and then we shopped at Bogyoke Aung San Market (aka Scott’s Market). We had success buying gifts for Sarah’s friends and a Burmese sarong for me. In the process we met a nice young girl (Dazingnau) who sold painted cards (for thank you notes). We told her we were interested in buying a nativity set--we explained that it was a Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. She seemed to understand so she then escorted us to dozens of shops scattered throughout the market that sold carvings or religious paraphernalia. At each stop she become better at explaining what we wanted as we clarified our explanations. Eventually we found carvings of Madonna and Son, and of adult Jesus, but never a nativity. Thwarted in our quest I then offered her some cash for her help, but she refused. Sarah then decided that we needed to buy a 25 card set from her, which we did. There in the center aisle of the market we also ran into Moe from the monastery two days ago. He introduced us to one of his teachers, who straight way gave us a wood carved coaster. Later in another part of the market, while looking at jade bracelets, I mentioned nativities to the proprietor (who spoke English well). He seemed to understand what I was talking about. He said he did not know of any for sale, but said he is always looking for new items to sell and if I sent him a sample he would have his jade craftsmen make a jade nativity. That evening I sent him via e-mail a link to my Christmas nativity blog, and then added a few downloaded photos of simple nativities. When we saw him two days later he expressed thanks and said he would send me photos of the finished product. Who knows, we may have just introduced a new item to buy to the large Scott market. 

Our final two stops in our walking tour were a Jewish Synagogue (similar is style, but larger than the one in Cochi) which was built in 1896 by migrant Jews from India and Baghdad and a Shia/Persian Mosque. One sign of hope during our walkings, were the many ditch upgrading projects in process. I imagine when the monsoon rains come that the newly, brick-lined ditches will help prevent flooding and will help wash away that which smells.

↧
↧

Markets, Orphanage and Train

March 18, 2015, 7:59 pm
$
0
0
Beetle-nut salesman and customers. Many piles of red spit in Myanamr.

Seller of soccer shorts. Will bought the blue and black and red and black plaid ones. Joel's were purple.



For day four in Yangon we participated in a Semester at Sea Impact Field Program. The Impact programs are geared towards service and community involvement. We (about 40 people) started out the day with the shuttle into town, a ferry ride across the Yangon River and then a bumpy ride in four hot, mosquito-infested, vans across the eastern edge of the Irawaddy Delta to the small town of Twante. There we explored the local market—where Joel and Will both found some very cheap soccer pants (plaid ones for Will) and we visited pottery shops where large water holding receptacles are made with UN funding. These pots are made with a mix of ground rice hulls which then make the pots porous enough to allow water to seep out and in the process be filtered of many impurities. 

After lunch we then descended upon the orphanage attached to the Phayagi Mingalar Monastery (Buddhist). The orphanage has the feel of a boarding school. Here 900 students are housed, fed and taught by volunteer teachers. Many of the children are survivors of cyclone Nargis that killed over a 100,000 Burmese living in the Irawaddy Delta. Others of the children were sent to the orphanage by parents who no longer can provide for the children due to the destruction of crops and fields by the cyclone. We took with us indestructible soccer balls, badminton equipment, special Burmese face cream for face painting, thousands of tooth brushes, and a monetary contribution. After a welcome ceremony we were turned loose to play with the middles school kids—the elementary children had testing that day. It took a while to get play groups going, but before long Joel, Will, two SAS female students and about six Burmese boys (in sarongs/longyis) started playing soccer on the coarse, hot sand of the school yard (which really tore up the boys feet). Marie and Sarah stayed in the large school hall where a dozen or more groups of female students and females from SAS braided hair, painted faces and then played games like duck, duck goose. I roamed around taking photos of all of the activites. After 90 minutes of hot and humid fun it was time to leave. I don’t think we made much of a lasting contribution to the lives of the children, but we did provide a good excuse for them to skip classes and have some fun with some very supportive and loving foreigners. Hopefully our visit and the accompanying gifts showed them that there are people who care about them. I have always thought that running an orphanage would have been a fulfilling career. I still think that. 



For our final day in Yangon we decided to ride the entire route of the circle line train. It was an entertaining three hours watching people come and go as we passed through interesting urban and rural landscapes. I stood at the open door most of the time taking photos. At about midpoint of the journey, most of our car had emptied of its passengers. I was standing near the door when a man approached me and motioned for me to sit down. I thought it was a curious request and didn’t think it was necessary, but when he motioned a second time, I decided to take heed. Moments after sitting, the car burst alive with new passengers, leaping through windows and doors to then pull in bale after bale of vegetables headed to market. Before we knew it we were all pinned to our seats by an aisle stacked full of produce. Sarah ended up sitting between a Buddhist monk and a female farmer. It was one the most entertaining five minutes we have had this whole journey. 

After completing the commuter circle, we headed to the Thai restaurant Sarah and I enjoyed a few days ago. How things have changed. While there, we reminisced about the time years ago, when Joel was about 7 or 8, that we went to our first Thai restaurant after a trip to the Spanish Fork Hindu Temple to hear the BYU gamelan and to watch the festival of color. Joel was tired and hungry and not happy at all to be eating strange new food. It is a different story now as we all enjoyed the spicy food.

We then returned to Scott Market for Marie and the boys to have a turn at shopping. While Marie and Sarah shopped at one stall for longyi (with the help of Sarah’s friend form the other day), the boys and I picked out male longyi (Burmese sarongs) from a neighboring stall. We then visited our jade nativity friend where we picked up a few more gifts. A final purchase was some wood carved sling shots for Will to give to friends, but they were confiscated by ship security because they fall under the list of weapons banned from the ship. We had hoped that the strict security office would give us a professorial break (I told him we would hide them from our boys until the journey was done) but that doesn’t seem to have worked. My guess is they have been incinerated with the ship trash and other confiscated contraband.

We all agree, Myanamr is an amazing country to visit. The people we met were so friendly. Also impressive were the ever present visual reminders of religious devotion. Next time I hope to be able to head north to Bagan and Mandalay.



↧

India

March 20, 2015, 7:05 pm
↧

A Day in Mauritius (Will's Report)

March 25, 2015, 1:34 am
$
0
0
I teach on A day mornings from 8:00-9:15 (world geography) and then from 10:50-12:05 (political geography). I teach on B day afternoons from 1:00-2:15 (global cities). In between I work on course prep and grading. Marie's job is to home school the kids on A and B days from 9:00-11:15 and to then help with ship kids activities in the afternoon. It has been a challenge to keep Will engaged and so for the past two weeks I have been in charge of Will on B day mornings. Rather than go up to the dinning hall with the other kids, Will and I hang out in our cabin and work on his math workbook, cub scout requirements, writing (8 sentences a day) and social studies (yesterday we learned about apartheid and Nelson Mandela) followed by 30 minutes of reading time for him. (Marie does science later using home teacher provided powerpoints.) We also walk the 5th deck quizzing each other on spelling words. In between times there are moanings and groanings, protestations and down right belligerence (hence the decision to share the task). Math and writing are his two least favorite topics. He is very good at math and can often figure things out in his head, but writing it down and showing work is something he does not enjoy doing. Writing in general is not his favorite.

On the day after Mauritius, I assigned Will to write a report about our one day adventure (on a SAS field program of about 30 people) on a lovely island. I gave him a map to look at and that was all the help I gave. Here is his transcribed report--eight sentences exactly--which he did without protesting:


For Mauritius we climbed a mountain. The mountain was called Le Pouce. We started at 9 and ended at one. It was hard to climb. After that we went to a really good home with really good food. It was amazing. We went to the beach after. I got to snorkel. I saw a lot of cool fish. It was called Flic en Flac Beach.  



 Morning arrival in Mauritius. Capital City Port Louis (pronounced Louie) is in the center with the peak of Le Pouce (the thumb) rising above the city. It is the third highest mountain on the island (2,664 ft). Second highest Pieter Both Mountain (2,690) is the peak on the far left.


 Marie got a little faint after the first initial climb. She rested and drank some water under the care of one of the guides while I went ahead with our energetic kids. About two thirds of the way up, slow and steady Marie rejoined the group and then we all climbed to the top. Pieter Both peak is in the background. Charles Darwin climbed Le Pouce in 1836.

 Sugar Cane fields.



From the summit looking down on Port Louis

 There was just enough room on top for the 30 of us. The final assent (with the help of ropes) and the drop off from the top reminded me of hiking Angel's Landing in Zion National Park.






 Our delicious lunch of seven different Indian curries and fresh na'an was cooked and served by an extended family in their carport.

 Many of the corals surrounding Mauritius died in the 1990s due to pollution, dynamite fishing and other man made causes.  The boys and I snorkeled out about 200 meters in calm shallow water to the breakwater where eventually we found live corals and beautiful tropical fish.


↧
Viewing all 433 articles
Browse latest View live
Search