Monday, January 15, 2007

Greetings from Ho Chi Minh City!

Friends and Loved Ones:

Once again we are happy to report our safe arrival in yet another destination--this one our last: Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. Our apologies for the long absence in blogging. It turned out that internet access was hard to come by in Singapore and Malaysia, and in the rare occasions communication home was possible, folks naturally were preoccupied with personal emails & phone calls, hence no time for blog.

We'll be requesting everyone to make at least 1 entry in this blog in the next few days so that you can get a glimpse of the incredible experiences we had in Singapore and Malaysia. You may have gotten reports that all we do is eat & shop--and while it may be true for a few (ahem!)--we promise that there's been learning in between, too! We've visited mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples, churches, seminaries, NGO groups. Conversations and learnings are far beyond what a few words could describe. You'll be hearing lots more than you bargain for when we return.

So far here in Vietnam, just a walk across the street of De Tham in HCMC sends the group on an adrenaline high, as hoards of scooters & motorbikes would prefer not to yield to pedestrians. Tomorrow, we will be visiting Protestant and Catholic churches in HCMC. Then, it's onward to Cu Chi tunnels and Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Wednesday. Thursday, we'll head to Nha Trang to "immerse" in beautiful beaches (this is an immersion trip, after all!), while not forgetting to have our proper exposure to temples, pegodas, churches, and indigenous cultural sites.

What do we see? What do we hear? How do we make sense of what we see and hear? What are we supposed to feel? What does any of this have to do with who we are and what we do at home? What does the context demand of us? These and many more questions confront us. There have been powerful discussions & devotions, led by members of the group.

Healthwise, we've had a couple of weak stomachs. Mai Anh blames it on Jeffrey's dare-devil "eating sprees," forbids people to get on any motorbike, and forces the group to go on a tighter budget. Looks like Mai Anh is a party pooper... Jeffrey reigns supreme as the all-time noodle eater.

More later! Internet cafe is closing...

Peace to all.

MALT

PS: More than 1,000 photos have been taken... Many photo galleries to come. What does this say about us?!

Posted by HT at 8:07 AM

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Alan!
Jane, Katherine and David

1/18/07, 10:48 AM

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Discussion Calendar

  • Jan06 Depart SFO
  • Jan07 JK & MT
  • Jan08 Kelly: LGBT/Prog. mvmts
  • Jan09 Emily: Globalization/sex trafficking
  • Jan10 Susie: Islamic symbols/rituals
  • Jan11 Gary: Interreligious dialogue
  • Jan12 Abby: Neocolonialism
  • Jan13 Hoang-Anh: Tourism
  • Jan14 (Worship) Alan: Missionary mvmts
  • Jan15 JK & MT
  • Jan16 Candis: Youth/leadership/resistance & hope
  • Jan17 Amy & Melissa: Amerasian/children
  • Jan18 Pat: Indigenous symbols/rituals
  • Jan19 Theresa: Theologies of hope
  • Jan20 JK, MT, Ginny
  • Jan21 Return to SFO

Course Description

While Vietnam and Malaysia are both post-colonial Southeast Asian nations with a long history of colonial domination, they have very distinctive socio-cultural, political, and religious realities. This travel seminar seeks to introduce participants to the religious landscapes in these two distinctive contexts. Attention will also be given to the study of theology in Malaysia and Vietnam. There will also be short visits to theological institutions & sight-seeing opportunities in Hong Kong and Singapore. The seminar counts as a contextual learning course for PSR M.Div. students by providing experiences for cross-cultural and multi-relgious encounters and exchanges, as well as immersion in the cultures and everyday life of peoples and local communities in the regions which we will be visiting.

In this seminar, participants will:

  • 1. Visit a number of theological and religious institutions located in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam—including Protestant and Catholic seminaries, Buddhist temples and pagodas, Muslim mosques, Hindu temples;
  • 2. Visit vestiges and sites of cultural and political significance—for example, the Chi Lin Nunnery and Fish Gate in Hong Kong; the Haw Par Villa, Lit-tle India, and Kampong Glam in Singapore; A Famosa, Batu Caves, and Dataran Merdeka in Malaysia; the Cu Chi tunnels, Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, Thap Ba Ponagar, Dam Market, Thap Cham Phan Rang of Vietnam;
  • 3. Engage in dialogue with seminary faculty & students, religious leaders, and community activists to gain insights on the cultural and religious landscapes of Malaysia and Vietnam for the understanding of the negotia-tions between religion and state under the ideologies of “rukunegara” (Malaysia’s Principles of Nationhood) and “doi moi” (Vietnam’s economic reform policy);
  • 4. Read selected articles, research web resources, and do additional research necessary to gain knowledge on a particular issue of their choice related to any of the themes presented in the course description;
  • 5. Learn what it takes to cultivate a disposition of receptivity and reflexivity for engaging cultural and religious “otherness”; and the importance of re-flecting on one’s social location for critical social analysis and theological construction that takes seriously context and partnerships with communi-ties;
  • 6. Engage in self-critical reflection, connecting the personal to social, one’s own social location with the cultural-religious contexts of others; and ar-ticulate how this immersion contributes to one’s formation as a religious leader in one’s future context(s).