My Culture...

So here is the BIG question... WHO AM I? What defines me? Does my culture define me or do I define my culture? Am I a result of my faith or is my faith as a result of me?



It's totally complex while paradoxically simplistic! I am a person who is partially devoid of culture and yet completely transformed by a new growing culture.



I am a dying breed - a South African...

Yet when I came to Asia, many Asians expressed great surprise at me being an AFRICAN. "How come you are African?" they say. "Why are you not black?" - I even get asked this in my own country "How African are you?" (How black are you?)



I was born and bred on thick blood red South African soil - the kind that sticks between your toes - when you; as a child; are illegally fishing in your neighbours' goldfish pond. The kind of soil that labels you as 'the suspect' when being interrogated by a prejudiced society or neighbour. My label tattooed to me eternally; in every country, culture or society is: WHITE. I am a white South African. Until 1994 white South Africans were allowed to show their culture but a change in government (freedom for all as long as you are not a white); has forced an entire generation of South Africans to give up their culture.



Culture less?



I do not have a culture anymore - well at least not a white South African one! And soon I can say I'm Australian (we're immigrating); people won't ask why I am not black anymore - WHEW! Relief! No questions about colour means that I can go back to being colourless - a non-event- no longer responsible for black oppression and the destruction of my beloved AFRICA. But to gain this gift of "freedom" from culture - I have to leave my Motherland; the colourful world of my African culture.

How does one pry the thick blood red clay of Africa from one's feet?

Harder still is the wrenching of Africa's vibrant tribal vines from my heart

but the hardest ... is the extraction of my prejudicial weeds that constrict my mind

and creep into my psyche - destroying the glimmer of hope for fair "ubuntu'' in Africa.

Transformation...

So I am growing a new culture: my ETERNAL culture.

God knew that the culture into which we are born or chose to accept / acknowledge is not eternal. Culture does not last forever; neither should it define who we are... I'd be nothing then - invisible - colourless. Not even crusty blood red soil would stick to me. So somewhere deep with in my heart... actually beyond that cliche'... deep within my soul, He planted a minuscule seed of faith. He labelled it "Eternity" or rather "SEMPITERNAL" - hiding it for me to discover. I did discover it - it pierced through the darkness of culture - transcended the blackness in my cultural heart and drew attention to my neglected soul. Thus began my journey to eternity, I accepted Christ into my life at the age of four and my geriatric "long walk to freedom" commenced. I became transformed by allowing God to renew my mind - becoming and discovering that my form is Christ-like; only if my arms are stretched out to the world around me. I AM HIS IMAGE. I have a new culture - a godly culture. I am changed by the GRACE of God ALONE.

Maybe this video clip link will explain WHO I AM.

EVERYDAY.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR7726x4LD4

IN CHRIST

Mrs.Mc.

An AFRICAN GLOBE TROTTER.

Second to last...

From here to sempiternity,

I want to thank you for letting me join you for this past month and a half. And although my time here has flown by and it's been great, I have some pretty important things back in the U.S. that I need to attend to i.e. my college exit interviews and my wedding.

One question that has been asked of me numerous times since coming to Taejon is, “Why did you come to TCIS to student teach?” I guess as opposed to SFS or some other school. The undertone I hear in that question, and I’ve heard elsewhere, is that somehow TCIS is an inferior school to SFS or other similar schools, also hinting at a further insecurity that somehow the TCIS students are inferior to SFS students. Honestly, that kind of sentiment bothers me because after having worked with you for the past month and half I can say that you are in no way inferior to SFS students so pick your chin up and have some pride in your school and your identity as a TCIS student. All of this to say that I am proud to have worked with you, and I am proud of the things you are accomplishing here at TCIS.

I'll be making one more post in the near future, and I am going to continue posting on your blogs, although I may not be able to in the next week or so. Press on Sempiternal Class, Press on.

Student Created Blog Prompts:

These are the questions you created in your discussion groups today. Feel free to write a blog based off of any of these questions/prompts.

1) Why enter a tribe/culture if they already have "eternity in their hearts" according to Don Richardson?

2) Write Yae's last moments from the killers' perspectives.

3) How would uncivilized cultures react upon receiving technology beyond their comprehension?s

4) Does everyone have a specific culture? Define culture?

5) What do you believe and why?

6) Can traditions be broken completely? Support/provide answers.

7) Using the five senses, describe life through the eyes of a Sawi Child. How would they perceive the arrival of the Tuans?

8) What makes faith so important?

9) Theorize as to what would have happened if Don Richardson had never gone to the Sawi. What would the Sawi look like forty years later?

10) Are primitive cultures, like the Sawi, necessary in our present world?

My Culture

I have lived my entire life as a "way gook-in" or "outsider/foreigner." When my parents moved to Taejon when I was just a two-year old I obviously had no idea of the implications that growing up as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) would have on my life. At that point I only knew that when we went to the market I was constantly bombarded by "Ah-ju-mas" pinching my cheeks saying, "ee pu ra," leaving my little chubby cheeks pink and aching. I didn't realize the only reason they noticed me was because I was a novelty, a little blond doll to be played with, or maybe a story to tell their families when they went home that day.

When we were old enough, my older sister and I were enrolled and attended a "Yoo chi wan" or Korean kindergarten while my parents were working at Korean Christian Academy (TCIS). Apparently, and I only found this out recently when I was complaining to my parents about the fact that my siblings and I do not speak Korean, we came home every day crying from Korean kindergarten because we were treated badly by our Korean classmates. Looking back I'm sure it was all harmless kid stuff, but I think through those instances I was being sent a message: To Korea and Koreans I am a foreigner, an outsider, and I always will be.

Moving to Seoul and attending Seoul Foreign School made being a foreigner easier because although I was an outsider in the surrounding country's culture, I was accepted within that community of expatriates, who were all "way gook-ins." It was in this community that I was raised and began to develop my world-view and belief system. My parents are both missionary kids, my dad to Korea and my mom to Colombia, so I was raised in a third culture family in which my parents stressed the importance of a multi-cultural world view, while at the same time stressing the importance of maintaining a Christian world view. I think my spiritual journey throughout middle school and high school was pretty typical. I began to question and search on my own in middle school and then in high school I spent a couple years wandering, trying to find an identity for myself apart from God. It was during these two years that I experienced intense moments of pain, hurt, and loneliness, and my personality slowly became less and less like the idea of who I knew I truly was and who I thought I could and should be.

So throughout these high school years I had come to terms with my own foreignness, and the idea that I would never be "American" while at the same time never be "Korean." It was only until I went back to the USA for college that I realized how much being a third culture kid had impacted my life and world view. It was during those first weeks of college orientation that I realized that I was a "hidden immigrant" as TCK expert Dave Pollock calls them. I looked like the people around me and could easily assimilate physically with those around me, but inside I was radically different. Everything was so different. When I went to church I realized that the people in the USA worshiped differently and for all intensive purposes it seemed like my friends were totally ok with being Christians for only one day of the week! This was extremely discouraging for me, having only accepted Christ in my senior year of high school and expecting that at my small Christian college I would be able to be around solid people who were sincere in their beliefs and living the redeemed life they claimed to have.

Because of this crushed expectation I developed a deep cynicism both for Americans and American Christians. When we went into chapel and I saw people raise their hands in praise and then I would see them later in the dorm dropping the F• bomb when they were killed in a video game. I began to see their hypocrisy as a blanket statement for all Christians and I decided that I really didn't want a part of it. My cynicism was uncontrollable and pervasive within my spirit.

It was during a spiritual revival at my school that I reassessed my spiritual life and realized that I could not continue to base my view of Christianity on how other Christians behaved or how they lived their lives. My realization mainly consisted of understanding the fact that at the end of the day, when my time on Earth is over, the only person I can answer for is myself. It doesn't matter whether John Doe was a hypocrite, so why would I allow his misjudgment or apathetic faith to affect mine? I prayed for God to take away my cynicism and allow me to live my life like the redeemed person that I knew I was. After that revival I felt a burden lifted off my shoulders and my cynicism was taken away from me. It is the most real spiritual intervention that I have ever experienced.

I have since come to realize that although I will always be a "way gook-in" here in Korea and also in the USA, there is one person who will never see me as an "outsider." There is one person who will understand me completely to the core of my American/Korean TCK being. A person whose love is so complete he sees beyond world views and cultures, speaking directly to us as individuals in desperate need of forgiveness and acceptance. I believe that person is Jesus Christ and that he lay down his life for us two thousand years ago, so that we could experience a life-altering relationship with him here, now.

Blog Assignments

Questions:

First Entry: What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors

From the following 13 questions, you will choose 8 to answer over the course of this unit. Refer to the rubric and the blog ppt on edline for more requirements and expectations.

When you comment on other's posts, remember to follow these rules:
1. Be Respectful
2. Have a point or focus
3. No swearing
4. Use formal/sophisticated language.
5. Only use constructive criticism- be positive!

What is faith?

1. How do I relate to faith? How did Don Richardson relate to Faith? How do the Sawi relate to faith?
2. How does Faith relate to the world in which we live?
3. What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?
4. What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?

What should we do?

5. What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?
6. What does Jesus want us to do for the Sawi?
7. What do traders and NGO’S do for these cultures?
8. What do mission organisations do for these people?

Who or what is the Peace Child to me?

9. What concepts in the Sawi culture intrigued / reviled / saddened / angered / surprised you?
10. How different is your modern culture from the sawi tenants?
11. How did Christianity change this culture?
12. What reflections and connections can you make with this novel?
13. Choose a representative passage from this novel that holds particular significence to you. Type it in and comment on its significance.

Cosmos

As we begin the literary study of "Peace Child," I am struck with the realization that like the Sawi, we, as educated modern peoples, live within our own cosmos of understanding, failing to recognize the metaphysical possibilities that exist outside the sphere of our physical existence.

We travel the world, we use the internet, we watch T.V., we study at university, we are modern man/woman. We claim to be advanced. Just look at the long list of technological advances we have made, or the scientific discoveries we have found, or the philosophical ideas we have thought. We are the pinnacle of any human that has ever existed on this planet…or are we?

As we explored in Flannery O’Connor’s works, we live in a time when nihilism and humanism rule, and the rejection of objective truth is the norm. In other words, there is not one "standard" lens through which we can see the world. To believe in the metaphysical or to have a belief system through which we live our lives is seen as a crutch for the weak.

My goal for you during this unit is that you would be a critical reader and a critical thinker, regardless of your world view. It is through the open-minded consideration of many different viewpoints that we begin to form a clearer picture of our own world view. This does not mean that we, like I mentioned previously, reject the idea of objective truth and search for meaning in an endless sea of subjectivity. Instead, I ask that we learn with passion and purpose, allowing the objective truth to emerge through our discussion and sharing of our different perspectives and opinions.

Then, and only then, will we be able to see beyond the limits of our stone-age cosmos, and like the Sawi, grasp the deeper spiritual truths that God has planted within every single one of us, leading us to discover the beauty of God’s objective truth.

Mr. Rader