Halfway through and still Learning

Tuesday of this week marked the midway point in my first semester of teaching here at Handong. Time, indeed, does keep marching on. All the more need to take heed to Mr. Keating's maxim in Dead Poet's Society (one of my favorite films) -- Carpe Diem! If there is one continuing life lesson that is regularly impressed upon my thinking here, it is the importance of making the most of each opportunity that you are granted -- that's it: "To Seize the Day!"

And by that I mean not just in the sense of seizing the "big opportunity" to spend a year teaching abroad at a global university -- but even more so, to make the most of those "small opportunities" that come our way each day -- to answer a student's questions about seeking admission at a law school in the States; to write a letter in support of another student's application for a scholarship to a special international summer program in Norway; or, just to listen and give a few words of counsel and encouragement when my teaching assistant is expressing his concerns over the way he has been unfairly treated by another international faculty member.

I must confess. I still feel largely isolated here. No matter how much I have tried to assimilate into the international faculty and into the community of the university as a whole, it appears that I still end up spending large blocks of my time alone. This week, I even went over to the International Law School's (HILS) Wednesday chapel, but found that many of the students and most of the faculty do not attend this service since it is not required of them.

The low attendance at this HILS midweek gathering reminded me somewhat of my own missed opportunities to attend daily worship in morning chapel services when I was studying at Concordia Seminary these past few years. Once I started going, I realized just how much I had indeed been missing of the formative experiences that shape us as a person both individually and in community.

One of the HILS faculty members who saw me walking up the hall commented, "Well, we just don't see you very much around here." (That's right, I'm on the undergraduate law faculty and my office is in another building and my classes are conducted on different floors from the elevated spaces of HILS). Then, I responded, "That's why I determined to be intentionally present at your chapel service today." He cringed and admitted that he would not be attending due to his heavy workload. (I thought that was the purpose of having a time of community worship in the middle of the work day -- to let your work be and acknowledge the One without whom nothing can be done! John 15:5 -- sorry, I've gone to preaching).

There are a few exceptions. Wednesday evening I was invited by my dear colleague Gayle to enjoy a grilled chicken salad with her. She's 73 and taught at U.Cal. Berkley for eight years as well as at a number of other lesser known institutions of higher learning throughout her long career. And now, although she is near the end of that long road, she decided to come to Korea and teach English at Handong this year. She really is an amazing woman! She is sort of the alter ego of Prof. SK.

Earlier in that day, I had asked Gayle if she might help me with my German studies and translation efforts. She was thrilled since her first degree is in German linguistics and she taught German for those eight years at Berkley. (I need to ask her when she was there; it might have been around the same time that Dr. Leary -- Timothy, that is -- was there, too). So now we have a regular meeting scheduled each Wednesday afternoon at 5. I'll need to have my lesson prepared and my translation in order. (Did I say what we would be translating from the German? -- Well, Bonhoeffer, of course! Letters and Papers from Prison).

So the semester is half-passed, and I'm still trying to find my way in this new world. Rather than having any big expectations of others, I simply need to trust each step to His continued guidance and, by His grace, make the most of each opportunity that I encounter along the way.

"My one command . . . is this: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you will be my people. In everything, follow the way that I mark our for you, and you shall have success."
(Jeremiah 7:23 NJB)

An Evening in Daegu

I don't "get out" much these days since I am, in many ways, nearly cloistered off in a hermitage when not teaching in the classroom or preparing to teach while in my study (a much better term than "office" to describe the space in which I do my work here). But there are a few occasions for some broader cultural enrichment.

One of those opportunities came this past weekend when I accompanied Abraham Lee, Director of the University's Office of International Affairs (that's Abraham on the far left in our little group photo), his staff and three international students to a musical performance at a newly constructed opera house on the campus of one of Handong's sister universities located in the city of Daegu -- about a one hour drive from Pohang.

It proved to be a delightful evening at the theater. The performance was Jekyll and Hyde, the musical. The acting troop was from the States so everything -- dialogue and songs -- was in English! Though I was familiar with the plot line from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of the musical's script, set design and overall production.

On the whole, the performance was a powerful statement about the inadequacy of science to resolve the deepest problems facing humanity. Dr. Jekyll's scientific experiments could not overcome the struggles between good and evil within him. Indeed, apart from his pleas to God, Jekyll could not find an antidote against the human harm and deadly actions perpetrated by the evil Mr. Hyde.


If the musical comes to the Fox in St. Louis, I would strongly recommend your attending and enjoying the performance as I did during a delightful evening in Daegu.

Consider the Birds of the Air . . . and also the Bugs Beneath

If we are instructed to consider the birds of the air and by so considering them, learn some of the most basic and important lessons of life, it would seem to be appropriate to re-direct this process of observation and learning from the skies overhead to the dirt beneath our feet. And, as birds inhabit the air above us, so too do insects thrive upon the grass and ground below.

Which insect would you think I see most often as I walk across campus and hike up into the hills surrounding Handong? Let's make this a multiple-choice question (that's what most of my students here are most happy to find on their examination papers). Would you say its a(n):

A) Ant
B) Beetle
C) Butterfly
D) Dragonfly
E) Praying Mantis
F) Some other insect

Okay ... I threw that last choice in for fun just to start you thinking about how many other kinds of insects you could name. So now that I've narrowed the choices to five, which one do you think is most common in these parts of Korea at this time of the year? As I recall my experiences in high school biology, I remember how I searched fields and hills alike for large variety of insects during September and October in Missouri so that I might fill a large display box.

The most prominent insect in my Missouri collection of autumn insects was the butterfly -- probably about six or seven different species, as well as a few moths for good measure. I always loved the butterflies, not only for their diverse designs of beauty, but also because of their formation through metamorphosis. They are a constant reminder that beauty arises out of the most unexpected of conditions and the most unlikely of characteristics.

So, with this past experience to guide me, wouldn't it seem most likely that the most common insects that I might find here would also be butterflies? You would think so; I thought so, but my experiences have proven different. I have seen a few butterflies and even more beetles, but the most common sights of all, nearly every day as I walk about, are the abundance of dragonflies! There are literally everywhere.

It may very well be that the autumn is one of the seasons when dragonflies mate. I don't know; I have some research to do on that. But, the question that presents itself to me is: what life lesson do the dragonflies teach? I'm pondering that one. Initially, I've observed that I rarely see just one dragonfly. I nearly always see two, three or more dragonflies in close proximity to one another. That would seem to remind us of the importance of community -- of life together with others.

I'll think some more on this subject and relate my thoughts in later posts.

And, by the way, which of the five do you think is the insect I've observed most often after the dragonflies?

Here's a hint -- its not butterflies.

More to follow . . .