Meijer's: A Cultural Experience

Last week I was in our local supermarket, Meijer's, buying groceries for our Thanksgiving Day dinner. We had eight graduate students with us for Thanksgiving: two from Austria, two from Taiwan, one from Singapore, and three Americans (California, Idaho, and Montana). For some, this was their first American Thanksgiving -- they had only seen it in movies or heard about it from friends. After our meal, we talked about how the Lord has blessed us throughout the past year, including during difficult times in our lives.

Often when I'm in Meijer's, I see many people from around the world. Because of the University, there are people from more than 110 nations and many of them shop Meijers. Last week was no different. Every aisle can be a "cultural experience" with people speaking different languages and wearing unusual clothing. My trip to Meijer's this week reminded of a posting I wrote a year ago in my Facebook page. I went back and cut/paste it here.

Recently I was at the supermarket. I passed two Asian women jabbering in Chinese. Around the corner were two Arab women in full burkas. Next aisle were two biker-babes with full sleeve tattoos and lots of fringe on their leather bustiers. Next were two Amish women dressed in flower print pastel dresses with poofy sleeves wearing bonnets and Adidas tennis shoes. Made me marvel. Where do I live? Ann Arbor, of course!

This is true! I know it sounds implausible, but it all happened the way I wrote. At times I marvel when people ask Dianne and me if we've ever thought about being "foreign missionaries." We always say, "we are, we moved to Ann Arbor!" Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and reflected on the many blessings in your life!

Ik spreek heel weinig Nederlands

"I speak very little Dutch." That's the title of this post. I knew some Dutch words growing up, like broek (pants), op Zontag (on Sunday) and preutse (prude). They were words I heard family members and neighbors use. My grandparents emigrated to west-Michigan from the Netherlands in the early 1900s. I heard them speak Dutch when we would visit them, especially at Christmas when they would read about the birth of Christ from a large Dutch Bible.

I wish I would have learned Dutch growing up. Being bi-lingual would be so cool. I had the opportunity to be in The Netherlands for a couple days in 2011 -- and hope to be there again in 2012 for a longer time. Maybe for five weeks in mid-May to early-June for a mission trip? My PhD work in worldview theory can help Dutch and American Christian students better understand post-modernism and becoming equipped with effective ministry philosophy and skills.

I bought the first Dutch Rosetta Stone language software and have been spending 30 minutes most days. I think I know 300+ Dutch words and can form simple sentences. I'm amazed how many words are the same in English or sound so similar. Makes it so much easier to learn and speak. (Same word in Dutch and English: park, restaurant, computer, plastic, kat (cat), is, man, vingers (fingers), and many more.)

I can hardly imagine what it takes for International graduate students to come to the University of Michigan and do Master and PhD work not in their native language. I've got a long way to go even to speak Dutch at a kindergarten level, let alone do graduate work.

I've decided to try blogging

Supposedly I'm a member of the "Blinking 12:00 Generation". The online Urban Dictionary defines them as those "typically 50+ year old individuals who have a blinking '12:00' on their VCR (Video Cassette Recorder). These people frequently have difficulty understanding and using anything electronic or computer related." (Now you already know that I'm over 50.)

Years ago whenever I'd travel home to visit my parents, the digital clock on their VCR would perpetually blink "12:00". I'd set it to the correct time, but it wouldn't be very long till a power outage would wipe out the settings and "12:00" would annoyingly blink every second for weeks (or months!) till I returned to reset it again. It was years ago, back then, that I vowed I would keep current with technology and life -- even if it meant spending money for the latest and time to learn how to use it. For example, I'm into all things Apple (I'm typing this on my iPad2) and today I'm venturing into blogging!

So what will I blog about two or three times each week? I'm going to keep it to three areas: (1) Blinking 12:00, (2) Encounters and (3) On the Inside.

"Blinking 12:00" (which I'm using for my blog title, too) is where I'll talk about my attempts to learn new things to keep current with technology and life. I'm sure my next post will be about my attempts to learn to read and speak Dutch. Understanding Dutch has been on my Bucket List for decades -- I started a few weeks ago (Rosetta Stone) and think I'm doing quite well.

"Encounters" will be about people and experiences I have. Ministering as I do on a large university campus, every week I meet new people from across the US and around the world. And I travel, too. It's fascinating to be exposed to new cultures and worldviews (and new foods).

And "On the Inside" will be things I've been thinking about; thoughts and ideas I've been considering and maybe some off-the-wall ideas and what-ifs? I often reflect on Scripture, so maybe some thoughts about that? Or something from the news? I might write something profound (people with PhD's are supposed to say profound things, right) or something silly? We'll see what pops up in my thinking. (And you also now know that I have a PhD.)

Will others be interested in my postings? We'll see. At least, though, I'm learning something new and engaged in life. Enuff for now. I'm excited to see how it looks.

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