Random Thought from the new semester

Below are some Facebook posts I made during the last month, mainly about the start of the new semester.

from January 28
Vacation is over. We have our first day of student orientation today here at Senior Flierl Seminary. Our orientation is for all students, not just new students. Today we had a good opening worship at 7:30 a.m. Now the students are registering and I am avoiding doing laundry. It is fun to see the students again. The year two students are allowed to bring their families along. So, some of the young men I thought of as bachelors last year now have wives and children with them. It is a bit dizzying.

from January 30
Orientation seems to be going well. It is a relief that all of the teachers expected have showed up to work (last year we had a no-show) and we will be starting on time. A few students have not showed up, but some are still on their way. The principal got a call from the district president in Goroka that two students got stranded when a boat did not run, but should arrive in town today. [note - it actually was two weeks before we had everyone}

Another bit of good news is that I have started receiving mail again (our post office had reopened, but there was no ship to bring the mail to our area). However, all I have received is mail sent to me in late November/ early December. It seems that earlier mail (including my birthday and Christmas boxes) is still in hiding somewhere. I hope to get to the post office soon and talk to them.

from January 31
More mail! They made another stop at the post office and came back with lots of boxes. I received both my birthday box and my Christmas box. I even received the textbooks from Amazon.com that I want to use on Monday.

from February 4
first day of classes went well. The new first year class has 17 students in it, fewer than we had hoped for, but a nice number. I had them for English during their first period of classes. They seemed scared but I would guess they will recover quickly.

from February 5
ah, the mysteries of shopping in another country. The local primary school has opened so I was able to ride down on the bus to do some shopping. They sell Amoxicillin over the counter (nice) and one of the choices of shampoo scents is garlic (strange). It was made in China, is fear of vampires an issue? [note - they also carry shampoo with ginger or olive oil scents].

from February 26
I just survived a 4 hour budget meeting here at Logaweng. Unfortunately there will be more discussion next Tuesday. I guess it is a necessary evil, but I can handle numbers for only short periods of time. Since there were only 10 of us at the meeting I felt I couldn't read in secret.

from February 28
Many days I feel mainly like an English Teacher, but this weekend my role as pastor is coming to the foreground. I did the Friday morning chapel (with sermon) in Tok Pisin this morning. Then on Sunday evening I will give the sermon at the English Language Lotu. So, in three days I am giving sermons in two languages on two different texts. Life is not dull.

January Activities

I din't blog during the January Holiday, so will try to do some summarizing

Orientation at the Melanisian Institute learn, learn, learn

After Australia I spent 19 days at a cultural orientation for international missionaries that have come to work in PNG. The missionaries were Lutheran (7), Anglican(1), United - Methodists and Presbyterians (1) and Roman Catholic (14). We represented a total of 10 countries and 4 continents. Part of the joy of the orientation was spending time with each other, as well as what we learned. It was put on by the Melanisian Institute, which does research and publications regarding the churches and Melanisian culture (PNG is considered part of Melanisia.)

One of the things that was reinforced to me during the orientation is the wide variety of cultures that still exist in PNG. Because of the rugged terrain, villages just a few kilometers apart may have been separated by rugged mountains and have totally different languages and cultures. The islands were also settled by various waves of immigrants prehistorically, so that accentuates the variety of languages, cultural bases (such as matrilineal versus matrilineal) and genetics. While increased communication and travel is breaking this down some places, it is still quite strong. I remember that before I left the U.S. a friend that taught at a tribal college in North Dakota mentioned that I would likely be surprised how important the tribe is to people. His is right (though tribe is not the term used here).
A related concept is importance of the “wantok” system. “Wantok” is literally one who speaks your language, but means someone from your same area or “ples”. Your wantoks are very important and are much like an extended family. The advantage of this system is that you have a sense of belonging and a built in safety net. For example, if you move to the city and don’t have a job, a wantok will give you food and a place to stay. There are disadvantages also. For example, there is the perception that doctors and other professionals give better care to their wantoks. Also, successful people can be drained by all the wantoks asking for help.

These strong ties to your area make places like Senior Flierl very special. Here people live, study and play together from a wide variety of areas. We have to be respectful of each other’s traditions and ways. It makes me look at what is truly Christian versus what is part of my European/ American culture. Living together in community has a different focus than the seminary I attended. At Wartburg there was an emphasis on community, but also specific rules of behavior. For example, people who were kicked out of my seminary had violated specific rules. Here it is more often the violation of the peace of the community that is the greater problem. For example, when two students had a fist-fight, (in the evening after class), they had to apologize to their classmates as part of their restitution. Two other students were in danger of being expelled until they had a service of reconciliation.

Two other important issues stood out to me in my orientation. One was the ongoing problems of law and order. Many of the bigger places, like Lae and Port Moresby, have serious security issues. One of the underlying factors is police corruption. Another factor is that people are more focused on taking care of their wantoks than being concerned for the whole community. Another major issue is fear of sorcery. For example, when someone gets seriously ill, the question may be who caused the illness instead of what caused the illness. This has lead to people who are accused of sorcery being tortured or killed. How the church should respond to this is an ongoing debate. This is when those of us from the “western world” often are at a disadvantage. We generally reject the whole idea of demons and have trouble tying together Jesus’ handling of demons to current questions.


Australia - shop, shop, shop

I spent a week vacationing in Cairns, which is in the northern-eastern part of Australia and the closest city to Papua New Guinea. While Cairns is a nice city, with beautiful beaches, I didn't sight-see much. Having spent time on Tami Island, any place that had roads and cars seemed too developed. I did take a tour bus up to the Daintree Rain Forest. It looked a lot like PNG, but I appreciated the boardwalks and the excellent guide who could explain about a lot of the birds and insects. It was also beautiful to drive along the coast and see the beautiful rocky coasts and sandy beaches.

I normally don't consider myself much of a shopper. However, after 15 months outside of large stores, my inner shopper was awakened. Compared to PNG there was a wider selection, stores more easily accessed, and most things were cheaper. For example, I was able to check out prices on a external hard drive just walking from store to store within the mall. I ended up buying an extra suitcase for the clothes, toiletries, electronics and books that I bought. I also got some dental work done.

Cairns is one of the most intensively tourist cities I have spent time in. Many of the tourist were from Japan and Europe. So, almost every block of the shopping district had a money exchange shop and a place to book tours. I ended up talking quite a bit to shop owners as they were the only locals I ran into. There was some comfort level involved with it being full of people who looked like and sounded more like me, it also seemed a bit dull. So, I was glad I want and glad to come back to PNG

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Holidays

Christmas in PNG

Christmas in PNG appears to be more low key than in the U.S. It is taken seriously as a Christian Holiday, with Christmas Eve. service being very important. The churches are nicely decorated with greens, such as palm branches, and lots of flowers. I have not seen Christmas trees, advent wreaths, or nativity sets in churches. One of my fellow teachers has gone to give the Bible studies at a Christmas Camp. Apparently people come together to spend time in intensive worship and bible study. I would imagine there will be lots of singing and talking also.

Getting together with family is very important. Since this is summer break as well as Christmas time, many people go back home for a month or so. Families tend to not move around much, so those who have moved away tend to keep tight ties and move back to their home area when they retire. I have been told that the time together tends to involve a lot of visiting. I think the lack of media in most places (only radio) helps keep people talking to one another. However, I imagine they do help with the tasks of daily life, such as gathering fire wood, working in the garden etc.

There is little decorating of public buildings outside of the churches. When I was in Lae (the nearest city)most of the decorations I saw were in places that catered to the expat community. Some of my students have said that decorating your home is done only by people who have been in one of the cities and considered to be somewhat ostentatious. Most of the home decorations come from China so tend to be nonreligious. For example, I was unable to find angle or star candles, so finally bought some with reindeer. Gift giving appears to be less elaborate than in the U.S. The stores in Lae advertised gifts, but I don't hear people talking about shopping.

What Season is this?

What season is this? Even though this will be my second Christmas in the southern hemisphere, I am very confused about it being close to Christmas with the weather being hotter and the days being longer. I had not realized how tied I was to weather cues for holidays. I have put up a new Advent calendar a friend brought back from Germany and a small artificial tree to help with the visuals. The fact that the long school holiday has started helps accentuate my feeling of this being summer break only, not our Christmas Holiday also.

Thinking about the weather, I have a greater appreciation for Gigmai Okuk and other PNG students who survived the Iowa winters while attending classes with me at Wartburg Theological Seminary.

Thanksgiving written on Thanksgiving Day
Well, my day here in Papua New Guinea has been quite a change from what I would have celebrated as Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. First of all, the dry season has gotten underway so it is quite hot in mid-day. I forgot to put on my sunblock so I got slightly burned while watching the local elementary school graduation (K - 2 here). No TV to watch football, but I got to give out the Health and Hygiene Awards to First Graders.

The meal after the graduation was nontraditional for an American Thanksgving. It included fried rice with the local equivalent of SPAM, instant noodles with chopped up sausage bits, boiled white rice and ibeca, a local green. For the sweet there was fresh pineapple, bananas and mangos.

I am thankful for many things today. Including the joy of the semester being over and the long school break (2 months) starting on Monday.

Graduation 2013

Graduation was a wonderful event. Even though I was on campus in 2012, I did not have the same appreciation some of the activities that go on. This year I taught year 1, 2, and 3 students, so I knew these graduates, year 5 students, the least. However, I had gotten to know about half of them.

Interestingly, I had gotten to know two of the top students who were writing a Diploma paper. If eligible students successfully write this research paper they get a higher level degree than those who just get the Certificate, which is our normal degree. With the Diploma they have increased eligibility to attend the higher level - Bachelor of Theology - program at Martin Luther Seminary in Lae. I was the diploma adviser to one student and the examiner for the other student. Fortunately they were both good, so my work was easy. The student I examined, Robert, wrote his paper in English, so I felt confident in examining what he wrote. Dixon, the student I advised, wrote in Tok Pisin, so I was less confident about my assistance. However, I was able to help him get his paper typed by letting him come and use my computer.

The other two graduates I knew the best, Alu and Herinke, had more of a struggle academically. As their wasmeri, or adviser, I tried to encourage and help them in the process. Fortunately they both made it through. There is no coasting through at the end for our graduates. In week 7 they must do a practical project, such as planning a worship service along with a sermon, or writing lesson plans. Then in week 8 they take a series of tests about the major topics of our program, such as New Testament and Dogmatics. The faculty gave a final approval for graduation on Tuesday of week 10, just 5 days before graduation itself. One student had to retake the tests orally, but fortunately he did pass. Considering that his relatives had already started arriving, everyone was very relieved.

Hosting all the visitors is a lot of work when you have no access to restaurants or motels. I now understand the reason for week between the end of classes and graduation. All the students helped in getting the campus ready, such as cutting brush along the side of the road. The graduating students must plan their gardens to have extra food available for the guests. One friend asked his family to limit themselves to four as he didn't have too much food available. I noticed that 6 came, so I assume they brought along rais (rice) and tinpis (tuna)to help fill out the meals. Student housing is always tight by American standards, so when relatives come they must really be squeezed for sleeping space. Eating and talking was usually done on the veranda (porch) or on the grass outside.

People who come to graduation are very excited. Since travel to and from Logaweng is time consuming and expensive, most of the guests have never been here before. Since the seniors have been on their vicarage (internship) the year before they may not have had the money to travel home. This means that family may not have seen the graduate for three years. One mother told me she was also meeting a new grandchild during this time.

This also made me think of how wonderful my graduation was. While I had the chance to see my family more regularly, it was still wonderful that so many came. My sister Ruth drove out from Washington State to bring my father to my graduation in Iowa. Little did I imagine that this would be the last time I would see her as she died suddenly a few months later. I am thankful we could spend that joyous time together.

Seeing the Prime Minister

One interesting event I have not written about was that the Prime Minister - Peter O'Niel - visited the area. He came here to the Finschhaven area to dedicate a new building and make the usual sort of political visit. He toured the local haus sik (hospital), dedicated a new electronic classroom (I think we might call it an internet lab in the US), and since he is a Lutheran, made a tour Sattleback where Senior Flierl - the first Lutheran missionary - arrived. His main public event was in Gaugidu where a new building, that includes a post office, was dedicated.

Since a lot of students were interested in seeing him and hearing his speech, we finished classes early that day and took a bus load of people down to hear him. Since everything was running late, it was nice they had some local singsing groups (singing and dancing). There were some quite elaborate costumes and head dresses.

I felt fortunate in being able to sit in a grassy area just across from the stands where the politicians gave their speeches. They were good speeches, with lots of emphasis in limiting corruption. One thing that struck me was the lower level of security than one would expect in the U.S. I saw some security folks, but it seemed to be on a modest level. The were also speeches by the local member of Parliament and the Governor of the Morobe province.

The seminary has one of the few guest houses in the area. I am currently in charge of overseeing it. So, when the day before the event one of the governor aides came and requested that the governor stay there, it brought about quite a flurry of activity. The yard got re-mown and new sheets put on the beds. Unfortunately, in the end it was not used at all. Oh well, I guess it was useful to get everything ready. It is very likely that it will be used over graduation.

Killing the fatted calf

I have read the phrase about killing the fatted calf many times while reading the parable of the Prodigal Son, but it has taken on a new meaning to me. This last Friday we killed the campus cow and had an end of the year party. I learned many things, including how much work this entails.

First of all, we don't usually have a campus cow, so there has been a lot of improvising on how to care for it. The most common meat animal in this area is a pig, so many students would have know what to do with a pig. The cow was given as a thank you gift to campus from a village after one of the faculty members gave a sermon there. So through out the semester there has been ongoing discussion about how to care for it and when to it eat. Fortunately there is abundant grass on campus, so for feeding it they only had to move it to different grassy area. I was surprised one morning to find the cow staked out across the road from my house where he was contentedly munching away.

Finally, it was decided to kill the cow last Friday and have it as part of our closing celebration - called Amamas Night. Then came to question as to who could kill the cow. The people first appointed didn't know how to do it. Finally the Year Two class agreed to kill and butcher it. I did not watch, but the fact it happened by the basketball court is quite different then being hidden away in a slaughter house like in the U.S.

The rest of the meal was quite well organized, the leaders having passed out a list of what groups were to cook what foods. This included lots of rice and sweet potatoes like most meals in this area. My advisory group was assigned to cook "cow stew". This turned out to be boiling chunks of beef and then frying them up with cabbage and onions as the vegetables. Fortunately the committee had arranged for fire wood and the food to be delivered to our cooking area. Most faculty members had the groups cook at their house, but since I don't have a cookhouse we went to the house of one of the married students, who had a large outdoor cook area.

Since there is little animal protein available to the students, having so much meat available was greatly enjoyed. Since our students do quite a bit of physical labor they can eat with gusto. Meat is often prepared with lots of fat attached which I don't like. However, there is always someone happy to eat the fat I do not want.

The food was placed in pots on long tables in the Haus Bung or open air meeting house. The pots were protected by banana leaves. Finally they had us divide into our advisory groups and we were given our quota of the food.

We ended with a talent show. I had expected it to be mainly singing and dancing but it was mainly skits and comedy routines. We have some very funny seminarians. Some of them could give The Three Stooges a run for their money.

End of School Year Soon

It is hard to believe, but the school year is almost over. We have finished 7 out 9 weeks of class. Grades have to be turned in the middle of week 9 and all tests are to be given in Week 8. I am giving tests in 2 of my 4 classes. The other two classes were more project oriented. I am relieved that this semester is almost over. Teaching four new classes has been challenging. I think next year will be easier. At least I will have taught most of the classes before. However, I don't know for sure what I will teach. That is stressful sometimes, but also interesting. For example, teaching Church History Pt. 1 or Sios Histori Hap 1 as it is called here has been interesting. I know a lot more about arguments over the Nicene Creed and the nature of Christ than I ever thought I would. I guess it is true that you have to teach something to really learn it. It also is the closeup of activities. Tonight was the last English Language worship. Wednesday will be the last of my Wasmeri (advisory) group meetings. It was also the last day of sports also. We have been divided up into teams and there are volleyball games every Sunday. I haven't played, but have gone to cheer for my Blue team. We made it to the finals, but lost in the playoff. OK, time to work on the photocopies for tomorrow. There is only one rickety copier available, so one needs to make about 20 copies and then let it rest and cool off. Then you can come back on make some more an hour later. I am making copies for a class of 15, but I am trying to print on both sides of the page, which seems to be too much for it. We are supposed to have another copier on order. My prayers go up for it regularly. Most of my colleagues make very few copies, but I have not adjusted to that style of teaching yet.