kar0ling

Today in church at home in Winnipeg, we connected via Skype to a family from our congregation who moved to South Africa in August to serve a 5-year term there with MCC. Between the sound delay and the logistics of using a headset alongside a microphone, it was slightly awkward, of course, so we didn't broadcast the whole service, but we shared announcements, prayer requests, prayer, and a song with them. I was thrilled when I heard what we were going to do. It's a huge blessing to worship with brothers and sisters from another culture, but after a while, a certain loneliness creeps in, and one longs for the familiar. I'm so grateful that technology made it possible for us to provide a taste of the familiar for this beloved family.

Christmas without snow? I was dreading it. Of course, the real problem with celebrating Christmas in Cameroon, West Africa, was that my beloved family was far away, but there was no use bemoaning that – it was my choice to spend 10 months in an Oroko village homeschooling missionary kids. So, I focussed on what else was missing: the traditions of a Canadian Christmas. To read on, click here .

Listening to the radio today (having guiltily used the day for my own relaxation, and neglected going to a ceremony), I am reminded of how much I appreciate the name of this holiday in Canada: Remembrance Day. The day to commemorate fallen war dead is the anniversary of the end of "the Great War," the "War to End All Wars," now known as World War I; and accordingly, some of the coverage includes references to the successes of that war (yet even there, commentators do not forget to observe that "teenaged" Canada which emerged "grown-up" from that war did so at the cost of horror and death). Canadian troops are presently engaged in combat in Afghanistan, so that is oft-mentioned as well. But overall, the focus of Remembrance Day is exactly that: remembrance. It is not a day in which we glorify war, trumpet our successes, and flaunt our patriotism. Instead, it is a solemn day when we remember and grieve those who have died in war. There is a place, ...

Obama? The NDP? No, my hand -- for passing things. It's great; I'm still savouring it. Every time I pass someone something with my left hand, halfway through the motion I'm seized with guilt for my faux pas...then, realizing I'm in Canada, flooded with joy and relief that it doesn't matter anymore !

Financial woes from the downturn in the economy are leading people to rediscover the joy of simplicity, Maclean's told us this week. People are even considering lowering themselves to desperate measures. "Never mind brown bagging lunches, people may reuse everything from gift wrap to zip-lock bags ," write Colin Campbell and Jason Kirkby in "Living on Less", Maclean's , Nov. 3, 2008. Funny, I always thought that was normal.

The sight of a bunch of one-occupant cars in traffic has always stirred my ire, but since coming back from Cameroon, it irks me even more. Maybe it’s having seen how many people you can stuff in one vehicle. Seriously, a vehicle containing only a driver is nearly unheard of in Cameroon. On a trip to Kumba, Mike or Dan might leave the house the sole occupant of the truck (even that was rare), but you could rest assured by the time they’d left the village they'd have a few companions. The truck could be packed to the gills containing all 6 Scotts, me, and a pile of luggage for 2 weeks in Bamenda – and we’d still get requests for passengers to hang off the back bumper. Even the fancy SUVs on the highway between Yaounde and Douala usually had as many bodies as seatbelts. If ever, by some strange circumstance, the driver was the only human occupant of a vehicle, most likely the rest would be filled with cargo of some sort. So, now, seeing car after car after car clogging the ro...

When I stepped into my apartment after work today, I was greeted by a wall of heat. They've turned on the heat in the building for the first time this fall, and I think I can lay to rest any fears of shivering all winter. Hopefully these tropical conditions will not persist, however. The second thing I noticed, after a flashback to the rainforest, was a loud hissing sound and a jet of steam rising from the radiator. Something appears to be wrong with the apparatus. I hope it will be fixed soon.