The first “Ask Jeff” question comes from Jason:
“In all of the places you have visited. Which place gave you the most culture shock? Also I recently started keeping a journal at the beginning of this new year, what inspires you to keep up your weblog?”
The place with the most culture shock would have to be China. But in some ways China was much more similar to the USA than what I would have thought. Let’s see…. I saw much more differences in culture during a train ride from Shanghai to Xi’an. From the train, looking out the windows… seeing people out in the fields…working…picking rice. This was something out of the pages of National Geographic magazine. These people probably never would meet a westerner or even have an idea about the outside world (maybe they know much more than I think).
During that train ride I saw a baby stand up and pee right into a bed. The baby wasn’t wearing any diapers (Diapars are not the usual in Chinese culture). While the baby was urinating, the parents didn’t do a thing to stop it. Just let it go.
At the university where my friend taught, I saw the sleeping quarters of the cafeteria workers. Dirt floors. Nothing.
Also the dormatories of the university was pretty sparse compared to American universities. My friend and I make a quick walk-thru one tday. There were 6 to a room. No laundry machines. I saw someone washing laundry in a bowl. I didn’t know how anyone could study in such an environment.
Those are the culture shocks that stand out in my mind. But much of the time I was pleasantly surprised how similar China is to the US. I think that feeling is universal. Everyone has the same needs and desires to succeed; to have a good job; to raise a good family. The more you look at it many of these same countries who are supposedly hostile to the US, their people just want the same thing we want.
As far as keeping up this weblog, I am not sure why I do it. Maybe I have too much time on my hands. If you look at the very early entries to this weblog, you’ll see that I didn’t make an entry everyday. It took a while to really get used to this weblog thing.
I guess I keep it up because I see it as an outlet for myself. A time to complain, share thoughts and other things to friends or whoever reads this. A more appropriate question is “Why do you read this?”
In Need of a Good Beating
We have a kid (actually probably a few kids) at church who are classified as ADD. They need extra attention at times. They crave attention. Unfortunately their annoying behavior tends make people not want to be around them…which is the exact opposite of what they want.
Many times society is too hasty to place 3 letter acronymns on kids, they don’t realize that (gasp!) in fact their child’s misbehavior could be the result of bad parenting. “Don’t blame my child, he’s ADD!” I’m on the opinion that some kids need a good beating every once and a while. Time out? Being Grounded? Those might be ok at times. But spankings do work.
We never had ADD or ADHD when I was growing up. That’s not to say that it doesn’t exist. It does exist. But I think now we are too hasty to label the kids with some disorder, which takes the burden of discipline off of the parents. We dope them up with ritalin and at the same time let them play the action packed video games which tend to magnify the problem. Am I totally off base here? Why has the classification of ADD skyrocketed over the past few years?
(And please note: I’m using the word “beating” in tongue and cheek mode here. I’m not advocating child abuse.)
Unsafe at Any Speed
I got accused of overloading the church vans during the New Year’s lock-in. Just the opposite happened. The kids themselves think it’s ok to sit in each other’s laps during short distance drives. (I falsely assumed that teenaged girls have some degree of common sense when it comes to safety and comfort. This definitely is not the case). Before I left the church parking lot, I was asking for volunteers to ride in other vehicles. We eventually found volunteers and the world was made safe for humanity again.
Kids should know better than to ride in other people’s laps when there is room in other church vans. I guess this is one of the reason why I wouldn’t want to be a youth minister….having to take care of common sense approaches like this. Telling ignorant people where they need to go and what time they need to be there. “Ok, kids, these vans only hold 15 people….so if the van is full, try to find elsewhere to ride.”
I do realize that which van/bus to ride on on the way to church or school events could be a life altering experience for some people (according to today’s youth). It was a major decision when I was high school band. We had 3 school buses…each labeled 1, 2, or 3. Before events (away football games and band contests) a bus sign-up sheet was posted. Much of the time I stuck to bus #3 since it was the “cool” bus. The safe alternative was #2. However you’d want to stay away from bus #1 since it was filled with undesirables (yes, there was a pecking order in everything, even in band class where many of today’s non-popular kids hang out).
Once our band competed in a major contest in Johnson City, TN. We took chartered buses there (which our band director promised would have elaborate state of the art televisions and all the amenities anyone could ever want. The reality was much different than what was actually promised). Anyways they set out the bus sign-up lists during 4th period (Jazz band). The majority of band students have band during 6th period. So by the time I got to it, buses 2 and 3 were filled up and my friends and I were stuck on bus #1. It wasn’t that bad. My friends and I made the best of it. But its funny that I still remember the situation. Being forced to ride on the dreaded bus #1. Oh the humanity!
Some people think passenger vans are unsafe, however I haven’t totally decided about this. Corvairs are deadly. Ralph Nader taught me that. Ford trucks from the 1970s are bad because their gas tanks are right behind the seats. Suzuki Jeeps are bad because they tend to rollover. Geo Metros are bad because they’re too small. In fact, I could find something wrong with each and every vehicle on the road today.
I have decided to go to El Salvador. Its from April 11-19, 2003. Medical Mission trip. I figure you only live once. If at any time I would regret not going this year, then I should go. Now for the ethical question. I have enough money saved for the plane tickets, yet without a job, this money will not be replentished as rapidly. So is it ok to ask friends and churches for donations for this trip? I know I am not as in dire need of it as some other people. Once I ask, potential donators might ask “Why are you going if you don’t have a job to pay for it?”
Jeff’s Guestbook
Feel free to sign my guestbook
New Year’s Superstitions
On New Year’s Day…
I was up until 8AM this morning. No sleep. No naps. Just awake. I went to sleep and got up at 2PM.
We went bowling at Hermitage Lanes at 4:30PM. I drove the rental van on our way over there. No one wanted to ride in the old blue van from 1990. So everyone piled into the rental van. There were a bunch of teeny bopper girls in there who had to listen to “The Party” radio station which plays P. Diddy and Pink. This pretty much solidifies my opinion on the state of American music. No musical sense whatsoever.
After bowling we moved on to the Mt. Juliet Community Center for a free concert. Phil and his friends had a band. They played some good stuff –
- “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice
- “Brain Stew” – Green Day
- “What’s Up” – 4 Non Blondes
- “Yellow Ledbetter” – Pearl Jam
- “Undone – the Sweater Song” – Weezer
- “Today” – Smashing Pumpkins
All without any lyric sheets. Cool. I enjoyed Phil’s band much better than “In God We Trust.” Too many oldie hits. After about their 3rd Creed song I realized that this wasn’t my kind of music. Moving on…
We got back to the church building and sang in the new year. 131 people were there. Some from Crieve Hall Church of Christ.
I got some good shots of the fireworks afterward. Surprisingly the Crieve Hall people left almost immediately after it was overwith. Drove off when the fireworks were going off. Hmmmm….
It’s tradition for us to show movies on the big screen. We have a cuss box to sanitize things. The cuss box…(aka the “TV Guardian”). It’s a little box they hook up to the VCR when we played the movie on the big screen last night. It uses the closed captioning to mute out the dirty words in the movie and substitute words like “crud” and “baloney.” So you’ll be watching the movie, then it will mute for a second while the closed captioning pops up with “Oh crud!” It’s interesting someone actually put together such a device.
We didn’t have the cuss box immediately available. So we sent some people out to get it at Phil’s house. It took them a while to get it. All the time I was being bugged by some of the kids saying “Why can’t we watch the movie?” This was semi-constant. I soon grew tired of the question.
The kids stayed around until 7AM. We returned the rental van. Finally got back home at 8AM.
On New Year’s Eve Timing is Everything
This entry title was taken from a History Channel Show – “Lost and Found.” So I can’t claim credit for the snappy title.
Lock-in tonight at church. The schedule is as follows:
4PM Bowling (Donelson Lanes?)
6 or 7PM – Concert at the MJ Community Center. Featuring songs I’ve never heard of (and neither have the kids).
11PM – Back to the church to sing in the new year.
7AM Breakfast and go home.
I’m taking some home videos from church activities to show on the big screen. The videos are mostly from this year, but I do have one from about 10 years ago.
Goodbye 2K2!
Jeff’s Wonderful Life
The movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is traditionally shown during the Christmas holidays. Perhaps this post belonged nearer toward Christmas and not New Years. But then again, New Year’s is a time to reflect back and see what you’ve done for the past year. And they do play Auld Lang Syne at the end.
In the story, George Bailey confronts his personal demons and wonders aloud what life would have been like if he wasn’t ever born. The angel Clarence grants his wish and plays tour guide to such a reality. Even before Zemeckis gave us “Back to the Future” without George McFly, there our own George Bailey was, staring at the alternate reality he wished upon himself.
While I am not even going to tempt fate by proclaiming “I wish I had never been born,” I do wonder aloud how much difference I make in everyday life. Thinking back on it, here is a list of things which I feel I might make a difference.
- The Church Webpage. I spend a huge amount of time on this. It’s probably the most elaborate church webpage that no one knows about. I attempt to try to pull in traffic to it by requesting the URL be printed on official church documents. I’ve even tried to involve the church leaders and staff in giving me constructive criticism of the page. Yet to no avail. Sometimes I wonder if I was to step outside and get hit by a bus, who would take up the webpage job where I left off? Maybe no one. Somehow someone would forget about it; forget to renew the domain; and then let the church webpage die a slow painful death.
- Jeff Whittle, your company’s computer guy (That’s an SNL reference if case you didn’t get it). Yeah, people call on me when their computer goes haywire. Sometimes they invite me over. Sometimes they pay me for my time. Sometimes I’m able to help. Many times I’m not able to. I do realize these people are grateful for having an egghead around. But yet the tasks are so menial, I feel like they could have learned it on their own without my help.
- Church Youth Activities – camps, retreats, Sunday School teacher….. This is the other big church thing I find myself doing year after year. If there’s a camp, retreat, or any other activity, I’m usually involved with it in some form or another. I do at least 2 camps per summer. At least 2 retreats per year. And teach Wednesday nights at church. I have dreams of setting young people on the right path and keeping them there. One of my fervent desires is to have a young person wake me up in the middle of the night at a camp or retreat and engage me in serious spiritual discussion. Are they saved? Do they need to be saved? Maybe even getting to know a young person well enough for them to ask me to baptize them. Yet this kind of serious discussion rarely happens even to the best youth ministers.
So what’s the answer to this question? Are any of these activities making a difference? Most likely none of the above. Computer questions would still get answered; Youth activities would still happen since there is always plenty of help for them; and webpage design would still happen, even new alternate design if a shell of what it was.
So what am I getting at exactly? I don’t really know. On the subject of actually making a difference in this world….something I very earnestly try for….I feel as though I am not in a position to make a difference. I’m always last to know about things. Not in the loop. If I was an important person in everyone’s life then I’d be first to know.
What keeps me going? Maybe its the way some kids are drawn to me. Case in point. Yesterday I visited at one of the churches I attend church camp with. I arrived early and sat in a pew by myself. As the starting time of services drew nearer the young people arrived. Even without a second thought, there were 10 kids on that same row with me, practically smothering me. I actually thought about moving to a different pew since I like my personal space.
Yeah, I’ve been told “Jeff, you are cool.” Or to have kids get excited once they find out I’m their counselor at camp. Maybe I let them get away with too many pranks. I don’t know. I really need to ask them why I’m so likeable, so I can continue doing it.
It’s good to be admired. Looked up to.
So now I present for your amusement and for my future reference, my New Year’s Resolutions:
- Live each day as a gift from God.
- Make a difference in the life of a young person.
- Never take life for granted. Enjoy the simple things. A sunset, a sunrise.
Who is linking to me?
Who is linking to me? Here’s a list of pages which I know are linking to this site:
- Scott Burka’s list of links
- Brian Dyer’s Links.
- Mark’s List of Links
- Melissa’s List of Links
- Jason’s Webpage
- Dave Halliwill’s Home Page
So more than likely you are reading this because you know me or because you know people who know me.
Remember when MTV played more than 10 videos? Not anymore.
Interesting story of lost and found items at Florida amusement parks.
The Resume Black Hole
I spent the greater part of the day importing all of the archived church bulletin articles into Movable Type on the church webpage. So everything is in there right now. Hopefully it will make everything look uniform and easier to update. I’d be surprised if anyone at church notices, even though it took several hours to do.
The Resume Black Hole. Most companies don’t even bother with courtesy letters to potential applicants. I’m beginning to realize I’ll probably be without a job for quite a while.
I wish I had much more to say. But my mind it sorta fried from all this archive importing. So until tomorrow….