Slice of Life Vol. 31
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Taiwan Times – December 2010
The Taiwan Times
By Mark Wolfram
Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan
December 2010
By Mark Wolfram
Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan
December 2010
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Christmas Celebrations!
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope and pray you had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Jesus, this child who has forever changed the world and our hearts. Here in Taiwan, my Christmas season is always filled with a plethora of activities, and this year was no exception. While it is impossible to capture all of the joy, excitement, and emotion on a piece of paper, I hope this update can give you a glimpse into the opportunities God presented to share his love this Christmas season.
Christmas at Concordia Middle School!
One huge blessing of teaching at CMS is all of the opportunities to share the Gospel to the students. Below are some of Christmas activities used to help reach them.
OSF Christmas
On Thursday December 17th, the students who live at school celebrated Christmas and learned about Jesus’ birth through singing Christmas songs, watching a drama performed by the American teachers, reading the Christmas story, and taking a Christmas quiz. The quiz presented questions about the first Christmas, fun Christmas facts, and cultural questions about Christmas in America. The students with the highest scores were given candy canes. If you want to take the quiz, it is linked in the official Team Taiwan blog, located at: http://lcmsteamtaiwan.blogspot.com/
The quiz is linked within the text of blog post titled “ OSF Christmas party.”
Christmas Worship
On Thursday December 23rd, 7th grade students gathered in Luther Chapel, and 8th-11th grade students gathered in the auditorium for Christmas worship. From 8:00-9:30, students had worship which included two skits, songs, a choir piece, and a message. Rick Hong, the Dean of Concordia’s Religion Department, reflected this past week that there were several students who specifically told him how they enjoyed the worship service and felt touched by it.
The American teachers at the Junior High and High School participated in the worship service by performing a skit called the Bad News Bandits. In the skit, a group of rough and mean cowboys found a baby who ended up changes their lives. This is just like Jesus, who came and changed us from sinners to forgiven children of God. If you would like to watch it, the skit is linked on our Team Taiwan Website. It is uploaded in two parts. Click the following:
https://sites.google.com/a/cmsh.cyc.edu.tw/foreignenglish/life-in-taiwan/teaching/foreign-teachers-christmas-skit
As for me, my biggest role in the drama is the voice of the baby, so all of that annoying wailing is me, ha! However I do make a few other short appearances on stage, see if you can find them.
Song Competition
Each year, 7th grade (also known as Junior 1) through 11th grade (also known as Senior 2) students, have a couple of intra-grade competitions. One of these is the Christmas song contest. For this competition each class needs to select a conductor, a pianist, and two songs to sing for the judges. One of the songs needs to be a Christmas song, and other needs to be a religious song. Everyone in the class participates, and they spend over a month preparing to sing.
I know I have written this in the past, but I love this activity. Listening to the Senior High Competition has become a Christmas tradition of mine and an absolutely wonderful way to spend the afternoon. It brings such joy to my heart, hearing the students sing praises to God. In addition, it is something they will always remember, and I pray God will use the words of those songs to impact their lives and help them know more about who he is.
Last year I provided some links to songs, and I’ll do the same this year. Please click on the following to hear the winning class of the Senior High Competition: Senior 2 Class E. The first song is in Chinese, the second one is in Taiwanese. Enjoy! I definitely did.
http://www.youtube.com/concordiaTW?gl=TW&hl=zh-TW#p/u/37/qKSkbMkun5Y
Tree Competition
The second intra-grade level Christmas competition that the students have at CMS is the Christmas tree contest. This time, 7th-11th graders are each given a tree or shrub on the main part of campus. They then need to decorate their tree to show a Bible story or Biblical theme. Below are some pictures of the Christmas trees:
Christmas Caroling
On Thursday evening, December 23rd, the students and teachers who live at CMS went around the neighborhood Christmas caroling. Taking guitars and song sheets, we stopped at homes and business in the area, proclaiming Jesus’ birth through song.
Christmas at Church.
In addition to school, Salvation Lutheran Church had several activities in which Christians here in Taiwan were able to spread the Good News.
Orphanage
The children and helpers of Salvation Lutheran’s weekly kids camp, spent Saturday December 18th at an orphanage in Chia-Yi city. Here the kids played games with the orphans, sang songs, gave gifts, and even performed a skit for them.
I helped to lead the children in songs, playing guitar for two Chinese songs, and a Christmas version of “This is the Day”. Praise God for this chance to witness in the community, and giving our children at church to learn about sharing Christmas with kids who are less fortunate.
Sunday Morning Worship and Love Feast
On Sunday morning, December 19th Salvation Lutheran had their annual Christmas worship service and Love Feast. The children from the Saturday school came and performed their skit for the members of the church and their parents. Most of these parents normally drop their children off on Saturdays for the kids camp, but neither the children nor the parents attend services. However, on Christmas the sanctuary was full of children and their parents, and all of them heard the message of Jesus Christ being born as a baby to be our savior from sin.
After the worship service, everyone stuck around for the Love Feast. This celebratory meal featured an enormous serving line of dishes including salads, chicken, fish, fruit, and soups. It was nice time for people to chat and have fellowship.
Caroling
On Christmas Eve, over 50 teachers and students attend this activity, which took place instead of the normal Friday Night Bible Study. The carolers went to 4 neighboring apartment buildings. There, we sang songs in English and Chinese, both with guitar and acapella. In addition, Mikey (one of our Taiwanese brothers), led the people in a short game. I played guitar for the songs along with Ben Riley, Stanley (an 11th grade student at CMS), and Stephanie (a 9th grade students at CMS).
Youth Group Christmas Worship and Party
On Sunday evening, January 26th, we had a youth worship and Christmas party for students of Salvation Lutheran Youth Group. We began the evening with a gift exchange game, where each kid could take a gift from under the tree, or exchange it for a gift that had already been taken. All of the gifts were small little items purchased at Diaso, which is the Japanese version of the “Everything’s $1.00 Store.”
I planned and lead the youth worship. We had 4 hymns, confession, the creed, and a short message on the names of Jesus as found in Isaiah 9:6. After worship we all enjoyed Domino’s pizza and decorated Christmas cookies.
All in all, it was a very fun evening, focused on Christ’s love and Christian fellowship.
It’s Prayer Time!
1. Praise God for all of these Christmas activities, and pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of all who heard the message.
2. Pray for the teachers at CMS, both American and Taiwanese, as we rest up from Christmas, and start to transition to end of the semester grading. May God give us strength, energy, and focus.
3. Praise God that Noel Schaff was able to return safely to Taiwan. She is now taking the remainder of the semester off, to heal and rest up. However, she will be teaching with us full time again next semester. Please pray for her continued recovery.
4. Pray for James Rush, as he continues to teach Noel’s classes this semester. We are working with the school to finalize a schedule for him to stay on as a teacher next semester. Please pray for him and that process.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mark
Journal Entry One-Thousand
It is hard to believe that this journal has reached entry 1,000.
Since I enjoy rather meaningless statistics, I’m going to go over a few right now.
According to how many times they have been viewed, these are the 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Artistic Gallery:
1. Gazing Ball Self-Portrait
2. Outburst of the Soul
3. Jen Between UnHingd Sets
3. UnHingd Publicity Still
5. US30 East of Ogden
6. 1900
6. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg
6. Becca Senior Picture
9. Grizzly McAlpine
10. Obama Political Rally
10. Campanile Self-Portrait
These are the 10 Most Popular Snapshots Gallery Pictures:
1. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto
2. Jesse and I Backstage at the Surf Ballroom
3. Jesse Eating a Bob’s Dog
4. Shannon Reading a Map at Backbone State Park
5. Jesse and I at Eagle Point Park
5. Cousin Amy, Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken Concert
5. Jesse Kissing the Blarney Stone in Emmetsburg
8. Jesse Onstage at the Surf Ballroom
8. Jesse and I Resting at the Sargent Floyd Monument
10. Some Kind of Deal Going Down at a Bonne Finken Concert
10. Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken Concert
The Top Ten People I Write About, Photograph or Contribute in Some Way (Tagged in Journal Entries):
1. Jay (144)
2. Jesse (143)
3. Shannon (140)
4. Derrick (117)
5. Jen (101)
6. Teresa (96)
7. Willy (93)
8. Sara (88)
9. Baier (65)
10. Dawn (64)
Of course, we will revisit these numbers and pictures in about 100 or so journal entries. Of course, it will be interesting to see what has changed!
RWPE #52 – Eye
It is the end of Year 1 for the Random Weekly Photo Experiment. The final theme was EYE. Here are the submissions:
Becky Perkovich B
Christopher D. Bennett
Shannon Bardole
Mike Vest
Becky Perkovich A
IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause
IMAGE LOST
Scott Krause
The themes for this year have been slightly modified, but it remains mostly the same list. Here are a list of this year’s themes:
GO
Adventure
Calm
Colorful
Communication
Depth of Field
Diagonal Rule
Black & White
Dry
Explore
Eye
Face
Fast
Feet
Food
Framing
Hands
Harmony
Hope
Leading Lines
Light Placement
Long Exposure
Love
Macro
Market
Motion
Odd Camera Angle
Painting with Light
Panning & Camera Blur
Paths
Animal
People
Noise
Reflections
Night
Rule of Thirds
Self Portrait
Shadows
Signs
Silence
Silhouettes
Smoke
Soothing
Spiritual
Still Life
Strength
Symmetry and Patterns
Unfocused
Use of Space
Viewpoint
Wet
Games
The Random Generator has spoken for this week’s theme:
REFLECTIONS
There is still only one rule. The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. The deadline for submissions remains Monday at Noon.
Good luck this year!
Movie Reviews: Little Fockers and True Grit
Movie – Little Fockers
Director: Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy, In Good Company)
Writers: John Hamburg (Meet the Parents, Zoolander, I Love You, Man) & Larry Stuckey
Starring: Ben Stiller (Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Greenberg), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, Heat) & Teri Polo (Meet the Parents, Beyond Borders, Meet the Fockers)
Theater – Cinemark Movies 12 – Ames, Iowa
Companion – Nader
Food – Probably, can’t remember.
Intellectual Honesty
Meet the Parents is one of my favorite comedies ever. Meet the Fockers was an incredible disappointment. Ben Stiller is usually hilarious, but he does make some bad movies. Robert De Niro is one of my all-time favorites, but admittedly, not for comedies.
Baggage
I can’t stand Barbara Streisand.
Synopsis from IMDB
It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get “in” with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack’s suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam’s entire clan-including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson)-descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack’s final test and become the family’s next patriarch…or will the circle of trust be broken for good?
Review
This isn’t really the type of movie that is easy to write about. It is a big improvement on Meet the Fockers, but it is nowhere near as good as Meet the Parents. All the usuals are back and are great in their roles. Owen Wilson’s Kevin character seems a little more forced than before and his part could have been trimmed considerably.
The movie is enjoyable enough, but it just isn’t terribly funny. It feels like we’ve seen all these jokes before, because we have. I don’t mind so much because I love the characters and the dynamics between Greg (Stiller) and Jack (De Niro) are lots of fun, but at the end of the day you feel like something funnier could have been made.
It is perfectly pleasant way to spend an evening, but I hoped for so much more than pleasant.
Rating
2.5/5 Caramels
Buy on DVD
Nope, but I will watch it when it is on television.
2010 Ranking
Doesn’t really deserve a ranking. I’ll have to be more proactive in my ranking system in 2011.
Bonus Information
I saw a preview for a movie starring Topher Grace and Anna Farris called Take Me Home Tonight. I am super pumped to see this movie. The fact that they lip sync to N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton is enough for me. I don’t even care what happens in the rest of the movie.
Movie – True Grit
Director: Coen Brothers (Fargo, Blood Simple, The Hudsucker Proxy, No Country for Old Men)
Writers: Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
Starring: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart, Seabiscuit, King Kong), Hailee Steinfeld, & Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, The Departed, The Bourne Identity)
Theater – Springwood 9 – Ankeny, Iowa
Companions – Andree, Baier and Russell
Food – China Buffet – Ankeny, Iowa
Intellectual Honesty
I’m a big fan of Matt Damon and have been since Good Will Hunting. I like Jeff Bridges a lot as well. I have been excited for this movie since the first time I saw the trailer and not just because the trailer features a Johnny Cash song.
Baggage
I’m not really sure this is baggage or intellectual honesty, but it is probably a little of both. I love/hate the Coen Brothers. They have made some of the best and most original movies of the last couple of decades: No Country for Old Men, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, Miller’s Crossing, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple. They have made some of the worst movies as well: Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty. They have made some of the most overrated as well: The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink.
I’m not a fan of remakes, but since True Grit isn’t what I would consider a classic of the cinema, I don’t mind it being remade.
Synopsis from IMDB
Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with “true grit,” Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her “grit” tested.
Review
It is hard to really pick which version of True Grit is better. This Coen Brothers version, or the John Wayne original. They are very similar. If I was forced to pick one over the other, I would pick the original. The few changes that the Coen brothers made from the original are not improvements. Even though Jeff Bridges is a better actor than John Wayne, John Wayne is better in the role of Cogburn. The role of LaBoeuf is not a particularly good role, but Glenn Campbell is better than Matt Damon. This is one of Damon’s worst performances to date. He isn’t dreadful, but he isn’t particularly good either. Barry Pepper’s performance is enigmatic. It seems that he is actually imitating Robert Duvall’s performance from the original.
Hailee Steinfeld is a revelation however. She is wonderful and all of the Oscar buzz surrounding her performance as the 14 year old girl that hires Rooster Cogburn to track down and bring her father’s murderer to justice is well-deserved. Mattie Ross is one of the best characters for a teenage girl to play and she nails it.
Although this is a small critique for a movie that is mostly filmed beautifully, there are scenes in the movie that are so overexposed that the natural beauty of the scenery loses its contrast. While I’m certain that this was intentional, (although it is possible that this was just laziness by the lighting crew as well) I didn’t enjoy it.
It is a good movie with many good performances and 1 great performance and a couple of subpar performances.
Rating
3.5/5 Caramels
Buy on DVD
I would consider buying this movie on DVD if I got it for a good price.
2010 Ranking
It is probably in the bottom half of the Top 10 movies I’ve seen this year. Maybe #7 or #8.
Bonus Information
The Ankeny theater is perhaps the poorest designed theater I have ever watched a movie in. The door was left open for the 1st 15-20 minutes of the movie. So was the door to the theater directly across the hall. For a good portion of the film I had to listen to the movie across the hall.
Before the movie there was a trailer for Country Strong. Baier announced anybody that saw that film would lose their “man card”.