Hong Kong
Global Semester

November 30, 1994

Hello Family, Friends & Pets of the St. Olaf community and Beyond!

        Stanley Wolpert writes the following in India, our assigned
text for the month: "India pulsates, vibrates, scintillates with such
a plethora of human, animal, botanical, insect, and divine life that
no camera or recording device, no canvas, pen, or cassette can fully
capture the rich design of daily, 'ordinary' existence." Even as this
is true, we will try to relate our incredible experiences in India!

        The Ecumenical Christian Center (ECC) WAS our home this past
month. The ECC reminded us all of camps we had attended as children:
the grounds were beautiful, well attended gardens and lawns, with
funky trees scattered throughout. We were allocated the Dialogue
House, which included both our single rooms and classroom. We loved
this campy, rural, open environment, and the chance to bond as a group
as well as escape to our solitude.

        Our experience at the ECC went beyond the trees and buildings,
the ECC staff invited us to their home and welcomed us with their
kindness and eagerness to help.  Saji, the man charged with our group
for the month, showed ceaseless energy and kindness in handling our
schedule, vacation plans and general welfare. Saji ensured that we
experience Indian culture with organized cultural nights: Indian dance
and musical performances. Mrs. Punama, the cook at the ECC for the
past 25 years (20 of which Globalites have been among her lucky
tasters) served us the most delicious meals. Indian food seasoned
relatively mild for our sensitive tastes. A few others also
contributed to our enjoyment: Jabaraj, our all-purpose maintenance
stallion, and Raji, Molly, and Shini, our friendly desk helpers and
mail clerks.

        There were two "main" events related to our time at the ECC,
at least in terms of our involvement in them: Halloween and our talent
show. We enjoyed a day of preparing for our Halloween party for the
ECC staff and their children. We divided into committees, a talent
we've all well mastered, and carved pumpkins and hunted for our
costumes...We dressed up as everything from Mac and Jackie look-a-like
(Ben and Beth B.)to the Grim Reaper (Katie N.). The party festivities
included musical chairs, a dance performance by the ECC children, lots
of candies and goodies, and a haunted house, constructed by a few of
our creative group members.

        The talent show also proved a rocking success, especially in
terms of our enjoyment in the preparation and production. Among our
highly "talented" (remember there are many definitions)! acts were a
nearly professional Western dance line, a "pillow-people" dance and
various skits and songs.

        Our life at the ECC, when not in class or at other cultural
events, allowed for personal exploration of the neighboring
villages. Whitefield, our closest "town" represented rural Indian life
well: people washing clothes on rocks, dinging bicycles, honking cars,
dogs roaming in packs, thatched roof stores, and people,
schoolchildren, aged adults-wonderfully kind people. We also visited a
smaller village closer to the ECC which further illustrated the
simplicity and beauty of Indian life. Our pictures will here
supplement what mere words cannot describe. In contrast to our village
explorations, we all traveled to Banglore on at least two
occasions. Our first visit was an organized tour of the most
monumental sites: the Bull Temple and botanical gardens. We later
taxied in smaller groups to partake of the Indian shopping and/or
other night -life entertainment.

        Bangalore generally impressed us, with the hustle and bustle
of city life, enhanced by the Indian culture. Yet we also encountered
our first deformities of India, people affected by leprosy who beg for
food or money;a humbling and sober experience.

        Our trips to Bangalore were only one of a few visits to Indian
cities, as our trip to Mysore, our vacations and New Dehli awaited
us... (Thanks to Karla for this section)

        In the middle of the month in India we had five days to
explore India on our own. Here's a synopsis of some of the vacations:
KARI K., KARI J., SONJA, and BETH T. headed east to Vellore, a small
town a little off the tourist path, where they visited the Christian
Medical Centre and Karigiri Leprosy Hospital, two of the best medical
facilities in,, India. They then headed to Madras to see the fabulous
temples of Mahabila Puram, a temple city nearby.

        JOSH and RYUN waged a "jihad" (the Global catch-word for
"struggle") to get to Sri Lanka, where they enjoyed the beauty of the
island, visited a Buddhist monastery with monks as young as ten, and
found another Buddhist shrine which houses the last remains of Buddha:
his tooth. ANN and HAVILAH also found a unique destination: Hyderabad,
where they experienced Islamic culture.

        BEN, BETH B., MATT AND ERIKA went to Goa to have a true
vacation on the bidCa-ieS. They rented scooters to explore the
village, took a boat ride to watch the dolphins, shopped and snoozed
on the beach with the cows.

        TOMOMI and NITU visited some of Nitu's relatives in
Nagpur. Besides being a good place to enjoy the family, Nagpur was a
good place to "shop and hang out," according to the pair.

        ABBEY and KARLA spent a lot of time experiencing Indian public
transport first hand. They spent many hours on trains and buses that
were "not quite Greyhound," on a whirlwind tour of Ooty, Kodaikanal,
and Madras. LAEL and MOLLY also did their best to see all of southern
India, starting at Bandipur Wildlife Reserve and then through Ooty to
Kodaikanal, where they visited some Oles who were student teaching
there. After exploring the villages and markets of Kodai, they ended
their vacation in Vellore.

        NANCY, KATY B., LIZA,, CORKY, CHRIS, KATIE N., SCOTT, and
KEVIN spent a rather animal-less morning at Bandipur--they reported
seeing more animals at the bus stop than at the game reserve. They
visited some other places near Cochin they took in an evening of
traditional Kathakali dancing and took a backwaters tour. MAC and
JACKIE joined them to attend the ordination of Saji, our program
director at the ECC.

        Although the group had to skip its scheduled stop in Bombay,
AARON and STU went there during vacation. Bombay is a city of 11
million, many of whom live in huts on the sidewalks and break into
underground water lines in order to drink the water that bubbles
up. Bombay is one of the world's poorest cities, but it also produces
more movies than Hollywood in "Bollywood," as its movie industry is
called. They also toured Elephanta, a Hindu temple carved out of
living rock in Buddhist style.

        The vacations weren't our first excursion away from Bangalore,
though. They were preceded by a two-day trip to Mysore and the
surrounding areas. The bus bumped over narrow dirt (and sometimes mud)
roads, past yellow-green rice fields and through tiny villages of
thatched huts. We visited a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, one of
the major gods of the Hindu pantheon. The central figure of the temple
was Shiva's vehicle, the black bull Nandi. Another temple featured
intricate stone carvings of Shiva and Vishnu -- and everywhere
elephants form the bottom row of carvings, supporting the building on
their backs.

        Evening brought a visit to Brindavin Gardens, an enormous park
of flowers, pools, and fountains. We visited several relics of the
Muslim years in India, including the enormous Maharaja's palace, a
mammoth, gaudy edifice covered outside with tiny white lights and
inside with colored tiles, silver and stone inlay, and wall
murals. Lunch at a palace-turned-five-star-hotel spoiled us rotten --
it was the palace which is the setting for Passage to India, and it
was a treat.

        Our last days in India were in Delhi, a city which is a
mixture of new, wealthy sections belonging to government officials and
nouveau riche, and poor, crowded, and dirty parts of Old Delhi. Tour
sites included Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site and a mammoth pillar
called Qutub Minar, the Tower of Victory erected by a Muslim
conqueror. A day trip to Agra centered on the exquisite Taj Mahal. As
we explored the perfectly symmetric memorial, many of us found
ourselves the targets of Indian tourists' photos - an interesting
exchange of roles!

        During our week in Nepal, about half the group went trekking
in the mountains surrounding Kathmandu. It was hardly roughing it:
they were awakened each morning with hot tea ready. the food was
great, the sleeping bags were warm and the scenery was astonishing --
the Oles only had to walk and enjoy, both of which they did well. A
hardier group flew to the base of Everest and spent a few days
trekking there, while a third group -- some a little under the weather
-- stayed in Kathmandu. Everyone took the opportunity to do some
shopping in the City of Ten Million Sweaters or find some
American-style food.

        The hustle and wealth of Hong Kong is a real shock after Egypt
and India, but we've gotten a good start on our art course at Chinese
University of Hong Kong, the third of our academic programs on Global
and we've started exploring the city. (Thanks to Beth T. for this
section)



Dear Parents, Family & Friends,

        The above reports are just an example of the responsible
nature of the students. Everyone pitched in under the capable
coordination of Katie Ness to make Halloween a fun filled
evening. Kevin coordinated the talent show and Ann planned a farewell
dance for the students and the ECC families and staff. Nancy and Ann
assisted Rev. Saji Thomas in the closing eastern orthodox worship
service. "The boys" really got into the haunted house thing and scared
themselves. Yes, they have lots of fun but they were most touched when
Dr. James and Rev. Thomas told them they are "a very academic group."
We have appreciated seeing the cooperative nature of their study
groups and the desire they show for everyone to do well. We can always
depend on Josh to have the first aid kit when we need it;for Scott,
Kevin, Matt and Ryun to get us through our airport transfers;for Sonja
to remember birthdays;for Beth B. to create beautiful cards;for Lael
and Molly to adventure out first and explore our new
surroundings. Erika's parents were just here and acted as a courier
service for some of us. Corky's parents arrive this Saturday and are
bringing lots of Christmas goodies. Beth B. is planning our Christmas
festivities and we will attend the Messiah and a carol sing in the
Chapel and the Nutcracker at the Hong Kong Performing Arts Center.

        When Karla's grandmother died and Karla was grief stricken,
Abbey stayed with her for the day and comforted her. Kari and Beth
went to town and bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the
group. That evening we held a memorial service for Minnie Nelson and
Karla gave a heartfelt eulogy about her beloved grandmother. The group
wanted to show respect for Karla and her grandmother so they dressed
in their Sunday best and sang hymns and offered prayers and
shared. This was a special bonding time for the group as tears were
shed and hugs were given all around. Once again, we felt honored to be
traveling with this fine group of young people.  Besides they are
amazingly tolerant of the supervisors' foibles and follies!

        Our daughter, Gracia, was married to T. McKinley on August 7th
and we have just learned the joyous news that we will be grandparents
around July 10. We are so excited and grateful and pray for the health
of Gracia and the baby. Our son, Chris, will fly from Minneapolis to
spend Christmas with Gracia and T. in Philadelphia and we are pleased
that they can be together. We will miss our family at Christmas but
will do all we can to make this a special time for the students. Hong
Kong is so high tech and inundated with the commercialism of
Christmas that we all agree that we want to make our celebration
simple but meaningful. Mac and I bought a pair of brightly hued, hand
knit, wool socks in Nepal for each of the students which we will hang
and fill with candy and fruit. Each student will write on a card what
they most value/ appreciate about the other students and put this in
their stockings so they will have 30 affirmations to read. A highlight
of Christmas Eve will be the sharing of the stories, anecdotes and
pictures you have sent about your child. They love you very much and
will miss you at Christmas, so we know they will appreciate this
special connection with home. We have drawn Secret Santa names and
will give small gifts and words of love and encouragement to our
special person. The goal is to remain secret until we give our gifts
on Christmas Eve. This is just to give you an idea of some of the
special things we have planned to help keep homesickness
manageable. Thank you to Molly's mother and grandmother who sent a
small tree and Christmas decorations for the group to share.

        These young people have learned a lot about other cultures and
people of the world, but they have also learned a great deal about
themselves and what they value most from home. As we celebrated
Thanksgiving, without exception, they said they were thankful for
their families. We too are thankful for their families who supported
their decision to make this five-month journey around planet
earth. Our special thanks also go to the Art Department, International
Studies and the College who once again allowed us to make this journey.

        We have many birthdays to celebrate during December and the
midterm Arts of China exam is on December 6. So we will be busy until
we depart for Shanghai on December 17. Mail call continues to be the
highlight of everyone's day so keep those carding and letters coming.

Love, Jackie

P.S. Stu is a fine line dancer and we wonder if the Edeal's are aware
of this talent. He really kicked up his heels at the ECC.

P.S.S. We appreciated having Nitu Singh share her insight into
Indian culture with the group and look forward to Tomomi's help in
Japan.