Asian Invasion: Day 5 - North Korea and Eating Weird Creatures

For today's post, it is appropriate that I begin with this picture of an egg with Chinese writing, for today was a day of interesting food. Breakfast began with this organic product in a scrambled form, along with some toast. It was not until lunch that things started gettin' wild. We ate at a Korean restaurant, and I ate many new things including the following: jellyfish, chicken stomach, sea cucumber, (here come the best two) preserved duck egg, and spiced dirt snail. By the end of the meal, my stomach was confused at the variety of new visitors that had entered its lair. Then at dinner, in stark contrast to my lunch, we ate at a place named Bennigans, which is what it sounds like--an Irish-American establishment. I never thought I would be eating quesadillas and nachos in Korea, but hey, there's a first for everything. And, my digestive system could once again rest in peace.

My morning began with this view out of the car window, looking into the dense traffic of South Korean streets. The OMS missionary who is taking care of us came by this morning and we had a prayer meeting with two other Korean Christians. One of the most impacting things to me is the Korean people's dedication to prayer. Twice today, we have gathered to spend time on our knees talking to God together. It has been awesome. Once we arrived at the KEHC (the church that OMS started almost 100 years ago!), we met with the new general superintendent of the church. In this interaction, I was struck with the significance of the Word of God. As I watched my grandpa and the superintendent converse through a translator, I saw how faith connected these two very different men. Two men who cannot understand what each other are saying are able to work towards the common goal of furthering God's kingdom. Thats neat.
Also, though the translating of every comment took time, it was interesting to hear the commentary on North Korea and OMS's vision. Currently, the country is open only for one area of S. Korea business that has established a factory to use N. Korean workers. The sad part of this arrangement is that first the N. Koreans are not paid as much as if they were southern, but also the little that they receive is taken from them by the government. They eventually receive a tiny fraction of the already miniscule amount. I thank God that I was born in a free country where I can go to school and am able to eat every day. Thankfully, the country seems to be allowing more and more outside input, and within the tunnel of oppression, a light is in the distance.

Hopefully, as the country eventually allows many more individuals to enter the country, we will be able to provide these hurting people with food, medical attention, but most importantly, hope in a God who will never fail them. On a lighter note, my parents would laugh at the fact that Koreans like to sleep in the hottest temperature possible. I swear, even though it is cooler outside than Hong Kong, the insides of cars, apartments, and buildings are like a big system of saunas. I have decided that it is a conspiracy against westerners and the cult of air-conditioning. If they can take it, more power to them. Today has been very enlightening, as the roads and infrastructure seem more like America than Hong Kong, but the culture is drastically different. Hasta luego amigos...

m0r3 p1c7ures @ picasaweb.google.com/nate.tilley/Asiatrip

nate.

Read more...

Asian Invasion: Day 4 - A Day of Grey

Good morning America! It is strange to say that, as I am now another hour ahead of the U.S., this time in Korea. This evening, we arrived in South Korea, after coming through a typhoon in Hong Kong. The picture from the left is the sky outside the airport before leaving this morning. It was raining pretty hard and was quite windy on the way to the airport, but the second picture below is when the typhoon was directly over the airport. There was a lot of rain, as you can see. We made it safely out of Hong Kong with about a two hour delay. While we were boarding the plane, there was lighting that was striking within a second of the thunder, and it was raining very hard. Needless to say, our skillful pilot got us out of there, but the take-off was less than smooth. I would say that is acceptable under such conditions.

Today, along with slaving over some more Calculus homework, I finished the book This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. After reading this book for the first time in a few years, I am amazed at the relevance it has to my life, and spiritual warfare. The way that the demons in the book spoke to their subjects and the subtlty of their seduction to sin reveals how little we attribute temptation to actual demons. For me, the book vividly portrayed the reality of geniune spiritual warfare and the importance of prayer to the community of believers and our well-being as Christ-followers. I tore through that book, as it is incredible well-written, action-filled, and fast-paced, but very pertinent to our culture. Props to Frank Peretti.

Upon arriving in Korea, a few things seemed akin to home, as opposed to Hong Kong. First, we drive on the right again. Woo! In Hong Kong, my driving reflexes screamed at me the entire time I rode in some vehicle on the roads. Also, the highways in Korea are very large, and the freeway resembles I-40, enough to be obvious to me. As we neared the city from the highway, the countryside resembled something that you might see driving along a highway in the mountains of North Carolina, until we actually reached the city. I think part of my cultural experience is not only going to a foreign countries, but also staying in large cities. After spending most of my life in small town NC and VA, even a small metropolis is something new to me.

The city, as you can see in the picture, looks as most large cities in the U.S. would, but all of the signs are in Korean. (Imagine that... ). My grandfather and I are staying in an apartment that is owned by OMS, and we are enjoying having our own rooms, instead of staying with someone as in HK. Today has been a grey day, as told in the title, not because it was a bad day, but because the storm was grey, the airport was grey, and the buildings in Korea are grey in the dark. Interesting. For me, however, it is time to enjoy the bed I have and to get some sleep.
Until tomorrow...


As always, more pictures at picasaweb.google.com/nate.tilley/Asiatrip

nate.

Read more...

Asian Invasion: Day 3 - GDS XC Goes Global (and a Typhoon!) (Sept 23)

Well, here I am at the end of another day in Hong Kong, and I am tired. Jet lag is beginning to catch up to me, and I’m falling asleep as I type. Part of my fatigue comes from this morning, as I was offered the opportunity to “go running” with Cindy, one of the missionaries who has run about 6 marathons. Now when I’m offered a chance to “go running”, I figure there will be normal terrain, maybe 6-8 miles. When she thinks running, however, her running is more like hiking up a mountain, very quickly. We ended up going about 10-12 miles at a fast walk or a run, but after some of the huge sets of stairs, I was about to die. The run/trail walk this morning is one of the hardest workouts I have ever done, as jet lag, pollution, and intense climbs culminated to humble me and my supposed fitness. For me, I was eventually able to make it, but the most irksome detail was that Cindy was trucking along with no trouble, and I was about to die. I lose. But, there were some awesome views from the mountains that we traveled over. The below picture shows me in front of one of the peaks that we jogged straight up called Lion's Peak. It hurt.

The expedition started about 7 this morning, and we got back to the OMS offices around 10:30. From that time until lunch, I showered and spent some time doing some homework. Lunch was at a delicious Chinese restaurant close by. My chopstick abilities are developing fairly well, and I love genuine Chinese food, though it is strange sometimes. I have no idea what I have eaten, for the most part, except that it resembles some sort of meat and vegetables, sometimes wrapped in something clear, or mixed with rice or noodles. If you’re willing to try things, Chinese food can turn out to be excellent, just don’t think about what you might be eating. After lunch, I spent much of the afternoon struggling through Calculus work… Good times.

At about 5 that evening, the local directors, my grandfather, and I all left the offices to attend the Seminary Board meeting at a small hotel downtown. Small may be a slight understatement, as you can see by the picture. This is not usual practice for my grandpa’s meetings, but one of the individuals on the board is a regular at this restaurant and he fronted the bill for the evening. The dinner was a buffet; we ate as much food as we wanted from the extensive selections that were offered. The restaurant had everything from fried calamari, to salad, to Mongolian barbeque, to sushi. By the time that the group left the hotel, we were waddling to the parking lot, our stomachs filled with delicious Chinese dishes. Past the stir-fry and the vegetables hid another dimension of the buffet--the desert line. If the buffet was not enough, the desert line had over 20 different selections of custards, cakes, and fruit. Dinner was warming to heart and to the stomach.

Also tonight, we are in the middle of a typhoon. That’s right, a typhoon! As I sit here typing, the rain is pounding on the windows and the door is shaking. The worst of the typhoon, which is essentially a hurricane in the Pacific, was tonight at 9, and the rain was coming down so hard that my shirt was soaked during the 4 second walk from the car to the door. Being a category 8 typhoon, this means that the storm is a strong one. The picture on the left shows the storm cloud coming in over the city. Hopefully, enough of the storm will pass so that our flight can leave tomorrow, for tomorrow we’re off to Korea. I feel as though I have paid my jet lag dues and it is now time for my body to adjust, but we will see how it cooperates with that plan tomorrow. Until next time…

More pictures at picasaweb.google.com/nate.tilley/Asiatrip

nate.

Read more...

Asian Invasion: Day 2 - Into the City (Sept 22)

Well, here we are. In Asia. It is hot. When I say hot, I mean the kind of hot that we feel in the South when it there is a humidity upwards of 90% in the middle of July. They have this everyday and I feel for them because, by the end of today, I was sweaty, hot, tired, but it has been a great day. In the morning, we ate at the Rea's place and Celeste Rea then took me to see the city while my grandfather was in meetings. The picture you see to the left is a view from the ferry that goes across Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong Island. As you can see by the haze in the picture, the pollution is unbelievable. The many gasses in the air hold in heat, but the locals say that the pollution is comprable to smoking 8 cigarettes a day. I'm not a fan.

But, the skyline is impressive. The island is a corporate metropolis covered by the heat-absorbent miles of concrete and much of the high-end architecture is unique and modern. Though HK Island is filled with famous architecture and banking money, the architecture in most of HK consists of mostly apartments. There are hundreds if not thousands of these high-rises that contain hundreds of apartments each. The tiny city of Hong Kong manages to cram about 7 million citizens into it, which results in a large population of low income individuals. Beyond the apartments, Celeste and I trekked through HK Island to ride the longest escalator in the world as you can see a portion of it on the left.

After spending the morning swimming through the HK heat, I had my first encounter with Chinese cuisine and chopsticks... The picture to the left gives proof that I actually figured out how to use those diabolic utensils, but I had to defeat the forces of evil in order to gain the skill. Lunch was at a nice restaurant in the middle of a large mall, and the food was delicious. I ate chicken feet (also in the picture). Have you eaten that before?... Dinner was at a small local Chinese place and we ate some excellent sweet & sour chicken and rice. At every place there is rice, so much rice. The rice, however, is much better than most American rice, and it goes nicely with the local menus.
In the afternoon, I was asked to participate in an sports awards ceremony for the local Christian high schools. My grandpa was supposed to come as well, but he was still in a meeting, so I served as his representative. Since the schools are supported and loosely owned by OMS (the company my grandpa is with), the field director and I gave a few thoughts to the participants. This was the largest group that I have ever spoken in front of, as there were about 900 individuals attending the ceremony. The picture on the left shows about 1/3 of the people. In the evening, I was able to serve as a guest speaker to an English class for Chinese who want to become pastors. The group had prepared interview questions for me and they asked me about where I lived, my family, my church, and even my house. They were very interested to know what my house and my yard looked like, and I was humbled by the blessing of a house, a yard, and having space. From today's experiences, the main thing I have come to realize is how blessed we are in America. By seeing the living conditions of many in HK, I am all the more stricken by the privileges we enjoy as Americans. I thank God that He has allowed me to live in a country with a non-oppressive and mostly non-intrusive government. Our complaints as Americans are nothing compared to the trespasses that these citizens suffer as Chinese. To be continued...

As always, more pictures at picasaweb.google.com/nate.tilley/Asiatrip

nate.

Read more...

Asian Invasion: Day 1 – Embarking on a Quest (Sat/Sun Sept 20/21)

As I write this, I am about 35,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean just past the International Date Line (as my entertainment console tells me). As you can see in the back of a seat picture, the 747 from L.A. to Hong Kong is sweet. Starting from the beginning of my quest, the journey opens with a sleepy eyed Nathan waking to the sound of “Five Minutes til Midnight” and the subsequent beep of the alternate alarm at 4:45 am. The flight from Greensboro to Memphis was a quaint jet (as you can see in the picture to left), and a cute flight, clocking in at just about two hours. In Memphis, we had only 30 minutes between landing and the time of our next flight, so we hit the speed of sound walking on those awesome flat escalators to be sure we didn’t miss our connection.

The jet that took us from Memphis to L.A. was slightly larger and I was able to experience First Class seating. Since Northwest overbooked the flight, I had my ticket on standby waiting for a seat this past week. Eventually the company just moved me up to First Class where there must’ve been an open seat (score!). On this flight we consumed our first airplane meal—a Northwest breakfast tray. It was awesome. On the left you will see a few pictures taken out the window of this jet on the five hour trip to L.A.

In L.A. we transferred from Northwest Airlines to an Asian airline (alliteration!) called Cathay Pacific. This 747 was the owner of said entertainment hubs which provided hours of movies for me during the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. During the flight, we had quality conversations, but while Grandpa slept, I watched 21, Flawless, and The Chronicles of Narnia Price Caspian (and an episode of House). I was pleased at the options, as each of these movies turned out to be most enjoyable. The other perk of the Cathay Pacific 747 is that I was constantly eating. The airpline has excellent service, so between the plane’s snacks, drinks, and water glasses, we also had our second airborne meal over the Pacific Ocean.

Now I finish today’s post in Hong Kong, but today is now Sunday… The interesting part of flying from American to Asia is the fact that I started my day at 4:45am on Saturday and we arrived in Hong Kong at about 7pm on Sunday. Weird. As I write this, it is 2:10 am in the good ole ‘boro, but the sky outside of the airplane is bright and sunny. Weird. I have a feeling that I will be kinda tired. To be continued…
More pictures can be found at picasaweb.google.com/nate.tilley/Asiatrip

nate.

Read more...

Airplanes and Airshows

"Daddy, Uhh!" Baby Luke suddenly exlaims, frantically pointing through the ceiling, as the sound of a distant airplane permeates the walls of his home. As the loving father curls his arm around his son, John smiles knowingly, as he does every other time that the jet-propelled machine passes over. Though annoyance could be a result of this habitual routine, the caring father is far more interested in the son's passions than his own comfort. With a twinkle in his eye, John says "Yea Luke, thats an airplane!" The love of the father is so great, that he does not mind the simplicity of his son's perceptions, but instead he treats this exclamation as an observation of greatest interest. He loves the son for his passions, not his abilities.

How often do we seem like Baby Luke? Everytime I come to some great new epiphany, personal or spiritual, I am amazed by the limited scope of my perception. God's mind is so much greater than ours, and it is humbling to think how little we know in comparison. The one thing that I am most grateful for is God's love. He chooses to look beyond our simplicity and simply love as for our passion, for who we are. He guides us like Baby Luke's loving father, teaching us to transform our simple thoughts into His thoughts.

"... be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Rom 12:2)

nate.

Read more...

What is Art?

Nature is generally not considered art, but what is art? Art seems, at the bare minimum, to require an artist, and this artist must have the intention of creating the work as a piece of art work. For me, the sky is by far my favorite work of art. From my worldview, there is a creator, who painted the sky with his own finger tips with the intention of displaying his glory. In this instance, the creator has not only created the sky as a work of art, but has declared it so, saying that “the skies declare his (the creator’s) glory”. Our sky is one of the most incredible works of art because it is forever changing. It communicates the sentiments of our climate and weather, but it also can cause emotions such as wonder at a beautiful sunset, or the gloomy coziness of an overcast sky. In a world full of human-based art, the sky is arguably the most majestically fluid form of art in existence.

Look up, and admire the wonder of our God

nate.

Read more...