based on a true story
Johanna(my wife) and I had a 4 week vacation in Asia this summer, here are 3 pics from the trip. You can find more photos if interested at my facebook profile.
Abduls place in the Perintian Islands off the east coast of Malaysia. We stayed here a week.
Mong noi, a small village a few hours north of Luang prabang in Laos. This pic is taken from where we ate our dinner every evening.
This is from inside the famous Angkor Wat, close to Siem Riep in Cambodia.
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In the far east for a month,so there wont be much stuff from me here. But if you know of anything I should not miss in Thailand, laos, Cambodia or Malaysia let me know.
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I have been reading and following the Catholic priest; George V. Coyne lately. His thoughts and ideas on God are very similar to those of Irenaeus. I propose in another blog post, that this is a Christianity which was lost to the dominant type A and B theologies. Read more about this here.
Coyne says the following:
“Religious believers must move away from the notion of a dictator God, a Newtonian God who made the universe as a watch that ticks along regularly.”
He proposes to describe God’s relationship with the universe as that of a parent with a child, with God nurturing, preserving and enriching its individual character. “God should be seen more as a parent or as one who speaks encouraging and sustaining words.”
He stresses that the theory of Intelligent Design diminishes God into “an engineer who designs systems rather than a lover.”
“God in his infinite freedom continuously creates a world which reflects that freedom at all levels of the evolutionary process to greater and greater complexity,” he said. “God lets the world be what it will be in its continuous evolution. He does not intervene, but rather allows, participates, loves.”
Richard Dawkins has a great talk with coyne which is posted on youtube. I recommend watching seven parts of this youtube series.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po0ZMfkSNxc
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjjDDhE8R5k
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyySnUqCug
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEmnhmAwPM
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl1xmkVOyRw
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwDTBW8oxug
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qPHIS3n7Lw
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I saw a documentary about Amos Oz tonight. You can watch it here.
He says the following towards the end of the movie;
“we live now in a world where people work harder than they should be working in order to make more money than they really need, in order to buy things they don’t really want in order to impress people they don’t really like. this will lead to a certain reaction, and this reaction will brings back some kind of voluntary collectivist spirit.”
Amos Oz
Read more about this remarkable writer here, and read an interview with newsweek here.
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A recent article in the Economist writes that matters might not be getting better in Africa, than claimed and hoped for. Here is one claim from the article.
“the regional figure for government effectiveness has deteriorated some 17%, as has regulatory quality and the control of corruption. Africa’s performance as regards rule of law has barely changed since 1996.”
I lived a number of years in Cape Town, South Africa. During this time I also visited many of the neighboring countries like Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Malawi to name a few.
Last year I went back to my former home, Cape town for a 6 month visit. I spent some of that stay, visiting some of the projects I formerly was a part of. The visit took me back to khayelitsha, the biggest township outside Cape Town. As always, the contrast between the luxury, a big part of Cape Town represents comes to life driving down the freeway from the Airport, and into the city center. This drive also reminded me of the contrasts between Khayelitsha, and Malawi. A contrast between two “inhuman ways to live life”.
The contrast between rich and poor, is apparent in a place like Cape Town. But the contrast is also apparent between the poor in Cape Town and the poor in Malawi. I remember stepping of the plane in Lilongwe, northern Malawi, seeing poverty, death, sickness all around. It was in stark contrast to how life should be; vibrant and alive.
The question I bear with me to this day is this, what can I actually do here? I am a rich white male, from one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I represent resources, and possibilities that certainly should inspire me to do something. Bringing Malawi with me home is certainly not an option. How could my friends in Malawi and myself share anything?
I soon found out we had a lot in common, and there was lots to share. Hope is one such thing. Any human being, in or outside Malawi, or any other developing African nation, can contribute to change.
Several sources develop this idea well, the Boston globe is one example, they write,
“The number of democratically elected governments has risen sharply in the past decade, and the number of violent conflicts has dropped.”
Some ways that have helped me be involved in projects, or lives of specific people are the following.
Going there, visiting Malawi for instance, has been eyeopening for me. My travels have taught me what the gap looks like. It has taught me, this is not what life should look like. It has taught me that the world is a big “boarder free” landscape, given to all of us. Not to me in Norway, or Thabo in Malawi. We share humanity and should together pursue making this place a better place for us all.
Friendships and interactions with foreigners in Sweden and Norway have also been important in understanding this. It has given me contact and opportunities to interact and take part in projects and life in more than 70 nations.
I am still learning what it means to be a part of helping the world “one person at a time”, or like Obama recently said in a speach in England, “we can not solve the world problems on our own”. I don’t completely like the taste of the word “help” always, but I realize I often need the help myself. The sharing of life is not a utopia, despite people doing things we find strange, unlawful or unacceptable.
What are your thoughts, do I have any business whatsoever putting my feet in Malawi again? And how can we make Africa a better place?
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Munich Airport
Media (like Norwegian aftenposten or, Swedish dagens industri) all over the world have commented on the fact that “skytrax” once again have voted the top 10 best airports in the world.
This year the list was as follows:
1. Hong Kong 2. Singapore Changi 3. Seoul Incheon
4. Kuala Lumpur KLIA 5. Munich 6. Kansai
7. Copenhagen 8. Zürich 9. Helsingfors 10. Cape Town
I have been to 8 of the 10 and cannot understand how an airport like Cape town international even made the top 30. Its quite small, and certainly far from the standards of others on the list. Bad internet connection, a small amount of eating and shopping options, not great check in and info structures. I first thought it was a spelling mistake with the newer and far better Johannesburg airport in South Africa, which I now realize it is not. How Cape town is going to handle the Fifa 2010 world cup is a mystery to me.
Seoul Incheon
Hong Kong is close to being a worthy winner. I have traveled through the airport several times, but what would takes it off the top in my books, is the fact that its too big and impersonal. Its super modern and people are super friendly but everything nearly turns static because of the perfectness. That is also where the Kuala lumpur and the Singapore airports miss their mark.
Airports like Munich or Copenhagen are more in my taste, traveling through them both last month was an enjoyable experience, the staff were friendly and both airports have great atmosphere (esp Copenhagen). I would even like to put Schiphol in Amsterdam on the top 10, and a couple American airports.
So what is my favorite? Well it is actually Oslo, Gardemoen, Norway. I know I am a bit bias, being Norwegian, but it is a magnificent building with a complimentary great atmosphere. Maybe because its close to home?
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