Back from Paradise

Just came back this morning from a great mini-vacation to HAWAII!



We did two things while we were there: Relax and eat. Goodness, we ate.

Here's a quick sampler platter around the island of Oahu:

Can't go to Hawaii without having a plate lunch. This place serves up some of the best. Rainbow Drive-Inn. Yum. Forget supersizing. Just ask them to pour brown gravy on just about anything. Double yum. The mix plate was a good way to go.



Then it's off to a pretty fancy dinner at Alan Wong's. The appetizer with the soup served in the martini glass just looks cool. It was tasty to boot. The foie gras sandwich sitting on top of the glass wasn't bad either.



Cool off a bit with a combination of a pineapple soft serve bowl courtesy of the Dole Plantation



And a shave ice from Matsumotos



Stop for a mid-drive snack at the Shrimp Shack. Coconut shrimp and pan-fried garlic and butter shrimp. Ooooh these were tasty!



And back to Honolulu for a couple of drinks at Duke's. Alinna will testify to the tastiness of the Lava Flow.

Reflections from Malaysia

I realize I haven't posted anything from my trip to Malaysia yet.

Here's a picture of my small group during my time there.

From left to right: Me, Gildo (Mozambique), Ranno (Estonia), Brad (mentor from USA), Renier (South Africa), Charles (Tanzania), Remo (India).

I think the picture best summarizes what I learned from the trip: There are cross-cultural missionaries from everywhere in the world. In one of the messages, I had learned that only 36% of the world's Christian missionaries come from the continent of North America. I had heard that the Christian movement was shifting away from the West, but I had no idea that it had already shifted significantly.

Otherwise, I met a lot of really important people. It seemed like everyone had a business card. "President of such-and-such ministries," "CEO of such-and-such company." There were just a lot of important people. So you can imagine my feelings of inadequacy when I would meet somebody new (which was all the time). After shaking the person's hand, he or she would had me their business card, I'd look at it, see that they were really important, and follow it up with, "Hang on, lemme make you my business card (which would be a piece of paper torn out of my notepad with my name and email address on it)." Oh well.

On a related note, I just finished writing a newsletter that talks briefly about the trip. If you'd like a copy, gimme a holla.

Nutzo Quarter

In my haste to graduate after the Summer of 2007, I had somewhat stupidly scheduled an insanely crazy schedule this quarter.

Early Church History
Hebrew
Grief Counseling
Communication
Field Education/Internship

This schedule isn't terribly bad... until you add the two distance learning classes that carry over from the summer. Basically, I should have finished these two classes during the summer, but I just didn't because it was summer (and partly because I had to prepare for the 10 message camp).

Systematic Theology
Biblical Foundations of Mission.

Seven classes. I don't think I've ever taken seven classes except maybe in high school. Just for some perspective, the "normal" seminary student takes three classes per quarter. Some of my classmates are starting to call me the "double seminarian."

My Mouse Is Broken!

For like a month now, my mouse has been broken. The little trackball thing in the middle wouldn't scroll down. But the curse has been lifted!



Many thanks to Jason for pointing me to the website that told me how to do it. The Apple site says to just use water on a rag. Lemme tell ya. IT DOESN'T WORK!

Get the isopropyl alcohol, put it on a paper towel. And just rub it on the trackball over and over again until it works again! Yahoo.

Let it Snow!

Yesterday, according to the news, it snowed in Tahoe! Five inches! Mid-October and it's snowing!

Anybody interested in making a trip out to Tahoe this year?