Minnesota Trip Part 2

Today I have three different assignments I could (or should) work on, but my mind is still processing a very full and rich weekend. That means I'm not going to study now, I'm going to spill my thoughts. Anywhere is better than nowhere, so I'm spilling my thoughts here on my blog. 

I have a second cousin who attended an Ambleside school in Minnesota. His parents hosted us (the Chens) and Shira in their home over the weekend. Last year I taught art in an Ambleside school, The Augustine Academy in Merton Wisconsin, and it was quite the learning experience for me. Ambleside Schools International take a very unique approach to education and learning, so it really has had a profound impact on the way I think about education, and even the way I complement people on their work.

In light of this, I asked my cousin's wife, Kim, to share some of the ways that having her son in an Ambleside school has affected her mindset on technology. I asked this because at The Augustine Academy we once read an article in teacher's meeting or training about this idea of creating more than we consume, especially in this area of consuming media and entertainment. I know that at the Augustine Academy there was an increased exposure to real life things, and what I mean by that is kids would go outside, collect things from the out-of-doors, and draw them. This is called nature study. They would also copy artwork from well known, classic artists. They would create "handwork", which included things like sewing, paper quilling, etc. I was really only involved in the art classes and didn't have extensive exposure to the curriculum as a whole, but I got some glimpses of these things and I liked what I saw.

Kim told me how their family has already had a similar philosophy on technology, but when their son entered an Ambleside school, it limited exposure to video games, smart phones, and technology in further ways. He struggled with dyslexia and in that my mom had plenty of rapport with Kim because my mom struggled to teach two dyslexic boys how to read and write. One brother took eight years to learn to read. Kim said that the handwork portion of the curriculum also helped quite a lot with her son's dyslexia because it required him to focus on just one point and to create.

On an even deeper level, Kim said that the mindset of having healthy relationships with those around her, having community, and the view of children as being whole and individual persons had quite an effect on their family and continues to do so today.

She then began to describe a book she has discovered called Rare Leadership that discusses some of these relational aspects of leading, leading with joy rather than with fear based motivation, etc. In this book the founders of Ambleside Schools International are actually described in their work to create a unique school setting where children learn for the joy of learning, not for competition, not for a good grade, but because learning is a worthy task to put oneself to. People, and therefore children, have a natural curiosity that can be fed and nurtured, and this is much of what Ambleside Schools seeks to do. They further have a mindset that even if something comes with greater difficulty to a student, they don't have a cop out or an excuse not to do the task before them, but rather they are trained to persevere even when "head and hand are tired".

So, Rex downloaded the Audible version of the book and we were listening to it in the car ride home. We are about half way through, but there is so much to think about that it will really take some processing and working through the topics before they are really grasped.

Minnesota Trip

Visiting my relatives in Minnesota is like visiting living history books.

You see, my grandpa's little sister, Joyce, died at the ripe old age of 91. My own Grandpa Arne is about 96, I believe, while is other sister, Gene, is about 94, and his older brother, Oscar, would be 97 had he lived this long.

The special thing about this trip is I got to take my new husband with me. We don't see this side of my family very often, they're far away and usually it requires some significant reason to drive 5 hours in the car. I don't know if it is because of his Taiwanese culture or simply his curiosity (of which he has plenty) but he wanted to understand how these relatives are related to us and the family tree at large. But with an explanation of the family tree comes also the stories from long ago.

There are the stories of my great aunt and uncle, Oliver and Gene, who served as missionaries for many years in Madagascar. Their son, in whose house we stayed, was born in Madagascar, and my mom remembers receiving the air gram announcing his birth. He and his wife are shown in the picture attached. I suppose she was about 10 at the time. Uncle Oliver was telling us stories about seeing crocodiles and shooting them. But apparently there was another story about a local approaching my uncle and telling him not to shoot a crocodile because it was an ancestor, and it was taboo to shoot it.

We heard stories of how Uncle Oliver's parents were born in Norway, his dad was a pastor in Montana, and then they moved to Madagascar as missionaries soon after Uncle Oliver's birth. They spoke Norwegian at home, and in Madagascar French is spoken as well as Malagasy, which means my Uncle would have been able to speak four, if not five, languages.

We saw a picture of my grandpa's family as children in the mountains with their mom, Esther Kvaalen (after whom I am named) looking at a bear cub. They lived to tell about it, but they probably should not have approached the bear so closely.

My own grandpa was not in Minnesota for the funeral, his health has been worsening, and so has grandma's. So it is hard or next to impossible for them to travel anymore. Regardless, my grandpa is going to a reunion of old Navy buddies in Florida by himself sometime soon. The family is not too pleased about him going alone, but I guess he's determined to go.

We also heard about my aunt Joyce who died. She was a doctor's wife, they had five kids, I believe, and she was a classy lady. Uncle Harley was a quiet type, he didn't speak a whole lot, but he was friendly and welcoming. He had been head of the radiology department at Mayo Clinic. Aunt Joyce was great at welcoming guests into the house, always serving breakfast (apparently on her China dishes, is what we heard) and always making the effort to be well dressed. In fact, Aunt Joyce had a way of always having her hair simply, but beautifully done, wearing something pretty, but classic and functional, and always she wore her coral colored lipstick. As her son said in the eulogy, she was not vain, but rather she made the effort to look good in order to show people respect.

She was always very personable, was curious about people, and often had many people in her home as guests. There are stories from her sons about going to the breakfast table and realizing that there was no other family at the table at the time besides themselves, and yet it didn't seem odd. After her husband passed away, she felt so alone in the big house that she decided to call up Mayo Clinic and ask if there were any medical students who needed a place to stay. It was said that Joyce had a way of collecting strays.

Although I have only visited Aunt Joyce a handful of times and the memories of our visits become increasingly foggy, her approach to beauty has been influential in my own philosophy of beauty. She wasn't into her looks, but she was certainly not a slob. She carried herself with class and dignity and poured into people with generosity.

This weekend was a blessing for my little family. With Rex along and his great skill at pulling out the stories people have to share, I probably got to learn so much more about my family than I could have without his being there.

More on Hermeneutical Spirals

When I'm studying for my classes, this is how I wish I could study:

But this is how I feel I need to study:

How many of you can relate to those assignments that don't touch on any of the things the reading or lecture made you ponder and think deeply about? That's me, most of the time. The reading brings up a lot of thoughts, but often they are not on the same topics as the ones my classes require me to write about.

I suppose it does require discipline to fulfill the assignment requirements, but it leaves my own curiosity stunted, sometimes.

Moving Overseas?

Well here's a whopper of a topic for you: moving overseas.

What does it entail, and what does it look like? Coincidentally, I can tell you a bit about it since I am in that process right now. I have also applied in the past for a five year visa in Romania, but someone else handled all the paperwork for me at that time, so I can't really describe to you what's involved. I can tell you it cost about $500, if I remember correctly.

Actually, a friend of mine is also in a similar scenario, so I think it would be fun to collaborate with her sometime and maybe write our best tips and pointers for the process as we're learning and/or after we've learned about it.

My husband and I are moving to Taiwan for a year, and my friend, Amy, is moving to Thailand for a semester abroad. The basic things required include airfare, housing, visa, and plans for what to do while there. Since visa is the part most interesting to me right now, that is what I will share about at this time.

The reasons Amy and I are travelling are completely different, she is going for school and I am planning to teach English in order to take my turn as bread-winner for our little home while Rex serves his country (which is mandatory, he doesn't have an option). After that we intend to return to the US for him to finish his PhD in electrical engineering.

For me this one is pretty interesting since I am applying for a residence visa as the spouse of a citizen. This involves kind of a three step process, and it can at times be a bit confusing. It's really very long and complicated to explain it, but if you're interested you can look at the end of this blog and see what is involved.

First we have to get me registered into the family registry in Taiwan as a Chen, then we have to apply for the visa, and then once in Taiwan we have to complete a third step.

Here's the odd thing, if you thought that it was expensive to buy flight tickets, that really only came to about half of the actual cost of going to Taiwan and coming back again. You see, we had to pay $565 to assemble and submit the documents necessary to apply for Rex's residency when we return to the US which will take probably a year to process, and it cost about $327 to assemble documents and submit them to apply for my Taiwanese residency. In addition it cost $127 to update my name on my passport after getting married. The flight tickets cost us $1200 for two, but that was only one-way. That means we have to buy tickets again to come back to the US. Hopefully we'll be able to fly at a cheaper time of year than the month of December.


APPENDIX: What does Taiwan want us to provide in order for me to live there?

First: we have to put me into the registry in Taiwan showing that because of marriage I am now part of the Chen family and receive a document back stating this to be the case. For that we needed to submit:
- a power of attorney form for his mom to do some official tasks for us
- our marriage certificate
- a translated, notarized Chinese marriage certificate
- a document authorizing the authenticity of all the attached documents
- a declaration of my taken Chinese name (陳瑞秋)
- a notarized copy of my passport
- a notarized copy of Rex's passport
- $60 money order
- self addressed priority mail envelope (costs $7)
And all this has to be mailed for about $7 to Chicago and then they have to forward it to Rex's mom (another mailing which costs something)

Second: we have to use the document received from Taiwan in conjunction with a plethora of other documents to apply for the actual visa. These include:
- A document from local law enforcement stating that I have no criminal background (costs $5)
- 3 passport photos of me (costs $10.50)
- Physical examination verifying I don't have syphilis or tuberculosis and that I have gotten vaccinations for measles and rubella (Costs $25, perhaps more)
- My passport (not a copy, this time) (It cost $127 to update my last name on that, by the way)
- Notarized copy of Rex's passport
- Taipei Economic and Cultural Office approved English marriage certificate
- Stamped return priority mail envelope (Costs $7)
- $190 money order

Third: We have to follow up with something within fifteen days of arriving in Taiwan. I can't remember what that is exactly, but I don't feel I have to understand that now because I'm working on understanding and completing the second step. Therefore, I will not bother to explain that to you, yet.