Flashbacks of EARC 2008

EARC 2008 (East Asia Regional Conference) was held in Tokyo, Japan this time. It was no small decision by the Japanese student movement (KGK) to host it because Tokyo is a very expensive city. So, after all the hard work, 400 students and staff came together from Aug 4-9.

14 countries. almost 10 languages. Imagine the cacophony. First of all, everyone learnt some Japanese phrases. For the record, the Japanese language is one of most difficult languages! So here we were, practising our Japanese to all and sundry. In some cases, eliciting an impressed 'Oooh'....'Ahh' from a japanese student. I found one of the easiest and most unthreatening gestures of friendship is to learn another's language.

What was the 'best' thing of EARC? Well, for me (and I suspect quite a few others), it was the food!!!! Hahaha. trust a Malaysian to place food at the top of the list. It was good cos half of the meal is buffet style. We choose a 'main course' (fish, chicken, noodles, curry,..etc) and then proceed to a buffet line of salads, drinks and dessert. One of our(the Malaysians) favourite dessert was this fruit cocktail (like what u get from the tin) and jelly. We told the Japanese that this fruit thingy is very expensive in Malaysia and they are so surprised. Here, they eat it like it comes by the bucket! What else to say but the fact that I don't have a photo of a meal before it is eaten will tell how much we enjoyed every meal. hahaha

The theme for this EARC was 'X-tension' : Let us start rebuilding. It's taken from Nehemiah.

There were 4 theme talks and 3 plenaries.

Don't worry. Not going to share every talk with you. But I would like to say that EARC struck a painful chord in me. After a few days, I realised that I found it hard to just sit down with a stranger and just 'bridge the gap'. It was a harder than I thought. And also, I realised, part of me was actually afraid of it. Afraid of opening myself up to rejection, afraid of someone not able to accept me as I am. I observed with envy some others who could just sit down, and be completely at ease with a stranger and just strike the right topic for a conversation. It was painful because I had prided myself somewhat (in the past) that I could click easily with people.

One of the most difficult part about this conference was the fact that the bathrooms were in the Japanese style ie..public bath. Each bathroom is supposed to be able to take in up to 4 people bathing simultaneously! Can you believe it, every night, when the Malaysian delegation (8 of us) meet up for supper, this would be the hottest topic. Started whenever someone asked "so how or who did you bathe with" that day. Hahahah..... (it was really a stressful part of the conference for us. I devised a way for 2 people to use the bathroom and not catch a glimpse of any flesh other than our own!)The Malaysian Delegation with our own conference Tshirts

The Japanese were trying to tell the whole conference how to use the bathroom, toilet, there were time restrictions (can only bathe from 5-11pm)....which many didn't appreciate since it's summer and temperature is 33 degrees and much more humid than Malaysia....

This, plus some other cultural differences which did not make sense to me, actually made me angry. I saw that if every party, were willing to give and take, then the 'grey areas' or 'middle ground' would be a larger area than if we were to just draw a line separating the different cultures.

So, one of my discoveries in EARC is 'my heart is not big enough'. Not big enough to surrender my own preferences, not big enough to love and embrace differences yet. How then to bring His Gospel to Samaria and to the ends of the earth? And if I look closer to home, it has been a recent struggle for me to think about going for 'SWEEP' (Social Work Embracement and Exposure Program) next year. I have hardened and closed my heart to those who are 'different'.

Rather a depressing conclusion to EARC huh. But well, I think God has brought me all the way there(I initially balked at the expense and effort to go for it) and this is what He has shown me. I will dwell on it.

And yes I questioned the need for me to attend this conference initially. The expense, the mafan-ness(visa application, flight arrangements....etc), and I personally doubted whether I'd be able to raise the funds. But God came through. A colleague gave me the final push to decide to go, and many of you out there shamed my doubts away by giving generously. I think you must have been 'convinced' to a certain extent to give as you did, and I wondered whether I was equally convinced in going. In the end, I still think it was a lot of expense,(my kiam siap-ness asserting itself), but I think He had a purpose.

So, thank you, to those who not just gave financially, but also encouraged this journey. These 2 guys were 5 stories high and found a cute way to get us to prepare for the photo!