off to the east

This year we are going to Harrisburg PA for the church retreat. For some reasons, this year, I am more excited than the last one. Retreats remind me of my family travel ritual back home. I remember, every holidays, all six of us packed and thrown into Dad's Toyota Hardtop and drove south into the inner land of Sumatra. It was a bitter-sweet-and-sour, road trip experience. I hated the trip but cherished the moments spent with my Dad, saw his works, and the jungles. Allright, n'ko is here, so I got to go.

After the retreat, I will continue east to NY. I only want to see MoMA, Met, Gugenheim, and BH Photos store...will try to let you know how it goes. Happy Thanksgiving. Always give thanks to God for whatever you have and whereever you are in life.

Будимэн Вихария Тех

... in Russian

The Handshake

Jim Wallis reminds us the significance of an event that happened last week in American politics. It was the handshake in the White House between Bush and Obama. Most news agencies brushed over it as a regular 'great' news in the week already filled with 'great' stories in the presidential politics. The public in general, including me, absorbed that event just with an enlarged sense of curiosity and bits of admiration for their leaders.

That event, however, is much more than a symbolic gesture. It shows an example that many nations would probably envy. Will the highly powerful Commander in Chief in the country hand over his entrusted authority to the next person, even if that person has an opposing political orientation? It reflects the greater side of the American politics. A tradition that was set in precedent very early on in the 1800s, when John Adams had to transfer the presidency to Thomas Jefferson, a ferocious politcal opponent. That event reassures our hope that, no matter how ridiculous the political theatre may seemed, the human soul will and can prevail against the lust for power. So, like Wallis said, don't take the handshake for granted.

Read Wallis's latest blog here if you are interested.
http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3812

Nov 11 Pyramid

It's amazing that people still discover pyramids in Egypt today.

Russian names

I am glad today I got to learn some Russian from Kate. I have been wanting to know how to say properly the names of the famous Russians that I know. It's cool for to hear the names pronounced as they should be and not anglicized. I still need to practice many times or I will forget... Fyodor Dostoevky, Anton Chekov, Malevich, Dziga Vertov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Aleksandr Sokurov... with lots of emphasis on the RRRR, SHHH, FHHHH. Talking about Russian language, was it you, Sri, who told me a story one time about your friend who was studying in Moscow during their hard time in the 90s?

Yesterday, lunch time, I took them to short tour of the campus, primarily to see the archictecture school and the Wexner Center, two of my favorite contemporary buildings in town. Tomorrow will also be interesting as we will go to Akron to see Coop Himmelblau's museum. The last time I visited that building with John R when it was still under construction. Looking forward to it.

Will history or historical will?

Will the present become history or the history become a past? In the next few hours, the Americans will (or will not) engrave a new entry into a history of human accomplishments. If so, I will be so lucky to be in the midst of it, observing history in the making. It will be an interesting day at work today.