Earning Commissions on the 'Great Commission'

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"Earning Commissions on the 'Great Commission'" is an article in Friday's (11/13/09) Wall Street Journal that gives an interesting take on missionary-entrepreneurs. As the article describes them, this breed of missionary is not the same as an entrepreneurial missionary. An entrepreneurial missionary is one who takes an entrepreneurial approach or who applies entrepreneurial skills to evangelism and church planting. My observation from research, study and 20+ years of overseas and domestic mission work is that almost ever successful evangelist or church planter takes an entrepreneurial approach to what he or she does. [A little bit of digression at this point: When I was on the mission field in Latin America, I found that the Master of Business Administration work I did before going to the field was as helpful, perhaps even more helpful, as the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry work I had done. On the other hand, in teaching the occasional business course as I do now, I find that my experience in overseas church planting is about as helpful as anything I studied in my M.B.A. program. Fields of study and practical experience often intersect in surprising ways.]

According to the WSJ article, missionary-entrepreneurs are individuals who use their business expertise to start for-profit businesses in other countries. They differ from the countless missionaries who have started non-profit health and welfare oriented organizations overseas in that the businesses the "business-planters" start are genuine, for-profit enterprises with one of their goals being that of turning a profit. On the other hand, while this "Business as Mission" movement stems from the ever increasing globalization of markets and opportunities in international business, those who start businesses under this new paradigm are as interested in impacting peoples' lives for good as they are in making money. Another contrast with a well-known model is that these mission-minded business people are not tentmakers in the mode of the apostle Paul who gives us the model for bi-vocational ministry (supporting yourself with a "secular" job while you pursue "ministry" in a traditional setting). For missionary-entrepreneurs, their business is their ministry and it opens up to them new ways of being missional.

I first came across the missionary-entrepreneur concept while I was a missionary in Guatemala. A fellow-missionary loaned me a tape (back in the days before CD's and MP3's) of lectures given by Tony Campolo in which he described his vision of newly-minted graduates of bachelor's and master's level business programs taking their skills overseas to start businesses that would have a mission impact. I remember well how I was so moved by one of the tapes that I was listening to as I drove that I had to pull the car over to the side of the road because I couldn't pay attention to my driving and continue listening to the tape.

Campolo's challenge to students went something along the line of instead of going to work for a big, international corporation that really doesn't need your talent, consider going to work someplace that desperately needs the business smarts you can offer. That is the kind of challenge I hope our students at Southern Nazarene University hear from our International Studies Program (ISP) and from SNU's Morningstar Institute. As one of the directors of the ISP, I know that too often I'm so immersed in the details of making sure students are fulfilling course requirements, preparing for their required overseas semester and scheduling the classes they need that I neglect to challenge them directly to consider using their interests in international work and the skills they are developing at SNU in ways that are creative, authentic and clearly missional.

Southern Nazarene University's International Studies Program is a fantastic way for Christian students to prepare to do what Tony Campolo challenged his students to do or to establish the kind of business that Dwight Martin, founder of Thailand-based data processor Pac Tec Asia Co. Ltd. has. Martin "employs Buddhists and Christians in his seven-person company," which converts paper documents into digital ones for Western companies. He then uses his profits “to build digital libraries…for pastors and teachers in Thailand.”

ATA in NYC!

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As I write this, I am sitting in my room on the 21st floor of the New York Marriott Marquis. The hotel is located on Broadway in the heart of Times Square. My room is not on the Broadway side of the hotel, so I can't look out on Times Square from my window. However, I can see some of the theaters from my window. I'm planning on taking in a show or two while I'm here.

I'm in NY to attend the annual convention of the American Translators Association (ATA), which is also a celebration of the ATA's 50th anniversary. I love attending ATA conventions. For one thing, as I make my way through the mass of people during coffee breaks, I hear more languages than I can keep track of. Often, I have no idea what language is being spoken when I overhear a conversation. It must be kind of like going to a U.N. function. I love it. However, the best part of attending ATA conventions is the abundance of very practical workshop sessions they offer. The downside to that abundance is that you have to make hard choices. Typically there are 14-16 sessions running simultaneously at each time slot. For instance, the sessions start on Thursday and I am already faced with 54 different workshops I could attend just today. Multiply that by 3 (the convention runs through Saturday) and you can see how frustrating it is not to be able to be in two places at the same time. I am skipping the time slots devoted to plenary ATA business sessions so that I can get some other work done (like write this blog post), which leaves me the opportunity to attend 10 sessions over 3 days. (No evening sessions other than opening and closing receptions, which gives time for exploring, seeing shows and generally just getting out and about.) In the past, I usually have concentrated on the Spanish sessions (sessions are categorized by language and by topic). This year, I am focusing all 10 workshop sessions I plan to attend on translation pedagogy or on sessions that in one way or another relate to Southern Nazarene University's B.A. in Spanish-English Translation.

Last night at the opening reception I spoke with a current student and a recent graduate of Kent State's M.A. in translation program. It was interesting to hear a little about that program and listen to the students' responses to some of my questions. One of the insights I walked away with is that real-world internships are very important in translator education. At Southern Nazarene University, we have an internship built into the program. However, I also want to continue exploring ways to involve students in real world translation scenarios from the very beginning of their translation studies. I'm looking forward to the rest of the convention and to what I can get out of it that I can take back to my students.

On another subject, if you haven't read Erin's and Rhea's latest blog posts from Costa Rica, check them out at http://erin-fitz.blogspot.com and http://rheaincostarica.blogspot.com.

Finally, congratulations to two of our Spanish majors (both double majors in Spanish and another area) who are studying abroad next semester. Paul James is going to Costa Rica and Stephanie Di Pego is going to Russia. ¡Felicitaciones a los dos!

¡Nicaragua!

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If you are not following Erin's, Destry's & Rhea's blogs from the Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica, you are missing out on some tremendous experiences. I just read Rhea's post about her time in Nicaragua. Her post shows how study abroad experiences start changing your life long before you get back to the U.S. Read it at http://rheaincostarica.blogspot.com/.

Are you a nitwitted monolingual boor with overweight kids?

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The question is mine. The quote is from an Op Ed piece by Lisa Degliantoni on Newspaper Tree (http://www.newspapertree.com/opinion/4215-degliantoni-your-parents-not-telemundo-will-make-you-multilingual). In a very personal and opinionated way, which makes for entertaining reading, Lisa states her case that everybody in the U.S. should embrace bilingualism. She jumps on monolinguals who think that neither they nor their children should bother to learn another language, and she compares them to parents who never teach their children that apples and exercise are good and junk food and sitting on the couch all day are bad.

Lisa outlines her own linguistic and cultural heritage involving her maternal grandparents who immigrated from France. Although Lisa's grandmother spoke French at work, home and in her social life, and barely spoke English, she taught very little French to Lisa's mother. Lisa's mother, in turn, did not teach French to Lisa. Lisa says, "[B]y the time my generation came around we knew no French and embraced the culture in only three ways; we celebrated Bastille Day, drank red wine and went to annual parties at the Alliance Francais."

Lisa now finds herself in El Paso and surrounded by people who take speaking two languages fluently as a natural occurrence. It is a natural occurrence for them because they grew up speaking two languages as part of the environment in which they lived. Lisa says that she is trying to rectify her monolingual heritage by studying Spanish at a community college in El Paso. I wish her luck.

One of the most important tasks that I am trying to accomplish at Southern Nazarene University is to be a part of the cure for the monolingualism that infects our campus and campus culture. I say part of the cure because a lot of other people are making great strides forward. The intensive English programs for foreign students help those who want to study at SNU and need to develop the English skills required for university-level study. From my perspective, it is just as important that the intensive English programs make possible a multilingual presence on campus, a presence that challenges English-speaking students to open up to a large part of the non-English-speaking world. The International Studies Program (ISP) attracts foreign students who come to SNU to study and who also make a multilingual and multicultural impact on campus. The ISP also attracts U.S students who want to be part of the global community and are willing to make the commitment to develop the business, history, political science and language & culture skills they need to compete and contribute in that community. I'm also very excited about Dr. Don Dunnington's new role in promoting global engagement by all SNU students. Great things are going to happen as part of that initiative.

We haven't found the cure for SNU's monolingualism, but we're making progress, and its fun to be part of the cure.

JUST SAY "NO" TO MONOLINGUALISM. LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE.

Latin American adventures!

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It has been a good spring, summer and now fall for Southern Nazarene University students studying in Latin America. In the spring, Rachel Ekdahl studied at the Latin American Studies Program (LASP) in Costa Rica and Rachel Cadwallader, Abby McCrummen, Lindsey Rochester and Mat Wood studied at the Nazarene International Language Institute (NILI) in Ecuador. The students at NILI were joined by Dr. Howard Culbertson who spent a sabbatical semester teaching a class and studying Spanish at NILI. Then Kyle Sides studied at NILI over the summer. Now we have four more students at LASP for the fall semester. Erin Fitzgerald, Destry Howland, Sarah Stocks and Rhea Woodcock arrived in San José, Costa Rica, just a few days ago. I heard that at least one of them had a little bit of an adventure getting there but finally made it.

For any SNU students interested in studying at LASP (or just thinking about it), this semester is a great opportunity to keep up with some first hand accounts of what it is like to study there. Erin and Rhea are writing blogs (http://erin-fitz.blogspot.com/ and http://rheaincostarica.blogspot.com/) and Destry has an open Facebook group going called Destry in Costa Rica. Follow Erin's and Rhea's blogs and Destry's group and keep up with the adventure.

Education with an expiration date

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This morning I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that takes on college rankings (Those Little Lists: What College Rankings Tell Us,). The impetus for the article was U.S. News & World Report's newest rankings of universities and liberal arts colleges. Not surprisingly, Harvard is ranked #1. What I particularly liked about the article is the basic question it asked. What is most important to consider when thinking about the real value of a college or university: social status, starting salary or the content of an education? Of course, the article came down on the side of content. It also came down on the side of a more traditional liberal arts content. The article ended with this: "The irony of modern education is that the faster the world moves the more value there is in the dusty old undergraduate curriculum. Train for a specific technology and chances are it will be obsolete before the ink is dry on the diploma. Indulge in the academic fad of the moment and you may find it hard to change your bell-bottomed intellectual wardrobe when styles shift. Who wants an education with an expiration date?"

I think Southern Nazarene University holds up well to an analysis like this. It does a good job of combining a strong emphasis on a liberal arts core curriculum and innovation and responsiveness to changing educational insights and career opportunities. Thinking specifically about our GoGlobal majors at SNU, the International Studies Program provides a strong grounding in three areas that are vital to any student interested in pursuing an international oriented career: business fundamentals, global historical, political and geographical understanding, and language and cultural competency. That is not an education with an expiration date. Our new Spanish-English Translation major is a direct response to globalization and the accompanying demand for global communication. It is an innovative major that up to now is available in only a few schools at the undergraduate level. However, it is also built on a foundation of excellence in the core competencies of developing high-level reading, writing and research skills in both English and Spanish. That is not the kind of intellectual wardrobe that will need changing with shifting styles.

McNair Scholars Program

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A couple of days ago in my GoGlobalatSNU blog/FB note, I wrote about how pleased I was to teach at a university that helps women prepare for leadership roles in society. Southern Nazarene University has created programs designed to help a variety of students, both women and men, achieve all that they can. One of those programs that I think is fantastic is the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program. The McNair Program is designed for first generation university students. Specifically, it is for students who meet the following criteria:

*U.S. citizen or permanent resident
*First generation and income eligible student OR a member of an underrepresented group: African American, Hispanic, Native American or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
*Must have completed 56 credits by the time of initial entry into the program
*Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of: 3.0
*Must express a desire to attain a Ph.D

McNair scholars enjoy benefits like

*conducting original research under a faculty mentor ($2,800 stipend included);
*having the opportunity to present their research at a McNair Research Conference or a professional conference in their discipline;
*receiving tutoring and academic assistance;
*participating in graduate school workshops and seminars;
*going on graduate school visits;
*receiving help with GRE preparation;
*receiving graduate school fee waivers; and
*participating in special cultural activities.

Nicki Pope was a 2008-2009 McNair Scholar and a May 2009 graduate with a Spanish major. Nicki has been accepted into a master's program in translation and is the first SNU graduate to pursue a graduate degree in translation. The McNair Program was an encouragement for her to go on and pursue graduate study.

Any SNU student who meets the criteria listed above should check out the McNair Program and see if it is right for them. Visit the McNair website at http://www.snu.edu/mcnair.

Bright and capable women

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Yesterday at our church we heard a powerful testimony from Maziel Dani. Maziel is a Latina from Puerto Rico who is studying at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth. In her testimony, Maziel spoke about the support and encouragement she has received from First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, to fulfill her call to ministry. She contrasted the support from FBC OKC with the lack of support she received from another church where she had been a member. In that previous church, it was made clear to her that a woman’s ministry in the church could only be exercised within narrowly defined limits, limits that did not include pastoral ministry. I am very happy to be part of a church that supports women in responding to God’s call to ministry without the culture-bound, artificial barriers erected by so many other churches.

Thinking about our church’s role in Maziel’s journey leads me to think about Southern Nazarene University’s role in helping women fulfill God’s calling in their lives. I am also very happy to teach at a university that takes women seriously and helps them prepare for the leadership roles to which God is calling them. The women students in my own department at SNU (Modern Languages) are some of the brightest and most capable women with whom I have worked anywhere. I truly believe that God has called them to make significant contributions to society and that under God’s leadership they will make a major difference for good in our world. Some of them will do that within careers that are directly church and mission related. I think most of them will make their contributions outside of traditional ministry related careers. Whatever their career paths, my hope is that SNU will always be a significant part of their response to God’s call to minister wherever they are and whatever they do.

Don't study Spanish at Southern Nazarene University!

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That's right. You read it here. Don't study Spanish at Southern Nazarene University! Studying Spanish will ruin your ability to read with an uncritical eye. For instance, this morning I was reading an online New York Times article about Mexican corridos in Los Angeles (http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/travel/16corridos.html?ref=global-home). At the bottom of the first page was a short corrido with an accompanying translation and I had a hard time getting past the Spanish errors (such as "vez" instead of "ves" and "cayo" instead of "callo"). That's sad because I need to be able to overlook what some would call minor errors and go on to enjoy the rest of the article. Nevertheless, I get stuck on the errors and hear in my mind the accusation, "Surely the New York Times can afford to pay a bilingual proofreader who can catch things like that!"

In our Spanish related majors (Spanish, Spanish-English Translation, International Studies, Latino Ministry/Latino Studies) at SNU we concentrate on producing excellent writers in Spanish who die a thousand deaths when they let grammar errors slip into their writings. (O.K., maybe that's an exaggeration; however, we do concentrate on producing highly competent writers who avoid silly errors like "vez" instead of "ves" and "cayo" instead of "callo".) So, I'm warning you, if you want to be able to speak, read and write Spanish without noticing errors, don't study Spanish at SNU.

P.S. Don't let my ranting keep you from reading the article (follow the link above). It is a good article about "narcocorridos" in some sectors of the Los Angeles Latino community.

Bilingual babies and beyond

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This morning, I tweeted on twitter and updated on facebook about an interesting article on examiner.com with the title "Reasons why you should raise a bilingual child" (http://www.examiner.com/x-17553-Denver-Bilingual-Families-Examiner~y2009m7d29-It-cant-hurt). I want to follow up on one statement the author of the article made. In speaking about her desire for her child to be multilingual, she said, "It can't hurt [emphasis in original]." She went on to say, "It hasn't hurt me. On the contrary, being a bilingual journalist has opened twice as many doors as being a monolingual one would ever have!"

This simple statement about doors being opened to a bilingual journalist reinforces one of the points I have been making to students interested in Southern Nazarene University's Spanish-English Translation major. SNU's translation major prepares students for a variety of careers in addition to translation and interpreting. I think the translation major would make an excellent course of study for anyone interested in journalism. What is often not appreciated about translators is that above all else, good translators are good writers. One of our major emphases in the translation major is to make sure our students write well in English and in Spanish. It is not enough to write well in one of the languages. We expect our students to write well in both languages. Also, we do not just want our translation majors to be able to churn out good term papers in Spanish and English and nothing else. They have to be able to write in a variety of styles for many different contexts.

I am convinced that being able to write well in both languages and being able to understand fully and speak competently in both languages will open doors for students in all sorts of fields where highly skilled written and oral communication is an essential element of the job, such as journalism, editing, public relations, international business, international project management, translation (of course) and other fields.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the details of SNU's translation major at http://goglobalatsnu.net/translation.htm.

Another reason to hate spammers

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This morning I posted on Twitter and Facebook a link to a ZDNet article (“Spammers go multilingual, use automatic translation services,” http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3813) about how spammers are using automatic translation services to go multilingual. Globally, about 95% of spam is in English. Now, with automatic translation services, spammers can produce their spam in English and then translate it into German (46.5% of spam in Germany is in German) or French (53% of spam in France is in French). The ZDNet article shows how spammers are aware that non-English speakers are more likely to respond if the pitch is in their first language rather than in English. Give them credit for a global awareness that is only recently being shown by a lot of others who want to play on the global stage.

The writer of the article made an interesting observation. He said, “Despite the easy [sic] of use and free nature of automatic translation services, their use is prone to decline due to the questionable quality of the translated messages, which could potentially undermine the efforts the spammers are putting in the first place. Cultural diversity cannot be achieved automatically….” I am not too sure about the probability of decline due to concerns about quality. “Phishers” seem more attuned to quality issues. After all, their game depends on the quality being good enough to snare unwary victims. Spammers, on the other hand, seem more focused on quantity. If you can pump out enough of the stuff, someone is bound to click on a link.

I particularly appreciate the last comment of the writer: “Cultural diversity cannot be achieved automatically.” I’ll add, neither can it be achieved easily. It requires hard work and a commitment to keep working at it. It can also be exciting, a little scary at times, and lots and lots of fun. In the end, however, it is all worthwhile.

From QERC to Viva Oklahoma: It's been a good summer.

It’s been over three months since I’ve done anything with my blog. (By the way, this blog posts to FB as a note. If you read it on FB and want to check out the blog, go to http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com.) By mid-April, I was so overwhelmed with all that was going on that I decided something had to give or I would go bonkers, and the blog was one of those “somethings” that had to give. Now that the end of summer and the start of the new school year are in sight, I think it’s time I get back to blogging about SNU’s great opportunities for going global.

In April, I went to Costa Rica to spend several days working with SNU students studying at QERC. It was my second visit to QERC. What a great place to spend a semester and what a great opportunity for SNU student! Want to know more about QERC? Check out http://www.snu.edu/qerc.

As soon as the semester was done, I went to Austin for the annual meeting of the Association of Language Companies (http://www.alcus.org), which is a trade association for language service providers. Of all that I learned at the meeting, the one item that will have the most impact on my teaching at SNU is the awareness of the growing impact of technology on the translation and interpreting industry. That means that more of that element must be integrated into SNU’s Spanish-English Translation major. (Dicho sea de paso, which is Spanish for “by the way,” I’m writing this blog post on a MacBook Pro, a first for me. Part of integrating more technology into our translation major means accepting that not every translator prefers a PC. Life would be some much simpler if that were so!) I’ve also subscribed to the trade magazine Multilingual Computing and will have copies of that magazine available for SNU students.

Soon after my Austin trip, I went to Boston to attend the annual meeting of the New England Translator’s Association (http://netaweb.org/cms). Why go all the way to Boston to attend a translator’s meeting? #1, it had some great speakers scheduled. #2, my two daughters live in Boston. (Which reason do you think was the most important?) One of the downsides of being located in Oklahoma is the lack of local professional development opportunities for translators and interpreters. There are enough translators and interpreters in Oklahoma that we should be able to get together and start doing some local continuing education. This is a project I hope to work on during the year. If we get something going, it will provide support for aspiring translators and interpreters as well as for those who are already working in language services.

This past weekend (07/25), the company in which I am a partner (http://www.multilingualservice.com) had a booth at the Viva Oklahoma Hispanic Exposition in Oklahoma City. I have some photos of our booth on my FB wall if you’re interested. I think it was a successful effort for us. We even got to pitch our services to Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma’s Attorney General and aspirant to the governor’s office. Perhaps we’ll get to translate some material for his campaign.

Speaking of translating for prominent events, our company will do some translation for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s “Arte en la Charerria: The Artisanship of Mexican Equestrian Culture” exhibit, October 10, 2009-January 3, 2010 (http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/event.aspx?ID=127). The museum description says, “Arte en la Charrería contains more than 120 examples of the excellent craftsmanship and design distinctive to the Mexican cowboy. The exhibition introduces audiences to the work of talented Mexican artisans who manufacture the articles and costumes that embellish and distinguish the charro tradition.” A great opportunity to see a little of Mexico’s influence on the U.S. cowboy culture.

lolcat Bible Translation project

One of our Go Global majors at SNU is the Spanish-English Translation major. Most people probably don't think of studying translation as fun, nor do they think that being a translator can be a fun job. After all, all you do is read what someone else wrote and then write it in a different language, right? However, I have proof that translators can have fun too! Check out the lolcat Bible translation of Genesis at http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1. There's even an audio version at http://vonkempelen.com/audio/job-16604918-0.wav. Translators just wanna have fun!

Multilingual entrepreneurialism

I recently read an interesting article on the Fort Worth Business Press web site (http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=9962). Catholic Charities in Fort Worth has built up an impressive translation and interpreting capability in response to its refugee and immigrant ministries. A major part of working with immigrant populations is helping them communicate as they navigate various federal, state and local government, legal and social service offices. According to the article, Catholic Charities’ translation/interpretation service handles about 325 appointments a month and is able to provide interpreting in 72 languages. It currently works with about 125 trained interpreters. Now Catholic Charities is using that same resource to help provide financial support for its ministry. The agency recognizes that there is a big demand in the business sector for translation and interpreting services in the Fort Worth-Dallas area. Thus, with a big demand in the market and a well-developed language service capability, Catholic Charities’ Translation & Interpretation Network (TIN) is launching out to become a major language service provider to the business community as well as to immigrant populations. Ninety percent of the fees collected by the service go to support the work of Catholic Charities.

What is happening in Fort Worth is a good example of using entrepreneurial skills and multicultural awareness to support a valuable outreach ministry. I wonder if SNU’s translation major could not also use a little entrepreneurial skill to provide outreach. My experience as a translator in Oklahoma City shows me that there are many immigrants who need simple documents translated (birth certificates, marriage licenses, school diplomas) but who do not have the money that most professional translators would charge for such service. My experience as a translation company owner shows me that translation of personal documents for fees that most immigrants can pay is at best a break-even proposition. However, what if we set up a translation lab at SNU and used advanced translation students, under the supervision of a professional translator, to provide low-priced translations of personal documents? Our students would gain valuable experience and we would provide a much-needed service. Think about it.

Eating empanadas and drinking mate in Oklahoma

It seems that the more I think about helping Southern Nazarene University students go global, the more aware I become of the global opportunities on and around our own campus. Just last week while talking with a student who will enter SNU in the fall, I mentioned to her that several of the majors in the Modern Languages Department came from other countries. I was trying to help her see the opportunities she would have on campus to get to know and study with international students. Part of learning to go global locally is learning with and from students who bring completely different perspectives and experiences to SNU because they come from contexts that are quite different from those of most of our students.

The next day, I met for an hour with the Chinese husband of one of our international graduate students. In our conversation, he asked me what I thought about Tibet. My Chinese friend was worried because his father travels frequently to Tibet for work and he had heard about violence directed at Chinese in Tibet. I responded that I only knew what I read in the newspapers and heard on the news, but that it seemed to me that Tibetans were just asking for what most other people want, that is, the freedom to be themselves and to govern themselves. He said that it was a confusing situation for him because all that he knew about Tibet was what the Chinese government allowed to be published. Since arriving in the U.S. in January, he has heard views that give a different side of the story. He is also learning what it means to go global by having to evaluate perspectives that bump up against his own. Later on that same day, I spent forty-five minutes with a student from Honduras and then ended my afternoon by speaking for an hour with a student from Mexico. It was a very international day for me without ever leaving campus.

I attended a meeting tonight (Saturday) that reminded me again of the global opportunities in our backyard. The church of which I am a member is making plans to start a new Hispanic congregation. The new congregation will be led by a bilingual/bicultural couple. The husband is from Argentina and the wife is from Oklahoma, although she has lived in Argentina and speaks Spanish with a decidedly Argentine accent. (I am definitely going to have to learn to speak “argentino” and drink “mate”. I already got a little practice being argentino because the hosts served us Argentine empanadas…very good!) What sets this planned congregation apart from the other new Hispanic church starts in which I have participated is that it is planning to be a bicultural/bilingual work from the start. The group wants to do this because many Hispanic families include family members who are not comfortable using Spanish. They may be children of Spanish-speaking parents or non-Hispanic spouses of Hispanic immigrants or second-generation Hispanic adults who want to maintain their ties to the Hispanic community but who cannot communicate well in Spanish. Thus, when we start our home groups, we are going to be ready to have two groups meeting in the same home at the same time, one group using English and one using Spanish, if we need to.

I am excited about being a part of the new Anglo-Hispanic congregation. I am also excited about being part of a university that offers its students such great opportunities for broadening their understanding of the world while they are on campus as well as when they study or participate in summer programs abroad. What a great place to study! What a great place to teach!

P.S. The NY Times is running an interesting series about an Iraqui translator/interpreter who has immigrated to the U.S. Check it out at http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/leaving-iraq-an-iraqi-christian/.

I love hot links!

O.K. The title for this blog is a tease. I’m not talking about the kind of hot links you eat (although I do love those). I’m talking about the kind that you click on from your Internet browser. I usually blog (goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com) about global opportunities at SNU or going global locally (i.e., global issues in the Bethany/OKC area). With this blog post, I thought I would just share some links that should be of interest to novice translators, aspiring translators and translation students. At the end, I’ll also include a link to a funny take on Twitter as well as a link to Pat Buchanan putting his foot in his mouth on Hispanics in the U.S. If those last two links sound more interesting than the translation links, just skip to the end of the blog.

Yesterday I spoke with a student who is very interested in translation. I always like talking to students who are interested in translation. In the short time that I had with the student, I answered some questions and tried to explain a little bit about career opportunities in translation. That’s the kind of talk you can’t do very well in a few minutes. So, my suggestion to students (and others) interested in translation is to check out some translator/translation blogs. A good place to start would be with Masked Translator at maskedtranslator.blogspot.com/. I don’t know who Masked Translator is, but he/she says,

"I am the Zorro of the translation blog world! Masked Translator is not trying to sell you anything or self-promote. Masked Translator just wants to tell it like it is about the real life of a professional translator."

Besides the interesting posts by Masked Translator, on the right side of the blog there is a list of links to other resources. Many of those other resources will have links to even other resources. From one location, you can discover endless possibilities to help you get a feel for what the world of translation is all about. Be sure to click on the link to the Translation Journal blog (translationjournal.blogspot.com/). From there, you can click on the link to Translation Journal (translationjournal.net/journal/). Translation Journal is a great translator resource.

While you’re clicking on links, check out ProZ.com (proz.com/). ProZ is a translator resource site/translation job clearing-house that is full of information. Of course, every aspiring translator/translation student should check out the website of the American Translators Association (ATA) at atanet.org. When you navigate to places like ProZ.com and the ATA website, spend some time following links and seeing what information is there. All of it will give you some insight into the life and work of translators. Also, check out regional translator associations. I’m a member of the Mid-America Chapter of the American Translators Association (ata-micata.org/), the regional association that covers Oklahoma, and the New England Translators Association (netaweb.org/cms/), the translators association that has events in Boston where two of my children live. (I’m always looking for an excuse to go to Boston to visit them.) Most regional translator associations hold monthly, semi-annual or annual conferences and workshops and would welcome aspiring translators at those events.

I’m always also on the lookout for interesting translation related links. I recently found a short article in the Wall Street Journal on the work of a British playwright/translator. You can read the article (Turning Paris into Brooklyn) at online.wsj.com/article/SB123758495427799425.html. If you’re a comic strip fan, you might like Blondie’s comic strip for 03/25 (blondie.com/dailies/index.asp).

Finally, as promised, a Twitter link and a Pat Buchanan link. First, check out the funny take on Twitter at dailymotion.com/video/x8puil_twouble-with-twitter-soustitre_creation. Next, ask yourself why Pat Buchanan is so afraid of Hispanics in the U.S. (dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/24/712489/-Buchanan-still-scared-of-the-scary-Latinos).

Ciao!

March Madness!

March Madness! The sweet sixteen! The final four! Some of you know and care about all this. Others know what it is and wish it would go away. Still others probably don’t have much of a clue. Of course, I’m talking about the NCAA collegiate basketball championship. However, that’s not the whole story because the March Madness that is coverd by ESPN and other national networks is all about the men’s NCAA Division I basketball championship. Being from Oklahoma, I’m a big fan of OU’s powerhouse women’s basketball team, but I have to listen to a bunch of boring stuff on ESPN to get to anything that is said about women’s basketball. I also teach at a school that’s not even in the NCAA. It’s in the NAIA. You won’t hear anything about NAIA March Madness, not even on local TV, not to mention the NCAA Division II and III schools and their tournaments. March Madness is all about the big boys. That probably makes sense. The different national associations and divisions in sports are designed so that the big guys don’t beat up on the little guys.

Small universities like Southern Nazarene University sometimes tout their programs with the preface, “For a small university, we have one of the best.....” I’ve heard that phrase or one like it many times at SNU. The implication is that we can’t compete with the big guys, but we’re great when compared with the small fry. It’s like the difference between the NCAA and NAIA in sports. President Obama may not go on ESPN and give his choices for the brackets for the NAIA version of March Madness, like he did for the NCAA brackets, but hey, we’re still pretty good when compared with schools our size.

However, I know that at least one program at SNU can compete with the best of the big boys and come off quite well. I would put SNU’s International Studies Program (ISP) up against any program, no matter the size of the school offering the program, with the assurance that we would shine. Let me explain.

SNU’s ISP prepares leaders for the international arena, including business, government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s, both faith-based and secular). What does a recent graduate need in order to have a successful start in that arena? First, the graduate needs to have a good understanding of how language and culture shape and interact with all aspects of people’s lives. ISP majors at SNU must complete 15 credit hours of language and culture study as part of their core major requirements. Second, the graduate needs to have a good overview of international politics, history and geograpy. Those areas intertwine with everything done in the global arena. ISP majors at SNU must complete 15 credit hours of history, political science and geography study as part of their core major requirements. Third, the graduate needs basic business management skills, the kind of skills that are needed to run any type of organization in our globalized socio-economic system. ISP majors at SNU must complete 15 credit hours of management study as part of their core major requirements. Fourth, the graduate needs to have well developed skills that set him or her apart from other recent graduates and that make the graduate the kind of human resource asset that every organization needs. ISP majors at SNU must complete an additional 15 credit hours in one of five specialty areas: History/Political Science, Business Management, Business Spanish, Teaching English as a Second Language or Language and Culture. Finally, the graduate needs to have recent challenging and relevant overseas experience. ISP majors at SNU must spend one semester or more in an approved study abroad program or in an approved overseas internship. Approved programs are selected specifically to meet the needs of ISP majors.

As you look at the ISP at Southern Nazarene University, one thing you realize is that it is not a major for those who don’t want to work. Just as sports teams don’t get to the championship, NCAA or NAIA, without hard work, ISP majors don’t make it to the end without a lot of hard work. It is not a major for the faint hearted. However, SNU’s International Studies Program is a major for those who want to make significant contributions in the international arena. Bring on the big boys. We can handle ‘em.

Twitter and Translation--A Great Combination

I admit that sometimes I am (way too) enamored of Internet technology. I started off my spring break by installing Google Chrome on my home desktop and laptop computers and setting up my iGoogle homepage with three tabs, one for English language news feeds, one for Spanish language news feeds and one with Twitter, Facebook and Digg feeds. I probably could become as equally enamored of gadgetry except that I don’t have the excess cash to spend on gadgetry. Since Internet technology is basically free, it makes it easy for a wannabe geek like me to experiment.

I’m also enjoying scouring online news for articles on the growing use of social networking sites, especially those that have an international angle. I first heard about Twitter when I read a story about a student arrested in Egypt in April 2008. He twittered his way to freedom (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/). Just today, I read a Wall Street Journal article about using Twitter to provide reliable news on the unrest in Madagascar (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123716141767335587.html). As you might imagine, I have become a big Twitter fan.

The WSJ article caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, it was in the Wall Street Journal. That should not have been a surprise. Recently, the WSJ has been a good source for Twitter articles. It also caught my attention because it involved translation. Translation joined with Twitter to get the news out from a remote location without access to reliable, independent news...now that’s exciting stuff for a technophile translator/translation instructor. As I think about the impact of technology on translation, I get excited about next semester at SNU. I doubt that many students have the same enthusiasm as I do for the start of next semester. After all, we’re just barely half-way through this semester. However, I get to teach a course on the use of technology in translation. The big difficulty is going to be to cram it all into a 3-credit class.

One of the things I tell prospective translation students is that because SNU’s program emphasizes the development of advanced writing skills in both English and Spanish, it is an excellent program to prepare students for careers in international journalism. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future one of my former translation students will be using a cell phone and Twitter (or whatever comes along after Twitter) to report live on some significant breaking news event in Latin America. When they do, I just hope they remember to include me in on the news feed.

Getting back to my puttering around on my computers, I’m quite proud of how I have Google Chrome set up. I’ll be happy to send you some screen shots to let you know how cool it is. Just let me know.

Melting pot or mosaic?

Yesterday's local news included the observation that Oklahoma's march toward an "English-only" law for state government had taken another step forward. One of the bill's proponents used the "melting pot" analogy to support the need to prohibit state employees, including state legislators, from communicating with anyone in any language other than English. Growing up in the U.S., I heard the melting pot analogy spoken of with pride so many times that I did not question that it was the best way to look at integrating immigrants into a society. That is, I didn't question it until I moved to Canada.

A Canadian friend introduced me to the "mosaic" analogy of immigrant integration. His explanation was that in a melting pot, individual elements lose their distinctiveness. The elements contribute to the overall composition, but become just like every other element in the process. In a mosaic, on the other hand, the individual elements maintain their distinctiveness while making their own unique contribution to the total composition. Up close, you can see each element clearly and may even have trouble making out what the overall composition is. However, if you step back you can see how all the elements together make something that is obviously different and better than the mere sum of its parts.

My friend's idea was that Canada's approach was to encourage immigrants to maintain their distinctiveness even as they contributed to Canadian society. Of course, you can only push the analogy so far before it breaks down. No government of a country that experiences significant immigration has the resources to publish all its materials in every possible language or provide multilingual agency employees to speak to its citizens in every language represented in the country. Also, as Canada among others has experienced, conflicts among different ethnic, linguistic and immigrant groups is inevitable. People are not perfect. Neither are governments. Conflicts arise due to real or perceived injustices and must be dealt with.

Nevertheless, I like the mosaic concept. For one thing, it makes life more interesting. My wife and I live on the edge of Oklahoma City's Asian district. A great Asian supermarket is just a few blocks from our house. Also, within a few minutes drive we can choose from a nice variety of Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants. (The nearest Korean restaurant is not very close to our house. Sometimes we have to sacrifice and drive just a little bit farther.) On the other hand, if we're in the mood for Guatemalan food, we can go to the Guatemalan restaurant two blocks away, or drive a few more blocks to the Brazilian restaurant if one of us is in the mood for feijoada. If we want to buy a few Guatemalan products to fix our Guatemalan meal at home, there is a Guatemalan store less than a mile from our house, and for a Mexican meal, there is a large Hispanic supermarket going in within a couple of miles.

One of the tensions with both melting pot and mosaic changes is that as elements are added, the whole composition changes, and change makes many people uneasy. The difference between the two approaches is that melting pot changes are more gradual than mosaic changes and so less noticeable. On the other hand, mosaic changes can sometimes be jarring because they immediately stand out. So the choice between the melting pot and mosaic approaches is not one of change versus no change. Rather, it is a choice of how we deal with the change that immigration inevitably brings. Realistically we cannot, nor do we want to, halt immigration. Immigration is good. Immigration is what built our society. Except for a few of us, our heritage is an immigrant heritage.

Despite its inevitable conflicts and jolting moments, I prefer the mosaic approach. I like hearing a variety of languages spoken when I'm standing in line to check out at Walmart. I like the fact that when my wife and I go out to eat, we seldom go to an "American" restaurant because we have such good choices in "ethnic" food close to our house. I like the fact that I can learn about and from people of other cultures just by gettng acquainted with people who are around me every day. I don't mind having to select "1" for English and "2" for Spanish. If they throw in a "3" for Vietnamese, I might select that sometime just to hear what it sounds like. So my request to my Oklahoma legislators is please don't mess up this great experience we have in Oklahoma.

La misionera, la maestra and me

Two stories about communication, but first a note on Spanish (for those non-Spanish speakers out there): Spanish has masculine and feminine endings for nouns. Some nouns are either masculine or feminine, one or the other but not both, while other nouns can be both masculine and feminine, just not at the same time. Did I confuse you with that? Anyway, the Spanish word for missionary is misionero for a man and misionera for a woman ("o" for boys and "a" for girls).

First a story from our time of missionary service in Guatemala: Many missionary mothers, especially missionary mothers of small children, find that while their children are young, they don't have a lot of time to mish. Most feel a strong call to the mission field and want to be involved directly and hands-on with mission work. However, doing as much as they want is often difficult just because of household demands combined with the extra work that regularly goes with living in a less developed area outside the U.S. During one period in Guatemala, my wife, Laurena, was teaching health and nutrition in a rural area outside Guatemala City. At that point in our missionary career, that one teaching opportunity a week was about the only mishing she got to do besides attending Sunday church services. Laurena did not much like driving in Guatemala under the best of circumstances, and she really disliked driving on mountain roads. Since reaching the site where she was teaching involved driving on both mountain roads and rough rural roads in a rugged, short wheelbase, stiff suspension Toyota Land Cruiser without power steering, she asked me to drive her every week. Every week as we approached the teaching site, the neighborhood children would run along beside the car (which had to go very slow because of the bad roads) and shout "¡Ya viene la misionera! ¡Ya viene la misionera!" (The missionary is coming! The missionary is coming!) But in Spanish, unlike in English, it was clear that the kids were shouting that the woman missionary (misionera) was coming. In fact, I'm not even sure the kids thought of me as a missionary. I was just la misionera's driver. That one little bit of communication accuracy made an important difference in Laurena's perspective on her own ministry.

Next a story from tonight: I answered a call as I was sitting down to do some work on the computer. When I answered, "Hello," a tentative voice on the other end asked, "¿Está la Señora Johnson?" (Is Mrs. Johnson there?) The voice was tentative because the person on the other end didn't know whether I spoke Spanish. To that person, I was just the answering machine for the important person, their child's second grade teacher who happened to speak Spanish and was able to talk to them about their child in a language they understood. Laurena is a vital link between that family and the educational system. Without her, they would be lost.

Laurena and I became proficient in Spanish as a result of God's call on our lives to missionary service. God used that proficiency in Costa Rica, in Guatemala and even in New York and Montreal where we worked with Hispanic congregations. God gave us that gift of proficiency and is still using it where we are. I like to think that every semester as I work with SNU students, I am working with others for whom God's gift of language proficiency will be used all over the world, working in poverty alleviation or helping provide medical care or teaching children who need a teacher who understands their language and their culture. That's why I teach at SNU.

One tortilla is just as good as another...not!

I always enjoy reading Howard Culbertson's posts from Ecuador where he is teaching & studying at the Nazarene International Language Institute. Today, March 10, Howard posted a note regarding the differences among South American countries and how "North Americans" lump all Spanish-speaking people into the same category. (Of course, Mexicans are as North American as anyone from Oklahoma and they probably don't do the same kind of lumping as we Okies might do.) You can read Howard's Ecuador notes on Facebook.

Howard's observations interest me because they came right on the heels of a session I had with students on Sunday afternoon in which we talked about the differences among different Hispanic groups in Oklahoma. Brenda Rice, a bilingual nurse who works in an Oklahoma City clinic with a large proportion of Hispanic clients, spoke about her experiences in Mexico, Costa Rica and Oklahoma. One of the students who was there has a Mexican heritage and another student is an immigrant from Honduras. We talked about how non-Mexican Hispanics in the U.S. resent being lumped in with Mexicans. There is nothing wrong with being Mexican, but if you're Guatemalan you want people to know you're Guatemalan. Just like a Canadian probably would not want to be considered an American or English. Generally speaking, we're proud of our nationality. Then Monday evening in my International Business classs, we talked about culture and had to be aware that we were making sweeping generalities about cultures and cultural differences. It is hard to identify anyone as belonging to just one cultural group. Thus, when I try to help my students learn something about Hispanic culture, I also need to help them realize that I am generalizing across a group of people that sometimes seem to have more differences than similarities. There is no Hispanic culture; there are Hispanic cultures.

So, where do tortillas come into this? Simply put, not all tortillas are the same. Although I try to smile graciously when someone exudes about homemade tortillas in Oklahoma, I know that they do not approach Guatemalan tortillas. Guatemalan tortillas are thick, a whole lot thicker than Mexican tortillas, and soft and have just a hint of smoke in their flavor (that is, if they've been cooked outside on a hot comal). Put two warm Guatemalan tortillas together with a layer of black bean paste and a thick slice of slightly tart white goat cheese and you have a snack that puts the best PBJ to shame. Go ahead and offer me a hot, homemade tortilla and I'll eat it and smile, but all the while I'll be wishing it were a Guatemalan tortilla.

Doing good

It has taken a while for Southern Nazarene University's Morningstar Institute (http://morningstarinstitute.org) to crank up, but it looks like arrangements are falling into place to send Morningstar's first interns to Swaziland. Morningstar is an amazing opportunity for SNU students to combine academic work in the classroom with hands-on field experience in global poverty alleviation. Morningstar works very closely with the International Studies Program at SNU. A student does not have to be an ISP major to do a Morningstar internship, but Morningstar internships fulfill the overseas requirement for ISP majors and fits very well into the ISP curriculum, especially the Business emphasis track in the ISP. To me, a Morningstar internship should be a no-brainer for any student interested in working with an international relief/poverty alleviation oriented NGO after graduation.

To get an overview of all the global opportunities at SNU, check out http://goglobalatsnu.net.

2010 Study Abroad

This is specifically for current SNU students. When we return from Spring Break, it will be time to think about enrollment for the Fall 2009 semester. Believe it or not, it’s also time to think about study abroad for the Spring 2010 semester. The early application deadline for the Spring 2010 CCCU (bestsemester.com) programs is May 1, 2009. So if you’re thinking Spring 2010 study abroad with the CCCU, start thinking about starting to work on your early application. I’d say start working on the early application, but I know no one is going to do that until after Spring Break. So, just think about starting…and then start to work when you get back from Spring Break.

If you are thinking about studying abroad anytime during your college career, you need to make sure your advisor knows so that he or she can take that into account in giving you advice on course selection.

There are a couple of other programs besides CCCU programs that you might want to check out. The Nazarene International Language Institute (NILI) in Ecuador has summer as well as semester programs and the Institute for Global Education (IGE) Vienna program is a fantastic program that provides a lot of opportunity for exploring much of Europe.

I’ve posted links to the CCCU, NILI and IGE programs on the wall of the GoGlobalatSNU Facebook group. You can also find links to the programs as well as to the SNU contact people for those programs on the GoGlobalatSNU website (goglobalatsnu.net/abroad).

By the way, if you’re thinking about one of the CCCU programs for the Fall 2009 semester, there is still time to apply. The application deadline for fall 2009 is April 1.

Canadian chocolates and Guatemalan families

A few days ago in a note on Facebook, Howard Culbertson wrote about how living in a different country provided an opportunity to see things from perspectives that are different from our own. He specifically mentioned the perspective many Latin Americans have on Che Guevara that is different from the one held by many U.S. citizens. One of the surprises and pleasures of traveling is discovering how different people can look at the same event or cirucumstances and come away with different perspectives.

When we moved to Canada, we were introduced to the Laura Secord brand of chocolates and ice cream. With our children attending school in Canada, we were also introduced to Canadian history books. One of those books told the story of the Canadian heroine, Laura Secord, who helped British troops defeat Americans who were trying to invade Canada. It turns out that the brand is named after a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is considered a heroine because she warned the British in Canada of an imminent attack by American forces. As a result, British soldiers aided by Mohawk warriers defeated the Americans at the Battle of Beaver Dams and prevented them from taking their outpost in Canada. Laura was sort of a female Paul Revere, except on the side of the British rather than that of the Americans. I wonder how it felt for my children to study a historical battle from the other side of the fence.

Sometimes the perspective we get to see when we travel is one that makes us stop and think about who has the right idea. For instance, when we lived in Guatemala, our children's pediatrican had studied and practiced medicine in the United States. One day, I got to talking to his wife, who was the receptionist at her husband's office. We talked about how long they lived in the States and how nice they found it there. I thought about all the conveniences the U.S. had compared to Guatemala and about how the doctor and his wife could have been a lot better off in the U.S. than in Guatemala. I asked her why they returned to Guatemala. During that time of my life, I truly believed that everyone wanted to live in the U.S. and anyone who had the chance would jump at it. Her response was that although the U.S. had a lot going for it, Guatemala was a much better place to raise a family. She talked about how U.S. families were so often torn in different directions by all their commitments and activities and about how Guatemalan families were a lot more united. I found this same attitude in the architect from whom we bought our house in Guatemala. He had the financial resources and other things going for him that would have made it possible for him to live in the U.S. However, he prized regular Sunday dinners with his children and grandchildren far more than the opportunity to make it big in the U.S.

The encounters with the wife of our children's pediatrician and with the architect from whom we bought our house occured early in our stay in Guatemala. I'm glad they did because they helped me understand that Guatemala's lack of conveniences in comparison with the U.S. was really a minor issue. In many important ways, Guatemala had a lot going for it that the U.S. was missing.

After living for many years overseas, I hope that I managed to bring back with me to the U.S. just a little bit of the important perspectives I ran into abroad. My children may remember the Laura Secord ice cream from Canada or Guatemalan tortillas and black beans. I remember those, but I also remember the people who helped me learn that it's a big, wide world and my view only captures just a little bit of it.

A Chinese-American Wedding in Bethany

About a week ago I mentioned Jorie and Gavin Zhao. They are a Chinese couple who ate dinner at our house last Sunday and Laurena taught them how to fry chicken a la Oklahoman. Today we went to their wedding. Except that they got married in China between semesters and then came back to SNU so Jorie could start her MBA studies. So, why another wedding? They have made so many friends in the U.S. that they wanted to share a U.S. wedding with them. So we got to share in their wedding today.

The wedding was a small and very touching ceremony held in a church's chapel. Gavin and Jorie wore simple, but elegant, Chinese clothing. Gavin and Jorie walked down separate aisles to join each other at the front. A young girl accompanied Gavin down the aisle and a young boy accompanied Jorie down the aisle. The boy and girl represented their family and friends. During the ceremony, a young American woman who grew up in China sang a love song in Chinese. Afterwards, there was a reception with typical American light snacks, weak punch and big wedding cake.

During the reception, we sat at a table where a young American woman, not the woman who sang, carried on a conversation in Chinese with a young Chinese woman. I looked around the room and realized that it included quite a mixture of international students from a variety of European countries as well as from Latina America and China. I stopped by one of the tables and spoke in Spanish to a couple of students from Honduras. My state of Oklahoma has changed a lot over the years. When I was in college some 30+ years ago, it would have been very unusual for a small university in the middle of Oklahoma to include such a fantastic mix of ethnic, linguistic and national backgrounds. Now, it's something we take for granted.

Something else interesting...Last week I learned that Jorie's undergraduate degree is in Chinese-English interpreting. She may have something of value to share with the students in our translation program. We'll have to check on that.

Getting past the gee whiz

In a recent Facebook note from Ecuador, Howard Culbertson wrote about how people in other countries get a distorted view of the U.S. from watching television programs that originate in the U.S. Specifically, Fox's "The Simpsons" is not a realistic picture of how most U.S. families function, although apparently some people in Ecuador believe that it is. Of course, we in the U.S. often have distorted views of other countries based on television or news programs. Sometimes we don't even know where other countries are. I remember when we moved to Costa Rica, some of my friends thought we were in Puerto Rico, and when we lived in Guatemala a very common perception among many stateside friends was that we spent pesos and Guatemalans wore wide brimmed sombreros a la Mexicana. (Guatemalans spend quetzales and the most common type of hat is the kind of cowboy hat that I see all over Oklahoma.) I'm not really coming down hard on anybody because I've had (and probably still have) a lot of ignorant assumptions about countries I've never visited.

So, one of the great things about international travel is that you get to test your assumptions against reality: Do they really dress that way? Do they really eat that? What's important to them? Why do they think like that? You can address some of the ignorance and untested assumptions through short trips of 10-14 days. However, for most of us that is really not long enough. For one thing, on a short trip I'm usually either spending most of my time in meetings (if it's a business trip) or snapping pictures and sampling all the different foods I can (if it's a pleasure trip). It takes a while to get past the initial gee whiz impressions and find time to explore how other people are, what they do and how they think. Perhaps one of the important distinctions between short trips and longer trips is that on the longer trips you have time to get past all the new and interesting sights and sounds and smells (the gee whiz) and get to the people, which to me is what the pleasure of international travel is all about.

Life changing experiences

Dennis Williams, a professor at Southern Nazarene University, shared an article with me that talked about the results of some research done on short study abroad trips, the kinds where a bunch of students and a professor travel together for 10-14 days. Most of us who are involved in international education haven't felt that trips like that really made much of a difference in students' lives. Perhaps we're wrong. According to the study, several years after graduation, students who took short term trips are just as likely to report that they were significantly influenced by their overseas trip as students who spent a semester overseas. I think that for many students, just the experience of being in a different culture and learning to see themselves through others' eyes opens their eyes in ways that no amount of classroom experience can.

I remember my first experience outside the U.S. When I was 16, I spent a month during the summer working as a volunteer in Mexico. That short experience made a tremendous impact on me that eventually led to living and working in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Canada. Quite often I still wish I were living in one of those locations or in some other country where I could learn and experience life among people who have life experiences and perspectives different than my own and that have so much to teach me about the big, wide world.

I thought about that because I am following Facebook posts by SNU students in Austria, Costa Rica and Ecuador. All of them sound like they are having a great time. I am glad for that, and I wonder what kind of life changing experiences they will have. Will they develop such a love for a particular place or people that they will end up back there studying or working? Will this experience just be the jumping off point for more overseas experiences? In fact, two of our students who are in Vienna studied in Russia a couple of semesters ago, so they might be becoming serial "study abroaders" (however, I know that at least one of them is entering law school next semester, so more study abroad will have to be postponed for a while). I don't know what changes these experiences will make in the lives of our students, but I have no doubt that there will be changes. I look forward to finding out more when they are back on campus in the fall.

Having too much fun in Ecuador

My morning routine is fairly invariable. I get up way too early, let the dog out, fix my bowl of cereal, get a cup of coffee, let the dog in and sit down to eat my cereal, drink my coffee and read the latest updates from the SNU gang in Ecuador. Four SNU students and one SNU professor are at the Nazarene International Language Institute (NILI) in Quito, Ecuador this semester. I've already commented a little about Dr. Culbertson's notes and the photos that Rachel, Lindsey, Abby and Mat are posting on Facebook. If you haven't checked them out yet, you really need to do so.

Dr. Culbertson's notes are basically a blog that he is keeping on Facebook. His observations and comments are always interesting. His cross-cultural background adds a depth to his posts that would be hard to get from anyone else. While Dr. Culbertson's posts make me think, the photos from and of the students make me laugh. They look like they are having way too much fun for the experience to be educational. They just got back from a trip to the Amazon jungle. You should see the look on Lindsey's face as a monkey climbs over her head or Rachel as she cuddles a monkey as if it were a baby. I even saw a picture of Dr. Culbertson doing his Tarzan imitation on some type of hanging contraption. Actually, I'm very happy that they're having fun because I know that they are also working hard and learning. I would be worried if all that they were doing was working hard. You have to balance the hard work with the enjoyment of new and strange sights, sounds, smells and adventures. It looks like they are doing a good balancing act. If you want to start your day off with a smile, check out SNU's NILI gang on Facebook.

Fried chicken, Oklahoma Chinese style

My thinking about going global has been sidetracked by great global experiences I've had on the local scene. I don't know what the international student population is at SNU, but there are quite a few international students on campus. Last semester I became acquainted with Jorie Zhao, a student from China. She was studying in SNU's Center for Applied Studies in English (ASEC). She finished up there, took advantage of Christmas break to go home and marry Gavin Zhao and then returned to SNU with Gavin so she could start her MBA studies. I've started meeting with Gavin once a week for coffee and conversation. Due to visa restrictions, he cannot enroll in ASEC. He already speaks a great deal of English, so he and I are able to communicate quite well and I'm able to give him some pointers. Yesterday, Jorie and Gavin joined Laurena and me for worship at First Baptist Church, OKC, and then went home with us for lunch. We usually don't make our dinner guests work, but in their case we gave them aprons and knives and set them to cutting up chickens, peeling and slicing potatoes and generally helping put the meal on the table. They said that they wanted to learn how to cook American food, so we (i.e., Laurena) taught them how to cook fried chicken and make mashed potatoes. As we sat around the table and ate, stuffed ourselves really, we were able to get better acquainted and find out a little bit about life in China. We're already looking forward to warmer weather so that we can fire up the grill and have a cookout with them.

One of the reasons that SNU is such a great place to go global is that it offers many opportunities to make friends with people from around the world. I'm sure that these opportunities on campus are going to grow because ASEC will attract more and more international students to campus. I'm looking forward to more fried chicken and getting acquainted with someone else from half-way around the globe.

Going global locally, part 3

When I started this blog almost two weeks ago, I had the idea of blogging every day. That obviously didn't happen this last week since it has been a week since I have written anything. It is not that there was nothing to share. I have lots to share, but it was a very busy week. Hopefully I'll be a little more regular with my blogging, but I bet there still will be some times when I disappear for a while.

With this evening's blog I want to give another example of how students at SNU can take advantage of what's available in the Oklahoma City area to go global locally. I received an e-mail about a Spanish film being shown at Oklahoma City University Sunday afternoon. I have not seen the film, but according to the blurb in the e-mail, it is one of the best, if not the best, Spanish films ever made. The details are in the following paragraph. If you get a chance, take advantage of what OKC offers and take in a Spanish film this Sunday afternoon.

The seventh film in the 27th Annual Oklahoma City University Film Series, This Sunday, February 22, 2009, 2 PM
Kerr McGee Auditorium, Meinders School of Business, Free and Open to the Public
Renowned as the Greatest Spanish Film
Victor Erices The Spirit of the Beehive, Spain, 1974, 95 min.
In a remote Castilian village after the Spanish Civil War, seven-year-old Ana emerges from a screening of Boris Karloffs Frankenstein full of dreams and fantasies. All the mystery and yearning of adult existence is distilled in the vision of this lovely, introverted child. Director Erice dissolves the barrier between reality and hallucination, investing everyday signs with a significance that resonates long after the film is over. Released in the final days of General Francos forty-year dictatorship, Beehive has established itself as the consummate masterpiece of Spanish cinema. One of the two most requested films on last years evaluation form.

-The Spirit of the Beehive is the best Spanish movie ever made and one of the two or three most haunting films about children ever made. NY Times

-Beehive is a graceful and potent lyric on children's vulnerable hunger, but it's also a sublime study on cinema's poetic capacity to reflect and hypercharge reality. Village Voice

-Ana Torrent gives perhaps the greatest child performance of all time. Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

What about life after graduation?

I hope we (i.e., faculty at SNU) do a good job of getting students excited about studying abroad, participating in international internships and going on overseas mission trips. However, at some point in time, students have to graduate. Then they're faced with the question, "Now what?" There are a lot of answers to that question. For some, the now what is getting a job with an international organization. David Ford Johnson is an example of that group. After graduation he went to work overseas with Feed the Children. For others, the now what is going on to graduate school. Kaitlyn Bell is a good example of that group. She's in graduate school in England in a Museum Studies M.A. program. For another group, the now what is getting more experience overseas through an intersnship. Sean Jones is finishing up an academic year as an intern in Costa Rica with the Latin America Studies Program.

Another option for post-graduation life for those interested in Spanish and Spain is the Cultural Ambassadors program sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education. I first heard about it a couple of years ago. It sounds like a great program. It is an 8-month program that places college juniors and seniors and recent graduates with K-12 schools throughout Spain. The Ambassadors serve as English-language teacher assistants in a variety of school settings. They receive a stipend and medical insurance during their time in Spain. For more information, go to http://www.mepsyd.es/exterior/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml.

As far as I know, SNU has not had anyone apply to the Cultural Ambassadors program. I hope that in the next couple of years someone will give it a try and let us know how it is.

Going global locally, part 2

One great thing about studying at SNU is what happens on other campuses. Let's face it. SNU is a small school. There's nothing wrong with being a small school. By being the size we are, we can offer students much more personalized guidance and instruction. I tell prospective students that if they want to have large classes where they can hide and not be noticed by the profs, they should choose some other school. At SNU, you're going to be noticed by the profs and they are going to take an interest in you. (Some students might even say a little too much interest.) However, although SNU offers a lot, it cannot offer as much variety as larger schools can. That's where going global locally comes into play. Some really interesting things happen at campuses within easy reach of SNU and our students get to take advantage of those happenings. For instance, this Friday, February 13, the University of Oklahoma is sponsoring a half-day symposium on Cuba. It's an easy drive from SNU to OU, so students can go down Friday morning (get there early enough to take advantage of the continental breakfast) and then be back on campus by early Friday afternoon. You get to have your cake (small schol advantages) and eat it too (access to events sponsored by larger schools). In other words, you can go global locally due to SNU's great location.

GoGlobalatSNU - What's it all about?

If you're reading this--Congratulations! You may be the first person to read this blog. This blog is new and is part of my effort to tie together our SNU global opportunities. You can think of it as one part of a threesome: a blog at GoGlobalatSNU.blogspot.com, a GoGlobalatSNU Facebook group (open to everybody) and a GoGlobalatSNU.net website. SNU has great opportunities for going global, ranging from our long-term involvement with the CCCU study abroad programs in several different countries (bestsemester.com) to our recent additions of NILI (studyinecuador.blogspot.com) and the IGE Vienna program (igeabroad.com/programs/vienna). One of the most exciting new endeavors is the Morningstar Institute, SNU's vehicle for getting students involved in global poverty alleviation. If I have it correct, Morningstar is preparing to send its first student interns overseas. If you want to check out Morningstar, visit morningstarinstitute.org. Each day I am going to try to add a little bit about SNU's different global opportunities with an occassional personal reflection on going global. Let's GoGlobalatSNU!

Going global locally

Sometimes going global just means opening yourself up to the world that comes to your door. There is a sizable Chin population in Oklahoma City. The Chin are an ethnic group from Myanmar. I believe the largest Christian community in Myanmar is among the Chin people. The Chin in Oklahoma City are refugees who fled Myanmar due to persecution by the government. First Baptist Church (FBC), Oklahoma City, has been working with Catholic Charities to help resettle and minister to the Chin people. On Sunday, more than fifty Chin Christians gathered to worship in a location provided by FBC. They started the worship service with the FBC congregation. After greetings were exchanged, the Chin people sang a song in Chin. Next, the Chin congregation was presented a rough hewn cross that had been made by one of the teachers who helps teach them English during the week. Then all the Chin marched out behind the cross to begin worshiping as a Chin congregation in their own language.

In a way, this was not all that special. All across Oklahoma different ethnolinguistic groups meet for worship. What is instructive to me about this situation is that FBC got to be a part of it simply because the congregation said yes to going global locally. The Chin group came to FBC after being asked to leave another church where they were meeting. Apparently the other church thought they were too much trouble. I also imagine the other church, an evangelical church, found it a little disturbing to be cooperating with Catholic Charities on ministering to the Chin. The Chin sought out FBC because they had heard that it welcomed people from other ethnic groups and languages.

I guess the lesson to me is that I better not get so wrapped up in going global someplace else that I forget that sometimes God might want me to go global locally.

dr.j.

More global SNU'ers on Facebook

I know the following students and alums are working or studying in other countries and posting on Facebook: Jessica Cory & Karen Flowers studying in Vienna; Rachel Regouby studying and Sean Jones working in Costa Rica; Kaitlyn Bell studying in England. Any others overseas and using Facebook to tell about what they're doing?

Dr. Culbertson's posts from Ecuador

Check out Dr. Culbertson's posts on Facebook. He's spending his semester at NILI in Ecuador and using Facebook to post a daily blog. Once in a while he also makes a comment about the Spanish class he's taking, so you can give him a hard time about not studying enough, getting his homework done, etc. While you're at it, check out all the photos that Rachel, Abby, Lindsey and Mat are posting from Ecuador. I am so jealous!