Malaysian Contrasts: Part 1 -- E.

Environments

Close to half of Malaysia's human population lives in its 20 largest cities. For example, Kota Kinabalu, pictured below, is home to 600,000 people.

(Thank you for the photo, Flanegan)

Kota Kinabalu (or KK) happens to be a consideration for where we will move.

Of course, smaller villages are prevalent throughout the country. Here is a view of a valley in Tambunan, a district some 80 kilometers east of KK.

Notice the unpopulated mountains in the background.

Did I say unpopulated? Hardly! Have you heard about the wildlife in Malaysia? Reportedly, about 20 percent of all animal species live in this country. National parks such as this one on Mount Kinabalu (highest point in Malaysia, and just outside KK) protect many such species.

Personally, I love that waterfall right in the middle of the picture, and some day I would like to see it close up.

The "dearest freshness deep down" of my ordinary life -QM

I love the big, grand picture of Glory that I read in Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem, God's Grandeur. He wrote that
The World is charged with the grandeur of God
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed...

I also love the tiny pieces of glory that I read in Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts:
24 Old men looking for words just perfect
54. Moonlight on pillows
55. Long, lisped prayers
56. Kisses in the dark
243. Clean Sheets smelling like wind
244. Hot oatmeal tasting like home

Here are some everyday glorious moments from my day today:

• waking to the yells of my small son and having him miraculously fall back to sleep

• a slow jog past a misty, newly mowed field

• the surprise of tears on my cheeks while listening to a new song

• a tiny, peanut butter covered finger transformed into a neighing, galloping horse

• the smell of pinto beans, bacon, and cumin in the crockpot

All this talk of Glory reminds me of the verse that has lodged deeply in my heart this past month: 2Corinthians 3:18. (The above 'new song' comes from this passage--check out Mosaic's Be Like You)

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Quote in Title also from God's Grandeur, GMH

Children's Church -- E.

Fun pictures from a recent Sunday. We got to speak to the young folks at a local church about Scripture translation.

(Yes, there's supposed to be a lesson in the activity pictured above. Can you figure out what it might be?)

I think my favorite part of the morning was that map you see behind me on the wall. I don't know whose idea it was, but those words are John 3:16 printed in the International Phonetic Alphabet. One hundred cool points right there.

Frog -- E.

A vital skill for linguists is a keen listening ear. We will need to distinguish between various speech sounds as soon as we get to Malaysia -- since our first task in the country will be to learn the national language, Malay. This may prove challenging.
I bring all that up because, in our home, there has been some debate as to some speech sounds James has been using. In the following video James attempts to say the word frog.

Queena believes that our son is unintentionally cussing every time he says that word. I disagree. But I do think that his r's and g's could use some work -- and I think he could avoid the problem entirely if he would just call the amphibians in the picture toads, which is what they are.

Hey, did you see the picture Queena put up a few weeks ago of all the water standing in our backyard after Irene? So did every toad in Sussex county, apparently -- and it gave them all the same idea. This week, tens of thousands of their children emerged from the late-summer swamp and surrounded our house. That's what James is looking at in the video. Here are a few more specimens:
Cute, right? One or two pinkie-nail toads are cute.

But too many is too many. Where are all the natural predators? They're not doing their job.

"Once upon a time . . . amen." --E.

How can you tell the difference between the evening news and a bedtime story? Besides the content itself, I mean. It's true that the Libyan civil war doesn't make it into most of the stories I make up for Dorie and James before they go to sleep. But if you hear the words, "Once upon a time, in a little town called Tripoli," you know it's not the news. You also know it's not a history lesson. The story you're about to hear is a work of fiction.

How do you know? It's all about the discourse markers. Every language has them: special hints that help you keep track of your place in a story, as well as what kind of story you're listening to in the first place. Usually you don't think about these makers consciously. They're just there, and they help guide stories and conversations.

Discourse markers are an important study for people who want to translate Scripture (or any other text). For example, the Bible contains a number of accounts that it claims are historical. If you use the wrong discourse markers in telling these accounts, your translation could end up sending the subconscious message that these accounts are fairy tales.

I have not had a lot of formal training in discourse analysis, but I'm always game for a little independent research. So I asked a willing participant to tell me some stories.

Here are three brief data samples:

As for the results of my study:

• The Observer's Paradox was a clear problem in this research. The participant kept wanting to stop and see herself in the videos I was taking.
• The participant seemed unsure as to the nature of her discourse. The openings of "Engy and Mengy" or "Ashy and Mengy" sounded like the setup to a nursery rhyme, but the second sample ends as a prayer: "and they loveded each other and amen."
• No more data collection at mealtimes. Those eggs got so cold it's not funny.