Pudding, dessert, tea, supper, and dinner.

Friday night:

‘I’m going to go check out the puddings.’
‘OK, what are puddings?’

Putter over to the supposed ‘puddings’ section only to find nary a pudding, but some cakes.

Saturday night–exact same:

‘I’m going to go check out the puddings.’
‘OK, what are puddings?’

Putter over to the supposed ‘puddings’ section only to find nary a pudding, but some cakes.

Sunday lunch:

‘I’m going to go check out the puddings.’
‘OK, what are puddings?’

Putter over to the supposed ‘puddings’ section only to find nary a pudding, but some cakes.

Finally realise that something is being ‘lost in translation’. I ask Rose, ‘Rose, what are puddings? Are puddings cakes??’ ‘Mate! Yea, puddings are cakes, or desserts.’ Other people join in the conversation. In short, I learned that pudding = dessert and the use of the term follows class and geographic lines. ‘Dessert’ is posh, used by those who know French. As it turns out, ‘tea’ is used by northerners and the less-posh to denote ‘dinner’. Both ‘supper’ and ‘dinner’ are posh terms [dinner also being a French derivation]. Americans say both ‘dessert’ and ‘dinner’. Either they’re putting on airs or the linguistic class divide developed after the American uses were already established. Good thing the French link isn’t widely considered here, elsewise Americanage would have been transformed in the past ten years. In addition to ‘freedom fries’ we’d have to replace the words ‘dessert’ and ‘dinner’ with suitably Ango-Saxon replacements.

A good friend from my bible study went home to Guangzhou on Friday, the day after I arrived back in London. I’m grateful that we were in the same group and that I got into London before she left. There are few people with whom one can talk about things deep in one’s heart; fewer still are those with whom one can talk about such things after just meeting once or twice. Some people leave the impression that they truly care, that what you say really matters. What a gift.

This evening at St Helen’s, the talk was on Psalm 119, specifically, the absolute assurance one can have in the bible. As always, the music closely corresponded to the talk. With thoughts about my friend in Guangzhou and the emails that I have had from her in the back of my mind, the lyrics (written in 1787) of this song (written in 2003) nearly made me cry. The song writer himself must truly have known, by experience, what it means to put one’s trust in God’s word despite all obstacles.

How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He has said
you, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, — in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth,
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, —
as days may demand, shall your strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O, be not dismayed,
I, I am thy God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply.
The flames shall not hurt you; I only design
Your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never, forsake!

by Richard (?) Keen, c. 1787.

London return.

Since getting back on Thursday, I haven’t spent a night in my own flat. Hopped off the plane, got back into flat, took a brief nap, then went to my friend’s place. I accompanied her to coffee with another friend and hot pot with another group. Then we went to her home, had dinner and chatted. I stayed over then saw her off the next day. She’s back in China now. I’ll miss quite a lot having chats with her.

Got home around noon that day, puttered about, packed, ran some errands, then went to church weekend ~5.30p. Spent the whole weekend (just got back) learning about how to be a good bible study leader, why it’s important to share the truth we believe in with others, how to prepare studies and answer questions, how to encourage students and internationals to study the bible themselves. Also was really good to meet other leaders and staff members, learn from the experienced people, meet our co-leaders, etc. All in all, it was loads of training but really good fun. Played Bananagrams (with the pastor! who’s also my bible study leader. Scary.), Dutch Blitz/Ligretto, UNO. Drank lots of tea and avoided potatoes.

So back home now, finally! I’ll be heading to church in a bit; My study leader from last year is here hanging out until church time. It’s so good to come back to a solid church community. Learned loads, no time for details now.

Well, that’s me, back in London.

On the silence of maps.

Epigraph of J.B. Harley, ‘Silences and Secrecy: the Hidden Agenda of Cartography in Early Modern Europe’:

‘On a visit to Leningrad some years ago I consulted a map to find out where I was, but I could not make it out. From where I stood, I could see several enormous churches, yet there was no trace of them on my map. When finally an interpreter came to help me, he said: “We don’t show churches on our maps.”

It then occurred to me that this was not the first time I had been given a map which failed to show many things I could see right in front of my eyes. All through school and university I had been given maps of life and knowledge on which there was hardly a trace of many of the things that I most cared about and that seemed to me to be of the greatest possible importance to the conduct of my life. I remembered that for many years my perplexity had been complete; and no interpreter had come along to help me. It remained complete until I ceased to suspect the sanity of my perceptions and began, instead, to suspect the soundness of the maps.’

– E.F. Schumacher, ‘On philosophical maps,’ A guide for the perplexed (New York, 1977).

pictures to consider. captions later.

Quakebook.

I’m waiting for a print copy..

Few updates.

Saw a cute little old lady walk by a patch of ground, carrying groceries. Stop. Turn around, walk back, pick up an empty beer can someone had tossed. Need more such 有公德心得人！

Missed a great Starbucks photo moment. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 uniformed policemen filed in, all with their funny hats (not the really tall ones) & batons. They seemed to quite like the blended crème drinks. No donuts here!