what I’m into [aug – sep 2019]

Hi friends!

Lots of changes have happened over the past 2 months – August was crazy in trying to get everything ready for the 2 week vacation and the subsequent move to Strasbourg, where I currently am. But it happened, and life slowed down dramatically through my time in the mountains, losing my phone and forcibly living offline until I arrived in France.

I miss Montreal for sure, but am also taking in the new environment with its cobblestone streets, bike lanes, and beautiful cathedrals! And it’s both humbling and refreshing being the new person once again. Anyway, enough about me – here’s what I’ve been into these past two months:

Books:

Jesus through middle eastern eyes – 4

This book has been on my shelf for a while now, and I would read a chapter sometimes during devotionals. The author has a rich background in Middle Eastern culture and so he analyzes Jesus’ life, teachings and interactions with women through this cultural lens. I found the chapter on “Jesus and women” especially insightful as the book as you get a sense of how radical Jesus’ treatment of women was for that time.

Two views on women in ministry – 5

This book is part of the Counterpoints series that I got introduced to by a woman pastor at the Emerging Apologists Program I attended in July. The series goes through each of the major theological issues encountered by the church, over which denominations have been created and churches have been split, and presents well-thought out essays from both sides.

I had never done a deep dive into what the egalitarian and complementarian views mean and how the interpretation of specific texts had led people to their respective views, but in this book, I got a glimpse of people who were trying to be faithful to the text and also to their personal experience come out on different ends of the spectrum.

Through a lot of reading n mountain hut bunk beds and intense discussions while navigating the Dolomites, I have settled somewhere theologically (you can ask me about that if you’d like!) but more than that, I’ve come to realize that our thoughts about God are limited.

We, as people, will never have the full picture (until we see him face to face), so we try our best to formulate these “theologies” of which we can make sense. But as a result, we can appreciate the diversity of the church and instead of bitterly dividing over theological differences, can come to value the fullness in the multiplicity of ways that Jesus relates to His church. Perhaps perfect theology isn’t the point after all. Read the article by Peter Enns “People over Principles” for more thoughts on that.

“Funérailles chinois” by Xinran  – TBA

I’ve read one other book by Xinran, called “Letters from an unknown Chinese mother”, which is consistently at the top of my favorite books list, in how it narrated the heartaches of mother having to abandon their baby girls due to the One-child police. Xinran is a journalist who travels China collecting stories, usually with an underlying political commentary.

So, imagine my surprise when I was wandering Kleber Square and chanced upon a French translation of another Xinran book at a used books store sale! I promptly bought it for 2.50 euro and spent that night at an Alsatian restaurant with a glass of Pinot Noir, a crispy tarte flambée (a specialty of this region) and my head buried in the pages of my new find.

Because Xinran writes about women in China, I see traces of myself in her writing, or perhaps of what I would have been in another life. I read this one slow so I can fully enjoy the French so the rating is still TBA.

Music:

Best Part – Daniel Caesar: on the hiking trip, Brendan (my sis’ BF) talked about listening to this on repeat. It is a good one 😉

Sunday Morning – Jayesslee: love the guitar jazz chords in this version!

Lean Back – Capital City Music: just discovered this new worship band and love this song

Yet not I – CityAlight: Another new worship band discovery! They have solid lyrics, and this song really ministered to me the day the first few weeks without my phone in reminding me that all we have is not ours anyways:

Finally, this one is just a fun song I discovered at the new French church I went to. It was playing before the service started and couldn’t help but jam out to it 😀

Films/Movies:

The Farewell

The last week before I left for Europe, I caught “The Farewell” in theatres, which was apparently the next all Asian-American film to watch.

While “Crazy Rich Asians” is definitely a Hollywood crowd-pleaser, “The Farewell” is more an artistic commentary on Chinese family interactions viewed from the Asian-American lens of the protagonist, who in the end comes to terms with what living in a Chinese family means.

The movie was filled with a lot of ‘huh’ moments for me, as I reflected on my own experience growing up in an Asian-Canadian family, yet with an extended family that strongly resembled that shown in the film.

And I appreciated all the nuanced touches that were added to the film that made me reminisce about China – the incessant questions about “Wai Guo”, parks filled with Chinese grandmothers doing early morning tai chi, the squeaky microphones at big wedding banquets filled with people you do not know.

Black Mirror

I had heard people talk about how the episodes were intriguing and although I’d say some are pretty dark (so be selective in your watching :P), I found a few on social media and dating apps quite insightful and thought-provoking!

Explained

Another Netflix series – but this one is more educational. Each episode explains a certain phenomenon, like why we hear music rather than noise or why there is a global water crisis.

In fact, the episode on the global water crisis made me aware of the impact of the meat industry on water – apparently it is responsible for 30% of the world’s freshwater consumption. I had no idea.

Here were some additional articles I read after watching the episode:

Business Insider: Environmental Impacts of eating a hamburger 

Environmental working group: A meat eater’s guide to climate change and health

Articles:

On career:

Wait but Why: How to pick a career

Medium: the role of luck and serendipity in where your career ends up

On dating:

Atlantic: why it’s so hard for young people to date offline (recommended by the lovely Nahrie!)

Desiring God: the girl you want may not exist, how pride keeps some men single

On culture:

Slate: commentary on “The Farewell”

National Geographic: Being black in China

On science:

Science: When less is more  – if you’re interested at all in understanding the motivation behind the research I do!

Science Mag: Why people leave their PhDs

University of Brighton: In sickness and in health – mental health and wellbeing in the PhD experience

Nature Reviews Cancer: women in cancer research

Nature: A journal club to fix science – on reproducibility and tea discussions

Favorite moments

Exhibit A: When I finally got Bessie the cow in the wild pastures of the Dolomite mountains to lick my hand #lifegoals

Exhibit B: Canyoning in Slovenia, harnesses and all. Definitely out of my comfort zone, but it taught me to keep jumping into thin air.

Exhibit C: Going out with the lab to a cheese fondue restaurant where I try all sorts of cheeses, melted. It’s apparently an Alsatian thing to do – to dip meat and bread into Munster (a speciality here!) and Raclette.

Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking a lot about beauty – thanks everyone who sent me their thoughts – and am planning on formulating something on that later today. Stay tuned 😉