Being is beautiful
February 20, 2007
Be German
Drei Jahre am TWU. Das waren sowohl die besten als auch die verwirrendsten Jahre meines Lebens. Ich bin
elebt, wo grossen Wert draufgelegt wird das Leben ernst zu nehmen und hart zu arbeiten um Erfolg zu haben. So schien die nordamerikanische Lebensphilosophie sehr seltsam für mich (zugegeben, dies ist eine krasse Verallgemeinerung).
Allerdings habe ich bald unbewusst angefangen, Aspekte diser optimistischen, sorgenfreien, unbekümmerten, und von Unterhaltung geprägten Kultur zu schätzen, hauptsächlich wohl weil ich mich in mein Leben am TWU verliebte. Dorm-Leben war für mich inzwischen zum Höhepunkt des Semesters geworden. Es machte sogar mir Spass mit meinen Mitbewohnern Snowboarding oder Einkaufen zu gehen, den Campus Wächtern an der Nase rumzuführen, “capture the flag“ zu spielen und viele andere kindische Aktivitäten zu unternehmen.
Jetzt muss ich allerdings hinzufügen, dass ich mittlerweile viele Leute am TWU getroffen habe, die nicht nur leben, um Spass zu haben. Das sind z. B. meine Mitbewohnerinnen vom letztes Jahr. Fast alle lebten in einem gesunden Ausgleich zwischen Spass haben und dem Ernst des Lebens. Obwohl ich immer noch grossen Wert lege auf harte Arbeit, Disziplin, Verpflichtung und Verantwortung, haben mir dennoch meine nordamerikanischen Freunde beigebracht dass es völlig okay ist, wenn man das Leben manchmal etwas weniger ernst nimmt.
Ich werde im April nach Europa umziehen, aber ich weiss jetzt schon dass es in der Zukunft Zeiten geben wird, in denen ich die Spass-liebende, abenteuerlustige, gelassene und sorgenfreie Trinity Gemeinschaft und die nordamerikanische Kultur im allgemeinen vermissen werde.
English Translation
My time at Trinity has been both one of the best and the most confusing time of my life. I grew up in Asia but I am German (i.e. a German citizen with a German passport, not as in, “Oh yeah, my great-grandparents were German”). These two cultural backgrounds did not prepare me sufficiently for the Trinity - or maybe I should say, the ‘North American’ - experience.
As soon as I stepped onto the TWU campus, I was overwhelmed by the loudness, craziness, exuberance, and high energy levels displayed by all these ‘bizarre’ North Americans. I felt like an alien for my entire first semester. Events such as O-week, Hootenanny and dorm dates did not give me the impression that North Americans can, in fact, be mature at times.
My conclusion? Life in North America seemed to be about nothing but having fun. When my dorm mates went skinny-dipping and I asked them why they did, they stared at me for a few seconds and simply remarked, “It’s fun!” I couldn’t understand how a philosophy of life could merely entail having fun for the sake of having fun.
Having lived in places and cultures where great value is placed upon taking life seriously and working hard, the North American life philosophy didn’t make any sense to me (I do acknowledge that this is a generalization and not a fair representation of the individual North American).
However, unknowingly and unintentionally, I gradually began to appreciate some facets of this carefree, entertainment-focused, and happy-go-lucky culture. This was mainly because I started to love my life at Trinity. The highlight was probably dorm life. I had a blast hanging out with my dorm mates, snowboarding, shopping in Vancouver, getting into trouble with security guards, playing capture the flag, and doing many other ‘immature’ and completely fun-focused activities.
And I met many people at Trinity who do not just live to engage in meaningless fun. For instance, the girls in my suite last year all understood the balance between having fun and living with a clear purpose. Although my life values still include making as much of a difference in the world as possible through hard work, discipline, and commitment, my first and second-year Trinity dorm mates taught me that it is okay to take life a little less seriously at times.
I am planning to move back to Europe after I graduate in April, but I know that there will occasionally be times when I will miss the fun-loving, adventurous, easy-going, and laid-back nature of the Trinity community and of North American culture in general.
Be Athletic
AS an athlete at TWU, I think it is amazing how involved and interested the entire Trinity community is in athletics. I think of Greg, the ‘Superfan,’ who is at every basketball game possible, as well as our fans who come all the way from Chilliwack or Tsawassen on a Saturday night - even in the cold, November rain - to support their team.
I remember, in the middle of last season, I was having a rough go of it for a few games due to injuries and what not. One of my best friends - my number one fan - was at my game that night. My parents brought along some loud noise makers which they have used over the years at various sporting events to ‘get us going.’ My friend and two other people she was standing with snatched the noise makers out of my parents’ hands and began screaming for me. It definitely lifted my spirits, as well as my game. It is people like them - friends, acquaintances, family, even total strangers - who affect athletes individually every game.
The spirit that TWU has is truly amazing and unique. Recently, I attended one of our men’s basketball games at a local university and noticed the sparse number of the fans cheering for the opposing team. The thirty or so fans from Trinity were much louder and more ‘into’ the game then the entire hundred or so from the opposing team!
The Athletic Department’s phrase, “Catch the Spirit,” truly has caught on. You see it when the games are sold out and extra seats need to be added behind the player benches, or when the entire gym spontaneously breaks out in the “Spartan Song.”
Believe it or not, when an athlete thanks you for coming out to a game and says it means a lot, it actually does. When we athletes are on the gym floor or on the soccer field and we hear someone scream our names or yell “Go Spartans,” it adds that extra bit of energy needed to sink that three-pointer or get into that tackle.
I know I speak for most athletes when I say ‘thank you’ to our fans for their encouragement and support. We hope they will keep on doing what they are doing because it is obviously working.
Be Korean
English Translation
As an international student, the feeling that I belong in the TWU community is great. There are many ways that you actually feel you are in the community.
First of all, living in a dorm is a wonderful experience. I used to live in the regular dorm, which only had two international students including me. Unlike the international dorm, we did not make connections or events with international students; still, we made great relationships which made me feel like the girls here are similar to Korean girls.
I thought Trinity girls never cared about their looks and weren’t interested in guys. But yes! They do care about guys and dating! My dorm mates used to stay up late talking about guys, and they cared about what they wore and how they looked. This is similar to my Korean friends which is just funny.
While TWU is awesome, there is one thing that most international students do not like. I cannot understand why there is no stores on or near campus. It is so different from universities in Korea. There are so many places to go around Korean universities where we can hang out with our friends. However, Trinity doesn’t have any! I am pretty used to this circumstance now and I really like it; it was just different from what I was used to.
The really important factor that makes our lives happy is food! I did not have hard time eating North American food because I really like the food here. However, sometimes I find myself walking around the cafeteria almost four times looking for something to eat. As a result, many Koreans go out to lunch or dinner often to eat Korean food.
The great part about being at TWU is that we can refresh our spirit everyday. The words our friends and teachers speak are worth more than gold. These words encourage us and make us want to love.
Be dissenting
I’ve loved my time at Trinity. I love being a part of a community that stands by me and grows along with me. However, sometimes I am reminded that as a member of Trinity’s community there are certain limitations to my freedom; there are certain lifestyle prices I have to pay in order to maintain an appropriate record and keep myself from receiving a fine. This is my one frustration with Trinity: its paternalism.
Whenever I tell my Christian friends back home that going to Trinity means that I am not allowed to drink or smoke, their response is usually a dropped jaw and an amazed, “So you can’t drink beer? But dude, you’re of age!” Then I take a deep breath and try to explain to them that Trinity doesn’t want the campus to turn into a drunken orgy every weekend. My friends’ faces usually become confused at this point because they, like me, don’t understand how the freedom to drink alcohol could be equated with drunken orgies.
I find that Trinity’s paternalism is not only limited to my consumption of alcohol, but also manifests itself in my personal life, constantly frustrating me: I can’t drink wine when I go to my brother’s house; I have to look over my shoulder if I want to swear; I can’t see some of my friends in their dorms during the week because they are of the opposite sex.
It makes me wonder if an institution should have the right to enforce ‘standards’ that it perceives to be ‘Christian.’ I wonder if, instead, a Christian university should, like good government, have standards of freedom in place and allow certain issues to be decided in private. Could the university find some sense of moderation in its legalism? I’m not saying that public drunkenness in the middle of the campus should be made acceptable, but what is the harm in some casual wine with dinner?
We would never allow our government to be so paternalistic; why are we are so willing to give up so much freedom to Trinity?
Be dramatic
Before I came to TWU, I acted at my community’s theatre, at my school, and in Vancouver. I loved acting—and, not to brag, but I was good. I was a big fish in a little pond, and, as a result, my transition to TWU was hard. Auditions came up my first year and, because of my pride, I didn’t audition for fear of failure.
An opportunity arose for me to be assistant stage manager instead. I had no idea what this position did, but I got it—and I didn’t even have to audition! I grew proud thinking that they must have heard about me and wanted me to be involved with the show. But my ego was torn down in just a few rehearsals.
The stage manager acts as an adjunct to the director in rehearsal, recording the blocking and seeing that cast members stay on script, have the necessary props, and follow the blocking. As the lighting, sound, and set change, cues are developed. The stage manager meticulously records the timing of each as it relates to the script and other aspects of the performance. He or she also ascertains that the lighting and sound cues are taken at the right time. Once the house opens, the stage manager essentially takes control, calling the cues for all transitions, as well as acting as the communications hub for the cast and crew and the front of house staff. To sum up, when you’re stage manager, you put a heck of a lot of time into a show.
I stage managed The Importance of Being Earnest and I put well over three hundred hours into the two months in preparation for this show. I wonder how many of us put that into our homework over the span of a year.
My hardest battle here at TWU was stage management. As a stage manager, you are probably the one person in the theatre who works the hardest and gets the least amount of credit. For three to eight hours a day, I had to serve my fellow cast, regardless if I had a bad day or not. I had to give my fullest attention to others, even if I needed it more. So why would I even want the position?
Stage management is the most humbling and honouring experience I have had at TWU. It brings new meaning to the word ‘serve.’ I have found that it’s always easy to serve when people pat you on the back and give you praise. But to serve without that same support or praise back? That is what stage managing was like for me. It brought my attention to what servant hood is really all about.
Now you go...
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