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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=254534205-02122012>What an exciting English class to be
in. Indeed a profound journey of choice and creativity.
Thank you for sharing your work in China.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><SPAN
class=254534205-02122012></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2>Lynda <SPAN
class=254534205-02122012></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net
[mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Jaime R
Vergara<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, December 01, 2012 11:10 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
oe@lists.wedgeblade.net; oe@wedgeblade.net<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Oe List ...] Fwd:
OpEd Wednesday<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><FONT color=black size=3 face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16px">So</SPAN><FONT size=3>meone asked about popular
preaching not too long ago.</FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=3><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>I am sharing this article for the Saipan Tribune that I also
shared with colleagues of the Realistic Living Symposium.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>The usual caveat: curious, welcome; not, see you at the
bend!<BR></FONT>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 16px"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 16px">j'aime la vie
<DIV style="COLOR: black"><BR></DIV>
<DIV><I style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><FONT color=#000080><B>Yesterday,
appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all,
Celebrate!</B></FONT></I></DIV></DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: helvetica, arial; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: Jaime R Vergara <jrvergarajr2031@aol.com><BR>To:
jrvergarajr2031 <jrvergarajr2031@aol.com><BR>Sent: Sun, Dec 2, 2012 12:00
pm<BR>Subject: Fwd: OpEd Wednesday<BR><BR>
<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_1_5fa297c2-ab57-485a-bee4-cd18417dbf73><FONT color=black
size=4 face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><FONT size=4>My secular articulation
of transcendence, immanence, and transparency; metaphorical translation of
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.</FONT><BR><BR>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 18px"><A
style="FONT: lighter 10px Verdana, Arial; COLOR: #000000"><IMG border=0
align=absMiddle src="http://presence.mail.aol.com/mailsig/?sn=jrvergarajr2031"
NOSEND="1"></A> <FONT color=black size=2 face=arial>j'aime la vie
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#ff0000><B>Yesterday, appreciate;
tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In
all, </B></FONT></I><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span
color=#ff0000><B>Celebrate!</B></FONT></I></DIV></FONT></DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: helvetica, arial; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: Jaime R Vergara <<A
href="mailto:jrvergarajr2031@aol.com">jrvergarajr2031@aol.com</A>><BR>To:
jayvee_vallejera <<A
href="mailto:jayvee_vallejera@saipantribune.com">jayvee_vallejera@saipantribune.com</A>>;
mark_rabago <<A
href="mailto:mark_rabago@saipantribune.com">mark_rabago@saipantribune.com</A>>;
editor <<A
href="mailto:editor@saipantribune.com">editor@saipantribune.com</A>><BR>Sent:
Sun, Dec 2, 2012 11:55 am<BR>Subject: OpEd Wednesday<BR><BR>
<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_1_156f4509-ee05-4732-8ce0-3f4186990210><FONT color=black
size=4 face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">HERE I
STAND</SPAN></B></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN></B> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
oft-quote, "Here I stand, I can do no other," is attributed to the German monk
Martin Luther when asked to recant his Wittenberg 95-thesis at the imperial Diet
of Worms. The phrase now considered an editorial insertion is nevertheless
"faithful" to the religious reforms of the 1500.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">We do not
draw a dividing line in our class context though we start our 16-week journey
with an exposition of three perspectives, used thoroughly and throughout the
whole term of our Oral English classes. (We taught the same using a
different set of metaphors in Saipan not too long ago.)</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"Life, real
life, is the subject of what we can talk about in oral English," we begin.
"Of this life, we view it from three perspectives." We then draw a couple
of two-inch-wide circles, two feet apart, on the board.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The first
circle is the microscopic perspective. On individual lives, it is the
small picture. It begins at the hour of conception when 200 million sperms
attempt to fertilize an egg. One sperm makes it and given the odds, is
clearly a winner. On the other hand, the egg does not just allow the first
arrival to penetrate her crust. An element of free choice is
involved. Two cells then join to create in a nine-month period a very
sophisticated bio-organism complete with digestive and respiratory systems,
muscle and skeletal structures, a neural nexus and a reproductive
capability. Not yet born, it is already a winsome, free, and creative
marvel. One is some body!</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The second
circle is the telescopic perspective. On the level of an individual
student's life, we telescope from one among 20k population at the University, a
unit out of 8 million in Shenyang, a creature out of 1.395 billion in China, and
a human being among more than 7 billion in the planet. The planet is but
the third rock from the sun, which is a minor star in the Milky Way, careening
in a space of a billion universes, our own speculated to be 14 billion years
old. We are not even a pixel in the HDTV of life! One is, quite
literally, a no body nobody!</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">By then,
the part of the class who tends to be apologetic about their lives and their
humble beginnings hear that it is their birthright to be somebody. On the
other hand, those who are prone to air balloon their somebody-ness might hear
the emptiness of their valued significance. In the big picture, we are
just a bunch of nobodies. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">By this
time, one may feel a silent awe-filled and awe-some current in the
air.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Stealthily,
we return to our board work and mark an X on the center, equidistant to the two
circles. There is a third perspective, we declare. This one knows
itself not absolutely a somebody, nor eternally a nobody. It knows itself
to be temporal but is full of moments, historical but not altogether
fleeting. It knows itself as one, unique, unrepeatable gift of life into
human history. There has never been like it before, and there will never
be another one like it ever again. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">With all
the drama I can muster, I solemnly declare: "I am this one," pointing to the X,
and after a long pause, "and so are you!" The invitation to decisional
confidence is laid bare.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Letting the
last line drop, we draw a large circle around the two small ones with the X in
the middle, and add a horizontal "S" intersecting with the X. The result
is a horizontal <I>taiji, </I>the figure of the <I>yin-yang </I>on the
board. We are in China. The <I>taiji </I>was banned as a religious
symbol in 1949, surreptitiously revived as a cultural oddity in the
80's.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"A group of
people", we continue, "have chosen to call themselves the <I>people of the
middle, Zhongguoren</I>." We translate <I>Zhongguoren </I>as "Chinese" in
English, from <I>Zhongguo, aka</I> "China", the term the Persians called the Qin
in the Silk Road, "Sina" by Rome, "Chine" to Marco Polo, and "China" by
England. While adopting the appellation of "China" in English, in
<I>Zhongwen </I>and <I>Putunghua, </I>Chinese call themselves privately and
internally in China as <I>Zhongguoren, </I>the people of the
middle.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Though
limited in their English, by now, through the board drawings, and our body
language, the members of our audience catches on to something significantly
personal and meaningful being uttered. We conclude:</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"Face" is
important in China. The face you wear so far shall be left outside the
door of the classroom door. It will still be there when you leave the
class. You can decide if you wish to continue wearing it.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
language you are about to start using insists on getting as close to the "real"
as possible. It will want you to objectively narrate what you see, hear,
smell, taste, and touch. It will encourage you to reflect and express your
feelings, and articulate and interpret your thoughts. It will ask that you
rehearse in terms understandable to your peers the direction, plans, decisions
of your life. In short, we shall speak with authority on what is real and
authentic to us. That created face is what we want to see and hear.
T'is temporal, t'is historical. That is the face we want to create in Oral
English.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">By then,
the students realize they had not come to a standard academic class. Thus,
commences a 16-week series of encounters, a journey of choice and creativity in
eight classes at Shenyang Aerospace University. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNoSpacing><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">It is,
indeed, a season to be jolly. With the global gaze of human academé, and
the cosmic grace of the spheres, I encounter students who call themselves
<I>Zhongguoren, </I>and with them, I say: here we stand! In English!
My Muslim colleague down the hall says, <I>Amen!</I></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both"><A
style="FONT: lighter 10px Verdana, Arial; COLOR: #000000"><IMG border=0
align=absMiddle src="http://presence.mail.aol.com/mailsig/?sn=jrvergarajr2031"
NOSEND="1"></A> <FONT color=black size=2 face=arial>j'aime la vie
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#ff0000><B>Yesterday, appreciate;
tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In
all, </B></FONT></I><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span
color=#ff0000><B>Celebrate!</B></FONT></I></DIV></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_1_5fa297c2-ab57-485a-bee4-cd18417dbf73 --></DIV></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>