A Letter from a Christian

On way to Los Angeles, in flight I read fascinating book by Yann Martel, one of my favorite authors. He wrote 'Life of Pi', and it was breath-taking in every page. 'Beatrice & Virgil', not up to the standard of 'Life of Pi', was the novel I began and finished reading in a non-stop flight. The book was a gift from my friend, and I cherish it although it was an all-right novel.

All the way I sat beside a Christian fellow. He was white, hearing, straight, and everything else that fit the stereotypical of an European-American Christian man. He read his bible, and I read my 'Beatrice & Virgil' novel. Like other passengers, it was mutual that we didn't talk to each other until something comes up.

I had hard time with a flight attendant. At one point, he (German aged at 70 or so) tapped my shoulder with his pelvis while holding bottle of water and cups. It irritated me. Some hearing people don't understand that Deaf people don't hear and speak. Isn't it amazing how stupid some people are out there?..

It prompted the Christian besides me to pray a bit, read some specific verses, and began to jot down on pages. I thought to myself, please don't pray to God about me being Deaf.

We landed at LAX at last, after two delays and long flight. Tru biz! He gave me folded note, patted on my arm, smiled & waved as he jogged away. I knew it was something like that, but four pages of hand-written letter? I was so curious to read what he wrote:

Darren, (I saw your name on your boarding pass)

I am so sorry that the flight attendant was too ignorant to understand you are Deaf. Many people in the world today have eyes to see, but do not see; and ears to hear, but do not hear.

I wish I could sign too, so I could talk to you directly. But, since I can't the best I can do is write this note. I want you to know that I'm writing this note because I care about you as a fellow human being. even though I don't know you and I likely will never see you again, I care.

I am a Christian; and I try to make a point of sharing my faith with at least one person every time I fly. I don't the fact that I can't communicate with you should keep that from happening. So, here it goes. I hope you will keep reading. And if you, too, are a Christian, I hope this will be an encouragement to you.

We (you and me) along with the rest of the world, are part of the ultimate statistic. 10 our of 10 people die. It is not a scare tactic. It's simply the reality of the world in which we live. When we die, we are going to stand before God and give an account for our lives. Because God is good; because He is holy, righteous, and just, He will judge each of us according to the moral standard of His Law. If we have ever lied, stolen, taken His name in vain, been angry without just cause, or disobeyed our parents; He will fined us guilty of breaking His Law. Because He is good, He must punish our sin. And the punishment God has ascribed for sin is eternity in Hell. Not very encouraging, I know. But please keep reading.

There is good news!

God - who is holy, righteous, and just - is also loving and merciful and kind. God is so very loving that He provided a way (and only one way) to escape the punishment we deserve for our sins against Him.

2,000 years ago, God the Father sent His son to Earth in the person of Jesus Christ - fully-God and fully-Man, yet without sin. He was God in the flesh - the Messiah who walked on water, healed the sick, raised the dead, and knew the intentions and heart of people.

About 30-33 years into His earthly existence, He voluntarily went to the cross. He shed His innocent, holy blood and died on that cross. Even though He did nothing wrong, He took upon Himself the punishment you and I deserve for our signs against God. Three days later, He rose from the grave. He is alive!

What God requires of us, Darren, is that we repent and turn away from our sins; and by faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Please consider these things carefully, Darren. There is nothing more important than your soul.

And again, I have written these things because I care and so that you may receive the gift of eternal life.

Thank you for reading this. You are in my thoughts and my prayers.

Tony

(his email address)

So it was what he wrote. He ripped three specific pages from Bible, perhaps from the front because on each page it had a title - Holy Bible, English Standard Version; the Old Testament; and the New Testament. I guess it meant a lot to him that he ripped off his own Bible.

I don't know what to react, I suppose I can send him an e-mail praising or condemning for what he wrote to me. I remain an agnostic, and I care about every human being as much is possible. I repent sins as far as I have moral consciousness.

In 'Beatrice & Virgil', a taxidermist liked the story of Saint-Julian the Hospitator. Julian love to kill as many animals as he sets his sight on. Keep in mind - it was legendary tale that included slaying of dragons and wrestling with crocodiles. In the end when he faced God after his death, he was crowned with glory and sainthood, because he cared about people and fought for them. The moral lesson - it was okay to kill animals.

Bible has its flaws, and I wish I can share those thoughts to Tony. But I'm not up for an forth-and-back e-mails of debates on Bible and Christianity. I guess I can return him the favor by having him in my thoughts and prayers for him to come to enlightenment.

At My Sunday Best

Sundays, the seventh day of week, are my day. Saturdays are not day of leisure for me, as I have International Politics 422 as my replacement for Saturday morning cartoon shows. This morning I overslept, for first time in while.

I was not at my Sunday best, but I like the phrase. Today I done some readings and typing papers, and then I indulged myself with bowls of cereal and a long nap.

My schedule for this semester is perfect. 9:30 AM class everyday, from Monday to Saturday. Stability is great approach to many things, including studies.

OK- I'll stop blogging about my schedule! It's boring, I just don't know what to blog here. Next time I'll try to blog something interesting.

Larger Than Tweets

It's time to get this blog running again. Lately I've been using Twitter, and I want to add link to this blog. It's nice to have a connection between blog and Twitter, to give more mediums of thought. That means I am back to writing entries in blog sphere. I have been through many things since last entry in 2007. From now and on I'll try to write at periodical rate to keep updates of my thoughts in this public space called Internet.

The picture is one of my favorite from Jamaica album. It was taken in my second service trip to Christian school for the Deaf in Knockpatrick. I'm saving some money this year, I would love to go back there - this time on my own and longer duration around the island.

Life at the Valley

I rode my bicycle around the Valley to do my errands, go to work, school, et cetera. I'm beginning to fall in love with the concept of being a cyclist. Sometime this week I will have to drop my bike off at shop for tune up. Then over the weekend, my fraternity brother and I will go to Santa Monica. The one day trip will be our warm up for other event in August.

By car, it will take approximately 30 minutes without traffic to Santa Monica. So I predict the one way trip to SM by bicycle will take 2 - 3 hours. Depending if we ride some buses. I know people in general do this stuff, and I want to became a serious cyclist.

On August 11, we will join other deaf people to ride bike from Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach and back. I believe they will have a 'beach party' in Hermosa Beach. We will be bicycling by the beach, talking about scenic route! :] But I'm not sure if I can ride on bike to SM from my house, then the trip to Hermosa Beach and back. Then in nighttime, I will ride back to Northridge. But that's a challenge I'd love to overcome!

One of Perks in SoCal

How I fell in love with sushi . . .

Democratic Debate

I was superglued to television last night during CNN & YouTube democratic debate. I love the idea that Americans, and people around the globe, can submit their own questions into debate.

Basically they ask the question to candidates in vlog. I thought of making a question myself in ASL with captions. But I don't have the program to make captions. I will try to make a question for republican debate in September. I'm not sure if CNN will show my question if I don't include voice interpreting in my vlog. What will I ask republicans?

Why are the candidates in Democratic party more diverse than your party, which is composed of old white men? Democrats have woman, black, and hispanic candidates. Yet republican party got none. Explain that yourselves.

I love this cat!

Political Cartoon

I came across this political cartoon on CNN website. I find that little amusing, I thought I'd share with you here.

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2007/07/20/mitchell/index.html

In-N-Out

today i ate in-n-out burgers for lunch. yeah, i rode on my bike over there to get those juicy burgers. always worth it, people. it is one of many perks you get here at southern california.

the menu is so simple. french fries are always fresh. they have this delicious sauce in burgers.

know how much In-n-Out workers earn when they first get the job? $9.50 an hour, and that incldues 401(k) plan, paid vacation, and several more benefits. *pats on In-N-Out's back*

when i am in eastern coast, i always pout about the lack of good burgers in fast food restaurants. but what we don't have here that east have: Chick-Fil-A!!!!!

Translated Into ASL

The Road Not Taken

- Robert Frost, 1920

ASL Version, by me:

English version, by Robert Frost:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Good News

It's confirmed by a Fremont student. At least 8 students from CSD-Fremont is coming to CSUN this fall. You should see my smile, it is from ear to ear! :-D This Fremont student said that the Deaf community was at its uproar about students going to CSUN and Gallaudet. I'm not surprised myself, and the uproar will settle down in a couple of years or so. Then the routine of students going to CSUN is normal as going to NTID/RIT & Gallaudet.

This is just a beginning . . .

I Made a Contribution

I made a contribution to CSUN!A week ago I came across to this Equity & Diversity website out of boredom at NCOD Library. When you enter the website you can see the link 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing' under Information for minority groups. But it was not 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing' a week ago, it was 'Hearing-Impaired'.

Truth be told, I was enraged to see a diverse university using politically wrong term to refer the people that cannot hear. I cannot leave it alone, because it is my university. So I emailed the website a long letter. I wish I save it so I can share with you. The email was pretty lengthy with throughout explanation of the term 'impaired' with thesaurus. Basically 'impair' is equivalent to 'damage', 'harm', 'spoil', 'weaken', 'blight', and 'mess up'.

My argument is that deaf and hard of hearing people are not damaged, harmed, spoiled, weakened, blighted or rather messed up. We are human beings with a missing sense that created barriers in communication. You deaf people know this stuff.

My email was not angry or criticism, it was rather a friendly and expressive letter. I asked the website to consider the change to fulfill its 'mission statement', if any. I explained a bit about how CSUN is so inclusive and diverse, and it can continue to be most diverse university in nation.

I received a response from the website saying that they cannot change it immediately, but it will be an item on their agenda to be considered. Meaning they did not promise me that they will change it.

Today, for some reason, it popped in my mind about the website. I returned to the homepage to find the link changed to 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing', and I am so ecstatic. I thought they probably not change it unless we take some drastic action like petition, have Dr. Roz the NCOD Director involved, or something like that. But it took just an email from one deaf student.

Of course I emailed the website again to give them my thanks. I wonder, is there any other CSUN websites that I can change? Hehe... :]

P.S.

NCOD just updated its website-- FINALLY! Check it out or be square.

Most Amusing Roll Call Ever

Tonight at Pols Sci 372 class, we went through the roll call. When it came to my last name, Hause, my female interpreter voiced "here" for me. The professor looked at us and realized that I am the one who use the interpreting service. Professor marked on her paper that I was present.

Then she asked me, "How do you pronounce your last name?"

"I have absolutely no idea," I replied.

Back to the Past

today i had to make a call to Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf on behalf of NCOD Library. i called through ip-relay but it was busy so i decide to use tty for first time in years.

it worked just fine. when i began to type, i type so fast that the person on end of line asked me to repeat. it was neat to use tty for once a while. in the end we talked all right and i got what i needed.

it made me realize that tty is an ancient device for the deaf people. we are more integrated with the society through mobile communicators like blackberry and sidekick. but we, as deaf people, can't forget how hard Robert Weitbricht forged to invent this machine that served deaf people for decades.

Another Quote

Finally there is something I disagree with Helen Keller.

She said," Blindness separates people from objects. Deafness separates people from people."

Look at me, a good student at world's largest mainstream Liberal Arts university. I am not being separated from people-- hearing or deaf. I bet you Helen will take her quotation back when she rises from the graveyard and visit CSUN.

A Quote..

"The purpose of this University is to liberate the human mind and spirit- to break down barriers. By being in contact with deaf students, hearing students at CSUN receive a liberating education."

- David Benson, former CSUN Vice President of Academic Affairs

As a Bicyclist Myself..

i have been thinking about the idea of less cars and more bicycles. this morning i rode on my bike to work at NCOD library. it is ten minutes ride. it is so easy that anybody can do it. at CSUN i often see aged professors ride on their bikes. i know a deaf and legally blind girl who always ride her bike around in Northridge. there is bicyclists' community here that people often overlooked.

bicycles are obviously environment-friendly, as opposed to cars. and people know it. people have been talking about global warming. yet they keep on driving. even after watching 'An Inconvenient Truth' they goes to food store down the block by car. CARS ARE NOT WORTH EARTH'S HEALTH

at Amsterdam with my own eyes, i fell in love with their traffic system inside the city. majority of people use bicycle as their primary transportation. there's always a bike in my sight. there are traffic lights for bicycles too. there are streets that's designed for bicycles only. i didn't see any police cars but police bicycles. indeed Amsterdam is the model city for world cities to look up to.

i can go on ranting about how bicycle is much better than car. i can write books on that. but i think i will leave it as it is. i better go back to workin' :]

What a Waste

know what bothers me the most? newspaper.

don't get me wrong, I'm addicted to reading news, editorials, and what else. the word newspaper means the news that are put on papers. washington post, la times, ny times, usa today, wall journal, and numerous paper companies circulate their newspaper around the nation on daily basis. not to mention outside united states newspaper companies.

in the middle sections, there are ads. about as thick as news, sports, entrainment, business sections-- combined.

picture this, on daily basis people throw away newspaper after done reading an article or two, sometimes whole section. who read the ads, besides penny-savers? who need more ads when there are already ads on rightside bar, leftside bar, top side, and between paragraphs on website articles? enough commericals on tv, or no?

there are same articles from those newspaper as to those on websites. you don't have to pay monthly for newspaper when there are same articles-- and even more articles online. by reading articles via online, papers are being saved.

this is terribly waste of papers. earth suffered too much already. we can do something about it by stop using newspapers and turn to internet.

First Entry

Reader's Note: The entry is old, I wrote it on other blog site. But I'm posting the old entries into here.

My new year's resolution along with exercise more and eat with better diet, was to get back into blogging. So here am I. :] 2 weeks late, I know, I know! Today I returned to NCOD to work in Library. And oh boy, I do miss NCOD! CSUN won't start until Jan. 29th. The top reason I miss NCOD is the politics that I am involved with.

When I was out at Arizona for winter break, just 2 weeks in Arizona and I got so bored there. I know almost no one there, and my parents are living with senior citizens. Enough said.

I definitely am looking forward to this semester. The classes I registered months ago are very exciting-- Deaf Theatre 405, 2 Political Science classes (Adm and Great Questions about Pols), Astronomy Lab and online Astronomy class. I am trying something new this semester with Real Time Captioning. It is like the CC you see on TV, only that the captionist is in classroom with laptop. The captionist types down the teacher's speech, verbatim. I had TypeWell captionists before, it is not fast enough as Real Time Captioning. I'll see how well the service is for me. Of course I have interpreters for other classes. :]

Deaf CSUNians can be little dull for me after one semester of hardworking, but I am looking forward to big events that we are planning all along. Miss Deaf CSUN Pageant, JASK (Just ASK! Deaf Awareness month in April), and Spring Banquet in May. This semester should be lighter on me since I worked hard in first semester to get the ball rolling for various committees, then this semester I will be able to focus on other items on agenda. Oh did I mention that I am Deaf CSUNians Vice President?

Other reason to look forward: fraternity! I grew to be fond of Lambda Sigma Pi. I enjoyed very much as Sergeant-at-Arms and other positions I am holding.

It was a rumor that we have 20ish transfer students to CSUN this semester. I know for sure more than 15 students, but this is exciting. It is my dream to see CSUN with 500-plus deaf/hh students. No wonder I'm majoring in Political Science! ;]