John Gunter

Life - Faith - One Bridge

First Impressions. . . Chinese pick-up basketball

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(This post is part of a series I am doing called “First Impressions. . . my first few months in Asia“.  If you would like to read about this series and other articles, please CLICK HERE.

Chinese pick-up basketball
One of the many rag tag games of pick-up basketball I have played (not my finest haircut).

One of the things I most enjoyed about moving to Asia at first was basketball.  We played it often and made a ton of friends doing it.  Here are some of my initial thoughts from my first few months of playing pick-up Chinese basketball.

There were five years between the time that I spent a summer in Asia while in college and when I moved over here.  In that time period, the quality of play did rise and continues to each year.  The society plays a ton, so they are showing more and more improvement even to this day.  However, it was still very different than what I was accustomed to in the US.

About the play, the speed is very high and often sloppy.  They are all in incredible shape, so they can go at high speeds for hours without showing any effects.  This is the toughest thing for me, as I am dying after 45 minutes of so.  Their hand speed is great, but their foot work is terrible.  They will steal the ball from you, then trip over it as they try to pick it up from the ground.  Flying bodies and hands are the norm.

Along these lines, very few fouls are called.  You practically have to draw blood before a foul is called.  Getting slapped going up for a shot and mugged over the back on rebounds is just part of the play.  They are very aggressive and very physical, yet tempers almost never flair up.

Their major influence, to no surprise, is the NBA.  David Stern and his goons have obviously done an incredible job of marketing over here.  As there are very few coaches [Read more…]

3 overarching thoughts on cultural diversity in weddings (and life)

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(This post is building upon my previous one titled, “My most awkward 20 minutes. . . and culturally rich weddings”. . . you might want to read it first if you have not already.)

John Gunter at the Graham wedding
Ed and Janelle Graham’s wedding and life are examples of the strength and beauty of bringing out the best in multiple cultures.  (I am on the top row second to the right.)

I love seeing the various elements of culture which are present in weddings from different places around the world.  It really is fun seeing the pageantry of differing customs brought to bear in the ceremonies.

Chinese weddings have a rich tradition of both elegance and in light-hearted humor intertwined in the ceremonies.  I especially like how the Chinese wedding ceremony goes to great lengths to honor the parents of the bride and groom.  There is a “tea ceremony” in each wedding.  This is where it is as if the parents are put on a pedestal in the acknowledgement that they have been central in their child’s life up to this point in time.  It is really nice.

Thinking about these experiences and in my life of 10+ years of living, studying, and working overseas, three thoughts come to mind. . .

Cultural diversity in weddings (and life) is stressful at times

A great example of this is of me at Marcus’ wedding (click here if you have not read it).  This was a case of differences in cultures at play.  I would be lying if I said it didn’t cause me stress.  However, in the end, it was an incredible wedding of which I was honored to be a part.

Last year, I was in a wedding here in Asia. [Read more…]

Alaskan beauty and the image of God

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As I type this, I am sitting in a coffee house here in Skagway, Alaska.  Mom and Dad are treating the entire famliy to a 10 day cruise around Alaska.  It will end in Vancouver.  This is in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.

Skagway, AK
This is the view from my current writing spot. . .

Looking out of the window at this old gold rush era town of Skagway, there are snow caps engulfing the two-story building lined streets to my right.  The buildings look like something out of an old western movie you would see on TNT late at night.  To my left, the deep blue waters hold car sized ice-boulders which have chipped off from nearby glaciers.  In a word, this place is astounding.  I’m not much for scenery, but even I have been moved by this rugged, arctic locale.

In the past two days, whales have swum as close as 20 yards from the table from which we were enjoying dinner.  Two otters swam carelessly 50 yards [Read more…]

Betsy’s wedding gift and sacrifice

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(This article is in “My thoughts on weddings. . . (a series)” that I did during June and early July.  If you have not read the other posts, I suggest you click here for an overview of the series and past articles.)

John Gunter with sisters at the beach
My wonderful sisters, Becky and Betsy

It was a few months prior to my graduation from college.  Life was crazy, but school was slowing down.  My sister Betsy was getting married in April.  You see, I love both of my sisters as much as is possible for siblings to love each other.  I was, and continue to be, fortunate to have sisters whom are also close friends.  To this day, there is nothing I enjoy more than spending time with Betsy and Becky.  Seriously.

Anyway, Betsy getting married was a big deal to me.  I was excited for her and proud of her.  My biggest desire was to get her an awesome gift.

Problem. . . I had a sum total of ZERO money.  None.  I could ask my Dad for money to buy this awesome gift, but this just didn’t seem right.  He would have happily obliged, but still it didn’t seem right.  I wanted to get Betsy a gift that expressed a fraction of my love for her (and Bill. . . my equally awesome brother-in-law).  What to do, what to do??? [Read more…]

First Impressions. . . my first few months in Asia

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John Gunter and Patrick Ku during the first few months of life in Asia
This was at a local attraction my first few months in Asia (Patrick Ku is with me).

I moved to Asia permanently in 1999.  At the time, I had no idea how long I would be here, only that it would be “long-term”.  With the exception of a few US based years in the middle, I have been in East Asia since.

It has been an incredible journey of which there have been many ups and downs. Those first few months were packed with new people, experiences, sights, sounds, and lasting impressions.

As is the case with anything new, I wrote more about my experiences those first few months than I have in the past few years combined.  This was a world before Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and everything we have now at our disposal.

Since there were no platforms to share those first few months with a broader audience than family and a few close friends, I thought it would be fun to write a series of posts on this topic. So. . .

During the coming months, I will write a series of posts on some of my FIRST IMPRESSIONS of living overseas.  Most of these will be based on emails written during that time.  I have since edited them and written in some perspective that I now have looking back at each experience.

Hopefully you will enjoy getting a closer look at some of the everyday occurrences and experiences of life in Asia as a foreigner though my first few months.

The following are the titles of the posts.  I will probably add to these ever few weeks as other memories come to mind of which I would like to write up.  So . . .

Also see. . .

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