The language of the heart

I'm back! What a trip.

I've been blessed beyond belief by the family of my Indonesian friend. Their hospitality is overwhelming, to the point where you realize that there is nothing you can do but graciously accept their kindness and pay the debt forward.

It was an unforgettable experience. Somewhat hilarious actually, considering how complicated it was to communicate. We traveled as a small group of Koreans, Indonesians and Singaporeans, and there wasn't a single common language. In fact, not a single person was fluent in all the languages. When we sat down for dinner, Indonesian dad would explain the menu in Hokkien to my Indonesian friend, who would translate it into English to my Korean friend, who would then translate it into Korean to her family. After they made their choice, the process would be repeated backwards!

I couldn't understand Bahasa or Korean; the pastor could understand Bahasa but not Chinese; Indonesian mum was fluent in Bahasa, Chinese and Hokkien, but not English... and so on and so forth. Of course the cool thing was that every time it was time to say grace before a meal, it was always in a different language that at least half in the group would not be able to understand!

But you know what is amazing? That it is still possible to communicate kindness and acceptance in spite of all of this. Apart from the amazing hospitality, the little gestures, gifts, smiles, and `thank yous' in five languages, there was a single event that stood out. It was when a group of middle-aged women from the church got together to present a Korean dance item during the wedding dinner. Each of them had bought a traditional korean dress and they smiled and danced with red fans to a korean tune. The effort they put into welcoming the guests was incredible.

In fact, the entire wedding dinner was incredible. The 60-large church choir and church members presented song item after song item in various permutations non-stop throughout the ten course wedding dinner, and the singing was fantastic. They sang traditional batak songs, love ballads, Christian songs, and even Singaporean tunes! One of the guests commented that even if you were a very rich man, you would not be able to pull such an event off. It humbled me to see how much the church in Medan loves their pastor and si mu (pastor's wife) that they should put in so much effort for their son's wedding.

Sometimes it is only when you have experienced what it is like to be given something amazing that you learn how to be generous yourself.