Journey of Life

Comparison of Income Tax - UK vs. US States

2009-07-25T14:03:00.013-04:00

There has been much debate about the "high tax rate" in the UK vs. the US. I just thought it might be a more fruitful discussion when we have the real facts in front of us. Since I am up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning with no one to talk to (and not to mention that I am a numbers nerd), I actually have the time to do things like such!!

Do note that this is strictly an income tax comparison. Taxes (if you can call them that) such as Social Security & Medicare etc. for the US are not accounted for, National Insurance for the UK is not accounted for. Also note that other additional allowances (tax relief) for either US or UK are also not reflected. Comparison is strictly based on "Single" filing status. UK tax calculation has been converted to USD for an apples to apples comparison. Exchange rate from GBP to USD is reflected at the most recent rate of 1.62.

This has been quite fascinating for me. For example, who would have thought that the state of California has such wacky Tax bracket - how random. Makes me laugh. And, did you know that there are a total of 9 states with no income tax, although 2 of them do tax on income earned via interest and dividends (i.e. investments). I think the process has given me a new idea for my next career move - working for the US government - in a States at least, balancing the State's budget! I think that would be a very fascinating job really. If I can do it for a corporation, why not a State government? Hhhhhmmmm........

CONCLUSION:
While the UK income tax may be slightly higher vs. the US, depending on which US state you draw the comparison to, the comparison schedule is merely to point out that it's not devastatingly/dramatically

higher than we think.

Bearing in mind this is of absolutely no political agenda. I'm the last person to discuss politics with. But the analysis is done to put to rest the myth/mystery of the high UK taxes. While it is obviously high compared to several US states, particularly the ones with no state income tax, it is not higher than the New England states nor California.

And I cannot stress enough that the analysis solely compares Income Tax, which is the topic of misunderstanding in several discussions I've had in the past, present and hopefully not in the future. While many might think that I speak and defend the UK government and way of life, I DON'T. I am simply here to reveal facts.

Greece - Athens & Santorini (Opa!)

2009-04-18T08:24:00.004-04:00

Call me spoiled but I insist on having a "babymoon" before the due date! It's something I have always wanted to do. True we are heading to Asia in a couple of months, but going home for a visit is never really a romantic holiday away with your spouse. I am sure y'all can agree. :-)

So anyway, we (or "I" rather) settled on Greece. We didn't intent to go for 10 days. It just happened by "accident" - more like Dylan's fault! We were in the middle of booking our flight and Dagan skyped in. Dylan insist on finishing the reservation while we were on skype, paying half an attention to what were doing. At the end of the skype call, we were stuck with a 10-night trip! It's a good thing I have many holidays to spare otherwise I would not be happy! You see, my initial research has led me to believe that Athens is not as packed with "sights", unlike Rome and Paris. I had wanted to spend 5 nights in Santorini....so 5 nights in Athens is just way too much. Anyhow, we made it work.

The trip started out disastrously, to say the least. We sat in front of a noise making toddler from Edinburgh to Amsterdam! We don't blame the child but rather the parents, for not stopping the child when he kicks the seat in front of him (my seat) continuously AND provoking the child to sing/say "e-i-e-i-o" in a loud screeching, high pitched voice every time the child stops!!! What in the world was the father thinking??? After an hour and a half of "e-i-e-i-o" and a vein and eye popping piercing pain in my eye socket and forehead due to a sinus infection and cabin pressure instability during landing combination, I was reading to eat the child for dinner!

Anyhow, we were just glad to be off the plane for transit in Amsterdam with "e-i-e-i-o" still ringing in my ears. The next leg of our journey on the flight was rather uneventful except for the same piercing pain and motion sickness during landing. Not to mention it was 2a.m. local time (midnight UK time) by the time we land. 10:30p.m. is usually my bedtime to give you some frame of reference! With all that going on, we (Dylan would say I) left our passports on the plane (seat pocket)! I didn't realised it until we left the airport and on the bus en route to our hotel. I seriously didn't think it was going to a big deal. Surely the cleaning crew will find it, send it to the lost and found, and we'll just pick it up the next day from the airport. No big deal. Wrong! In hindsight (which is 20-20), we should have gotten off the bus and went straight back to the airport had we known how inefficient and unhelpful KLM is in handling lost and found property.

Long story short, after visits to the various embassies, tons of international phone calls on our mobile phones, no thanks to KLM, we finally located our passports, not in Athens but in Amsterdam! We had to delay our flight to Santorini (another expense) so that we can have another working weekday in Athens. By Monday night, we finally arrived in Santorini - 4 days after our departure from Edinburgh!

That said, all was not lost in Athens. We managed to do some sight seeing in Athens. Sadly, like Milan, Athens is littered with graffiti, and box-like, distasteful brick built building. The "sites" were sporadic and spread very far apart with very little interesting buildings/things to do in between. Also, we didn't understand why there were so many stray random dogs and cats all over the streets??

Santorini....aaahhh....that's a whole different story! The island is breathtaking! It's definitely a must-visit if you can make it. It's hard to describe the beauty of the natural wonder of Santorini so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Meet Baby Potter

2009-03-05T16:07:00.004-04:00

I cannot believe it's been 2 months since I last made an entry. Well, considering the fact that I've been in a fog for the last 2.5 months, it shouldn't be a huge surprise. The little thing in my stomach called baby has been causing quite a havoc with my health the past 2 months. Unfortunately, I had all the symptoms in the book - pretty much. Not very pleasant at all!

Anyway, I am happy to say that the tide has started to turn. I started feeling better about a week ago. Praise God!! I am now officially 15+ weeks! I had a scan today and finally got some pictures to show and tell. I must say I was completely irrationally paranoid right before the scan. I started spilling the beans at work about a week ago and was rather paranoid that the baby would disappear during the scan hence making me a lier!!! It must be the same hormones that are making me have really weird dreams lately!?

Anyway, here are the first pictures of Baby Potter and Baby Mama with her co-called bump. Dylan doesn't think that there's a bump (per se) but that I just look fat. Hhhhmmmm. I say it's a bump. My official due date is August 26, so they say. :-) It was too early to tell the sex of the baby unfortunately! We'll keep you posted. Stay tuned.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-31T07:15:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I posted something....it's not that nothing exciting is happening in our lives but the busyness of the holidays just threw me for a loop. We went back to the US for Christmas, as many (if not all) of you knew. It was a good trip overall. Exhausting but good.

There was a huge snow storm the 2nd day we were there. Our bodies were not equipped to handle such extreme temperatures anymore since we moved to sunny Scotland - not. But seriously, it just never got that cold in Scotland! Needless to say, I was not happy with the chill and at the same time discovered that I did not miss the snow one bit! Sorry to disappoint some of you snow fans out there.

The cold however did not dampen the joy and delight of seeing friends and family again! We had such a great time catching up with people we haven't seen in over a year, some longer! More importantly, we got to meet our little niece Isabella for the first time! She's about 7 months old and is such a good baby!

We were sad to leave but ready to be "home" after two weeks of running around. The flight back was way shorter (7 hours vs. 12/13 hours) compared to the flight there which we were very thankful for.

That's all for now....keep smiling. Jesus loves you!

Haircut! It's a big deal!

2008-12-12T16:04:00.005-04:00

I had a haircut today! It's a big deal when the last hair cut was 10 months ago!!! It's credit crunch yo! :-)

So what do you think?

How about this angle?

And this angle??

ok...that's enough! :-)

Oh yes, by the way, we moved!

2008-11-19T13:27:00.006-04:00

Some of you might have already heard that we moved - yes, just slightly over a month ago. We've been very busy since and haven't got a chance to take photos of the place to show you until this evening. I walked into the Drawing Room and the lighting was just right and the flat was relatively tidy, so I thought to myself "no time like the present!" :-) You can tell from the photo that our old flat fits right into the living (oops I meant "drawing") room and dining room combined! Just in case you forgot, you can find pictures of our old flat from an earlier blog entry (about a year ago). So, here it is....

Our flat building was built during the Georgian era (17th century)!

Drawing Room

View from the drawing room window as the sun is setting, then at night....

This is Dylan right after the James Bond movie - it's amazing how such movies can turn a grown man into a boy.

Dining area

Hallway

2nd bedroom

Master bedroom

Kitchen

and finally...Bathroom

CHRISTMAS SALE @ Jacqueline Potter Collection

2008-11-09T16:54:00.005-04:00

Yes, it's finally here! Christmas Sale is going on now at Jacqueline Potter Collection. Massive discounts of up to 40% off. Every item in the store is on sale. What's more, it's FREE SHIPPING to US and Canada! To visit the site, CLICK HERE. Happy shopping!

Buongiorno!

2008-11-07T15:21:00.046-04:00

aaahhhh....Rome! Yes, we visited Rome for 4-5 days last week. What can I say...it's was one of the most enlightening experience. We walked, and walked, and walked till our feet were about to fall off. We ate pizzas and pastas and gelato everyday!!

It was a very humbling experience when we realised that we were walking on the grounds that the apostle Paul had walked on two thousand years ago. We saw ruins and remains that dated back to Jesus' time, sometimes older! Wow.

Day #1

San Giovanni

Walking around...look what we discovered!

Aquaduct dating back to Jesus time....

Colosseo

On the way to Fontana di Trevi Dylan got to excited in discovering a Mickie D where he knows for sure he can get a good and honest to goodness cup of beverage for a reasonable price!

Fontana di Trevi (3 coins in the fountain...) :-)

Dinner @ the flat

Day #2

The Forum

The Palatine

Vatican City - St. Peter's Basilica

Streets of Rome and a funny sign in a toilet near the Vatican City :-)

The Pantheon

Sant' Ignazio di Layola - the church was built by Cardinal Ludovisi in 1626 in honour of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus and the man who most embodied the zeal of Counter Reformation.

Random Church we walked in celebrated Halloween in a strange way...

Pinocchio dolls everywhere! How cute....I suppose since he was carved from a piece of pine by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village...it only made sense.

Dinner out next to Republica Metro station

Day #3

Scala Santa - the holy staircase. The 28 steps, said to be those that Christ ascended in Pontius Pilate's house during his trial, are suppose to have been brought from Jerusalem by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine.

Piazza Di Spagna - Spanish Steps (Spanish Steps) + shopping (break from sight seeing!)+a visit to high-end Italian Mickie D

Day #4

Dylan started the Day with a traditional haircut from a fine old Italian man who do not speak a word of English! Haircut style was communication by mere hand gestures! Very brave of Dylan! The man spent a good 10 minutes (includes talking time) perfecting the old style parting (see picture)!

Vatican Museum - Pope Mobile

Vatican Museum

Pit Stop in Dublin (transit) for 5 hours....so we roamed around Dublin and met up with a friend.

Malaysian restaurant in Dublin??? Dublin has come a long way since I last visited it about 5 years ago!

The Federal Reserve is as Federal as Federal Express?

2008-10-05T12:12:00.007-04:00

Since the financial crisis, Dylan and I have been reading up (more like watching videos) about the financial system, money supply etc. The more we dig, the scarier it became. One of the most shocking thing I discovered is the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are not government entities! Did you know that? One of my favourite quotes I've heard in one the videos is "the Federal Reserve is as Federal as Federal Express!"

The Federal Reserve was actually started by a handful of really wealthy bankers in 1913 during President Woodrow's reign. Let it sink in for a while... When we hear/read in the news that the Feds has lower/increase interest rates, it's not the government! It's those private bankers who are yanking the chain on interest rates! When we pay taxes, we are not paying taxes to the government but instead just paying off the interest rates on the debt that the govt. incurred by borrowing from the Fed! Inflation? Same thing.

What will happen if the "government" infuse $700billion into the economy? What good is it if the Fed increase the insurance of your savings from $100K to $250 when gas prices will end up at say $10/gallon or bread will cost $10 a loaf? Sure, 100% of your say $150K savings is all there but it'll end up buying you less.

So if the Fed is not owned by the government, who's behind the Fed? Who is rich enough to actually issue loans to the US government or governments around the world? Ahhhh.......below is a couple of videos that would explain this revelation better than I can.

Video #1

I would watch only about the first 50 minutes of this video. I think it explains very clearly and easy to follow however I don't endorse the 2nd part of it at all.

Video #2

The rise of the Rothschild
"Let me issue and control a Nation's money and I care not who makes its laws". Amsel (Amschel) Bauer Mayer Rothschild, 1838

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect
savings from confiscation through inflation. ... This is the shabby
secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending
is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the
way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property
rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the
statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Jesus Christ (Luke 16:13)

If we have wet your appetite for this conspiracy (or truth), you can look up more videos surrounding this topic online. Fascinating stuff eh?

Even with advance degrees in Finance, we never knew the truth like majority of Americans. I suppose people have very short memory and given the Fed was set up in 1913, they have somehow managed to conveniently convince a lot of people they are owned by the US govt!

If Dylan and I mysteriously vanished into thin air...you'll know why! :-)

Financial Crisis - an education

2008-09-29T13:16:00.001-04:00

Hoping this video will help some of you understand better the financial crisis we are in....

CLICK HERE

Edinburgh Doors Open Day

2008-09-27T13:19:00.011-04:00

The beauty of being a resident in Edinburgh is that we get to take advantage of the Edinburgh Open Doors Days. What it is, is the city allows visitors to visit the World Heritage sites for free for a day/weekend. Some of the sites are not even open any other times. It occurs a few times a year quite randomly. In the past, we have visited the Edinburgh Castle for free (typically cost ~$24(GBP12)/person). Today, we managed to visit the Wemyss House and Edinburgh World Heritage Georgian House. They are both 200 year old Georgian Houses restored to its finest for visitors to enjoy and experience the lifestyle, architecture, art, furniture and grandeur of the rich during that time. At the Wemyss house, the old printing press was explained and we even got to try it for ourselves!

Dylan listened as the kind gentlemen patiently explained (probably his 50th time that day) to Dylan how it was done.

Printing plate ....

Ready, set, (press down to) print....

And here it is!

Sushi for dinner

2008-09-27T13:13:00.003-04:00

Some nights long long time ago, we had sushi for dinner - yes, home made! Not bad eh? The truth is, I took the photos with the intent of sharing it with y'all but have forgotten all about it until I was cleaning out my disc! ha ha....at any rate, here it is.....yummy? We have had many (home made) sushi dinners ever since (we discovered it's not that difficult to make and waaaaaay cheaper)! :-)

A career change?? What do you think? :-)

2008-09-19T15:20:00.002-04:00

Super Model - Jacqueline

What a special Day - Darcy & John's wedding today!

2008-08-30T13:41:00.010-04:00

What would we do without modern technology?! Thanks to the tech savvy brother, Dagan (Dylan's brother), we got to witness Darcy (Dylan's sister) & John's wedding via skype - live feed! Dylan and I were very grateful and touched that we can be part of this celebration all the way from Scotland. So, thanks Dagan! Way to go! Without further ado, let me introduced Mr. & Mrs. Me lnick!!

The Crown Jewel of Scotland - the Highlands

2008-08-25T17:02:00.018-04:00

We finally made it to the Highlands this past weekend for the Bank Holiday. Wow. I must say that you have never experienced Scotland until you have been to the Highlands! The scenery is like what you would see on postcards and calendars. Shades of green that were so pure that the white sheep/lambs, and the brown, black and white cows pop!

True to a road trip, we made several unplanned, random stops along the way. We were greeted by many quaint old towns on the way there and on the way back...some that existed since the 1700's filled with castles and palaces. Everything is just so beautiful.

Our Bed & Breakfast, recommended by a colleague, was another treat! The lady who owned the B&B, Jenny, was over 70 years old but doesn't look a day older than 60. She speaks 6 languages and has climbed Mt. Everest! She runs the 4 bedroom and 3 cottage B&B with barely any help. Not only that she owns a handful of tame Highland cattle, 4.5 horses, 1 black cat (called Little Black), tame, roam around freely in the property and can be pet!! I loved it!! Not only that, her property sits secludedand 2 dogs. All the animals are (private lake front property) with exclusive Loch-front view. Spectacular, stunning, amazing, breath-taking view!

On the way back, we stumbled upon a real-life modern day shepherd with a staff and sheep dogs. Then we got to witness another shepherd in action with his dogs. Beyond Cool! As we were leaving, Dylan noticed 2 sheep running loose from the pack right behind our car...we were afraid they would get run over by other cars but at the same time were afraid that they were going to charge our car!! At the end, we managed to herd them back to the field with our pseudo sheep dog - our Saab! ha ha. Whether they made it back with the pack, we don't know. we can only hope. Funny enough, the parable of the lost sheep came into mind -- "Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15: 3-7 Hallelujah!

If you ever come visit us, forget the castles and palaces, you MUST visit the Highlands!

A lot of the photos were taken from a moving car so the pictures really doesn't do much justice to real beauty.

Cattle calling out to the Virgin Mary?

On a side note, yes, the Saab is the get-around-town car we bought a couple of months ago. :-)

Edinburgh Fringe Festical - Chinese State Circus

2008-08-16T15:34:00.014-04:00

Every year around this time, Edinburgh host its Fringe Festival. The whole city turns into a major tourist destination! It is said that roughly 1 million tourist will descend upon Edinburgh during this month-long festival. The festival hosts many comedy acts, plays, shows, gospel choirs, circus etc. There are so many shows to choose from but from the title you can guess that we decided to watch the Chinese State Circus (and the Soweto Gospel Choir tomorrow) this year. It was what I expected, having seen a number of Chinese Circus acts in the past (mostly on TV though), but border lining cheesy towards the end...you'll see w hat I mean with the last few photos. :-)

Just a photo taken after the show....We just want to say we are doing well. Come visit us sometime!

One more thing to whine....

2008-08-02T13:55:00.003-04:00

We had to mail a letter via UPS to the States a couple of days ago....the cheapest rate Dylan could get was £36.12 (~$73)!!! All the couriers have the same price. Need I say more......

South East Asia - Malaysia & Singapore

2008-07-27T11:07:00.014-04:00

The trip's disaster (a bit dramatic but it is what it is) started the day before we were due to fly - I sprained my ankle by stepping into a pot hole when we went out for a little jog. The blessing in all that is we get VIP treatment at the airports throughout the trip. Wheelchair (see picture) can get you a very long way at airports in any country. We never had to queue for checking in, boarding etc. It was slightly embarrassing but by the time we got to Doha (half was on our journey), I got over the embarrassment...got used to the stares as part of the privileges that I receive.

We arrived in Singapore first. Dylan got to meet a few of my cousins (mum's side of the family) that night who have immigrated to Singapore years ago. We were treated to a wonderful Japanese meal! Yummy. The next day, we attended the Wong's church. We became friends with the Wongs in Pittsburgh. Jon attended the same seminary as Dylan. We used to go out for Chinese food in Pittsburgh as treats. We also celebrated Chinese New Year over "hot pot" in Pittsburgh in the winter with the Wongs....good times! Anyway, we feasted over lunch after church. That night, Dylan got really sick!! :-( Initial diagnosis is food poisoning but later we realise it might have been some sort of stomach flu since the entire Wong household got sick after we left!

We arrived in KL (Kuala Lumpur) on day 3/4. There, Dylan got to meet more cousins - dad's side of the family. And guess what...I got sick. Dylan got to go around with "our" (notice it's ours not just mine anymore) cousins and had a jolly good time while I stayed back to nurse my out-of-body illness. As you can tell from the photos, there's Dylan having a great time, and JQ was nowhere to be seen not because she was behind the camera but because she was not there! But honestly, I am quite happy he got to experience Kuala Lumpur even though I was not able to accompany him. :-) Some of the sights that Dylan got to witness are Batu Cave (literally means Rock Cave), where the Indian gods reside; the Petronas Twin Towers; and Selangor Pewter factory. And he made me a "begging bowl" (insider's joke) with our names carved on it. How sweet.

Next we arrived at Penang. There, I got to whine to my mummy about my illness and as always, mum the walking pharmacy was equipped with any and every possible medication I needed to help me get better.

In Penang, besides getting fed fervently by my mum and "mama" (my auntie, who is also my god-mother), we got to visit some Buddhist temple, including a snake temple, wet market, dad's grave, as well as some Malaysian "historic" sites. See pictures.

Four and half days later, we took off to Pulau Langkawi (Langkawi Island) which is about an hour and a half to two hours away by ferry. By the time we got to Langkawi, I was thoroughly exhausted from sight-seeing, the heat, not to mention the limping around (yes, still limping by then) made the entire trip doubly exhausting. We decided to remain in the hotel and soaked up the sun by the pool the entire 3/4 days we were in Langkawi. Living in Scotland has taught us to be content with very little. We were more than content.
After Langkawi, it was back to Penang for a day or so, then back to Singapore and then off to London from Singapore, and London to Edinburgh. Phew! A world wind trip indeed! Unfortunately for me, it was back to work the following day. It' only been 3/4 weeks (by now) and I am badly in need of another holiday!!!!

A day at the beach - Gullane Bents Beach

2008-06-08T16:59:00.006-04:00

Another gorgeous weekend in Edinburgh! We went to the beach with a couple from our church - Kit & Angie. We had a great time sunning and eating and lazing around. Angie was such a wonderful cook and prepare some really yummy quiche, potato salad (with chorizo), cake, and topping it off with chips, salad and french loaf. We brought a bottle of wine to contribute. Ha ha. Here are some pictures ....

Average Household Income

2008-06-02T15:54:00.002-04:00

I suppose as a responsible analyst, to make the comparison more meaningful, I should have included the Average Household Income across the same countries.

GDP (in USD - base on CIA World Fact Book)

Turkey - $9,400
France - $33,800
UK - $35,300
Germany - $34,400
Italy - $31,000
US - $46,000
Russia - $14,600
Malaysia - $14,400
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) - $20,700

Gas / Petrol Prices

2008-06-01T15:10:00.003-04:00

For those of you who are feeling the pinch of gas / petrol price increase in the States, count yourselves blessed. Yes, you heard me right, blessed. Here's why - check out the comparison globally (see below). Bear in mind that the US also tend to have a higher potential earning comparatively. Now you feel better? :-) How about giving the US govt. a break, huh?

Per Gallon on Average in USD (sample countries)
Turkey - $11.00
France - $10.00
UK - $9.54
Germany - $8.75
Italy - $8.65

US - $4.02

Russia - $3.68
Malaysia - $2.63 (courtesy of mum)
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) - $0.46 (courtesy of Richard)

Moment of Fame

2008-05-31T15:11:00.003-04:00

Last week, I readily offered my modeling skills to my work place for their up-coming brochure! I did it for giggles and of course was inspired by America's Top Model! Besides, it gave me 2 hours of break from work. Why not. I was the DIY girl for one of their products - Mortgage. Others had really fun roles ie. Bride-to-be, Mom-to-be etc. but I got to dress in scrubs. Oh well. Here's a picture HR decided to share with me from that day. Enjoy!! :-)

Botanical Garden

2008-05-31T14:01:00.007-04:00

Let me just start by saying that it's been awfully chilly lately. As north-easterners from the US, just like Spring flowers, our bodies are conditioned to expect sunshine and increasingly warm temperature during this time of the year. It's quite the opposite so far. It'll be warm (mind you, low 50's) one day, and mid 40's (with gusting wind) the next. You never know how to dress for the weather here!

As much as I have whined about the horrible weather in Scotland lately to anyone who is willing to listen, I have to say the weather today is worth shutting me up for at least a week (or so)! It's been beautiful all day, warm (low 70's) and very mild wind. We cannot ask for a better day. That said, we decided to take a walk to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Believe it or not, it's just 1/2 mile from us and we've never ventured beyond the gates. A few weeks ago, we learned that it's FREE (!!) so we decided not to waste this rare and momentous warm day and ventured to the Botanics.

Beyond the gates, we were so surprise that this beautifully kept, gorgeous and spacious garden is free. We wondered how they can afford to maintain it?? Perhaps that's why everything is so expensive - to pay for all the free stuff?? Even more amazing, we were approached by a Chinese girl for a free guided tour to ~7 different green houses - this they typically charge ~GBP3.50/person. They were conducting a bi-lingual tour (today only), introducing plants that were brought over from China years ago. Well, I will unashamedly take full credit for this. I think Dylan truly benefited from this street cred by standing/married to an Asian girl!

Without further ado, here are some pictures that will speak louder than words.

Bank Holiday!

2008-05-05T04:28:00.004-04:00

Hey y'all - sorry for dropping off the surface of the earth!!! Yes, we are still alive and well! Life just got really busy since I started work slightly over a month ago - yes, when you stopped seeing entries! ha ha. It's a bank holiday today which allows me a little free time to catch up on things which is why you are seeing this entry now. :-) It's quite strange that they call their holidays "bank holiday", don't you think? There's another bank holiday coming up in 2-3 weeks. Yes, it's also called "bank holiday". I'm not sure if they just can't be bothered to be creative or thought it trivial to randomly name a holiday?

Anyway, we are well but busy. We recently renewed our lease for another 6 months so we'll be in this apartment/flat for another 6 months. It's small but we are adjusting to it though at times we still find ourselves on top of one another, especially on the weekends when I am home all day! :-) Needless to say, looking for a bigger place is next on our list of things to do. At this point, we are hoping to buy. Yes, buy. What we can afford, we don't know. House prices are insanely high in Edinburgh. And the sad thing is, it's not even as bad as London. Unreal. I would say house prices are at par with LA or Manhattan in the U.S.. For example, as an average (mind you "average"), a 500 square feet one-bedroom flat (yes, not even a real house), is about ₤160K, which is about $320K. Average income in the UK is ₤33.5K. To further put it into perspective, for a college grad with about 1-2 years working experience, you can expect to earn about ₤19K per annum. If you convert it into $$ ($38K), it's actually on the low end of average salary for a college grad in Manhattan. You can arguably and reasonably survive in LA or Manhattan with a take home pay of say $2.1K a month. At ₤19K, take home pay is around ₤1,358/mth. After rent and utilities + all bills (on the low end), one is left with say around ₤650. If one chooses to get a car, car payment and insurance (again on the low end) is around ₤200, which now leaves you with ₤450. If you are really good, stay in and cook your own meals all the time, you can get away with ₤150 of groceries. But we know that this is not realistic for a young person. So let's budget for the person to eat out say twice a week (₤17 typical meal + a drink x 2), that's roughly ₤140 rounding. So where are we....we are now left with ₤160. Bear in mind, I have yet to account for toiletries (ie essentials such as shampoo, soap etc.) or incidentals such as movies, clothes, shoes etc. Walk into say a gap in the US and for a decent shirt, it'll cost you $20. That same shirt at Gap UK will cost ₤20. Same goes for shoes, toiletries etc. etc. A basic sedan car which cost $17K in the US will cost ~₤13K in the UK. Going to the movies cost $9 in the US, it cost ~₤7-9 in the UK. And the best parallel comparison that is closest to all your hearts - gas prices - ~$4/gallon in the US, ₤4.40/gallon in the UK. Oh, not to mention, college loan payback that I did not factor into the equation. All that is to say, I don't know how young people (or any average person really) live/survive in the UK?! Anyway, if you are still curious and not bored/confused to death after my rambling, you can go to http://www.espc.com and have a browse on house prices in the UK/Scotland. :-)

We had a brief opportunity to visit London a couple of weeks ago. I had to go down to London for work for a few days and Dylan tagged along for a visit. He managed to see the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, St. Paul's cathedral, London Bridge (which was a HUGE disappointment - I warned him), British library, Tower of London etc.. We didn't get to go around together (I had to work) so we'll try to head down there another time when I am not there for work. But since I have been to London before (maybe 10 years ago, also for a business trip) so it's great that Dylan is now caught up so we can extend our tour together the next time we're there. :-)

What else is new...well, Dylan turned in his first big paper a couple of weeks ago - 14,000 words. Next step I believe is he'll have to defend his paper to a panel of profs. before he moves on to the next phase (year 2). He's still teaching Finance/Business. The semester ends end of June. We are heading to Malaysia/Singapore for slightly over 2 weeks as soon as he's done with teaching. We are very much looking forward to that. It'll be a great opportunity for me to introduce him to my extended family (so far he's only met my mum and sis) as well as for me to show him around my home town.

Now that we have settled into a routine, there really isn't anything exciting to report. We'll keep you posted on our travels in our future updates.

Jacqueline Potter Collection Photography

2008-03-13T09:44:00.003-04:00

Many of you have known my love for photography in the last few years. And many of you have been my guinea pigs along the way! The reason for Jacqueline Potter "Collection" and not Jacqueline Potter say...jewellery, is because I wanted to leave room for Photography under an umbrella name. Now you know! :-) So without further ado, I invite you to my photography gallery at Jacqueline Potter Collection Photography website.

Should I submit this to Jay Leno?

2008-03-04T16:28:00.003-04:00

Once again, I found this photo we took in Puerto Rico (we were there last July for our 1-year anniversary celebration) since I downloaded a bunch of old pictures from an old memory card. We thought it was hilarious at the time and took the photo with the thought we would submit it to the Jay Leno show. "Cars with Keys Only" - I didn't realise that cars are sold without keys these days??!! :-)

Would you believe Dylan let her out of the house dressed like this?

2008-03-02T14:44:00.004-04:00

Yes, I am on a roll today....Well, I just managed to download pictures from an old memory card that I've been meaning to do for a while. And needless to say, we came across some really funny pictures (Kodak moments perhaps) that we just have to share with you.

Back to the picture....it was Sunday morning. I am usually extremely low maintenance but for some reason I was having such a hard time deciding what to wear - I guess that's what happened when I actually cared about what I wear (for a change!). So while I (we) knew I was looking a bit "ridiculous", we were running late, so out the door we went to church. It was such an odd and disastrous ensemble that when we got home later that afternoon, we had to take a picture of my outfit. Yes, I really did leave the house, went to church, walked all over Edinburgh, in that outfit. It's a miracle that I didn't stop traffic with the traffic-light-inspired wear!

Paying taxes owed with credit cards - have we reached a new "low"?

2008-03-02T11:41:00.003-04:00

You tell me.....according to Yahoo Finance today (dated March 2, 2008), "The Internal Revenue Service even has a list of features and benefits of paying your taxes by credit card, which include convenience, safety, availability, security, quick confirmation and the chance to gain rewards." What?!?! In one simple gesture of pretense convenience, I think the government is fueling the spiraling economy of United States. One of my co-worker's famous allegory for mis-directed focus is "you are worrying about the finger nail when the whole arm is falling off??!!". In this case, are we applying a band-aid to a leaky dam?

To read the rest of the article....

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/104467/Resist-the-Urge-to-Charge-Your-Taxes

Happy Lord's Day!

Pictures - Dylan eating stinky cheese - Guyer, in Paris.

Jacqueline Potter Collection Spring/Summer collection has arrived!

2008-02-22T17:28:00.002-04:00

Fans, Friends, and Family - Jacqueline Potter Collection's Spring/Summer collection has arrived! Don't forget to check it out - click here. Here's a sample of our new collection. While you are there, don't forget to bookmark/subscribe to the site. Let's just say you'll be helping me out a great deal with a simple click of the mouse. :-) Blessings, love and peace to you all!

Happy Birthday to me and Paris!

2008-02-22T12:48:00.013-04:00

Well, actually it was last week....no, wait, it was 10/11 days ago (11th)! Wow...time flies. February has always been my favourite month of the year, especially when I was a child. Not only is it the shortest month of the year, a month where every four years (leap year) you get an extra day (so cool), it's also my birthday month, Chinese New Year almost always falls in February, and according to the Chinese calendar, I was born on the 8th day of the new year. As a child, it's all about ang pow (red packet). You can click on the link to read up more about "ang pow" on Wikipedia. Essentially, it boils down to the fact that I get extra red packets - $$$. :-D And as I get older, Valentine's Day, which is just a few days after my birthday, provided another reason to celebrate.

There was no huge fan fare on the day itself. But since there's so much to celebrate, we decided to make it a trip to Paris! Oui! Oui! :-) We left on Feb. 14 and came back in the wee hours of the morning of Feb. 19th (a direct consequence of flying ultra cheap flights). I must admit that after a not-so-good experience in Milan, I was very skeptical about going to a country where people are known to be "rude" and eat food that I don't particularly appreciate i.e. snails, lamb etc. to "celebrate". But, I must say, lo and behold, Paris is now #1 on my list of cities I would like to live in!! To set the record straight, Parisians were SUPER FRIENDLY!!!! Don't believe the hype (like I did for years)!! As for food, I really have nothing to report. Maybe on our next trip (yes, there will be a next trip). We were on a budget travel so we just bought baguette, cheese, hummus etc. from a grocery store around the corner to our hotel everyday. And every night, we had Chinese take out from the Chinese restaurant just next to out hotel. We actually be-friended the restaurant owner who gave us two silver spoons as oppose to plastic spoons when I asked for plastic spoons with our take out one night. You see, we needed spoons for our cereal in the morning. ha ha. We went there for the sights and not necessarily the food so we didn't mind. The one thing we did indulge in is French pastry. I can confirm that is one "myth" that is accurate. Yummy!

Paris is definitely a metropolitan city, just like Manhattan. What got to us in the beginning is there were a lot of Chinese in Paris and they all speak French! I spoke to a restaurant owner one day and said I found it to be odd that Chinese people spoke French and only French (especially the younger generation). He said it's not odd if you think about the Chinese people who settle in America/UK who speak English. He had a point. And just like in the US and UK, the younger generation has adopted the culture and language in order to fit in, so much so, they can't speak their mother tongue.

The sights....where do I even begin? Dylan asked why I like Paris so much. And my instinctive answer was the grandness of it all, if that makes any sense. It's not only the ancient gigantic structures that makes you gasps every time you come across yet another mega building, it's also the vastness of space, the neatness and order of the buildings that made it so all so wonderfully just my taste. I am not a big fan of crowded cities like Manhattan. But with Paris, it has got the city feel without the sheer filth (which typically comes with any major city) and sardine-in-a-can-like feel when you walk the streets. And coming from the land of everything-is-so-very-expensive (UK), shopping in Euro (in Paris) proved to be a breath of fresh air! I will have to preface that this will not be the case if you are coming from the U.S., converting USD to Euros. Sorry.

We attended worship service on Sunday at the Notre-Dame church. I must say that is the biggest and oldest church I have attended a Sunday service in! The church was constructed between the 1100s - 1300s. Amazing! Even though we attended the "International Service", it was in French. Between Dylan and I, we probably know a handful of French words! We stuck it out and tried to follow as best as we can. ha ha.

Without further ado....here are some pictures to feast your eyes upon.

2008-02-13T06:29:00.001-04:00

Unveiling 'Jacqueline Potter Collection'

2008-01-25T10:10:00.000-04:00

You may or may not have heard of the new business venture I have taken on recently. This new venture began shortly before Christmas, and after working tirelessly for about a month, it's finally completed!

Without further ado, I would like to present to you 'Jacqueline Potter Collection', and here's the website -- http://www.jacquelinepottercollection.com.

Jacqueline Potter Collection is a celebration of unique and valuable jewellery designed to evoke conversations. Our jewellery collection is a contemporary expression of classic design, as tasteful as it is timeless....

I will be grateful if you would forward the link to as many friends, families, colleagues, and even strangers :-), men and women, as you can. Valentines' Day is just around the corner. For those of you who need some intervention, I'd be happy to send along a hinted message with the website link to your significant other if you provide me with the email address. :-)

Every Blessing,
Jacqueline Potter

The Sabbath Day

2008-01-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

The whole topic of the Sabbath day has been on my mind for a few days now. It started when I watched, for the 2nd or 3rd time, the movie Chariots of Fire (if you haven't seen it, it's a MUST), a movie that has won 4 Oscars. The film tells the story of 1924 Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell who refused to run on Sunday which happened to coincide with the qualifying heat for his best event - the 100m race. He was the favourite to win for that particular event, but instead was disqualified as a result of his decision. He eventually went on to win the gold medal for the 400m event and a bronze for the 200m. You can imagine that through the whole ordeal, his actions proclaimed very loudly his faith to the world, something that he was not ashamed of at all. He died later as a missionary in China. The responses one would anticipate from many Christians would be "wow...that is so great that he stood firm for his faith. Good for him!" But is it just good for him? Is God's commandment in the Old Testament so far removed from us that we do not think it applies or that it's completely impractical?

Let me probe you to review what the bible says about the Sabbath day - In Exodus 20:9-11, God introduces the Sabbath "9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."and then again in Isaiah 58:13-14 "13 If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Now, let me fast forward and bring to you another story that perhaps is more "modern". I must confess that I did not get this story out of any form of comprehensive research but through a show on the television called The World's Richest people....something like that. On this particular episode a couple of days ago, it featured billionaire Dan T. Cathy, COO, an American, and son of founder Chik-fil-a, a fast food restaurant chain. I must admit I didn't even know it existed until I moved to Pittsburgh. That's when I noticed this new (to me) fast food chain, which strangely closes on Sundays?!?! My first instinctive thought was "Why? How stupid. Sunday is a day families eat out, they are loosing a ton of profit!" I remembered asking Dylan why the place is closed on a Sunday, very strange and completely unheard of for a fast food chain. That's when I found out the owner is a Christian.In the show, Mr. Cathy was clearly not ashamed to proclaimed that he is a Christian. Amongst all the charities, and God-honoring servant-leadership characteristics he displays to his employees (college scholarships, etc.) and customers (free food for life for the 1st 100 customers every time he opens a new store), Mr. Cathy boldly closes all restaurant chains on Sundays. Every Sundays he dedicates his time to God/church, serving the homeless in shelters, and spending time with his family. Wow. Of course, one could easily say that "well, he's got so much so he really doesn't need the extra profit from keeping the restaurant open one extra day." If we really examine the human nature, one is never satisfied with enough, especially when it comes to money and material things. As a society in a developed and developing world, we pride ourselves for working longer and longer hours in a week and celebrate those who put in those long hours by way of promotion. We attribute our success to our own hard work and by how many hours we can put in at the office, often at the expense of family.

I was truly inspired by Mr. Cathy. God gives us 6 days to work and only demands that we rest for one day and dedicate that day to spending time with him, to find our joy in Him, through worship and fellowship with others in a church or with our family and friends etc. Why is that so difficult to obey? Personally, I have been struggling to walk away from the computer on Sundays now that I am working from home. It is so tempting to say "oh, just this one little thing (work related. Mind you, let's not turn into Pharisees now since Jesus did works of necessity and mercy on the Sabbath) then I am done". But that one little thing inevitably will lead to another, and before you know it, you have dishonored God in a big way. Perhaps this is God's way of helping us not make an idol out of our work? Ah-ha! Who here doesn't assess their self-worth, identity or status in society by what they do rather than their identity in Christ? Are we afraid that if we stand firm with regards to the Sabbath, we are going to appear weird in the eyes of our bosses and co-workers? What about God's words to us? God said "If...., then..." (see Isaiah). Does that mean anything to us? Are we really going to loose that much by standing really firm on the sacredness of the Sabbath, the way God intended it to be? Can we bring ourselves to trust that if we honor God by keeping the Sabbath holy, He will in turn fill us with His joy (first and foremost) and everything else?

I must say I am definitely convicted by this new revelation. It'll be a new (and struggling) journey to honor God this way for me. I hope you'll join me in this journey, if you haven't already.

New Year's eve - Hogmanay

2008-01-17T05:16:00.000-04:00

We went to the New Year's eve celebration right here on Princess Street Edinburgh called Hogmanay. Every year, Princess Street, which is about a mile long, is blocked off for Hogmanay. This event typically draws over 10,000 people. I believe the party starts at around 19:00. We got there at 22:30 (oh right, over here military time is used throughout...not sure why) since Dylan was not feeling well. At 22:30 the party was well into full swing. We were exhausted and starting to get frustrated after we managed to snake our way to the start of Princess Street. The air was damp and started to drizzle shortly after we got there. There were roughly 4-5 live bands staged at different spots along Princess Street. Street vendors selling festival foods and drinks lined the street, adding to the congestion. After a futile attempt to make it to the other end of Princess Street (we only managed to go a quarter way), we decided to park ourselves at the start of Princess Street, back where we started, which was less crowded.

Some of the more memorable scene we took in that night were a girl who passed out drunk way before midnight. She was on the wet ground totally gone to the world while her poor girl friends were left to wonder what to do with her. Dylan was approached by a random young girl for some "pills". What pills, we wondered? Did she want vitamins??!! Wished I had some then, I would have gladly given them to her! Not to mentioned loads of indecent display of "affection" by couples or random strangers who just hooked up. Guys who were wearing kilts were more than happy to flash passerby and friends. And since there were way more people than porta-potties, you can use your imagination on what we witnessed - boys and gals alike!

Now, I guess I don't have to tell you that these behaviours were driven by drunkenness. How sad. Strangely enough, here's a couple of verses in Isaiah 5 from my bible reading last night - quite scary. Verses 11 & 22 - "Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine." and "Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks". Wow. But rather than passing judgment, perhaps prayers for God's mercy with this nation where excessive drinking is quite commonly celebrated, old and young alike (who do not know Christ)?

Blessings and peace to all!

Dylan discovers Durian & Jacqueline cooked Squid curry (not on the same day!)

2007-12-30T18:27:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't know, Durian is a fruit or better known as the 'King of fruits' in Malaysia. As the King of fruits, Durian has slowly gained global awareness as a number of documentaries have surfaced in the National Geographic, Discovery, and travel channels. Quite unfortunately (perhaps fairly as some would defend), the fruit is known internationally for its notoriously strong smell/unique odor.

Here's a little excerpt from Wikipedia on Durian --- The durian (IPA: [d̪uˈɾi.ɑn]) is the fruit of trees of the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits,"^[1] the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and a formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb).^[2] Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on species.^[2] The hard outer husk is covered with sharp, prickly thorns, while the edible flesh within emits the distinctive odour, which is regarded as either fragrant or overpowering and offensive. The odour of the ripe fruit is very strong and penetrating, even when the husk of the fruit is still intact.

After hearing about the fruit for about a year (through TV documentaries, and his wife and mother-in-law), Dylan finally agreed to give this well known fruit a taste. Verdict - happy to announce that he liked it (or does not have an adverse, gagging reaction to it--he was just 'hamming it up' for the photos below). Just in case you want to take the plunge as well, Durian can easily be found these days in Chinese grocery stores all over the United States as well as Scotland (so I discovered)! It is quite often in a frozen state rather than fresh because it is a tropical fruit thus freezing is required to be transported to these non-tropical countries quite naturally. I hope you'll get a chance to try it someday for those of you who have never tried or even heard of the fruit!

Squid curry ..... right. Squid is also known as Calamari (for those of you in the States). It is one of my all-time favourite seafood dishes. To my delight, there are a number of fish mongers along the street on my way home from work. They carry a large array of fresh seafood and huge squids are quite a common sight. Dylan decided that the whole preparation process is quite blog worthy and took some pictures to document it. Hope you enjoy the photos!! ha ha ha....

Happy New Year Y'all!

2007-12-30T17:13:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I last wrote something, sorry! But Dylan did fill in the gaps so I hope you have enjoyed his postings. :-)

What have I been up to you ask? I have 2 weeks off from work but I am actually quite busy with many different things on my plate at the moment. My "temp" assignment at Diageo is coming to an end very shortly. Do not despair! I do have a couple of leads I am working on and fully trusting in God's provision at this point! I shall reveal this mystery to you in a few weeks, so stay tune!

We had a very quiet Christmas to ourselves this year. Christmas morning started with our normal routine of morning devotion - we are after all celebrating the remembrance of the birth of Jesus. We opened our Christmas gift from Dagan (Dylan's brother) in the morning - a webcam amongst other things, so now we can communicate with home for free through Skype (Skype paid me for this mention - j/k). We had our normal breakfast. Dylan went for a run and I just....vegged. ha! Lunch was an assortment of Indian hors d'oeuvre (samosas & pakoras) as well as Buffalo Wings (store made - open package, stick in oven & viola)! It was as delicious as it was disgustingly greasy and unhealthy! ha ha. We then went for a long walk hoping to burn off at least one of the samosas or buffalo wings we ate. We chatted on the phone with the Potter family after the walk. Dinner was a to-die-for whole wheat seafood pasta made by Dylan. YUMMY! Later, we watched a movie - The Painted Veil (quite good - cheapest movie we could find on the Scottish pay-per-view equivalent on TV). And that was it!

Here are some pictures of Edinburgh Castle. We visited the castle on St. Andrews day (Nov. 30) as it was free to all for a visit on that day....

Angelic Activities

2007-12-18T07:18:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! My wife is terribly busy with work this week, so I will contribute some thoughts to the blog...I hope this post is somewhat devotional (and accessible) and provides you with another template through which to consider the Annunciation of our Lord's birth...angels are everywhere in the account of the incarnation and for good reason! They hover around events where God is doing something new and important, then recede into the background until something else happens--I like to think of them as the EXCLAMATION POINTS of Scripture. Blessings to you all--DP

==============================

In the Hebrew Scriptures, angels repeatedly interfere in people’s lives when an essential objective in God’s plan lies in the balance. For example, an intervening angel appears to Abraham moments before this man of faith prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah.[1] In the book of Exodus, Moses spots an angel in the flaming bush and then hears the voice of YHWH calling to him from the centre of the previously inconspicuous shrub. Speculations abound concerning the identity of the angel in both accounts, but perhaps this is not the point the reader is to consider. Instead, the angel temporarily operates as a sort of intermediary between God and the two patriarchs, someone or something who redefines the contour between heaven and earth. If this is the case, then an angel’s responsibility is not always about bringing a message to earth out of the aether, but about reinforcing the always-present power of God to compensate for humanity’s eroded self-sufficiency. Angels are agents of revelation, evangelists whose words and actions are always consistent with Gabriel’s message to Mary in Luke 1:37, “…nothing is impossible with God.” Though they are present at Jesus' birth, temptation, resurrection and ascension, the utter absence of angels during the ministry of Jesus either suggests that the Nazarene was a fraud or that he was more than a prophet, and therefore able to handle all teething troubles without their assistance. This theory is supported by the account of Jesus’ betrayal in Matthew 26:53 when he refused to order a pre-emptive strike against his would-be captors.

[1] Gen 22:11

Your Turn!

2007-12-15T07:58:00.000-04:00

Hey family and friends! We're happy that many of you visit our blog regularly, and as a gesture of our appreciation, we'd like to hear what is going on in your lives rather than just talk about ours.
After all, as Brian Regan (my favorite comedian) points out in this clip, people like that are obnoxious: Click--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ogZo9YreQ4
So with that in mind, please take a minute to post a couple sentences about new developments, Christmas plans, or a good movie or book you've seen/read lately. For those who are new to the blogging format, just click on the "comments" link (beside the pencil-looking thing) at the bottom right corner of this post and help us to catch us up on your lives.

All our love,
Dylan & Jacqueline

Arabic Christmas Carol

2007-12-11T17:33:00.000-04:00

When was the last time that you thought of Christianity as a Middle Eastern faith? Yah, me too. I wonder if we have been missing something here, because comparatively speaking, we westerners are the new kids on the block when it comes to worshiping the Triune God.

Click me: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MvjiVam2HO4
Video Description:
A voice from the unheard voices of the Christians of the Middle East who have been witnessing to faith in the Saviour since His incarnation in their midst. Chanted by Reader Nader Hajjar, Ottawa. Video by kalamation and Fr. Francois Beyrouti.

Power and Weakness: A brief comment on angels.

2007-12-04T19:45:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to pick up the blogging slack this week...so if this is not particularly interesting (or understandable) please forgive me for the copy & paste from the intro section of my dissertation on the doctrine of angels. --DP

Clear evidence exists throughout Christian history that one branch of the faith tends to be preoccupied with developing a theology of power while another remains equally committed to a theology of weakness. Both expressions are justifiable interpretations of the faith and are often predicated upon the assumption that they have either inherited or duplicated the quintessence of early Christian practice. Power theology is what figures like Luther referred to as a “theology of glory” due to the disproportionate amount of attention given to issues that reside beyond the cross. Those who resonate with power Christianity imply that a faith without strength is a faith not worth having. This dichotomy between power and weakness intermittently rears its head throughout the history of the Church: from monasticism to inquisition, iconography to iconoclasm, pietism to quietism. The disputes between the Antiochene and Alexandrian schools during the Patristic Age were effectively in relation to the difference between a theology of power and that of weakness. The Alexandrians emphasized the power of Jesus’ divinity, whereas the Antiochenes stressed a theology of limitation found in the humanity of Jesus. Both were correct according to Chalcedon’s viewpoint, but not to the exclusion of hypostasis. A theology of weakness, on the other hand, could also be understood as a theology of the cross. Weakness, or cruciform theology insists that the spotlight ought to be thrown upon the landmarks of low anthropology and high Christology.

It is not unfair to suggest that much of today’s Pentecostal and Evangelical witness tends to focus upon power Christianity. Their language is rife with the subject of miracles, salvation, the life to come, and victory over everything from singleness to Satan. It is a very hopeful expression of the faith, but tends to minimize the already in anticipation of the not yet. Mainline liberal Christianity, in contrast, tends to identify more closely with a theology of weakness by caring for the downtrodden and sympathizing with the ostracized, but often expresses this activity in a theologically fuzzy rehashing of social justice issues. Fuzziness aside, their kindness in response to the face of human need reveals that natural theology is not something that can only be understood from the inanimate sectors of creation, but that it may be comprehended by merely looking at our own species. The reformed churches also tend to lean to the side of weakness theology due to their focus upon human depravity but they are not known for their ability to translate that focus into a theology of liberation. Their interest in progressive sanctification also reveals the remnants of power Christianity residing in their dogmatics. No one is safe because rarely, if ever, does any Christian movement succeed in discovering the sweet spot between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. It is the ever longed-for, but seldom realized homeostasis of theological utopia.

Accordingly, angels tend to be the darling of power Christianity, but in situ, they are revealed as agents of both expressions of the faith. This leads to the possibility of discovering a sort of angelic Christianity that reflects the testimony of Hebrew and Christian Scriptures where angels act as powerful, yet ever-dependent agents of God, whose insatiable appetite for goodness is as frightening as their helpless captivity to a higher nature is mystifying. Angelology has generally been considered a minor doctrine of tangential importance when compared with the central canons of theology proper: Christology, salvation, worship and ecclesiology. Due to the enormous pressure that theologians face to contribute original, creative ideas to the discipline, not a few have overstated the significance of their contributions for the sake of humanity’s insatiable desire to hear something new (Cf. Acts 17:21).

Creativity is a communicable attribute that we share with God himself but its role as servant to the interests of the individual is only a handmaiden to its role as servant to God and truth. This is to say that a stentorian defense of adiaphora only serves to obscure rather than disclose the centrality of decidedly Trinitarian scholarship. Therefore it would be reckless to suggest that angelology represents the Gründung (foundation) of what it means to be a theologian; at best angelology is an overlooked complement to the essence of the Christian faith as revealed in the challenging simplicity found in the message of Jesus.

Post Milan Transformation

2007-11-30T07:25:00.000-04:00

(BEFORE)

I cannot resist but to cheekily introduce you to my post-Milan-makeover hubby - the new Dylan Potter. I trust he will get a giggle out of this post. You see, Dylan was so inspired by the run ways of Milan that he went and got a Euro200 haircut, invested in a whole new wardrobe (including a Euro500 suede jacket shown here). I must say it's quite a transformation - wouldn't you agree? Geek to Georgously Suave! Anyway, it's all a lie….well, not entirely. He was inspired - that's the truth. We experimented with the haircut ourselves at home!!! His hair was getting long and we were trying to save money. This is one of the few success stories of home-made hair cuts!! The glasses are old. I forbade him to wear those because it made him looked like a geek before but I must say it goes really really well with this new look! And the suede jacket…we stumbled upon that last week for a bargain - that's his Christmas present. So you see, the moral of the story is you can get a whole new look without going under the knife! Ha ha ha…..

(AFTER)

Milan-Clash of Titans

2007-11-24T16:03:00.000-04:00

I suppose most major cities are similar. They are kaleidoscopes made up of individuals, sights, and the elusive "ethos" that permeates everything in creation. Our trip to Milan last week was as dazzling as a kaleidoscope but as unnerving as a roller coaster.

Overall, the trip was alright. Italy was a bit colder than we'd expected (we wore gloves and heavy clothing to stay warm). The food was great (their coffee makes Starbuck's taste like swamp water!), the main cathedral (Duomo) was amazing, the shopping opportunities were almost endless, but we met more than our fair share of downright rude shopkeepers and found the people at the central train station to be, um, less than helpful. Apparently we're not alone, because when we did an internet search after we returned, we found many other stories of people who'd had similar experiences.

Sadly, Milan is absolutely filled with graffiti, and not the hey-that's-pretty-cool-it-could-pass- as-art type of graffiti...the blight is a shame because it really detracts from the city's ambiance. Nevertheless, we did find some very kind people there, but they tended to be students or immigrants...interacting with some of the natives was another matter.

Milan is a blast to visit if you have loads of cash and want to shop at the world's poshest boutiques, or if you love cathedrals, but we think that it is possible to do it in a day. When I returned, one of the students at the college where I teach, a native of Italy, told me that Milan is not Italy in the same way that Tuscany, Rome or Bologna are, and he felt that those areas are much nicer and better representatives of the country.

Anyway, we were glad to get back to Edinburgh...if I could make a comparison between the two cities, Milan is like hanging out with a supermodel--she is a bit over the top, brash/flashy and not always considerate (you get the feeling that she's always rolling her eyes), whereas Edinburgh would be like hanging out with a rare book dealer--a refined gentleman, patient, and polite. I guess what we're saying is that Milan is a lot of fun to visit and great for a laugh, but cannot muster the warm/cozy/trustworthy feeling of a city like Edinburgh.

Coming soon: Photos of the trip--stay tuned

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving Everyone!

2007-11-23T08:11:00.000-04:00

Sorry, we're a day behind but hope everyone had a great Turkey Day!!

You are probably wondering what The Potters are up to this Thanksgiving? Well, believe it or not, we are actually going to celebrate Thanksgiving, American style, in Scotland! :-) One of our church friends (she is Scottish but have lived in America for 7 years & her husband is American) the Bakers, just moved back from America and have decided to open up their home for this fine celebration. But, since it's not a national holiday here, we are having our celebration tonight (Friday) as opposed to yesterday, because we don't have Friday off. The Bakers will be providing the bird and all the necessary fixins' and everyone will bring something. I have volunteered a green salad. There will be about 12 of us!

On another note, I have an interview today at 4p.m. (11a.m. EST) with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Your prayers are much appreciated if you get this message in time. This is for a "permanent" Manager position. I am very excited about this interview (as oppose to nervous). I am not really sure why but perhaps it's a sign of hope (to get out of my current temp job)? It's almost like the same kind of hope we have for heaven....hhmmm....just simple pure joy. :-)

I have also recently gone through an "emotional overhaul"...I guess you can call it that. Too many changes at one time in our lives has thrown me for a loop the last month or so! After much prayer and reflection for both of us, I think we are going to be alright. I feel lighter and burden- free.... "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29. So for that, I am grateful to our Heavenly Father this Thanksgiving who is always faithful.

Braveheart Territory!

2007-11-13T03:15:00.000-04:00

Things are busy at the present, but we think of you daily and thank God for each of you. We went to Stirling last week to visit the monument to William Wallace (shown above), defender of Scottish independence, as well as Linlithgow palace, shown here:

Jacqueline will be posting more pictures, I believe, but it may take some time since we are preparing to go to Milan this Friday.

By Popular Request...

2007-11-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

At the prompting of a friend, I have decided to say a couple words about my time here thus far.

I suppose getting used to life in another country is difficult no matter what the longitude/latitude. God has been exceedingly faithful, as always, so finding a flat, job and church has proved to be easier than originally anticipated. As Christians, the doctrine of providence assures us that God will continue to "work out all things in accordance with His will" (Eph 1:11). It is difficult to imagine a more comforting concept than that the Maker of all things visible and invisible will weave us into this great plan of His, in spite of ourselves.

Not unlike most cities, Edinburgh (pronounced Ed'-in-brah) is full of economic and social contrasts--people driving Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Porsches juxtaposed against the teenage "Neds" (slang for 'non-educated') who look like they saved money on haircuts in order to splurge on tattoos and knock-off designer labels, worn with the same hubris as the "Posh Toffs" (um, slang for extremely-wealthy-old-money-family) wear their crests and Crombie tweed. Most people are somewhere between the two economic extremes...trying to make sure that people know they are not Neds, and giving in to the the almost-irresistible urge to exaggerate their Poshness.

As far as faith is concerned, the area seems to lean to the conservative side, but is more or less clustered around the moderate center. We have been attending a fairly evangelical Episcopal church here in the city. St. George's & St. Paul's (affectionately referred to as "St. P's & G's" by most) has proven to be a nice balance between liturgy, weekly Eucharist, and quasi-expository preaching.

I am teaching general business and finance/accounting courses at a tutorial college (Basil Paterson) here in the city. All of my students seem to come from rather privileged backgrounds (mostly Saudi Arabian petroleum, real estate, manufacturing and banking). They are a fascinating bunch, and teaching them has been an experience, to say the least. Because none of them will graduate and be a salary monkey on a short leash, I have to keep reminding them (and myself) that they are the next generation of (insert name of largest bank in Saudi, petroleum company, pharmaceutical manufacturer). Of course, the most rewarding thing about the job is our informal discussions about life back home, and about our respective faiths. After a long discussion about the similarities/differences in our mutually (exclusive) Abrahamic, monotheistic faiths, I was able to explain what Christians believe about Jesus (whom they call 'Isa')...more than anything else, I hope this is what they will remember about me when our time together is done. Must head to bed now...thanks for reading. Perhaps I'll write about the state of my work at St. Andrews next time. Grace and peace, family and friends...all my love.

Durham

2007-11-02T18:01:00.000-04:00

Not sure how many of you are aware or remember the situation but Dylan's supervisor is originally from Durham, England. That was our original destination until his supervisor took up a post with St. Andrews. Anyway, all that is to explain that Prof. B has yet to move to St. Andrews so Dylan and I made a trip down to Durham about 3 weeks ago so that he can meet with his Prof. (for the first time!). Lovely city. Very quaint indeed! Main attraction in Durham is the cathedral. Boy, what a cathedral!!! It has one of the most beautiful stained glass windows I have ever seen and I have seen quite a lot, if I may say so. It's a shame no one is allowed to take pictures inside the church....well, I guess you'll just have to come for a visit and see it for yourself! :-)

And for you Harry Potter fans, Durham cathedral is where they film the scene where the kids played...where they flew around in their brooms......:-)

Here's some of the pictures I took while at Durham....
Pictures from the (moving) train... (amazing camera!)

Pictures from Durham....

(Dylan pouting because he wished to be in Durham at that point (as oppose to St.Andrews), surrounded by old books and the majestic cathedral....)

(have a wee read of the poster if you can...it'll give you a snippet of the history of the Cathedral)

(this house is next to the cathedral...completely engulfed by ivy - ivy league?)

Here's a few pictures of the inside of the church that I can find online....

Settling in....

2007-11-02T12:40:00.000-04:00

We have officially moved into our semi-permanent home in Edinburgh. Semi-permanent because we have signed a 6-month (only) lease. This short-term 6-month lease is rather common around here it seems. It is almost unheard of in the States, I believe? Anyway, we are hoping to purchase an apartment after our current lease is up.... We'll see how feasible that is as we draw closer! Properties are very very very expensive, to say the least! But at the rate property prices are appreciating in Edinburgh (~8-10%, 14-20% in certain areas!) in the past few years, it is definitely silly to sink money into rent.

This current apartment is smaller in terms of square footage (by my VISUAL estimate - what do I know??) but definitely 5 times more storage space! Tall ceiling, real hardwood floors, tall & deep windows, fantastic views from the 2nd floor (or rather 3rd floor in American terms). I am not sure what the occasion is but we are currently being entertained by fireworks in the near distance as I type and gaze out onto the horizon! Offset by all that is the 2-faucet-1-foot-deep sink in the bathroom, low water pressure shower in the bathroom (takes me about 20-30 minutes in the shower when I have to wash my hair!), toilet that takes a half hour to fill up, no tumble dryer, no central heating (yes, we rely purely on space heaters!), and no shelves in the mini refrigerator. Anyhow, we have managed to set up TV and broadband (hooray!) as well as mobile phones for each of us. We are starting to feel a bit more settled and not so displaced after unpacking and have a permanent address to call home (albeit for about 6 months).

Kitchen

Bathroom (note the foot-deep sink and two-faucets)

Washer and mini fridge (that does not have shelves)

Bedroom (and great view from the bed - can only enjoy it when I get to sleep in on the weekends)...

Living room (also with a view from our desk/dining table)

Our heater/dryer/pseudo fire place..

Dear lovely followers & fans....

2007-10-23T11:28:00.000-04:00

I know I have been absent for a while now.... my sincerest apologies!!! The last couple of weeks have been really hectic for us. We are in the process of moving from one place to another. It's a new sort of challenge for us - moving without a car!! Anyway, not to mention I realised we have probably spent more than $100 (yieks!!!) on internet fees in about 3/4 weeks so we really had to cut back on our internet usage to really critical stuff.

Anyway, I am happy to report that we have finally managed to secure mobile phones for the two of us (as oppose to the costly pay-as-you-go phones) as well as broadband connection (as of this Friday we hope). We move into our new place this Thursday - can't wait. It's about time we unpack!!!! I think some of my clothes are going to have permanent creases on them now, folded in the vacuum sealed bags for 2 months!

Anyhow, hopefully you'll be getting more frequent updates with pictures in the near future. Don't give up on me yet!! :-)

Cheers - JQ

Job offer accepted!

2007-10-08T11:01:00.000-04:00

You are hearing it from me even before Dylan gets the news! Well, he's at work right now and there's no way to reach him....Anyhow, yes, the company increased the salary by a slight margin. But the 6-month temp to perm contact remains. The reason I am accepting the temp to perm offer is because they don't have a position at the level I am looking for but they are want to get me off the market while they work out a position for me. They are going to put me on a fast track consideration for a manager position in 6 months when I come on board as a permanent staff. I suppose that's an investment of time (and there's some financial sacrifices as well since I won't be eligible for pension, bonus, car etc.) on my part with this company. It's not the optimal scenario but it's not the worse as well. I start work Monday - Oct. 15th. The honeymoon period is over! Just as well :-) since I am getting really bored. TV watching and window shopping is starting to get really really old!

Job offer & new lease

2007-10-06T08:01:00.000-04:00

I was informed on Friday that I got the job offer. However the terms are not what I expected. The salary is not so bad but they will not bring me on on a permanent basis to start. They want a temp to perm term. I am not too happy about that. I don't ever remember having to come on board to any company in the States on a temp to perm basis. Until I am on board as a permanent employee, I am not going to receive any sort of benefits from the company i.e. bonus, private health insurance, paid vacation days etc. etc.. I am counter-offering on Monday morning for a shorter temp period as well as a higher pay (sadly it'll still be lower than what I was earning in the States - I seem to be regressing in my career in the last year or so!). Anyway, needless to say, lots of prayers required on our end. The hours are great and the people seem really really nice. Ultimately, it's God's will where I'll end up working, ya?

Meanwhile, we found a "home" on Thursday night! We signed a 6-month lease at a place that is slightly less 'posh' than where we are now but for almost GBP200 less a month! It's also smaller than where we are now but it's only for 6 months. It'll allow us to save up some money to buy something after 6 months. So we trust that this is the right move! But since property (rental or for sale) goes away in a matter of hours (max couple of days), we had to come to a compromise with our landlord as to when we'll start the lease. We officially have the place from Oct. 11th, a 2 week overlap over our current short-term let! That said, if anyone can make it here between Oct. 12 - Oct. 24, you'll have a one bedroom apartment all to yourselves as our guests!! Do have a serious think about it, ya? :-)

2nd Interview...

2007-10-03T10:32:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the short burst of update (again, due to very limited internet access)....I just completed the online test Diageo required me to take. I think I did it as best as I could....we'll see what happens. I will have my 2nd interview tomorrow (@ 8a.m.) with a lady named Michelle McDonald. Please pray for me - for peace and wisdom! And for God to soften Michelle's heart! ha!

As for Dylan....it's status quo. He's still teaching at Basil. Nothing new to report. We are heading down to Durham, England (our original destination!!) to meet with Prof. Brown this Friday by train. Cost of train ride - £43 for two. We will get to visit where Harry Potter was filmed and the quaint little town of Durham that we've heard so much about and saw so many pictures over the internet when we thought we were moving there!!

We attended a home (bible study) group on Monday night. What a breath of fresh air....we felt alive again. We've both been starving for fellowship with other Christian brothers and sisters in Christ and this was the perfect group. People were very friendly, biblically grounded, ages from twenties to fifties. They were extremely kind to us, just as Christ commended us to be, especially to our bro/sis in Christ. It reminded me of the good ole times with the Real Food crowd at Grace Church back in CT!! I had a smile on my face all night after the study and it lasted throughout the next day and so on. :-) This group of people are from a different church than the one we've been attending (St.John's). They belong to a church fondly known as St. P's & St.G's (St. Paul's and St. George's). We will try to locate the church for this coming Sunday. Their main church building, which is right here in town, is under construction. The temporary meeting place is quite off the way (outskirts of town - we'll have to take the bus) but we're determine to make it this Sunday.

That's all for now. I have to jet before the librarian comes over and gives me a stern look....worse still, take away my privilege of using their computers for good! Cheers!

Intriguing discoveries....

2007-10-02T09:26:00.001-04:00

I know it's trivial but these are some of the best discoveries we had as of late....

Man-size tissues!!! Check them out! Note how much bigger they are compared to the normal size tissue paper! It is quite useful if you run out of toilet paper or paper towel!!

Next item - lavender scented toilet paper! So cool! It makes the whole bathroom smells so good! A dual purpose toilet paper - air freshener and toilet paper. Hhhmmmm.....(don't forget to turn the scent button on in your computer to smell it - :-) )

Pictures of Apartment #2

2007-10-02T09:04:00.000-04:00

Here you go....I've finally made it somewhat presentable and took some pictures yesterday (he he he).

note the single faucet on the kitchen sink!

HOWEVER, though the bathroom is fitted with a "single" faucet, the hot and cold water still come out in separate stream??!!! Do take note of our high-tech solution to the problem! :-)

Interview & Food

2007-10-01T08:36:00.000-04:00

The two very important subject, indeed!!

Well, just got back from the interview. It went as well as it can be I suppose! :-) Now it's the waiting game. If the feeling is mutual, I go back for Round 2 with the Finance Director and also to take a test!! I hate those tests...they are designed to stress you out - worse than the SATs, and nothing else, in my opinion! And I sincerely believe that's the end goal of the test. I cannot believe for a second the test truly determines one's worth/abilities. I stink at it but it doesn't mean I am incapable of a job well done should I join the company. Anyway, I guess I will wait to hear from the headhunter for feedback from them - met two people today. The Diageo office is georgeous (yes, I am learning to use adjectives like the Brits now! cracks me up....), situated in what they called Edinburgh Park. It's a "park" created to house global & local headquarters for all the big companies ie RBS, HSBC, etc. etc. etc. It's a concrete jungle in the true sense of the word. Anyway, at the lobby of Diageo, you'll find a cafeteria/restaurant. Apparently, they used to serve alcohol and folks used to hop in for lunch and a glass of wine. Not bad. Ha!

Well, many of you have asked about the food here. To be honest, all we see in every corner (more than Starbucks, McDonalds, Chinese takeaways or Chippy eateries) is Indian food! For those of you who know me well, I am in heaven! There will never be an unfulfilled Indian food craving! That's the beauty of being in city centre I suppose. You get eating places every corner you turn, literally. It's practically like living in Manhattan. The only fuuny thing about all the Indian restaurants is the all offer - curry, kebab and pizza! Random?!

Pictures of Apartment #1

2007-09-28T11:16:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the Leith apartment...note the separate faucets....cracks us up. Will post pictures of the new apartment next time.

Still alive and well (almost).....

2007-09-27T10:46:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a few days since we last posted anything. Not to worry....all is well. We are still quite alive and kicking. It's rather hard to get connected to the internet....more so now that we have moved to a new location. The only way to access the internet at the moment is at the internet cafes, which can run a tab of about £1.50 (or $3.00) an hour. It adds up rather quickly.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, we moved - from Leith to Stockbridge. I know it's quite irrelevant to you (ha ha) but we have been looking forward to this move since we got here. Stockbridge we have discovered is a more upscale area. We can tell by the luxury cars that lined the side walk! We'll be in Stockbridge for about a month (before we have to move again!!) which allows us to unpack, somewhat! We got quite sick and tired of wearing the same few outfits (since we left Pittsburgh) for about 1.5-2 weeks. Not to mention scarfs, hats, gloves and warmer attires were quite a delight to unpack! We have also moved from a tenement style apartment (really old style building) to a newer apartment building with all modern amenities! We are learning the difference! And yes, we are quite spoiled indeed. We both got sick (terrible colds) the last few days as a result of our daily intake of crisp fresh air (from walking, sometimes running when we are late, causing us to get chilled because of wet clothes from sweat and rain) and the inability to get a nice hot shower or to remain warm in the (1st) apartment. It is extremely chilly here and it rains almost everyday. The only good thing is the rain does not last, typically a shower, then the sun will shine immediately after. Very strange. Almost tropical in nature, except for the temperature!

Since we do not have a car, we are on foot everywhere, raking up to almost 5 miles of walking everyday! Which means we have to leave the house with an umbrella and a rain coat everyday. Quite a pain. The biggest risk/danger we face on a daily basis is getting run over by a car/bus! We're just never quite sure which direction cars are coming from, especially when there's a roundabout! Somehow, the direction we look is never the right direction. We almost got run over quite a few times now! Our first landlady, Wendy, thinks we are not going to last for very long without a car, and I have a stinking suspicion she might be right!

We attended St. John's on Princess Street on Sunday for church. Unlike the States, the latter service is the traditional (high church) service while the morning service is the contemporary service. Needless to say, we goofed and turned up for the 11:15a.m. service only to find about a dozen people in attendance in such a huge and beautiful church. We were quite discouraged only to find out later that we actually missed the "bigger" (contemporary) service which starts around 9:00a.m.. We plan to attend the earlier service next week. The message was quite good. The pastor stuck to Scripture....no jokes or stories to fill gaps! :-) Praise God! See pictures...

We spent some time walking around city centre last week before Dylan had to start work on Monday. We visited Old St. Paul (see pictures),

the Royal Mile (didn't quite make it to the Castle, yet),

Princess Street,

and a few other places. We haven't the energy (lots of up hill walking!!!) to hit all the tourists spots since we are also walking around looking for apartments, grocery stores, etc. We figured we'll be here for a while so we'll take our time to soak in all the spots slowly.

I got news yesterday from the headhunter I have been dealing with that he's secured an interview for me with Diageo on Monday - http://www.diageo.com/. They are the world's leading premium drinks producer - beer, wines and spirits. Yum! :-) Nothing better than to work for a premium/leading company in every location/state/country, eh?! Well, I have to get the job first!! Your prayers are much appreciated!! If you have lived in the CT area, and is familiar with the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry, you might have heard of Diageo. They do have an office in Norwalk, CT.

Tomorrow, we are heading up to St. Andrews! We'll be taking the train (about an hour ride, then a 15 minutes bus ride) to get there. The train ticket cost for two (at a student discounted rate for a return-trip, which means round-trip in American terms) is about £25. This will be Dylan's commute once school starts. We are not quite sure yet how many times a week Dylan needs to be at school. Dylan needs to get registered with St. Andrews, we are hoping to open a bank account with RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) and also to register with NHS (National Health System - UK's free health care system). We need to do that before we get run over by a car and need medical attention!! ha ha ha....ok, sick joke. We've heard that St. Andrews is a beautiful place. Of course, I will be taking pictures. Stay tuned.

Anyway, I think we are both trying to transition from feeling like we are on vacation to really let it sink in that we are here for good - well, for 3 years at least. It's by nature that we want everything to be the same way we are used to....we just have to learn to embrace the change. This whole experience has taught us to really appreciate what we had in the States - a car, a single faucet with warm water (rather than hot & cold water in separate faucet so you either freeze your hand or suffer 3rd degree burn while washing your hands or doing dishes), the luxury of a dryer and dish washer etc.. We don't want you to think that we have landed in some 3rd world country but life is definitely simpler and greener in the UK. They don't generate as much waste in energy and paper goods as we do in the States. Modern apartments do exist but they cost more to let, obviously.

Hello everyone, just stopping in for a moment to say 'hello'. I've just completed one week's teaching at Basil Paterson, and what a week it has been! My students are primarily Saudi Arabian with one Ukrainian thrown in for good measure. The boys are quite wealthy, even beyond most common ideas of wealth. For instance, when trying to teach them about vertical integration today (this is when a business owns other factors of production/distribution/etc), I chose one student's family business (petroleum refining--yes, seriously) in hopes that I could show the students that most companies use shipping companies like UPS or other common carriers to transport their product, I was met with a blank stare when I asked Faisal who his father uses to ship the petroleum...he informed me that his father owns the shipping company as well. Um, so much for a real-life example from the classroom!

Back to Jacqueline....

We have also secured a mobile phone. If you wish to call us, just let me know and I will email you to phone number. For security/privacy reasons, I will not post it here.

Wondering where the pictures are??? Well, for whatever reason, the computers in this internet cafe will not allow me to upload anything from a thumb drive. So until I find another computer (internet cafe) which will allow me to do that, keep checking in! :-)

Rugby

2007-09-22T15:40:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the big day...the World Cup Rugby match between our own Scotland vs New Zealand ''All Blacks''...though it is being played a few blocks away from where we are staying, we're going out to watch the match after church today. The prediction is that Scotland is going to be decimated by the All Blacks. Click on or copy/paste this link into your address bar and you'll see why...the All Blacks play with an intensity that puts to shame the Spanish Inquisition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rulZOE8bDa8&mode=related&search

Arrived!! Edinburgh at last!

2007-09-20T14:52:00.000-04:00

Whisky anyone?

Friends and family - happy to announce that we have finally arrived at our destination! Praise God for a safe trip and the many many blessings, mercies and favours he has shown us along the way!!

We got an upgrade on our rental car (we didn't even ask for it) at Pittsburgh International Airport - a yellow PT cruiser. :-) I guess God with his infinite wisdom knew ahead of time that there was no other way we could have fitted all our bags (6 HUGE check-ins & 4 carry-ons) into an economy car! The drive to JFK airport turned out to be an 11-hour trip! We then upgraded our new rental (one-way rate was ~$104 so we had to return the car and get a new local rental) to a SUV. We walked into Budget rental office and there on the counter was a sign posted "Manager's Special - upgrade to a SUV for only $15 more a day". Wow.

Anyway, our time in CT was rather productive and relaxing. I was able to get some administrative stuff accomplished before we leave the country. It was also great meeting up with old and dear friends to catch up and say good-byes...wish we could have stayed longer.

We don't know why there's a random possession of people in costumes at the end of the Royal mile....

At the airport, our bags were, to say the least, OVERWEIGHT!! Thanks be to God, and Dylan's sweet talk to the lady behind Aer Lingus's counter, she let us through without a fee!!! Not only that, I got to stuff 2 winter coats (I was going to carry them in my hands all the way to Edinburgh!) and a few other heavy things from our carry-ons into our check-in bags as we drag the bags from the counter to the security scanner in another spot. ha ha.

Our flight to Edinburgh was rather uneventful. No crying babies on board!! Yea! Upon arrival, we managed to find a taxi that could take all our bags and us, all in one car/van. We thought we might have to go in separate taxis. Again, money saved.

We arrived at our first flat without any hassle. Wendy, our landlord, was there to meet us. The place is extremely small - literally Manhattan size/style apartment. We are on the 3rd floor. No elevator. Eiks! The shower is literally tickle of water coming our of a shower head. I think Dylan's comment this morning, coming out of the shower, says it all - "I manage to get myself damp". It's the cheapest short-term let we can find - £125/week. We are hoping and praying that the next one (next week) will be an improvement. It can't get any worse, right? Or, can it?!? The only consolation is that Wendy is extremely friendly and helpful. She even ironed Dylan's shirt for him this morning! Well, she has a really old iron and didn't want to risk getting rust or anything on his shirt.

A street 'festival' off of Princess street (yummy & intersting foods) ....

Closing comments (have to go - we are at an Internet cafe and it's getting late) - Dylan secured a part-time job today with Basil Patterson - a prep school for international students as they learn English. Praise God, yet again!

There's so much more I want to share but I'll have to save it for next time. Pictures to follow when we can get better access to the internet. Please keep us in your prayers. I have an interview this coming Monday. Praises and all Glory to God! :-)

Sooo busy!

2007-09-14T23:17:00.000-04:00

We're so busy! It is hard to put into words, but my short post should be an indicator of the all consuming responsibility of packing everything for this Sunday's move. I'll post more later when things calm down a bit. :-)

Angelology - what is that?

2007-09-12T09:19:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are wondering what Dylan is up to (besides packing and preparing sermons etc.), he has actually started his paper for Prof. Brown. Here's a sample of his writing (I am just sharing this with y'all to get some sympathy for me...ha ha) --

"Scripturally speaking, angelic activity suggests that these higher-order beings are not only related to our sphere of existence, but they are worthy of imitation and appreciation because their mere existence points to the generosity of God. This notion is at the heart of the inscrutable Doxological mystery of what it means to sing, “Praise Him above ye heavenly host!” For centuries, Christians around the planet have gathered every Sunday in hopes that their pecuniary response to the liberality of God will somehow resonate with the angels as well and that an antiphonal angelic chorus would in turn encourage us to a higher order of being. Like a yearning for camaraderie between distant cousins living on different continents, we lift our voices week after week secretly hoping that an echo from heaven, an enabling word, will hit our ears prior to the end of the service. The human yearning to experience a higher world while in this world is further fueled by the belief in higher order beings located somewhere between the two. Eradicate that prospect and we are back to living as cogs in a cosmic machine whose dual function appears to revolve around the preservation of the state and the amassing of wealth. To think of angels, however, is to do something quite revolutionary and refreshingly countercultural, because it permits the individual to live somewhere between the spheres of heaven and earth; transcendent power and human frailty, steadfastness and inconsistency, orthodoxy and orthopraxy, power and weakness, past, present and future. To contemplate the angelic is an inspiration to seek a higher order of experience while living on earth."

God's hand at work???

2007-09-10T21:32:00.000-04:00

Answer - Absolutely!!!

Am I anxious? I think my sleepless nights (for weeks now) betrays my confidence a little bit - I'm ashamed to say. It's quite intriguing the battle that we will always have whereby on one hand we trust God, we know we should trust God, but we can't help ourselves because we want to be the Master of our own universe! No matter how much God has proved to me time and time again that He is faithful, I find myself secretly doubting in spite of myself! Somehow we insist we know what's best for ourselves, and the time-line we have laid out for ourselves (no matter what it is), is the best!

Well, just today, as I was driving around completing my endless errands, I caught myself smiling in anticipation to see God's hand at work in this last week. You see, we are down to the wire and we haven't sold any of our major furniture pieces i.e. couch and mattress etc. I told myself that if we are left with them, I am not going to doubt God's wisdom in that. Few hours later, we have a guy calling to say he would like to take a look at our couch and mattress this evening. Did I hear him right - couch AND mattress? Yes! And he actually turned up. He took a look at the couch, laid on my mattress in his street clothes (!!), and went for both items!!! Paid cash. Packed them in and on top of his car (I happened to have ropes - go figure), and off he went! Wow. Friends, whatever trial you may be facing right now, let me encourage and urge you to trust in the goodness of our God, in His plans and in His wisdom for all those who believe and trust in Him.

"2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." AMEN! --- James 1:2-8

Before ....

After....

Farewell Party for the Potters - WUMC

2007-09-10T20:52:00.001-04:00

It is sad but inevitable unless one can stop time. But we have come to (almost) the end of our service here for God - physically but never in prayers. :-) At last we have to bid farewell to many we have come to know, to care for and to love dearly. The ladies and men at the church poured their hearts into the preparation and it turned out to be such a lovely event. Despite the heat, many stayed on to the end. It's quite poignant as Dylan pointed out it's our last supper together, at least for now. There were tears alright!

Our biggest take-away for the night was the encouraging words from those who spoke. Not about how funny Dylan is (that would be a lie - JUST KIDDING!!) or how entertaining his singing interludes were in the middle of sermons, but rather how many have come to know the fullness of our Lord and Saviour through his sermons and teachings! How precious! Praise God for his mercy and favour upon his people! We do not claim any credit but are terribly honoured that God chose us to be his vehicle to deliver His message to His people. We will continue to pray that for those who are on-fire that the fire will not flicker nor die out and for those who are "sparkling", that it will turn into a flaming fire! There is nothing more precious and blessed than to dwell in the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!

It is not goodbye but until we meet again, either in Pittsburgh or in eternity! Peace be with you all....

Mica Paris - Where Is The Love

2007-09-06T00:30:00.001-04:00

Where Is The Love?
Entry by DP....

I was struck by the following quote by John Frye this evening: "A church is too large when its size distracts us from practical, nitty gritty love. When all the energies are directed into "growing" rather than into "loving," the church has become an idol." This is the constant struggle that we face as followers of Jesus, the tension between discipleship and evangelism. They are not mutually exclusive endeavors, but I think Frye is right in pointing out the increasingly misplaced worship of church growth over the love of one another and the worship of God. What do you think?

Labor Day Weekend - Sept. 3, 2007 (Volant, PA)

2007-09-05T20:46:00.000-04:00

We went up to Dylan's grandfather's farm house in Volant, PA to deposit some of our packed boxes - mostly his books. Later, Dylan went golfing with his buddies - his going-away hoorah with the boys. Rather than feeling like a golf widow, I rejoiced!!! :-) Time to roam around Volant - something I've been wanting to do for a year now! You see, every time we would go up to Volant, we were on a mission - to visit mom&dad&Darcy(sis) and/or to get some errands done, then it's back to Pittsburgh to prepare (sermon) for Sunday. Volant is such a quaint little town (you'll see in the pictures). If you love antiquing, you MUST visit this little town - yes, the tourist board for Volant paid me to say this - j/k. Volant is also known as an Amish country. I did the unthinkable and took some of their pictures - sssshhhhh....Anyway, the other reason I love going up to Volant is to visit my horses!!! Ok....so technically, it belongs to the Potter family but in my mind they are mine! I am sure they recognise me every time I am up there - the crazy girl screaming "haaaaiiiiii" out of the window as we drive up the drive way and "goodbyyyyiiiieeeeeee" as we leave. Dylan insists they don't know me - I beg to differ. The run up to me every time whenever I call out to them! I have fed them carrots and apples, talked to them....how can they not remember me? Aren't they just adorable? :-)

Why are we going to Scotland you asked....???

2007-09-05T16:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess that should have been my first entry to this blog eh? My apologies for those of you who are just catching up with the Potters' drama! Or should I say Journey of Life? Aaaahhh.....hence the title of this journal. :-) Anyway, short story long, we have decided that Dylan pursuing a PhD, which then allows him the option to teach at a university level (either a Religion class or at a seminary), is the best investment we can make for our future at this point in our lives. What is Dylan studying you ask? Systematic Theology - Angelology. Yes, it's a mouth-full! Basically, it's the study of Angels. Why Scotland? Well, first (there really is no order of reasons!) it's because he wants to study under Professor Brown. Second, the UK offers a 3-year program vs. a 5-year program in the US. As you get older, you start to realize that you cannot place a value on time - years saved. It's kind of like the Master Card commercial -- "PhD program - $xxxx, Plane tickets to get there $xxxx, Years saved - priceless!". :-) Plus, we really would like to experience living abroad while we can (before it gets complicated with older children - God willing!). I know that sounds a bit strange given the fact that I am technically living abroad!! ha ha....Well, it sort of cancels out once you've lived in a place for more than 10 years, don't you think? So, here we are, off to Scotland in less than 2 weeks....

What's for dinner at the Potter household?

2007-09-02T19:56:00.000-04:00

Hey youn'z! If you are in search of a new recipe, try this. It's called a Lettuce-less Salad. If you have a lot of salad accessories but have limited lettuce, and you are moving abroad in a couple of weeks and you don't want to get more groceries if you can help it, try this! It takes a little while to prepare because you have to chop everything into a "cube" form. Ingredients consist of carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, corn, feta cheese, sesame seeds, fresh (key) finely chopped garlic. You can really use anything you like but the crunchier, the better. :-) I added peanuts to it as well. Dressing used -- Newman's Low-fat Sesame Ginger salad dressing. Stir it up and you are good to go. One suggestion - eat with a spoon! And if you accompany your Lettuce-less Salad with soup, you'll only need a spoon! :-) Yummy! Enjoy!

I finally have a blog!!!

2007-09-01T10:55:00.000-04:00

I have always wanted to have my own little blog, just to get my voice out there (I have a lot to say!!) like everyone else but I never invested the time or energy. So why not now when I am super busy in the middle of a huge move to Scotland!!??! Anyway, the biggest motivation to get this up and running run is so that I can share with all of you the journey of my life (in general and in ministry). Since I am not quite there (Scotland) yet, I will share with you some pictures of my life in Pittsburgh from this past year. These are pictures that I have taken recently at the annual church pool party as well as a ladies night out at the church. These are the (fondly known as) sheep God has entrusted to us for a little while . :-)

Isn't she cute??:-) Mother and daugher...aaww.... Debbie is our up the street neighbour (far left)...she's the epitome of the old American movie neighbour - you can run up to her house and borrow salt or flour or hair dryer anytime!! She'll bring us tomatoes, cucumber etc. during the summer.... ha ha ha...

The state of our house...

2007-09-01T10:02:00.000-04:00

If you are wondering how is this neat freak handling the chaos of a move - barely. This too shall come to pass.....:-)