As a graduation present, my parents treated me to an epic international journey commemorating their and Christian Edition's 30th anniversary. While it was quite a crunch to turn around from the graduation weekend celebrations to a ten-day journey, it was well worth it. We were privileged to have my great grandmother traveling with us, and she made a good trip a great trip.
Like usual, we started our trek with very little sleep. In the pre-dawn darkness we unloaded our suitcases at the Oakland Airport, where we discovered that our flight to Seattle was delayed. So, we ended up taking a different route to Seattle--through Reno. In both airports, the Southwest Airlines counters were festooned with balloons and streamers. It is the airline's 40th birthday, and it's still going strong. When I read that it was established on June 18, I thought, "Hm, what a coincidence." That happens to be my parents' anniversary.
The Reno airport was surprisingly beautiful; whoever designed it was clearly trying to emulate its natural surroundings. When we arrived in Sea-Tac, it felt surprisingly homey. There, we met up with a few of our friends who had also chosen to save money on this trip by flying Southwest and boarded a "Quick Shuttle." That name is a lie, for it wasn't quick at all. After four hours with Canadian customs as our only stop, we stumbled, exhausted, out of the bus at our hotel on the outskirts of Vancouver, BC.
It was surreal to see a Costco across the street, which made it hard to believe that we were, in fact, in a foreign country. Even the restaurant across the street where we had dinner betrayed little cultural different, except for the higher sales tax. The next morning on our way to church we had a chance to see more of the city, though. Many of the houses are hidden by tall hedges.
The morning service was at Oakdale Adventist Church, a charming community that loves its priase music and mentioned several times its embarrassment over the riots that broke out when the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup that week. Those of us from California found this interesting because minor sports-related riots seem to break out in Oakland and Los Angeles on a regular basis without a single blush of shame. In Vancouver, everyone from the journalists writing the paper to the leaders at church publicly expressed embarrassment, even repentance over the riot. It was kind of refreshing to run into a culture that still has a conscience about sports riots. The church leaders asked us to remember them not for the riot, but for the volunteers who cleaned up after it and in their prayers, they asked God for forgiveness.
It was actually Christian Edition's first international service, and it was kind of refreshing to see them through the eyes of a congregation that had never heard much about us before. They received us warmly and treated us to a wonderful potluck afterwards. It impressed me that they held it in a fellowship hall that had been empty and bare at 10:30 that morning. I've never seen a church turn a room that quickly.
After a brief respite at the hotel, we headed out again to a Filipino SDA church. It was a challenging venue, with seats clear back to the street entrance, but the people were friendly and hospitable. We had to put the CD tables on the front porch, it was so crowded, but that was fine because it allowed those working there to get some fresh air. Across the street, there was a beautiful clock tower that I enjoyed photographing. Before the worship service, we were surprised to hear a women's group singing an almost note-by-note transliteration of the Christian Edition arrangement of "Bow the Knee" to the track of my father playing. It was surreal, but kind of cool.
At the end of the concert, instead of playing his usual "Joy" postlude, my father tapped out a more mellow tune. Afterwards, he explained to the congregation that the piece was called "Candles," and he wrote it for my mother for their wedding at Wawona thirty years ago. Congratulations, Mom and Dad. Here's to thirty years more.
The trip back to the hotel was lengthy due to traffic, but it gave us a wonderful view of Vancouver's most beautiful bridges in the flickering twilight. The next morning, we packed our bags and boarded the Celebrity cruise ship Century, destined for Alaska. The launch was most impressive, as we passed under one of Vancouver's larger bridges.
After a sumptuous dinner, we had a meet-and-greet in a room called the Hemisphere. As a thank-you gift for filling rooms, the cruise line provided free non-alcoholic drinks to all present for an hour. Director Calvin Knipschild explained some of the mechanics of the week and introduced the guest artists: violinist Jaime Jorge, soprano Jennifer LaMountain, preacher Karl Haffner, and his own daughter, Deanne Knipschild. My parents and I watched the sun set at sea from the great windows of the Hemisphere as we caught up with some old friends.
That night, as I relaxed while listening to the ship's musicians play salsa music, I thought, "I am definitely going to enjoy this cruise more than the last one."
Indeed, I did. The adventure was just beginning.
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