Sileshi Yohannes

For my next myto.blogspot.com piece, I chose my good friend Sileshi.  Sileshi and I met during the Christmas Eve service at the KNU International Church in Daegu, Korea in 2011. I was looking for a church where I could be during that season, because I was not home with family at that time. Anyway, this fella' made me feel like a brother very quickly. We bonded quite easily, and became good friends. 

Sileshi is married to a wonderful lady, who takes good care of him. They met in their younger years in Ethiopia, where they both hail from. Sileshi has been living in Daegu, South Korea  for about three years or so, doing research in a Veterinary School at Kyoungbuk National University. In accordance with the culture there, he spends countless hours doing research and preparing presentations in his laboratory. Sileshi is part of a wonderful Ethiopian community there at KNU as well. 

Thanks to Sileshi and other Ethiopian community members there in Daegu, I was able to experience and learn about another culture, while residing in Korea. Just fyi: Ethiopian coffee is pretty strong. The kindness of Ethiopians reminds me of being at home in church in Nashville, or Bowling Green. Sileshi and I were like two brothers during our time together in church, and other events as well. 

Below are some questions that Sileshi answered for me recently.

1.       When you think of your home country, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

      The first thing that comes in mind when I think of my home country is family and best friends

      

2..In your opinion what was the greatest world event that occurred during your childhood?

  I had no global information during my childhood because of lack of access for information.

3.      What do you want to be able to contribute to this world?

Since peace is the first thing to be secured in this world, I want to be involved in any activities which can bring peace and prosperity.

4.   If you could change one thing about the country where you currently reside, what would it be?

If I could I'd change the strange culture which is not morally acceptable for other people.

5.       Who has made the biggest impact on your life so far?

My family and friends.

6.  Someone hands you a suitcase with a million dollars. You are to use that money to help   an organization or organizations. Who would you help?

                Orphans

7.How do you feel about the advancements in technology in our world?

In many aspects it is interesting and makes life easy

8.   You have one day remaining on earth to leave your mark. How do you do it?

Just share my message “do good avoid evil” and put something positive during my lifetime

9.You are given the chance to meet any one person (alive or deceased).

 Who would you want to meet?

My Mom

Brother Sileshi and I on my last day of church in KNU

June 30, 2013

Fritz Harland

For my first official post on this blog I chose to use a good friend and church brother Fritz Harland. 

Fritz is from a small town in Indonesia. He currently resides in Ulsan, Korea, a city on the coast, where he is enrolled in graduate school. His studies these will examine the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis on building structures. 

According to Fritz it will be a challenge with quite a few calculations, but this is definitely something that he is prepared for. Before recently moving to Ulsan, he lived in Daegu, Korea, where he was a student at Kyoungbuk National University. He loves country, bluegrass, blues, and rock and roll. Fritz enjoys basketball, as you will read soon. He enjoys all varieties of food, and speaking multiple languages as well. He is a true man of the world, and eager to learn through about the many facets of life. 

He led the music during English services at the KNU Church, during his time as a student there. Fritz is the definition of a disciple. He is a fine example for those needing a closer relationship with God. I credit Fritz with leading me to have an even better relationship with God. Fritz is great with kids (we even worked together for a short time), great with breaking the ice around strangers, and shows honor to those whose lives have walked many a road compared to you or I.

So here are Fritz's answers to the questions that I recently presented to him.

Fritz’s answers

 1. When you think of your home country(Indonesia), what is the first thing that comes to         your mind? 

        

         The tropical forests and beautiful beaches that we have are the first things that come to my     mind.

       2. In your opinion what was the greatest world event that occurred during your childhood?

    

   NBA Finals between Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz. That was the only TV show broadcast live beside Olympic games to my region at that time. We just had two tv stations that aired in our region...the eastern part of Indonesia...quite remote area

 3.    How has that event affected the world that you live in?

    

We were crazy about basketball. Little kids and young people in my neighborhood formed a basketball team. We made our own basket and backboard, and we bought the cheap yet decent basketball from  city. That was the first time I started to play basketball on the field

4.   What do you want to be able to contribute to this world?

I want to engage a community development (firstly, it will be on the small scale) either it is through education, agriculture or economy. Then the community can use such knowledge to make a better living for themselves.

 5.  If you could change one thing about the country where you currently reside (South                  Korea), what would it be?

          

The concept of successful life.

 6.  Who has made the biggest impact on your life so far?

  My dad

7. Someone hands you a suitcase with a million dollars. You are to use that money to for an       organization/organizations. Who would you help?

Red Cross and some trusted organizations for education on the remote area

 8. How do you feel about the advancements in technology in our world?

        

It’s like a two headed sword. You get benefit from it, but in the same time you rely on it         more.

9. You have one day remaining on earth to leave your mark. How do you do it?

        

Keep doing the good things to everyone at anytime.

10.   You are given the chance to meet any one person (alive or deceased).

        Who would you want to meet? 

        

         No one

 11.  The three people/beings/groups of people that mean the most to you?

1.       My family

2.       My church family (KNU church, you also included John)

3.       Some of college and high school friends 

                             Fritz was the jack of all trades at KNU church.

Welcome

Hello World. That is the perfect line to start with this blog that will be debuting soon. This blog will introduce readers to those in my world. I will introduce you to a different individual every week. I may even start with two for the first week. Each individual will represent a different country. I will ask identical questions to each person, as they give their take on the world. 

The questions are as follows:

1. When you think of your home country, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?     
2.    In your opinion what was the greatest world event that occurred during your childhood? 
3.       How has that event affected the world that you live in?
4.         What do you want to be able to contribute to this world?
5.      If you could change one thing about the country where you currently reside, what would it be?  
6.   Who has made the biggest impact on your life so far? 
7.        Someone hands you a suitcase with a million dollars. You are to use that money to help   an organization or organizations. Who would you help? 
8.    How do you feel about the advancements in technology in our world? 
9.    You have one day remaining on earth to leave your mark. How do you do it?
10.     You are given the chance to meet any one person (alive or deceased). Who would you want to meet?.   
11. The three people/beings/groups of people that mean the most to you?

So from reading about these people you will understand my world, as it is your world, and their world, as it all comes to make our world.

Once again feel free to email me with any suggestions please. jtower27@gmail.com