Finding Humor in Cross-Cultural Life
“Culture shock is rarely terminal.” Twelve years ago we pasted this Paul Hiebert quote on our concrete wall in Cambodia, right next to silly photos of each member of our family. We did it to remind ourselves to keep a sense of humor when cross-cultural living grew unmanageable. If you’ve lived overseas any length of […]
Lost Laughter
“Laughter has no foreign accent.” —Paul Lowney “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” —Victor Borge The funny thing about our community is when we open up a theme for writing submissions here at Velvet Ashes and it’s a tragic theme like “complicated” or “grief”, you are the wordiest group there ever was. We […]
Let the Comments Roll Off + Korean Beef Bowls
I grew up in a family that likes to laugh and tease quite a bit. We knew how to put on thick skin and laugh at the silliness, and with time, learned when the teasing or laughing went too far and an apology was needed. As a kid, when going out to eat with the […]
Laughter and Jackfruit
For the entirety of my time in Thailand, I lived in the same little house with the same two neighbors on either side. On the right was a house with a beautiful garden. We’d catch glimpses of it through the fence railings or over the concrete wall that separated our yards. On the left was […]
This Month’s Theme: Laughter
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Proverbs 17:22 (NLT) There are so many serious things about global life, weighty things. But we also know laughter is so good for the soul (and mind and body). What role does humor play in your life? How do you handle […]