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Featured

Book Launch: Sioux Beside Me–Amazon and Barnes & Noble

February 10, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

When my family took an assignment in South Dakota in 1991, we anticipated an adventure. We left Chicagoland in the rear-view mirror and headed for the glorious West. With echoes of the movie, Dances With Wolves, narrating our own experience, we expected to befriend members of the Sioux …

Category: Announcement, FeaturedTag: contemporary history, cross-cultural, Lakota, pheasant hunting, rural, Sioux nation, Winner

Do the Stars Still Wait for Me?

February 8, 2021 //  by Lori Younker

I am fifteen, and I can’t wait to be drive myself anywhere I want to go, no longer dependent on my parents to get me to the hockey game or home from a meeting after school. I’m crazy for this boy named *Mark Kinnonen. That’s a Finnish last name. Everyone up here in the Copper Country, at least …

Category: Capturing the past, Creative Nonfiction, Essay, Featured, MemoirTag: Copper Country, Finn, Finnish culture, Houghton, Michigan, midsummer, sauna, shooting stars, Upper Peninsula

Before the Red Chair is Blue

June 15, 2019 //  by Lori Younker

Missionary service is the only way to truly prove your dedication to Jesus Christ. Or so I mistakenly thought—and upon which I built two decades of my life. To not be overseas was to be living in rebellion against prayers prayed and commitments made. To not be overseas meant ignoring a calling, …

Category: Blog Entry, Featured

The Land Between

December 24, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

The moment you receive news that alters the course or direction of your life's journey, everything is different. What felt secure or at least felt normal is replaced with uncertainty. The moment my husband said, "We are going back to the states and we're not coming back to Mongolia," I crumpled …

Category: Featured, My Thoughts

Coming home again.

December 8, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

Coming home? Fondly called the RE-ENTRY PROCESS, reverse culture shock is a formidable minefield. The unsuspecting could definitely be caught off guard. When our family returned from our five years abroad, there was a simple exit-interview with one of the personnel directors at mission headquarters …

Category: Blog Entry, Featured, My ThoughtsTag: culture shock, world traveler

Are there ethics that should apply to our writing?

December 1, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

A school teacher has an ethical approach to her teaching. We could call it her PHILOSOPHY of teaching. Written or not, she acts out her philosophy over and over again, the EVIDENCE found in the MOMENTS that make up a school day. As a teacher myself, I respect the individual and his or her right to …

Category: Blog Entry, Creative Nonfiction, Devotional, Featured, My ThoughtsTag: Brevity.org, cultural ethics, fake news, national geographic, personal historian, writing mentor

Were ancient cultures “better”–“pure”?

August 10, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

Were the good old days better? Were ancient cultures pure of malicious motives? Were those cultures never rude or cruel or greedy? One phenomenon in the study of culture is the sense that "culture or society is DETERIORIATING." You’ve heard this type of comment from older folks, haven’t you? What …

Category: Featured, My Thoughts, Social Grammar

Twain–a world traveler

August 6, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume One, lies open before me. These 467 pages represent just a portion of the extensive memoir of Samuel Clemens who wrote under the pen-name of Mark Twain. I close the volume to study the cover. Twain is presented in his later years in this photograph of black …

Category: Featured, My Thoughts, Travel Blog, Uncategorized

SOCIAL GRAMMAR

August 3, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

The theme for August and September is the EXTENDED family and how the norms are passed on or ignored by the next generation. This cultural phenomenon of teaching a type of BEHAVIORAL CODE or SOCIAL GRAMMAR is inevitable. To live together is to learn from each other. Mom’s habits may become my …

Category: Definitions, Featured, My Thoughts, Social GrammarTag: acculturation, Brevity.org, culture change, norms, progressive, stages of acculturation, The Believer, The Sun

Each writer–a unique journey

July 17, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

LORI, HOW DID YOU GET INTO WRITING?      Ever since I was a child, I've been captivated by her international friendships and the teaching of English. I am mesmerized by the power of short works to inspire true understanding of the cross-cultural experience. I aim to expand my writing skills in …

Category: InterviewTag: creative nonficiton, Memoir, Mongolian Interior, Sioux Beside Me

Color–Culturally loaded?

July 3, 2018 //  by Lori Younker

< Physically speaking, color may affect mood as interior and industrial designers have proven. Take for example the hotel that I recently stayed. The huge lobby was decorated in muted orange, clay, and silver. The wall sconces shed soft light on the surroundings, the waterfall added the gentle …

Category: Blog Entry, Featured, My ThoughtsTag: cultural artifact, cultural expression, Fourth of July, understanding

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