Qinghai Lake

Yesterday 2 other volunteers and I traveled to Qinghai Lake for the day.  Located on the Tibetan Plateau, at an altitude of about 10,500 feet, Qinghai Lake is the largest salt water lake in China.  I had heard good things about the lake and it did not disappoint.

Qinghai Lake was absolutely beautiful- clear skies, blue water, green mountains, lots of goats and yak.  You really felt the vastness and expansiveness of the Tibetan Plateau.

You also felt the altitude.  Our driver dropped us off near the bottom of a mountain and then we hiked up to get a bird's-eye view of the lake.  The hike up was short, it took us about 30 minutes to get to the top, but at 10,000 feet and with very little acclimatization, the hike felt much harder than it should.

We made it!

 The drive to the lake was also excellent.  At one point, our car got caught in the middle of a sheep crossing, we also had to wait for some yak to cross the road.  It was refreshing to get out of the city and into this more remote area.

We are in our final week of training- teacher training has ended, and we are now in the language training portion, which means Chinese class all day.   This Friday morning, Shobana (my future roommate and fellow Hunan volunteer) and I will take a 30 hour train ride to Hunan, where we can finally settle in for the year.  I will be sad to leave the Xining community we have formed, but am feeling ready to begin my new career and lifestyle as an English teacher living in rural China.

Rebgong Reflection

Where to begin.  I am on a total high.  We recently returned from a small trip to a town about 3 hours outside Xining.  We were in Rebgong (Chinese name: Tongren) for about 4 days; the goal was to gain more classroom experience.  When we left for this trip, I was a bundle of nerves.  By the time we had to leave, it was hard to say goodbye.

Rebgong

This is a beautiful town- mountains everywhere.  There is a monastery in Rebgong and as a result, you see monks, of all ages, everywhere- eating in small restaurants, talking on cell phones, driving cars.  We had to walk through the monastery to get to the school every day.  Sometimes you would hear chanting.  After crossing through the monastery, we had to walk up a muddy path with a drop-off on one side.  It rained a few times during our visit, that made the upward hike extra exciting.  At the school, cows would wander onto the field where we were dancing or playing ultimate frisbee with the students.

The monastery we walked through every day

 Teaching

We came to Rebgong for more practice teaching- each new volunteer taught four 50 minute classes over 2 days.  Those 2 days of teaching were so intense.  As much as I would try to plan ahead of time, I still found myself lesson planning within minutes of my class starting.  We were also able to observe each other teach.  I am so grateful for this classroom time.

I taught a class on music and to explain what “genre” means, I introduced the students to some classics: CCR, Eric Clapton, Glee, Kanye.  They really liked the Glee song, and they said Kanye was scary.  For my class on the Olympics, we talked about the meaning and value behind the Olympics and then I asked the students to share what they value.  They gave the most touching responses- it took some control not to tear up in the middle of class.

A view of the walk to the school

Students

The students at this school are very special.  They come from all different places in western China, mostly from nomadic or farmer communities.  They are chosen to attend the Rebgong school and they truly appreciate this education.  The students are excited to learn, sociable, personable... perfect for a new teacher.

On our first day in the town, the students greeted us outside the school and gave us all kha-btags, which are Tibetan ceremonial scarves.  On this first day, I was given a Tibetan name: Tserang lhumo, which means “goddess with a long life”.  The students gave me 3 choices and I got to choose my favorite.  Afterward, one of the boys sang a song for me about my new name in Tibetan, a cappella.  Amazing.

One day after class, the students and teachers gathered in an apartment and the students taught us how to make traditional Tibetan food: tsampa and dumplings.  It was so fun to share in their culture and interact outside the classroom.  After stuffing ourselves, we shared songs, alternating between the students and the teachers.  I led the crew in a rendition of “My Girl”.

On our final day in Rebgong, we went to the school in the morning to spend some final moments with the students.  We held a cultural exchange of dance.  The foreign teachers taught the students some “traditional” American dances: the Macarena, Cotton-Eyed Joe and the YMCA.  The students then taught us an actual traditional Tibetan dance.

It was difficult to say goodbye to this beautiful community.  I walked hand-in-hand with one of the girls back into town and she helped me buy some fruit before parting ways.  We hugged and promised to never forget each other.  I think I’m really going to like this whole teaching thing.

On our final day we went on a hike through the mountains

Practice Teaching Round 1

Yesterday we had our first practice teaching session.  After a couple full days of training, we are eased into the classroom, first with two days of group practice teaching (3 volunteers for a 40 minute class), and then we will have 2 days of solo teaching (we will each teach 2 45 minute classes each day).  We all get to observe each other which is both nerve-wracking and really fun.

My group led a class of about 20 students on "places to go".  By the end of the class I was sweating profusely, partly because the classroom was so hot, and partly because of nerves.  Overall, I would consider the class a success.  Since the teacher to student ratio was so high, we were able to divide and conquer and give each student personalized attention.  Unfortunately that will not be a reality for my future classes of 70, but it was still extremely helpful to practice leading a class and interacting with students.  Tomorrow we having another practice teaching session with the same students we taught yesterday- I'm excited to see them again.  My goal for tomorrow is to practice giving clear instructions.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday...

Finding my rhythm: a little teaching, a little running

Today was day 1 of teacher training.  I am so grateful for this training.  Already I'm feeling so much more prepared to face a class of 70 Chinese middle school students in a few short weeks.  The training class is structured to be very applicable for us as English teachers in a Chinese setting.  We will be covering topics relating to teaching methods and activities, lesson planning, and classroom management.  The course will be followed by teaching practice in real Chinese classrooms.  This practice time will be for us to work out any kinks and feel out our personal teaching style before settling into our year long posts.  At first I was really nervous about teaching; I'm now becoming really excited to begin.

After training, another volunteer and I went for a run at a nearby track.  We went in the classic post-dinner work out time so there were actually hundreds of Chinese people, of all ages, walking around the track, dancing in the middle of track, singing, jamming, ping ponging, flying kites... what a social scene.  I felt a bit precarious running around the track in my very obvious work out clothes (most people were walking in slacks and jeans), but I gave up trying to blend in a long time ago.  We started running and immediately 2 little girls joined us and ran along side us.  At one point I had 4 girls running with me, ages ranged from 8 to 17.  It was one of the most delightful runs I have ever had; can't wait to go back and see my new friends.  Perhaps next time I'll work up my nerve to join the dancing circle.

So long Stanford, hello Xining!

I’m currently sitting in our hostel in Xining, Qinghai.  After 42 hours of travel from San Francisco, we arrived at the hostel last night and then probably had the best sleep of our lives.  I’m starting to get back into my China groove.  It feels good to hear people speak Chinese and the food helps bring back the comfort zone as well.

Before traveling to China, we had orientation at Stanford.  Quick overview of the program I’ll be a part of for (at least) the next year:  VIA (Volunteers in Asia) was started back in 1963, so VIA turns 50 in 2013!  There are two components to VIA, one brings volunteers to Asia and the other brings Asian students to Stanford.  There are about 20 of us volunteers going to countries in Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.  We all met at Stanford for a couple days to get to know each other and learn more about VIA.  Then we split up between China volunteers and SE Asia volunteers and will be having training in our respective areas for the next month.  Training will involve TESOL training as well as language classes.  There are 6 of us new China volunteers.

The Stanford orientation was excellent.  Highlights include hearing the founder of VIA, Dwight Clark, speak about the history of VIA and talking with VIA alumni about their experiences.  I got to meet an alum who actually had my same post in Hunan a couple years ago!  I’m excited to be a part of such a supportive and long standing community.  The VIA chapter will definitely not end after my time in Hunan; they don’t call it the “VIA family” for nothing.

Inhale, exhale

It is the night before I depart for China, round two- bags are packed and weighed, plane ticket is printed, iPod is charged.  I’m flying first to Stanford University for a couple days of program orientation, then on to China.  The volunteer profiles are online, here is the link to mine: http://www.viaprograms.org/component/content/article/25-postsassignments/265-teaching-fellowship

More to come!