These last few days have been very emotional for both the students and the volunteers. Although we went to their hotel before they left, we were all very sad to see the Chungba students leave two days ago. Both volunteers and students expressed their sadness as the students prepared for the long trip back home. I was not prepared for how emotionally attached I would become to the students and how I would miss them after they left. For example, I felt a little sad today when, during economics claRead More....

Good morning/evening/afternoon to  the Sally Walkers of the World, Long time no post due to the fact I had the opportunity to go to Chungba last week. In short: the trip was an amazing experience. Not even a stomach ailment, asthma attack, altitude nausea, nor Mianbaoche (Bread Car)  concussion could cloud the trip of incredible landscapes, changing perspectives, and important conversations. Seeing where more than half the students came from was truly eye opening.  It made the last days wiRead More....

A whirlwind of emotions. All good, except many are hard to swallow. The Chungba students have left. This morning. After many false starts due to the landslides and dangerous road conditions. Many volunteers have also departed, some for Chungba, some to other obligations. And it's not the end of the early goodbyes yet. Every day seems to be someone's last day. Every moment feels more fleeting and precious. The last thing I want to do is to cry in front of the Amdo students. For I am sure that oncRead More....

For me, Jade’s 8:00 a.m. basketball workout was a great way to start the day. We “warmed up” by practicing our defensive stance techniques, pulling down imaginary rebounds, diving for loose balls and jogging around the courts several times. Needless to say this “warm up” (in the extremely humid Chengdu climate) was more than enough to get my blood flowing and sweat glands active! After warm up, we broke into groups and played several skill-building games before moving into competitive Read More....

Hello to you. SEP is chugging along and we're approaching our 3rd week soon! Maria the ethnobotanist will be coming back from Chungba today. I can't wait to see her, as I'm sure Jade and the rest of the 313 crew. Also, we hope those of us who are on their way to Chungba is having a great time there now and will come back to us safely. Losang and Tashi have finally arrived in Chengdu. Though it has been hectic without them here, in many ways, it's exciting to show them what kinds of progresRead More....

Well, we've had two full days of classes now, and I think the volunteers and students are appreciating a more formal routine. Our thirteen hour day starts at 8:00 am with Jade's PE class,  It's tough because there are 60 kids and not a lot of space at the primary school we're using.  Jadew has been making the best of it though, and she's even gotten the most reserved girls involved in intense basketball games.  Tomorrow we're playing Steal the Bacon, so I'm looking forward to that. AfteRead More....

Demo/Tashi Delek/Ni Hao/Hello/Bonjour! Greetings from the other side of the world where the cars don't stop for pedestrians and the "dandan mian" noodles give new meaning to the word "spicy". Hope all is well in the Meiguo (USA)! Things here have really been heating up (and I'm not even talking about the 93 degree (34 C) 59% Humidity we have all been enjoying). I had the privilege this week to teach a "Movement" (Dance) class to a group of the Tibetan students. Through my attempts at ChineRead More....

So this posting was supposed to be up two days ago. I'm not sure what happened. Sorry! All events mentioned here comes before Matt's post.                 So, it’s been day two since the official start of the 2010 SEP. Although originally, the students were supposed to arrive all at the same time, we were later informed that about half of the students would be coming from Amdo tomorrow. As a result, there have been some changes to our planning. Including today, we did some prRead More....

Teamwork And Cooperation Are All Around Us!!! As today comes to a close and I reflect on the day’s activities, I am reminded of the cooperative spirit that the SEP Program tries to integrate into everything we do. This spirit was manifest in many ways today. This morning we broke up into several groups comprised of two volunteeRead More....

Greetings Bloggers, Jade here, resident Hip Hop and Phys-Ed teacher. (Also making special appearances as the TA for ESL 1) . Last night our students arrived smiling and excited to embark on our educational adventure. While sitting at dinner to bypass the language barrier, Emma (Midd kid) and I serenaded our table with the Jackson Five's "ABC". They retaliated with traditional tibetan songs (where they hit the notes in perfect harmony). It was very impressive that the kids from different areasRead More....