Shopping and Jokhanging

Day 2 of my parents' trip included going into the Jokhang and shopping around the Barkhor.

The downtown area of Lhasa is called the Barkhor. The Barkhor is actually the downtown part of Lhasa. A student friend of mine was telling me that in the past this Barkhor area usued to be Lhasa in it's entirety. But now it is simply a small part of the bigger city. Craig, Heidi, Bethany and our new friend Kelly joined us for the tour of the the Jokhang Temple.


The roof was my favorite. As we took pictures of all the surrounding buildings and mountain tops we could see all the tourists and locals walking the cora. The people here really are beautiful. If only they desired more...



And of course another very positive aspect of the Barkhor area is the shopping. My mom really enjoyed looking through all the jewelry, rugs, clothing and other local treats. My dad even seemed to enjoy looking at some of the older knives and relics. After a couple stops at our favorite coffee spots we headed home and called it a day.

The Adventures of Parents... Lhasa pt. 1

They did it. They came and conquered!

Well at least they came and didn't feel out of breath the entire time. My Parents came to China last weekend and came to Lhasa last tuesday. They just left this afternoon and are on their way to Dalian in Northeast China to see some friends who went to school in Monmouth.

The first day was rather uneventful. I had to teach all day tuesday, so my parents, by themselves, got off the plane and took the bus to downtown Lhasa. (the airport is about 50 minutes outside of town) I met them at the bus station and went directly to a Tibetan teahouse and had some sweet tea and noodles. They handled it all like champs.



After that we made our way back to my aparment and got ready for our next day which included the Johkang and shopping at the Barkhor.

DONG BEI 东北

One more highlight: when I visited the orphanage I was able to talk with one of the workers. The worker asked, why do you keep coming here? It's because your beliefs isn't it?

东北... going back to Siping.

After a not so fun beginning to my trip that included not landing in Shenyang at all but rather getting shipped to Harbin, and rushing to catch the last train to Siping and finally getting in at 4 am, I had a wonderful time going back to my old city of Siping. I was greeted by my old friend Syen and new friend Matt (both were waiting for me in Shenyang before the weather problems moved my final destination)

After a couple hours of sleep I went down to the Wu's house and met up with the rest of the team and we all had breakfast together. It felt like I still lived there, I say my old boss and a lot of the old workers that were there when I still lived there. We were both happy to see each other and in my limited Chinese I express my excitement to see them.


After breakfast most of us headed off to Nanhu 南胡 (southlake) Park. Being that it was May Holiday the park was packed with kids and parents going on all the rides. We made quite a spectacle, our parade of foreigners. We also felt obliged to try out a couple of the rides, the inflatable water tube was my personal favorite.


Five of us headed to the orphanage after that. And Wow! The new orphanage is sooo nice! And it is much closer, very convenient. It was awesome to see the kids. Quite a few new kids, but a lot of the kids I knew from before. They all are growing up into little people. Amazing, so much has changed in the last 5 years... The workers seemed glad to see me. They told us how much the kids look forward to us visiting and asked why we came to visit. And we were able to tell them :) He provides.


After the orphanage I was able to visit some old teacher friends and have dinner with them. After dinner we were able to get together for fellowship with each other. I was able to play guitar with Rach while she played piano. So much fun, and encouraging.

After staying up talking a few of us retired to Sonny's room to play a little guitar hero. I was a little rusty but it was still a blast. The next morning we left for Shenyang and my trip to siping was over. Short but oh so sweet.

Anzac and new and old friends.

This week has started out well. Starting with a fun remembrance of Anzac day on Saturday. A few of us got together at Heidi's and ate New Zealand snacks (thanks to her wonderful parents) and watched a couple New Zealand movies including Whale Rider. (not to be confused with the shoplifting movie star Winona Rider....) Whale Rider is an excellent introduction to New Zealand and Maori culture. After watching this movie i felt I could understand Heidi that much better.

I did my best to fit in by making a make-shift All Blacks Rugby Jersey. Not sure i pulled it off... but it's the thought that counts right?



Sunday was a beautiful day where a group of us teachers met a former teacher and were able to spend some time with her. Despite recent health problems she was still able to join us on the rooftop and meet with former friends and coworkers. Such a blessing for all who is around. Our Father is good to us.

After a somewhat productive Monday I am almost ready for the week of teaching and traveling. My parents will hopefully be joining me here next weekend so I have to make sure all my loose ends are tied up.

Sports Weekend 2009

It started with a brand new stadium, hundreds of marching students, and flag salute with several miscues....

That's right my first sports weekend in Tibet University! It was quite an impressive site. I have been part of sports days in the past, but with the new beautiful stadium filled with students and teachers. The beautiful scenic background which has become a normal part of my life I was very impressed.

The first day started out with the usual marching (which included the foreign students marching in their white polos and sweet hats circa 1984) and then moved on to some traditional Tibetan dancing. There were students who danced in yak outfits, traditional clothes, with traditional tibetan guitars knows as a damnyen. It has been ridiculously hot in Lhasa the last week. I can't imagine what it was like for the dancers inside the yak suit.

I started out just showing up to the opening ceremonies. But before i knew it a teacher asked me to take his place in the 100 meters. So I got ready, biked back to my house picked up my shoes and shorts. By the time I got back to the stadium apparently things had changed. So... apparently you have to sign up before the day of the event. And being that I was literally the only white person in the thousands of people still at the stadium ... it would be obvious that I wasn't the Tibetan man who signed up for the event. So later they offered to let me participate in the shot put (yea.. you can stop laughing now) but again they first thought it was okay... but alas, in the end the foreigner couldn't compete.

Today was day two. Today they said I could participate in the 4X100 relay. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, but I figured I would be willing to help out our department as much as possible. So after a morning of rock climbing with Craig and Sarah I headed back to the stadium. When I arrived, I sat in the teacher's tent ate some peanuts talked with the teachers and deans about some my experiences from Northeast China and American culture. Before I knew it, it was go time. And as far I knew, I was still in the race! So we walked into the stadium and sure enough, I was legit! My team of four practiced a couple hand offs with a water bottle to get the feel and then we were on the track.

All in all it was a great to hang out with the teachers. We ended up getting second in the race (the PE department smoked us!) But getting a chance to feel more a part of our department was worth all the miscues and waiting. So I think I would say sports day 2009 was a success.

April 1st... April fools day?

This may be April fools day, but it feels good in a different way. The town seems to have exhaled just a little bit knowing March is over. Craig and I went hiking this morning to some old ruins. It was a bit tricky at times but felt so good to be up there. Seeing the ruins of old monasteries are always such a pleasant site. I love the feeling of discovering something that used to have so much life and now is lifeless. It begs the question of why. Why did this get torn down? Why did it stop being used. But more so... it is a reminder of the temporal state of this world. What may seem here to stay can break down and crumble very quickly. This is why I am here, to live beyond the temporal. The crumbling strongholds of past are falling...