Lake Itso

24 hours later and I am still exhausted. But really... it was a great trip. I could slant it a couple different ways.

The pessimistic view:
Rain, snow, wind, 5100 meters, ridiculously small lake, two students were injured one which we had to carry down. Not many of the students brought enough clothes so many were too cold, no one knew where they were going and the bus drivers kept trying to rip us off.

The optimistic view:
We got to see Lake Itso!! This was the one spot where Sarah P. had not been to, and wanted to. We climbed over 5,100 meters! almost 5200 meters, (that about 17,000 feet!!) The weather although temperamental never got too cold or hot. We were also blessed to have a nomad show us the way to the lake. Very appreciated since none of us have actually been there before. Although it was hard everyone made all the way up and all the way down. In the end we were able to see everything and get home in one piece. All in all a very successful trip.



So the next day I am here blogging and glad for the day off from doing much else but getting emails answered. Did I mention the trip was gorgeous?

Test Test Blog Test

Parents' Trip Wrap Up pt.1

After the first couple days of shopping and old town site seeing, Ma and Pa (you know... cause that's what Oregonians call their parents) made a guest appearance in 3 of my classes. The first couple went by without too much ado, but then came my last class on friday. Now this class is perhaps my most energetic class I have ever had. Yet they are also so excited to learn just about anything! It is amazing. Needless to say when we arrive my parents were attacked by a flurry of white scarfs. The white scarfs are called Katas and are used for almost every occasion. However they seem to be most common when someone comes to Tibet for the first time. I think they are suppose to give the people wearing them good luck or blessings. Not sure the exact meaning.

So now my Parents look like snowmen trying to juggle the massive amounts of white silk strewn around their necks. The class really enjoyed the whole event. Even if there were times where maybe they couldn't understand exactly what was being said they asked good questions and even sang 3 different songs. Two solos and a roaring sing-a-long the whole class whole-heartily sang together a classic well known Tibetan song. And of course, they asked my mom to sing. (I may have tipped them off that she used to study music.) So she ended the class with a verse of Amazing Grace. It was a good start to the day.



Later in the day we went to visit my buddy who is a monk at Sera monastery. We arrived around 3:30 and were able to look around a bit before the debates started. The debates are kind of interesting to watch but it might be a lot more enjoyable if I spoke the classic Tibetan that they are arguing in. But some of the young guys were getting pretty intense. They were even throwing each other around and pushing each other's heads down with a bit more force then usual.

Parents' Trip Wrap Up pt.2

The next day was devoted to Namsto Lake. A beautiful lake with a beautiful drive... usually. However we had a lovely stop at a checkpoint because the security guard at the check point had bad blood with our driver. So we had a nice little 2 hour wait at a gas station until the guard's boss came and yelled at him and finally let us through. We however had no idea what was going on the entire time, so there we were... waiting. So we did a little walk around the stores and played with my new travel guitar and everyone else bought some bubble tea. We did make it the Lake eventually and it was beautiful. However it will not be too soon before I have to take a trip like that again.


My Parents walking towards Lake Namsto


Our Detour beverages

The next day was mother's day so we celebrated by getting together with the team for some singing and teachings. Later the day was devoted to Mom's shopping needs.

The final full day involved a tour of the Potala Palace and of course a bit more shopping.


The next day they loaded the bus for airport and headed off to see their friends in Northeast China. A short trip but it was nice to have them in Lhasa. It was just a blessing for them to be able to see my new teaching home and spend time with them in the beautiful place. I do want to thank those who made this trip possible. Your generosity is humbling.

oh yea.. my mom also got to ride in a bicycle cab. I think that might of been one of her highlights.

Tragedy strikes

In recent news... blogger just got blocked in China. Good times. But thanks to the magic of proxies I can still update.

First update, tragedy strikes. After 4 1/2 years of loyal service my grinder finally called it quits. But it went out with a BANG! I mean a huge bang with ridiculously huge sparks. I mean these are the biggest sparks I have ever seen, and I have been shocked more then a couple times in my time overseas.

I am pretty sure I won't be able to replace it in Lhasa, but luckily the coffee shop down town will let me grind my beans in their industrial grinder.
So RIP grinder, you had a good run.

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.