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.