Getting Colder...

So we (Kelly, a new friend Max and myself) were cruising through Lhasa being tourists, taking pics of all the sites and doing a little exploring this last saturday, and we found this incredible site. We were right next the Norbalinka which is the summer palace of Lhasa, and it looked like Jack Frost had a field day.



It kinda reminded me of that old cartoon where Jack Frost is blowing on trees and they instantly become icicles, except he got tired after freezing only one corner of the block and decided to take a break... indefinitely. Mind you, when we found this it was around noon. The sun was shinning. Yet here was a fifty meter area that looked like it got on the White Witch from Narnia's bad side. Either way it was a nice and surprising photo break from the bike ride around the city.

Running... finally

Well I did it. I ran in Lhasa. 5 miles. about 8 1/2 min miles. The first 15 mins felt like death, but after that things felt pretty normal. I guess I don't have any more excuses... hopefully the beginning will be better next time.

Earthquake Fever

It's in the air. 5 earthquakes in the last few days has left the city of Lhasa on edge. After our thursday night coffee and cake date four of us took a quick tour around the Jokhang Temple. When we got closer we thought it was unusual to see so many people. Then we got closer and realized what was going on. The Jokhang cora (the circle around the temple) had become a temporary camp site. Half of the town were all camped out all around the temple. People were afraid to sleep inside! (As I write this from my third floor apartment, the place I have no intention of leaving anytime soon.)

As the four of us talked I found out that our students were woken up last night around midnight and were told to sleep outside for their own safety. The girls on the track and the boys on the basketball courts. Then even had teachers stay up to monitor the students all night. Crazy times. At least now I know why my students were so tired today. I am hoping things calm down a little bit but it apparent Lhasa hasn't ever had to deal with earthquakes before. So everyone in the city is a little more cautious these days and getting a lot less sleep.

Well, thinking about sleeping outside is making me tired... so i am off to bed.

Earthquakes and End of October Holiday

So apparently there was an earthquake today. I was playing basketball so I didn't feel a thing. Checking around it was near Namsto Lake (about 50 miles away) and the epicenter was about 6.3-6.8. Depending which news source you are reading. None got hurt according to the recent news but a lot of people were a bit scared. There were several student who pretty shaken up, there are a lot of student from Sichuan so I am sure this didn't bring up happy memories.

But in the meantime, classes have begun and October Holiday is over. Today started out well and I always like spending time with my students. I have been introducing two or three new songs a class so my students can hear a variety of music and hear someone else speaking English. I am still afraid the songs are too fast. Any ideas for songs? With slow, easy to understand lyrics?

October Holiday ended well. Six of us went up to a valley and went camping friday through Saturday. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was amazing.... It starts to become the norm, beautiful scenery. But it is still breathtaking each chance I get to experience it.

Our new teacher Kelly joined us and loved the Yaks. We started to call her the Yak wisperer. If we didn't know where she was she was usually chasing the yaks around the valley. Someday they let you pet them, someday Kelly.


Well I need to do some grading I didn't quite get to before the break...

Basketball. feww...

Well I did it. I played basketball in Lhasa. It wasn't easy and I do not feel so great at the moment. But i played, I played slowly, but i played. Is this what it feels like to be old? It must be. Well little step by little step. Soon I will be able to play 100% but in the meantime I am just happy I can step on the court.