Snow

It's snowing. It's cold. Although the mountain that I wake up to every morning was covered. It looks beautiful. I don't I am going to take a trip across town this morning... that can wait. Instead, maybe a cup of coffee.

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...

Team Building - Team Tibet Style

October Holiday!!! You know what that means:
1. No Classes!
2. Chinese National Day
3. And Team building exercises.... not my favorite.

But this year was different. Much different.

For team Tibet University we went rock climbing and we all belayed for each other (held the rope). This of course built a stronger bond of trust between the three of us. We even were able to try some new routes that we (mostly Sarah and Craig since this is my second time out) were never able to do before. Who knows we may be able to climb the Chimney Rock we have been eyeing for the last couple weeks. We did get a few bruises and Craig had a pretty good drop before the rope caught him. It was the first real "long" fall he has had so I believe it made him a better climber.



As for the whole Lhasa teaching team our team building exercise was white water rafting. Another considerable step up from other team building exercises I have had in the past. Don't get me wrong it always fun hanging out with past teams... but somehow floating down a river in a beautiful surroundings makes everything more enjoyable.



We did look like skiers from the 80's with our bright blue and neon green wet suits but when I got it the water I was more then glad to be wearing the piece of fashion fau paux. We were tired by the end but had a wonderful time. My suggestion for all future team building exercises... include the water somehow.

Basketball. 4 hours later...

Another post about basketball, I apologize. Yesterday my buddy Gazang (not sure on the spelling) called me up to play ball around 3:45. The weather was beautiful and the games had some good competition. Before I knew it the sun was going down and it was 8 o'clock. This was by far my longest time playing. Then I started to feel it...

I made it back to my apartment just fine, but by the time I got there I was beat, didn't want to move beat. And so i drug myself into my shower because my body was starting to get cold. The hot water felt good, but yet something was still wrong. I wasn't sure what it was, until later.

After putting on several layer I crawled into bed, a hour or so later I wasn't cold anymore. Instead hot, really hot. And a feeling that doesn't usually come over me unless I am visiting Thailand.

Off to the bathroom I ran, sure enough my lunch decided it was time to go. Thankfully after that episode was over I felt pretty good. After a few swishes of mouth wash and countless cups of water that I spit out, I felt good enough to watch a couple episodes of Prison Break. I never thought I could get that sick from playing ball.

I still don't really understand. I was drinking water, so I don't think I was dehydrated. I don't think it was food poisoning. Either way I think I will take it easy next time. 2 hours instead of 4 at 3,000 meters should be enough basketball for one day.

Teacher's Day to Rock Climbing

Last Wednesday was teacher's day, so all the teachers in our departments went to have a teacher's day picnic. It was a lot of fun. We all sat around drinking tea and hanging out. Everyone was very relaxed and everything was a lot of fun. We did a little hiking on the hill behind the picnic site which had a beautiful view of the city. All in all it was a great day.



Yesterday marked the first day for me to ever try rock climbing. It was tough!! I could barely play guitar when I got back my fingers we so sore. I have a new respect for all those hard core rock climbers. It was a great experience. There were four of us. Craig, Sarah a former colleague of their from the middle school and myself. It was great weather and the view was beautiful. I think I can safely say we all had a great time.