This morning I had a Skype date scheduled for way early. :-/ But my alarm didn't go off, so not only did I miss the Skype date, I was late to breakfast too. Because I was late to breakfast I ran into a monk that I otherwise might not have. He and I talked the other day about a Tibetan soccer tournament that was to be held here in Dharamsala. We both expressed how we wish we had the free time to ride to town to watch the game. This morning he came up to me and told me the Emory study abroad kids were going to watch the game! I was all like "shucks!"... but he said I should just ask to go!
On my way to make sure everything was prepared for today's lectures I ran into the man in charge of the Emory group. He invited me again. I told him I was worried about being a bad TA. He said I needed to come. Welp. I ran up to the classrooms and asked around. I was allowed to go!
We packed up into the car at 9am. The drive is beautiful, again. Tea fields are spread out everywhere along the way. We arrived in town. The sign said, 'Men Tsee Khang'. AKA, the 'Tibetan Medical & Astrological Institute'.
The first building we went into was the Astrology office. I don't believe in astrology, but they did. So they told us everything they do. They need your date, time, and place of birth, Plus a brief medical history in order to produce a horoscope. This horoscope could be one year long to one lifetime long. So I just don't believe any of this. Anyway.
Then we went into the museum area! This was much cooler to me. Many MANY different plants were out on display for us to see. Each plant seemed to have be labeled as the cure to several disorders... for instance- one pill was said to fix leprosy, epilepsy, and gastro types of disorders. The guide explained that Tibetan Buddhist belief revolves around balance. In medicine's case- balance of the body. He explained how Western medicine is made to only treat one problem... which may unbalance the body. He said it is necessary to keep one's body balanced, so these pills aim to help with all-around health. The area from which each plant is picked is a big factor in it's usage. For instance, if one has a fever- it would be necessary to use a plant that was harvested from a high-altitude; these are plants with a cooling nature.
Next we visited the pharmacy factory! The VP of Emory was with us... so we were allowed in even though no visitors are ever allowed to enter. Yippee!!!
This place was pretty bomb. All sorts of sorting and all wraps of wrapping were taking place here. Pills were sun-drying and plants were grinding. It looked like a Tibetan Willy Wonka factory.
Then we had tea in the Temple. His Holiness the VP of Emory sat on a couch apart from all of us. Anyways. People asked questions. Basically Buddhism is about Mind + Body (and also the release of suffering). Science and Buddhism can coexist easily because science seems to complement the Buddhist teachings very well. For instance, today a lady told me a story about how a monk she taught about cells in biology told her that ancient Buddhist texts emphasize eating well because their are millions of tiny sentient beings living inside of you that you are responsible for keeping healthy. The monk told her that her science class proved this text! Cells in the body need energy and nutrients to function to keep him going!
Another thing I wanted to point out really quickly is that His Holiness is known to have stated that if science ever disproves a teaching in Buddhism then the teaching will need to be revised. Well would you look at that.
Then we had lunch. It was during this time that I became friends with the VP's daughter. She is a very cool person. Who will never read this blog.
Then :-D soccer game!!! We trekked some way up the mountain to a large stadium with a dirt field and no stadium seats... but dug out dirt seating on. Like, the field was in a valley that they dug out of the ground, so all the seats were on the edge of the hole. Get it?? So yeah, the place was PACKKKEEDDD. We struggled to find good seats. Lol we didn't. Then it started to rain. And by 'rain' I mean 'serious hail'. Therefore- I climbed on top of a roof that had some covering. These players were GOODDD!! It was the championship match of the Tibetan Gold Cup between two teams that I have know idea who they are, but I do know that one team is made up of refugees from Nepal and one team is made of refugees from India. We voted for the Indian team. The weather was so bad at halftime that we decided to leave. This was a scary walk down a slippery mountain.
I bought things to be blessed by His Holiness tomorrow. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you- we are having a private audience with the Dalai Lama tomorrow. I'm just an under-qualified lucky batch. *shrugs*
Love ya'll.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
First time touching THE 14th DALAI LAMA
We woke up as early as usual. Everyone here at the school was rushing and informing us of plans. The plan was for all of us faculty, monks, and Emory study abroad students to go the Tibetan Children's Village ( http://www.tcv.org.in/ ) in McLeodganj to hear His Holiness present his final teaching of three planned for our stay. This particular teaching was the only one we were all able to go to because we have been working... PLUS- it was the first official graduation ceremony for the 5th year monks in our class! It was a monumental day in the program for this reason.
I kinda didn't know what was going on... or how big of a deal this whole program is... now I do.
We arrived via taxi to the auditorium wayyy early. So we spent out time chillin' in front of the building watching all the chaos unfold as the leaders of the whole shebang tried to pull everything together. I was starting to get the the idea that this was a bigger deal than I had thought, even though I knew it was pretty huge to begin with.
We stood there with our badges for an hour, I think. Most of the time I was watching a skinny white man with HUGE earphones, black dentist face mask, and winter jacket meditate (I guess) while standing in front of the building. I was anxious looking at him. If he were doing that in an airport- he would have been arrested immediately. But in this case, everyone just watched and pondered. Eventually opened his eyes and walked over to the door where two men stood with machine guns. And started the ritual again. Right next to the back entrance to the stage. Suspicious. I felt like a complete jerk daydreaming that he were hired by someone to... I mean. I dunno. That jacket was big. Ya'll know I've been sweating. Just, suspicious. (now I feel like a jerk again)
Finally we walk in through the metal detector and onto the stage. We walked single-file to our cushions on the floor on stage left. The audience was unbelievable. Completely huge. Thousands of Tibetan students sat looking at us in their uniforms. I looked up to see the Emory students in the back looking down at us. As I looked down while walking to my cushion I saw our monk students looking up at me from the front row. I smiled big and waved. They are so cute.
We sat...
Across from us on the other side of the stage sat other monks and teachers. In the center of the stage sat a throne obviously meant for His Holiness. The throne has a side table with flowers and a stack of fruits. Finally, my eyes fell upon his holiness. (that sounded dramatic)
He sat in front of a desk with his back to the students in the audience. I could see him well. He was practicing his teaching. After about 10 minutes, He rang a bell, the room fell silent, and he moved to his throne.
Then, he spoke in Tibetan for about an hour. We all had little radios with earphones so that we could hear real-time translation. The translation/radio sucked butt. Nonetheless, I sat listening and trying to piece together the few sentences I actually caught. Luckily we were all given books too. The book was what the teachings were based off of. I will spare you the little details. Also, I will spare you the summary of the teaching... but only because I have no summary.... I really didn't get it. He started where we left off from the previous day, in Tibetan, with horrible translation, about things that I just don't really know about. Just being honest. But I listened. The things I did grasp were inspiring enough for a small capacity peasant like me.
He was a great speaker.
After the teaching was completed we began the graduation ceremony. The Tibetan organizer of the program (ETSI) spoke a few words, the Vice President accredited with the start of the program (who I'm just not particularly fond of) spoke some words (that were so typical and faux-inspiring and I just didn't really like him) about how he is just so happy for the success of the program (but mainly his personal success, I'm sure). Then other things happened and people talked and the monks came up on stage to receive their diplomas. All of the graduated shook His Holiness's hand and received a blessed white scarf called a 'khata'. I researched these before I came to India... so I was like all jealous and wanted one. Oh it was just inspiring. So that was the end of the ceremony. Then we left.
JUST KIDDING!
THEEEENNNNN someone else gave a speech about the importance of teachers or something... I can't remember because I was becoming severely anxious about what was about to happen. The spoke. And then... we were called to the front of the stage to receive our own khatas...
Ouch, I will never forget the feeling I had when we were called up. At first, I wouldn't stand. I didn't think I was supposed to because I was just the TA. So I sat, and Dad insisted I stand to walk up there... but jesus, Dad usually doesn't know what's going on. What if I walked up there and they only had enough scarves for the teachers?! Disaster! But Dad made me stand. I felt like falling. I felt uncomfortable and like I wasn't supposed to be there. This was more stressful than the feeling of meeting Colbie Caillat, Jason Reeves, Nelly Furtado, and The Weeknd all at once.. and equivalent to meeting all 5 of the Spice Girls for lunch. I was about to cry. But I walked up. I don't remember who was standing next to him or who whispered to him over my shoulder saying "the assistant" to introduce me... but I remember him placing the khata over my neck and shaking my hand and looking at me in the face.
And so that was that.
We returned to our seats and he spoke for a while in Tibetan, but then he summarized in English what he had said. He inspired the crap out of me to study hard. That's all I can really muster up to say about that.
I didn't wanna talk to anyone after the ceremonies. I kept telling Dad to shut up. I just needed to chill and think for a while. Look, I'm not a hardcore Buddhist. I'm not religious at all, we all know that. I don't get starstruck badly ever. And I'm normally a very calm person when it comes to serious situations. But something about this situation was different. This man is an idol humanitarian. I don't really wanna go much further into this for fear of not doing a good enough job at it.
Then we left. And ate lunch. And shopped for hours. And had an average day.
(This is too long to edit tonight. Goodnight.)
I kinda didn't know what was going on... or how big of a deal this whole program is... now I do.
We arrived via taxi to the auditorium wayyy early. So we spent out time chillin' in front of the building watching all the chaos unfold as the leaders of the whole shebang tried to pull everything together. I was starting to get the the idea that this was a bigger deal than I had thought, even though I knew it was pretty huge to begin with.
We stood there with our badges for an hour, I think. Most of the time I was watching a skinny white man with HUGE earphones, black dentist face mask, and winter jacket meditate (I guess) while standing in front of the building. I was anxious looking at him. If he were doing that in an airport- he would have been arrested immediately. But in this case, everyone just watched and pondered. Eventually opened his eyes and walked over to the door where two men stood with machine guns. And started the ritual again. Right next to the back entrance to the stage. Suspicious. I felt like a complete jerk daydreaming that he were hired by someone to... I mean. I dunno. That jacket was big. Ya'll know I've been sweating. Just, suspicious. (now I feel like a jerk again)
Finally we walk in through the metal detector and onto the stage. We walked single-file to our cushions on the floor on stage left. The audience was unbelievable. Completely huge. Thousands of Tibetan students sat looking at us in their uniforms. I looked up to see the Emory students in the back looking down at us. As I looked down while walking to my cushion I saw our monk students looking up at me from the front row. I smiled big and waved. They are so cute.
We sat...
Across from us on the other side of the stage sat other monks and teachers. In the center of the stage sat a throne obviously meant for His Holiness. The throne has a side table with flowers and a stack of fruits. Finally, my eyes fell upon his holiness. (that sounded dramatic)
He sat in front of a desk with his back to the students in the audience. I could see him well. He was practicing his teaching. After about 10 minutes, He rang a bell, the room fell silent, and he moved to his throne.
Then, he spoke in Tibetan for about an hour. We all had little radios with earphones so that we could hear real-time translation. The translation/radio sucked butt. Nonetheless, I sat listening and trying to piece together the few sentences I actually caught. Luckily we were all given books too. The book was what the teachings were based off of. I will spare you the little details. Also, I will spare you the summary of the teaching... but only because I have no summary.... I really didn't get it. He started where we left off from the previous day, in Tibetan, with horrible translation, about things that I just don't really know about. Just being honest. But I listened. The things I did grasp were inspiring enough for a small capacity peasant like me.
He was a great speaker.
After the teaching was completed we began the graduation ceremony. The Tibetan organizer of the program (ETSI) spoke a few words, the Vice President accredited with the start of the program (who I'm just not particularly fond of) spoke some words (that were so typical and faux-inspiring and I just didn't really like him) about how he is just so happy for the success of the program (but mainly his personal success, I'm sure). Then other things happened and people talked and the monks came up on stage to receive their diplomas. All of the graduated shook His Holiness's hand and received a blessed white scarf called a 'khata'. I researched these before I came to India... so I was like all jealous and wanted one. Oh it was just inspiring. So that was the end of the ceremony. Then we left.
JUST KIDDING!
THEEEENNNNN someone else gave a speech about the importance of teachers or something... I can't remember because I was becoming severely anxious about what was about to happen. The spoke. And then... we were called to the front of the stage to receive our own khatas...
Ouch, I will never forget the feeling I had when we were called up. At first, I wouldn't stand. I didn't think I was supposed to because I was just the TA. So I sat, and Dad insisted I stand to walk up there... but jesus, Dad usually doesn't know what's going on. What if I walked up there and they only had enough scarves for the teachers?! Disaster! But Dad made me stand. I felt like falling. I felt uncomfortable and like I wasn't supposed to be there. This was more stressful than the feeling of meeting Colbie Caillat, Jason Reeves, Nelly Furtado, and The Weeknd all at once.. and equivalent to meeting all 5 of the Spice Girls for lunch. I was about to cry. But I walked up. I don't remember who was standing next to him or who whispered to him over my shoulder saying "the assistant" to introduce me... but I remember him placing the khata over my neck and shaking my hand and looking at me in the face.
And so that was that.
We returned to our seats and he spoke for a while in Tibetan, but then he summarized in English what he had said. He inspired the crap out of me to study hard. That's all I can really muster up to say about that.
I didn't wanna talk to anyone after the ceremonies. I kept telling Dad to shut up. I just needed to chill and think for a while. Look, I'm not a hardcore Buddhist. I'm not religious at all, we all know that. I don't get starstruck badly ever. And I'm normally a very calm person when it comes to serious situations. But something about this situation was different. This man is an idol humanitarian. I don't really wanna go much further into this for fear of not doing a good enough job at it.
Then we left. And ate lunch. And shopped for hours. And had an average day.
(This is too long to edit tonight. Goodnight.)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Random Things to Catch Up On
This post is about random things and the day before yesterday. I have been so busy that I have had no time to blog. I will mail you all apology-cookies .
The day before yesterday was a normal day. It was the day that I had tea out with the monks. After the tea we had class one more time. Then at 5:30 we were freeeee!!!
Characters: Me, Dad, Korean woman, other teacher.
Setting: Town on the edge of a mountain called McLeod Ganj. A suburb of Dharamsala.
Purpose of trip: to kick back, relax, and apparently to talk about everything I have no idea about.
Happenings:
We arrived out on the town with spring in our step. Mountain air in out lungs! Lurking danger of (literally) falling off the mountain! I has happy to be in town with people who knew their way around. They led us right to the stoop of their favorite restaurant for a nice mountain supper. It wasn't much different from sea level supper. ANYWAY. Wait, before we made it to the restaurant we were walking through the town. I was actually skipping, if I remember correctly. All of a sudden, out of the nowhere blue, a little Indian boy with big brown eyes popped up next to me and said, "Oh wow, nice haircut!" I thanked him and continued walking... But he ran to keep up! So we talked. Well, mainly I interviewed him. Question question question. He answered me in nearly perfect English. I told him he was the best English speaker I have met in India so far. He was flattered. Some of his answers to my questions were: I don't go to school. I don't have parents. My name is Sourage. I live alone over behind there. I learned English by talking on the streets. I am begging.
By the time he informed me that he was a beggar... We had reached the the entrance to the supper place. The boy asked for rice. I said I had no money. He said he doesn't need money, he needs food. I had to follow my group and I got scared of getting lost... So I told the boy to wait until we were done. "Wait on this street, I will find you!"
The restaurant was Indian. It had many stories, many nooks and crannies, stairs, many tables, and then- rooftop!! So duh we ate on the roof. We all got big Kingfisher beers. Kingfisher 'strong' for men, and Kingfisher 'light' for us little baby weak girls. We sipped and talked for forever. Also, we took pictures on the roof with the mountains behind us. How romantic. So we talked talk talked talk. I asked the two professors all about their work and research, followed by burning questions I had about the color red, hypnotizing chickens, optimal reading light, and graduate school. Most of the questions I had they couldn't really answer. So I just ate my food. Talk talk talked. The majority of the time they talked about their grown-up lives and grown-up travels and grown-up situations, all of which I was completely uninterested in. I think we were there for a day and a half. They all told me about their school experience and getting their confidence knocked by advisors (this was helpful and inspiring). Finally, with a few beers in all of us, we left the restaurant in search of a taxi.
But then I remembered Sourage.
I don't see him anywhere...
So I just left town. That was the 2nd time I had left a begging child empty handed.
We made it home safely in the dark down the mountain. We joked and laughed. Good folks.
Now, some quick random facts.
-as many of you know, I like picking up free money on the ground. Last semester I picked up a free $50 in coins. I always say- "every time you save a penny from the floor, you have more money." Sometimes I say, "the only thing free in this country is coined money on the ground."
Uh, no. The only thing free in THIS country is dust, dirt, and sun. Not a single piece of money to be found on the ground here. (even so... My eyes are locked on the ground out of habit.)
-this is the best place for a beginner vegetarians like me. Every single place has a large and well-labeled vegetarian section in the menu. Also, no one asks you where you're getting your protein from or WHY you have made such a dramaaaticccc life choice. It's just normal. Everyone is so helpful about telling me if there is meat in a dish.
-The Korean teacher is not Korean. Her parents are not from Korea. She has never been Korean and never will be Korean. So now I'm just gonna call her by her name- Lena.
- Momma, I'm looking for a spoon still.... :-/. Everyone else, I'm dealing with small amounts of my father's money to buy gifts. That's just the truth. I didn't bring money to spend. I'm just saying... Don't get your hopes up about sparkling gold gifts and spices from exotic India.
- love y'all.
The day before yesterday was a normal day. It was the day that I had tea out with the monks. After the tea we had class one more time. Then at 5:30 we were freeeee!!!
Characters: Me, Dad, Korean woman, other teacher.
Setting: Town on the edge of a mountain called McLeod Ganj. A suburb of Dharamsala.
Purpose of trip: to kick back, relax, and apparently to talk about everything I have no idea about.
Happenings:
We arrived out on the town with spring in our step. Mountain air in out lungs! Lurking danger of (literally) falling off the mountain! I has happy to be in town with people who knew their way around. They led us right to the stoop of their favorite restaurant for a nice mountain supper. It wasn't much different from sea level supper. ANYWAY. Wait, before we made it to the restaurant we were walking through the town. I was actually skipping, if I remember correctly. All of a sudden, out of the nowhere blue, a little Indian boy with big brown eyes popped up next to me and said, "Oh wow, nice haircut!" I thanked him and continued walking... But he ran to keep up! So we talked. Well, mainly I interviewed him. Question question question. He answered me in nearly perfect English. I told him he was the best English speaker I have met in India so far. He was flattered. Some of his answers to my questions were: I don't go to school. I don't have parents. My name is Sourage. I live alone over behind there. I learned English by talking on the streets. I am begging.
By the time he informed me that he was a beggar... We had reached the the entrance to the supper place. The boy asked for rice. I said I had no money. He said he doesn't need money, he needs food. I had to follow my group and I got scared of getting lost... So I told the boy to wait until we were done. "Wait on this street, I will find you!"
The restaurant was Indian. It had many stories, many nooks and crannies, stairs, many tables, and then- rooftop!! So duh we ate on the roof. We all got big Kingfisher beers. Kingfisher 'strong' for men, and Kingfisher 'light' for us little baby weak girls. We sipped and talked for forever. Also, we took pictures on the roof with the mountains behind us. How romantic. So we talked talk talked talk. I asked the two professors all about their work and research, followed by burning questions I had about the color red, hypnotizing chickens, optimal reading light, and graduate school. Most of the questions I had they couldn't really answer. So I just ate my food. Talk talk talked. The majority of the time they talked about their grown-up lives and grown-up travels and grown-up situations, all of which I was completely uninterested in. I think we were there for a day and a half. They all told me about their school experience and getting their confidence knocked by advisors (this was helpful and inspiring). Finally, with a few beers in all of us, we left the restaurant in search of a taxi.
But then I remembered Sourage.
I don't see him anywhere...
So I just left town. That was the 2nd time I had left a begging child empty handed.
We made it home safely in the dark down the mountain. We joked and laughed. Good folks.
Now, some quick random facts.
-as many of you know, I like picking up free money on the ground. Last semester I picked up a free $50 in coins. I always say- "every time you save a penny from the floor, you have more money." Sometimes I say, "the only thing free in this country is coined money on the ground."
Uh, no. The only thing free in THIS country is dust, dirt, and sun. Not a single piece of money to be found on the ground here. (even so... My eyes are locked on the ground out of habit.)
-this is the best place for a beginner vegetarians like me. Every single place has a large and well-labeled vegetarian section in the menu. Also, no one asks you where you're getting your protein from or WHY you have made such a dramaaaticccc life choice. It's just normal. Everyone is so helpful about telling me if there is meat in a dish.
-The Korean teacher is not Korean. Her parents are not from Korea. She has never been Korean and never will be Korean. So now I'm just gonna call her by her name- Lena.
- Momma, I'm looking for a spoon still.... :-/. Everyone else, I'm dealing with small amounts of my father's money to buy gifts. That's just the truth. I didn't bring money to spend. I'm just saying... Don't get your hopes up about sparkling gold gifts and spices from exotic India.
- love y'all.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Learning Tibetan
Today has been good so far! Remember yesterday how I said I skipped meditation? Turns out- there was no meditation yesterday! Or today!
I wanna focus this post around a particular conversation.
After class I was walking to tea, but I stopped to talk to one of the monks I have spoken to a lot since being here. He invited me to have tea with him and the monks instead of having tea with all the teachers and translators as I usually would. I asked if it cost money, he said yes, so I declined, but he insisted! So I went! Glad I did!!
This monk is very nice (duh). He has been studying at Emory for the past year! His English is very good. We met up with three other monks back behind a tea/goods shop run by Indians. We spoke over tea for the entire break.
So, my suspicions were confirmed; the monks like soccer. Lol I didn't tell y'all that was just a suspicion, oh I'm bad. So we talked about how Manchester United is rude and Barcelona FC plays beautifully and how players from Holland play uniquely. Lol, isn't that ridiculous!? These people aren't allowed to play any games at their monasteries. They are so sneaky to know all these world-soccer facts.
They all asked me about where I lived and about my school. I asked about their outfits and what the different colors mean on their clothes. They asked if i was happy here in Dharamsala. Of course I am.
For some reason I feel like monks are seen by the average person as being completely uniform and calm and quiet. As with any group of people, this is not the case! Each monk I meet is completely different from the others (what a silly thing to point out, I know... I just don't know exactly how I can explain this right... These are people, not gerbils. But obviously my 2 gerbils have completely different personalities, so one can infer that, duh, every individual human has a unique personality. Ugh, why am I mentioning this again??) . My god, they are funny. It is especially funny because in order to make a joke to me many of them must resort to hand motions and facial expressions- this is fun because they explain things so differently than we would! Basically- I would predict that playing Draw Something with a monk would be a freakin' HOOT.
At the end of the break I started asking the monk who invited me (I'm closest with him) how to say different things in Tibetan. I started a list. I will know Tibetan fluently by the end of this trip. Yay!
I'm in the middle of a review period for the monks and it's funny, so I'm going to go. Lol one of them is telling me what they are saying and the jokes!
I wanna focus this post around a particular conversation.
After class I was walking to tea, but I stopped to talk to one of the monks I have spoken to a lot since being here. He invited me to have tea with him and the monks instead of having tea with all the teachers and translators as I usually would. I asked if it cost money, he said yes, so I declined, but he insisted! So I went! Glad I did!!
This monk is very nice (duh). He has been studying at Emory for the past year! His English is very good. We met up with three other monks back behind a tea/goods shop run by Indians. We spoke over tea for the entire break.
So, my suspicions were confirmed; the monks like soccer. Lol I didn't tell y'all that was just a suspicion, oh I'm bad. So we talked about how Manchester United is rude and Barcelona FC plays beautifully and how players from Holland play uniquely. Lol, isn't that ridiculous!? These people aren't allowed to play any games at their monasteries. They are so sneaky to know all these world-soccer facts.
They all asked me about where I lived and about my school. I asked about their outfits and what the different colors mean on their clothes. They asked if i was happy here in Dharamsala. Of course I am.
For some reason I feel like monks are seen by the average person as being completely uniform and calm and quiet. As with any group of people, this is not the case! Each monk I meet is completely different from the others (what a silly thing to point out, I know... I just don't know exactly how I can explain this right... These are people, not gerbils. But obviously my 2 gerbils have completely different personalities, so one can infer that, duh, every individual human has a unique personality. Ugh, why am I mentioning this again??) . My god, they are funny. It is especially funny because in order to make a joke to me many of them must resort to hand motions and facial expressions- this is fun because they explain things so differently than we would! Basically- I would predict that playing Draw Something with a monk would be a freakin' HOOT.
At the end of the break I started asking the monk who invited me (I'm closest with him) how to say different things in Tibetan. I started a list. I will know Tibetan fluently by the end of this trip. Yay!
I'm in the middle of a review period for the monks and it's funny, so I'm going to go. Lol one of them is telling me what they are saying and the jokes!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Tibet
As we know, Tibet and China have problems.
Dad is completely unaware of anything that happens in Asia because all he cares about is Europe where his ancestors lived. Whatever.
We are in a place where Tibetans have escaped the Chinese to try their best to preserve there culture and traditions. Many, many other countries hold refugees, but India is probably the country with the most. As far as I know, the Tibetans here in India are living here illegally without visa or permit or 'green card' or nothin'. Other countries allow Tibetans in too... but they won't acknowledge them legally. The reason for this is that they don't wanna piss off China. China is extremely powerful, duh. China's trade is absolutely necessary for the US, as well as practically like every country. So, for a country to stand up and publicly insult the Chinese government by acknowledging Tibet is a total no-no. You can't just do that. Japan won't speak up, Korea won't, no one will. I spoke to a woman from Taiwan (also a country dealing with China in this way kinda) who explained to us that Taiwan does not agree with China... but chooses to deal with it in a quiet way. For instance, she is here in India to teach Chinese to the Tibetans so that they can better negotiate with the Chinese. It's her way of contributing to the liberation process. I heard yesterday Canada gave His Holiness citizenship, actually. What makes Canadians decide to be so right all the time?! Maybe it's Ice Therapy or something?...bahaha.
Like I said, Dad is completely unaware of anything, but- instead of asking ME, a student who just took a course in school on all this, he asks Tibetans and monks and Chinese people. This turns into super awkward situations at meal times. Maybe it's just me being 21 years old and thinking my father is awk. But maybe his complete disregard for anything not-Roman or Greek is finally catching up to him.
-Make an effort to figure out where you're going before you get there.
-Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
-Dads don't know everything.
-China is scary.
-Don't rant on your dad too much, but you can sometimes.
Dad is completely unaware of anything that happens in Asia because all he cares about is Europe where his ancestors lived. Whatever.
We are in a place where Tibetans have escaped the Chinese to try their best to preserve there culture and traditions. Many, many other countries hold refugees, but India is probably the country with the most. As far as I know, the Tibetans here in India are living here illegally without visa or permit or 'green card' or nothin'. Other countries allow Tibetans in too... but they won't acknowledge them legally. The reason for this is that they don't wanna piss off China. China is extremely powerful, duh. China's trade is absolutely necessary for the US, as well as practically like every country. So, for a country to stand up and publicly insult the Chinese government by acknowledging Tibet is a total no-no. You can't just do that. Japan won't speak up, Korea won't, no one will. I spoke to a woman from Taiwan (also a country dealing with China in this way kinda) who explained to us that Taiwan does not agree with China... but chooses to deal with it in a quiet way. For instance, she is here in India to teach Chinese to the Tibetans so that they can better negotiate with the Chinese. It's her way of contributing to the liberation process. I heard yesterday Canada gave His Holiness citizenship, actually. What makes Canadians decide to be so right all the time?! Maybe it's Ice Therapy or something?...bahaha.
Like I said, Dad is completely unaware of anything, but- instead of asking ME, a student who just took a course in school on all this, he asks Tibetans and monks and Chinese people. This turns into super awkward situations at meal times. Maybe it's just me being 21 years old and thinking my father is awk. But maybe his complete disregard for anything not-Roman or Greek is finally catching up to him.
-Make an effort to figure out where you're going before you get there.
-Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
-Dads don't know everything.
-China is scary.
-Don't rant on your dad too much, but you can sometimes.
Summary of Day 3!
So, this is my third post of the day. I hope you're keeping track.
Today we did the Legos I told you about. Afterwards, we played with the heart monitors we put on the monks yesterday. Today is 24 hours after yesterday- so, in theory, we should be able to download a whole day's worth of data from their monitors and look at them on the computer screen!
Lol yeah.
So, these monks have no concept of technology because there is no need for them to. But what happens when a bunch of western scientists come and shove technology in your faces? - confusion and chaos.
Most groups got their data downloaded... But many struggled mostly because during the 24 hour period a button was pushed and data was lost... Lol this was awkward to deal with. But it was okay! We worked around it and I ran around the room and data was flying everywhere. We showed the monks on a line graph of their data what their heart was doing as they slept. They liked that I think.
Toward the end of this class I was called out by the head of the program. Omgomgomg.
She wanted me to sit down with the other class to show them how to use the monitors by themselves. She introduced me as the expert and that made me blush. But anywho. I sat down and taught them everything they needed to know. I even explained the concept of 'scrolling' on technological equipment! < useful information. It was good. I liked having one-on-one time with them.
Now I'm just stressing out about if they are using the monitors right!!!!!!!
I guess I will find out tomorrow. Maybe they will be able to catch me on campus to ask questions.
Also- yesterday I stepped out of a car only to twist my ankle and acquire a small cut on it. I mean, just in case you would like to know that.
Today we did the Legos I told you about. Afterwards, we played with the heart monitors we put on the monks yesterday. Today is 24 hours after yesterday- so, in theory, we should be able to download a whole day's worth of data from their monitors and look at them on the computer screen!
Lol yeah.
So, these monks have no concept of technology because there is no need for them to. But what happens when a bunch of western scientists come and shove technology in your faces? - confusion and chaos.
Most groups got their data downloaded... But many struggled mostly because during the 24 hour period a button was pushed and data was lost... Lol this was awkward to deal with. But it was okay! We worked around it and I ran around the room and data was flying everywhere. We showed the monks on a line graph of their data what their heart was doing as they slept. They liked that I think.
Toward the end of this class I was called out by the head of the program. Omgomgomg.
She wanted me to sit down with the other class to show them how to use the monitors by themselves. She introduced me as the expert and that made me blush. But anywho. I sat down and taught them everything they needed to know. I even explained the concept of 'scrolling' on technological equipment! < useful information. It was good. I liked having one-on-one time with them.
Now I'm just stressing out about if they are using the monitors right!!!!!!!
I guess I will find out tomorrow. Maybe they will be able to catch me on campus to ask questions.
Also- yesterday I stepped out of a car only to twist my ankle and acquire a small cut on it. I mean, just in case you would like to know that.
Continuation
lol, sorry for being dramatic. I'll explain later.
So to continue my story...
The typing test was to show the monks that, in addition to repetition, sleep can help your motor memory. So, even though you're sleeping, your brain is still working! We went over all of their scores on the typing test, the results and such. It was very fun.
Next, I came here to write that blog- thinking I had a whole period of free time because the next 2 classes were just lectures. BUT- there was a problem with the printer that prints out the lectures in Tibetan for the monks! So we needed to call someone to come up the mountain and bring us supplies. BUT- the road was closed because the police are on strike or something... so the delivery man just went up the road as usual, which woulda been sneaky and fine. BUT- he was caught! SO- everything on our schedule was moved all around. That's why the instructors needed me!
The class that needed my help was doing another form of memory test. This test involved 2 hours of LEGOS (my major love when I was a little boy)!! Two of those pictures were posted on the facebook. The monks, of course, have never seen Legos... so it was a TRIP trying to show them how they all went together. But they figured out their own way to play with them (entire cars were made out of upside-down legos). One group constructed the twin towers, the empire state building, the statue of liberty, the streets of new york, AND the metro! It was fantastic! Others built temples and things. It was fun, fine, and fascinating. After, we had each group get up to present their creations by explaining what everything was (in order to help their memory of the pieces). Now, the point of THIS activity is to show how memory is fallible. As in, memory is constructed in pieces and can be triggered by other memories... but there is no way you can remember every little piece of everything. In a few days we will have each group try to reconstruct their buildings exactly how they were. We'll know if they do it right because we took pictures and counted each god-forsaken PIECE. It was fun. Oh, and I'm laying on my bed which feels as limestone would against my back and butt. Ya'll are all sleeping. I'm sending positive dream energy to you right now. Oooommmmmmmmm!
So to continue my story...
The typing test was to show the monks that, in addition to repetition, sleep can help your motor memory. So, even though you're sleeping, your brain is still working! We went over all of their scores on the typing test, the results and such. It was very fun.
Next, I came here to write that blog- thinking I had a whole period of free time because the next 2 classes were just lectures. BUT- there was a problem with the printer that prints out the lectures in Tibetan for the monks! So we needed to call someone to come up the mountain and bring us supplies. BUT- the road was closed because the police are on strike or something... so the delivery man just went up the road as usual, which woulda been sneaky and fine. BUT- he was caught! SO- everything on our schedule was moved all around. That's why the instructors needed me!
The class that needed my help was doing another form of memory test. This test involved 2 hours of LEGOS (my major love when I was a little boy)!! Two of those pictures were posted on the facebook. The monks, of course, have never seen Legos... so it was a TRIP trying to show them how they all went together. But they figured out their own way to play with them (entire cars were made out of upside-down legos). One group constructed the twin towers, the empire state building, the statue of liberty, the streets of new york, AND the metro! It was fantastic! Others built temples and things. It was fun, fine, and fascinating. After, we had each group get up to present their creations by explaining what everything was (in order to help their memory of the pieces). Now, the point of THIS activity is to show how memory is fallible. As in, memory is constructed in pieces and can be triggered by other memories... but there is no way you can remember every little piece of everything. In a few days we will have each group try to reconstruct their buildings exactly how they were. We'll know if they do it right because we took pictures and counted each god-forsaken PIECE. It was fun. Oh, and I'm laying on my bed which feels as limestone would against my back and butt. Ya'll are all sleeping. I'm sending positive dream energy to you right now. Oooommmmmmmmm!
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