Peace Corps China

You know your town has made it to the bit time when it gets its first bowling alley. Because it is underground, we probably would not have found it had it not been for one of my local friends who had already been to check out the scene. After dinner one night last week, we decided to go to the alley for a couple of games and noticed ads for a bowling tournament starting two days later. We scrambled to get a team together and ended up with a foreigner team consisting of me, Joe, and a Canadian guy named Marcus. We signed up for the tourney and boom, we are bowling.

Twelve teams had signed up and the first day of the tourney was on a Monday in the afternoon. We were supposed to start at 12:00, but as often happens in China, coordinator of the event had no idea where some of the teams were, and really had no idea what was going on. We were not eager to spend the whole day underground so we pestered until we were appeased enough to stick around. It was close to 1:30 before we started and by that point were ready to rock. They had teams on adjacent lanes and we were in the 2nd heat. It was a shaky game for me and I ended up with a 116. Marcus and Joe had 122 and 126 respectively. Our combined scores were enough to put is in 3rd place after the first day which qualified us for the finals the following day where we would go head-to-head with the other top 6 finishers.

The next day ran much more smoothly in terms of logistics. We started on time and the competition flowed smoothly. We were in the 2nd heat which meant we knew we had to bowl out of our minds to win it all. A guy on one team bowled a 215 and his team total was a 450! In our game, I started slow, but picked things up near the 5th frame. I turkeyed 6, 7, and 8, bowled a 9/spare in the 9th and a 9/spare in the 10th to finish with a 179 – over 60 points better than my previous score! Joe and Marcus on the other hand felt the heat and both dropped about 20 pins, bowling a 100 and 101 respectively.

In the end our total of 380 was good enough for 3rd place, only 8 pins out of 2nd. We each won a 300 RMB gift card to the rec center and were pretty psyched about it. Bowling rules!

3rd place!

Last weekend’s trip to Chendgu was the first step in the relatively long process of leaving China. The COS conference is a time for Peace Corps staff to give volunteers nearing the end of their service important information regarding paperwork, travel, insurance, and readjusting to life at home. At the same time it is a chance for members of the same cohort to bond for what may be the last time in country. With the thought that we are all leaving in the back of my mind, I was prepared for moments of sadness throughout the four days, but they never came. I thought of why this could be and I realized a couple of things. First, although we have had our COS conference, we still have over 2 months in China before we are completely finished. A lot can and will happen during that time, making it less likely to get emotional now. Second, it has been over a year (at our first in-service training) since I saw the majority of the people at COS. China is so big and we have been so spread out for so long that when we are back in the States, it will take about as much effort and planning to see one another as it does now. Not much will change in that respect.

So what did COS conference mean to me? It meant maximizing time with friends, filling up on western and Sichuan food, and thinking about the immediate future, i.e. travel plans. J Fortunately the weather in Chengdu was great, so we got to spend a lot of time outside. The first day a large group of us ended up on the lawn outside of the overseas student dorms, sitting on the grass with shoes off, socializing and enjoying the quiet. There is a noticeable lack of grass in rural China and I almost felt I was back at Piedmont Park for a while. We also played ultimate frisbee, basketball, and two-hand touch football, all of which I loved every minute of. COS also meant great food. The first night in Chengdu I went for a Montana BBQ burger from Grandma’s Kitchen. The second night featured typical Sichuan dishes including ma po tofu and guo ba rou pian (sliced meat with sautéed vegetables over crispy rice cakes). The third night the Peace Corps treated us all to dinner at Pete’s Tex-Mex. We had a buffet full of salads, hamburgers and hotdogs – satisfying in every way. The final night a group of us went to celebrate a friend’s birthday at a hot pot restaurant. The broth was extra oily and extra spicy and at one point I was dripping sweat into my rice bowl. On top of all that, COS means that I know exactly when I will check out of Peace Corps China and begin my journey home. I will head back to Chengdu on July 2^nd, return my things on the 3^rd, head to Beijing and fly to Europe on the 6^th. Ummm, psyched?

Overall, the conference was well-organized and smooth. All of the information sessions were useful and we had a nice nostalgic slide show which I will post a link to ASAP. I left feeling excited and ready for the last stretch. One the way back to Tongren, I had an interesting experience. I was on the bottom bunk of a hard sleeper and had been chatting with my neighbor on the other bottom bunk. He works in Chengdu and was going to visit his wife who lives in the Hunan province, not an uncommon scenario in China today. In Chongqing a couple from Spain got on the train and ended up in our bunks. I was thrilled and immediately started a conversation with them. They didn’t speak much English so I tried to push the Chinese aside and switch to Spanish. There was definitely some cross-linguistic interference going on and instead of saying “si,” I found myself saying “dui,” which means the same thing in Mandarin. The real kicker was when my bottom bunk neighbor asked me questions about the couple from Spain. My reaction was to start talking to him in Spanish, but I somehow managed to switch back to Mandarin and fill him in as to where they were from, what they had been doing, and where they were headed. The whole event blew my mind. It was so cool to build a bridge between people on a train who otherwise would never have known about each other in languages that are not my native language. Moments like those excite and amateur linguist like me.

I got back to Tongren at 4:40 am, taught for 6 hours starting at 8:00 am and here we are. The home stretch has begun.

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I remember writing a post with a similar title on the opposite end of this Peace Corps journey only the numbers were getting larger whereas now they are getting smaller. I have not written in quite a while mainly because I have been so busy with test preparation, so focused on the tasks at hand that have kept me busy until 11 pm most nights Sunday to Wednesday that I have certainly let the blog slide.

However, today was the final evening test prep class and today was the final one period. The kids will give it their best shot on Saturday and I am extremely optimistic. In fact, each class I teach I find myself looking at my students who have worked so hard and sending mental messages that say something like, “Remember everything I taught you and you WILL pass the exam!” I will go to bed tonight knowing that I have done my best. I molded as much material as I could while it was in my hands and now it is time to let go and watch from the sidelines. If any of my students read my blog before Saturday, I just want to remind you that I believe in you and I hope that you also believe in yourselves.

This weekend I take my penultimate trip to Chengdu for our completion of service (COS) conference. It is a little crazy to think about and yes, the cliche mixed emotions have started to stir. Knowing that this will be the last time for potentially a long time that I see these friends makes me happy and sad and who knows what kind of bipolar episodes of laughter and tears will result.

I will keep this one short because I’m beat, but I’ll be back soon with more news.

The best hour I have spent in China was Friday night, March 23rd, in a tub at the hot springs resort in the town of Shiqian about 3 1/2 hours from Tongren. I have to show respect to our school, which I believe to be the best Peace Corps post in China. Each semester the foreign affairs office has paid for us to go on a weekend vacation trip to a local place of interest. We had been talking about this particular trip since last semester and knowing that it would be our one last created a little more buzz and excitement than the previous few.

We jumped in the car that school provided around 1:00 pm and headed out of town. Kate and I immediately put our headphones in which seemed to suit our driver and two Chinese colleagues who came with us just fine. I got caught up on a few podcasts including Radio Lab, Stuff You Missed in History Class,  Left, Right, and Center, and one I just discovered called Intelligence Squared, which is an Oxford style debate held in the U.S. about hot topics such as college, religion, and Palestine. Since the shortest trip I take to get anywhere outside of Tongren is 3 hours, I have become a huge fan of podcasts in China.

When we got to Shiqian, we made a stop at a private school where somehow, someone scheduled a special “activity” for us. It had been a while since I made a guest appearance at a school and I was pretty excited to drop in visit. Kate, bless her heart, was much less excited than I was but was a trooper none the less and did her best. After a 45 minute interactive session in the school’s auditorium, we went outside for the obligatory photo shoot. I have visited lots of schools during my time in China, but this school was a little different. The kids were a little more easy going than most kids from small towns and there was a surprisingly large number of kids who asked for hugs. One girl in particular asked for 3 hugs in probably 5 minutes. I am one of the world’s biggest fans of hugging and was more than happy to oblige, however, it dawned on me that China does not have a culture of touching and feeling. China’s is very much a thinking society where affection is an internal process, rarely manifesting in hugs. Once you start hugging, however, it is hard to stop, and I think some of these kids have realized how great hugging is. Kate saw all the affection going on and when we got in the car made the comment that I should go on a campaign to hug every child in China. It sounds like an amazing publicity stunt and I’m pretty sure I could get sponsors from anywhere I wanted. Unfortunately, hugging every child in China is not part of my mission in life.

The headmaster of the school and several teachers invited us to dinner where we had a nice banquet type meal. We chatted and exchanged pleasantries and when the bill was paid went straight for the hot springs. Now, when I hear the words “hot springs” I think about mountains and natural pools, maybe the Olympic rain forest. In Shiqian, there is a hotel, build on top of the springs and to enjoy them, you must pay the hotel for either the public bath or the private one. Since the school was paying we went for the private one and while there was no nature to enjoy, save for the hot spring water itself, the experience was the most soothing I have had in China. The private room was actually quite nice. The tub was a on the right side of the room and was a little small, but workable. On the left side of the room was what looked like a lay-in shallow jacuzzi, but the attendant said it didn’t work. There was also a toilet and a stand up shower in the back of the room and shampoo and body wash. The water that filled the tub was the perfect temperature for me and as I stepped in I could feel all of the noise and tension that China dumps on me on a daily basis disappearing into the steam. I always love returning to the element I feel most at home in, and this time there was more than ever to enjoy – the minerals, the heat, the silence, the relief, the meditation. I am not sure how an hour passed so quickly, but it did. My counterpart called me out of my reverie and it was time to go. We made our way back upstairs to find a karaoke type singing show on TV and cigarette smoke filling the hotel lobby. Oh, China, you certainly have a way of bringing a guy back down to earth.

We went back to the hotel and were asleep in no time. The next day featured another visit to another school and another banquet for lunch. So much for our relaxing weekend at the hot springs. One hour in the water and 6 in classes and at banquets. On the way home I listened to more podcasts and thought that this was most likely the last time I will do anything of the sort, in China anyways. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, where hot springs exist (not in a hotel) and no one pulls your strings before and after you get in them. Enjoy the photos

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Last weekend I traveled to Chongqing to compete in a large scale road race. In my career, I have specialized in the 1 mile fun run, but I figured it was time to step it up a notch and go for a little more distance. I started training as soon as I got back from Chengdu and had been building up my speed and endurance until about 10 days ago when I caught a little upper respiratory infection that put me out of commission for the week leading up to the race. I had already registered for the 9k (not 10k, 9k) and was excited to make the trip to Chongqing to visit friends, but was a game day decision in terms of running. The night before the race I was sure I was in good enough shape to run so I went for it. I ran 6k at which point my lungs started feeling tight and decided it would be best if I walked the rest of the way. I crossed the finish line with the Chariots of Fire soundtrack playing in my head and connected with all my friends who finished before I did.

I must say that the race was very well organized, however transportation was not. After we finished the race, we had to walk probably 2 miles (a good 30 minutes) to find any kind of transportation to get back to the start of the race. I guess the race coordinators didn’t think 9k was quite long enough and wanted to give us our money’s worth. Speaking of money’s worth, for the 20 RMB registration fee (approximately $3.50) we got a drawstring backpack, t-shirt, numbered bib, and certificate of completion, all of which I thought were very nice. When we went to go pick up our things the day before the race, I was reading the information packet about the race and discovered that the word marathon is translated phonetically and is pronounced ma la song, which literally means “horse, pull, pine tree.” How great is that? Other than the 9k I took part in, there actually was a full and half marathon, both of which drew large international crowds. The purse for the the full horse pull pine tree was $10,000 (US) and $1,000 for the half. Not bad, if you ask me. Next year, I plan on taking home the full marathon purse and clocking my Olympic qualifying time.

The rest of the trip to CQ was great. We lounged around in the afternoon after the race, got some coffee at Starbucks, went shopping for hard-to-find items like cheese, butter and peanut butter, and in the evening went to an amazing pizza buffet followed by a visit to a fellow volunteers house for a pre-party drink, and finally out to the bars. The event drew friends from all four Peace Corps provinces with whom it was wonderful to bond. There are some things I will miss when I leave here in a few months, and the great people are certainly the highest on that list. So, here’s to you, PCVs. Thanks for a great weekend in the Chonqs!

ps-I was horrible about taking pictures, but there are some good ones up on Facebook. Check them out if you have a chance.

There is a new pizza restaurant in town. It is rather unflatteringly called Hopizza, but that is OK because it is actually a pretty nice restaurant. On Wednesday, one of our colleagues Liam invited me and Kate to go try out some things on the menu. It turns out Liam’s dad owns the restaurant and he wanted some suggestions about the food and service. We were the only guests there as the restaurant had not yet opened to the public. Yesterday was the grand opening and Liam invited us back for the full dining experience.

I didn’t notice it the first time we went, but on the wall in the stairway leading to the restaurant is a sign that reads “Ho  llywood, Ho  lidy, Ho  pizza.” It is one of those very Chinese things that attempts to add authenticity to a place but to the trained eye makes it feel a little more Chinese than it would be without it. The dining room was packed mostly with parents and their pre-teen or teenage kids. According to Liam, there were 100 people at the door when the place opened at 8:30 am wanting to eat pizza! We had to wait a few minutes for a table but then settled in for a lovely evening of western food. Liam ordered a couple of pizzas for the table, Kate ordered a t-bone steak, Joe a salad, and I ordered curry beef. The pizza came out as an appetizer and we patiently waited for the rest of our food. After an hour and a third pizza for the table, Joe’s salad and my curry still had not arrived. At that point I asked the server where our dishes were. She informed me that they were out of curry and salad. Hmmm. That’s odd. At what point did you discover there was no more of the dishes we ordered an hour ago? Piggy backing on that question, let me ask you at what point were you going to tell us that there was no more of the savory dishes we had so eagerly been awaiting? If my Chinese were a little better those were the questions I would have asked. I tried my best to sound angry when I asked for a menu to order something else, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t work. She brought the menu and I sighed because I knew that it was impossible to use the situation as a learning experience, which in the States I certainly would have done. Oh, China.

I decided not to order any more food. I was satisfied and didn’t want to go through the hassle. The food was as good as it had been on Wednesday and we left full and happy. I had to come home and take a few digestive enzymes to calm my stomach down, but that was a small price to pay for feasting on non-Chinese food.

A word to the wise: if you ever make it to Hopizza and decide to order a steak make sure that it is well done. Apparently medium means pan seared. Well done is more like the medium we are accustomed to.

We are half way through March and spring should have peeked its head out a little or at least given a sign that it is right around the corner. I returned to Tongren on February 17th and since then it has not been above 45 degrees and it has rained every day for the last ten. I’m not the biggest fan of cold weather, but I can certainly tolerate it when it is clear and pretty. When cold weather is wet and bleak, I tend to suffer. These days I have been suffering. I can see my breath in my apartment when I wake up, which makes it a little difficult to get motivated. I can’t turn my large space heater on because it causes a general power outage in my apartment and I have to go down 4 flights of stairs to flip the circuit breaker back on. Aparently the wiring is pretty old and can’t handle large appliances any more. Thankfully my little space heaters warm my bedroom nicely and the electric hot water bottle does amazing things for my mattress. I’m just ready for a little warm weather, or at least a little sunshine. Please?

Other than the weather, life is good. I am in a nice rhythm with teaching, exercising, and socializing. The test prep class that I have designed is going well. The students are becoming much more comfortable with the test format, which was a big goal. We have also been racing through difficult vocabulary, recently focusin on phrasal verbs such as “put up,” “check out,” and “try on.” Man, our native language is a beast. Also, I have been training for a road race in Chongqing next weekend. I am registered for the 10k race, which will be the longest I have ever taken part in. I’m pretty psyched about it. Tomorrow will be the first time that I do the full-length in training. Go-go-gadget legs! Finally, I have been spending time with my host country national friends a lot lately. Everyone knows that I will be leaving at the end of the semester and I feel like it is helpful to prepare mentally for when the big transition comes.

That is the news for now. This has been a pretty uneventful post, but I will hopefully have some good stories and pictures from the race to share in a week or so. Until then…pray for sun in Tongren!

Hi everyone. The latest edition of Tongren University English News (T.R.U.E. News) is online! Follow the link below to read all the excellent work that my students produced. We will get one more edition published this semester and then hopefully the next volunteers will take over where I left off.

http://issuu.com/tongrennews/docs/truenews2

Please send any comments or suggestions to me via email or the blog.

Thanks to everyone who voted. The beard is gone. As of the cutoff time (8:00 pm on Friday) there were 14 votes to shave and 11 votes to keep. A few students had trouble viewing my blog from their computers, which I have frequently heard is an issue and so some students voted on my QQ (Chinese equivalent of AIM) to shave the beard. I must admit that I was a little sad to see it go. I was pleasantly surprised by how full it got, how warm it kept my face in the still-very-cold Tongren winter, and how accustomed to it I had grown. The good news is that I know I can do if I want to do it again. For now, it’s back to being clean shaven.

I have been meaning to blog about my new favorite album: Bon Iver (self titled). When we were in Malaysia, I was listening to the All Songs Considered podcast. It was the last episode of the year and featured the top 25 albums according to ASC listeners. I am a relative newcomer to All Songs Considered and 15-25 were obscure from my perspective. In the top 10 were some familiar names including Coldplay, Radio Head, and Adele. At the top of the list, however, was a band I had never heard of: Bon Iver. The selection that they played  immediately caught my attention and when I got back to China downloaded their most recent album. Long story short, I have been listening to Bon Iver non-stop for almost a month and they have quickly jumped into my top 10 artists of the last 10 years. There is something haunting and touching about their sound that captivates me. The songs are lyrically creative and are anchored to some very catchy guitar rhythms. There is also an array of instruments such as banjo and alto sax, not so much that you get tired of hearing them, but enough for you to know that they are there and to want them without really knowing it. Man, they are good. And apparently they won some Grammy awards!?

Life in Tongren is cruising. I just started the second week of the last semester and so far so good. I have changed some things around on my syllabus and am now focusing both my oral English and listening classes around test prep. I also started keeping a teaching journal in which I will document the test prep progress. I told my adviser about the journal and she was interested because she does not know of any test prep teacher diaries that have been published. Maybe an opportunity to get some work out there?

In one final note, thanks to my city mate, Claire, we just got a laserjet printer in the office and I am so happy! Thank you Claire!!! They are the little things in life that bring me joy.

Ciao for now!

Enjoy!

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12►

Although school has yet to start, I am back into somewhat of a rhythm in Tongren. My days go like this. Wake up and make breakfast, listen to NPR, check email, surf the web. I head out of the house between 12 and 1 for stir fried veggies and rice or rice noodles and then go to the office to work on a teachers’ resource book project that I hope will help me prepare for my thesis and will benefit future Peace Corps China volunteers. I leave the office between 3 and 4 and go to the gym. I grab a bit to eat on my way home. When I get home, I turn on both my space heaters, heat up my electric water bottle, throw it under my blankets, and nestle in to bed where I work some more on my project, play guitar (making up for lost time), watch TV/movies and then crash out around midnight. This routine will become disrupted on Monday when classes start, but it has been consistent and comfortable.

As time passes, the memories fade and so before they are too distant to recall clearly, I will write the holiday thoughts down. The first comment that must be made is that scuba diving in Komodo national park is like taking a trip to underwater heaven. We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season and risked  diving in bad conditions just because of the time of year we were traveling. Because of the timing, there were not many divers in the area. In fact, there were no other divers in the area, at least not that we saw. We had the entire marine park to ourselves! It was dark and rainy on our first day of diving, but the sky cleared and the 2nd and 3rds gave us some of the best weather and calmest seas we could have asked for. We dove with Divine Diving and had excellent dive masters, guides, and boat crew. During our dives we saw giant manta rays, cute clown fish, ornate pipe fish, sea turtles, frog fish, and lord knows how many different kinds of hard and soft corals. Every dive was better than the one before it. Absolutely amazing.

The next part of vacation was very much like the Paul Simon “Mother and Child Reunion.”

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Three moms and their sons, featuring one little sister (mine) taking Bali by storm. What a crew! I was a little nervous that a 7-person travel team would be a little too big and that personalities would clash, but both fears proved to be unfounded. We all had the best time and got along perfectly. Everyday in Bali had a special highlight. My favorite moments were traveling to a seaside temple at dusk to watch a dance performance while the sun set, eating seafood on the beach, and getting my first tattoo! I had been debating getting a tattoo for probably 10 years. I realized that as I get older, it is a likely that I will spend less time near the sea. I wanted to get something aquatic and meaningful and what better creature to get for me than a whale shark! It is on my left foot and I love it. As my friend Brittni said, “Sharkfood, badass. Sharkfoot.” Other highlights included drinking lots of delicious coffee, watching the sunset behind the sea, and of course family time.

After 5 days on Bali, we set out for the jungles of east Java specifically to explore the temples of Prambanan and Borobudur. Prambanan was very cool, but no where nearly as cool as Borobudur, which we hiked to the top of at 5 am to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and there were no spectacular colors to speak of, but to watch the sky go from black to dark blue to light blue from such a spiritual place was pretty magical.

The trip to Java was a short one and we sadly had to go our separate ways after 2 days and 3 nights. The moms and sister went back to the States and Joe and I went to Malaysia. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how cool Malaysia is. I didn’t know much about before I went there, but came to find out that culturally, it is a very cool mix of Chinese, Indian, British, and local flavors that have been blended really well, especially when it comes to food. We ate so much great curry all over that country, it was not even fair. We started our trip in Penang, which was an important British colony, giving the British an important position in a predominantly Dutch dominated area. The architecture in Penang and especially in the capital Georgetown, was diverse and well preserved and in fact, the whole city is a UNESCO world heritage site! We stayed at a cool hostel in the backpacker lane. It was the Chinese New Year and lots of businesses were closed, but we met some interesting people, made our way to a nice beach about an hour outside of town, and gorged ourselves on the Penang cuisine, which is world famous.

From Penange we went to a place called the Cameron Highlands which are located about 5,000 feet above sea level. The highlands are completely in the jungle and there are all kinds of cool tours that you can do, however, I was unable to do much. I started getting a cold in Penang and was pretty congested when we left for the highlands. Our driver decided to try and set a land speed record while going up the mountain roads and I ended up with what is called a reverse block in my ear. The air was trying to escape through my ear passages as the air thinned, but due to my congestion, could not. So the air pushed up against my ear drum causing discomfort and annoyance. I bought some strong meds from the pharmacy, but sadly didn’t have the energy to go trekking through the jungle. I ended up hanging out a the hostel and enjoying some quiet rest time, which was much needed, actually. Joe went on a cool jungle tour and I got to live vicariously through him. Because I had taken decongestants at altitude, on the way down, my ears were affected by a regular block, which I had grown used to, but which was still annoying.

We spent two days in the highlands and ended our trip in Kuala Lumpur, a very modern, well-integrated city. The coolest part of KL was going to the top of the KL tower, which is the 4th largest tower building in the world. I was psyched because during the elevator ride, my ears popped and I could hear clearly for the first time in a day! They became blocked again on the way back down, but whatever. The view from the top was spectacular. We took lots of photos and picked out some spots that we wanted to visit the following day. Our final day in KL was satisfying yet exhausting. We had a flight super early in the morning, which was inconvenient because the last bus to the airport left at 10:30 pm. We ended up sleeping about 4 hours in the freezing cold of the KL international departures terminal and almost missed our flight because, believe it or not, we were in the wrong terminal. We had to get escorted around the outside of the airport to our gate and made it just in time. Phew.

Getting back to China was smooth. We got on a train almost right away and were back in Tongren in no time. Now here we are. Ready for the last lap. I’m off for now, but until the next post, enjoy the photos (separate blog post) (ps-this a record for my longest blog post!)

I’m not sure which tried my patience more: the one hour bus ride from the train station to the long-distance bus station, only to learn that the bus that I need leaves from a new long-distance bus station another hour away or the fifteen minute bus ride from the Tongren bus station to my apartment during which the driver blasted his horn no less than 20 times per minute. The transition back to “real” life in China is usually a little jarring, but this time, knowing that it is the last time, has been even more so.

Part of the readjustment issues comes from the fact that I just spent a great week with my friends in Chengdu and there is always a little separation anxiety when the time comes to say goodbye. Another part of the issues comes from knowing that I’m leaving soon. I feel like I have proven myself as a teacher, as a community member, and as a Peace Corps volunteer and I’m satisfied. I certainly have goals for this semester, but I have what I came for, which is knowledge and experience and I’m ready to go home.

That said, I’m not crossing any bridges before I reach them. I am very excited about this term and have some projects in mind that will hopefully both challenge my students and help prepare them for the high-stakes Test for English Majors (TEM) 4 in June. I bought practice books and previous tests and am planning a curriculum that will set records in terms of how many students pass the exam! I am also working on a Peace Corps China teachers’ kit that I will pass along to our program managers. So if any China volunteers read this, get psyched for some fully implementable unit plans and thoughts on teaching from this guy.

I know that two posts ago I promised to write about vacation. I have not forgotten that promise, and will get to it before Thursday, along with some photos. Until then, the thought that we are about to enter the fourth and final semester of our term is thrilling. This is the home stretch and it will be a satisfying run to the finish. Here we go!

Life happens fast in the Peace Corps, and as it turns out, there just wasn’t a lot of time to write about vacation while I was in Tongren! I still think about the trip every day and will get the stories up ASAP, but for now those stories will have to wait.

I am writing this post from Chengdu where all the China 17s and a large number of China 16s have gathered for in-service training (IST). For first-year volunteers, IST is mandatory, but for second-year volunteers, it is optional. IST is a time to continue learning about teaching theory, vent about and problems and start tackling solutions from the first (or second or third) semester, take high-quality language classes, and most importantly, connect with people you haven’t seen in a long time.

Knowing that IST is possibly the last time you will see your friends and colleagues for possibly a year, there is a sense of urgency to spend as much time as possible fortifying bonds. This was especially true for me last year. I had made strong connections with the volunteers at my training site and when we saw one another again after a semester apart, there was so much to say and do and feel that I was a little overwhelmed. Old friends were not the only volunteers at IST, however. There were also several volunteers from the previous year who helped lead TEFL sessions, helped facilitate province-wide information sessions, took part in the talent show, and just hung out. By sharing their experiences and stories, their presence made a positive impact on the quality and validity of IST. Because I wanted to return the favor, and because I love Peace Corps, I decided to come up for the second of this two-week event.

So far, IST has been great. This year is very different for our group in that we are not the focus of the training. We get to take the wonderful language classes, but many of the other sessions are optional for us. I am enjoying the increased freedom as it lets me spend more time with my friends who are here. Yesterday, I went to a brown bag lunch session where I chatted with the 17s about secondary projects and in the afternoon I led four 30-minutes sessions about how to organize English corner both of which kept me busy from 12:15 until 5:00, but today, we only have a two-hour information session to listen to and then tomorrow afternoon we are totally free.

During my sessions yesterday, I was able to meet all the 17s. From our brief interactions and from what I have heard from other volunteers and staff, the 17s seem to be a much mellower group than we were. That is a good thing because we had people break doors, bones, and bottles and so far that has not occurred here. There is plenty of intrigue, drama, and romance to be sure, but it is much less visible than our group’s. In the 17s, I have met lots of interesting characters, including a lovely couple from St. Simon’s Island, GA and Dalton, GA. Represent, yo!

I hope that the 17s will appreciate our presence here as much as we did having the 15s at our IST and will be inspired to carry the torch to next year’s training and pass it along the next generation who will arrive this summer.