July 14th
Students have settled well into their home stays in Shangri-La; each day, they have eaten breakfast with their Chinese families, walked to classes and participated in activities, then returned home to have dinner, socialize with their hosts, and finally sleep. Students report excitement as they understand more and more of the conversations around them, and fatigue as their minds are challenged by the unrelenting Mandarin language environment. They talk about frustrations as they run into difficulties expressing themselves with more nuance and precision, and they express delight as they tell hilarious and interesting stories about quirky visiting uncles who speak a little English, seemingly endless parades of new relatives, delicious meals both in and out of the homes, and funny miscommunications. We are so proud of the students for jumping into the challenging experiences of home stays in a culture that is very different from the cultures we generally inhabit. It's wonderful to see them rise to meet their challenges while also having fun with their new living situations.
Classes have been going very well. Students have also been writing diligently in their Mandarin journals between classes, and they study their vocabulary lists regularly. Of course, they also need to navigate interactions at stores, at bus stops, in taxis, and at restaurants. In short, they get a lot of Mandarin practice and exposure well before they head back to their home stays for dinner.
Yesterday, we visited a local high school where we were greeted with excited screams, cheers, laughter and applause. Students all agreed that walking into the school felt like being a movie star or a rock star. Once inside, we visited a Chinese classroom, introduced ourselves, and then pairs of Proctor students spent a long time chatting with groups of Chinese students about music, movies, the internet, studying languages, and all sorts of different topics. During our group meeting yesterday, students talked about how the high school visit was overwhelming and intense, but also really fun.
Later in the afternoon yesterday we all participated in an eighty minute calligraphy class back at the high school. There were only a few Chinese high school students in the classroom with us, so it was less intense and more peaceful than our visit earlier in the day. It was fun to see students write characters using traditional brushes, paper and ink!
Today our group hiked, accompanied by some of the home stay siblings, to Ringha temple (Dà Bǎo Sì) about an hour outside of Shangri-La. Our tired students had the day off from classes to get some fresh air, see another beautiful Buddhist site, and spend some relaxed time as a group. Today also marks Ilyena's birthday (the third out of four July birthdays in our group), so there just may be some celebrations later on...
Tomorrow, we begin our five day trek into the mountains north of Shangri-La. Wish us 一路顺风 (yílù shùnfēng, a smooth journey)!