Today was our first full day of working with teachers in Deqing. The day began with a very important opening ceremony that included the mayor of the city, the Director from the Bureau of Education, as well as the director from the Deqing Education and Research Centre. There were many speeches and many photos.
Our participants worked hard on our beginning activities as they interviewed one another and then presented their partners to the class – nerve racking for them having to present in English for the first time.
At the end of the day Mrs. Brajcich and I decided to walk up a nearby ‘mountain’ to see a Buddhist temple. Our students told us it was close to our hotel --- so off we went--- Turns out, it wasn’t that close. It took us about an hour to get to the top of the mountain but it was so worth the hike. We were welcomed by the Buddhist monks and nearby families. We definitely got the impression they didn’t get many western visitors. The temple was absolutely beautiful. The rooms the monks stayed in were very simple and basic. I was tempted to photograph the monks for you but knew it wasn’t appropriate. However I do have some images of the temple and the walk up the mountain. The monk gave us a bag of ‘gifts’ that is meant to bring good luck (apples, oranges, cakes etc). Unfortunately, we took a bit of a wrong turn on the way back down the mountain and ended up walking 15km to get back to the city – I can just see Mr, J rolling his eyes:) But top to bottom it was an amazing experience!
Our participants worked hard on our beginning activities as they interviewed one another and then presented their partners to the class – nerve racking for them having to present in English for the first time.
At the end of the day Mrs. Brajcich and I decided to walk up a nearby ‘mountain’ to see a Buddhist temple. Our students told us it was close to our hotel --- so off we went--- Turns out, it wasn’t that close. It took us about an hour to get to the top of the mountain but it was so worth the hike. We were welcomed by the Buddhist monks and nearby families. We definitely got the impression they didn’t get many western visitors. The temple was absolutely beautiful. The rooms the monks stayed in were very simple and basic. I was tempted to photograph the monks for you but knew it wasn’t appropriate. However I do have some images of the temple and the walk up the mountain. The monk gave us a bag of ‘gifts’ that is meant to bring good luck (apples, oranges, cakes etc). Unfortunately, we took a bit of a wrong turn on the way back down the mountain and ended up walking 15km to get back to the city – I can just see Mr, J rolling his eyes:) But top to bottom it was an amazing experience!