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Midge
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
Posts: 50
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 Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:11 pm Post subject: Here in Shangri-la |
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So I'm here, and I've started teaching.
Two of my students are almost absolute beginners, but the others show signs of some scattered teaching. Given that they're usually taught by volunteers that come and go every few weeks, that's not really surprising. They are eager to learn, which is a thrill.
The friendly warnings from members on this forum in regards to volunteering seem to be about a quarter true. The owner of the center is a successful local businessman who built this center to give back to the community. I'm told that in addition to having their living expenses covered, the students also receive a small wage to make their families ok with the fact that they're not working.
However, the level of connection that the owner has is sometimes worrisome. He seems to use these connections for good. I have my doubts about the level of non-profithood of the center, but I really can't complain about the way things are going down. I'm certainly not being used for my whiteness. The owner knows every foreigner in town.
In return for 10 hours of teaching the students, 2 hours in the local primary school (where the English teacher doesn't speak English), and 5 hours with the Buddhist master, I'm getting seriously discounted housing in the Old Town, all meals 6 days a week, Tibetan lessons, and all the connections of the owners (which helps my husband's research).
I don't feel used. I live in friggin' Shangri-la.  |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, so many questions.
How's the air? Thin?
Are the Tibetans free to talk?
How are their lives?
What do you eat every day?
Are cigarettes / beer / beef / lamb / veggies available?
So many questions...
Can they speak Chinese? (Mandarin) |
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killian
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 937
Location: fairmont city, illinois, USA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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enjoy the surf when it is up.
the waves when they are dead...well, surf is up for a precious short time. |
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Beyond1984
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 462
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| Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:35 am Post subject: Quake-stricken? |
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Hi Midge,
If you were anywhere near the Wednesday morning quakes, I hope all is well.
Best of luck!
-HDT |
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Midge
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
Wow, so many questions.
How's the air? Thin? |
A little. I've been here over a week now, and the hike up to the temple on the mountain was easier today than it was 2 days ago. I've only seen oxygen bottles for sale in one store, and they don't seem to be popular. It's not the heavy tourist season yet though
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| Are the Tibetans free to talk? |
It seems so. At the temple on the mountain, they have a pic of the DL. When I asked the master about it he replied that since everyone in the gov here is Tibetan also, they don't worry about getting in trouble.
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| How are their lives? |
Seems pretty good, but it's often hard to tell. I don't know if they like the tourists or not. I haven't seen beggars here yet, either.
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| What do you eat every day? |
I eat in the Thangka center's kitchen, with my students. I don't eat the tsampa though because I'm sensitive to gluten. So the cook makes sure there's always some rice or er kuai available along with a veggie of some sort. Butter tea is served every morning, but the stuff at the center is made with margarine. I try to avoid it. My husband tried doing the tsampa this morning, and one of the students walked in and said "man, I hate that stuff. I can't believe you're eating it." He eats it every day.
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| Are cigarettes / beer / beef / lamb / veggies available? |
Not sure about lamb, but in general everything is available. I had the same worries, but most of Shangri-la is typical sprawling chinese city, except they're all required to have Tibetan and English on the signs. You have to leave the old town to get daily supplies, unless you want to use the pricey woven stuff as TP
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So many questions...
Can they speak Chinese? (Mandarin) |
Oh, absolutely. Some can't write it, but they all speak it. They were pretty excited this morning when they overheard me practicing the Tibetan alphabet though. |
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Midge
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:45 am Post subject: Re: Quake-stricken? |
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| Beyond1984 wrote: |
Hi Midge,
If you were anywhere near the Wednesday morning quakes, I hope all is well.
Best of luck!
-HDT |
Nowhere near. I got a call from my mom last night, and she sounded terrified because she had just received a call from my dad. My response was "There was an earthquake in China?"
It sounds pretty bad...thanks for your concern. Do we know if anyone here on the forum is in that area? |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:41 am Post subject: |
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The quake area in Qinghai is relatively close to the Sichuan and Tibetan border - I was last out there 3 years ago visiting a town called Dege - it's very remote and way off the normal tourist trail.
I doubt if many, if any,foreigners are in that area .
Midge - are there restrictions on foreigners at the moment. We heard that foreigners weren't allowed to buy bus tickets from Yunnan to Sichuan that took them through Daocheng/Yading - Litang to Kangding - but can buy tickets in the opposite direction.
Must be some pretty pissed off backpackers if they have to backpedal when then can't get a bus over the grasslands!!!!! |
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Kelsie
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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nice!!
i'm interested in doing something similar one day. you are just volunteering, right? i guess there are few paying esl jobs there? for how long are you staying? |
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Midge
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| kukiv wrote: |
The quake area in Qinghai is relatively close to the Sichuan and Tibetan border - I was last out there 3 years ago visiting a town called Dege - it's very remote and way off the normal tourist trail.
I doubt if many, if any,foreigners are in that area .
Midge - are there restrictions on foreigners at the moment. We heard that foreigners weren't allowed to buy bus tickets from Yunnan to Sichuan that took them through Daocheng/Yading - Litang to Kangding - but can buy tickets in the opposite direction.
Must be some pretty pissed off backpackers if they have to backpedal when then can't get a bus over the grasslands!!!!! |
There are a few travel restrictions, yes. I'm not sure about the routes you mentioned, but we're in Deqin at the moment and had to hire an SUV to get us here. The road between Zhongdian and Deqin is only open every 4 days, so they've changed the bus into a 3-day ordeal that goes into Tibet. Hence, no foreigners. But if you hire a driver on the right day, you can do it during daylight. At some point the road will be closed almost completely, which really effs with the tourism in this area. Perhaps it will cause them to lower some of the absolutely absurd ticket prices... |
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Midge
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 5:15 am Post subject: |
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| Kelsie wrote: |
nice!!
i'm interested in doing something similar one day. you are just volunteering, right? i guess there are few paying esl jobs there? for how long are you staying? |
I am volunteering, yes, but I get payment in the form of food and reduced rooming costs. Actually, it would have been free if I wanted to stay in the dorm with the students. I haven't encountered any foreigners who get paid for teaching English here.
I'll be staying until late fall sometime. If you're interested, I'm sure they'll appreciate having someone to pick up where I leave off. |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 5:48 am Post subject: |
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| Perhaps it will cause them to lower some of the absolutely absurd ticket prices... |
basically all Chinese tourist sites have become a crock of crap because of these incredible prices - to get around the ticket price many tourists take on those all inclusive charter packages - cheaper to get into parks with a group since the charter companies of course get a discount and the managers of the parks get a personal kick-back from the tour company!!!! The result those moronic groups of idiots all wearing the same colored baseball cap following some idiot guide with a flag. The noise and rubbish throwing that follows these tourist flocks makes the price of paying a park ticket seem pure insult
Also the price matters to some Chinese - if somewhere is cheap or even free - then it can't be any good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Sichuan I'd never dream of paying for a ticket to get into parks like Emei Shan (150RMB for a 2 day ticket) or Juizhaigou (220RMB for a 2 day ticket + 90rmb/day for the park bus).
Thanks for the road info - looks like my August tour may now turn towards Lugu Lake - seems like the construction mayhem is always changing our travel plans - when will it stop????????????????????? |
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Midge
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="kukiv"]
| Quote: |
| Perhaps it will cause them to lower some of the absolutely absurd ticket prices... |
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| basically all Chinese tourist sites have become a crock of crap because of these incredible prices - to get around the ticket price many tourists take on those all inclusive charter packages - cheaper to get into parks with a group since the charter companies of course get a discount and the managers of the parks get a personal kick-back from the tour company!!!! |
Something just shifted with who's in charge of what, and now the parks are run by a company, which has jacked up prices. What exactly that pays for is a mystery to me, since the two places I went this week (Meili hike to Yubung and the glacier at Mingyong) both have mule services that cost extra, and at least at Meili, the trash pickup and trail maintenance are managed by the households that run the mules. I don't know who does the trash management at Mingyong, but it was shockingly tidy.
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| Thanks for the road info - looks like my August tour may now turn towards Lugu Lake - seems like the construction mayhem is always changing our travel plans - when will it stop??????????????????? |
It won't. The stimulus funds being used for road building out here cover 80% of the project cost. Officials have jumped on it like crazy... My husband has heard though that the route that is supposed to be fully closed for the bulk of the summer may actually be open every 10-15 days. Since mining companies use those roads to haul various ores, they can throw a fit and get things tweaked. When I know some actual dates, I'll make a post here. |
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wailing_imam
Joined: 31 Mar 2006
Posts: 580
Location: Malaya
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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| I have been up to zhongdian twice (don't like the change of name - just to get the tourists in). Interesting spot but changing rapidly. Now the new town is the same as any other city with nike and converse boutiques, but the townsfolk and thetibetan (quite different to the tibetans in Lhasa) add an interesting twist. Sadly the monastery has become super touristy, and lost some of its wild edge. Loved the blue skies there and tremendous scenery. |
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kateteachingenglish
Joined: 26 Jan 2010
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 2:44 am Post subject: |
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| That sounds amazing... |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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I arrived in Zhongdian this evening - what a shock - a true tourist hell-hole, and seems hardly representative of anything Tibetan!!!!!
Midge - how have you been able to survive this place???????? |
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