Boldly going where no yak has gone before, may I introduce “θΆ ζ―ηβ or “Super Yak”! I spotted this furry cow on its way to the grazing pastures in Tagong, Sichuan while visiting Zach, behold:
Baby yak.
Baby yak transforms into Super Yak.
Super Yak is alpha cow.
Time bought, organs missing…??
UPDATE: So now it seems like these stories aren’t true in the least. After hearing numerous versions from all kinds of people, I’ve decided that there is little to no credibility to these claims. Consider them debunked until further notice. Skeptics rejoice.
It almost seems like this should be a Halloween post or something. I was recently informed, to my horror, that several students from Rebgong have been kidnapped, murdered, and their organs harvested in this last month. The majority have been teenage girls who were found dead along the riverside, their organs expertly cut out - barely even an incision mark. It sounds like something out of a 60 Minutes special, but apparently its happening here and now in this small Tibetan town located not far from the middle no nowhere China. My students speculated that the perpetrators are in fact skilled doctors who, realizing they can make 100K US on one viable heart, have turned to murder to fill their pocket books. Whatever the reason, color me scared and unpleasantly surprised. Is there no where safe in this world?
In other news, it seems my visa will be extended until the end of the year, thank goodness. Will report once I have said visa in hand. Now I must huddle in my bed, hiding from nefarious organ poachers…
And this is the week that broke the yak’s back
I think I remember saying once to someone that “life is constantly unpredicatable.” That’s exactly what it is.
On tuesday, the same day that I was suffering from a bad case of food poisoning, my boss gravely mentions to me that the school (after three months of endless paperwork, medical forms, and other bureaucratic non-sense) cannot in fact get me a work visa - that I likely will not be coming back next semester to teach. Subsequent attempts in the last two days to appeal to friendly contacts have also proved fruitless. In my frustration, there are a lot of people I wanted to blame (including myself for putting myself in this position), but in the end, if this is how the situation is, then I can only look at look in front of me and not behind. Nothing else could have been done anyways and I’m not one to agonize over the past. Perhaps I’ll go to a university on a student visa, maybe i’ll do organic farming in Japan, maybe i’ll sit a long retreat in Burma, maybe i’ll try to get a job in Beijing and learn proper mandarin. But, if there is still a chance that I can stay here and teach (and there’s always a way in China), then I think I would. I think I’m starting to feel responsible for these students.
And to mimic another friend’s blog, these are the best, the worst, and the most surprising things about my Tibetan experience:
the best: climbing mountains, rich nomadic pastures, more stars in the night sky than I have ever seen, riding a “wild” yak, teaching, not being looked at funny for having a bad mandarin accent, being normal by not showering for 2 weeks, my own apartment, living next to the monastery
the worst: having very few Tibetan friends, feeling like everyone wants something from you (i.e. English lessons), DSL in my house, Tibetan bread, not learning much Chinese, communication barriers, food poisoning, feeling like I haven’t understood anything about Tibet or Tibetan culture since being here, Tibetan food, the very dry and very cold winter
the most surprising: watching my Tibetan teacher and her relatives eat the faces off lambs (cooked), the many nightclubs of Rebgong, that even in a 90% Tibetan town speaking Chinese is still more useful than speaking Tibetan
And finally to complete the Tibetan dancing trilogy, I present Tibetans breakdancing…or rather my students breakdancing. Amazing how pop culture finds a way into almost every nook and cranny of the known world…”everywhere the light touches”. Currently reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman….scary scary book.
Traditional Tibetan Dancing…in nightclub
Since my other post of Tibetan nightclub dancing was so popular (500+ views on youtube), I figured I might post a follow up. This time, you can actually see what’s going on! Traditional dancing in non-traditional clothes, Tibetan style. Don’t you feel so much more cultured already?
And for those of you who don’t have alot of bandwidth to spare, I caved and posted it on YouTube.
It’s Saturday. That means Ricky and i have just returned from our 6 day romp across the Tibetan grasslands and mountain passes. We rented a black sedan, a tanka-painter/driver, and a university student from Xining and set off into into the cultural heart of Amdo - what is now Qinghai Province. Our itinerary was as follows:
Day 1: Qinghai Lake (pictured above), Sun and Moon Pass
Day 2: Kumbum Monastery, birthplace of 14th Dalai Lama, Baima Monastery
Day 3: Jianza Mani, birthplace of 10th Panchen Lama
Day 4: Sky-burial, Eight-corner Fortress, Labrang Monastery
Day 5: Lhamo Lake (Henan), nomad encounter, Lhamo Mountain Shrine
Day 6: Nyingma Monastery (Zeku), Mani Stone
Great times! Stay tuned for highlights!
Its a little dark, but its the closest you’ll get to a Tibetan nightclub unless you fly 24hrs…
This is me just wandering around Rebgong, along the Northern edges of the town. Everything here just seems so photogenic. My cowboy hat included 
In other news, I went to the Tibetan medical center today downtown. Not for any serious problem, I’ve just been feeling very tired this past week and a friend of my Tibetan teacher took me to see the doctor. A doctor’s visit includes a pulse reading (on both arms) and some stethoscope action on my chest. After which the doc proscribed four different herbal remedies (one actually is a multivitamin) to be taken for ten days morning, noon, and evening. The most I could gleam from the consultation was that the medicine tastes very bad and I might have a “wind” problem. We’ll see if it helps, if not i’m going for heavy doses of ginseng…
So I get a call the other day from an old friend! Bryan, who I last saw in Bodhgaya in December of 2004, was visiting the area with a student group based in Beijing for the semester. He and I were actually monks together! Now Bryan is married (I met his wife too, both awesome people) with one of the most amazing "marriage cermonies" I’ve ever heard which involves the famed Director and Rinpoche Khentse Norbu ("The Cup" and "Travellers and Magicians") mood rings, flowers petals, and a Manjushri empowerment. It’s not my story to tell so I won’t spoil it, but I was invited to the "official" wedding on 7/7/07 in California
So for all you Antioch kids thinking about visiting, Bryan beat you to it (unexpectedly)! Of course the more the merrier…anyone want to visit during Losar (New Years) or catepillar fungus season?!!!
