Body Moving

Now, when I joined the Peace Corps as a TEFL university instructor I had no idea so much physical exertion would be involved. With the stress of adjusting to a new culture, teaching English and studying Chinese, a lot of us have sought outlets through physical activities. For example, during some of our fifteen minute breaks from language class, my fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) and our Chinese teachers will play a little hacky-sack:

On Thursdays and Sundays a group of us gets together to play Ultimate Frisbee, which is always a spectacle to the Chinese students playing soccer and running on the track. Frisbee is not a big thing here, so they're very intrigued by the huge group of foreigners madly sprinting around the field. A few have even started playing with us. Last Thursday I convinced four of my students (two boys, two girls) to join us. None of them had ever even touched a frisbee before, but within seconds they were better than me! Once I get to site I really want to try and make an Ultimate Frisbee team/league because I think it's a great way to bond with students. Since the frisbee we've been using belongs to our Volunteer Facilitator, all I need to do now is to find a good frisbee of my own...

Last Saturday, the Peace Corps took all of the trainees on a field trip to Qing Cheng Mountain, one of the birthplaces of Chinese Taoism. They estimated it would take about 2-3 hours to climb the thousands of steps to the peak of the front mountain. Luckily, a few other trainees were as maniacal as me and were determined to be the first to the top. So, together we ran/jogged all the way up and made it in just over an hour.

It was a foggy day, but here's what it looked like from the peak

The trip down the mountain was much more leisurely. We shared crazy travel stories and tried to keep each other from sliding down the now wet steps (it had rained while we were at the peak). It was an exhausting but amazing day.

Showing some love midway down the mountain

So, rest assured: I am not just hiding out in my bedroom lesson planning night and day. I'm out exploring and experiencing. I couldn't be happier.