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Daily Life as a Teacher and Spiritual Seeker in Kangding

by Drew Foxman

October 14, 2002

The title of this piece actually gives no true indication of the content herein.  For, in truth, my daily life spent as an English teacher and spiritual seeker during the summer of 2002 in Kangding defied routine and definition.  The only routines I found myself following were sleeping and waking, eating, and arriving to class on time.

I went to my first class with no previous teaching experience.  That, for me, was a blessing.  I was forced to create and improvise my lessons, which I found to be more inspiring, both to myself and to the students, than preparing material beforehand or adhering to a strict path or methodology.  Of course, there were challenges and obstacles almost daily, but the freedom I allowed myself facilitated an approach to teaching that was close to spontaneous.  I took comfort in my knowledge of English to rid myself of preconceived notions, fears, and anxieties.  And the results were very rewarding.

I found myself going very deep into each topic that I chose, and since the students responded well to the subject material, they were able to absorb more quickly and readily.  If I found the subject to be uninspiring or too difficult, I would alter my approach simply by using a humanistic approach.  I had about 20 students, who were mainly between the ages of 18-22, and generally advanced in spoken English.  I made a special effort to choose material that would appeal to them, such as American culture – music, sports, and geography with cultural anecdotes, dating, food, and entertainment.  I also made a point to attempt to communicate and dispense as much colloquial English used in America as possible.  There were occasions when we were so deep in subject matter that students were wondering about all the different ways to score a basket in basketball, what cities have teams in the NBA; and what the differences in meaning are between expressions such as “What’s up?” and “How are things?”; “weird” and “strange”; “pretty” and “good-looking.”

Overall I felt the deepest sense of enjoyment and satisfaction when witnessing the students’ own creativity in oral assignments, like role-playing and story telling, and more so with the games and activities I came up with.  On one day, I decided to create a soap opera for the students to act out, creating a story and assigning each of the students a specific role to play.  Given the context, the students mostly had secret love affairs, multiple spouses, and a killer pursuing them.  They quickly overcame their adolescent awkwardness with love-related issues and collaborated to act out an ongoing story that lasted over two weeks!  On another occasion, I had the students create their own scavenger hunt, and they promptly showed their sense of humor and creativity yet again by bringing back a snake head, skeleton, live butterfly, and a currency note from the Tang Dynasty.

Outside of class my experiences were just as diverse and fulfilling.  I discovered a Tibetan Buddhist monastery down the road from my school, Kangding Middle School (Kangzhong), about a 15-minute walk.  I would go almost every afternoon to practice some simple ritualistic Buddhism, which was something I took with me from my travels in the restricted area of Tibet.  The only days I did not visit were those on which one, a few, or many of my students graciously invited me into their homes for karaoke, dinner, or to play basketball, sip green tea in a teahouse, or take a trip to the local hot springs.

The monastic setting provided me with the simple, spiritual environment that I was looking for and served as a balancing mechanism to the sometimes-frenetic classroom environment.  I was graciously received at the monastery, just as I was by almost every single local I encountered in Kangding.  Often times, I would refuse up to two or three dinner, tea, or basketball proposals a day because of previous commitments!  That said, I was one of only three white people making their home in Kangding, and felt at times that I was something of a novelty for the residents, and achieved somewhat of a local celebrity status.  This feeling did not detract from my experience, but it made the monastery visits perhaps even more fulfilling.

At Dorjedra Monastery, I was fortunate to meet two monks who essentially took me under their wing, just upon seeing me, as friends, spiritual advisors, and teachers – one as a Tibetan language teacher (which was a lucky discovery, as Mandarin is predominantly spoken); the other with Tai Chi and meditation.  My friends were a prime example of something I discovered along my travels in Tibet and my experience in Kangding.  People who have very little to no material wealth - something very common and widespread throughout this entire area of the world - retain such a positive, peaceful, and genuinely good, compassionate, and giving nature.  Although at the time I was relatively unaware of the effects of this spiritual undertaking, I immediately felt its presence and ultimate signification upon my departure and have since undertaken to find a Tibetan lama here in my home of San Francisco to further my spiritual growth.

I came to Kangding for various reasons, mostly for humanitarian and spiritual reasons associated with Tibet and its people.  Let it be known that the Han Chinese, both people and culture, dominate Kangding, and the people have been intermarrying with Tibetans there for centuries.  Only trace elements of Tibetan culture remain.  And even in light of this initially disappointing fact, I managed to live a daily life of creation, inspiration, friendship, discovery, and spirituality.

overview of volunteer English teacher program
more economic development programs | more education programs
more ways to help | Kham Aid home