March 09- training, travels and tibetan troubles

I'm back in from the dark of a web shutdown here during late feb and most of march. The entire of our prefecture (an area about the size of Britian) has had its internet and sms communications shut off during this time. It shows the lengths that the authorities are willing to go to to ensure 'public peace'...
and whatever happened to the discourse on the teaching of Confucius you might ask…
Well, I am a busy man and surely its better to catch up on more mundane matters seeing as its been some time since my last post.
Life and work for me here at the park is getting easier. Becoming familiar with more of my colleagues, establishing some sense of mutual respect, applying myself with vigour and determination to tangible work tasks, these things improve my morale and allows me to get things done more effectively.
My work counterpart recently returned from a long break, during which time I had got to know more of my colleagues by spending time teaching them English. His absence increased the sense of isolation in some ways but also forced me to speak Chinese and study harder to pursue those abilities. Through practice and reinforced learning, confidence followed, so now I might even appear almost fluent while speaking of simple matters… but such an impression is surely deceiving ;)
Travels for business and for pleasure to the capital Beijing, where I met with the new group of Australian volunteers, were also reinvigorating and a reminder of what I am here to do. Offering advice to those newly arrived to China is a task I approached with enthusiasm, imagining myself in their shoes. The sense of anxiousness of my future colleague, who will soon be joining me here at the park, reminded me of my own earlier sense of foreboding at the prospect of being thrust into such a foreign and unfamiliar work environment. During the series of our meetings at the conference center of the Beijing Language and Culture University, I was also tasked by my manager of building stronger links with higher-level managers from the park administration, as he feels that their support will be necessary for the success of any long-term co-operation between the park and the AYAD volunteer program.
During the visit to Beijing, A 10-km trek along a winding, twisting and turning mountainous section of the great wall 120kms to the North-east of the capital offered great views and was a highly rewarding experience of living history. Built 500 years ago, the crumbling stones on this section of wall served a reminder of the long history of this monument to historic struggles, the search for peace through isolationism, and the determination and human resource activation ability of a succession of Chinese dynasties. This section of wall, built during the native Han Chinese Ming dynasty (following from the foreign-originating Mongol Yuan Dynasty) was not enough to keep out the Manchu Invaders who came to rule China for the almost 300 years after they overthrew the Ming to begin the Qing dynasty in 1644. But it was not the wall that had failed to keep the invaders out in that case, but the notorious treachery of the Ming general traitor Wu Sangui, one of the most despised figures in Chinese history, who had let the Manchu’s into China through the wall, in pursuit of a ruthless ambition to secure the empires throne for himself.
Meanwhile, China continues to baffle at times and leave me with mixed feelings towards its growing power. While I value a critical perspective, I am determined that I take a different approach to the standard patronising expatriate. How much is the government really helping the people? What can we expect of a future China that is exponentially more prosperous and politically influential? As a socialist and an idealist, I tend to take a positive view, and hope that the rise of China will help restore balance to a world torn by unjustifiable inequality and such legacies of imperialism. But what of the environment? And can we expect from the influence conservatives and militaristic nationalists among the Communist party ranks?
Further dealings with the park’s bureaucratic hierarchy have made it clearer to me the futility of idealistically maintaining independence. Thus I need to sharpen and develop my political instincts in order to bring my project ideas to some kind of fruition before my assignment ends. Otherwise, if I don’t make the efforts to befriend the park leaders, my reports and proposals that aim for international best-practice ecotourism, conservation and organisational development, despite how well-written and creative, will be condemned to flounder on some baijiu-drinking career-minded bureaucrats desk without ever being read.
In the last week or so i've had the great opportunity to give training to park staff. I've so far given 3 x 90 minute presentations in front of crowds of 100+ staff, on topics such as introduction to ecotourism and ecotourism around the world. It really has been a challenge to adopt an different style to most of the trainers (this month is training month, and everyday lectures are delivered in the lecture threatre) who mostly seem to show off their knowledge and rabbit on until the crowd falls asleep. My approach has been that the goal of training should be to activate viewers imaginations (who wouldve thought this would be such a revolutionary idea!), so i have aimed for maximum participation, with group activities, debates, role plays and plenty of question time. Though often faced with steely silence when asking participants to raise their hands or share their ideas, the staff warm up to it well in group discussions and have written down some great ideas for us. It's a fine balance to both praise and to press the need for improvements at the park, and persuading people of the value of Tibetan culture as a tourism asset as well as an example of accumulated wisdom worth preserving seems to make viewers nervous too. But i think there is room to maneouver here.
The next challenge is to get more volunteers on board to help with ecotourism planning and convince the managers to allow the setting up of a separate ecotourism group/office of enthusiastic and able staff to drive plans ahead.... We'll see
good luck and best wishes everyone
be in touch soon
Cal
p.s. did u hear my beautiful sister amber is getting married in a couple of weeks???
HUGE Congrads to her
and hooray for a trip to oz