Eco Journey in China

Haven’t taken airplane pictures in China for decades but felt compelled to do so as I left Qingdao on Shandong Airlines headed for Shanghai for a night’s sleep before heading home.

Lucky me, my Delta standby pass came through with a Business Class seat, so my flight to Detroit was a pleasure. Only hitch was in Detroit, with a two-hour delay due to bad weather in Boston, but I’m not complaining.

Since I have been home, I have slept, slept, slept. But today, I am headed to a gathering with our representative here on the North Shore. Activism is alive here and I will be a part of it.

The last day in China found me in a park with many Chinese families enjoying the spring day. Afterwards I watched three generations of Maureen’s family make dumplings, called Jiaozi.

I fly to Shanghai Monday night and hopefully will get a seat on the flight back to the United States. I am using my standby pass – courtesy of my 36 years as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines! It is a great benefit for me.

And when I’m home…I look forward to petting my two cats, sleeping in my own bed, eating the food my friend, Linda, always cooks for my return and eating buttered popcorn. I won’t divulge the order of these anticipated pleasures, but they are not necessarily in order of preference, except for the first one. I miss my kitties!

After our three days together completing the Leadership Training, we presented an Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream symposium in a bookstore where many activities take place. Our new team of Maureen, Leo, Christine, and Michael joined me in this symposium, putting their learning into action to inspire people to become facilitators. They would like to hold a training in the fall.

Our presentation area was a large and open area. We had a good number of participants, both children and adults.

And after the symposium, we enjoyed another dinner out as a group.

We have been in Qingdao in Shandong province on the east coast of China for the last several days. We held a Train-the-Trainer multi-day workshop to enable more people in this part of China to be able to train others to become Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream symposium facilitators. 

Qingdao’s training had four very enthusiastic participants. An added pleasure was our translator, Peggy (third from the right), whose spirit enhanced our trainees’ understanding of the more esoteric parts of the training. Our weekend group also included me (on the right) and Maisa Arias (next to me), the international coordinator from The Pachamama Alliance.

Here are the four trainees, Maureen, Leo, Christine, and Michael, getting a chance to express their enthusiasm in one of the training exercises.

The Awakening the Dreamer facilitator community is a network of over 4,000 volunteer facilitators all across the world who support one another. We were able to reach out and share ideas with a facilitator on the other side of the world, in Brazil, through a videoconference call.

We now have four more people who can train facilitators in the future here in Qingdao. That will make such a difference in growing the Awakening the Dreamer symposium in this city on the Yellow Sea.

A celebratory meal was a fitting ending to a wonderful training weekend.

We’ve completed our weekend training new Awakening the Dreamer facilitator trainers. Here are some photos celebrating the beginning of a new era for the ten Awakening the Dreamer facilitators in central China who will now be able to train new facilitators.

Here’s the trainee group, along with Maisa Arias, the international coordinator from The Pachamama Alliance, and me.

Here are Maisa and I with Author and Etta as they celebrate the completion of the weekend.

After the workshop, we headed out for fun and relaxation in the city. We ate at a restaurant known for Chengdu’s specialty food.

Maisa and I had fun trying out the restaurant’s specialty.

Some of us took a walk around the city. Here are Maisa, Fish, and I on a bridge over one of the several rivers that run through the city.

And I’ll leave you with this picture of me on the Anshun Bridge, which crosses the Jin River, beautifully illuminated at night.

Our March adventure in China will finish up next weekend. Maisa and I are flying to the coastal city of Qingdao on Wednesday to do the same training before heading home.

We have been in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in central China, for the last several days. We are holding a Train-the-Trainer multi-day workshop to enable more people to be able to train others to become Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream symposium facilitators.
By Sunday, we will have ten people who can train facilitators in the future here in Chengdu. That will make such a difference in growing the Awakening the Dreamer symposium in central China.

It’s been a wonderful few days and I’ve added some highlights of the experience so far.

Here is Maisa Arias (seated on the right). She is the international coordinator from The Pachamama Alliance. Our translator Jason is sitting next to her, along with two of the workshop’s trainees.

We’ve had a comfortable space to be together for this memorable weekend.

Here are a few pictures of me. 

The training included an exercise from Joanna Macy’s work bringing in nature and sharing how it speaks to us and a game that illustrates the web of life.

Long-lasting friendships will come from this new group of facilitator trainers.

Maisa and I will fly to the coastal city of Qingdao on Wednesday to do the same training before heading home.

I wanted to show you pictures to illustrate my wonderful experiences and companions here in Beijing. Helena Read of Australia created the Jump Up, which is an Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream experience for school-age children.

Here is our whole team, with Helena standing in the center.

Our venue was very nice, well-lit and spacious.

Creating and sharing our personal story maps was an important part of the experience.

Here are the members of my team.

The workshop incorporated presentations and sharing on the whiteboard.

There was plenty of time for sharing circles.

Smiles and hugs were a part of the day, of course.

And after a wonderful training, we were all ready to Jump Up!

 

Celebrating a successful three-day training of Jump Up.

I am in Beijing getting ready to go to sleep after the first day of a training for a spinoff of the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium developed for children by Helena Read from Australia.  38 of us gathered in an office building on a smoggy Beijing day to  experience community while playing games, learning how to work as team members, and share our love for our Mother Earth and its inhabitant with the younger generation.

Day two brought new insights into how to bring this message to children so that they feel empowered to help our Earth. I found out that one of the participants is a teacher in a Waldorf school here in Beijing. Waldorf and Montessori schools fill an important role in alternative ways of learning for parents that don’t want the rote and extremely competitive school experience in the Chinese school system. The alternative schools will be a great fit for the Jump Up program here and around the world.

I would like to find an elementary school in the US to try this program. It would take a commitment from the school of eight one and a half hour segments, which could be  taught in a semester.

On our third day we discussed possibilities which the participates thought might happen in the future integrating  the program in various ways in China. One woman works for a book publishing company and thinks a book could grow our of the program. Half of the group work for a company called Ideas and they hold summer camps for children. They want to integrate the Jump Up ideas into their program. The Waldorf teacher is actually the principal of the school and has the power to implement the program in creative ways. All in all, I think there is a strong possibility that this will be a program that will grow and find fruit in the children it inspires.

As with many things China, I have changed plans and will leave sometime next week. Just found out that the Micro E University is on break so timing would not work. It is a new endeavor for Himin Solar and I am curious about what is happening there. Will probably return in May/June time slot to see.

In the mean time I am getting ready to go to Beijing to be trained in Jump Up, a spin-off of the Awakening The Dreamer Symposium developed for children. I am so excited to see what Helena, from Australia,  has in store for us in this training.

Since I will be here this week, I will attend the 350.ma node meeting.  Anyone interested and not yet hooked up with 350.org should become familiar with this group working on limiting fossil fuels in various ways.

 

 

I want to thank my good friend and fellow ATD facilitator for taking time out of her busy day to help me with my new blog.  She found and edited the beautiful header that I am now using, and helped me through my infancy in building my blog.

Thank you Kerry for being there when I needed you!