Intensive Tibetan at UVA

I've been taking a very intensive colloquial Tibetan course at the University of Virginia for the past month and a half. The class, which runs from 9-4:30, has three instructors: Professor Nicolas Tournadre teaching the main and grammatical component of the course, and two Tibetan instructors (Yangkey Wang and Tsering Wangchuk) leading the drill and conversation sessions. In the evening from 7-9:30, there is another class which focuses on conversation and presentations. There are weekly oral and written exams, daily journal writing exercises, and a lot of homework!

We've been very lucky to have a Tibetan Professor, Tsewang Lhamo join us for parts of the course. She's given us a fascinating lecture series on Tibetan Astrology (she's an expert on this subject) over the past several weeks.

Toronto Scientology Protest

Here are a few pictures from the Scientology protest I stumbled upon last week outside the Toronto Church of Scientology. It was quite a spectacle, with a lot of creepy masks, and I even saw a heated exchange between a protester and...a Scientologist? I'll probably get my name on a list for posting this...but what the hell.

Toronto

A cool picture of the Toronto skyline at night from U of T campus.

Montreal

Back in Canada...Montreal to be exact. Sarah's got another project here - I'm accompanying her around as she writes about hotels, restaurants, tomatoes, and so on.

Macau

Macau is filled with incredible Portuguese architecture, but not much of a visible European population remains. The locals speak many languages, including Macanese, a creole of Cantonese and Portuguese (among other languages).

We went to Macau on an unbelievably hot day. I had to keep dumping bottles of water over my head just to keep from passing out.

Hong Kong II

This is a beach at Repulse Bay on the southern shore of Hong Kong Island. We spent the day swimming in the ocean. Here are some pictures from Po Lin Monastery we visited another day, on Lantau Island:

We ate a vegerarian feast at a temple restaurant.

Hong Kong I

Sarah spent a month in Hong Kong while I was on the seminar, so by the time I got there she really seemed to know her way around.

Hong Kong Island at dusk.

One of the markets in the Mong Kok district of Kowloon.

Kowloon at night.

Approaching Hong Kong Island on the ferry from Kowloon.

Hong Kong and Kowloon from Victoria Peak.

Philipina domestic workers sitting outside money-wiring outlets on Hong Kong island.

Soho (District) at night.

Japanese propaganda posters produced during the occupation of Hong Kong from the Hong Kong Museum of History.

One night we ate dinner at a very, very confusing Taiwanese "vegetarian" restaurant, which served both real and fake meat...and had cartoons everywhere.