Orphanage Volunteer Program Article

The article on my junior class Orphanage Volunteer Program is now up on the school's website, with student writings about the experience. Also included is information about our December 2014 Orphanage Clothing Drive. We've gotten a LOT of donations, so far, and expect to deliver all the items at the beginning of the new year. I'm so proud of the students, not only for their compassion, but their efforts to make a difference! Here's the link to the article:

Orphanage Volunteer Program at Nanjing Senior High School:

http://www.njschool.cn/Item/5153.aspx

Morocco Photo Album

Finally getting around to organizing and editing the rest of my travel photos from 2014. I'm trying to finish them all by the end of the year this time. Included in the Morocco album: Essaouira; Marrakech; Fez; Chefchaouen; Tangier; a side trip across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tarifa, Spain; and Casablanca. Also, some photos of the Beat Generation/literary hot spots I hit up in Tangier. And yes, I went on a camel trek. It was just amazing! Here's the link to the photo album: 

Morocoo Flickr Album:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurentivey/sets/72157647651082563/

Now, on to finish up all the Turkey photos. Wish me luck!

Neverland

The eyes always get you, those faces staring

from supermarket posters, the missing children

plucked off streets, vanished into forced labor,

begging gangs, prostitution; some maimed,

some recovered, some gone forever.  Once,

on a train to Shenzhen, a teen boy, dressed in rags,

one eye, half his chin missing, entered our carriage,

hushing the chatter, singing like an angel for coins,

and I mean like Bocelli, or Pavarotti, our car filled

with ear-melting Italian opera, rocking and swaying

through the Chinese countryside, the closest we,

in our economy class hard seats, would ever get

to La Scala, or the Bolshoi, if we even knew what

those were, and the boy finished to utter silence,

our open jaws and wet cheeks, his good eye

scanning the crowd,  and for one second it rested

on me, this otherworldly eye, this eye of the stricken

universe, and I am ashamed, but I looked away, as

did the others, ruffling their newspapers, pretending

it never happened, in that uneasy air, before the boy

moved on to the next car and beyond, to be lost

among the billions. No one spoke, all of us

aware of the sticky business of childhood in Asia,

knowing that the eye had seared itself into us;

an open wound that would fester within for years.

~ Lauren Tivey

*This poem originally appeared in the debut issue of The Verse (August, 2013), which is now defunct. Editor Dan Navarrete wrote of the poem, "A call to take action, excellent depiction of the reality surrounding impoverished youth in China. Truly a piece that sinks into our hearts and refuses to let go, just like the imagery". Sorry to say The Verse didn't last, and the website's now gone. I was lucky to find a copy of this, hidden in my email files, as I'd lost the original in the expansion drive crash, and the only other copy was on the website which closed. 

Japan Photo Gallery

Finally, I've got my photos from the trip to Japan last August edited and organized. Included in the album: Tokyo (Meiji Shrine, Harajuku and Yoyogi Park, Shibuya Crossong, Love Hotel Hill, Shinjuku, Kamata, Odaiba); Kyoto (Fushimi Inari, Pontocho, Kinkaku-ji, Philosopher's Path, Arashiyama, Sagano Bamboo Forest); and Nara (the bowing deer of Nara and surrounding area). This album's huge--I can't believe I took so many photos! But I fell in love with Japan, which is just amazing and magical in so many ways, Now, on to the Morocco and Turkey albums. You can link to the photo gallery, here: Japan Flickr Album.

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Check it. Check it again.

Books Wish List

Just throwing it out to the universe--it wouldn't suck if the following books somehow fell into my lap:

If ever a book was written just for me, this is it: Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians, by Justin Martin. Great review, here:

http://artery.wbur.org/2014/09/04/bohemians-justin-martin

STFU & take my money!  Ireland's Pirate Queen: The True Story of Grace

O'Malley, by Anne Chambers.

Yes, please. Rimbaud: A Biography, by Graham Robb.

I adore Phyllis Barber. She's on the faculty at my alma mater, Vermont College of Fine Arts, and I was lucky to spend some time with her in a writing residency in Slovenia back in 2007. She's the only other person I know who's also been to Tibet (I was there in 2010). Anyway, I want to read her latest, To the Mountain: One Mormon Woman's Search for Spirit.  According to her website, this is "the story of the author's twenty-year hiatus from Mormonism and her visits with shamans in Peru and Ecuador; Tibetan Buddhist monks in North India and Tibet; a variety of Baptist congregations in Arkansas, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina; megachurches; charismatic Christian congregations, travels with godddess worshipers in the Yucatan, and much more. The book's purpose is to demonstrate how we can not only tolerate a variety of ideas in the spiritual realm, but can learn from their wisdom." Right up my alley! You can also watch the official book trailer.

This looks interesting, too: Strange Big Moon: The Japan and India Journals: 1960 - 1964, by Joanne Kyger. According to the Goodreads synopsis: "Hungry to explore Zen and make the discoveries that would shape a lifetime of poetry, Joanne Kyger left for Japan in her twenties and returned four years later ready to carve out a substantial niche in San Francisco's Beat poetry movement. Whether she is studying under Zen teacher Ruth Fuller Sakaki or meeting with the Dalai Lama (who at 27 'lounged on a velvet couch like a gawky adolescent in red robes'), her journals are witty, amusing, and intelligent, in this fascinating look at the art of poetry and portrait of the counterculture abroad." Another, right up my alley.

Finally, a couple of shout-outs to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard, and Grendel, by John Gardner, two books I've been trying to read for years. I'm visiting the Foreign Language Bookstore in Shanghai later this week, so let's hope I can find even ONE of the above. If not, I'll see if I can order them online and have them shipped. Anyway, that's what's on my TBR (to-be-read) List at the moment. Cheers, Lauren

Orphanage Volunteer Program

Yesterday, some students and I began our volunteer program at the local orphanage. This is the first group of students to visit--other students will take part next time. No photos are allowed of the interior, or of the children, but I can assure you that the place is clean, spacious, and well-staffed by caring people. Anyway, our (unofficial) big brother/big sister style program, taking place once per month, introduces high school students to the resident children of the home, about 90% of whom are developmentally and/or physically disabled. Most of the children will never be adopted, and have little contact with the outside world, so my students have graciously agreed to volunteer their time. I saw the joy on the children's faces as the students played with them, fed them, and held them, and saw how deeply the visit affected my students, as well. It's emotional, though (indeed, one of the students broke down as we were leaving), but I think the program is going to be beneficial for all of us. I'd like to visit more often than once a month, but both myself and the students have many other responsibilities to consider--at least this is a good start. I hope the experience inspires my students to continue volunteering, in some capacity, throughout their lives. I'm so proud of them!

Dancing in the Park

Old-timers gather in the evenings after dinner,

at a square near the lotus pond, loudspeakers

spilling Classical music in the setting sun.

Couples form and begin twirling and dipping,

women in crisp skirts and heels, men in blazers,

the shy wallflowers with glittering eyes, waiting.

It’s Valentine’s Day, a first date, that awkward

high school dance, even the father-daughter

dance you shared at your first wedding

under a sparkling tent; but you never dance

anymore.  Now you watch.  Off to the side,

chattering grandmas are making deals, playing

matchmaker, trading photos of their marriageable

offspring like baseball cards, while divorced women

frown, lonely and ignored (this, a traditional city).

And you consider stepping to the sidelines, causing

a stir as the only foreign woman, a divorced one,

at that, but you don’t, and it grows dark.  Couples

are leaving hand in hand, soundmen joking over

cigarettes, packing up their equipment, as the

lotus blooms begin to wilt in the fading light.

~ Lauren Tivey

*Note: 2013 salvaged poem from my expansion drive crash

Year of the Snake

It slithers in, wet and black in the night,

bringing its bombs, guns, knives, wide

eye of the lunatic fringe, encouraging

the fanatical, and that’s no joke, no

cute astrological nonsense, now, is it?

This morning rain is cold, spotting

the windows, as I sit and worry

about loved ones near and far.

In a good Snake Year, business

deals, money-making (beware

of loopholes), but a Water Snake

year is the Satanic abyss, the void

of deep space, a hungry wolf

howling in the Arctic expanse,

humming on a full moon nerve.

In the blue light of the television,

I am sending electronic messages

of support, carrying on with both

hope and dread.  When it stops raining

later today, I will go out and look at all

the flowers of this mad, gone world.

~ Lauren Tivey

*Note: Salvaged poem from my expansion drive crash. This was written last year, in 2013, which was the Year of the Snake. Currently, we are in the Year of the Horse.

The Departure

for *Hai Zi (1964 – 1989)

Have you gone into the sunflower,

young brother of Van Gogh?

Have the ravens lovingly picked

your mangled body clean?

When you laid your life on the tracks,

that whistle to the void, calling, calling,

was it for the empty plains of Tibet,

the sea waving its flags by Fujian?

Perhaps the boyhood fields, lush

Anhui, the ancestral grass?  Land

of autumn, or the stars, the moon?

:  We trace your comet in the sky.

Rumors of love’s neglect, yet I see

you upon a beach, arms flung wide,

qi of your grin, your child’s love,

charms, faults, embracing the All.

That iron bearing down—your last

train out to the cosmic hinterlands,

the psychedelic sun, where the coin

is poetry, and all the gods are young. 

~ Lauren Tivey

  

*Hai Zi (Zha Haisheng), a young Chinese poet who wrote of nature, love, loneliness, and death. He was from a poor family in Anhui, and went on to study law at Peking University at 15, Later, he taught Philosophy and other subjects, and devoted much time to writing poetry. He committed suicide at the age of 25, by lying on the train tracks near Shanhaiguan. He left behind about 200 poems, and though never published much in his lifetime, he has become a cult figure in modern Chinese poetry. 

**Note: This is a salvaged poem from my expansion drive crash (written last year). 

Learning to Play

Digging through my usb files the other day, I was happy to find six poems that weren't lost in the Great Expansion Drive Crash of 2013. Cool! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd lost ALL of my work (writing, poetry manuscript, photos, teaching materials, etc.), and didn't think I'd ever recover any--I must've had these five poems in a different place. I don't think I'll submit these anywhere, as I've started over fresh, so I'll post the poems here over the next few days. Anyway...here's the first:

Learning to Play

The pale birds of her hands flutter

over the strings of the guzheng,

sound of the lotus, a bamboo forest,

a peaceful boat on water. Her fingers,

born for porcelain teapots, calligraphy,

silk, are plucking out High Mountain

Flowing Water, are conductors of dark

storms, confident upon the bridge, as in

Three Variations of Plum Blossom, or

mellowed with reflection, as in my favorite,

Song of Fishermen on a Homebound Boat

During Sunset, before the happy home port

of its coda. She places my awkward palms

upon the rosewood, guiding the unsure

attempt;  me, attuned to electric guitars,

heavy drums, afraid of something

so delicate. I’ve no talent here. Her laughter

lifts me though, like the chiming of bells.

~ Lauren Tivey

Romantique

I love this line from French poet, Francois Coppee. It translates to "I'll be the poet, and you'll be poetry". French really is the language of love, eh?

Postcard Poem Project

Now, here's a lovely idea, the Postcard Poem Project. I just joined the other day, wrote my two poems, and will mail them from China this week--one to the U.S. and one to Canada. Hopefully, they'll make it to their destinations (the Chinese postal service has a habit of losing things), and I'll receive two poems in return. How wonderful it'll be to get a handwritten poem in the mail, from someone on the other side of the globe! It'd be cool to connect, so if you're one of the people to receive a poem from me, or one of the senders, and want to stay in touch, look me up--either here or on Facebook--I'm always interested in meeting other poets and writers.

If you'd like to join the project, you can find the event page on Facebook, here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1398401707051407/

Here's the deal, according to the event page:

Every few years, we poets who love sending and receiving snail mail engage in an enormous pen pal event called the Postcard Poem Project. Last time, in 2012, we swapped poetry and postcards between over 250 poets from 16 countries on four continents. This time, we're hoping for all seven continents. Here's how it works:

Poets who wish to participate have until Friday, September 19th, 2014 to email their address to the website. On that weekend, they will receive two randomly-picked mailing addresses; they could be from the other side of the world, or just down the street. Poets will buy (or make) two postcards, write a short poem on the back of each (preferably about the pictures on the front of each postcard), and send them to their mailing addresses before the end of September. Easy, right? Come October or November, you will hopefully receive two poems in your mailbox from two complete strangers... poems written just for you!

You probably have questions. We have answers. But first: Are you in, or out? If you're in, here's what you have to do:

Send an email to postcardpoemproject@gmail.com that includes your full mailing address, the way you would write it on a postcard yourself. It should look something like this:

Your Name

Your Street Address

The Rest Of Your Address

Your Country

(People often leave out either their name or their country. Please don't leave out your name or your country. Also, WE DID NOT KEEP ADDRESSES FROM THE LAST ROUND, so please send your address in even if you have before!) 

You will receive a reply email with all the details and an FAQ section. In the meantime, help make this project grander by passing this event on to any poets you know! Spread the word, and help spread good words in the mailboxes of the world!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

...and balloons, and boats, and camels, and many other means of transport. That's what this summer was about--MOVEMENT. My fiance and I covered so much ground, I think we must've broken some sort of record. Check this out: Shanghai to Istanbul; Istanbul to Izmir; Izmir to Istanbul; Istanbul to Cappadocia; Cappadocia to Antalya; Antalya to Istanbul; Istanbul to Casablanca; Casablanca to Tangier; Tangier to Tarifa, Spain and back (x 2); Tangier to Chefchaouen; Chefchaouen to Fez; Fez to Marrakech; Marrakech to Essaouira; Essaouira to Casablanca; Casablanca to Istanbul; Istanbul to Shanghai; Shanghai to Tokyo; Tokyo to Kyoto; Kyoto to Osaka; Osaka to Shanghai. Whew! We did all that in less than two months! Talk about covering some ground, eh? And, all this in-and-out of Istanbul tells me something: The city's strategic location may be a factor in future employment considerations (but that's a topic for another day).

In spite of all the movement this summer (or, perhaps because of it), my creative juices were flowing, and I was able to take many incredible photos, and I also came back with a poetry notebook full of drafts. At each turn, something or other sparked my imagination, and that, I believe, is another reward of travel. Gerry and I saw and experienced some amazing things--some highlights were: Feasting on the culinary delights in Istanbul; the little mountain village of Sirince, Turkey; an anti-government protest that turned violent in Izmir; Ephesus; a sunrise cruise over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon; sailing the waters off Antalya in a schooner, plus the Umbrella Street, and the International Sand Sculpture Festival; train journeys through Morocco; wandering the medina on the trail of Beat writers in Tangier; the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain; the Blue City of Chefchaouen; the ancient leather tanneries of Fez; the wild main square of Marrakech; a camel trek down the beach of Essaouira; Tokyo's Harajuku district; a Japanese love hotel stay; the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto; and the bowing deer of Nara, Japan. The whole summer was a dream! The Flickr albums are going to take a long time to upload and organize, but I'll post the links once I finish. In the meantime, here are some photos and videos:

Charming Sirince Village, nestled in the mountains, and surrounded by vineyards, orange groves, and peach orchards. Sirince is famous for its wine--we even stayed in the "Dionysos Pension".

Taking a break at Ephesus, in my trusty red kicks.

VIDEO: Sunrise cruise over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon. Absolutely fantastic! A must do!

Deflating the balloon after the cruise.

Pretty Antalya Harbor, home of sailors, pirates, and salty dogs!

Beautiful skies over Tangier

One of the locals, Tangier

Cafe Tingis, Burroughs' old haunt in the Petit Socco. Spent a couple of afternoons sipping coffee here, watching the world go by. I also visited the Librarie des Colonnes, an expat bookstore, and scored a copy of Naked Lunch. Found Hotel el Muniria, too, where he wrote the famous novel.

Southernmost tip of Europe, in Tarifa, Spain, taken after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier.

Blue doors of Chefchaouen

Bohemian wanderings, Chefchaouen

VIDEO: Early morning through the streets of Chefchaouen

VIDEO: Chefchaouen waking up for the day

Light filtering through the streets of Chefchaouen

Ancient tanneries of Fez

VIDEO: Jemaa El Fnaa, main square of Marrakech. Gets downright WILD here at night, with organ grinders, snake charmers, henna artists, acrobats, musicians, even hypnotists!

Camel trek along the beach in Essaouira, a funky little town made famous by a visit from Jimi Hendrix back in the day.

VIDEO: Camel ride on a windy beach!

VIDEO: Gorgeous Essaouira Harbor

Moroccan train travel, premiere classe

Somewhere over Tunisia, waxing moon to the left

Istanbul, we meet again! 

And on to Japan. This is the insane Tokyo subway map. God help you.

Helloooooo Kitty, ha ha. Tokyo.

Pachinko parlor in Kamata.

Tokyo: Anime Capitol of the Universe

Murakamiland. Got my copy of his latest work in this Shinjuku bookstore.

Our wish, added to the sacred camphor tree at Meiji Shrine. Shinto priests will collect and pray over all the plaques--there were hundreds of thousands of them.

VIDEO: Shibuya Crossing, busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. You may remember a scene of this in the film, Lost in Translation.

Bullet train, Tokyo to Kyoto. Just like teleportation, baby!

Umbrella lights in the alleys of Pontocho, Kyoto

Fire eater in Pontocho, Kyoto

Cutenss! Pontocho, Kyoto

Sun setting through the torii gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. After dark, lanterns come on, adding a whole other layer of magic to the place. 

VIDEO: Fushimi Inari casts its spell. Torii gates, babbling brooks, moss-covered stones, trilling birds, and kitsune (fox messenger) statues at dusk.

Bamboo Forest, Arashiyama (just outside Kyoto).

Curious little guy! One of the bowing deer of Nara, Japan.

So sweet. The residents of Nara adore the deer, which are allowed to wander at will, into shops, restaurants, etc. They are well-cared for and well-fed.

VIDEO: The bowing deer of Nara, Japan. Native sika deer, considered to be the messengers of Shinto gods, have been frequenting this park for the last thousand years or so. They're protected, and much loved by locals and visitors alike. Somewhere along the way, they learned to bow for their food. We spent an amazing day with them!

Well, sorry for such a long post. There were so many other things that happened along the way, so many other places visited, so many new friends made (both two-legged and four-legged!), but there's no way to relay all of these experiences here. I know I'll be busy for months, editing and organizing photos, revising poems, and just processing everything. I'm so grateful for these opportunities to travel, for what my life has become, and yes, I'm still completely in love with the world. Cheers, Lauren.

Back to School

Ah, it's been a wonderful summer full of travel and adventure, but now I'm back to school for the fall semester. It's already been a couple of weeks since the term began, but it's taken a bit to get my bearings. It seems, so far, to be shaping up as a good semester. I've got a new class full of eager, bright-eyed students, my awesome second-year students, and even a new course to teach on top of my AP English classes--Public Speaking. This new class is already fun, and I look forward to getting my students prepped for all the public speaking they'll have to do in their lives.

I'm also doing another Shakespeare play this year (Hamlet. Yay! My fave!), and organizing the annual trip to Shanghai to see a live show. We'll do another poetry slam in the spring, too. One other thing I've organized this year is a monthly student visit to the local orphanage, where most of the resident kids are developmentally disabled, and few, if any, will ever be adopted. There are about 54 kids at the home. I went down there to visit a couple of weeks ago, and thought it would also be a good volunteer opportunity for my students--they'll go on a Sunday morning, read to the kids, and play with them.

I'm so happy to be working with high school students--I know it's not for everyone, but I really enjoy teenagers, and watching them grow intellectually. Anyway, here's to a great school year!

Murakami on a Sunday Afternoon

Quote from Haruki Murakami's magnum opus, 1Q84. I read this mind-blowing work last winter. Murakami's one of my favorite authors, and I was happy to buy an English translation of his latest, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage IN Japan this summer, from a bookstore in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, It was kinda cool to wander around a lot of the neighborhoods and subway stations that appear in his novels, too. Anyway, glad for the Sunday lazing time in order to get caught up on some things, including the blog! 

Poem in The Coachella Review

My poem, "Outsiders", appears in the Summer, 2014 issue of The Coachella Review (link below). I feel lucky to be included with some great writers--be sure to also check out Diane Lefer's fiction piece, "Our Lady of the Mineshaft", which takes place in Bolivia. Many thanks to the editors for the inclusion!

The Coachella Review, Summer 2014:

http://thecoachellareview.com/wordpress/?page_id=162

Update, Rome Photo Album

Wow, am I behind in my blogging, or what?!? I've been so busy with end-of-semester stuff, that everything else has taken a backseat. With final exams, grading research papers, attending meetings, upgrading syllabi, helping students prep for university interviews, filing reports, etc., there's been a lot of stress to finish everything before I leave on June 30th! But, damn...I mean, I even missed a memorial post in honor of Maya Angelou's passing on May 28th, and she was one of my favorite poets (R.I.P. Maya Angelou).

Well, another week, and I'm off again--back to Turkey, then on to Morocco, and finally, Japan, before heading back to China at the end of August. An epic summer in the works, for sure! Hopefully, I can get some more writing done over the summer, and when I get back. Which reminds me...where is The Coachella Review's latest issue, I wonder? They accepted one of my pieces to appear in the Spring, 2014 issue, but that issue never materialized. They're still active, so perhaps its been postponed to a summer issue? At any rate, I've no time to worry about it now--just keeping fingers crossed it comes out soon.

One more thing: here's the latest photo album I managed to finish, from the Rome trip last year. Yes, I FINALLY finished organizing and uploading pictures! If you're interested, you can view the public photo set on Flickr, at the link below:

Rome Photo Set on Flickr

That's it for now. Maybe I'll get a chance to update from the road--we'll see. Have a GREAT summer, and I'll see you on the other side!

Cheers, Lauren

Unleashed Imagination

Unleashed Imagination, by Enkel Dika.

More artwork, here.

Chinese Pastoral

Once in awhile, I get lucky:

After losing ALL of my unpublished work in The Great Expansion Drive Crash of 2013, I thought I'd go and at least copy my published work off the internet, to help get my bearings and start rebuilding my portfolio. Unfortunately, a couple of the literary journal websites had closed, leaving no archives behind, and that published work was lost forever. I understand, though--I know that editing a literary journal is tough and often thankless work, and being an editor is not something I could ever do. Sites close down all the time. I've seen journals pop up and then disappear within a month, even. It's not a business for the faint of heart, for sure.

Anyway, the editor of one of the longer-standing journals, the respected Hobble Creek Review, made the decision to close its doors recently, as well. HCR held the only copy of my poem, "Chinese Pastoral", but I didn't get to it in time before the site went dark. My expansion drive crash had wiped out all my written work--now, the site with the only copy of the poem was closed, as well (ouch!). But, it's not the editor's job to make sure writers have copies, or to keep archives active, or even to notify writers a site is closing, so I just resigned myself to the fact that the poem was gone. That's why I was so surprised when HCR editor Justin Evans was able to retrieve it, and I'm so grateful to him for going out of his way to get it to me.

A spot of good luck! Who'd have thought, after all that? I'm posting the poem here, which originally appeared in the July, 2012 issue of HCR. I'd also like to thank Justin and wish him the best in his future endeavors--I'll certainly miss HCR.

Chinese Pastoral

(a trptych)

i. Guangxi

Long-haired Zhuang women are singing,
clapping, stomping feet to the drumbeat
in the wooden village house, bells
of their silver headdresses, chiming.

Stopping, they raise hands in unison,
driving it up, past the corn-draped rafters,
up, into the hoary skies, their spells
cast far, to the fickle ears of harvest gods.

Their men don't interfere, but watch
and smoke, as brown as the rice terraces
ribboning the hills, weathered,
as the dormant fields of dragonfruit.

The drum sounds again; again the women
pound the boards, their wool-wrapped legs
jumping, voices ringing over all of Guangxi,
as they conjure the planting season into being.

ii. Jiangsu

Aromatic tea fields sparkle in neat rows.
Women in straw hats bend in a ballet, spry
as the bushes they scratch around, the happy
animals of their bodies, moving in sunshine.

Beans twist up bamboo stakes, the pinch
of manure and soil baking in the nostrils,
play of tomatoes, herbs, and birdsong,
names of every plant on the tongue.

Tractors rumble by, and whistling men
with shovels, who stop to urinate
in the woods. Often, a violent burst
of afternoon clouds, rain tamping dust.

They laugh during tea breaks. They work
long and hard. They work long and hard.
Their young have left for the cities, forgetting
the songs, the land, but sending money.

iii. Sichuan

Before leaving for the upper pastures,
the women are tossing flour to the wind,
toasting skies with strong barley beer,
chanting prayers, singing for the crops.

Men are readying the mills, fixing carts,
slapping backs, and singing their own
kinds of songs. The mules stamp
and snort, game for their bundles.

Husbands and wives bicker, shoot
glances and mutter curses, their hands
raw with work, a cruel sun pushing them
to move fast. All day, the loads roll in.

Tomorrow, the next day, and the next;
these shining meadows of sunrise,
awaiting the songs, the caress of hands
in the soil, with all the loyalty of a lover.

Mobli Feature of My Photostream

Awesome sauce--Mobli, a social photo and video sharing website, featured my photostream on their blog today, as part of their #WhoIFollow series. Each week, they choose a different user, then feature ten photos from the account.

I really like using Mobli, way more so than Instagram. Users are quite active on Mobli, so it's nice to get some activity on all these travel photos I shoot. Anyway, thanks, Mobli! You can check out the feature at the link below, and follow the links there to get to my full photostream, if you're interested:

#WhoIFollow Mobli Blog Feature--pyrategurrll

Umbrella ceiling display, Nanjing, China

Poetry is...

Teaching Award

Here's my English/Chinese interview upon receiving a teaching award for 2013. My organization, Ameson Education & Cultural Exchange Foundation, which places English teachers in Chinese schools, recognized my efforts last year, and honored me with an Ameson Advanced Educator award. This interview was given as part of the company's Outstanding Teacher Series. Originally only available in Chinese, I have uploaded the English translation of the interview to Scribd, which you can read at the link below.

Outstanding Teacher Series--Interview with Lauren Tivey:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/220500068/Outstanding-Teacher-Interview-Lauren-Tivey

Lauren Tivey (center), with her AP English Language & Comp. class,

Nanjing Senior High School, Jiangyin, China

I'm grateful to the organization for the award, and pleased about the interview. I've a wonderful group of students here, who make teaching a real joy for me, and I consider myself lucky to be able to do what I love for work!

Shakespeare in Shanghai

Just getting caught up on a lot of posts here! One great thing that happened in the past few months, back in December, was the overnight field trip we took with the junior AP English class to Shanghai, in order to see a live performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth, produced by TNT Theatre Britain. We'd also done this the year before, with another class, in order to see King Lear. Anyway, it was the first live play the kids had seen, and we had a blast. Fellow teachers Gerry and Zhangyan (plus Zhangyan's husband), all helped to chaperone the event.

The month before the show, we began reading and studying Macbeth. We read slowly and in-depth, in class, in order for students to understand the play--it's one thing to have English-speaking Western kids read Shakespeare, but to have Chinese students read it, in a second language, is an entirely different ballgame. They were all mostly terrified of trying to read Shakespeare, and baffled by the Elizabethan English, but with practice and patience, I walked them through it. Students first chose character names out of a hat--one student would get Macbeth, one Macduff, etc.--which they were to "adopt", to study their character's lines, and understand their motivations. This made the study a little more personal. Every day we read scenes, with each student reading the part of their character, and me helping to interpret difficult sections. We discussed plot events, themes, historical and mythical allusions, and more, and watched scene videos from a variety of different productions over the years. The students, of course, LOVED the witches (who doesn't, really?). Banquo's ghost scene was also a big hit. After reading the play, students were required to write four page essays on a thematic element, and then we watched the 2010 Macbeth, with Patrick Stewart in the lead role. The biggest thrill for me, however, was that day in class when we finished reading it--that fantastic final scene of Macbeth's death at the hands of Macduff, and the crowning of Malcolm--when the students broke into loud applause. Whether they were applauding the scene, applauding themselves for reading it, or just applauding because it was over, it didn't matter--we'd all made it through, together. I was so proud of them. What better way to celebrate than to attend a live showing? 

  

The students' excitement was palpable even on the bus to Shanghai, a couple of hours away. We all checked into the hotel after arriving, then made our way to dinner, and then on to the Lyceum Theater. I'd been to the Lyceum the year before, for King Lear, so I knew the students would be dazzled by the elaborate (yet intimate) playhouse, with its marble entry, chandeliers, winding staircases up to the balcony level, and red velvet chairs. The place was teeming with theater-goers, and we made our way through them to our reserved row of seats, where I had the students turn off their cell phones. Once the play began, the students were hooked. Shakespeare's plays just come alive on stage, and this production of Macbeth was no exception. I looked down the row to see all my students leaning forward, in rapt attention, and I knew, this was an experience they would never forget. 

Here are some photos:

Excitable bus ride to Shanghai

Chaperones: Gerry, Tony, and Zhangyan

TNT Theatre Britain--they put on a helluva show

Outside the theater--it was a heavy smog day (note the masks)

The Lyceum Theater, Shanghai

Happy students, just before the show

Gerry and students, before the show

The play was fabulous, of course. The students really loved the presentation of the witches as nature spirits (more in keeping with the original idea in Holinshed's Chronicles), and their foresty costumes. They laughed hysterically at the drunk porter's bawdy antics, and were completely mesmerized by Lady Macbeth's bloody performance and subsequent sleepwalking scene. After, they pointed out inconsistencies between the script and the performance (smart kiddos, these!). Suffice it to say, the field trip was a success.

This has been one of the best ideas I've implemented into my syllabus--making the study of a Shakespeare play AN EVENT, as meaningful and memorable for me as it is for the students, and I have every intention of doing it again next year. Fingers crossed that Hamlet is next--that's my favorite.