Jay Katz/Ultimate Frisbee

The big events of today were a visit from the Regional Director for Asia and the Middle East, Jay Katz, and the game of Ultimate Frisbee. I had not heard of either actually until recently, and was impressed by both. We had been prepped for the visit of Jay Katz, the Regional Director for the Peace Corps in our area and told to wear our best dress--or else. So after language class we were marched into the conference room where we were first introduced to our Chinese families. There we sat around a conference table while he talked about the importance of the work we were doing here in terms of both the good we are doing for our Chinese students and for Chian/U.S relations. He obviously had read over our resumes and as each person went around the room he greeted them warmly by their name and would throw out a comment or two about some of us. He called me "the philosopher." I wondered for if as well as my academic resume he had looked at my police record. Anyway, he spoke about the workthe Peace Corps is doing, and how he there are plans to open up programs next year in Vietnam and Cambodia. Recently programs were shut down in Nepal, Bangladesh and one oof the "Stans" (Uzbekastan). He is a very humble man and his talk was a needed boost to the kids. I think a lot of folks are wondering what they are doing here so far away from home and need to be reminded of why they are here in the first place. One comment he made bears remembering. He talked about what a personal experience this service is here and how when you return home for the most part people are not really going to want to hear about it and certainly won't understand it. I think a lot of these kids have in mind regaling their friends with stories and the fact is that is simply not going to happen. But this is a good thing because what you get out of this is actually not the stories you tell (because there are very few things people want to listen to less than other people's travel stories) but the way this experience transforms you internally.

As inspiring as the talk was, I derived at least as much inspiration from the game of Ultimate Frisbee we played this eveining. Eseentially like football with a frisbee, the game is played by advancing the frisbee by passing it to a member of your team, and you turn over the frisbee with an incomplete or intercepted past. I am not sure the Chinese knew what to make of these crazy Americans running up and down a field throwing this small disk, but we all certainly enjoyed it, not the least because I think for a moment we could all forget where we were an immerese ourselves completely in something so totally home grown.