Rachel Johnson

From 01/10/2012 to 23/11/2012

When people ask me how my experience at the buddhist monastery has been, I am so overwhelmed with things to say that I become speechless. I had no idea when I signed up to be a teacher I would spend so much time learning. It’s impossible to describe what you can achieve in this program, it’s life changing. You don’t have to have any special knowledge or specific goals, I came here only with the intention of teaching English. At first I was very impressed with the beauty of the monastery and the quality of food, accommodation, and the facilities there. These are the things that instantly made me enjoy my decision to volunteer. It’s impossible to be discontent while being in such a peaceful environment. I was soon settled into a comfortable daily schedule and began to know all the monks by name. Their ages ranged from 8 to 30 and their English abilities ranged from zero exposure to very eloquent. They were all very excited to practice their English and I will greatly miss hearing the phrase “good morning, miss!” regardless of the time of day.I was offered the unique opportunity to be taught Buddhist philosophy by the principal, who I met with almost every day. He would translate Tibetan texts while I checked his English homework assignments. This is what made my experience the most rewarding.