By Vanuyen Pham, Global Health Fellow 2015
I can’t believe Training Week is almost over and that the program will be officially starting soon! When I moved into Roble, I knew that I had a week of workshops ahead of me to prepare for the participants’ arrival, but I didn’t truly expect how FUN it has been. One of our first workshops was a teamwork exercise involving a marshmallow, some tape and pasta. Our challenge was to build the highest tower using these materials. Sounds simple, right? Apparently not, as my group’s tower fell apart as we were trying to tape the pasta together while laughing. However, while our “tower” was the shortest, what mattered more was that we had a chance to discuss how we would address challenges as a team, and we learned valuable tips to help us in our work as coordinators. We also attended a cross-cultural workshop that taught us not to make assumptions and that communication and open-mindedness are important qualities to have as coordinators.
One of my favorite memories from this past week is, without a doubt, San Francisco Day. We three MED fellows braved the Caltrain and the busy streets of San Francisco to plan a great day for our participants all in the upcoming weeks. By bus, trolley and walking (a LOT of walking), we visited Chinatown, Coit Tower, Pier 39, Lombard Street, Grace Cathedral, Union Square and Civic Center. I loved going to the Asian Art Museum and seeing the “28 Chinese” exhibit featuring artwork from contemporary Chinese artists. One of the pieces was called Boat by Zhu Jinshi, and formed a sort of tunnel made out of specially crinkled parchment paper. We had a lot of fun walking through and taking pictures(: We want to be able to take our participants everywhere, but sadly know that that’s impossible! Never fear though, we are all planning great trips for our groups and are so excited!
Another great experience from Training Week has definitely been just bonding with my the other MED fellows, as well as the coordinators for the American Language and Culture program. We have had a lot of fun decorating the halls together and preparing for the participants’ arrival. Overall, it’s been a great week and I’m so excited for the weeks ahead when our participants are actually here!
The beautiful view as we are trekking up to the base of Coit Tower.
Waiting in line for the trolley to Lombard Street.
Boat exhibit at the Asian Art Museum… it was so cool walking through it!
A fun night among coordinators that involved preparing name tags, zumba, Asian pop music videos and lots of laughter!
