Return Home

I have returned to the capitol and I am re-reading my journal. I began my journey in Changan, the starting point of the Silk Road. There I met an interesting person: Xuan Zhuang. He was traveling with 600 Buddhist scriptures on his way back to the Emperor. He is a spiritual man and I talked to him about what it is like to live like a monk and become enlightened. I have picked up some aromatic perfumes and gold from European traders. I want to collect everything brought along the road; I still have to gather ivory, glass and exotic fruits. I ran into a friend in the town, and it turns out he made a fortune selling silk and Porcelain to traders travelling up and down the trade route.

I had a map leading me to the caves but halfway through my journey, I dumped water on it. I was forced to find alternative directions. I bought a crude map and used the advice from locals to make my way along the road. It proved to be a blessing because I met so many people: everyone from poor Chinese peasants to Indian traders.

It took several weeks to reach the caves in the Gansu Province by horseback and I finally approached the city and the caves on the mountainside. But what I saw made the entire journey worthwhile.

There where thousands of Buddhist works of art and scrolls. They were crammed on the walls and some were statues in the cave. The most amazing thing was to read the Buddhist scrolls containing Buddhist teachings. Not only that but there were works from the Chinese government, administrative documents, anthologies, glossaries, dictionaries, and calligraphic exercises.* I recorded my finds and immediately began on the long trek home, eager to tell the Emperor what I found.

I greeted people I had just met on the road as if they were old friends. Something about the connection of cultures along the trade routes that lets you get to know people better.

I have travelled far and wide across China and I will bring back to the emperor a compilation of my journey. I am excited to begin painting murals and silk now that I have returned.

* “Magao Caves in China” http://www.crystalinks.com/chinacaves.html

Yes We Did!

Blog Post #2

Yes we did!-John Smith

November 5, 2008                   We did it! I can’t believe I have been on the road since September 2007 campaigning for our now, President Barack Obama, the first African-American President!

The trip wasn’t easy. I pretty much stayed along my originally planned route of Salem, Oregon, Olympia, Washington, Twin Falls, Idaho, Rock Springs, Wyoming, Pueblo, Colorado, Dodge City, Kansas, Guyman, Oklahoma, Waco, Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Greenville, Mississippi, Huntersville, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, St. Louis, Missouri, Frankfort, Kentucky, Raleigh, North Carolina, Richmond, Virginia, and Washington D.C., with just the addition of Chicago, IL, which is actually where I am as I write this. Having to drive to all these places, I had expected some car trouble, which unfortunately was more often than I wanted. To be honest, the car trouble was nothing compared to the resistance I experienced while trying to register people around the country.

As I traveled the country, I had many moments of hope. Most of my optimism and inspiration came from the people I worked with. They ranged from all ages, were mainly middle class, of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, and of different sexual orientations. The people I worked with represented the demographic of America and the diversity of people Obama appealed to. I have met so many people through this experience. I started not knowing one single person working on this, but Obama’s campaign did such a good job organizing us. We were able to mobilize and organize the campaign through mainly the internet and our mobile phones. I just had to login to my account at Obama’s website, look for different locations for voter registration campaigns, and show up. If there were any announcements about Obama’s campaign we needed to know, they were texted to us, so I had access to the latest campaign developments. Modern technology had a huge impact of this campaign.

Unfortunately, in this heated political atmosphere, I had some negative experiences while trying to register people. There were people told me that they would not vote for Obama for many reasons I consider racist and ignorant. Some of their reasons for not voting for him included because he was a Muslim, not an American citizen, and because he was black. I was so angry when I heard these. The first two are not even true! First of all, the Constitution protects freedom of religion, and secondly, Obama is a Christian, just like most of America is, and of course he is an American citizen, he was born in Hawaii, and last time I checked, Hawaii is part of the United States. I was most angry and saddened by those that told me they would not vote for Obama because he’s black. I was shocked that in America, the country that prides itself on being the melting pot and salad bowl, race is not only an issue but an obstacle for many Americans.

That’s enough of the negative talk, let’s get back to celebrating! Obama’s president! Woo hoo! He’s brought a lot of hope to the American people. With our current economy I’m eager to see how Obama’s White House staff will address the problems. Unemployment and home foreclosure’s have been rising, leaving more American’s losing their homes and unable to provide for their families. Obama has also committed to addressing healthcare, education, terrorism, environment and Middle East policy. All issues American’s are concerned with today.

I am excited about the future. To be honest with you, I haven’t had much faith in government. That’s mainly because my parents (pictured) had lost faith in the government. They felt let down by President Bush, although they started off being strong supporters of his. By the end of his second term though, they had lost hope and wanted change. I didn’t start really thinking about Obama’s platform until they told me they were going to support him, despite being Republicans. The point is Obama has brought many people hope for change.

Virginia N.

Period 3