Page 25 - Priorities #55 2013-March/April

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普陀山
Priory alum, Alyssa Chueng, class of 2008, has found her way to the small island of Putuoshan off the coast of China where she teaches English. Director of Communications Sean Mclain Brown, caught up with Alyssa on campus to conduct this interview.
How did you end up teaching in China, what do you teach and where?
I’m a volunteer English teacher to bhikkhu and bhikkhuni (Buddhist monks and nuns) students at a Buddhist college on an island called Putuoshan in south- eastern China. It is considered one of four sacred Buddhist mountains in the country, Putuoshan being the abode of Guan Yin, or Avalokite-vara, Bodhisattva of com- passion. I was introduced to the place by the Buddhist chaplain at my school, who knows a few Chinese bhikkhuni living in a temple in Queens, NY who graduated from the Buddhist college on Putuoshan and had suggested he visit the mountain. When he was there, he spoke to the teach- ers and students at the college and essen- tially asked “How can I be helpful?” They told him they were in need of an English teacher, so he discussed the idea with me. I didn’t have solid plans after graduating and had not really considered teaching, but when I heard about this, I got the feel- ing that this was the right thing for me to be doing.