East anD SOUTHEAST ASIA SAYONARA!

My friends...we did it! This season we've been traveling far and wide, exploring vast regions of the world that are generally located in the same part of the world – “East and Southeast Asia” – but are vastly different from each other. We danced like lions in China, welcomed our ancestors home to Japan, became ridiculous kung fu movie heroes in Hong Kong and pretended we were mice while celebrating the full moon in the Koreas. In Vietnam we farmed rice, in Thailand we floated our cares down the river and in Myanmar we spent a quiet day living like a monk. In Malaysia we played a “keepie uppie,” in the Philippines we tripped over bamboo poles (or at least broom handles) while dancing like birds, and in Indonesia we made a racket using pots and pans while playing 16 part lancaran. We also learned about two dozen songs from the region covering all sorts of topics like life, love and silly birds.    

This week in our online class we revisit some of our favorite tunes from the season and reflect on all the wondrous things we learned in these last three months that we hadn't known we didn't know.