Chinling here.
The reason we leaders made a big deal of the check in, is that we all come from a vision were we believe we can all create something different, from our unique backgrounds. Also we say the possibility, we saw the possibility, like an ocean wave, we can create something that we could never create before. However, we have been encountering chaos and frustration, beyond what we can manage. And the strange thing is, each of us have thought about leaving, but none of us have - we have decided to stay, check-in and share our truth.,  Compared to the Chinese tradition, what we did was different. We shared our upset, out tears, we talked about our frustration as leaders in this group to the Chinese team members who are going to promote and sell our programs. We know these people in the room. They are our friends and colleagues on this project. We need to speak our truth so that we can stay in the dream with them and survive. Otherwise ......
We want to give a last try for the dream in which we have invested our time, energy, focus and our heart.
I don't know if this the western way, it is unusual for us to sit there and give each other their space - no matter what our roles, lofty or humble. We are all there to share our truths in a last hit. A last try to see if it is going to work. It is a revolutionary moment for each of us to have that space to speak our own truth, that as teachers, we too get a chance to speak our  truth, and not always be 'teachers'. Also have a chance to have the people who work with us to speak their true feelings, rather than just give us routine feedback.

Cress here. Saturday Night. All quiet. The teachers have taken some time off. Well not all of them. Two of us reflect on the Friday check in. It was a turning point. A Watershed. A time to speak our inner voices into the circle.
It is complicated. We are here,  some place north of Beijing - five Canadians, one Taiwanese. We all are here on a bold adventure - a new enterprise - we are here to assist in the creation of a Personal development center in China. We have been here living onsite variously for two to 6 weeks, in residence, creating programs, delivering programs, fighting and getting along. The leader team..... well its not easy to create one from 6. But we are surviving. It is challenging, exciting, chaotic, uncertain, totally fun, and ridiculously un-organised. But we are making progress.
Back to our turning point. Last week our frustrations came to a head. We made a big deal of it. We did a group check in - all six leaders and 20 on Chinese team. Each of us leaders shared. We told our stories. We shared our feelings. We whined a bit. Tried not to blame. Then we waited for the Chinese team to check in. Some did, like we did, shared feelings, but most held the party line - Political, not personal. It was our first chance to hear their voice from a deeper level, how their true feelings about our work together.
My take away? The leaders needed to share. We did. We realized the Chinese team did and did not, not because they lack heart, because CERTAINLY THEY DO NOT, but because they did not know what we were doing or how, or why, or ?
And I realized, this is the experience of cross cultural context. Two cultural solitudes, two groups of passionately committed, friendly, and really nice people, simply living two different realities trying to work together. I had my whine. I was heard. Now I am going back to work to do my part. Tomorrow is another day of learning and growing and having fun in the House of I.