Katie Green tells Russian Folktales Katie Green traveled to Russia in 1992, and has been telling Russian folktales and stories in schools and libraries ever since. On July 16th, 2008 Katie will share Russian stories at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts. Gordon Lankton became fascinated with the icons and their history when he was traveling in Russia in the 80's. Since then, Mr. Lankton has visited Russia and the Solviet Union over 40 times, collecting icons.The Museum of Russian Icons is a former mill building that is now "Green". The museum features solar energy, LED lighting, and automated displays to show the icons. If you miss Katie's performance on July 16th, plan to visit the Museum of Russian Icons another time. www.museumofrussianicons.org Katie told Russian stories on January 26, 2008 at the Newton Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra's family program of Russian music.

Katie Green traveled in China this summer! Prior to traveling, Katie read about Chinese history and watched Chinese movies. She learned a little bit of Mandarin by listening to the Pimsleur Cds of Mandarin Chinese. Now that Katie has returned, she is continuing her lessons in Mandarian with a tutor and the Cds because she hopes to return to China in the future. < Chinese characters for Courage, Truth, and Wisdom. Katie was fortunate to be a trainer with the Jiangsu Education Services for International Exchange (JESIE). She was teaching at the High School Affiliated with the Nanjing Normal University, in Nanjing. She taught spoken English to 25 fantastic teens for two weeks. What a terrific use of her background as a speech and language pathologist and her years of storytelling events and residencies in schools! The students in Katie's class had diverse spoken English skills. Some were pretty fluent, but unsure of vocabulary and grammar. Others struggled to say more than "Good Morning."

Katie's students attempt to translate the ancient Chinese poems written on her new fan. Fans, umbrellas, and bottled water were three staples for Katie as she traveled in China's heat and humidity.

Students were in a two week Sino-American Summer Camp. They studied spoken and written English, math, and history. Our classroom was very modern and air-conditioned. Katie's students were polite and eager to improve their English.

Mike and Mary were Katie's two student hosts. Each day they led her through the complex maze from the teachers' room to the classroom. They took turns carrying Katie's heavy backpack in the 90 degree heat. Mike said that Katie was "very strong".

All of the students enjoyed stories and storytelling games. Our American style of interactive teaching was a challenge to their usual ritualized patterned response style of learning, but storytelling is a universal educational tool.

While Katie was in China, she was able to visit many popular places. She enjoyed seeing the sites in Beijing. Xi'an, ChongQuin City, Shanghai. She cruised the Yangzee and Li Rivers. Each day was exciting and filled with adventure, but Katie most enjoyed meeting and talking with the Chinese people. Many were happy to practice speaking English. Katie had the opportunity to tour Guilin and visit several minority villages.

Katie at the Great Wall near Beijing. The Wall was even greater and more spectacular than she had imagined. Steeper, too!

In a Dong village, Katie spent a delightful hour chatting with an eighty-four year old Chinese gentle man from Hanzhou. A retired statistician, and speaker of five languages, he had not spoken English for over 20 years. His interest is now traditional Chinese medicine.

After teaching in Nanjing, Katie traveled with two fun-filled teachers - Emily and Cecelia, from New Mexico. Here they are on the Li River, on the way to the tourist-filled Yangshaou.

"I learned much more from my students than I could ever teach them," Katie says. "The opportunity of travel and teach in China will always be a peak experience for me,"

Crickets, Kites, and Carp: Stories from Vietnamese Elders

I was pleased to receive a 2006 Members' Grant from NSN and a Huebner Award to collect oral stories of Vietnamese immigrants to the U.S. This project, Crickets, Kites, and Carp: Stories from Vietnamese Elders, is scheduled to be completed by spring, 2007, and will be presented at the storytelling conference, Sharing the Fire, in late March, 2007.

When people hear about this project, the first thing they ask is, "Katie, how did you become interested in this?" The short answer is that I love to hear people tell their stories. But there is more to it than that. The Viet Nam War was fought by my generation, and I had a little "history" with the Viet Nam Elders.

During the school year of 2005-2006, I received a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, as administered by the Worcester Cultural Council. The grant would allow 6th grade students from the Vernon Hill Elementary School to hear stories told by the people who visit the Worcester Senior Center, just two blocks away. I didn't realize that most of the people who visit the Senior Center had their "routines", and had no unscheduled time to meet with the students. The project was much more difficult to arrange than I had previously imagined, until I learned about three specific sectors of Worcester's Senior Citizens who met at the center at a time that was convenient for me and the students: the Latino group (who speak more Spanish than English), the African-American group, and the Southeast Asian group (all of whom speak Vietnamese). These three groups were interested in sharing their stories with the students, and the project was even more interesting and successful than I had imagined it would be.

I enjoyed meeting each and every person that took part in this project. Once again, it was clear that stories and storytelling are what bind us together in our human family - even when the stories are told through an interpreter. On the morning that the sixth grade students walked to the Senior Center to hear stories from the Southeast Asian Seniors, three people told stories that Yung Phan, the program coordinator, translated. The storytellers chose to tell a folk tale or legend that they correctly thought would be appropriate for young people. But - before they told that story, each person spoke briefly about their lives in Viet Nam, the hardships of the war and their emigration to the U.S.A. They spoke of the war, of being separated from their families, of being in prison.

Vietnamese immigrants make up 2.76% of the city of Worcester, Massachusetts' population. They are a closely knit, insular community. About thirty-five Vietnamese Elders come to the Worcester Senior Center once a week. Other than a festival in the Spring, the members of this group have minimal interaction with other people who visit the Senior Center. The language barrier and cultural differences serve to marginalize them. This is a slice of our population whose stories are seldom heard or told outside of their group. The demands of living in today's world often keep people so busy that these stories may not be told at all. And a story not told is a story that is lost.

The war in Viet Nam was going on when I was a young suburban housewife and mother. It was something that our peers discussed, but it did not touch my life until the day that I realized that the U.S. was destroying the rice crops. I learned about the U.S.'s use of the defoliant Agent Orange while seated at my kitchen table reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Then the horrible front page story of My Lai came. My life and my perception of the world were changed.

Since the late 1960's, I have had several friends who have emigrated to the U.S. from war-torn countries. I have always been impressed by the courage and resilience my friends have shown. I cannot imagine, and I pray that my family and I never experience the terror of war. I strive to understand human actions and spirituality.

My intention, in collecting the stories from the American War in Southeast Asia, is to attempt, in some small way, to heal the wounds of war and to help us better understand each other.

This project, Crickets, Kites, and Carp: Stories from Vietnamese Elders, will collect oral histories which will be transcribed into English and Vietnamese and bound into a book. I am sure that the Vietnamese people at the Center have tales of courage, great determination and personal strength. They hold stories about their childhood and cultural traditions. Telling these stories can help break down the walls of isolation. Sharing their stories through a book will provide a link to the community, and facilitate understanding and communication. The stories will be carried into the future and be preserved for future generations.

The Birthday Calendar

Life today has become complex and busy. It is all too easy to forget anniversaries and birthdays. Now you can remember birthdays and anniversaries of your friends and relatives by writing them on this beautiful calendar. Each month is illustrated and has a quote about storytelling.

About ten years ago, Katie made birthday calendars by hand as Christmas gifts for her friends. She was impressed when she realized that these calendars still hang in their pantries or bathrooms, so she decided make a birthday calendar for more people.

When Katie first heard Ray Hicks tell stories at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, TN, she was transported to her childhood days in Meadowview, Virginia. Her grandfather, whom she called "Papa Joe", told her stories in a dialect that was very close to the way that Ray Hicks spoke. Although he rarely left his home in North Carolina, Ray Hicks was one of the leading influences in the storytelling revival in the U.S.

Profits from the purchase of this Birthday Calendar will be directed to The Ray Hicks Fund. To learn more about Ray Hicks and his family go to http://www.RayHicks.com.

Order a Birthday Calendar here!