Megan Featherstone (Administrative Coordinator) Kalamazoo College, B.A., double major in English Literature and Chinese Language and Culture. School for International Training, MA in International Education. A native of Detroit, Megan's fascination with China began when she enrolled in her first Mandarin class merely to try something new. After studying the language for two years, she moved her studies abroad to the Beijing Language and Culture University in the fall of 1999. Upon receiving her B.A. she returned to China to teach English for a semester at r at BLCU, and journeyed throughout the country perfecting her Chinese travel and survival skills. Megan then worked in education and franchise development until moving to Vermont in 2006 to pursue her Master’s Degree, and is now looking to start a career in developing programs for experiential education abroad. Megan enjoys vegan cooking, crafting, taking road trips and spending as much time biking and running outside as possible. She is fluent in Mandarin.

Harrison Kahn (Director) Middlebury College, B.A. Chinese. An admirer of foreign cultures from an early age, Harry began learning Mandarin at age 12. During college he participated in Middlebury's intensive Summer Language program and lived in Harbin, China, studying with with CET at the Harbin Institute of Technology. Harry has spent a season directing operations on a Yangtze River cruise ship, started his own Vermont maple sugaring operation with a friend, and currently works year-round in the Putney Student Travel Barn as an Associate Director organizing Putney programs in China, India, and the Caribbean. Having lived in Rhode Island, Vermont, Colorado, and China, he has become accustomed to the finer things in life - such as trout fishing, powder skiing, maple syrup, and spicy noodles. Additionally, Harry enjoys practicing Chinese calligraphy and playing the guitar and mandolin. He is fluent in Mandarin.

Jonathan Li (China and the World Economy) Princeton University, B.A. Economics. Jonathan spent five months sophomore year studying at the University of Melbourne in Australia, where he learned that turning down “tea” means not having dinner. He has also resided in Taiwan for a year, travelled through parts of China, and backpacked through New Zealand. During his years at Princeton, he spent time as an economics tutor, a student leader on the College Council, an adviser for the study abroad program, and a chair for high school Model Congress conferences. He was last employed at a pharmaceutical consulting firm, and will next be teaching in Singapore as a recipient of the Princeton in Asia Fellowship. His interests include tennis, squash, black and white photography, and adventure sports. Jonathan is fluent in Mandarin.

Kerren McKeeman (Mandarin I, Art of the Sketch): Middlebury College B.A. B.A. B.A. B.A. Kerren began studying Chinese language during her second semester at Middlebury, and then combined a focus on the Chinese language and Political Science into her East Asian Studies major. As a junior, she studied abroad in Beijing and Hangzhou at the Middlebury College/C.V. Starr School, and is a graduate of the Middlebury Summer Language School’s intensive Chinese immersion program. During her senior year, Kerren wrote her senior project on the politics of river-damming in Yunnan province. To discover more about the area, she traveled to the Nu River valley last summer where she had the opportunity to learn about Yunnan’s rich culture, and to experience an untouched river valley that may soon be subject to 13 sites of dam construction. This past February, after skiing down the Middlebury ski mountain for her graduation ceremony, she moved to Los Angeles where she is currently interning at an editorial press agency. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, dancing, and being in the sun. She is fluent in Mandarin.

Colin Penley (Mandarin 2, Modern Chinese History): Middlebury College, B.A. cum laude. At Middlebury, Colin was a triple major in Chinese Language and Literature, Studio Art, and Dance. He wrote a senior thesis on how Taiwanese writers used familial relationships to mirror Taiwan/Mainland relations. His interest in China and Chinese language started in the fall of 2001 when he traveled through China studying and beginning to learn about the language. He later studied at the College/C.V. Starr School in Hangzhou, China in the fall of 2004. After graduating from Middlebury, Colin began to teach at Gould Academy in his hometown of Bethel, Maine. For the past two years he has taught history, Chinese language, and geography. He also teaches dance to both high school students and younger children. In his moments of free time, he enjoys reading, drinking tea, and talking with friends. He is fluent in Mandarin..

Peter Robbins (Chinese Religion, Survival Mandarin): Kenyon College B.A. Peter began studying Chinese during his sophomore year at Kenyon and later majored in Chinese Language and minored in Religious Studies. His interest in Mandarin brought him to Middlebury for the Middlebury College Summer Language School intensive Chinese program, and to Beijing and Hangzhou where he studied abroad at the CET and Middlebury programs. After leaving Hangzhou, Peter backpacked through rural parts of China in Guangxi, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces, living with farmers and learning about their way of life. Peter originally hails from Maine, where he has volunteered at English Courses for Chinese Immigrants and worked as a camp counselor in nearby New Hampshire. In his spare time Peter enjoys hiking, skiing, sailing, playing Frisbee and photography. He is fluent in Mandarin.

Tara Sun Vanacore (Assistant Director, Mandarin III) Middlebury College, B.A., summa cum laude. Tara is thrilled to be returning for a second summer at Excel China. At Middlebury Tara majored in Chinese Language and Literature and wrote a senior honors thesis on a 1940s Shanghai woman writer. She attended the Middlebury College Language School for Chinese in the summer of 2004 and studied in Beijing and Hangzhou with the Middlebury College/C.V. Starr School in China during her junior year. Tara also took several creative writing classes and won a student scholarship to attend the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference. Tara grew up in Bridport, VT just up the road from Middlebury and moved to Portland, OR after graduation, where she is the assistant coordinator for the Portland Public Schools/University of Oregon K-16 Chinese Flagship Program. In May, Tara will travel to Suzhou, China on a Research Residency with the eighth graders in the Mandarin Immersion Program. Tara is happiest when swimming in Vermont rivers, traveling, spending time with friends and family, cooking, reading, writing, and running. She is fluent in Mandarin.

Peter Robbins (Resident Advisor, Chinese Cuisine) Princeton University, B.A. in History, East Asian Studies, and Creative Writing. Born in Beijing, Yvon lived until age 7 in Anhui province, and has returned to Greater China several times since for school and travel. On her most recent trip in 2006, she studied abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and volunteered in a rural village in Henan province over the summer. In her final year at Princeton, she has produced two senior theses, one a novella and the other a large-scale research paper, and hopes to continue both her research and her fictioneering as a soon-to-be History Ph.D student at Stanford University. Apart from the inevitable reading and writing, Yvon's interests include drawing and cartooning, adventurous eating, martial arts, urban hiking, costume-making, karaoke-singing, and videogaming. Yvon is fluent in Mandarin.

Yiwen Yvon Wang (Mandarin 2, Modern Chinese History): Middlebury College, B.A., Summa cum Laude. At Middlebury Tara majored in Chinese Language and Literature and wrote a senior honors thesis on the 1940s Shanghai woman writer Su Qing.  She attended the Middlebury College Language School for Chinese in the summer of 2004 and studied in Beijing and Hangzhou with the Middlebury College/C.V. Starr School in China during her junior year.  Tara also took several creative writing classes and worked as a peer writing tutor at Middlebury, where she won a student scholarship to attend the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference.  Tara grew up in Bridport, VT just up the road from Middlebury and moved to Portland, OR after graduation, where she currently is an assistant coordinator for the Portland Public Schools/University of Oregon K-16 Chinese Flagship Program.  Tara is happiest when swimming in Vermont rivers, spending time with friends and family, cooking, reading, writing, and running. She is fluent in Mandarin.