Blogs from Kunming, Yunnan, China, Asia - page 17

These seven simple words put the current situation into perspective. The situation I speak of is arriving into a music disco with men, women, dancing, beer, all your normal pawns in a crazy game of Saturday night chess…but something didn’t seem quite right. Something didn’t gel. Yes, there were more men dancing up on stage than women, but I have seen this before. Asian men like to dance. (Wes - that one’s for you). Many guys were talking to me and gan be’ing constantly, but as our table happened to be the only foreign table in the place, this is also normal. So what prompted this unusual comment? For now, I will keep you in suspense as before then I would like to discuss the major difference of ‘friend relations’ between Chinese and that of some(by ... read more

So today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋節). It is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people dating back over 3,000 years to the moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which this year is on the 3rd of October. The legend says that Chang Er, the moon goddess of immortality, flew to the moon where they lived happily ever after. You might still see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival! ;) On this day families and friends gather to celebrate together, eat moon cakes and obviously admire... the bright mid-autumn full moon. In China, the Moon Festival is as important as Christmas in the West. The typical ... read more

We very often say we won't make something or that we won't survive it. And then we somehow survive everything. Literally everything. I've been always saying to myself and other people that impossible doesn't exist. Something may be hard or very hard. But it's never impossible. Our life puts us to many tests, makes us go through many difficult situations. If we give up or make it, depends only on us. The point is to always go forward. Slower or faster but always forward. With bravery, strength and self-confidence. Because sometimes in hard moments we can rely only on ourselves. I take my stay here in China for such a test. Life test, testing myself. I have a feeling that every day changes me. Every tear and downfall make me stronger. Every day I learn someting ... read more

So, I’m here to study Chinese, right? Or as the title says "Wo xuexi Hanyu" (I study Chinese). Well, you may be wondering how my classes are going. Classes began on September 1. We were given a list of the different classes available, entirely in Chinese. The gossipy teachers who were registering us directed me toward the Beginner class, even though I was insisting that I was at a higher level than that. But they said that for the first week or so that we could switch between classes to find the one that fit better. So, I went to the beginner class. The teacher, who was speaking half in English and half in Chinese, went around the room so we could all introduce ourselves and say how long we have studied Chinese. The resounding answer ... read more

As many of the chinese parks, also this one is a very special piece of it's surroundings. Spacially it seems like they just wanted to create as much of the most enjoyable enviroment there...a shore with weeping willows. And they sucedded. The park is a set of islands, bridges and walkways connecting them, all one a remaining piece of whater that once belonged to the Kunming's lake Dian Chi. Who liked hanging out in Ljubljana's Trnovo under Plecnik's willow trees before they had to cut them...is just loving this park already to start with. As you take in it's spirit...it's a lot of elderly citizens just having fun, playing cards, streching, chatting, excercising, dancing, singing...with one word...PLAYING. Actually the chinese have a word for it...and it would serve as 'to have a good time' or as ... read more