Advertisement
Published: April 30th 2011
Green Tea?
Alix, me and "Young" Shifu having some tea. Morse had his share when we were done...old chinese tradition..So! Training has kicked in in truth! Mornings start at 6 with a little run around our lake, some stretching and then off to Tai Ji. I know about just over a third of the simplest form. At 7 it's breakfast and yeh, it's better than expected, it's oats and honey (which i bought myself), sweet cakes, sweet bread and hard boiled eggs. Tricky things those eggs...as there's no fridge here, any leftovers get reboiled and served the next day...so everry breakfast is preceeded by prayers to the egg god/dragon/buddha that we get good eggs! Ha! Doesn't always work... Anyway...
At 8 there's room inspections. Not sure what's the point of those...as we live on the ground floor, which means we share our rooms with a few multilegged creatures and a healthy dose of dust! (anybody? no? dusst!) I still don't have a wardrobe...i asked for somewhere to put my clothes....they brought me a coat hanger....lost in translation much??
Half eight means another run or 3 around the lake, more stretching of legs and back... and then the fun starts!!! Variations of Kung Fu basics (kicks, punches, sweeps, all at the same time) and forms that seem to make No sense
whatsoever, but are at least pretty...when my masters do them...when i do them it's more like "Aww bless....tall white boy (lao wey) is trying to do bruce lee stuff!!" Heh. Still, i got the forward sweeps down (i.e. I don't fall on my face EVERy time i try them) and i can stretch my leg about a foot higher than 3 weeks ago! Oh! Also i can touch my toes!!!
Half 10 means more running aroung the lake, more stretching, and more Kung Fu. At 12 it's lunch, and yeah...you guessed it, it's based on rice! Rice and Veg! Some very nice Veg though...mostly....when it's not re-served due to the lack of the aforementioned fridges...and washed down with some healthy boiled water! Still HOT!!! Seriously, what's up with that??? We have to specifically ask for cold water! Even in restaurants!...
Anywho, half 2 and more running, more stretching, more Kung Fu, till about 4 when we hit the showers, get ready for dinner, more rice based veg and chicken, and then...a couple of hours of guitars under the stars!! Yesss!!!! There's 2 guitars here, and we are working on a couple of songs with some fellow students, mainly Mark (the
Dutch Wing Chun man) and myself. Tenacious D doesn't sound the same unless you've bashed your vody around for about 8 hours every day! Oh and the stars...i know i'm supposed to have studied them, but dudes! They look different here!! It's almost confusing!! Put it this way, and whoever gets it: Kassiopea's boobs point the wring way!!!(There's your C. Pillkington moment!!!)
The people in Qufu are really friendly, always smile at us (while staring) and shout "Herro!" to us!! Got into some Traditional hagling while shopping around, and tried some very chinese food in the streets. I'm fast becoming a master with the chopsticks! I can finish a bowl of noodles in about 5 minutes if hungry!...the table is a mess, but i do finish that bowl!!! Still haven't visited Confucious's Temple or Grave, but i'm taking it easy...
Plus that way there's more to come!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0726s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Emily
non-member comment
???
No more updates??? Got used to daily Shaolin life too much to let us know?? :-P Hope you are doing well :D