My China Adventure: 2009

More kung fu training!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

We have been working on the same routine for 3 days. We are actually improving! After all of this practice I have started to appreciate the art of kung fu even more.

Our instructor is unbelievable. All the kids at the school can flip through the air and make it all look effortless. The guy teaching us, we call him smiley, because he was dead serious at first but smiles every once in a while when we mess up! He's so funny!

Tonight we will be performing our routine in front of the monks! I'm a little nervous! We leave our countryside hotel tomorrow morning. We will be riding a 5 hour train to make it back to beijing. I can't believe that these are our days here. I don't want to leave!

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A day in the life of a monk

Today we got the chance to live a day in the life of a buddhist monk it was a definite culture shock. We began our morning at 4 am. We walked to shaolin temple and met the monks in the temple thay they normally pray in each morning. The prayers lasted about an hour and consisted of standing, walking, bowing, and praying to buddha. I couldn't believe that the monks do that ritual every morning.

After the morning prayer we went to a small building for breakfast with the monks. We ate soup and bread. After breakfast we went to the courtyard and swept it for the monks. The monks were very appreciative of our help because they have to sweep the courtyard every morning. Our morning was really interesting and I learned a lot about monks by observing and participating in their daily routine. It was so cool to be able to see something so different and unique.

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The zen music show/performance!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Last night we went to a small outdoor theater in the middle of the mountains. I cannot describe the scenery because it was so gorgeous. There was a beautiful bridge in front of huge amazing mountains.

There were dancers and warriors performing all over the scene. There were colors flashing all over the mountains. I honestly can't explain how inxredible it was. There are no words. Pictures wouldn't have done it justice. That performance was definitely one of my favorite things we have done so far. The effects and stories being told through dancing and music was very inspiring and unique. I loved it.

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Training at the kung fu school and viewing the zen music show!

Today we went to the kung fu school. It was awesome but sooo hard! We were taught how to do kung fu moves that were very very very physically demanding. The master that taught us was at first very impatient and irritated with our lack of correctness but after a while he warmed up to us and laughed at Emilie and I!!

He kept smiling every time we attempted a difficult move and would come over and correct it immediately. No matter how small the mistake was he would come over to help because he wanted it to be perfect. We took pictures with the students at the end of our two hour class/lesson.

Tomorrow we will be returning to thr school to have two more classes which will total in 4 hours of kung fu training... And we thought yesterday was hard! Its unbelievable how young some of these students are. The ages vary from 5 years to 20. The students live at the school year round and I couldn't believe that they can only go home once a year!!! That's crazy!

Kung fu was awesome. Physically demanding. But incredible. I can't wait for tomorrow!!

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Visiting the kung fu school and shaolin temple

Monday, August 10, 2009

Today we went to shaolin temple and listened to a monk speak about the history of the temple and the life of the monks. It was very interesting. We had to be completely silent when he spoke.

After visiting the temple we went to the kung fu school. I couldn't believe how many kids were training there. When the bus pulled in, we saw hundreds of kis dressed in bright red shirts and black pants.

We went inside and watched the little kids spar. These little boys and a few girls were only 5 or 6 years old! They were unbelievable! The ages ranged from 5 to 20 years old. Everyone was so talented. Today we are going back to the school to learn a few kung fu moves and then we will be watching the kids again. I can't wait!

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Peanut butter

Sunday, August 9, 2009

We visited a market today and bought PEANUT BUTTER! We have all been craving it for the whole trip!! Finally!!

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Riding on a train!

This is the first time I have ever been on a train! Its a blast! I was expecting it too be much more bumpy and sickening but we are doing great!

When we walked into the train station I couldn't believe how many people were jam packed into such a small space. The halls were very congested and we were a little afraid of being separated but everything went fine! The train is much faster than I expected it to be. Everything is rushing by so fast and normally I would be a little motion sickness but I am too excited to be motion sick!!

Even the transportation on this trip is fun! Even if I am a nerd I am loving every minute of it!! Before we got on the train we were able to stop at a grocery store!! This is a very big deal to us because we have been eating tons and tons of meat so it was great to stop and grab some fruit and candy! All of us have been craving peanut butter and luckily the grocery store had some!! We are going to have a peanut butter party tonight and I wouldn't be surprised if we all just ate it plain!!

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The small Potola palace

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Today we went to the small potola palace. It was gorgeous. We walked up 400 steps of stairs and man are we tired!! Half way up the palace levels there were small little stores or what our tour guide Riley would call a "shopportunity". We love shopportunities!!!
When we got to the top of the palace we were able to see a part of the Great Wall that we hike yesterday. It was cool!

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Touring the imperial summer palace

We visited the imperial summer palace today. It was awesome!! We saw where the emperor lived along with his concubines. The palace was pretty big but I thought his room would be larger than it was.
Emilie and I took pictures with a little boy dressed as the emperor on a throne. He was adorable and loved having his picture taken! We walked around the palace for a while then listened to a group of musicians playing in the courtyard. They were really good. They had awesome authentic outfits. They played us several songs that we later found out symbolized the four seasons.

Walking around the palace really opened my eyes. I loved reading and hearing about the historical facts in the palace. What an incredible scenic experience.

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Paper cutting

Today we were fortunate enough to go to a beautiful paper art gallery run by a large family in chengde. The gallery displayed hundreds of intricately cut paper designs. Some were very bright colored and some solid. More mature designs but all were absolutely gorgeous.
We learned that the women of the families usually take part in paper cutting because they are much more patient then the men. Nice!
We watched one woman cut a pretty butterfly and she showed us a few of her past designs. The were unreal. She let us try cutting easy little butterflys and even those were difficult. I bought three paper designs from the gallery and I can't wait to show everyone at home how beautiful they are!

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I just climbed the Great Wall of China!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Wow. That is all I can say. We are sitting at the bottom of the great wall. Our hike was nothing like I thought it would be. The rough terrian was never flat. It felt as if we were always climbing up. At a few points on the wall we had to scale it. We were climbing the bricks and pulling ourselves up with no harnessess. It was insane. But so awesome! The hike lasted for 7 hours and at the end there was a huge banner saying "one is not a hero until he (OR SHE) climbs the great wall". We were so excited and we got to sign and take pictures with the banner. That was a once in a lifetime experience and just looking out at mountain after mountain was unbelievably unreal.

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Riding in the rickshaws!!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Hello everybody!

Today we visited smaller towns and shopped, toured through a locals home, and learned how to write in calligraphy. It was incredible. After our calligraphy lesson with a brilliant artist, we walked out off his house and saw a line of rickshaws (a carriage attached to a bicycle). There are about 20 people in our discovery travel group so many rickshaws were lined down the street! We all climbed in rickshaws and raced through the streets. The rickshaw driver driving Emilie and I was crazy! As we drove through the narrow streets many people stopped and waved or tried to speak english to us! We felt like we were in a parade. I have been very suprised by how many people here have not seen caucasian people before. When we visited the touristy areas many people would come up and ask to take pictures with us!
When we visited the Olympic Bird's nest, there was a big line of people wanting to take pictures with Emilie and I! Not gonna lie... We loved it!!!
Today we just went dragon boat racing and my team won! That was an adventure! We are on the bus right now driving to the countryside to eat a mongolian dinner in a yurt (large tent) and then camp outside! Tomorrow we will be hiking the Great Wall! This is such an unbelivable experience!!

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Cooking with. a Famous Chef

Hello!
This is the most incredible experience that I have ever had. Yesterday for example, we were able to go and buy fruits and food at a local market. I had never even heard of or seen half of the food there. It was so cool!! After purchasing the foods we went to a really exotic and fancy restaurant in Beijing. The chef at the restaurant has won tons of awards and medals. He is a very big deal in China. He is even frequently on tv! Meeting him was awesome but to top the morning off we got a private cooking lesson with him! We made dumplings which were surprisingly easy to make. I think that the home made ravioli we make every year for christmas definitely helped!!

After making dumplings we helped slice chicken and watched one of the chefs flip hot spicy chicken in a pan! It was awesome. We were also dressed in chef outfits, aprons, and chef hats from the chef! He signed them and let us keep it all! What a morning I can't wait to see what is in store for us for the rest of the day!!!!

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10 DAYS!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

WOW. We leave for China in 10 days. I can't believe how fast our trip has approached. Today Maha and I made bracelets for the children in the orphanage :) We are so excited to visit the orphanage and play games with all the kids. My biggest dilema as of now, is what to pack. I think that I'm overpacking or underpacking or forgetting something! The next time I will be writing a blog I might be in CHINA!!!!