Si Ping

As i sit in an oversized, overstuffed chair at an internet cafe behind the KFC in Si Ping I have to look at what I thought i would be doing and how different it is from what I AM doing. Today I bought DVD's for about $0.50 a pop and I picked up some clothes that I had made two weeks ago. I picked up some candy while at the Zhong Xin, a sort of chinese WalMart but without the soul crushing corporation behind it. I have gotten much better at bargaining but i still have a lot to learn. As I type up this post after three days of not training to get all the way better from a cold that has been hanging on for over a week, I can take some stock of my progress so far. I have not been drinking or doing drugs for over ten months and, despite the amount of beer consumed by the other academy students, I have not been sorely tested. I spent the days not training trying to sleep and watching movies. I picked up 25 DVDs on my last trip to SiPing. But over the last three weeks I have much improved my running and general fitness. I have learned two short forms from my Sanda Shifu and I have been invited to learn Eagle's Claw from one of the WuShu Shifu's. They like my tumbling ability and are always telling me to do flips or asking me to try to break bottles on my head. I have a Capoeira class at the academy on Sundays and people seem to really enjoy it. I hooked up my iPod and played Capoeira music on the stereo during the last class. It is starting to get nice here and it has been warm enough for most of our training sessions to be outside.

Despite the movies and the candy there is alot i miss about being home. Meredith especially, but all of my friends in Cleveland and Athens and elsewhere. I miss walking the dog in the morning and making coffee for Meredith and I. I miss knowing what is going on in the dance department and seeing everyone's pieces. I miss fast food and sleeping in. I miss people ignoring me as I walk down the street since foreigners, though not uncommon, still can excite and intrigue. I miss studying chinese when it didn't matter so much how much i learned because everyone still spoke english. China is an intersting and an alive place. SiPing probably has two million people and is still a backwater city. I am slowly making a temporary home here but it cannot compare to the home i left. I am also realizing some fierce nationalistic feelings in myself and want to be a good ambassador of the United States. I love and miss you all. (especially you baby).

BIG NEWS

MEREDITH AND I ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!!

I asked her and somehow she was confused enough to say yes. We are so happy together and our life in Athens has been perfect despite a job she can't stand and nothing much to do. She is the most wonderful woman I have ever met and I can't wait for us to get more chances to spend time with all of you.

All my love.

Chris

Life in China

Sorry I haven't been able to communicate as often as i would like. My access to the internet is much more limited than I thought it was going to be. I can only get on between 3 and 6pm each day and I have to pay each time, not much but it will certainly add up over my time here. It is startlingly different than I expected. The academy is not administered by monks, in fact it has no particular religious bent at all. It is completely secular and very small. Only 90 or so students in all. All of the foriegn students, about 35, are together in a single dormitory and we have almost no contact with our Chinese counterparts so the imersion I was hoping for is sorely lacking. the Chinese classes are helpful and despite the lack of constant practice my chinese is improving.

I am also getting some serious fitness training. We wake at 5am and start the day running and doing some grueling calisthenics (sp?). We run carrying our friends or do 3 sets of 20 reps squats with people on our backs for weight, frog jumps, wheel barrowing, etc. Then I do get to do qigong for a half hour before breakfast at 6:45. Then from 8:30 till 10 we train again: forms, running, drills. Then a short break and training again from 10:30-11:30, usually running at the beginning of each session. Then lunch and training again from 1:30-3. Chinese from 3:30-4:30, dinner at 5 and training again 6-7pm. We are doing some partner stretching and some acrobatic drills, which I excel at. I was placed in the "sanda" group, which is practical kickboxing. this is fine for me for the first few weeks as I get my body used to the rigors of this sort of schedule. But i will be half in sanda and half in the Wushu group, learning demonstration forms and weapons. There are five groups in all and students are expected to choose one. They are: Sanda, Tai ji, Ba ji(hard qigong like iron fist), and 2 wushu groups.

I eat alot. Each day, as my body gets into the training schedule, I am more and more hungry. It hasn't increased for a while but during the first week I put more and more food in my bowl each day. Now I eat and entirely full bowl of food at each meal. And drink four or five small cups of tea. I eat about half a bowl of the prepared dishes and half rice. The food so far has been great. I love it and I spend the time in the dining hall stuffing my face and talking very little. The less time spent eating, the more time spent lying in bed, recovering from training.

That's all for now. Don't get the wrong idea, this place is great. The scenery is beautiful, the Shifus (masters) are capable, the people are nice, and the atmosphere of the school and the weather have been mostly great. Love to all of you at home. Have some Fast Food for me!

l

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUMB

I have finally figured out how to update this stupid blog, unfortunately my daily allotted internet time has ended. Only 3-6pm each day. I will Make a real post or two tomorrow. Love to all of you.