It's been too long

So I've fallen off track with some of my goals lately. Particularly, calligraphy and blogging. When I made these commitments at the beginning of the year I wasn't cooking for myself because I knew it would be really difficult to manage my free time to maintain these goals. But, since I've had worms, I've started cooking all my own food again, and it's reminded me how sometimes even when you're making simple things, it can take a fair amount of time. If I had proper equipment and a kitchen, I'm sure I could cut this time down, but I don't, so I'm just working with what I've got. Which is basically a paring knife, and a hotplate with wok. It can be interesting sometimes.

So this week I've been trying to reorganize my daily schedule a little bit and I've been able to pick up some of the things I let fall off. We've also been having a fair amount of internet troubles of late, which has thrown off my blogging schedule. I've discovered that I'm really becoming a creature of habit.

My good friend MoMo is back for the summer, so I'm pretty excited about that. We also had a great class yesterday on jump kicks and aerials (which I am far from achieving) but we were actually given some good feedback and also some steps we can work on to possible improve our coordination. When it comes to jumps, it usually ends up being the people that can already do them practicing, and everyone else kind of standing around watching. But this time we split up into two groups and spent some time working on the actual technique. I think I improved more in that one class than I have in the past few years.

Is kung fu fun??

I have had a strange experience several times since coming to train at my school in China. I've heard from many different people, that training isn't fun. It's not supposed to be fun, it's supposed to be hard work and grueling, but it's definitely not fun. This always gets me a little bit upset.

Who decided that kung fu shouldn't be fun? Yeah, it's hard, and it's sweaty, and sometimes it's frustrating and difficult, but why can't it be fun too? Someone said to me today, yeah it's fun if you're just taking it easy and not practicing hard. I was a bit insulted. Just because I'm out there sweating my butt off and having fun at the same time, does it mean that you're training harder than I am? Or is there just something strange about me that I really love getting the shaky legs that you have after a really brutal class, or I finish class drenched in sweat but with a smile on my face?

Or is it that to them hard work is something that you're not supposed to enjoy? Is it important that you're forcing yourself to do something that you don't have fun doing? I really just can't understand this...

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I've recently discovered that I have an intestinal parasite. It's nothing serious, mostly just disturbing. I went to the doctor on Friday, and got some medicine. I'm really tired, and the medicine makes me a little nauseous, but all in all I'm physically holding up well.

It's really scary to be a foreign country and have to deal with this stuff. It's more stressful than any of the other stuff I've had to handle here. I know I'm going to be fine, but I still find myself struggling to fall asleep at night. 

Friends

Over the years here I have had the privilege of meeting so many incredible people (and lots of crazy ones). I've met people from all over the world and some of them have become a second family to me. I know that if I were to be in their respective countries, I could always count on them to do whatever they could for me and vice versa. It's amazing that I've had this opportunity and I've learned a lot about other cultures because of all these people.

Sometimes it's really hard to see them go. It's like you've met a person that you have become so close to, in however long they've been here (sometimes a couple of months, sometimes a year or more), and when it's time, they just get up and walk out of your life. And of course I know many of them I will see again, and many of them I keep in touch with. But sometimes there's a question in your mind. You think, I really love this person, but will I ever see them again? I always of course hope the answer is yes, but I imagine there will be people that I won't have the opportunity to see again. We aren't all on the same path.

Three wonderful people left the school this week. They made an important impact on my time here, and I guess all I can do is say thank you. I'm so grateful we got to know one another.

Shoulder Rolls

One of the things I love about our training is the amount of time I get to spend in the open air. Yesterday because it was raining we were stuck training inside. So our coach decided that we should practice rolls, which was cool because I don't get much time to work on them, and I've never been super comfortable with my rolls.

I had an accident when I was younger, and besides a minor neck injury I came out fine physically, but mentally, well not so much. I was so afraid to fall, roll, and be thrown, or even throw another person. Yesterday was fun for me, because although my rolls are a little rusty, I realized that my mind has changed a lot. I'm much less afraid of injury in general. The interesting thing is that since I started training here, I've been injured so many times. And although the recovery period usually really sucks, my body's a lot heartier than I ever gave it credit for when I was younger. I just find ways to be more resourceful.

I also feel like in my time here that my self confidence has really improved. And considering the emotional strain I'm sometimes under, I'm glad that I've come out stronger. Of course I still have my confidence issues sometimes, but I always have, and now I can really see that I've made some changes for the better. Of course as I write this I feel like I'm tempting fate... We shall see.

The Mountain

I had a pretty great birthday weekend. Since Wednesday/Thursday is the time I have off, I went with some friends for a very long hike up the mountain. I'm not sure when the last time I've walked that far is. I can't think of a time I ever have. I'm not sure it exists, it seems so crazy. Myself and three friends left at 5am on Wednesday morning and arrived at the area with the cable car at 2pm. So it ended up being a good 9 hours of walking. Finishing off with a very large number of stairs. Of course that's including a few breaks for food and water, and a good foot soak in the very 'refreshing' stream.

My intention was to sleep at the cable car and climb to the peak the next day, but unfortunately, it was raining and I had a big blister on my foot. So I didn't make it to the peak, but I was pretty happy with the walk I had. The thing about China is, climbing a mountain basically means climbing what feels like a neverending staircase. It was beautiful though. I don't have any pictures because I don't have a camera, but I'm hoping to get some from my friends for a keepsake. All in all, a great time to be had. Welcome 29!

Yay April!

Well I missed my blog last week for the first time this year. Kind of a bummer, but I had a great holiday and I feel like a lot has happened since I wrote the last one.

Xi'an was awesome, I've been there before, but I had a great time just spending some time relaxing with my classmates. Some of my class members are pretty much already on their way out (heading back for university etc.) so it was nice to get the chance to spend some time together outside of training.

My calligraphy is going really great at the moment. Started moving on from the basic characters to a bit more cursive style which is challenging, therefore interesting.

I've learned a new guitar song including a solo which I've never tried to tackle before. Thanks to a friend from Israel, I've got a better understanding of reading tabs now too.

I've had to make some adjustments to my personal goals. I've unfortunately had to admit that I can't handle the 150 pushups a day. It's nothing to do with the time, or the discipline, but my body is just not recovering enough and I'm hurting myself. It got to the point where not just my shoulders hurt, but my elbows and wrists were also giving me problems before I had to face the facts that it's just too much for me.

I've decided to keep the number 150, but I'll throw some other exercises into the mix. Squats, calves and some glute exercises. I want to keep the practice of doing extra strength building stuff, so I'll just have to listen to my body. I don't want to spend the next 5 months recovering from injuries.

It's my 29th birthday in a week. I'm looking forward to spending next weekend hiking up to the mountain peak. Give me a sense of accomplishment on my birthday.