Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Last post (for now...)

Posted by 雯雯 at 8:39 PM 0 comments
So I have been back from China from a while. Not entirely sure where to start! I've been so busy lately that I haven't blogged at all.

China was really great though. We travelled around for three and a half weeks with only huge backpacks. First we were in Beijing and saw all the standard sights, like the 13 Ming Tombs, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the People's Square. After a few days of sightseeing and Chinese-speaking, we took our rather big backpacks and went to Zhengzhou by train. There wasn't much to see in Zhengzhou, but we had a day trip to Luoyang and visited the Longmen Grottoes and the White Horse Temple. Neither place was particularly crowded, but it seems people there don't get much contact with large groups of foreigners. They took many pictures of us with varying degrees of discretion (from the ones who pretend they're texting and take a sneak photo of us to the ones who snuggle up to you and pose without your permission). We soon learnt to pose when people wanted us to!

After our day trip, we came back to Zhengzhou and had a good night's sleep before we were thrown into a minibus and drove to Tagou Shalin Martial Arts school just outside Dengfeng. We stayed and trained there at the old school (which only has about 8000, mostly male, students, as opposed to the new one which had 42,000 or so). Seeing as there are few girls there, and especially few foreign ones, me, Red Cross and Bendy Girl got quite a few stares. Training was hard and very good. We had a very sweet trainer named Wang Qiao, who was about 20. Our days were as follows: at 6.30 we had a morning jog to the nearby Shaolin Temple, where we did morning training and strength exercises until about 7.45. After breakfast, the next  training session was from 9 AM to 11.30. Lunch was long, and the next session wasn't until 14.30, and lasted to 17.00. All in all, we trained about 6 hours every day, which was quite a shock to our bodies the first few days. It was painful, but eventually we got used to it! It was a very good experience, and it would have been nice to stay there even longer than we did. We only stayed for 10 days, and after that, we took the train to Xi'an.

We stayed a few days in Xi'an, and Red Cross and Bendy Girl were very pleased. After a long time in the countryside, with loads of dirt and few shops, it was nice to stay in a hotel close to a shopping street with loads of food and clothes and other things. It was a very nice city indeed! By this time I was very tired of living out of a backpack, as most of the class were, but I still enjoyed shopping  for some new clothes and gifts. In Xi'an, apart from relaxing shopping, and visiting Mount Hua, we also went to see the Terracotta Army. We went on a weekend, during a public holiday, so the place was super cramped and very hot and stuffy. You had to queue up and push your way through loads of people to be able to see anything, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Finally, we took the train back to Beijing and stayed there for a few more days, visiting martial arts shops, tea markets and so on. By the end of it, I was happy that I'd be going home so I wouldn't have to live out of a bag any more, but sad to be leaving China. I got to practise my Chinese every day (in fact, the circumstances forced me to, seeing as I could gesture and get what I want in 30 minutes, or try to use Chinese and get  it in less than five). I would've liked to stay longer, if I didn't have to keep all my things in one backpack  that I travelled around with. All in all, a very good trip!

Nowadays, we are doing our final activities; packing, cleaning the dorms and classrooms, preparing for our graduation ceremony and so on. Always busy! I'm very much looking forward to the summer, to be done with this packing and staying in one place for a while. As the title states, it'll be my last post for now, not sure if I'll restart again soon, but if I do it'll be with a schedule that includes regular blogging! So with that, I'd like to thank whoever is reading for reading, and say goodbye for now!

-HMM
Our Beijing hotel room
The Great Wall

The Ming Tombs

View from The Ming Tombs

The Forbidden City

Gardens in the Summer Palace

Giant Buddha at Longmen Grottoes

Outside the Longmen Grottoes

Tagou Old School

View from Mount Hua

Om nom nom nom

Monday, March 17, 2014

0 days until China

Posted by 雯雯 at 9:22 AM 0 comments
Yes indeed, 0 days! I'm still at school, but in 30 minutes or so I'll be heading to the parking lot with my backpack, ready to go to the airport. It doesn't seem like I've been at school so long, but here I am, ready for the trip. Well I don't feel ready. I've got some shopping lists and directions, and some Chinese knowledge, but it doesn't feel quite enough. But I will do my best!

What I'm most looking forward to is probably the food, though it'll be really nice to just have Chinese all around me as well, on signs and on peoples' mouths. I'm a bit worried about the 10 days of training we're having in Dengfeng, but I'm sure I'll survive. I've recently been sick, so I haven't had the energy to do extra training, but hopefully I'll be all well again for when the training starts. Before that, I've agreed with Bendy Girl to do morning jogs (at least morning walks!) to explore a bit, so maybe my shape will improve slightly.

Well, not much to say now really, now that I'm so close to the trip. But I will say, I'll be careful, and try to take pictures which I can upload afterwards. Bye bye for now!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

12 days until China

Posted by 雯雯 at 4:50 PM 0 comments
Time sure flies! Only 12 days remain until we leave for China.
Since last time, we finished our group project. I did end up playing in the band, which was cool and fun. I was quite tired at the end of it though, and was very happy to get a week's holiday.

I'm back now though, and we've resumed regular lessons. In Chinese, we are preparing for going to China by practising loads of useful sentences and situations. I made sure to study during the break too, so I feel if anything my Chinese had improved over the break, but not everyone had. One thing I didn't do enough of though was exercise, which I noticed quite well when we had our first taolu lesson after the break. After 2 minutes of warming up, my heart was racing and I was dead tired. Even though we were playing tag, I didn't really run more than I needed too. Luckily, it seemed like most everyone else was in the same situation as me. In taolu we are currently, and since before the break, been practising with staves. It's quite fun, even if I still hit myself occasionally. It's all worth it though, especially when I manage to swing the staff around with a big swoosh noise!

I'm trying hard to keep on top of all the things I need to do, but it makes me pretty tired. I've taken to having midday naps after dinner because I'm so sleepy and tired after the day is done. I hope I get an opportunity to rest well this weekend!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

43 days until China

Posted by 雯雯 at 1:03 PM 0 comments
By my count, it's about 43 days until I go to China, so I better start blogging again!
The time before Christmas, and after new year, has been very hectic. My laptop stopped working, for one, at least the screen did. I'll do a short recap of the rest of the stuff that happened since my last post:

1. The China Class' Student Evening
I'd like to say it went without a hitch, but true to the China Class' reputation there were loads of bumps and plenty of improvisation. Regardless, the entire class had a good time, so I think it went well anyway. The food was pretty good too, and the PE hall looked very nice. I made some pretend-serious calligraphy wall scrolls with my sub-par handwriting with inscriptions like "Fried Rice" and "A Deep Sentence". I brought "Fried Rice" to my room  after we were done to fill up my wall a bit, it looks good, right?

Fried Rice. I personally prefer noodles!
Other things that happened during the student evening: a delayed start, a sprained ankle, a broadsword flying into the audience, nobody singing along to the sing-along, Red Cross stumbling on her dress during the dance, and us making FT (teacher) wear a Eeyore costume in a game of "Pin the Tail on FT". A good evening, all in all!

2. The actual collection of money for the charity action
The entire school was shipped into Bergen and surrounding areas to ask for money. Because of our obvious charms (cough), the China girls were placed in the best and most crowded area and subsequently collected the most money, winning free cinema tickets. Other people did not have as much luck, with one person from my dorm even being threatened with police since he didn't have an ID card. I can't remember how much we collected, but it wasn't bad at all.

3. Christmas choir performance
Every year, my school has a choir performance. It isn't always pretty, but I had a good time trying to sing with the others. Not everybody is as enthusiastic as me, but we still got through it, and I had a good evening. I went out with Mr. Prepared, Strong Handshake and Sheep for supper. We had some fine Norwegian fast food cuisine, mainly kebabs. It was a good day!

4. Christmas break
I went home for a few days before I left with Mum, Step Dad and Brother to America to visit friends. The entire America trip consisted of eating, shopping and looking at old presidents' houses. I stretched every day due to an agreement with Sheep - whoever misses the most days owed the other a meal (I won hohoho). I returned home Monday evening and got ready for a new semester.

Now, my days are back to the same old routine. My Wednesday elective has changed from guitar to musical (we're making one), and my Friday one from the charity action to tai chi. In taolu classes, we have finished learning a fist form, and have started with a staff form instead. Strong Handshake is pleased beyond measure. I enjoy it too, but quite a few others are not so happy with it after hitting themselves with their staves one time too many. I'm learning to take it easy in sanda too, though I have the most fun when we're just practising take downs and I get to do it with someone my own size. Coming up is the school project, where the entire school participates in arranging a musical (separate from my elective). Auditions for singing/speaking roles are this Wednesday, but I'm signing up for the band. I even brought my tiny pocket trumpet for this purpose. I hope I get in!

Right now, I'm preparing for a presentation. We're getting ready for our China trip, and have started learning about the places we are going to. I'm presenting Zhengzhou, but sadly, very little has happened in Zhengzhou city to tell of. That'll make my presentation all the more exciting, I'm sure. Well, I better get back to that!

02.02.2014

 

~ sponge ~ Copyright © 2010 Design by Ipietoon Blogger Template Graphic from Enakei