Home at last

So as I brag about my adventures, show my friends the videos, and talk about my trip, I try to convince myself that I was actually in China. I frequently look at pictures and think back, did I really do that? I have to say this has been the opportunity of a lifetime and I will never forget this incredible journey. The people, places, and culture of this incredible country will stay in my heart forever. I have learned so much and have made friends that I long to keep in touch with. I can't thank discovery student adventures enough for this breath taking experience.

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Last day

As I am having breakfeast on the last day of this breath taking trip, I try to take in everything that I have absorbed in this experience. The people, culture, knowledge and aura of this wonderful country. I am blessed to have been able to embark on this journey and have seen things I never could have dreamed of. It is a shame that it is all coming to an end, but at the same time I can't believe I've seen this new part of the world. I really suggest to travel in life because it really opens your eyes and makes you even more greatful for the things you have. You learn so much more of the foreign places you only hear about.

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Passing kung fu school

Hello again from the town where everybody's chi flows like a river throughout their soul (Shaolin). Today was another rise and shine morning. We woke up at five but not for the same reason. We unfortunately did not get to pray with the monks again but we did practice kung fu. We met a warrior monk of Shaolin and we practiced his version of kung fu. This was actually a lot different than the martial arts at little dragon down the road. As I explained in earlier blogs, the two different schools believe in different vaqlues. The monks at Shaolin have a whole spiritual outlook on life that is absent in the dragon kung fu. They learn about their religion and combine the two forces of physical and mental together. The little dragon school is solely physical martial arts and ignores the concept of purity and religion. I respect the monks of Shaolin much more because without the spiritual side of martial arts, there is no point. It loses morals and ethics. The monks live a whole different life style. Although I respect the monks more, I still like the little dragon school. I praise them for their hard work every dayof the week. I also understand why some people would rather not be monks. It is a lot to dedicate yourself and I completely understand the two different views. Its just that the warrior monks are respected more in society.

Anyways, back to the kung fu lesson. We got there in our uniforms and we started off with some chi exercises. He made motions with his hands like he was pushing air from the top of his body to the bottom. I must say, this was my favorite part of the lesson. The warrior monk explained that there is an energy or chi that runs through everyone. If one practices the motion of controlling it every day, he or she will become much stronger. I felt really empowered after this chi movement. I want to continue doing this when I get home. Only if I could rememberthe moves! As the lesson went on, we did various kicks and positions. We did a particular stance that required a lot of leg strength. It was called a horse stance. We all stood with our legs shoulder width apart and bent down with a straight back. We had to stand in this position for two minutes. I have to say that it was a real work out on the legs. This explains why all the monks have beastly, ferocious legs.

When the kung fu was over, we walked throught the pagoda forest of Shaolin temple. This forest was beautiful and right in the heart of nature. This is because the pagoda forest is where the monks are buried when they pass on. They want to be submerssed in the natural beauty of the world and reach that harmony. The pagodas were very interesting. They came in different sizes based on the rank of the monk. The highest rank being seven and the lowest being one. The more respected the monk was, the higher the pagoda would stand. It only came in odd numbers. One, three, five and seven. The reason being that monks live single lives without wives. They must remain alone their whole life. I respect the monks immensely for this incredible task but I don't think I could ever do this. Life is meant to share what you have with someone else. I just don't think I could handle it. Being an only child is lonely enought but to add the lonesome for the rest of your life? I don't think so, at least not for me. This doesn't mean I don't respect and praise them for what they are doing. I just couldn't handle it. Once the pagoda lesson was over, we went back to the hotel for some "breakfurst". It was again really great. We had eggs, bacon, ham, sausage and cheerios! First cereal in two weeks! Since today was full of activities, we had more rest time than usual. After a quick break we went to lunch at the hotel.

Following the grub, it was our time to show that we could do kung fu. We walked back to Shaolin temple and were greeted by two master student warrior monks. We all lined up in pairs and did our routine for them. They would either pass us or fail us (it was apparent that we would all succeed when we saw the premade certificates). We all indeed show our stuff and got the certificates signed by the head monk of Shaolin temple. It said that we graduated from the school in kung fu practice. It was actually really cool and I'm going to frame it for my room.

Another set of down time was set aside for us after our little graduation ceremony. I took a shower and read an article from a magazine that I am actually going to talk about. It was the national geographic magazine issue dedicated to China. I took it on the trip last minute when my mom found it laying around the house (this is a great magazine for people who want to learn more about China. Strongly suggest buying if my blogs are appealing). The article was about a man that was in the peace corps and was sent to China to teach english. The year was 1996 when he first went and he really enjoyed teaching there. It explains how he got the student's perspective of their government in the past. For example, when he asked the students to write about the word hate, he got very many distinct responses. Some explkained how the students hated anyone who tried to bring down what they and their parents have been fighting for. "I hate all the countries in the world that abstruct our country developing" (43). I found this very interesting from the teachers point of view. He also got perspecctives of hate through the history of Chinas past. Although this sounds a bit harsh, the next paragraph was quite startling. It explained how it was common for the students to ask questions about the outsideworld like America. They asked about customs, laws, products, economy and culture. Then the author talked about his present day students that grew up. It explained how "nowadays our students have their own viewpoints and ideas, and they speak about democracy and freedom, independence and rights. I think we fear them more than they fear us." (47). It seems like as the generation from old to new comes forth, new modern ideas are being brainstormed. Who knows, maybe China will model an American based democracy one day. Anyways, it was just interesting to get a viewpoint on the stance of government and how its evolvong in China over the years.

At six sharp, we left the hotel for dinner. This dinner was one of the most memorable dinners of my life. The warrior monks that taught us earlier in the day joined us as well as the kung fu school martial arts masters. I sat next to a monk named Andy as his American name. I have to say, he was one of the nicest guys I have met. He was much friendlier than the teachers at the little dragon school. We talked the whole dinner. I asked how he got into buddhism and why he wanted to go to Shaolin temple. He told me he wanted to be a kung fu master when he was little and joined at age fourteen. He also said that he wanted to be in movies as a kung fu master. I told him he could come stay with me in LA. I asked him a lot of questions about his perspective on the whole monk idea. He said he loves being a monk but he is getting tired of being lonely. Ten years in the temple is a very long time and it seemed like he wanted to graduate pretty soon. He wanted to get on with his life and do something new. He was tired of the same things for so long. He told me about his travels, performances, vacations and much more. I really enjoyed my experience with Andy and the best part was, HE HAD A FACEBOOK! I am now friends with a Shaolin monk on the world wide web of connections-facebook. I couldn't believe it. It was kind of ironic but pleasing at the same time. Kind of like the monk on the motorcycle. I am going to keep in touch with Andy and see what he's up to in a couple of years.

After our last dinner in Shaolin, we went back to the temple and got to participate in one of the greatest shows I have ever seen. Students from both Shaolin temple and the little dragon school all came into one room to put together the show of a lifetime. It was also very nice to see the warrior monks together with the little dragon kung fu students. It was like we were all together in harmony regardless of what our beliefs were. It started off kind of like a talent show with kids singing different songs. We got up there and we sang our shaolin song. Riley went up and sang a song from our group as well. I got up on stage and did a backflip and then left. They seemed to like every performance that we gave them. As the show continued, the warrior monks showed off their years of practice. Everything from swords to sticks, backflips to frontflips. The moves were amazing. Then there was one group of monks that imitated animals of the Chinese zodiac signs. It was like an animal style of kung fu. Although some animals were left out, it was really easy to distinguish the different animals. One of the rules of monks is that they can't kill any animals. They respect nature as it is and let them be. The acrobatics were absolutely baffling. One monk did some back handsprings into a backflip 360. It was the craziest flip I have seen. They would also jump really high and flip andf just land straight on their back. I don't know how they did it. The show was a great finale to the wonderful stay at Shaolin temple. I learned so much about the culture and now I can really appreciate hearing things about monks. A whole new window of the world has been opened with this opportunity. That is the great thing about traveling. Its like getting a new pair of eyes that are a totally different color. You see shades that you thought never existed. This will stay in my head for the rest of my life. I really dread leaving this awesome trip. Tomorrow is another travel day as we depart to Beijing. Looking forward to the duck dinner.

Goodbye from the last time in the magical Shaolin temple.

Any questions my email is runnerboy444@aol.com

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Day in the life of a monk?

I guess you could say today's hours were used to the fullest. We woke up at four thirty in the morning to pray with the shaolin monks. It was very hard on the legs to stan for a long period of time, but once we were finished, it was like no other feeling in the world. The monks sang and prayed in an ancient language called sanskrit. No one understood what they were saying, but the music that they made was very peaceful. The singer had a unique voice that I have never heard before. What amazed me about these monk rituals is that they do this every day of their lives. What astounded me even more was that there were boys in the temple reading and trying to learn this ancient language. They had the drive to do this every day and maintain this urge to be peaceful on this earth. I look up to these boys for their determination in their faith. As we closed the ceremony, a great feeling of peace and harmony overwhelmed me. I thought about it and I wonder how these monks feel doing it every single morning. Their bodies must be pure because after one hour of this monk ritual I felt very calm.

The next thing with the monks was breakfeast in the dining hall. This was no ordinary orange chicken amd sprite. Monks can not eat meat so it was a vegetarian breakfeast. The food was surprisingly good and my favorite was the unique drink they gave us. A handful of sugar was poured into a bowl and then they poured soy milk on top of it. It was a sweet warm fulfilling beverage that I really enjoyed. It was much like a warm sweet milkshake. After the breakfeast, we helped sweep the courtyard. We got brooms and cleaned the floor. I thought this was a nice gesture that showed respect on our behalf. It was such an honor to be in that room with the monks and the memory will stay with me forever. The praising of the buddha figure made me think a lot about religion. If you think about it, we are all really connected through our faith. No matter what religion we believe in, there is some sort of god figure we look up to that inspires us to do good in the world. That is of course except for athiests. But it really made me think of the interconnectedness between monks and people half way around the world. Of course there are very big differences, but that is imminent. The important thing is that in some way we have things in common.

Our next event on the agenda was a much appreciated hour of rest at the hotel. It was a perfect time for a nap. Following out brief nap, we were off to kung fu school once again. We practiced our routine that we will be performing in front of hundreds of students tomorrow. With a little more practice, we will be perfect. After practice, we got the deadly weapons out. The instructors brought the swords and sticks. We were broken up into two groups and I ended up in the swords group. The art of kung fu is intricate enough without weapons, but when you add swords into the picture, it gets pretty hectic. At first, I couldn't get the motion of what my instructor was doing but as the lesson went on, I got the hang of it. It amazed me how good the instructors were at all the different weapons.. Our group is really bonding with ther instructors. We were informed that they will join us for dinner our last night in Shaolin. That really pleased us.

Once we were done we went to lunch and rested our quads. The food at lunch was actually better than most meals. We had a lot of meat that was spicy. After lunch, we went back to the hotel again for some rest. I had another enjoyable nap. Its amazibg how much a little power nap can contribute to your energy level. Once the nap was over, we again went back to the little dragon kung fu school. We practiced our routine even more for the upcoming performance.

Can you say best shopportunity ever? After our last practice session of the day, we had one more chance to go shopping. As we saw the students at the kung fu school, I admired their shoes. We all bought the uniforms but we never had a chance to get the shoes. When we got off the bus I saw them in the window and flipped out. I went straight into the store and asked how much they were. They were actually really expensive........NOT. They were four dollars for one pair of shoes! I bought three pairs on the spot! It was the sprinkle on the cake. The cake was far more spiritual than the sprinkles. It was just a nice topping off of the day.

Dinner was another cultural experience that enlightens my knowledge of China. Conversations about schools, tradition, morals, ethics and symbolism are so fascinating. I would really like to keep in touch with the tour guides in case I return to this amazing country. I am so honored to be on this trip and I have learned so much. I'm looking forward to another experience with the monks tomorrow and I will be extremely devastated when I leave.

Sai jain

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China pictures round two

From Daniel's Photos #dsac09

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From Daniel's Photos #dsac09

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From Daniel's Photos #dsac09

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From Daniel's Photos #dsac09

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From Daniel's Photos #dsac09

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Kung Fu master

Giant buddha at Longmen grottoes

Monk and me

cleaning after monk ritual

kung fu performers at shaolin show

Day 9 can you say kung fu?

I don't think anyone would classify getting whooped by kung fu master and having sore legs the rest of the day fun, but I personally had the time of my life. We can talk about that later. To start the day off, we woke up at six thirty and headed for breakfeast at seven fifteen. As my roommate drew and I woke up, we found that the toilet and the shower were in the same area. When you took a shower, the toilet was right next to you. The whole floor becomes a swamp of water. I have never seen anything like it. I guess the Chinese wanted their guests to kill two birds with one stone (cory key). Anyways, breakfeast was another American treat. We had cereal, fruit, eggs, and the best of all-sausage. The food situation is very funny when you spend two weeks in China. You get used to the same meals every day and then when you get the opportunity for American food, there is no hesitation. One night our group was informed by
Our guide that dinner was to be served at mcdonalds. The best part was that it was all you can eat. I don't usually eat much fast food but this was heaven.

After breakfeast, we headed to the dragon kung fu school. We were introduced to our instructors and we began our lesson. We started off with a warm up run around the courtyard outside. It was about fifteen minutes straight jogging. After the warm up we began our routines. I did martial arts before this experience, and let me tell you that this kung fu style is different than anything I have ever seen before. We started off in positions and we had to follow what our instructor demonstrated. Some positions were strenous on the unstreched appendage. It was very tiring and it was the most I have sweated in a very long time. (Water polo-no sweat in pool). Our instructor seemed like a nice guy on the beginning of the lesson, but jeez don't ever judge a book by its cover. He was probably one of the most intense people I have ever seen in my seventeen years of life. If someone didn't do the position right, he would clap his hands and give you the death stare until you fixed it. He was beyond intimidating. As the lesson went on, the true colors of this master came into play. He laughed with us and smiled occasionally. The intense face just shows how serious the people take their sport. He shows no emotion when he bends his body like no other. This experience really had a huge impact on me. As stated before, I live for the physical things in life. Martial arts is a hobby of mine that I wish I could do more of, but unfortunately there is only so muchj time in one day. As others wanted it to stop, I begged for more. It was absolutely breath taking.

After the battering of the quadriceps for two hours, we explored where the students live. It was said that the living arrangements range from two to twelve people in one room. It is based how much the student pays. These students lived a very simple life. They practiced kung fu and went to school every day. This dynamic duo of physical and mental progress really mends these children into a bath of discipline. The school teaches them morals and standards to live by. They are excellent at what they do and the love ot do it. That is something I want in life. To love what I do in society and be the best I can be at whatever that may be. I respect all these students and look up to them. Next, we went into a classroom and observed their learnin. We actually intruded and talked with the students. Then we exchanged songs. Ours was twinkle twinkle little star. They seemed to really enjoy it. We then taught them some english and they said I love you do you love me? It was very cute I must say. Once we saw the institution as a whole, we went back to the inn for a well deserved rest. We had five hours to relax and shower.

Dinner was actually really good today. We had some sort of spicy beef with salad and and other plates of food. We once again sat with our chinese staff as opposed to the other girls. Learning about their past is like looking through a time warp of China. I get so much information about the communist country just by listening to their pasts. I asked ping (wonderful tour guide) about how the society feels about being communist right now and whether it will change in the future. She explained that the older generation living right now would find it devastating to change it because when they were living, they faught for a new kind of government. It was a revolution against the old repressive government. The people don't want to change because it was what they fought for when they were younger. She explained that kaybe in future generations, change might come. I found it interesting to see how the communism has changed over the years. It has become much less strict than in the past. What also was very interesting was that she said communism is just a label but in truth, China is becoming more and more like the western world. We also talked about health care and how it has gotten better, but still needs a lot of work. These conversations with the insight of the Chinese really interest me. You learn so much just by talkibg with the locals.

Our next destination was a kung fu show at a mountain side near Shaolin. There were monks meditating on rocks, lights, action scenes and many more. Overall, I enjoyed the show a lot but what I am going to write about is not so much the show itself but its philosophical side. During the show, there was a rock with a projector on it. It displayed different messages from monks and the buddhist religion. One message said that the universe is populated with nothing but mere visuality. At first, I thought this seemed like more of a transcendentalist remark, but then I realized that the monks are very fluid. They stay calm when they live and they live deliberately. They focus on the element of water and how its very important that they use it to keep calm. Thois remark on the wall just makes you think that everything is a visuality its just how different someone perceives it. Two people can see the same thing but it can mean totally different things in opposing eyes. There were several quotes that the monks live by that were bizarre, but once I thought about them, they made sense. The other day when we met the master monk, he was very serious. He rarely laughed or smiled. I asked at dinner why? Ping answered that they do this to keep calm. We Americans on this trip are so full of emotion that sometimes we let it take over us. The monks try to repel this emotion and live very simply. It is a copmmon goal of all of them. I am going to end with onr last idea I got from the show. One monk sat on the rock the entire show. It was ridiculous how long he just sat there while the backround was full of action. Towards the end of the show, he pulled out some beads and just kept on soinning them in his hand. He continued this motion even after we left. I thought this symbolized the eternal after life the monks strive for and why they live such an intricate and both simple life here on earth. The never ending beads in his hand illuminated the reason why they live such a simple and good deed life. They strive to reach nirvana and eventually the heaven that is in everyones heart. I really enjoyed the show and can't wait for some more kung fu tomorrow. Zhi ten

Riley. The iniverse is populated with nothing but mere visuality circl beads

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Teaching kung fu students english and singing twinkle twinkle little star

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