Ordeals in China

So I'm realizing that we've been really spoiled so far.

We've been travelling in big cities with lots of other foreigners where many people speak at least a little english. The hostels were awesome and helpful and clean. Right now we're in Luoyang which is near the Shaolin temple which we're going to see today. This city is not like the others! It's dirty and very Chinese. We had an extremely difficult time trying to buy our ticket to get out of here yesterday. Our chinese is apparently so bad that noone could understand us and we couldn't understand them either. We were reduced to pointing at the words in our lonely planet and my mandarin phrasebook. It was really frustrating and also kind of lonely. i'm so grateful that Mel and I are together to make things like that so much less scary.

I can't wait to get to Wudang and start training. Traveling is fun but I'm used to getting more exercise and I'm feeling a bit out of sorts. It's also weird having such unstructured days. I don't think I like it. Luckily we will be there tomorrow. Yay!

Adventures in Shanghai

So we have spent a couple of days in Shanghai now. It's an interesting city. There are such contrasts in the different areas. From poverty to affluence, modern to old, you can see a cross section of all kinds here.

Traveling has been really good. Mel and I have managed to get around really well (with lots of help from the staff at our hostel) and everything is going much more smoothly than I'd prepared myself for. It's even been really easy to find vegetarian food so far. We were both really jet lagged until about today and actually bickered a lot yesterday while making our way around on the metro. I'm surprised and things are both not at all what I expected and at the same time exactly what I would have imagined. It's really hard to explain....

Today we went to Yufo temple which is a buddhist temple in shanghai with a jade statue of the buddha that was apparently brought back from Thailand by a local monk way back in the day. We couldn't take pictures of it but trust me when I say that it was beautiful! There's definitely something about that particular statue. As we stood and looked at it I felt very moved, almost to the point of tears, which is odd for me. I don't consider myself to be buddhist but there are certain things about buddhism that I've always liked. The buddha said to find your own path and that is what I try to do. He also said not to worship him and so I've always thought that people praying to statues of the buddha went against what he said. Today though I found myself very moved by one of these statues. It really spoke to me. Does that mean that I've been wrong all this time. Perhaps there really is something to traditional buddhist practices? It's really given me something to think about.

I'm reading Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh and there are certain things in there that I'm feeling confused by. I'm definitely not an authority on buddhist thought but I always thought that the idea was to neither avoid unpleasantness or be attached to pleasure. In this book however he speaks of cultivating pleasant feelings and the positive impact you can have on the world by doing so. I've found this a bit hard to understand. It seems contradictory to me but perhaps this is this mans particular way of living and he's following his own path....?

Anyways, with no work or distractions in my day I'm having lots of time to contemplate. It's really nice. Tonight we head off to Beijing and I am excited to see how it is different.

Until then...

Tokyo yo!

So we are here. We finally made it after about 20 hours in transit. We were so tired last night that we checked in to our hostel and then just showered and ate and went to bed by 730. We wandered around a bit looking for a place to eat and came across this totally awesome little noodle soup place where you order and then stand at the bar and slurp your noodles. They didn't speak any english but we managed to order by pointing and gesturing and saying the few words we know in Japanese. Soba! Tempura! yeah.....

Today we have big plans to explore a bunch. We're really excited! I do not have words to express how incredibly massive Tokyo is. We took the train from the airport for an hour and a half and still haven't even made it to the heart of the city yet! It's absolutely insane!

But we must begin our day. Miss you all already!

whew.

Ok so I leave in 3 days and although I'm still nervous, I'm feeling better. Yesterday the bank called me because there was a problem with the money wire that I sent to China. I was so worried! I managed to work myself up into a pretty anxious state thinking about all the things that could go wrong from there and lots of what ifs. It turns out that the money is already in China but they can't release it unless they have the correct name for the recipient. So I got that information and it should be all good now. I had myself all worked up over something fairly minor. It's funny now.

Yesterday a co-worker gave me some very helpful words. She said that the reason traveling changes you so much is that it takes you out of your comfort zone. You have to be flexible and open to opportunities and changes because things don't always go the way you planned. She said that sometimes you may be disappointed if something doesn't work out but it may create a whole new adventure for you that you'd never imagined before. She said that dealing with these challenges is what makes you grow into a better person and growing is often uncomfortable. She said that this was the beginning of my adventure to deal with the bank and that the changes were already starting. It made me feel a lot better to hear that. She's right, I'm going to have to do things that I don't like and I'll be better for it. So I guess I'd better get used to it now!

Also thanks Sifu Playter for your comment on my last post. I keep reminding myself to be bold, it helps.

Overall everyone has been great. Very supportive. I'm going to miss you all and be really excited to see you when I come back!

ahhhhh!

Is it normal to be really nervous and full of doubts the week before you leave on a huge trip? I'm trying to stay positive and feel excited but I'm kind of freaking out a bit inside. There's nothing that I can think of that could happen that we couldn't deal with but I still have this feeling of general anxiety. I sure hope it goes away soon!

I think we have everything we need and are prepared well...so why is my stomach in knots? I guess it could be partly because I'm super busy right up until the day we leave so it's a lot to remember and take care of.

Anyways, I must go to work. I'll let you know when I start to feel better.

Fire in my belly

I felt really good at class tonight. There's definitely a momentum building at the school, it's almost palpable.

I've decided on my charitable project for my China trip. I did some research and discovered that there is an orphanage in the town we're staying in so my sister Melanie and I are going to volunteer there to spend time with the kids and also help out if there's any supplies they need. Today I bought a video camera (which is funny because we were given a video project in class tonight) so I can film not only the orphanage but our trip in general. I hope to make it into a movie when I get back (with a bit of help) so that everyone who wants to can see what we experienced.

I'm getting so excited! Partly about the trip and partly about being a student member of UBBT 6 which starts between now and January. I'm a bit nervous just because I'll be away when it starts so I won't have that much access to Master Brinker and the rest of the team if I need help or advice. I'll be posting at least once a week though so I won't be totally cut off and I'm sure I'll be able to get the training in since that's pretty much all we'll be doing for most of the trip. I'm really looking forward to the meditation aspect of it. I've tried meditation before and I've only felt "successful" at it a couple of times, mostly I get distracted. At Wudang though we'll be meditating every day for over an hour with an experienced taoist teacher. I'll be so peaceful and serene when I get back!

I'm reading this really great book right now that I highly recommend. It's called On the Warrior's Path by Daniele Bolelli. It's interesting because although I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, there are certain parts that put into words so perfectly what the martial arts are really about. I was reading it this morning and was almost in tears because I was so moved and inspired by one chapter in particular. I hope that I can develop as much eloquence, honesty, and grace in expressing myself as this author has. Check it out, it's worth a read.

"Forging spirit and character can take years but it is only the preparation before the real battle. Many people train and prepare by walking along the way of the warrior, but never discover, or maybe just forget, what battle they have been training for. The battle rages in front of their eyes and they don't even realize it. The small psychodramas of daily life distract them to the point of taking away their global vision and making them forget why they set out walking along the warriors path in the first place. The battle is against mental limits, dullness, short-sightedness. It is against resignation, greed, sadness. Against all those powers that separate human beings from happiness. The warrior doesn't walk into battle only for himself. The warrior fights for everything and everyone. He views the destiny of the entire planet as a personal matter. As a warrior you are given weapons very few people posses. The self-confidence of a wild animal, a spirit that can't be broken, the tranquility of one whose roots are too deep to be disturbed by minor events. If you don't change the world, certainly nobody else will."

ninja!

I'm really getting excited about my trip. I leave on the 20th and it'll be a busy few weeks until then. I'm making an effort to see everyone I can before I go and take care of things you should do before a long trip like go to the dentist and all that fun stuff. So it's gonna be pretty crazy until then.

We have a 2 day layover in Tokyo on the way there and we booked our hostel for it the other night. I'm so stoked. We're going to pig out on sushi and ramen! I love Japanese food. We're also going to check out some shinto shrines. Hopefully we can see an anime while we're there too! Then it's on to Shanghai. From there we'll be travelling up the coast by train to Beijing to see the sights and meet up with a few friends. Then we go to see the Shaolin temple and some buddhist sights before we make our way to the place we'll be training for 3 months.

On a side note a lovely friend made me an adorable little stuffed ninja as a going away gift. It's super cute! Thanks Rhonda.

I'll be featuring this little guy in my travel pictures so you'll see him again.