I haven't blogged in 2 weeks and it's been a pretty weird 2 weeks. We went to Beijing for that performance which was also a competition of sorts apparently, sort of like China's Got Talent, and we won...unfortunately. Which means we have another round and then if we win that too, we appear on the Chinese New Year special. It's a huge deal actually, 800 million people watch that show, I just can't get excited. As a result of all this, we've all had to re-organize our Christmas breaks (some people are going to miss Christmas at home) 2 times already. It's incredibly awkward because it's obviously really important to Shifu but most of us would really rather not deal with the hassle. We've all been quite respectful but there have been a few uncomfortable conversations and he pointedly reminded us that we signed a contract for this program where we agreed to do performances and interviews. So after all this mess, I finally have a clear idea of what to write here: I'm coming home at the end of October and leaving just after Christmas! I'm sure it's obvious but I can't wait to get out of here, this has all been pretty stressful and I can't wait to see my family and friends again. Yay!

Only one month to go now...

Reading last weeks post makes me cringe a little but it was true for me at the time and I'll probably feel that way again in the next year. This week shifu taught us a new qi gong called the Crane Standing Qigong and it's amazing what a difference that has made for my state of mind. Learning something new is cool, learning this in particular is awesome. It's pretty difficult actually and requires tons of focus but is very calming, just what I need right now. I know I will be practicing this every chance I get for the next little while. It's definitely something that if I was to practice it alone in a park at home, people would think I was a little crazy, but one of the great things about China is that people do all sorts of weird things in public and they're completely unselfconscious about it too. There are many things I don't like about living here, but that is one of the pluses, people really don't care too much about looking foolish. It can be quite refreshing.