Call me Kung Fu Panda

I am a Kung Fu master! Well at least on the right path. This morning we had our fist kung fu lesson. We started of by running a few laps. When we tried to cut a few our nmaster got a bit upset. He was a little ijtense and scary but eventualy he warmed up to us. Let me tell you kung fu is one hard sport. The physical strengh it takes is amazing. After our lesson we got a tour of the school. Let's just say I wouldn't last long in those conditions. They do six hours of kung fu a day and go to school too.
We got to see some first class kung fu at a special performance tonight. We met some of the performers before hand. They are the same age as me and have been training for six to seven years already. The show was beautiful since it was set in the mountains with beautiful lights. the show was beautiful and truly brought peace to us. We were all very ready for bed after. Got to get to bed we have an early wake up call to pray and eat with the monks. Ill let you know how it goes tom:)

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A Day. Of Firsts

What an exciting day we had. So many first time experiances. I rode on my first overnight train. While I had to take medication for the motionsickness, everything eles went great. Four of us girls stayed in a very tiny room together. Like most nights we stayed up to late and ate to much junk food. Soon we arrived in Luoyang. We all went to a very nice hotel to freshen up and eat breakfest. Before we knew it the head of tourism for Luoyang was welcoming us and giving us gifts. After a lengthy drive we finally made it to the famouse shoalin tempel. We met the head monk and got a breif history of the tempel. We finally got to sing him our Chinesse song which we had worked very hard on. To say the least he was impressed. Next we went to visit the kung fu school. What a crazy place that is! So many kids and so many amazing moves. Tom will be exciting since we will recive a private kung fu lesson from a kung fu master! Check back in tom and see how the lesson went!

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Rush hour all day longgg

Currently we are sitting in a traffic jam on the way back Bejing. Let me tell you driving here is crazy! People are everywhere walking in the street while cars are wizzing past them. I am a small town girl from Wisconsin but even for the new jersey kids this traffic is startling. I just hope not to get hit every time I cross the street. Maybe a little time away from this craziness will be good for my blood pressure.

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Saying goodbye to Chengd

Today we leave Chengd and head back to Bejing. The most interesting part is that Chengd is considered a small town at two hundred thousand. I live in Verona, Wisconsin population ten thousand. While here we had some amazing experiences. Climbing the great wall will forever stay in my mind not only for the amazing sights but the sense of pride that we had completed a very taxing hike physically and mentally. We stayed in a beautiful four star hotel and enjoyed a very hard deep nights sleep. We got up and enjoyed the summer palace and paper cutting. The true excitement came at night. We went to a very fancy five star restaurant and enjoyed a great meal. We thought we were just dinning but had no idea about the performance we were about to experience. We had so much fun dancing and leading congo lines through the restaurant! That night we had ladies night. All the girls got together ate junk food talked and shared lots of laughs. It will be a night we will never forget. After a good nights sleep we went to a beautiful temple. After hiking the four hundred steps to the top we enjoyed a panoramic view that was incredible. The views and sights we have seen this trip so far are once in a lifetime. I can only hope the rest of this trip is this exciting!

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A World of Differences

What a cultural difference! This experiance has opened up a whole new world to me. While I have traveled a fair amount and consider myself fairly cultural there is nothing like truly being surronded by a different culture. Through this experiance you relize so much about yourself and learn to appreciate more what you have. We have talked to many young people who are only children, while at times I may hate my brother I couldn't imagin being an only child.
I have also been blessed to grow up never really wanting for much. Like many Amerians I never understood how high our standard of living truly is. When visiting the house of a local women in Bejing I asked if this was an average sized house. I was very surprised that in fact it was huge for a typical house. Even more surprising was that houses are rare in a large city in Bejing. The amount of people of the street don't come from much. However, they are extreamly happy.
This is a similarity I did not expect to find. Many Chinesse tend to not smile in photos. However, they are extreamly friendly. Like a typical Midwest girl I love nothing more than saying hello and waving at people. The Chinesse people are very friendly in responses. It just goes to show that no matter where you are in the world everybody understands a friendly smile and a kind wave.

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Paper Cutting Adventure

Wow what an art! Today we witnessed an extraordinary art form. In China paper cutting is a traditional art form. Typically paper cutting is performed by women because they have more patience and are more delicate. The women we met today owns her own business here in Chengde. She is considered on of the top paper cutters in the nation. Some of her pieces are so beautiful and colourful. After a quick demo and showing us some of her works she allowed us to try paper cutting on our own. She drew out designs for us and gave us special scissors to cut. While the paper cut outs we did were not as impressive as the master who trained us, I was very impressed with every ones cut outs. It was so interesting to see this ancient art and experience it first hand. This trip is a true adventure with all the amazing first hand experiences we have had! Thanks so much Discovery Student Adventures for the experience!

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The Hike of a Lifetime

Today was a day I will truly never forget. We started early with a five a.m. Wake up call. We packed up our camp and were on our way. The hike was long and hard. Some turned back however, all of us students trooped through. The hike in total took five hours. We hiked hills we thaught were impossible, got lost in a maze of corn, but most importantly we left feeling like we could do anything. The sights that we saw were postcard worthy. The rolling mountians and lush greenery was a sight to see. I have camped a lot and done a fair amount of hiking, this experiance by far trumps anyother experiance I've ever had. It is time for a well deserved nap and shower.

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