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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Excited for Camping

We are on our way to the camping adventure. This morning we went dragon boating. Sadly our boat lost and it seems like some of us will have to sert up the winning boats tents tonight. I am very interested to see how Chinese campimg is different that American. Check back soon and I'll fill you in on all the excitment!

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A Touch of Home

Hello,
The fun continues!! We are all having so much fun. All of us students get along great and are having a blast. It's great getting to know students from different regions of the United States. Tonight we got to know a different side of China. The artistic side. We went to the 7-9-8 art area. 7-9-8 is a reformed factory that is filled with budding new artists. One of the more interesting observations we made was how liberal some of the art was. The mood of the village was very chill and calming. It was great getting to relax and just walking around enjoying the shops and art. We also had our first American meal of the trip. Other than one secret trip to McDonalds, we have been eating mostly Chinese food, and let me tell you french fries have never tasted so yummy! While all of the Chinese food has been tasty, it is always great to have a familiar food from home. Tomorrow we leave for our camping adventure! We have some first time campers so it should be interesting...stay tuned!

The Journey Begins

Greetings!
What an amazing trip this has been. Let me tell you we have taken Beijng by storm. Our first day has been filled with adventure. To start we went to the Temple of Heaven, than on to Tiananmen Square, and lastly the Forbidden City. One of the more exciting trips we have taken on these first few days has been to an actual Beijing residence. Mrs. Wang kindly invited us into her house. Her house was beautiful, complete with a courtyard in the middle. The most incredible part of the house was the unique significance behind every aspect of the house. One example is that they only have nine and a half rooms. If they had ten they believe it would stop people from having ambitions, since ten rooms represents a complete life. Mrs. Wang was so kind and welcoming, it was a joy meeting her.