One of the cool things about living as an expat in China is that adventure is around every corner, or sometimes even living upstairs. This particular adventure came in the form of my neighbor, "Laura".
So, one evening as I was preparing for the next day's class, I got a knock on the door. Now, the only person who knocks on my door with any sort of regularity is my Scottish friend Ross, so I figured it was probably him. However, I have since found that the Chinese people don't have the same etiquette rules that the US has about turning up unannounced at someone's home. So, to my mild surprise, instead of Ross, I found a Chinese girl about my age with two ten-year-olds in tow. Since they didn't really seem to have any actual purpose for being there, I guess I was just supposed to invite them in, so I did. We got to talking about life in China and whatnot, and somehow the topic of Wushu came up, and I mentioned that I wanted to learn some while I was here.
Well, it turns out that her father is some sort of champion martial artist, and her "Shu Shu" (Uncle, but no actual relation) is a rather talented Wushu instructor. How convenient! So, I have now been to two "classes" from this guy now, one of which was (surprise!) private, and taught by both her father and her Shushu. The classes are held at night, under a single yellow lamp, in the courtyard in front of a machine factory that the teacher owns. They are also delivered in rapid local Chinese, and so about 80% of the words go over my head, but I understand very clearly when the teacher grabs my arm and puts it somewhere else. And they have refused any effort to pay them, so I simply bring them occasional gifts instead. The whole thing feels rather like a scene from The Karate Kid, except that we're in China. And also, instead of being a cheesy 80's movie, it is awesome.(I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. The Karate Kid is awesome, too.)
So, you all can feel free to start making Jackson Davis jokes whenever you like.
7 comments:
Jackson, do you speak Mandarin? I am just wondering how you communicate with these people. I did not think there would be much English proficiency where you are.
Yes, to be honest, there isn't all that much English being thrown about. I (thankfully) took some Mandarin classes before I came, and while it is still fairly shaky, living here has certainly given me a chance to greatly improve, and I feel like I've already at least doubled my ability to speak since I've been here. It helps that most of my friends don't speak English very well.
That being said, it turns out Laura speaks some English, so she was able to translate for me occasionally during the wushu classes. This was very useful, as I don't even know much about the flow of Qi throughout the body in English, much less in Henan dialect...
Although this week she's not coming, so I'm on my own! I'm nervous.
Although, that being said, everyone else seems to get along fine without it.
Looking foward to hear you speak Henan Dialect Chinese
when i first came to US more than 3 years ago, i always wished my female next door neighbor come knock my door and gave me some sort of free US experience of any kind. Of course that never happened. But i am happy to hear that you have some good experience there.
Little Flower
Do you know the name of the art you are studying?
I actually am not quite sure, although I am aware that I am definitely starting with the basics. The guy uses a lot of terminology that I don't really understand, about things like "8 steps" and "twelve styles" and all these sorts of animal-styles. A bit confusing, really. Plus, I haven't gone in a few weeks, since A) I have been busy with other things, and B) It's freaking freezing and I don't want to go do wushu outside. I get a month break soon, though, so I might try to go back.
Post a Comment