May 3rd - Relaxing Fog and Master Dog

My organized room

Morning Mumblings 🐕

I finally encountered that "mystical landscape" that you'd see in the Kung Fu films, and it was all thanks to a dog. You see, part of coming to China and learning Kung Fu is training is the beautiful, natural landscapes that China has dotted all around. For my time here, I still hadn't found that "magical place" and I thought the nearby Maling Mountain would be it (but I have yet to go there).

But, this morning came and I had to walk Master Peng's dog, Hachi. It was on this walk that I found the "magical landscape"... it was just around the school. The combination of fog, spring/summer weather, cool morning breeze, and quiet stillness is what brought it all together. It looked exactly like how I pictured "Kung Fu China". It is strange, though, how different a place can look by just going out at a different time under different conditions. Instead of farms as far as the eye could see, the fog covered tea fields looked ominous as if there were secrets inside, the fields of grain and flowers seemed to go on forever as they disappeared into the thick mist.

Another Foggy Morning in China

The dog and I kept walking as my mind flowed from one thought to the next, weaving stories together and connecting past ideas with my present situation.

The others were right, sometimes a truly relaxing weekend is just what our bodies and minds need.

Hachi, Master Peng's Dog

Evening Reflections 🌝

Our Afternoon/Evening turned out to be very fun. I managed to get in some staff training for about 1-2 hours, it was so hot though that I was covered in sweat within minutes of practicing. I think I'm getting better at 少林阴手棍 but I'm not too sure. We have a test coming up on the 15th so I need to be prepared as I will be testing two weapons next time, the staff and the broadsword.

All of us crazy Kung Fu Students

After training, we all then got ready to head to Wang Zhuang for dinner. Some people also had to get some essentials like clothes, tools, and groceries so we knew we'd be in town for a while. It was a slower, quieter day in Wang Zhuang as the Chinese Labor Day was coming to an end. A quick walk around the town revealed to us that some new places were opening up and a few more street vendors were out. This led me to keep an eye out for street food that I knew about like 油条，生煎，包子，and more.

肉夹馍 - aka "Chinese Hamburger"

It wasn't until we went to get some coffee from our "go to" milk tea shop, Chayese, that I recognized a name on a street vendor... that was right in front of the tea shop. 肉夹馍, which is also known as a Chinese Hamburger, was one of the many snacks being sold from this vendor. Immediately, I bought one and after the other students saw what I was buying, they too wanted some. I think we got 6-7 in total but man they were so good.

沙县小吃 - Our "go to" spot for dumplings and noodles

So after coffees, milk teas, fruit drinks, and Chinese hamburgers were bought we all went out searching for various things to buy; its also just nice to walk around town on a really hot day sipping a cool drink. I did forget to mention that before we went to the milk tea place we went to a new burger place that opened up, the inside was really professional looking but the food and menu were your typical fast food choices. I was told the ice cream was good though so I'll keep that in mind.

牛肉酸辣粉 - Beef Sour Spicy Noodles

I'll say it ahead of time, sorry for messing up the order Josh, Matt and Raja. We went to our usual dumpling/noodle place for actual dinner. It was getting late, everyone had all that they needed bought so it was a good way to end the day. I learned some new Chinese along the way and ate some good food. Even though I messed up ordering 水饺 and 蒸饺, which are very different kinds of dumplings, they still enjoyed it.

水饺 - Boiled Dumplings

Then it was time to head back to the Kung Fu School where I spent my evening taking care of Hachi and playing some video games before hitting the sack. It truly was a nice weekend even though I feel weird not training, studying, or doing much of anything. We will see how this affects my body for training this week, hopefully it helps and not hinders.

How has your weekend been? Hopefully relaxing. 🎵

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