August 24th - A Strange Return

Tonight's sky, a mix of blues, reds, and greys... maybe a dragon is up there.

Returning to Maling Kung Fu School ~ 回来马陵山弘禅武校

Coming back to the school wasn't like how I thought it would be. Even though I had an amazing time with my classmates and girlfriend in Shanghai; I was ready for training. Ready for challenges. Ready for progress. Just Josh, Matt, and I came back as the others (JD and Philip) were waiting to come back Thursday. Arriving in Xinyi, we grabbed some steamed buns then got into a taxi for what seemed like a long drive. Our area had really turned into a lush green valley of farms and tree lines combined with the great weather was beautiful. As we pulled up to the gate something wasn't right.

It was really quiet.

Checked out Shake Shack in Shanghai, their Shanghai Shake is good.

All of us settled in and said hello to Mama Bao (our Ayi). We looked for Emmanuel or Master Peng, or anyone really. Soon, we discovered that Emmanuel went home, two of the dogs were sold, and the Masters were preparing for a performance tomorrow... a performance that I had to partake in. It wasn't going to be a normal week.

Our Monday was spent cleaning the school, repairing somethings, and settling back in. Josh is already thinking of heading home early while the other guys are talking about a plan of going to a language school for the winter. Which means it would just be me for the winter unless I found another Kung Fu school to go to for those winter months or go with them to the language school to learn more Chinese.

Kinda kicking myself hoping for challenges as that is what life has handed me. A challenging looking week. At least I finally feel healthy, not stronger, but I do feel like I have energy to do a lot. Let's hope this energy gets used well tomorrow.

My mind is still on those really fast Shanghai days. Food, walking, talking, laughing, exploring, picture taking. So much fun, I didn't have to worry about my money, kung fu, class, visa, or even what day it was. I just lived in the moment. What is great is all of us had a different "Shanghai Experience" because we just did whatever we wanted. So we're all telling each other stories about the same city but about completely different events.

This is just me winding down I suppose. It's Monday, let the "normal adventure" continue again. 

Hope you're all doing well!

Keep Living Freely