Xiling Gorge (San You Dong)

Took Mum to "San You Dong" today and we took a boat ride in Xiling Gorge...very beautiful. We ate in the Restaurant that is built into the mountain in a cave and had a nice time looking around.

YICHANG

Since the whirlwind of Mums arrival and flying to Beijing we have been hanging in Yichang and spending time with my friends. I like for Mum to see what my life here is like and the wonderful people in my life. Here's a few pictures.


Chinese New Years Eve at Netties house





Chinese New Years Day at Jess's house




Around and about Yichang

Beijing

Well Mum and I have just returned from Beijing. I don't think you can come to China and not see some obvious things such as "The Great Wall" and "The Forbidden City" etc...so we packed our bags and headed for the big smoke :-) 22 million people in one city...WOW...we could not get over how smoothly the traffic ran even in peak hours...Busy, but organised chaos. I pushed my poor Chinese language skills to the limit and got brave enough to tackle Bus, Subway and Taxi...The hotel was great (no English speakers there either)The Great wall was my favourite thing about Beijing..It was very cool to see...3 days was not really enough to do it all...but we saw the main attractions and had quite an adventure.







Video of Mum climbing the great wall :-)

Mum's here !

Mum is here...YAY...Many problems in her arrival....Ticket not booked properly so she was stranded in Shanghai...That is when my friends network kicked into action..I am so very grateful that I have such a support network of friends and work colleagues.
Nettie's sister Helen was amazing in Shanghai. She put mum in a hotel room for the night and booked her on a flight to Wuhan (and much more).Then in Wuhan, Yan Tao's friend Peng Xin accompanied her ALL day and got her to the Wuhan coach station and onto the coach to Yichang...Finally when she arrived here, it had been an amazing networked effort from my friends who all managed to get her here safely and happily :-)We are so, so grateful !
Her first actual day here was packed with things to do, Beautiful gifts and wonderful people...We all headed of to the "Three Gorges Dam" and out for lunch



It didn't stop because that evening Mum also had the chance to visit Mr Liao at a very authentic Chinese Tea rooms and watch him paint. She got to meet my good friends Jess, Mr Zhou and Annie and was given many beautiful gifts from everyone. Mr Liao painted a georgous painting for her and later his whole family arrived and we all ate dinner. I will even include proof of me singing karaoke with young Mr Liao...not everyday you get invited to sing a Chinese love song with a handsome young Chinese man (lol)I only know one Chinese song :-)

Fabulous Foot Massage

Last night I experienced the whole Chinese experience of a foot massage. I have to be honest and say I went into it with my doubts...1) I am very ticklish 2) I feel a little guilty almost having someone wash and massage my feet for me 3)I really just didn't know what to expect. Well I have to say it was fantastic...I really felt very relaxed afterwards and whilst at times I did not know whether to laugh or cry it really felt very good. When I put my shoes on to leave after 70 minutes of some kind of bliss, it literally felt like I was walking on air. They scrape, stretch, hit, cup massage, wash, treat and thoroughly give your feet some deserved attention. You just lay back and sleep, drink green tea, eat oranges, watch TV, whatever and enjoy. It is reflexology and they concentrate on all the different pressure points in your feet to also help benefit the rest of your body and mind..but somehow I don't think Western Reflexology places would be quite the same experience :-)

Whats this white stuff ? SNOW ?

Yes indeed my first taste of snow...it has been very lightly dropping white flakes since yesterday morning. Last night after dinner I went out and enjoyed a walk and it actually snowed more heavily while I was out. As you can see from the pictures this morning I don't think it has snowed much in the night but it is currently still snowing a little. It is very exciting for me. Coming from Perth Western Australia, I have not seen snow before.


My umbrella after walking in the snow last night

Reconnecting

Drumming was easy for me to learn as a child and teenager and I loved it but for many different reasons my heart and spirit went out of my drumming many years ago...somewhere amongst studying it at university, teaching it, playing lots of gigs for little money, struggling to make a living, playing the same songs over and over again etc etc...whenever I played it really just felt like I was going through the motions but not really enjoying it or feeling it. Since I have been here in Yichang, China...I kind of inadvertently got back into drumming....There is no stress involved, I play what I want, when I want and how I want and now combined with some of the knowledge I acquired whilst intensively studying drumming at the "Conservatorium of Music of W.A"..I think my heart has come back to it..I enjoy going to my friends music shop and just playing, more than I think I have enjoyed drumming... ever :-)
I am often asked why I came to Yichang, it is not a major city and other foreigners usually end up finding out about this place and moving here after already spending a few years in other parts of China...but I came straight here and often people wonder how or why? All I can really say is that in a way I felt drawn here and it seems that I am here to reconnect with many things (like Drumming, trusting, friendship and enjoying life etc)...put it all together and it feels like I'm reconnecting with myself.

Happy New Year...

Yan Tao and Shen Qiu (Nettie) Gracious hosts/presenters for the schools New Year Party

This is the men teachers from the office I spend most time in (Junior 3's)They had a very funny dance performance..A couple of the teachers (Mr Su and Mr Ai) I get on well with and even with the language barrier consider them friends :-)They make me laugh (and dance when we all go out)Great fun!

Another performance :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR !
I am officially on my holidays and I thought things would slow down a little but I think they have got more busy :-)
Last night was the first time in I don't know how many years that I saw the New Year in and was with friends to welcome 2009. In the early afternoon I attended the school New Year party with great games and performances by teachers then we all went and had dinner at a restaurant. After that I caught my first Chinese film a romantic comedy (with a bit extra) "If you are the one" (fei cheng wu rao) by Feng Xiaogang at the local cinema which was very enjoyable. It had English sub titles and everyone including myself wondered if the Chinese sense of humour and my sense of humour would be compatible, I found no clash at all. It was exactly the type of movie I enjoy and really funny :-)... and then...off to a nightclub to dance and sing with more friends and see in 2009. The Chinese people definitely seem to know how to have a good time...where do they get all their energy? :-)I am really grateful that the teachers in this school are so welcoming to me and genuinely seem happy to make sure that I go out and socialise with them all and have a good time.
Also on the weekend (I have had major internet connection problems at the moment hence the lack of blogs)I went to Jess's house and had an afternoon meeting looking at stamps, postcards and other collectible items with the president of the Stamp collectors association...It was actually very interesting and I learnt more insights into Chinese history. It is indeed a great way of recording history with postcards, stamps, etc and the collection had some letters, post cards and stamps from very important times in Chinese history, old and more recent times such as the earthquake.