July 07 Onwards

Even though the south of China was always a region that interested me, my main reason for heading down this way recently was because of the fact that my visa was close to expiring, and I was wanting to be close to the southern border so that I would be in a good position to visit my next country.

A very exciting prospect indeed!

Despite this excitement though, on my way down here last week I did find myself being mindful of the fact that my time in China was drawing to a close, and as such I was disappointed that I hadn't yet given myself a proper opportunity to integrate with Chinese people due to the spoon-fed environment of the academy.

So as I reached my last destination, it was with this in mind that I decided to give the responsibility of what I was going to do with my time to the locals I was meeting, as I thought that this would be the best way to get to know as much about them and their way of life as I possibly could.

The fact that the district of the city that I was staying in down here was well and truly off my Lonely Planet book's maps helped me on this matter as well, as this meant that I HAD to integrate with the locals here as there were no other Westerners about to speak to. (Although with no map handy, this did mean that my major concern each day was not so much to do with the fact that "I" could get lost, but it was more to do with making sure that I didn't lose my bed for the night [and therefore my bag] when I left my accommodation in the mornings!)

Eight days later though, and now that I am finishing off my experience here, not only I am happy at the fact that everything seemed to run smoothly, but I am also pleased to say that I have loved every minute of my stay in "Spring City" (so called by the locals because of it's all year-round nice climate).

During my time here the days have been long, the weather has been beautiful, and I have managed to see many sights and meet many nice people along the way... oh and I mustn't forget to mention the fact that I have had plenty of nice food as well!...

In fact, on the subject of which (and as a quick introduction to food in China), depending where you are, there are places over here that are popular with Westerners, and they will offer you English menu translations for the food they sell. Very often though, the prices on their English price-list can be as much as double or triple what the locals pay, so (as with any foreign country I suppose) it does pay to learn a bit of the local lingo.

It goes without saying that I am very wary of this because I am on a travelling budget (I take great pride in trying to avoid the higher prices over here where possible), and I am pleased to say that my limited Chinese vocabulary (combined with my habit of pointing at things) has done me proud so far. But even so, through making friends with the local people during the past 8 days, I have to say that I have seen a new world of spices and smells open up in front of me, and in short I have been able to eat some of the nicest food I have ever experienced.

I must say that despite having had great pleasure in being able to taste quite a few of the local culinary delights though, there have been times at the dinner table recently when I must admit that it felt like I was participating in a series of "I'm an Englishman, Get Me Out Of Here!", as I found myself being put in the situation of being asked to sample delicacies such as cow's throat, fish's head, chicken's feet and duck's blood on quite a regular basis!

Oh, and if this wasn't hard enough(!)... each time I was chewing on one of these items I had to make a concerted effort in trying not to pull my "urrgh" face as well (in order to show my appreciation towards it's health or spiritual benefits), and I found this to be a very difficult task indeed (could you nod your head and say "mmm!" whilst duck's blood is slurping round in your mouth?!)

Anyway, and away from the chaos of the dinner-table I found that things got even more interesting though, especially when I was out and about walking the streets of the local area...

Earlier on in the week, I was presented with the unusual sight of two women fighting in front of me about something to do with me (quite what this was about I do not know!)... and even though it was quite comical to watch, I must say that I am glad they didn't physically drag me into it when their fists started flying, as they certainly looked as though they could handle themselves quite well!

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, a couple of days later I also had the strange experience of finding a man's hand in my pocket that was trying to grab my camera. (I must say that I did see a little bit of red mist at the time, but as I pushed the owner of the hand out of the way I had to give him his due, as he had his "I am going to ignore you because this never happened and I am a normal nice person" face nailed down to perfection!)

On a more positive note though, I was fortunate enough to meet the local's version of Mariah Carey (whose rendition of "Hero" was nothing short of amazing), oh and I also got to know a man who looked like the Chinese version of the Godfather as well (who ended up being a very nice person and a very good cook indeed).

Whilst mingling with the locals, I was also able to enhance my teaching skills whilst helping some of them with their spoken English, and I found myself correcting their choice of words on occasions such as when they asked me to help them hold their "cabbage" (luggage)!... Oh and on top of this, I was also able to answer any questions they had to do with our life in the UK, some examples of which included the following:

a) "Do you (we) use tooth-picks in England? (because they do in Africa and all their teeth are beautiful and white over there)"
b) "Are there men that love other men in England?"
and
c) "How can you (I) distinguish what a pretty English girl looks like? (As all English girls look the same because they all have big eyes and their noses all stick out at the top)"

Ha ha!

****

Moving on, and the magic of people, eh?!...

Of course, I saw the hard-working, disciplined side of the Chinese when I lived with the Monks, but jokes aside, I have to say that the most striking thing about the local people I met during my most recent experience was their kindness, as it was this that shone through the most.

In fact it is fair to say that no matter what it was that I did with them during the past 8 days- whether it be having arm-wrestles or walking up local mountains whilst scrambling through bushes to visit temples off the tourist trail- I was most certainly made to feel like I was one of them, and there were so many random acts of kindness that I wouldn't know where to start...

Firstly, there was the family across the road from where I was staying. The mum and dad were in their 50's, the son and daughter were in their 20's. Of Miao Minority Nationality descent (with a little bit of Szechwan thrown in as well), they were amongst a special type of people that must only number in the 1,000's. Mum and daughter enjoyed dressing up in their traditional clothes on occasions, whilst on a day to day basis the whole family grafted hard in their family-run eatery that was popular with the locals for it's speciality food.

The first time I went to visit them was after a long bus journey back from a big site on the other side of town, when the grubby, busy, bare-bones nature of their food place (which was so typical of the area that I was staying in) was calling me in for one of my much needed quick 5-minute scoffs. Six hours later though, and I found that my initial quick-fix plan had turned into a three-meal (not 3-course meal!) occasion that was served up with some home-made wine and quite a few laughs in-between.

It was an amazing experience to say the least, this being more so because it was all for free as well, and when I tried to give them some money at the end of the night, the words "You are our guest, we welcome you, make yourself at home" was all that I could get out of them.

On top of this, two days later when I went to walk up one of the local mountains, not only did they feed me breakfast and pack my bag full of food for the 6 hour round-trip, but they also gave me a proper feed-up when I got back in the early evening. Again all for free.

Then there was the half-Chinese,half-Korean lad who treated me to a local speciality dish called "Across the Bridge Noodles" at a local restaurant, oh and there were the people who not only invited me to their house to eat dinner with them 7 times, but they also taxied me to an upmarket restaurant down-town to have a special 'hotpot' meal with them one evening too.

There was also the night when I was walking home in the dark and the man who I was renting my room from pulled up alongside me on his motorbike whilst he was giving his young boy a lift somewhere. When he started to speak to me (even though I couldn't really understand what he was saying to me through his words) I could tell by his eyes that he seemed to be asking me a question, so I guessed an answer by saying that I was looking for somewhere to eat. After this, he smiled and he ushered me onto his bike, so I jumped on and the three of us rode along to a local restaurant. On arrival, I hopped off the bike, said my thank you's, and as I walked into the restaurant the most amazing thing happened, as I was then invited to sit down at a table with 10 people round it in order to join them for an early Spring Festival feast. (They wouldn't accept a penny from me either!)

There were the monks who sat me down at their temple whilst giving me some fruit to eat so that I could have a rest from walking in the midday heat... and then there were the monks at another temple who invited me back the following day to have some lunch with them as well.

Oh, and there's the girl who has just cooked me up a meal for free as I am writing this in the internet cafe...

As you can imagine, all of these people have made such an impression on me it's untrue.

In fact this is so much so that I will never forget my experience here- that time in my life when I (rather ironically) plonked myself in one of the most foreign places to home I could think of (just to see how I would cope in such an environment) and I had the pleasant surprise of it being a home away from home.

The truth is that this has probably been the best part of my trip yet, and it is as a result of the local's kindness that I can honestly say that I feel like I could stay here for a very long time... but hey I'm travelling and for now it's time for me to move on before this tree grows roots!

So it is with this in mind that I leave my new friends behind as I prepare to start the next chapter of my journey this weekend, the first part of which is a 9 hour sleeper-bus journey that takes me to a city that is pretty much as far south as you can get in China, oh and it just so happens to be situated in the middle of some tropical forests as well...

Rock on!

;o)

Earlier this week I undertook a 41 hour train journey that took me all the way from the coldness of Beijing in the north, to a big city in one of China's southernmost provinces that enjoys an all-year round sub-tropical climate.

Well I never... what a journey!

****

During my time spent on the train, I was fortunate enough to make friends with some very nice people indeed (3 English students, 2 law students, 1 engineering student, an old lady and an ex-kickboxer to name but a few!)... and we all ended up having great fun together as we trundled down the length of the country.

Even so, when we reached our destination during the early hours of this morning though, I must say that I was very glad to have finished the journey, as I was feeling extremely hungry, thirsty, dirty and tired to say the least.

In fact, my immediate plan of action was to get the nearest hostel I could find in order to get some good food, a good wash and a good sleep (with the idea being that I would then wake up early tomorrow morning in order to scale one of the local mountains).

As I fell out of the train station onto the busy street though, any hopes that I had on doing the above were dashed immediately, as two of my new friends decided to bundle me into a taxi with them and take me to their home.

I could have said no- but, hey I'm travelling- and in doing so I find myself taking an element of Danny Wallace' book "Yes Man" into my adventures. (Ie. in general, when somebody asks me to do something, I don't think about it, I just answer "yes"!)

Anyway, back to the story... and well I never!

As we packed ourselves into the taxi, even though we were laughing away at having to sit in the foetal position with our bags plonked on top of us, things were very cramped to say the least, and I must admit that it felt like a very long 30 minute journey indeed...

There were many twists and turns as the driver had to duck and dive his way through the traffic, and the fact that I was low on energy definately made it feel like it was one of those "is this ever going to end moments?" for sure!

Eventually though, we made it to where we wanted to be... this being at an apartment block on the outskirts of town.

As we arrived my bag obsured my view in the taxi, and it wasn't until I stepped out into the open that I had the pleasant surprise of finding myself being plonked slap-bang in the middle of a palm tree lined, Mediterranean style environment. (And, by pure coincidence, the mountain that I wanted to climb the following day was sat right in front of me!)

Very nice too!

Five minutes later and things got even better, as I found myself being in the unusual situation of walking into of a brand-new 8th floor apartment.

I guess it was one of those moments where I had to pinch myself.

In short (and I'm not doing an estate agent on you now!)... but hey- I couldn't help but be impressed by what I saw...

The open-plan layout of the apartment was complemented by some very beautiful, authentic Chinese furniture in the main lounge area, which in turn opened out onto a balcony where you could pray in front of what appeared to be a Buddhist shrine.

My friends' home was a part of this country I hadn't seen before, and I was loving every minute of being there.

I must admit that I did feel a little bit out of place at first though... as me, my rucksack and my grubby 2 UK pound shoes didn't seem to fit into the plush environment at all! It was a world away from where I have been staying during the past six months!

Any uneasiness I felt soon disappeared however, and I was made to feel at home straight away as I was given a tour around all of the rooms, before being fed until bursting point. (Six dishes, seven including rice!)

After the meal, we sat down and talked about some plans on taking in the local sights during the next few days, and my friends even found some accommodation for me that is a short walk down a local train track(!) from where they live. (So it is easy for us to meet up!)

They ensured a good deal on a place for me, and as a result it is the first time since I have left the UK that I have been able to afford to stay in a room on my own.

There is no dressing up the exterior of the building however, and the white tiled walls are so typical of many of the communist buildings out here. But inside? Well inside my room is a dream... king size bed, personal bathroom, the lot! What a treat!

Add on top of this the beautiful mountains, the crumbling houses, the small busy shops, the goats running down the road, the horse-drawn carts, a busy local market (and most importantly... the fact that there is not a single other tourist in sight!)...

And you could say that I am in proper China!

The next few days will be a great experience for me.

(Oh, and the best thing about being down here?! The warm weather means that I can now finally ditch my long-johns and woolly jumper combo! Ha ha!)

Last week I found myself wanting to have a holiday from the stresses and strains of travelling for a while, so I decided to set up base in Beijing.

What a good decision that was! It is seven days later now, and I am pleased to say that I am feeling totally chilled out!

Sleepwise, I've been staying at a very nice hostel on the outskirts of the city, and even though they don't serve food here or there aren't that many people floating about, the atmosphere in general has been quite nice. Even so, I have to say that the few people who have been staying here seem to be strange characters though, and as a result I have been sharing a room with the following guys:

1) A Bulgarian photographer

2) An American architect

3) A very tall, ill looking man who doesn't talk and spends approximately 23 hours of each day in bed, before donning his Beijing winter-survival kit in order to go and get his daily meal from the eatery down the road,

and

4) Another strange chap who has made a den-like contraption out of blankets and clothes that surrounds his bunk-bed. (I daren't step near it in-case it sets off a booby-trap of some sort!)

As you can imagine, living with people like this has meant that it has been an interesting week for me to say the least, oh and on top of this, the fact that I have been able to explore China's capital without seeming like a tourist has allowed me to find out that it is a funny old place indeed.

As a result, I'm still not too sure if I really like it here... (maybe this is because it seems a bit pretentious at times, I really don't know)... but one thing I can say for sure is that there do seem a lot of opportunities here for "everybody", and it seems to be home to parts of the travelling community who are wanting to stand still for a while in order to do something strange or challenging.

Anyway... what a week! The sun has been shining every day (I must say that it is pretty cold here though!), and I have had a good time meeting some very nice people whilst I have been out and about on the streets.

A couple of days ago, I was presented with the random opportunity of being asked to wine and dine with 2 Chinese businessmen (despite my appearance of looking like your typical traveller!), and I was subsequently fed more chicken than I have ever seen before in my life! Rather interestingly, I was also made to take part in an impromptu English lesson that took up most of the post dinnertime conversation as well!

It was an educating hour, and not only did we manage to have a quick informal chat about AK47's and the fact that Holland isn't actually in Istanbul, but we were also able to move onto topics concerning my own country (oh, and as a result of this I am now aware of the fact that we English people don't speak to each other when we see each other in the street is because we are too busy thinking about how to make ourselves and our country better!)

I also got taken out for a tea ceremony by two ladies who could drink posh tea at a very fast pace too. It was very nice as it goes, but I must admit that after necking about five cups of the stuff in the space of as many minutes, it left me feeling quite full, and this resulted in my decision to get up and leave to go to the toilet. Little did I know that this would end up in the mini-argument that ensued though... as it turned out that even though they were taking me out for the drink, they wanted me to cough up and pay for it myself! Ha ha! As if I would do something like that?!

The richer one of the two was most annoyed when she had to reach deep into her purse to pay the waitress! Her tourist scam most definately didn't work on me!

Despite that little story making me laugh though, my favourite part of the week had to be on Wednesday when I visited the local dumpling shop, and I got to watch what appeared to be an episode of the Chinese version of 999 Lifesavers about a man who had survived a traumatic arm amputation- with a man who had survived a traumatic arm amputation sat right beside me!

As we both sat glued to the tv, he tried to tell me his own story in Chinese bless him, and even though I understood some of what he said, in the main I found myself having to rely on the knowing "oohh's" and "ahs" he was expressing as he watched the story unfold on tv. There was no mistaking his proudness as he recollected the event though, and in short, he was a very nice man who I had great fortune in meeting.

And if that wasn't enough(!)... later on that same day, I met my biggest case of randomness yet in this mini travelling project of mine- a 49 year-old train driver from the UK called Derek.

He was such an oddity that I didn't know what to make of him at first, but I do distinctly remember thinking that was he was quite an excited man though, and this presented itself in the way that he spoke in a non-interruptable faster-than-fast pace. In fact he spoke so fast, that at some points (after every 5 sentences or so), he had to take in a deep breath that resulted in a huge snorting sound.

Anyway, after a 10 minute rant, it soon became clear that the stresses of his self-build house project at home and the current ear-defender situation on the British Railways (apparently they are not standard personal issue at the moment) were maybe the contributing factors that had pushed him to be here.

The most striking thing about him though was the fact that, despite these stresses, he did generally seem to be one of life's happy chappies, and as our (sorry his!) conversation developed, he started to show me some photos of his previous travels abroad (in-amongst some snaps taken of some of Britain's finest rolling stock of course!)

The thing is that as I looked through the photos though, even though I remember being quite surprised to see some of the places he had been to, the one thing that stuck out for me was the extraordinary amount of pictures showing him next to Far Eastern girls of my age and younger...

Well...!

After a bit of questioning, it ended up turning out that (even though he looked like a richer, older "Where's Wally?"), he did in fact have the sexual appetite of Lovejoy, and then further to this, his tour of Asia now means that he knows (quite literally) the ins and outs of the prostitution industry in The Phillipines (where they are '2 a penny'), China (where they dress well), Vietnam (don't even bother going there) and Thailand (where they are best in the world).

Seeing the look of shock on my face as he told me all of this information, he then consoled himself that what he was doing was ok by telling me that there was nothing available at home, because apparently the only female that runs out of his train-depo at work is Michelle; a lady who used to be an avid male cyclist in her youth called Simon!

Where do these people come from eh?!

On a more normal level though, I was pleased to meet a French guy called Laurence who runs his own gym out here, and he let me train there with him and his mates for free. I ended up making good friends with a couple of the people there, and even though I only trained with them for a short while, one important thing came out of this experience for sure- this being that my time at the academy was now up.

****

For the purposes of this blog, it helps me to be upbeat about everything I experience, and I guess that the last things my family and friends need to read about whilst I am here are the bad things I encounter, such as when my bank cancelled my cash card last year when I was in the middle of China (FOR NO REASON! GGRRR!), or when I was staying at the academy and I had the trots continually for weeks on end, or the confusion I felt when I got my hip injury even.

As a general rule I don't do moaning, and further to this... (and, again for the purposes of this blog), I just want to tell you all what a GREAT experience it was for me to train at the academy, as it put me into a situation where I had to work very hard for myself on a daily basis (which was the whole point of being there for me).

It wasn't just being at the academy that was hard for me as well. I think back to the months leading up to me going there when I was back at home, and whether it be when I was parking my car on the other side of town after a late-shift in order to make myself jog home at eleven at night, or it be when I was fighting the rush-hour traffic after an early shift in order to try and make it to my gym classes on time... I do remember trying to make quite a bit of effort in being able to present myself as a reasonably fit person to my Master when I finally got to meet him. (Which is more than I can say for some of the other people there!)

But anyway, now that I have been there though, and despite me being happy with the way that I dealt with certain situations I faced at times, I do now realise that certain questions that I ask of myself can be answered without having to be at an academy (that is on the face of it just a front). And in me being true to myself, I have to say that I would have only been lying to myself if I was to have packed my bag to return there last week, as I would have only been doing so in order to return to a comfort zone.

So, for this blog entry, there are two entries. The second one below concerns my time at the academy, and it touches on just some of what I thought. I must warn you though, that if you just read my blog for a bit of a light-hearted fun, then please do stop reading here... as what I have written is very long and draining! But for the purposes of myself when I am older, and for anybody else who wants to get a deeper insight into my thoughts on my experience of staying there, please feel free to read what I have written.

The first and most important thing I want to say is that I cannot find the words to express how valuable my stay at the academy turned out to be for me, and the time that I spent there really did turn out to be worth it's weight in gold.

But even so, there there were a lot of bad points about it that resulted in me making the decision to leave, and if you do take the time to read through what I have written below, maybe you will understand some of the frustrations that I (and some of the other students) experienced whilst staying there.

On my part, I do find it annoying to have these frustrations, as they are purely to do with the politics of the place, and to be honest politics is something that I never thought I wanted to get involved in before, ESPECIALLY during in my year away!

But now I realise that you only get yourself involved in the politics of things if you really care about them. And further to this, there are certain aspects of this experience that I care about dearly, but there are others, for example being part of an institution, that I am very pleased to see the back of.

In short I am pleased with myself and the effort I put in during my time at the academy... there were times when the training there was hard, and the surprising thing for me was to find out that this was more on a mental level rather than anything physical, but as a result, there is no doubt in my mind that I have come out of it a much stronger person.

***

So where do I start?!

Well firstly, I guess I can say that regardless of motive, when a person decides to train under a Master for a while, and in my case, when that person decides to take a large chunk out of his year abroad to do this, he does so because the Master's life of solitude warrants a sort of magic card if you like.

And before I went away, I must admit that the romanticised notion of being a student under somebody who has devoted their life to something of interest to me was definately something I thought that was worth exploring, and that it would be a very rewarding experience for me.

I remember even getting a buzz on the concept alone of meeting my Master. Ha ha! Imagine being so excited to meet somebody who you never knew existed before?! Strange isn't it?!

I remember the day that I met him. It was an amazing experience. Even though he was slightly younger than I imagined, he had that air of authority about him, and his face told me a story that I had never read before.

And yes this sounds cheesy I know, but he had me as his devoted student from the second I met him.

I could tell this, because every time we had a student line-up in the morning, no matter which Master was speaking, I would always focus on looking at my own Master. Sometimes he would look straight back into my eyes though, and I remember having to look away, as it seemed as if his eyes would have burned holes into the back of my head given half a chance! I have never experienced this in a person before. (Apparently he developed his stare when he was a young boy by looking into burning candles until there were tears running down his face.)

Anyway, in short, even though he prescribed me a course of anti-biotics for my hip injury, oh and even though it took him and 5 of his Monk mates the best part of 2 hours to put together a metal-framed wardrobe, when it came to martial arts, the man was a programmed Warrior.

Even though he was seemingly arrogant, and even though he could be rude and short with his students at times, it was still a pleasure to be in his class and I found myself working accordingly: I exercised as hard as I could (to the point of ruining a tendon in my hip!) and I then spent 8 weeks doing nothing but holding bricks and meditating (an extremely mentally draining process indeed!). I must stress that this isn't written to sound like it is exceptional, I just guess that it reflects in my mind that I was pushing myself as hard as what my Master was pushing me, as I always knew that my time at the academy would be dependant upon my relationship with my him.

Even with my injury, it all seemed to work ok, but then one day I took a look outside of my own box. I saw the other injured students (and the students who couldn't be bothered to turn up to train) being allowed to go up to their room during lessons and then kick around a football in their spare time or even walk up the road to have a fag(!) WITHOUT any punishment, and it all fell apart. It was then that I realised that it wasn't my Master who was pushing me to work hard at all. It was me all along, and the magic card he held just ended up being a fictional scenario in my head.

And yes, at the end of the day, there is no denying that having the autonomy to make your own decisions is a very, very important right to have, but for the purposes of this environment, the fact that my Master was letting his students behave in a certain way just didn't sit right with me. In my mind the game wasn't being played by the proper rules, and there were things that were being allowed to happen at the academy that shouldn't have been allowed to happen at all. I remember it feeling very strange when I worked this out, as I suddenly found myself in the situation of being able to walk out of any of my classes to go and join the other lads putting their feet up when the going got tough, and this is NOT what I went there for at all!

The sad thing about the above though, was that it all boiled down to one simple fact- my Master wasn't exerting his authority in the correct way. Whether this is because he couldn't be bothered, or whether it is as a result of the academy not being bothered, I really do not know. But what I do know is that on a personal level, it ended up making me feel a bit silly putting in all that effort like I did, especially when I caught my Master and a translator laughing at me one day! (They did this to quite a few of us, and it's no big deal really, as everyone has a sense of humour I know, but I do feel that there is a time and a place!)

And further to the above, I have to say that there is no denying that the Head Master's ruthless head for business rubs off on how the academy is run, and as a result he lets in students who I feel shouldn't be there. This is no way based on technical ability at all, as I believe that I hold very little of this myself, but more on the sheer guts and determination side of things. Lazy slobs go there not to be lazy slobs, but when the school still allows them to be lazy slobs by feeding them battered chicken and fries every lunch, and selling them chocolate bars and fizzy pop in the on-site shop, you then realise the Head Master's main motive to keep students at the academy may not to be so much to do with installing hard-working ethics into people, but more to do with keeping them in their comfort zone and thus keeping the money coming in.

The truth is that you can't blame him though! He is a very clever man who is rubbing his hands together.

I can see how people may overlook what I have written above and rubbish it, but for me it represents the very crux of why I went there in the first place, and perhaps the most striking thing that I can say is that my relationship with my Master and the academy in general was not a good one from MY own point of view. I found that I was being tied into a swift "let's get 'em through" mentality, thus sacrificing knowledge, exploration and education in areas that were important for me. (There is no denying that I am a very slow learner on some things, and my relatively older body needs a bit of time to adjust!)

My needs were being ignored, and as a result I do now find myself wondering who I would learn more from: A Master who's arrogance can lead to weeks worth of deafening silences and the odd golden gem of advice when he feels like divulging it; or a more humbled Teacher who does not have the physical capabilities of a Master, yet as a person he is more willing to share his extensive knowledge with you and thus put you first?

Lots of answers to that one I am sure! In short I respected my Master enough for his arrogance to affect my education because he had earned it 1,000 over. And, unlike a couple of the other students, I never once refused to do anything he asked of me (apart from in the later stages when common sense told me that it would prolong my hip injury).

I am pleased to say though, that it is with the benefit of hindsight that I now know this was an unhealthy environment for me to be in, and as a result, when I am wanting somebody to teach me something in the future, I feel that I have a much better idea of what I am looking for. And this experience comes with the knowledge that a person doesn't have to be a good teacher just because he excels at something. It is very important yes, but as too is sincerity, having people skills and having the ability to put your student first and accepting them for their shortfalls. A good teacher should stay with his class during lesson time and focus his attention on his students 100% of the time instead of disappearing off into his own world and looking out of a window, having a laugh with a translator, or even preparing for the lesson DURING the lesson. (The whole experience was farcical at times, it really was!)

****

On the positives though, and even though it was upsetting when I found out that it was me pushing myself (I mean I can do this anywhere, at home even!), I now realise that the ability to motivate myself is a very important quality for me to have. Whether I had this before, or whether it is something that has grown inside me during my experience at the academy, I really don't know. What I definately can say though, is that it comes with the revelation that I don't need to be doing something extreme, like be training myself under the banner of an academy with false pretences in order to get things done in my life. And whatever I decide to do in the future, whether it be undertaking a degree, learning a foreign language or even learning to play the guitar, I am now more aware of the fact that maybe I have got a small amount of substance inside me that will help me achieve my goals.

That's a good thing for me!

And on top of this, on the physical side of things, even though I thought that some of the teachings were a little bit strange, I loved absolutely every minute of it. I had never been physically trained before going to the academy, and I now realise what an extremely hard process it is, and I take my hat off to anybody who has pushed themselves to their physical limits in their past. 100% respect! And on a personal level, if my hip repairs itself fully again, I hope to look forward to being able to push myself in this way again, as I now know what to expect of myself. One thing that I did find strange though, was the fact that in the past it was always my heart and lungs that hurt during whatever exercise I was doing, but there was a point that I reached after 2 months of training at the academy (just before my hip gave up the ghost) that my heart and lungs became stronger than what my body was, and it was my arms and legs that hurt before my CV system did. It is amazing how quickly you lose this though, but I do remember feeling fit and being as high as a kite at the time!

There is no denying that the academy introduced me to a lot of very strange exercise practices as well. Yes, some of them are very degenerative in terms of what they do to your body, but there are others that I feel are valuable tools that I will use during any exercise regime I undertake in the future.

****

In summing up my experience at the academy, I must refer back to my opening sentence and make it clear that there is no denying that my decision to spend some time out of my life to live at that extremely strange environment up in the mountains was one of the best I have ever made, and it is just the fact that I like to be a realist on things that I have written the above.

And on that note, may I introduce you to the frequent sight of the student, who on his last day at the academy gets dressed up in the Shaolin suit and stands in a Shaolin fighting pose to have his picture taken next to a proper Shaolin Monk who is also wearing a Shaolin Suit whilst doing a Shaolin fighting pose...

It sounds like a very strange thing to say, but I want to make it quite clear that this student is most certainly not me, and in my mind, this student is either an extremely lost person, or he is living a lie to himself.

If you ever see a picture of the scene I have described above on the internet or elsewhere, have a look yourself and see if you agree with me.

The answer is in the eyes I feel.

There are many things that a person may expect or desire out of their travelling experiences, but I guess that for those of us who do decide to take some time out of our normal lives in order to strap a portable house on our back, out of everything, the word "random" must feature quite highly on our agenda.

So it was with this in mind that I decided to stick to the (already tried and tested) golden "lastminute.c0m" rule of travelling during the past two weeks, and I booked nothing in advance as I completed a 2,000km circular loop on the railways that started and finished in Beijing...

And from temples, pagodas, public squares, caves, sculptures and tombs... to an underground city, a forbidden city and an ancient city... you could say that I saw it all during my mini-adventure.

The strange thing is though, that even though some of the sights I saw were nothing short of amazing, there were others that didn't seem to sit quite right with me and they maybe didn't live up to my expectations.

Of course, the books all push you to go and see the attractions, and it is what both you and other people expect of you when you are out there travelling... but I found that when I went to visit a couple of the main sights (sometimes this could take up a whole day with travel), I ended up questioning why I went there in the first place and what exactly it was that I actually saw.

I guess that travelling probably gives you a bit too much time to think about these things (!) but at the end of the day there is no denying that I visited some very awe-inspiring, beautiful environments in this latest travelling experience of mine.

****

And aside from seeing a little bit of China's history during the past two weeks, on the comedy front I decided to set myself the mini-challenge of winging it round this big country without the aid of a translation book as well. (Mental note at the time: "It will be good for your coping skills Matt!")

Now that the tour is complete, I am happy to say that my Chinese interpretations of "I want dumplings. I want chicken. I want train ticket. Room is very cold." seemed to work ok and I managed to get by in one piece! And even though I only know a few basics, it is funny picking up phrases that the Chinese use when they see a Westerner. The most notable word that seems to be shouted out on a regular basis is "foreigner!"

Ha ha! Their seeming directness never fails to make me laugh!

I am also pleased to see that my bartering skills are coming on a treat, and I have now perfected the art of looking absolutely disgusted at the first price offered.

I remember turning my nose up at the process of bartering when I first came into contact with it in Mongolia, but now that I am used to it, I believe that there is great skill involved and that it can be very worthwhile indeed. So much so that it is now a borderline obsession of mine!

****

The main thing that stuck out for me over the past two weeks though was the travelling itself. Whether I be walking, catching a bus, taxi or train or getting a lift on a rickshaw, I was almost certainly guaranteed to have fun (and bucket loads of it).

In fact, if you stood yourself at any one point in this country and walked for 1 mile in any direction, I could pretty much guarantee that something strange would happen to you, or you would see, smell or hear something extraordinary.

Since I have been here, I have seen so many differences between our cultures it's untrue. The most obvious of these seems to be what I call the "make do" mentality which I don't notice happening so much in our country. (And this is perhaps my favourite part of China.)

Object-wise; whether it be somebody's clothing, a building or a bicycle- it does genuinely seem as though it is fit for the job forever over here- even when it is tattered and worn to the extent that it looks nothing like what it was meant to be in the first place.

And space-wise; whether it be the man who put the big electricity pylon up on top of a three-storey building because there was no-where else to put it, or the man who opened up an eatery in what seems to double up as his lounge and bedroom, it doesn't seem to matter at all. These things don't seem to be compromises, they just happen because they work. What a great mentality to have!

****

There are parts of this recent experience that have been priceless for me, and it is making me learn so much about myself that it is untrue.

When I left the UK last year, I always knew that my new normality would consist of me putting myself in places where nothing is quite where I want it or how I want it when I do eventually find it, and I guess that is what it is all about for me- seeing how I can cope in different situations.

Being in a city where you are not guaranteed to see another Westerner from one day to the next, or trying to work out which bus gets you to where, or trying to suss out whether the nice person is actually being nice or just trying to rip you off... these are just some of the many things that may crop up during a typical day out here.

It's a funny old life this travelling game and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Anyway, now I am off to speak to a bloke who travelled from Portugal to Beijing by bicycle.

How cool is that?!?