Kung Fu Master

I had my first Kung Fu class yesterday. It was crazy intense. My instructor trained at the Shaolin temple where he's still part of the exhibition team. I didn't think much of his demonstration was physically possible (till now), and I also never thought that you could ever have muscles like that. Here's to hoping I get awesome legs out of this. It's entirely possible, since on the first day he had us running laps, doing crouching tiger hidden dragon leaps and actually doing all three splits. When you couldn't do them, he just pushed you down till you were. Nuts. I won't be able to walk tomorrow. A bunch of us are going to get together today (Kung Fu is on Tuesdays and Thursdays) to stretch and weight lift in preparation for our next class. A bit dorky, but totally necessary.

I am currently eating an apple, which, in true Chinese tradition, is a complicated affair. First it had to be washed in cold water, then hot water, then with soap, then peeled before finally being sliced and run through a final rinse. It's like going to the store where you have to pay for pencils at one cashier, pens at another, and erasers at a third. Or when you buy something over 100 kuai, and then you get a receipt at the first counter (who keeps your item) and then you take your receipt to a second counter where someone stamps it and sends you to a third counter. At this counter you can pay, and then are presented with another receipt that you take back to the original counter to claim your prize. It's all very exhausting. But, I haven't been sick yet, and I intend to keep it that way, so I'll go on peeling my apples.

In other news, my roommate finally arrived yesterday. She did apologize for being a bit late. I guess she was waiting for a truck to come and drive her things here. Anyways, her Chinese name is really difficult to pronounce, so she has me call her by her English name: Candy. Her English is about on par with my Chinese, so we've had some pretty silly conversations that involve huddling around a dictionary. She seems really nice, and she's totally full of energy. All of the roommates are. The girls just stand around and giggle at us. Apparently everything Americans do or say is hilarious. It's probably just that our tones are horrible, so we're most likely saying rediculous things that we don't think we're saying.

Today I have a few seminars on my silk road trip. So exciting! Before you know it, I'll be in Kashgar! (or, Kashir, as Candy has corrected me. She's also informed me that it's full of grapes.)