China 7 months: What's Been Happening

What's been happening

It's getting hotter. I'm sure it was in the high 30's today. Their seems to be a direct correlation between the temperature and the amount, size and color of the bugs. They're everywhere and they bite.

One of the new students in my class was bit by some wasp like thing with green eyes and visible fangs and another student was bitten by something that left fang marks in his arm. The student with the fang marks became convinced that his arm was going to fall off or that he's arm will need to be amputated. His at the hospital right now having it checked out.I check my shoes for scorpions every time before I put them on. Four doors down from me a scorpion was found in one of the students rooms. If you take a 10 min walk from the academy you will find a bunch of women selling fruit and surprisingly in a blue bowl beside them, scorpions! Not for pets but as a snack of some sort. I think you're meant to kill it then fry it. Not surprisingly it apparently tastes like chicken.

I have a grading tomorrow. Students are graded each month in front of all the students and masters by performing a form from their particular martial art. The Preying Mantis "basic step" form lasts only about a minute but is very intricate. I'm actually looking forward to performing tomorrow but Seb, another Preying Mantis student is not, in his own words he's "bricking it".Seb started a week before I arrived and is staying a year. He has to be one of the funniest guys here. At first I thought he whined to much but he does put the effort in and I can see his mind and body changing every week. It would not surprise me if he looked like Bruce Lee when he left, he now has a bit of a beer/fast food gut, but it is going.

I just want to mention what I've noticed about the Chinese apart from what I've mentioned already. Chinese men love to huck up flem and spit. Every morning I'm greeted by one of the masters hucking his guts up and spitting in the communal sink; nice. In fact I would say they take pride in it. The more flem you can accumulate with the most amount of sound, the higher up you are on the hucker hierarchy. They don't seem embarrassed at all about picking their nose or farting in public. They don't use tissue when blowing their nose. The floor holds a perfect place in which to aim the snot. They also seem to love singing when ever they can. What embarrasses most westerners the Chinese take pride in, such as one Masters love of techno music and the Venga Boys. I'm embarrassed for him but he doesn't care, he just turns up the volume.
I would tell him he's a loser but i'm afraid he would kill me with his little toe and i think hearing

Boom boom boom boom

I want you in my room

Let's spend the night together

From now until forever

Boom boom boom boom

I wanna double boom

Let's spend the night together

Together in my room

before i departed would create so much hate in me that i would be sent straight to Hell where they probably have Venga Boys on a 24hr loop.

Vengaboys=hell on Earth

Hope all is well

Keep the chi real