China Trip 2017

I wrote about preparing to go to China, but I have been back for over three weeks and have yet to write about the trip itself. In part, that is because I am not sure what to say or focus on in particular. There were a lot of amazing and wonderfully fun aspects to the trip, like seeing my Instructor in his home environment, getting to spend extended time with some of my awesome fellow students, and seeing some great Kung Fu. However, there were also some unexpected frustrations and disappointments.

The main frustration or disappointment was that I did not get to spend more time doing Kung Fu or just working out. Before going, I was actually looking forward to a break from my usual routine, but after just a few days I was really missing my daily grind. Working out far less, my body just didn’t feel right and that dampened my mood. To be sure, I could have done more to get in workout time. For some reason, I did not think to do the 7-minute workout app on my phone until the last few days of the trip (once I started doing that simple HIIT work-out, I felt much better). And really, there is no sound reason why I did not do yoga in my hotel room. In fact, I readily admit that my usual workout routine succumbed to jet-lag, an over-abundance of food, and more alcohol than usual. And that would be perfectly fine, except for the fact that it made me feel shitty and home-sick. It was like skipping school, only to find out that daytime TV sucks.

The second frustration was that I was meeting tons of interesting people who are heavily involved in Kung Fu, but for the most part I could only smile and bow since I don’t speak any Chinese. A few of my fellow students speak at least a little Chinese. I wished that I was at least able to exchange pleasantries in the way that they managed. I felt much the same way on my first trip so there was no great surprise in this, but it does not make it any less frustrating.

Lastly, I was disappointed that as a female I sometimes felt less involved than some of the men in our group, particularly some of the younger men. At some of the social events, there was almost a fraternity-style emphasis on drinking hard liquor. Women were not included in this, so I was left feeling on the outside of the circle of hospitality. I guess as an American woman, I am just not used to being excluded. In coed settings, the American custom in my experience is to include everyone, even if this means not engaging in activities that women will generally not want to take part in, like knocking back shots of grain alcohol as a demonstration of masculinity.

Anyway, the great aspects of the trip still far outweighed these downers. I am glad we opted to get the ten-year visas because I have a feeling we will be going back at some point.