Greetings Friends!
Another China adventure is coming to a close. Gosh I find tears
welling up in my eyes. I so love being here. I feel I can be of good, good
service here and I feel so grateful to be gifted with a whole other “world” (CHINA!!)
to explore so richly, so deeply and to develop such beautiful relations with so
many people, especially my Chinese family. My time with Dr. Zhao and his
beloved family has been short this time, but again so so so very rich and full
of learning, adventures, laughter, surprises and so so many Blessings that enrich
my soul and heart in immense love.
welling up in my eyes. I so love being here. I feel I can be of good, good
service here and I feel so grateful to be gifted with a whole other “world” (CHINA!!)
to explore so richly, so deeply and to develop such beautiful relations with so
many people, especially my Chinese family. My time with Dr. Zhao and his
beloved family has been short this time, but again so so so very rich and full
of learning, adventures, laughter, surprises and so so many Blessings that enrich
my soul and heart in immense love.
This trip and my time with Dr. Zhao also had the added blessing of
being with Carrie. Carrie and I met last fall and quickly became good friends.
She heard about our Tibetan Plateau trip, and in her own intent and heart, she had
been cultivating creating a long trip to Asia. When hearing of our Qigong
trekking trip, it sounded like the perfect fit and springboard for her longer
adventure. As Carrie also saw I teach qigong, and, like her, have an immense
love for the wilderness, she reached out, we met for lunch and that was the beginning
of a very, very wonderful friendship! Since we met up in Chengdu, Sichuan
Province on Aug 15 for the start of our trekking trip, Carrie and I have been traveling
and rooming together (when not in back country) since. 🙂
being with Carrie. Carrie and I met last fall and quickly became good friends.
She heard about our Tibetan Plateau trip, and in her own intent and heart, she had
been cultivating creating a long trip to Asia. When hearing of our Qigong
trekking trip, it sounded like the perfect fit and springboard for her longer
adventure. As Carrie also saw I teach qigong, and, like her, have an immense
love for the wilderness, she reached out, we met for lunch and that was the beginning
of a very, very wonderful friendship! Since we met up in Chengdu, Sichuan
Province on Aug 15 for the start of our trekking trip, Carrie and I have been traveling
and rooming together (when not in back country) since. 🙂
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| Pic taken by Ardai at Monastery in Litang, Sichuan |
Sore Cheeks &
Laughter Tears
Laughter Tears
It has been so so so so much FUN!! We are constantly cracking each
other up and laughing so very much of the time! Carrie took 3 months of Chinese
before our trip and she is doing just great! I so love this language and it’s
so much fun to share with someone who is learning (and learning quickly at
that!) As with studying any language, there is a steep learning curve, lots of
blips and funny mistakes, which of course leads just to more laughter!! We’ve
also developed a our own funny Chin-glish language of sorts that keeps us
giggling and sometimes has my cheeks sore and my body stooped over in…yes, more
laughter! 🙂 And of course, there’s always recounting the day’s funny moments
when we are tucked in our beds and are about to head off into dreamtime….haha!
other up and laughing so very much of the time! Carrie took 3 months of Chinese
before our trip and she is doing just great! I so love this language and it’s
so much fun to share with someone who is learning (and learning quickly at
that!) As with studying any language, there is a steep learning curve, lots of
blips and funny mistakes, which of course leads just to more laughter!! We’ve
also developed a our own funny Chin-glish language of sorts that keeps us
giggling and sometimes has my cheeks sore and my body stooped over in…yes, more
laughter! 🙂 And of course, there’s always recounting the day’s funny moments
when we are tucked in our beds and are about to head off into dreamtime….haha!
Chin-glish: the Art of
Language Learning & Hilarious Fumbling
Language Learning & Hilarious Fumbling
So an example of our developing Chin-glish language comes from the
other day when in the car with Dr. Zhao and Ayi. Ayi, Carrie and I were all in the
back seat with Carrie seated in the middle. The fact that Carrie is a beginning
Chinese student does not phase Ayi in the least. She chats merrily along to
Carrie, yet often doesn’t think about giving a long enough pause for me to
translate what’s being said, for Carrie to respond to me in English and then for
me to relay her response back to her in Chinese. 🙂 So usually after Ayi says
something to Carrie, I squeak out a portion of her question or story and Carrie starts
responding when Ayi then starts merrily chatting again and is on to the next
topic. In these kinds of conversations, Carrie was doing her best just to at
least pick out some words here and there that Ayi was using (and she’s doing
great!!) At one point, Carrie said, “’shi bu da’ –what’s that? I keep hearing
Ayi say ‘shi bu da’?” I explained that she was saying “shi bu shi” –which
means, “isn’t that right?” and that “Shi bu da” wasn’t actually a saying in
Chinese. Well Carrie kept laughing as she kept thinking she heard her say “shi
bu da” and now, well “shi bu da” has become a part of our “own” Chin-glish
language – a word we just randomly use now and then and of course ending up
cracking up in laughter. 🙂
other day when in the car with Dr. Zhao and Ayi. Ayi, Carrie and I were all in the
back seat with Carrie seated in the middle. The fact that Carrie is a beginning
Chinese student does not phase Ayi in the least. She chats merrily along to
Carrie, yet often doesn’t think about giving a long enough pause for me to
translate what’s being said, for Carrie to respond to me in English and then for
me to relay her response back to her in Chinese. 🙂 So usually after Ayi says
something to Carrie, I squeak out a portion of her question or story and Carrie starts
responding when Ayi then starts merrily chatting again and is on to the next
topic. In these kinds of conversations, Carrie was doing her best just to at
least pick out some words here and there that Ayi was using (and she’s doing
great!!) At one point, Carrie said, “’shi bu da’ –what’s that? I keep hearing
Ayi say ‘shi bu da’?” I explained that she was saying “shi bu shi” –which
means, “isn’t that right?” and that “Shi bu da” wasn’t actually a saying in
Chinese. Well Carrie kept laughing as she kept thinking she heard her say “shi
bu da” and now, well “shi bu da” has become a part of our “own” Chin-glish
language – a word we just randomly use now and then and of course ending up
cracking up in laughter. 🙂
We also have some super fun Chinese-English lessons around Dr.
Zhao’s desk at the clinic :). Dr. Zhao asks me how to say certain phrases in
English, and I say them and he repeats until he gets it and then writes it down phonetically in characters. Then Carrie asks me again
what the Chinese is for the phrase and there’s a mutual linguistic learning.
Both of them laugh and joke that they are in language kindergarten together :).
It’s so fun and fulfilling to have such a joyous cross-cultural exchange!!
Zhao’s desk at the clinic :). Dr. Zhao asks me how to say certain phrases in
English, and I say them and he repeats until he gets it and then writes it down phonetically in characters. Then Carrie asks me again
what the Chinese is for the phrase and there’s a mutual linguistic learning.
Both of them laugh and joke that they are in language kindergarten together :).
It’s so fun and fulfilling to have such a joyous cross-cultural exchange!!
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| Here I’m holding up the beautiful thank you letter my dear Mom had written to Dr. Zhao and Ayi – thanking them for being my wonderful Chinese parents, teaching me so much and taking such good care of me when I’m here. I translated it for them both — I love how in her letter, Mom said it all comes down to 3 words: gratitude, thanks and love. 🙂 |
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| Our first day back in Zhengzhou had 2 added blessings! 🙂 One, it was Zhong Qiu Lie (Autumn Moon Festival) so Dr. Zhao had the day off and it was super relaxing :), and TJ, a most wonderful young man and awesome gongfu brother of my dear friend, Deb, was with us! 🙂 |
Fish with Black Bean
Sauce, ‘Shilius’, Seasame Candy and ‘Pingguos’ – Yum!
Sauce, ‘Shilius’, Seasame Candy and ‘Pingguos’ – Yum!
Carrie and I also have a blast exploring and enjoying new yummy
treats (which we will promptly tell the other about if one of us discovers a
new treat on a solo outing or something). Some of our fav after dinner snacks
include tahini (we found it!!—one of my all time favorite foods), ‘lao jiang
tang’ -ginger candy, a yummy dried fish with black bean sauce, sesame sticks,
‘shiliu’s’ – pomegranates, and ‘pingguos’ – apples, and of course we each have
a bite of our treasured dark chocolate from the states). It’s also been so lovely
waking up and practicing qigong together each morning too. 🙂
treats (which we will promptly tell the other about if one of us discovers a
new treat on a solo outing or something). Some of our fav after dinner snacks
include tahini (we found it!!—one of my all time favorite foods), ‘lao jiang
tang’ -ginger candy, a yummy dried fish with black bean sauce, sesame sticks,
‘shiliu’s’ – pomegranates, and ‘pingguos’ – apples, and of course we each have
a bite of our treasured dark chocolate from the states). It’s also been so lovely
waking up and practicing qigong together each morning too. 🙂
The Art & Gift of
Staring
Staring
In addition, in being a “lao wai” “foreigner” here, it’s fun to
have another person to share the experience of being an anomaly. Even though
Zhengzhou is the capitol of Henan Province and a major transit center, in the
area where Dr. Zhao is and where Carrie and I spend all our time, there are
very few other “waiguorens” — another word for “foreigners”. Actually, neither of us has seen one
yet and this is my 5th time here!! So that really makes us stick
out! At various times throughout our day, we will inevitably have elder
grandpas, grandmas, 2 year olds, 10 year olds, teenagers, young mothers and
their kids who will unabashedly stare at us. Yet, while most people have
experienced the uncomfortable feeling of being stared at, this is different.
Yes, you can still feel people’s eyes on you, BUT the energy is one of
curiosity, delight, surprise and often times a desire to connect. Oh, in this
way it is really such a joy and an opportunity to share and spread Joy!! And I
love how Carrie, when she feels someone’s eyes on her, she turns to them with a
big smile and says an enthusiastic “Nihao!!!” “Hello!” Haha! That results in
almost instantaneous giggles, smiles and is really a great conversation starter
here in China! 🙂
have another person to share the experience of being an anomaly. Even though
Zhengzhou is the capitol of Henan Province and a major transit center, in the
area where Dr. Zhao is and where Carrie and I spend all our time, there are
very few other “waiguorens” — another word for “foreigners”. Actually, neither of us has seen one
yet and this is my 5th time here!! So that really makes us stick
out! At various times throughout our day, we will inevitably have elder
grandpas, grandmas, 2 year olds, 10 year olds, teenagers, young mothers and
their kids who will unabashedly stare at us. Yet, while most people have
experienced the uncomfortable feeling of being stared at, this is different.
Yes, you can still feel people’s eyes on you, BUT the energy is one of
curiosity, delight, surprise and often times a desire to connect. Oh, in this
way it is really such a joy and an opportunity to share and spread Joy!! And I
love how Carrie, when she feels someone’s eyes on her, she turns to them with a
big smile and says an enthusiastic “Nihao!!!” “Hello!” Haha! That results in
almost instantaneous giggles, smiles and is really a great conversation starter
here in China! 🙂
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| Yay! Here’s a whole inter-generational family of clients! The woman in the middle is someone I gave several treatments to this past spring. She was so excited to see me again, as was I. So great to meet her mother, daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law! 🙂 |
The Dynamics of Clinic
Harmony
Harmony
It also means so so so very much to me to share my amazing
experiences with Dr. Zhao and his family and in the clinic with another good
friend. In past blogs I’ve shared much about clinic dynamics, the harmony Dr.
Zhao, Junling and Lijun all hold and maintain in there throughout the day, the
amazing variety of patients, — ages, occupations, and conditions –who come to
see Dr. Zhao and how he treats all of them with the same mastery, confidence,
and utmost care, and also how whole families, girlfriends and boyfriends, groups
of friends, a group of neighbors will all come to make a visit to the doctor
together. 🙂 Sometimes it’s just one or 2 in the group that gets a diagnosis,
and others it’s the whole group! 🙂 The waiting room is small, no appointments
are necessary and people just come….from all over China.
experiences with Dr. Zhao and his family and in the clinic with another good
friend. In past blogs I’ve shared much about clinic dynamics, the harmony Dr.
Zhao, Junling and Lijun all hold and maintain in there throughout the day, the
amazing variety of patients, — ages, occupations, and conditions –who come to
see Dr. Zhao and how he treats all of them with the same mastery, confidence,
and utmost care, and also how whole families, girlfriends and boyfriends, groups
of friends, a group of neighbors will all come to make a visit to the doctor
together. 🙂 Sometimes it’s just one or 2 in the group that gets a diagnosis,
and others it’s the whole group! 🙂 The waiting room is small, no appointments
are necessary and people just come….from all over China.
This time, to facilitate Carrie’s study with Dr. Zhao, I haven’t
worked much in the “herbal dispensary” area with my ‘sisters’, Junling and Lijun (though I have a couple of pics of me with them below :));
instead Carrie and I have sat on stools next to Dr. Zhao’s desk, observing him
work with patients while I translate to Carrie what’s going on. We’ve also been
getting a lot of practice in reading pulses and comparing pulses among patients
and looking at tongues. 🙂 While Dr. Zhao has shared some on pulse-taking with
me before, this time we’ve been able to dive into it more, and it’s awesome to
have Carrie here so we can both share what we’re feeling,… rather than me
mumbling to Dr. Zhao each time I feel a pulse as to whether it’s fast, slow,
floating, deep, slippery or bumpy, tight, wide, etc…when these are such
rudimentary observations compared to the immense subtleties his well-trained
fingers with over 47 years of pulse-taking experience have developed. 🙂
worked much in the “herbal dispensary” area with my ‘sisters’, Junling and Lijun (though I have a couple of pics of me with them below :));
instead Carrie and I have sat on stools next to Dr. Zhao’s desk, observing him
work with patients while I translate to Carrie what’s going on. We’ve also been
getting a lot of practice in reading pulses and comparing pulses among patients
and looking at tongues. 🙂 While Dr. Zhao has shared some on pulse-taking with
me before, this time we’ve been able to dive into it more, and it’s awesome to
have Carrie here so we can both share what we’re feeling,… rather than me
mumbling to Dr. Zhao each time I feel a pulse as to whether it’s fast, slow,
floating, deep, slippery or bumpy, tight, wide, etc…when these are such
rudimentary observations compared to the immense subtleties his well-trained
fingers with over 47 years of pulse-taking experience have developed. 🙂
And I LOVE observing Dr. Zhao work with patients. I feel like a big
sponge…well actually like a small sponge that then keeps expanding and growing
bigger and bigger to absorb as much as I can intellectually, energetically and
spiritually! And I feel my Chinese getting better too!! Yay! 🙂 I so so so so
so so so so LOVE translating and being a facilitator in people’s communications
and learning/sharing, and that’s exactly one of the big roles I play when in
China. One of the challenges in clinic work/translation with Dr. Zhao, though,
is that many people speak in the Henan dialect. My first time here, it was
super hard for me to understand what people were saying, and now I’m finding I
understand so much more. Yay!
sponge…well actually like a small sponge that then keeps expanding and growing
bigger and bigger to absorb as much as I can intellectually, energetically and
spiritually! And I feel my Chinese getting better too!! Yay! 🙂 I so so so so
so so so so LOVE translating and being a facilitator in people’s communications
and learning/sharing, and that’s exactly one of the big roles I play when in
China. One of the challenges in clinic work/translation with Dr. Zhao, though,
is that many people speak in the Henan dialect. My first time here, it was
super hard for me to understand what people were saying, and now I’m finding I
understand so much more. Yay!
It’s Wei Zhi
calling….again!
calling….again!
The other day, when Dr. Zhao was in the herbal room calculating the
cost for a patient’s herbs on his abacus (yes!! he actually knows how to use
one of these things and doesn’t use a calculator!! :)), his cell phone rang and
he said, “Kailun, ni bang wo jie dianhua ba.” “Karen, answer the phone for me
please.” “Oh!” I was surprised. “Gosh, wow, maybe he thinks my Chinese has
improved too and even trusts me now with answering the phone – which is
probably one of his patients calling. Oh this is great!” So I went to pick up
the phone and I also thought, “Oh, I should see if I can also read the
characters of the person’s name who is calling. That will even be more helpful
for Dr. Zhao!” So I looked before saying “Wei” (the Chinese way of saying hello
on a phone) and saw the characters 未知 “wei zhi”. Hmmm….I hadn’t seen those characters
together before as a name but I was pleased that I recognized them. So I went
on to answer the phone, gave some directions to the clinic to the caller and
then eventually handed the phone to Dr. Zhao…along with proudly announcing that
it was “Wei Zhi” calling. Dr. Zhao looked a little perplexed but took the
phone, had a short conversation, hung up and that was that. Well, I decided to
just look up those 2 characters in my nifty iPod dictionary since I hadn’t seen
them together as a name before…and found out it means “Unknown”!!! Haha!!! I
had thought “Unknown” was the person’s name! And had even announced it so
proudly!! No wonder Dr. Zhao looked a little perplexed for a moment!
cost for a patient’s herbs on his abacus (yes!! he actually knows how to use
one of these things and doesn’t use a calculator!! :)), his cell phone rang and
he said, “Kailun, ni bang wo jie dianhua ba.” “Karen, answer the phone for me
please.” “Oh!” I was surprised. “Gosh, wow, maybe he thinks my Chinese has
improved too and even trusts me now with answering the phone – which is
probably one of his patients calling. Oh this is great!” So I went to pick up
the phone and I also thought, “Oh, I should see if I can also read the
characters of the person’s name who is calling. That will even be more helpful
for Dr. Zhao!” So I looked before saying “Wei” (the Chinese way of saying hello
on a phone) and saw the characters 未知 “wei zhi”. Hmmm….I hadn’t seen those characters
together before as a name but I was pleased that I recognized them. So I went
on to answer the phone, gave some directions to the clinic to the caller and
then eventually handed the phone to Dr. Zhao…along with proudly announcing that
it was “Wei Zhi” calling. Dr. Zhao looked a little perplexed but took the
phone, had a short conversation, hung up and that was that. Well, I decided to
just look up those 2 characters in my nifty iPod dictionary since I hadn’t seen
them together as a name before…and found out it means “Unknown”!!! Haha!!! I
had thought “Unknown” was the person’s name! And had even announced it so
proudly!! No wonder Dr. Zhao looked a little perplexed for a moment!
I had tried to share this story with Ayi
later on, as I found it hilarious but she didn’t quite get the humor in it.:)
Carrie, on the other hand, also found it hilarious and we have laughed so much
about it since. Dr. Zhao got a new cell phone since I was here in March and
I’ve now noticed that each time it rings, it always says “未知 “wei zhi” as I think maybe
he hasn’t entered many contacts yet. So while we’re sitting with Dr. Zhao at
his desk and his phone rings, I often peak over and whisper to Carrie, “ah,
yep, it’s Wei Zhi calling again!” We now have all sorts of jokes about Wei Zhi
and have even given “him” a gender and made up many stories….all that
contribute to our daily doses of abundant giggles, guffaws and laughter! 🙂
later on, as I found it hilarious but she didn’t quite get the humor in it.:)
Carrie, on the other hand, also found it hilarious and we have laughed so much
about it since. Dr. Zhao got a new cell phone since I was here in March and
I’ve now noticed that each time it rings, it always says “未知 “wei zhi” as I think maybe
he hasn’t entered many contacts yet. So while we’re sitting with Dr. Zhao at
his desk and his phone rings, I often peak over and whisper to Carrie, “ah,
yep, it’s Wei Zhi calling again!” We now have all sorts of jokes about Wei Zhi
and have even given “him” a gender and made up many stories….all that
contribute to our daily doses of abundant giggles, guffaws and laughter! 🙂
Meridian Poems – Gejues – & Love Professions to Wei Zhi
The other day when both Carrie and I
were filming Dr. Zhao reciting the “gejue” meridian poem for the small
intestine channel (okay, a side note here…these gejues are SOOO COOL!!! I’ve
mentioned them in the past but they are Chinese poems for each major meridian,
and there are 2 poems for each one. One of the gejues just states the channel
and then lists all the points in a rhyming cadence that makes it easy to
remember. The 2nd gejue is a longer rhyming poem that again goes
through the meridian points but also describes exactly where each point is!!
Genius! This way, it’s like learning a song, which is much easier to remember
than just rout memorization. I remember my first summer with Dr. Zhao when he
was in Seattle in 2009 and I was working with him as his interpreter. When we had some
time between patients, sometimes he’d start reciting these poems as a way to
share and start teaching me. Yet, then I had no idea was he was saying! 🙁 I
hadn’t studied any of the channels yet except for a few points that we
frequently use and speak about in qigong. Now that I’m learning all the points
in Chinese, I actually understand and it’s bringing this medicine alive in a
whole new way!! So cool! I’ll be posting some of these videos once I’m on fast
internet again. And later doing some translation of these gejues :).
were filming Dr. Zhao reciting the “gejue” meridian poem for the small
intestine channel (okay, a side note here…these gejues are SOOO COOL!!! I’ve
mentioned them in the past but they are Chinese poems for each major meridian,
and there are 2 poems for each one. One of the gejues just states the channel
and then lists all the points in a rhyming cadence that makes it easy to
remember. The 2nd gejue is a longer rhyming poem that again goes
through the meridian points but also describes exactly where each point is!!
Genius! This way, it’s like learning a song, which is much easier to remember
than just rout memorization. I remember my first summer with Dr. Zhao when he
was in Seattle in 2009 and I was working with him as his interpreter. When we had some
time between patients, sometimes he’d start reciting these poems as a way to
share and start teaching me. Yet, then I had no idea was he was saying! 🙁 I
hadn’t studied any of the channels yet except for a few points that we
frequently use and speak about in qigong. Now that I’m learning all the points
in Chinese, I actually understand and it’s bringing this medicine alive in a
whole new way!! So cool! I’ll be posting some of these videos once I’m on fast
internet again. And later doing some translation of these gejues :).
Okay, that was a long side note…so the
other day when Carrie and I were filming Dr. Zhao reciting the Small Intestine
channel gejue, we had all sorts of interruptions – kids and patients coming in
and out of the clinic, an herb delivery man,…and Wei Zhi called too! Dr. Zhao’s
phone rang and I whispered to Carrie that “hey it’s Wei Zhi calling again.” Dr.
Zhao answered the phone and we both kept giggling and started saying softly to
each other “Wo ai Wei Zhi” “I love Wei Zhi.” I bet our love professions to Wei
Zhi will be captured in our video recordings! 😀
other day when Carrie and I were filming Dr. Zhao reciting the Small Intestine
channel gejue, we had all sorts of interruptions – kids and patients coming in
and out of the clinic, an herb delivery man,…and Wei Zhi called too! Dr. Zhao’s
phone rang and I whispered to Carrie that “hey it’s Wei Zhi calling again.” Dr.
Zhao answered the phone and we both kept giggling and started saying softly to
each other “Wo ai Wei Zhi” “I love Wei Zhi.” I bet our love professions to Wei
Zhi will be captured in our video recordings! 😀
The TV Crew Comes Again!!
Oh yes! On the topic of video
recordings, somehow Dr. Zhao had been in contact with Henan TV station before
Carrie and I arrived to Zhengzhou and their film crew came yet again!!! Oh my
gosh!!! This time they came to film both Carrie and I in the clinic, as well as
making Chinese food in the kitchen :). At one point they did a long interview
with me and then one with Carrie in which I translated for her. I thought it
was going great, as I could see Dr. Zhao smiling off to the side. Afterwards,
Dr. Zhao said, “Kailun, lai lai.” “Karen, come, come.” I thought he was going
to say something about the interview and how well it went, when,… smiling, he
took a piece of hair that had been sticking out to the side of my head and
kindly, gently put it behind my ear!! Oh dear! 🙂 I’ll post the whole TV
broadcast when I get it and hopefully my hair sticking out didn’t look too
silly! 🙂
recordings, somehow Dr. Zhao had been in contact with Henan TV station before
Carrie and I arrived to Zhengzhou and their film crew came yet again!!! Oh my
gosh!!! This time they came to film both Carrie and I in the clinic, as well as
making Chinese food in the kitchen :). At one point they did a long interview
with me and then one with Carrie in which I translated for her. I thought it
was going great, as I could see Dr. Zhao smiling off to the side. Afterwards,
Dr. Zhao said, “Kailun, lai lai.” “Karen, come, come.” I thought he was going
to say something about the interview and how well it went, when,… smiling, he
took a piece of hair that had been sticking out to the side of my head and
kindly, gently put it behind my ear!! Oh dear! 🙂 I’ll post the whole TV
broadcast when I get it and hopefully my hair sticking out didn’t look too
silly! 🙂
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| So part of my and Carrie’s “cooking” experience was learning from two Master chefs, Dr. Zhao and Ayi! 🙂 They demonstrated how best to prep the veggies, then we’d do some, and then how best to stir-fry, and then have us do some 🙂 |
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| Our TV camera fellow 🙂 |
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| And! Our final product!! 🙂 It was a delicious meal!! 🙂 Now the real test is to see if I can duplicate this in the States! 😀 |
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| Here’s a pic of us with the TV reporter and our camera man– this, of course, was taken after the interview and after Dr. Zhao had kindly fixed my hair! 🙂 |
Later in the week, the TV filmer also
came with us on an outing to Gui Gu Zi’s (teacher of the famous Sunzi who wrote
the Art of War) home and school rooted in Daoist practices that are up high in
Yun Meng Mountain with a history of over 2,000 years. This is an amazing place.
You can see the Daoist temple, one of Gui Gu Zi’s whole books carved into a
mountain stone wall, the main classroom cave, and caves that students had as
their “dorm” rooms, the stone beds, and how one famous, studious student had
even rigged up a hook on the cave ceiling. This is where he tied his pony tail
(men had long hair back then – part of the Daoist tradition) in case he got
sleepy and started dozing off. Having his hair pulled would wake him up! So
many stories and history here…I have some pics below…
came with us on an outing to Gui Gu Zi’s (teacher of the famous Sunzi who wrote
the Art of War) home and school rooted in Daoist practices that are up high in
Yun Meng Mountain with a history of over 2,000 years. This is an amazing place.
You can see the Daoist temple, one of Gui Gu Zi’s whole books carved into a
mountain stone wall, the main classroom cave, and caves that students had as
their “dorm” rooms, the stone beds, and how one famous, studious student had
even rigged up a hook on the cave ceiling. This is where he tied his pony tail
(men had long hair back then – part of the Daoist tradition) in case he got
sleepy and started dozing off. Having his hair pulled would wake him up! So
many stories and history here…I have some pics below…
 |
| This is one of the stone beds in one of the student’s ‘dorm’ caves! |
 |
| OMGosh! This is the student who would hang his braid on the ceiling so that if he dozed off to sleep, the feeling of his hair being yanked would wake him up!! 🙁 I think I’d rather sleep!! |
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| Ayi by the main well for this school in the mountains — over 2,000 years old! |
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| This is one of Gui Gu Zi’s books etched into this stone wall… |
I must also mention, though, that besides
having the TV camera man follow us around, this outing to Gui Gu Zi’s home and Yun
Meng Mt. was no ordinary outing. It was hosted by one of the government
officials in the nearby town of Hebi. Actually it was the official Dr. Zhao
took me to see with him on a night visit in March that helped organize it! He
is so generous!! In the spring, we had left clinic ~4 p.m. on a Saturday
afternoon, drove 2 hours there to diagnose this official, and they had then
treated us to a wonderful dinner. Later in March this official came to
Zhengzhou for a follow-up visit. He is the one Dr. Zhao had me also do an
acupuncture treatment on. Well, he organized this special Yun Meng Mt. outing
and when we saw him, he was quite pleased and then turned to his 2 secretaries
and said, “Oh this is the lady who gave me a treatment in Zhengzhou. Very
good!” Yay! 🙂
having the TV camera man follow us around, this outing to Gui Gu Zi’s home and Yun
Meng Mt. was no ordinary outing. It was hosted by one of the government
officials in the nearby town of Hebi. Actually it was the official Dr. Zhao
took me to see with him on a night visit in March that helped organize it! He
is so generous!! In the spring, we had left clinic ~4 p.m. on a Saturday
afternoon, drove 2 hours there to diagnose this official, and they had then
treated us to a wonderful dinner. Later in March this official came to
Zhengzhou for a follow-up visit. He is the one Dr. Zhao had me also do an
acupuncture treatment on. Well, he organized this special Yun Meng Mt. outing
and when we saw him, he was quite pleased and then turned to his 2 secretaries
and said, “Oh this is the lady who gave me a treatment in Zhengzhou. Very
good!” Yay! 🙂
The generosity of these people is just
amazing!! After our tour on Yun Meng Mt., these 2 secretaries took us to a
restaurant where the head of the county treated us all to a most delicious
lunch!! Oh my gosh!! Here’s a pic of Carrie, Ayi and me with him below.
amazing!! After our tour on Yun Meng Mt., these 2 secretaries took us to a
restaurant where the head of the county treated us all to a most delicious
lunch!! Oh my gosh!! Here’s a pic of Carrie, Ayi and me with him below.
 |
| Haha!! It was so funny, on our way home from Hebi and our outing at YunMeng Mt., when we got into town, Dr. Zhao pulled over at one point, said he was going to take a short rest and Carrie and I were to get out and help Ayi pick cotton. “What?!!” I thought. “Maybe I heard him wrong, but it sounds like he just said we’re to help pick cotton. Hmmm…but, …that can’t be right…we’re in the middle of the city?! And cotton?” But alas, that is precisely what Dr. Zhao did say :). Ayi took us down a little path and lo and behold, it opened into an empty lot where the 2 of them have been growing cotton for years! They use it to make their bedroom comforters. 🙂 It was my first time to pick :)! |
Stories of generosity abound
in China, and especially in Zhengzhou! It’s been so great again to be able to
share this experience of generosity with Carrie. The other night at dinner with
the hotel staff (we eat dinner each night with all the staff and they are so
awesome – it was fun to be able to come back again so soon – only 6 months
later – we were all delighted!), Carrie had me share with the
staff, that of all her travels around to many countries around the world, the
people here are truly the friendliest, most kind and generous people she has
met yet! I wholeheartedly agree!
in China, and especially in Zhengzhou! It’s been so great again to be able to
share this experience of generosity with Carrie. The other night at dinner with
the hotel staff (we eat dinner each night with all the staff and they are so
awesome – it was fun to be able to come back again so soon – only 6 months
later – we were all delighted!), Carrie had me share with the
staff, that of all her travels around to many countries around the world, the
people here are truly the friendliest, most kind and generous people she has
met yet! I wholeheartedly agree!
Chinese ‘Nan Pengyous’
Boyfriends
Boyfriends
So I have another funny story to share. 🙂 When still in Chengdu, our
friend Ardai helped us figure out a system to use to bring wifi into our hotel
room in Zhengzhou, since Carrie has an iPad and can’t connect to the internet
through the Ethernet cable in the rooms there. Well, we weren’t able to get it
to work when we first arrived and kept missing the IT guy at night, so in the
evenings while I was working on the Ethernet cable in our room, Carrie would go
down to the lobby to use the wifi there. Well, even though she’d be ‘inconspicuously’
sitting quietly on a couch typing away….given that she was 1 of the 2
“waigorens” “foreigners” in this area of Zhengzhou…she…well, stuck out! And
also, as she likes to write and type into the later hours of the evening,
there often would be a few fellows who had a bit too much to drink that would
be coming back through the lobby on their way to their rooms. Well one or more
of these tipsy men would inevitably see Carrie and Oh my!! How excited they
were to see a “waiguoren”! They’d come over and sit next to her and want to
take their pic with her, etc. I heard many, many funny stories from Carrie and
we’d laugh about her and all her Chinese “nan pengyous” “boyfriends”. Later
when we finally met up with the IT guy and he immediately got our WAP
(Wireless…oh I forget what it all stands for!!) working (YAY!!), Carrie and I
joked that he was now her new favorite “nan pengyou” “boyfriend”!! And since then
many other various nice lads we have met have also become one of her new “nan
pengyous”. 🙂
friend Ardai helped us figure out a system to use to bring wifi into our hotel
room in Zhengzhou, since Carrie has an iPad and can’t connect to the internet
through the Ethernet cable in the rooms there. Well, we weren’t able to get it
to work when we first arrived and kept missing the IT guy at night, so in the
evenings while I was working on the Ethernet cable in our room, Carrie would go
down to the lobby to use the wifi there. Well, even though she’d be ‘inconspicuously’
sitting quietly on a couch typing away….given that she was 1 of the 2
“waigorens” “foreigners” in this area of Zhengzhou…she…well, stuck out! And
also, as she likes to write and type into the later hours of the evening,
there often would be a few fellows who had a bit too much to drink that would
be coming back through the lobby on their way to their rooms. Well one or more
of these tipsy men would inevitably see Carrie and Oh my!! How excited they
were to see a “waiguoren”! They’d come over and sit next to her and want to
take their pic with her, etc. I heard many, many funny stories from Carrie and
we’d laugh about her and all her Chinese “nan pengyous” “boyfriends”. Later
when we finally met up with the IT guy and he immediately got our WAP
(Wireless…oh I forget what it all stands for!!) working (YAY!!), Carrie and I
joked that he was now her new favorite “nan pengyou” “boyfriend”!! And since then
many other various nice lads we have met have also become one of her new “nan
pengyous”. 🙂
Well this is a very, very long update!! There is just so so much to
share in each and everyday :). I needed to leave Zhengzhou a few days before
Carrie to head back to the States for a conference, so she and I have been
writing to see how things are going (And it’s been POURING rain there
too…Carrie had joked one night that her IT boyfriend was going to build a boat
so they could take a ‘romantic’ float around Zhengzhou since is was too wet for
a leisurely stroll). Here’s a bit of a letter I wrote once I arrived in
Beijing…
share in each and everyday :). I needed to leave Zhengzhou a few days before
Carrie to head back to the States for a conference, so she and I have been
writing to see how things are going (And it’s been POURING rain there
too…Carrie had joked one night that her IT boyfriend was going to build a boat
so they could take a ‘romantic’ float around Zhengzhou since is was too wet for
a leisurely stroll). Here’s a bit of a letter I wrote once I arrived in
Beijing…
Carrie, nihao!
I know you’re at
clinic now but I just wanted to say I’m thinking of you and just had a few
important questions…. uhummm…
clinic now but I just wanted to say I’m thinking of you and just had a few
important questions…. uhummm…
1) Has Wei Zhi called
yet today? If so, please be sure to tell him I love him. ‘Wo ai Wei Zhi.’
yet today? If so, please be sure to tell him I love him. ‘Wo ai Wei Zhi.’
2) I’m wondering if
you’re having a “shi bu da” type of day? please report soon.. ( 🙂 !!
)
you’re having a “shi bu da” type of day? please report soon.. ( 🙂 !!
)
3) Any new “nan
pengyou” news for tonight? Has the IT guy fixed his boat yet to take you
down the Zhengzhou road in the rain? If not, please tell him I think he should
really get on it! ( 🙂 )
pengyou” news for tonight? Has the IT guy fixed his boat yet to take you
down the Zhengzhou road in the rain? If not, please tell him I think he should
really get on it! ( 🙂 )
Heehee!
Gosh, once again my heart is so so so very full from all the
treasures received on this yet another amazing journey to the Lands of the East
– meditations, re-unions and teachings at Shaolin Monastery, lunch with Dr.
Zhao and Ayi and napping giggles with Wenqing, an amazing 2 weeks of trekking
in the Tibetan Plateau, hiking and horseback riding in Siguniang Mt area, and treasured
times of study, sharing and adventures with Dr. Zhao and his beloved family! Oh
yes, I also must report that Dr. Zhao’s granddaughter, Wenqing is a future yoga
guru in the making! Watch out America! 🙂 One morning in clinic, she requested
my filming services to record her doing some of her yoga routines she’s
learning at school. 🙂 So I have them on film — If you’d like to see them, I
can arrange private and group viewings.
😀
treasures received on this yet another amazing journey to the Lands of the East
– meditations, re-unions and teachings at Shaolin Monastery, lunch with Dr.
Zhao and Ayi and napping giggles with Wenqing, an amazing 2 weeks of trekking
in the Tibetan Plateau, hiking and horseback riding in Siguniang Mt area, and treasured
times of study, sharing and adventures with Dr. Zhao and his beloved family! Oh
yes, I also must report that Dr. Zhao’s granddaughter, Wenqing is a future yoga
guru in the making! Watch out America! 🙂 One morning in clinic, she requested
my filming services to record her doing some of her yoga routines she’s
learning at school. 🙂 So I have them on film — If you’d like to see them, I
can arrange private and group viewings.
😀
 |
| YAY Wenqing!! 🙂 I love being her American Auntie 🙂 |
Thank you, thank you, thank you ALL again for joining me on my journeys
East. By sharing the love and adventure through these
pics and
written word, this goodness spreads and grows and expands and can touch and
bless many, many!! Thank you!!! Till the next China adventure….
East. By sharing the love and adventure through these
pics and
written word, this goodness spreads and grows and expands and can touch and
bless many, many!! Thank you!!! Till the next China adventure….
 |
| I just flew back to the States in my Tibetan dress as a surprise :-)! I’ll be mainly in CA for a bit and back in Seattle on 10/1. Yay! |
So much Love and Joy to you ALL!!!
LOVE,
Kailun 凯伦
