Holidays never really cross my mind when I’m planning to go
somewhere. I didn’t realise it would be
Durga Puja until I got to Kolkatta, and I ran away from Diwali by spending it
in a tiny village in Sikkim where kids let off firecrackers until about 9pm
then went to bed. So although I knew I
would be here for Chinese New Year, I didn’t really think about what might
happen or what I might do. I wouldn’t
like to be in Beijing or Shanghai for it; it’s difficult and expensive to
travel in China at this time of year and anyway I’ve had my fill of big cities
for now after Dhaka, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
It did not occur to me that all the other students might go home for
Chinese New Year leaving me on my own with the Chens for two weeks.
I was a little apprehensive about being the only student
here, I guess I was worried about feeling isolated or lonely, but so far that
hasn’t been the case. That’s partly
because most of my time is taken up with tai chi practice, but also because the
Chens are extremely hospitable people, and they seem to care very much that I’m
okay. They often babysit their grandson
which helps break the language barrier as he is a really cute, clever little
boy who makes everyone laugh and smile all the time. And it’s actually really nice eating dinner
or lunch with them, maybe sharing a small glass of rice wine with Master Chen. It would be nicer still if I could speak
more Chinese, but I don’t have the language skills for conversations, that
could take some time.
So my experience now is almost a homestay, albeit one with a
lot of tai chi thrown in. It’s really
interesting and I feel I’m seeing much more Chinese culture than I did at Kun
Yu Shan. The other day was the day that
the Stove God goes back up to heaven to report to the King of the Gods about
the families. I couldn’t quite ascertain
if every house has their own stove God or if it’s one omnificent god of stoves in
general, but either way we got special Stove God bread and everyone let off
firecrackers to help him find his way back to heaven.
From a tai chi perspective it’s an amazing opportunity as I
effectively get two weeks of one-to-one time with Grandmaster Chen or his son
which is very cool indeed. Most of the
time is spent practicing by myself with bits of help here and there. Grandmaster Chen has an interesting teaching
style; he’ll come over and closely scrutinise what I‘m doing from different
angles, make an adjustment or help where necessary, then wander off and sweep a
patch floor. Then it might be time for a
quick ciggy, downtime with his grandson, another spot of teaching then perhaps
mopping a different patch of floor. If
he spots you doing something wrong he’s straight over to correct you, and if he
takes his coat off you know he means business and it’s time for a
demonstration.
Of all the tai chi masters I’ve worked with, Grandmaster
Chen has to be the warmest and the most approachable. He seems genuinely interested in all his
students, not only as people learning tai chi, but about their lives outside of
the school too. He’s looked at pictures
of my family on Facebook and at some of my pictures from Bangladesh. His family are equally friendly, and in fact
all of the coaches that teach here are members of his family who he’s taught
and who are now good enough to teach themselves. It all makes for a very warm, relaxed
learning environment.
Tonight is Chinese New Year’s Eve. People, quite often children, have been
letting off fireworks and firecrackers incessantly for days and it’s reached
fever-pitch now. Personally I am not a
big fan of firecrackers – lots of noise and no visuals – but that’s too bad I
think. I’m not entirely sure what the
programme is, but that’s nothing new.
This coming year is the Year of the Dragon. I quite like the sound of that!
