Adventure 2.0

April 21, 2011


Adventure Back

It sure is an adventure jumping back into another culture and having to adapt to survive. I've realized it’s the little things that define who you are. And yet, do you ever stop to realize how different your life would be if you chose to go down a different path? No matter what path you go down there will always be obstacles to overcome, whether it’s physical or emotional. All I do is smile and fight a way through.





Saying goodbye is the hard part. Whether its saying goodbye to your best friends or family, it’s always a sad day. I left Stockton California Tuesday night and went to SF with my mom because my flight was early Wednesday morning. I had an amazing time back home. I worked a lot but saw my friends and family as well. These past four weeks were awesome, but now its time to get back to training.



I do miss the training, my friends, and especially the PAIN! I am going back for 6 more months so i can finish a whole year of training.



So after all the goodbyes and packing on Tuesday. The adventure back began at dawn. Went to the Airport at 7am. Checked in two big duffel bags full of Candy, snacks, and other supplies i need for the next 6 months. Did not need to pack clothes since I left those back at school. Both of the bags were almost 50 pounds. I took Alaskan Airlines and my first flight took me to Seattle, WA. It was a 2 hour flight. Once i landed i had 3 hours to kill till my flight to Beijing. That was a 14 hour flight.



Unlike the first flight to Seattle, the Beijing plane had private tvs for everyone. That was a plus. I got the window seat sitting by an older Chinese man. ‘Grandpa’ hogged the entire arm rest the whole way. Thats not the worst part. He kept FARTING! The people in front of me had a baby boy. He liked to cry and cry and cry. But he was adorable. The dad was white and the mom was chinese so the baby looked like a asian version of Elmer Fud, bald and chubby. He kept looking back at me so i would play peek a boo with him. Made Lil Elmer laugh and he tried squeezing through the middle of the two seats but his head was too big. Besides Grandpa and Lil' Elmer the ride was ok. Watched about 4 different movies, had a couple meals, and spoke to the stewardess in chinese. It was pretty fun.



Unlike my first flight to China which was a straight flight i had to transfer again in Beijing. I am pretty familiar with the Beijing Airport so i did not mind transferring there. Problem was when i was leaving SF Airport, Mom told me my flight from Beijing to Yantai was canceled so when i got to Beijing i had to figure out when my plane to Yantai would leave.



Here is when the problems started. I Arrived in Beijing, had to walk up two stories of escalators because the escalators did not work. Not even 10 minutes of being in China and im already starting my Kung Fu training by climbing frozen escalators. On top of that i really had to Pee. But i told myself ‘get your bags, check them in, and then you have time to kill’ (and answer the call of nature). So i had to hold it. I got my bags, and headed to the Domestic Flights. Could not see ‘Air China’ which is the Airline i bought my ticket from. So i asked a info lady where ‘Air China’ was and she laughed and said, "these are all Chinese airlines, where are you going?" I told her Yantai and she told me to go to ‘China East’. So i waited in line for 15 minutes to check in still having to pee. When i got to the desk the ladies told me i am at the wrong airlines and i wanted ‘Air China’ which was in Terminal 3. i was in terminal 1. So they told me i needed to take a bus to terminal 3. I found the shuttle bus outside after going up and down levels in the first terminal still having to pee. I would have stopped to go pee but my flight that was cancled was at 5:45 pm. My plane landed in Beijing at 4:55pm so i did not have a lot of time to waste because i thought they would of rescheduled another flight at 5:45pm. So i told myself, ‘tough it out Scott and make it to your flight’. Got on the shuttle bus and i had to load my two huge duffel bags along with my two carry on bags. there were 3 chinese airport workers who were standing around. They didnt even lift a finger to help me. i threw my bags in the middle of the bus isle since there was no room to put my bags nor even a seat for me to sit so i stood in the middle with the bags. We drove 15 minutes to terminal 3. The ride there was ridiculous. The bus would turn fast, stopped randomly, or accelerated immediately which didn’t help my needing to Pee situation. This whole time i would be trying to balance in the middle with nothing to hold on to. I was being thrown side to side. Kung Fu bus ride? Arrived to the terminal finally at 5:35. The good news is that my flight to Yantai was not at 5:35 I would not have made it anyway since i still had to go through security! I was stressing a little bit. So, i threw my bags off without any help and headed to Air China. I strongly believe Chivalry does not exist in China. I held countless doors open for older Asian women, allowed them to go first, or even cut in line. But i am starting to realize Chinese mentality of thinking is not chivalry but more of the “Strong will survive”. Ever since i landed in Beijing everyone would push to go first or squeeze in lines. So i had to adapt. When i got to Air China they told me the ticket my mom bought was for yesterday the 20th. But I crossed the international Date Line and when my flight landed in China it was the 21st. I got them to change my flight to tonight at 11:15pm and i will arrive in yantai once again at 12:15am. Once i finished that, i ran to the restroom. The academy will be closed so i am probably going to stay in a hotel close by.



I am writing this part of this Blog entry while I am sitting in an airport Cafe waiting till i can check my luggage in since i got here at 6pm and cant check in till 9pm. So i stopped by a coffee shop and started the blog for today. Will update tonight! Wish me luck!









So i got on the 11pm plane to Yantai. Got my luggage and headed out to find a taxi. Unlike last time i can sort of talk to the taxi drivers so i told him take me to a hotel since the academy is closed. When i was in Beijing, i made some prior arrangements to stay in a hotel in Yantai so i already had a room booked. Got to the Hotel and knocked out. I tried not sleeping at all on the plane because i didn’t want to be jet lagged.



If you ask me if this flight to China was easier than my first experience i would say no because my first flight was a straight flight to china so i did not have to deal with transferring terminals and dealing with missing flights! But i was more calm and less nervous being in a foreign place because i have been here before. So physically, no it was not easier. But emotionally i was very comfortable. so in that sense it was easier.



Woke up Friday morning. Went out to find a taxi to take me to Kunyushan. Got in a taxi and he kept calling someone asking how to get to Kunyushan. Then he dropped me off at another taxi driver and he said that he will take me to the academy. The car ride took about 55 minutes. The whole time i was nervous. Why? I am not sure. I had this strange feeling in my gut. The kind of feeling when you are about to drop in a Rollorcoaster. I arrived back to the Academy. Class was still in session so i got my bags and headed up 3 stories to my old room. On the way a new translator stopped me and asked if i was a new student. I smiled and told her no I’m an old one. I unpacked all my snacks i brought from home, two duffel bag worth full of Poptarts, twinkies, nutella, oreos, and lots more of other snacks. Most of them are for my friends because many never had twinkies or poptarts before. I bet I’m the first person to bring twinkies to a kung fu academy!



Before i finished unloading, Ash ran into my room and almost squeezed my head off with his hug. It was lunch time so we headed down to eat. I can honestly say i missed the Academy food. We will see how long that lasts! Sat with a bunch of my old friends and told them how my trip home was and how i came back bearing gifts for them. They filled me in about the new kids and drama with them. Then after lunch Jenny told me Master Guo wants to see me. So i got my gift that i bought him back home and went to his office. He smiled when he saw me and i went up to him and hugged him. First time i ever hugged my master. i gave him his gift which was a Seiko watch. It was a black watch with little dashes of gold where the numbers should be. I think it was an impressive yet intimidating watch, kinda like my master. He really liked it. I sat down and he told me how its nice to have me back and that i should not worry because a month is not too long to forget your training. i told him i have 6 months left here and i want to train hard because i dont know when i will be back. He said starting May 1st he is going to train Zi Lu, Raven, and I extra hard with extra explosive exercises and drills to help us with fighting. I was so happy to hear that! Thats exactly what i wanted. I told him to treat me as a chinese student not like a foreign student. The masters get in trouble from the head master for going too hard on the students sometime because we are weak foreigners, but i want Master Guo to treat me strictly and beat me if i am doing it wrong just to push me that extra mile. He laughed and said he will. I saluted him and left. Ash, Jake, and my roommate Ben where all hangin in my room when i got back. Talked to them a bit then Jake had to go practice for the performance on Saturday. Kunyushan is becoming a district in the Province now so there is a huge celebration. It is kinda like they are becoming their own county. The academy is putting on a demonstration at the Temple on top of the hill. A couple students and the masters are performing. i will take pictures and video for all to see. The guys left, i finished unpacking, and finally had a chance to relax. Master Guo told me training will start Monday so i had today off. I cleaned up my room and tried not to take a nap. i was so tired. Ash and Jake came back and asked what I was doing for dinner. i told them it would be nice to grab a bite at the restaurant next door. They loved my idea and said they will shower first then we go. Once they got ready Jake, Z his wife, Ash, and i headed next door for dinner. It was packed with the local chinese people. We saw two translators from the academy and they said they have been waiting for their food over an hour. So we decided to go to another restaurant that Ash had been to while i was gone. We ordered a lot of food but it was amazing. We decided we will come here more than next door because its a little more private and better service.



After dinner we headed back to the academy. i went to Jakes room and we went on Youtube to look at a couple videos we talked about at dinner. One of the videos was the Car ad, "Get up ah." If you have not seen it, go on google now and type in "Get Up Ah." Its about this guy cleaning and singing. Its pretty funny. Then we looked up Urban sports, had a good laugh at the human rodeo one. And he showed me a couple others. If you know of any good videos let me know so i can show the guys here. I headed to my room, washed up, and laid in my bed. It was nice and firm. i put on a movie but didnt go 15 minutes into the movie without closing my eyes. So i turned it off and went to bed. It was only 8:30pm but i was exhausted.



Woke up today at 5:45am. The performance today is at 10am so i have some time to kill. I will finish my movie and have a pop tart for breakfast. The sun rises on my side of the building so it does not seem like its only 6 am but its nice and refreshing. The view is superb, the trees, flowers, and fields are all blooming and its amazing.



Its good to be home.



-Scott