After a wonderful, glorious trip to Vancouver where I was able to see some of my favourite people in the world, play with some of my favourite kids and watch me honorary brother get married while my real brother and bestie stood up for him. It was a magical, cool (as in not stinking hot) trip that was a nice break. Ironically it was not a break from all things Chinese because of the high Chinese population in the Lower Mainland area of BC. We even stumbled on a Chinese/Taiwanese festival of some sorts that was like walking along the street in front of my house - Chinese medicine practitioners, People selling lots of stuff and weird (to me) food.
I was a bit worried about coming back. Last winter I had a major depressive episode after spending Christmas in Ontario. I am not sure if it was leaving the kids, my brothers and SIL and my other friends or if it was a case of SAD but it was hard. And a wee bit scary.
Luckily this time coming home felt just like that - coming home. It felt familiar and comfortable and fortunately not quite as screaming hot as when I left. And I was able to comfortably settle back in to observing the Chinese in action.
My new favourite thing is the Chinese exercise regime and the sheer lack of self-consciousness they bring to it. It might be because they were taught to exercise from a very early age and see it as a normal part of their lifestyle. Besides the office work-out (which I will video really soon - I am getting quite good at it) the Chinese truly exercise everywhere and seem to get away without paying the high gym fees.
The local parks have public exercise equipment for the general public. In fact I have a set of equipment right beside my apartment building. And people use it - all the time. They do push-ups, chin-ups, hang from the bars, do the twist on this twisty circle thing (sorry for the overly technical language) and ride the manual exercise bikes (see the video on the link above - it's not mine but it was a good illustration).
And they don't need equipment. Chinese women regularly do Tai Chi in the morning in just about any large open space. Of course we see this in North America too but I always find it magical. Especially when you run into it in the middle of the sidewalk as you walk by. They are usually accompanied by some badminton players. Those of you who watched badminton during the Olympics know the Chinese do not play the quiet, leisurely game we remember from summer afternoons in the backyard. Some of the games get vicious (and these are usually the older people - really good badminton kids are sent to badminton schools so they can win the olympics).
The seawalk in front of my building is filled with walkers who clap their hands, swing their arms, stretch, jump up and down and make loud noises (very startling when you first hear them). My all-time favourite though is the backward walkers. There are these women who complete half their walk backwards while swinging their arms and counting.
I am really hoping they inspire me to be less self-conscious in my own exercise routine...but in the meantime I love watching them from my balcony.
I was a bit worried about coming back. Last winter I had a major depressive episode after spending Christmas in Ontario. I am not sure if it was leaving the kids, my brothers and SIL and my other friends or if it was a case of SAD but it was hard. And a wee bit scary.
Luckily this time coming home felt just like that - coming home. It felt familiar and comfortable and fortunately not quite as screaming hot as when I left. And I was able to comfortably settle back in to observing the Chinese in action.
My new favourite thing is the Chinese exercise regime and the sheer lack of self-consciousness they bring to it. It might be because they were taught to exercise from a very early age and see it as a normal part of their lifestyle. Besides the office work-out (which I will video really soon - I am getting quite good at it) the Chinese truly exercise everywhere and seem to get away without paying the high gym fees.
The local parks have public exercise equipment for the general public. In fact I have a set of equipment right beside my apartment building. And people use it - all the time. They do push-ups, chin-ups, hang from the bars, do the twist on this twisty circle thing (sorry for the overly technical language) and ride the manual exercise bikes (see the video on the link above - it's not mine but it was a good illustration).
And they don't need equipment. Chinese women regularly do Tai Chi in the morning in just about any large open space. Of course we see this in North America too but I always find it magical. Especially when you run into it in the middle of the sidewalk as you walk by. They are usually accompanied by some badminton players. Those of you who watched badminton during the Olympics know the Chinese do not play the quiet, leisurely game we remember from summer afternoons in the backyard. Some of the games get vicious (and these are usually the older people - really good badminton kids are sent to badminton schools so they can win the olympics).
The seawalk in front of my building is filled with walkers who clap their hands, swing their arms, stretch, jump up and down and make loud noises (very startling when you first hear them). My all-time favourite though is the backward walkers. There are these women who complete half their walk backwards while swinging their arms and counting.
I am really hoping they inspire me to be less self-conscious in my own exercise routine...but in the meantime I love watching them from my balcony.
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