Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting
Tuesday, I had the same papers as the day before but they were very interesting. I found out that the Maori language only has ten vowel sounds (a,e,i,o,u both long and short) and only ten consonant sounds (t,k,wh which is an f sound, ng which is like the ng in “singer,” h, g, m, r, p and n). I’m learning so much it is really too much to write about here. All I can do is recommend coming to New Zealand and taking these papers for yourself. At dinner I sat with my Chinese friends again and we had a lot of laughs. I was just joking around when I asked Gee if he can cut an apple with his hand, because he’s all into kung fu. And he said that he can so it went on for a bit like that at dinner and after dinner, as we were all walking out into the courtyard, I said are you serious that you can really do that? And he said yeah, it’s easy. So I ran back into the dining hall and grabbed the last apple and said ok, do it. So he put it on a bench and he actually chopped the apple in half! It was crazy. He said that that is nothing, in the army, soldiers are trained to be able to break a stack of six bricks with their bare hands. So I asked him to teach me. And now I’m obsessed with learning how chop things with my hands. How cool would it be to be able to just chop an apple like that? Later I also found out that he can do Chinese massage and he showed me how to do it. I’m going to come home with a whole new skill set after this!
The other day, when Gee and his friend, David, went to the Warehouse, I went with them because I needed to buy soap and just on a whim, I decided to dye my hair. It was really a toss up between black and blond and the guys agreed that I should do blond so I did!
Do gentlemen really prefer blondes?
Now I’ll see if blondes really do have more fun. I think my thick brown eyebrows give me away as not a natural blond, though. Also, on the walk back, David gave me the greatest idea. You see, they’ve all been inviting me to China and saying that they will take me everywhere and show me everything if I come and then David mentioned the Olympics in Beijing in 2008. And now I’m seriously thinking of taking them up on their offers so I can go to China for the Olympics. I can’t imagine how amazing that would be.
Thursday, I had my first Contemporary Perspectives on Maori Dance class and it was quite interesting. We are learning some choreography that is this fusion between hip hop and traditional Maori dance. I’ve never done choreography before so I kind of feel like I need to work extra hard to get it down. I think it will be a great class. It is very Maori oriented and most of the students are Maori except for me, a German girl and this Japanese guy. So I think it will be challenging but great in the end. After dinner, that day I had Gee teach me the basics of kung fu. It’s great, like having your own personal trainer! We just kept going over it until I got it. We were out on the grass next to the block and we practiced until it was very dark outside.
Practicing kung fu
My teacher, Gee
Tags: Hamilton, New Zealand
March 4th, 2006 at 2:01 am
Hi..i know this is weird, but I plan to go to school in australia next year and came upon your blog thing. I really think this is interesting! Hope you enjoy your time “down under”!
March 6th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Hey not at all, glad my ramblings have some use! Thanks for the good wishes and good luck to you too.
Agnieszka
March 7th, 2006 at 12:35 am
OK, I’m up for the Chinese massage! We’ll also put you in charge of Writing Center security, Kung Fu Woman.
March 8th, 2006 at 2:49 am
Well you know, Meg, I’m basically doing writing center tutor sessions with my new friends who all want me to check their writing before they hand it in. So I shan’t be too rusty when I get back. Would any of these things I’m learning count as my learning project for the summer? It would be cool to teach everyone Chinese massage.
March 11th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
I’t doesn’t matter to me what your hair color is, I just prefer cute polish girls named Agnieszka Marczak.
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:32 am
i really hope you learn how to chop an apple with your hand, because girl i want to see that!!