Another semi-bittersweet day.
However, today was pretty much a very good day until nighttime came along and thats where the bittersweet comes from. It was overcast yesterday and it hasn't rained in 2 months. So I am pretty much a fool for leaving my clothes on the clothesline to dry over nite. It rained and my stuff outside got all wet..including my gym clothes and a bath towel. I wasn't able to go to the gym because of it.
It was also surprisingly chilly. It seems to be around 17-18 degrees celsius. It was sort of a rude awakening but not too bad, since I am from Michigan.
I had class. Nothing spectacular happened, but it was fun. It makes me laugh...the chinese here in the south are panzies when it comes to cold weather. I am standing there teaching in a T-shirt and all the students are wearing winter coats and gloves. Its just a funny image. Time came for lunch and I headed home and did a bit of DVD work and grabbed a bite to eat. I then headed back to school on the bicycle.
6th grade class today went well. Nothing horrible to report. After the primary school finished, I biked home to take care of some things then headed out to kindergarten class. I was trying to teach the kids, DVD/CD/MP3. I figured they would know most of that already since they love DVDs and VCDs in this town. It was adorable to hear these 4-5 year olds say, "MP-3". So cute.
After that, I rode home and did some more stuff until I planned to head out to Lion/Dragon Dance practice. About 15 minutes later, John showed up and we played a round of pool. After that I hauled my booty over to practice. Its kinda sad that I was on a bike and I was passing people on motorbikes and scooters. I got to practice and started stretching.
This is where the story gets bittersweet. I was practicing what I have been taught by the head coach. Just practicing it n stuff. He came over and showed me some more. I picked it up almost immediately. I also noticed this really old guy walking around trying to look like he was watching everyone, but I saw him looking at me alot. I was noticing him as the head coach was instructing me on the new stuff. The old guy headed into the bathroom. As the head coach was watching me do some of the new stuff, the old guy came out and then started chatting to the headcoach about stuff. It was pretty obvious he was talking about me. I hope it was good.
Later on in the night, I got to control the dragon head. That thing is heavy. But I think I am getting the hang of it. After I sat down, the girl that translates for me asked me if I could join them in a Dragon Dance on Sunday morning at 9am. I was like sweet. But I have to work. Wait, this is for a cultural festival of sorts, and the government invited me to this, so I may not be working. Sweet. I may be able to join. I have to find out for sure though. I also asked who that really old guy was. I had a thought and the girl confirmed it. The really old guy was the head coach's teacher. I hope I don't offend him with my whiteness.
While I was sitting there trying to rest after something I will talk about in a bit, the old guy was walking by. He noticed me, stopped and smiled big and gave me a thumbs up. It was pretty kool.
So, why was I sitting there for awhile resting? Well, after I learned the new form stuff, I proceeded to practicing on the kicking exercise that the head coach gave me. It entails doing a leg sweep followed by a spinning kick to the head type deal and then into some stances. Well, me being an idiot, I forgot to stretch out one muscle group. Basically, I forgot to stretch out the butt/hip muscles. So, as I compressed to do the sweep and turn, I pulled a muscle in my butt. Its on the left side. Its that muscle in the divot of your butt cheeks, the outer part of your butt. I didnt want to damage it more so I had to sit out. Apparently, when you cross your legs, you use this muscle alot. I learned that. ouch. So, no gym for me tomorrow. I am just gonna relax it during lunch, go to practice at nite and take it easy.
As I was leaving practice I was saying goodbye to people. I went and said good-bye to the real old guy. I guess I surprised him because he jump back a bit when I walked up to him. He then got this huge rotted tooth smile and slapped his hands on both my shoulders and then made a hand motion to say, "Very broad shoulders, very strong", he then made a stance that I was working on earlier and he said, Han Hou! (Very Good!) and he seemed happy. I think I can safely assume that what he was saying to the head coach earlier was good.
I rode the bike home slowly not to aggravate the muscle. I got home and finished up some DVD work.
It was a good day mostly. I hope this pulled muscle won't keep me out for too long. I hope it heals fast. Now I am off to bed.