I’ve been back in China for a month now and I feel very much at home, especially since I’ve moved to the new flat near Central Park, I have started to go to the park after breakfast to do exercise, which consists of walking around the park and using some of the equipment of the park. My body has been a bit tired and a bit sore this week as it gets used to the new regime.

I’m always surprised by the amount of older Chinese that I see in the park, they are either part of a dancing group or they might be doing Tai Chi. Some are being taught some form of self defence , such as Tae Kwon Do. There are also many individuals all doing their own thing. Many older Chinese have the flexibility of a child and you will often see them stretching their legs almost up to head height. Many will walk around and clap their hands or hit part of their body as they stroll around the park. They do this to improve the circulation. Almost every part of the park is being used in some sort of fashion. I see the same faces most mornings and I have become friendly with an old bunch of guys that have come here for a long time. They certainly do not look like your typical older foreigner. Because the environment is safe and the crime rate is very low, the old and the young can mix happily in the park and don’t have to worry about anything other than doing their thing. It’s very different to many western countries.

also met a young girl there, well she’s 40, but we had seen each other at the Toastmasters a few weeks ago. We caught up for a chat after our workout and it turns out that she lives in the same complex as I do and so most mornings we will walk and talk as we walk back home. We even went out for lunch 🙂

I have been busy or I can be if I want to be. I have picked up a few lessons and yesterday I went for a demo class and the young girl has confirmed that we will meet once a week. I have one group of students I see once a fortnight and then I have 3 other individual students and so I only need to acquire another 5 hours or so a week to make life a bit easier.

I’m sharing the flat with Sissi and we will chat in the morning to help each other with our learning of each others language. Sissi is a quite a character and life is never dull. She runs an Airbnb and so she often has to go to meet guests or to clean the house after the guests have left. She has her routine in the morning where she will do Yoga and study most days. I also try to get into my study by reading my books but I still find this a very difficult thing to do.