imitation is the best form of flattery. now i have my own wood carving, styled after Ju Ming’s Taichi series. i’d like to start studying taichi after i settle down in Beijing. i’ve learned a few things while living in Taiwan that’ll help. simple things that are often overlooked when we’re busy, like how to relax (放鬆) my body. that’s what the elderly folks in the park are doing when you see them patting themselves and exercising in funny ways. they’re also getting the energy in their bodies flowing (開穴氣流?). i’ve also learned the simple technique of breathing deeply.

…and the next day (the day after the trip to Miaoli) I was inspired to visit the Juming Museum (朱銘美術館). Juming is a famous Taiwanese sculptor. His mueseum, with most of his work presented outside, is the coolest museum I’ve ever been to. Maybe I haven’t been to that many musuems but I love the way it’s designed. The way you are up close with the pieces and how it is all very down to earth. The bronze pieces are built to last and in time will change to a green color, similar to their surroundings in the mountains.

i walked around barefoot. there is a wading pond to get your feet wet.

“Zipper Tent” i like this one. it’s funny.

“Zipper Lotus Pond” Zipper Series by his son Ju Jun

soldiers with blunt swords in the fight against agression

“Soldier Series” part of the Living World Series

Living World Series

Living World Series

zāng xiǎo hái wán de yú kuài

This is what happens when you play outdoors barefoot. I remember when I was little and having running races in the street. We said we could run faster barefoot. Yesterday, 彥彬 (Yànbīn) and I played 2-on-2 with some high schoolers. I played barefooted because my shoes are already falling apart and I’m trying to make them last. One of the kids was wearing flip-flops. We won two games. Then we were losing the third game until the basketball bounced into the Xindian river.

Jiāxún (佳珣), 宗庭’s girlfriend, called me 髒小孩 (zāng xiǎohái or a dirty little kid) over the weekend in Kending when she saw my feet were all black. I guess it’s a trend. Walking barefooted is good sometimes, like massage. I sometimes ride my bike barefooted. I like Tawainese foot massages but they’re too expensive to get them regularly.

I haven’t been to my Chinese class in a long time. Before Chinese New Year my teacher was busy and so was I. Over the holiday I said I would review and also finish this book on radicals. We finished one book and we planned on starting a new one after the break but my teacher got sick over the holiday. We stopped classes for a while. Since then I haven’t been going to the library much. Instead of studying in the books I’ve been studying the culture in other ways.

I’ve met a lot of different people. I studied some martial arts, learned about Chinese opera at the club and watched a few opera shows too. Took a Chinese chess class, went to an instrumental concert, drank with a few locals and went to two weddings. I enjoy learning about other cultures and it makes my time living here much more richer.

I saw this puppet show (布袋戯) for free at Zhongshan Hall. There were a lot of free shows/concerts during the Taipei Traditional Arts Festival. Glove puppets originated in Fujian province, where the majority of native Taiwanese come from. This show was so funny. They said it was a good one for kids because there is a lot of action. It’s about the Monkey King fighting evil deities. It was cool when the Monkey King was travelling great distances at high speed. To make it look like he was moving fast a yellow ribbon was waved back and forth underneath him as he leaped and ran across the stage. The show was in Taiwanese. So, I couldn’t understand the dialogue but I could understand some things that were happening. It was funny in the end when the deities were tricked by an old man and had to listen to his commands. He told them to lay flat on the ground (趴者), stand up (站起來), sit down (坐下), stand up and lay down again. He had them jumping all over the place.

The Wrestling Deities Jab the Monkey King (仙拼仙拼死猴齊天)

大唐時期樊梨花下凡幫助孫兒薛葵攻打交趾國，交趾國群妖佈置五毒金沙陣將樊梨花金身陷住陣中，孫臏向各路神仙求救，釋迦牟尼得知後令孫悟空帶金丹到金沙陣 中，讓樊氏含在口中以保住金身並幫孫臏破陣，因而引起東南兩二教主不滿，特召集東南二派神仙前來阻擋，引發二方爭鬥，各顯神通、各搬法寶，引發一場熱鬧有 趣、充滿想像力的神仙鬥法故事，讓人百看不厭。

I love this guy’s stance. It’s especially Chinese. There’s great detail in the movement of the puppets.