Simon's China Blog: Reloaded

[SimonM]

Like the original only the special effects are more expensive, the story is a network of plot-holes and the coreography isn't as good.

Well I am in Taiyuan today waiting for the return of Pam. She is at home with her parents (who do not approve of me) and coming back today. I am thus happy. Also I'm going for a swim later.

I spent yesterday on busses all day because I arrived in Taiyuan only to find I had forgotten my passport in Lishi! Whoops!

Well at least it gave me a chance to watch "Dragon Tiger Gate" the latest Gong Fu blockbuster to be released in China. It was fun.

Other than that I've managed one fight all summer (I won) and i have lost some weight because I wasn't eating well waiting for Pam to return. Well I'll bid you all adieu for now, a swimming pool beckons.

[WanderingMonk]

Well at least it gave me a chance to watch "Dragon Tiger Gate" the latest Gong Fu blockbuster to be released in China. It was fun.


I used to read that comic. I even found it in US comic store once to my great surprise.

[SimonM]

Well check it out if you get a chance. It's about as brainless as you'd expect of a movie adaptation of a Gong Fu comic but the coreography is alright...

I rather disliked the styles of two of the main protagonists (the guy with the chucks and the guy who didn't seem to realize that the things on the ends of his arms could be used to fight too) but the third protagonist's coreography more than made up for that deficiency and the multi-fight in the Japanese restaurant was yet another way of showing that all the CGI in the world doesn't hold a candle to some decent stunt men...

Not that DTG was lacking in the CGI department.

Anyway, Pam's train arrives in half an hour and I have to go and find a bouquet of roses. Peace.

[SimonM]

Back from another long absence. What can I say? Life's been busy. Alright a few things. Personal first. Pam and I eventually got married, we had a 3 day long (4 day if you count the photo shoot) wedding ceremony in her hometown. It was amazing. She's asleep right now.

Thanks to Mega Fist for resurrecting a long-dead "Grandmaster Andy" joke thread since it reminded me to check out KungfuMagazine.com forum which I haven't been to in a long time.

Training wise I finally found a traditional Xingyiquan instructor. Only took me two years! I'm working on scheduling right now, did a few classes with him about a month back but we couldn't make our summer schedules mesh so we went on hiatus until well... this upcoming monday. Xingyi stepping is a very different method of moving my body than what I was previously accustomed to. I must say I like it; assuming a relatively linear attack pattern it's good for covering ground fast and hitting the opponent hard...

not entirely unexpected from a martial art with an origin in military spearwork.

[Scott R. Brown]

Hi Simon,

Congrats on the wedding! How about some details on how the relationship developed? How does she feel about her parents disapproval? Can you give more details about the 3 day wedding ceremony?

Will there be any sounds of feet coming from a little Simon?

[SimonM]

Actually in the end her parents approved quite fully. It took them a little time to warm to me but I went over there for Spring Festival and stayed a week, got to know everyone. I have been trying to learn Mandarin and, well, she's the only one in her family that speaks Mandarin - the rest speak their local dialect exclusively - but the fact that I TRIED I think helped.

Pam's mother is a sweetie. Her father is taciturn but not unfriendly and her brother is adorable. Her family actually hosted the wedding and the whole town showed up. The wedding photography studio that did our pictures actually has made use of our image in a city-wide advertising blitz so her father has warned us that our marriage better work because she won't be able to marry a local boy. :p

First day of the wedding was a banquet for just Pam's family. Due to the fact that my family couldn't make it from Canada for financial reasons I got an invite on compassionate grounds. A few of Pam's more distant male relaties tried to get me drunk but I insisted on drinking beer rather than Baijiu and so drunk wasn't an issue.

Second day I came to her home to officially "take her away". Because of my date of birth and her mother's date of birth neither of us were allowed to SEE her that morning at her parent's house. One of her uncles had the only birthday auspitious to carry her from the house down a narrow and uneven lane to the road where the car waited. They then erected a red curtain across the back seat of the car preventing us from seeing each other in the car. When we reached the hotel I was allowed (finally) to see my wife and we spent the rest of the day organizing our own banquet which tradition dictated we were supposed to have with my family. Instead we held it with my colleagues and friends from Lishi who made it down for the wedding.

Third day was an all-day banquet at Pam's parents house again. Technically there were two separate meals but in reality it was just non-stop food and drink from the morning until the late afternoon. There were speeches and ceremonial things we had to do but they didn't take long and then people went back to eating. The courtyard of the house was converted to a kitchen, the rest of the courtyard was filled with tables, the entire house was filled with tables and chairs including a table on the kang (a traditional type of bed made of bricks which is warmed in the winter, the whole family sleeps on it) and the party overflowed into the two houses adjascent to Pam's parents house in the lane.

We went back to Lishi a few days after the wedding so that I could run a summer english class to make some money for the honeymoon and then in mid-august we went together to Beijing and spent 10 days at the sumptuous Guo Han Binguan just off Dongzhimen Wai Da Jie, two blocks away from the Canadian Embassy. We visited the summer palace, went to the Lama Temple, shopped at the silk market and dined at several nice restaurants in sanlitun. We also went to a slightly risquee bar in sanlitun. While there we also got Pam's visa stuff in order and shopped for things not available in Lishi, like sourdough bread, cheese and dijon mustard.

[Scott R. Brown]

Very cool Simon. Thank you for sharing.

I find this very interesting. My own wife is a Filipina. I am fascinated with her culture too. What are your future plans? Will you be posting any wedding pictures for us? I hope so!

[CFT]

Congratulations Simon. Great news. Hope you have time to post more often.

[Mr Punch]

Congrats mate!

My wife and I tied the knot late last year. Originally her father was madly anti, and her grandfather (they're from an old samurai family) gave me some great hospitality over New Year, despite obviously having a bee in his bonnet about various things like losing the war, the Bomb, my being foreign etc.

He was called up to go to the Kamikaze divisions for August 20th. He finished his training to be a steam engine driver (his civvie occupation) on July 21st in Hiroshima and went home to the countryside not so far away. You can imagine the mixed feelings he has; and yet we really can't. It was interesting and very moving hearing an average geezer's view, plus of course, I was overjoyed that my family had not personally been involved in any of the atrocities at Nanking or anywhere (actually I had already checked).

Anyway, my father-in-law can't drink (about a third of Japanese people don't have the enzyme that allows us to digest alcohol) so it was me and the old chap drinking with and to his dead relatives, and him taking me on a guided tour of the backways and samurai houses of their town. As far as old traditions go (which as you all know, a lot of come directly from China anyway), he was a mine of information.

I could go on, but I'm hijacking your thread which is plenty interesting anyway! Sorry... just rambling...

Congrats again, and I wish you all the best for a great future... If my fu-buddies and/or wife and daughter come over to China anywhere near you (possible trip next year with fu-bros) we'll come and say hi somewhere! Or come and have a honeymoon in Tokyo!:D

[SimonM]

There will be wedding photos posted eventually but only after my mother gets them. We've been too slow in sending them home and I think my mom would be ticked if she has to go to Kung fu Magazine just to see her son's wedding pics. Got a few up already online that I will post as soon as I remember
how.

Ok, I remember how now.

Pam at the Photoshoot (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/SimonM223/NewImage14.jpg)

Pam and I together at her parent's house, day 3 of the wedding. (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/SimonM223/DSCF5191.jpg)

Pam and I together at the Photoshoot (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/SimonM223/NewImage18.jpg)

Pam and I in silly dressup costumes at the photoshoot. (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/SimonM223/NewImage27.jpg)

[SimonM]

Just answering a few of your guys questions: Our plans right now are heading back to Canada to get established there. We'd rather have our kids in Canada for the sake of ease of citizenship laws and quality of state subsidised health care. Pam will probably go back to school in a Canadian university as soon as she figures out what she wants to study.

We do want to go to Tokyo, we have a very very good friend who lives there and really want to visit her quite a lot.

Our plans for this year are simple: save lots of money. We want to give her parents some, her mother is working at a terrible factory job and after visiting the plant where she works I'm quite adamant that this wonderful woman shouldn't have to work there... it's like a literal depiction of Blake's vision of Hell. Pam has been saying that to her mom since before she met me and so she is on side with me on this. We would give them some money to help support themselves anyway but I am hoping if we can give them a good sum of money it may help us to convince her mother that she doesn't need to work at the factory. Then she can work at doing a job she likes (Pam says she used to have a gorgeous flower garden and would make a great florist).

That aside the cost of relocating from China to Canada is much higher than the cost of relocating from Canada to China (2 people rather than 1, head tax, visa plus I came to China with 3 bags worth of stuff. I have a whole house worth of stuff including a largeish sword collection to carry home from China). So this year will be more working and less traveling. Anything I can do to scrape together a few extra RMB is in the plan. ;)