M: 🙂
M: I have a very important thing to tell you.
U: and what would that be?
M: I have sent you some of your photos
U: i know
U: thank you
U: but
U: i want some of the photos with you in them
M: The photo about Shao Lin Gong Fu reminds me to teach you some Gong Fu. 😉
M: I’m from the hometown of Shao Lin Gong Fu, remember?
U: i remember
M: There is an old Chinese saying: I may not have tasted the pork, but at least, I have seen the pig running.
M: understand?
U: somewhat
U: it is to watch the pig run
U: than to be chased by a running pig
U: let me start over
M: 🙂
U: it is better to watch the pig run…than to be chased by a running pig
M: no. listen, I tell you
U: i remember being chased by a wild pig when i was a child
M: that’s nice. you even could have met a wild pig.
M: I’ve never seen a wild pig except in zoos.
M: Now, let me tell you about that saying
U: ok
M: In some way, it means, you are in that environment, you will know it somwhat.
M: understand?
U: i understand
M: Here it means, even though I haven’t learnt Shao Lin Gong Fu formally but I have been growing in that environment so I know something about it.
M: 😉
U: ah ha
M: You have learnt some about Shaolin Gong Fu, right?
U: from watching Bruce Lee movies
U: and learned a little bit of Tai Kwon Do in the military
M: Oh, I heard that Tai Kwon Do is very brutal
U: much like Gong Fu
U: both are violent
M: oh
U: i saw Bruce Lee pull a man’s heart out of his body
U: and then he showed it him before he died
M: About Gong Fu, when you attach someone else, generally, you reach your fists and palms out, right?
U: yes…i think that is the technique
M: When someone’s Gong Fu is very good, when he reach out his fists or palms, they go with winds.
M: we call fist wind, or palm wind if translate directly to English.
U: with lightning speed
M: When I saw your photo, it reminded me of that wind.
M: understand?
U: i understand…but
U: maybe it was the wind from the lake
M: no, the wind around your hand
U: i see
M: 🙂
U: we could have played more with the slow shutter speeds
U: try it at night with passing cars
M: I plan to post it on my blog saying that this foreigner can do Gong Fu with palm wind. 😉
M: is it ok for you? 😛
U: but i’m am not a foriegner
M: This American
U: i can’t spell it correctly either
U: you should say
M: *foreigner
U: the White Lightning Tiger
M: you like this name?
U: you choose the name
U: * would be fine
M: Probably, This American can do Chinese Shao Lin Gong Fu
M: The viewer will be shocked 😉
U: but you will mislead the reading audience
U: why shocked
U: many westerners know the techniques now
M: They will think, wow, how capable this American can be?
U: its much easier to defend one’s self by dropping a hand grenade down the attacker’s shorts
M: Let me tell you more about Gong Fu
M: ok?
U: i would love to know more
M: There are some legendaries about Gong Fu.
M: It’s said that someone can stand on his two fingers
M: Also some novels are made about Gong Fu. Those novels have made Gong Fu more magic.
M: It’s said that on the body, there are some special spots.
U: i know some of this
M: For example, if you point some spot and your finger is powerful enough, you can make him unable to move
U: can you do this?
M: no, I think probably, it’s just the story made by the writers
M: but, about Chinese Gong Fu, it said that in the body, there are some air
M: Traditional Chinese Medicine also think in this way.
U: i think if you were to learn Gong Fu…you would have stronger mind and body
M: It’s important to make the air move around the body smoothly.
U: but yes…i have seen Mr. Bruce Lee do this also
U: i know more than you think
M: 🙂
M: that’s nicer to talk it with you then
M: Do you remember that novel I have told you that you were like that father in that novel?
U: i remember
U: but remind me of the name of the novel
M: The writers made a lot of stories about Gong Fu etc..
M: it’s kind of lengendaries
M: Adult’s fairy tale
U: ok
M: The writer of that novel is in Hong Kong.
M: I know you can’t remember now. I have told you part of it: A girl ran away from the home and met a boy and fell in love with, but that boy left her.
M: Her father found her and said that he would like to get him and kill him. remember?
U: yes
M: That writer is very famous. His novels have created a new world including Gong Fu.
U: how long ago did he write such novels?
M: For example, two persons both are very best about Gong Fu.
M: He is still alive now.
M: The novels are still adapted to TV series one version after another.
U: oh really
U: who is he?
M: let me tell you about those two persons
U: what is his name
M: Jin Yong in Pinyin
M: let me tell you about those two persons fighting with Gong Fu in the novel
M: they have built some inside power
M: They just sit and keep a distance from each other.
U: ok
U: 🙂
M: Then they extend their palms facing each other
M: The inside power goes out and meet in the middle
M: some lightning happens
M: the one with weaker inside power will be hurt inside
M: sounds wonderful?
U: so far
U: go on
M: understand?
U: more
U: yes
M: The one who was hurt was the loser
M: He needed to cure himself
U: he was hurt from the lightning?
M: He may cure himself by himself or be cured by someone else who has inside power
M: from the power of another one’s power wind
M: It makes the air in his body or something else unable to move smoothly.
M: so he may spit blood
U: it damages internal organs
U: i see
M: probably
M: one important thing is the wind has blocked the way the air moves in his body
M: so he needs to make the way the air unblocked
M: he can use his inside power to do so
M: by sitting there, close his eyes,
M: just moving his palms
M: to make his inside power to go where he wants it to go
U: its all in the mind
U: excellent mind training
M: or someone else who has strong inside power too can help him.
M: Just palm to palm, the other one’s inside power will go to the patient’s body to make the air move smoothly
M: that’s the logic of those novels
U: can you give me a title to this novel
M: see, I tell you the most important knacks of Gong Fu
U: or translate into english
M: ok
M: let me think about it
M: The Eagle Shooting Heroes
M: are you praticing your Gong Fu now?
U: http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Shooting-Heroes-Leslie-Cheung/dp/B00181XY7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307418450&sr=8-1
U: http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-shooting-Heroes-Diao-Xiong-Zhuan/dp/7806553312/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307418520&sr=8-4
U: yes…i am standing on two fingers now
M: (chuckle)
M: That’s the first novel I was really interested in
M: very much
M: I read part of it in junior high school
U: how old were you when you read it
M: 11, or 12
M: The deskmate brought several to me. It’s his father’s books
M: A few thin books: volume 1, volume 2…
U: the first novel i read was “Lord of the Flies”  when i was 12
M: what’s that about? Fairy tale?
U: about an airplane that crashed on an island in the ocean
M: oh
U: all the adults died
M: 🙂
U: and there was a class of school children on the airplane
U: and they survived
M: you would imagine you were one of them
M: right?
U: and so they ruled the island
M: oh
U: and hunted wild pigs
M: 🙂
U: do you want to know where the title come from
U: Lord of the Flies
M: (nod)
U: the first wild pig they killed…they cut the head off and placed it on a stick
M: that’s brutal
U: and the leader of the children made the other children worship the pig’s head as if it were God
U: and after a few days…flies started swarming around the pigs head
U: because it was rotting
U: and so…it was the Lord
U: of
U: the Flies
M: the story probably tries to tell something to the Children like democracy or critical thinking
U: it tells that children can be as brutal as adults
M: :S
U: great novel
M: oh,
M: you like this kind of novel
M: I liked that novel. It almost brought me to another new wonderful world, full of imagination.
U: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_flies
U: i like many kinds of novels
U: this was required reading in school
U: so…i had to read it
M: 🙂
U: but i enjoyed it
M: that’s a nice novel
M: but not the type I like most
M: I like novel about Gong Fu
M: we call “Wu Xia” novel (Note: Martial Arts　Novels).
M: “Wu” means Gong Fu or something like that. “Xia” means heros or some people who help the people, bring justice to the people.
U: just like Bruce Lee Movies
M: more wonderful than that
U: i’m sure they were
M: it’s a new world like a fairy tale
U: but it is all we had
M: 🙂
M: it’s past-midnight
U: what?
U: already
U: we just got started
M: let me tell you the story about that writer before pig goes to sleep, ok?
U: i prefer to be called…Lord of the Flies
U: but you can call me pig if you wish
U: ok
U: go on
M: That writer’s father was killed by Chinese communist party after the P.R.C was built
M: the writer survived in Hong Kong
M: and became a famous writer.
M: In his novels, the heros’ fathers generally were killed by Han nationality.
M: and had some conflicts and depression in their minds
M: but they still tried to help Han nationality, in the other words, China.
M: Another famous writer in Hong Kong had the similar story.
M: so the people in Hong Kong probably hated the people from the mainland of China.
M: In fact, most of the people of the mainland of China just struggled to survive.
M: not hurt them.
M: you are asleep now?
U: no
U: i’m reading your words with great interest
M: 🙂
U: thats it
M: When the people from the mainland of China went abroad and met the people from Hong Kong, they might feel that the people from Hong Kong were very hostile to them.
U: i thought there would be more
M: and they would think the people from Hong Kong might think the people from the mainland of China were poor so they descrimate them.
M: In fact, there may be another reason: the history.
U: history is not in favor of Han?
M: The grandparents or parents of some people of Hong Kong might have sufferred a lot in the mainland of China and fleed to Hong Kong.
M: understand?
U: yes…the main reason for going to Hong Kong in the first place
M: some might have been killed like those writers’ fathers.
U: yes…very true
M: When I read more about such things, and heard the Chinese people around saying like they were from “Heaven dynasty”, I felt awful.
U: how do you feel now?
M: I feel ok.
M: 🙂
U: great
U: ok
U: i have to go to sleep
M: ok
M: good night then
U: see you tomorrow
M: 🙂 see u
U: good night
U: (hug)
M: (hug)

M: I tell you one thing, it’s out of your imagination.
M: are you ready to be shocked?
U: shock me…if you dare to.
M: When I worked in a company in China,
M: the colleague next to me talked about his experience in his university.
M: His university is ** University.
U: is it colleague or comrade?
M: In China, usually the parents pay the fees of school. No loans like here.
M: the parents pay the living cost too
U: i thought that in great socialist harmonious society that education was free
M: It’s quite a burden for Chinese parents if they have children at university.
M: The fees in university are quite high.
M: But the universities offer some prize for the top students.
U: a scholarship
M: yeah.
U: ok…continue to shock me
M: Different universities have different rules.
M: In his university, the rules are as below:
The first one-third got prize. The middle one-third got no prize, no punishment. The last one-third got punishment.
M: understand?
U: yes
M: Generally, it depends on the scores you got on exams
U: the punishment was a one-way ticket to North Korea?
M: The punishment is you need to pay some money as fine for your low scores
U: wow!
U: i would rather have the one-way ticket to North korea
M: In some way, the last one-third students pay the cost of the first one-third students.
U: i see
M: can you image you study in that university?
U: so much for being equal in The Land of Harmonious Society
M: my colleague said that it drove people crazy.
U: i could imagine that being true
M: The competition should be quite severe.
M: I think that my parents couldn’t bear it if I needed to pay another student’s cost.
U: its like being on the North korean soccer(football) team…win and keep playing…lose and work in the salt mines
M: 🙂
U: i’m sure you finished in top 1/3
U: of course you did
M: no, my university isn’t that ugly.
U: but…your grades were good enough to be in the top 1/3…right?
M: I’m not in top 1/3, and I just need to pay my own cost.
M: (blush)
U: it dosen’t matter
M: If I need to pay another student’s cost, I think probably I will drop off.
U: yes…and immigrate to Canada
M: 🙂
U: wait…thats exactly what you did
U: just kidding
M: 🙂
U: you seem to me to be quite an achiever
U: very independent and intelligent
M: If you need to pay your child’s classmate’s cost, what will you do?
U: i will never be in such a situation
U: i hope not
U: not here
M: just some imagination for Chinese parents’ situation
U: would i have a choice?
U: what would happen if i refused?
M: I think of a real story.
M: Probably it happened when I was a teenager
M: The news on the newspaper
M: you will be shocked!
U: ok…go on
M: A mother beat her son to death with stick
M: just because he didn’t got the full scores at school.
M: :O
M: The whole country was shocked at that time
U: the death penalty for not getting good grades…i am shocked
M: :O
U: crazy mother
M: Her son alway got the full scores at school before.
M: That time, just a little bit low.
M: :S
U: i think she took the definition of “tiger mom” a little too far
M: That’s sort of tradition that parents can beat their children in China.
M: The traditional idea thinks that in this way, the children will grow up well.
U: in American and Europe that parents would get arrested for beating children
U: *the
M: I know.
U: its all about culture and society
M: Husbands beating their wives are sort of common in China.
U: that is very wrong
U: like arabs in Muslim states
U: its makes me angry that men can treat women as a farm animal
M: 🙂
M: but the U.S. gov’t is their partner.
U: yeah…well…that is all about getting oil
M: 🙂
U: what can i do
M: 🙂
M: bomb their oil pipe
M: 😉
U: i wish
M: just kidding
U: i wish one day…The western world didn’t have to buy their oil
U: but…not in my lifetime I’m afraid
M: 🙂

M: The citizens of Hong Kong have priority compared to the people in the mainland of China
U: i know this
U: you told me before
U: and it is always very educational
M: I met a guy from Hong Kong here. He has a Canadian citizen now, but the gov’t of China also issues him a pass to go to the mainland of China without asking a visa
M: I can’t get that.
M: Have I told you that?
U: no
M: The people from Taiwan has a similar pass from the gov’t of the mainland of China to go to the mainland of China.
U: i didn’t know that
U: how generous
M: it’s not generous, it’s kiss ass
U: of course…a generous kiss ass
M: (chuckle)
U: after all…they are chinese
M: yeah, we are not Chinese?
M: the people from the mainland of China are not Chinese?
U: i see your point
M: typical kiss ass stuff
M: I tell you something very interesting
U: tell me
M: It’s probably a real story
M: A Chinese from the mainland of China visited Taiwan
M: The gov’t of Taiwan issued him a pass
U: ok….go on
M: The pass said: the people of the mainland of republic of China
M: Do you know “republic of China”
M: it’s not “people’s republic of China”
U: taiwan’s official name is “republic of china”
M: it’s an old name
U: whats the new name?
M: They think that the mainland of China is part of republic of China
U: i know
M: P.R.C announces that Taiwan is a part of P.R.China
M: understand?
U: crystal clear
M: so that pass said that that own is the people of the mainland of republic of China
M: The last half of the story is funny.
M: The posting said: when the owner saw those words, he couldn’t help bursting into tear.
M: tears: republic of China doesn’t forget the people of the mainland of China
M: understand?
U: yes…good stuff
M: The last part of the story is most interesting
M: When he went back to China, the pass was taken away by the customs of P.R.C ;(
U: oh my
U: why?
M: it’s illegal
M: for P.R.C
M: Taiwan is a province of China
U: i see
M: Do you think the story is funny?
U: more ironic than funny
U: but funny in an ironic way
M: yeah, I agree
M: it’s more ironic and funny if it’s in Chinese words
M: It’s said that republic party calls the mainland of China captured area
M: P.R.C calls Taiwan a province of China

M: you are English-spearker
M: you can travel around the world by teaching your native language
U: yes…and i can speak english in several accents
U: if I were to speak to you in a Royal British accent…you would think it is my natural accent
M: one popular accent is good enough
U: but its fun to speak in British accent
M: For me, if I can understand what you are speaking, I’m satisfied with my English listening ability.
U: i can pronounce words as well as Wills
U: i will be gentle with my english
M: 🙂
M: If I can’t understand your English, can you guess what shall I do
U: start speaking manderin?
M: sure
M: 😉
U: then i would be forced to speak german
M: then I have to speak French.
U: then we will be speaking the language of diplomacy
M: There is an Chinese idiom for it: Chicken and duck talk
M: 🙂
U: thats funny
M: 😉
U: maybe because of Hong Kong and mainland China?
M: no, it’s an ancient idiom
M: no Hong Kong at that time.
U: no British flag on Chinese soil then