Original publish: November 6, 2011

So WordPress has been banned in China, most likely because of the  recent Tibetan protests in Sichuan — this explains the delay in posting. I am now hopping the Great Firewall using a VPN like many of the expats here.

On top of that, this girl been busy. I have class every day until 12, and then I work a few English teaching jobs. My social life has taken a major hit, but I don’t mind for the moment. Probably because I have circa one friend that wants to hang out with me and she keeps trying to get me to wingman her in every situation, from buying fruit to getting a haircut.

I’ve  joined a really nice gym in a mall nearby, which I love. Plenty of all types of equipment, big area and clean (which should never be taken for granted). I've started group spinning classes with a coach who is, for lack of better words, mad. I will have given it my ALL, sprinting as fast as I can on maximum resistance, struggling to breathe with every stride, my eyes burning from all the sweat falling in them.

Then I'll notice the coach's veins bulging with every heartbeat as he screams (mostly in Chinese but sometimes in English) 'motivational' phrases like “MORE! MOOOOOOORE! ENERGY!! I!! WANT!! MOOOORE!!! DO YOU!! DO YOU WANT!??????”, followed by this guttural ROAR and, fearing for your very life, you go a little bit faster, because you know he may very well dismount his bike, throw it out of the spin class window and transform into Godzilla or the guy from Men in Black who says he needs sugar and water (if he'd had about a million espressos).

Still though. I feel so good (and safe!) after his classes. So pretty sure as long as I avoid him everywhere but the gym things will be cushdy*.

* = Georgie slang; means very good

Pictures below:

Minjiang, the university where I teach (left)

No explanation needed (right)

In the beginning of October I also decided to visit Taipei, because it is really close to Fuzhou and not part of China / part of China depending on who you speak to. [NB: best to never ever bring this up with a Chinese local. Seriously]. It also meant I could visit my friend Ting, who 'works' in Taipei, although I have yet to see such evidence. Ting is Taiwanese but grew up in New Zealand, which means he pronounces words like boat deck "boat dick”. During my stay in Taipei I cracked what I will call the kiwi code: the New Zealand Accent is 75% changing all your e’s to i’s, and 25% British twang. I invite you to try this, taking no responsibility for the consequences, which may include bruising. When I shared my theory with Ting, he just muttered “you arh soe did!”, completely proving my point.

 
I found Taiwanese people to be lovely. Taipei is extremely clean, people there speak English and are helpful. The city just seems to invest in making itself pleasant. It doesn't hurt that you have the sea on one side and mountains on the other. 

The first thing I did when I got to Taipei was go to Ting’s acupuncture class (as you do). Ting studied traditional medicine in Chongqing, China, and is now continuing acupuncture in addition to 'working'. Firstly, if you are interested in learning about acupuncture, it’s really important to keep an open mind, mainly because strangers are about to insert metal objects in your skin.

What Actually is Acupuncture?

In basic terms, acupuncture is the idea that energy, qi, flows in several meridians, or circuits, throughout the body. When this energy is interrupted, the body is unbalanced and thus vulnerable to illness. By inserting needles into specific points (I think there are a few thousand in total), energy is restored and balance is regained. The concept is simple.

As you study which circuits control which parts of the body, it gets a lot more complex. Some points are a lot more sensitive than others. For example, it would be dangerous for a beginner to insert a needle into one of the points in the back, as that could end in paralysis. You can feel out some points out yourself — for example, there is one between your thumb and your index finger. Just start feeling between the two, down towards the wrist. When you press down on it you should feel pressure, especially as you compare it to the points around it. If you take your left arm, face your palm towards the ceiling, and start pressing halfway between your wrist and your elbow (slightly to the left side), is another one, although it is slightly harder to find. These pressure points are where the needle goes in.

At the end of the class, Ting, under the supervision of trained experts (do not try this at home) put needles into these two pressure points of my arm, and then to my horror, asked me to do the same to him. I suppose I should have seen it coming as he'd had me practising on a pack of tissues for around hour. Still! I can be fairly oblivious and predicted no such thing. I actually did it a few times, and the last I heard Ting was alive and well.

We spent the rest of my visit going to temples, bars, a very trendy modern design exhibition, and to Ting’s dismay, the Taipei Zoo. I had a lovely time. Taipei is a stunning city and I hear fantastic things about the rest of Taiwan, which is on my travel list.