Not everyone can say that they have had a vegetarian lunch with a monk. But we can!
We spent last weekend at the Shaolin Temple and the Pagoda Forest. The only thing we knew about Shaolin was from the movie "Shaolin Soccer." The movie was completely ridiculous, so we needed to get more information before we actually went. After a few minutes of trying to pronounce names, we gave up on the research. We did find a picture of these trees that had indents where the monks practiced their finger punching. FINGER PUNCHING! So when we got there, all we could do is pretend to finger punch each other. We found the tree, and of course tried our best finger punch. Without fail, we hurt our precious little phalanges.
I think I forgot to mention, we had our whole grand tour with a monk. A MONK! We couldn't understand him, because we don't speak Chinese, but following a monk was cool enough. He was a pretty fast walker, so we had to keep up with him to not get lost.
There were a lot of people that day! With a lot of people comes the price of others wanting to take a picture with you. I even got kissed by a girl! SNEAK ATTACK!
Guan xi (pronounced guan she) is pretty cool. Guan xi is like this connection with others where you get a "VIP pass" to anything. The main director in the English department, Mr. Jai, knew one of the teachers in the Shaolin temple, so we had a "VIP pass" to get through everything. We didn't have to pay for our tickets, we got to go through the Buddhist temples adorned in jade, and we even got to go to one of the temples where they practiced their kungfu.
I don't know how they did it, but they must have kicked so hard to break the ground under them. Now I don't know if it was true, but it was fun taking pictures. It felt a little weird being able to go to these places while everyone else was looking from the outside, but then again, it felt really cool! Hooray for guan xi!
After our tour, we had lunch with the monk. We had a full vegetarian meal, so we tried some interesting dishes (meat-like dishes that were soy based). It was a nice meal, but I learned that I could never be a vegetarian. Sorry, but I love beef, chicken, fish, pork.....MEAT!
After the lunch, we went to a Buddhist temple with 500 monks. What you have to do is think of a number in your head and find the monk with your corresponding number, and that is your monk. Alastair's monk is smart, witty, could get rid of evil, and fly. My monk was just a faithful servant who turned down the role of being a prince. It was fun taking pictures and mimicking the statues. A little disrespectful, but everyone was doing it.
After the temple, we went to the pagoda forest. Pagodas are tombstones, so we were at a cemetery for the monks who passed on. There are so many pagodas, like a forest with many trees. Hence the name, Pagoda Forest. The pagodas are rather beautiful and I think it would look even more beautiful in the winter with snow on them.
The last part of the tour was spent cramming ourselves into a packed auditorium to watch a kungfu show. It was pretty amazing what these kids can do! One kid was so flexible, putting his leg in a position where it should never be in. Another kid threw a needle into a pane of glass. That was insane! We were very impressed with their skills.
We had such a fun time and suggest everyone to visit the first Shaolin Temple. There is only one and everyone else is mere imitation.