The inverted Mascot

The mascot is a person or an animal that, according to a certain group of individuals, is expected to bring good luck. The name comes from the Provençal mascoto, "witchcraft" and "luck." This tells us wikipedia. I would add that they are usually small and pretty and represent the group of individuals to whom it should bring luck ...  After 20 days of presence and training, I find out to be the mascot of my group that takes care of me and look if I'm or not well ... But I’m definitely not small and pretty nor I represent the group of "Jedi to be." After 20 days I’m actually ill in bed. I'm not the only one, to tell the truth. In recent days we have had a number of injuries and also a case of acute dysentery. But this has not happened to me. I am simply collapsed from fatigue! These first two weeks and a half I was very satisfied. I almost always kept the pace of my younger classmates and when it came to technique and coordination I can say without false modesty I did well. But the stamina is not with me. Then this week I took two days of "rest" to visit the park of UNESCO which is just behind the school. Very very nice, but I also found out how must have felt the kung-fu Panda to do all those steps to get to the temple! I did 700 meters in altitude all of steps, often steep. Then the next day I started training, and on Saturday I collapsed. Today I'm already better, but for now I’ll rest a bit and tomorrow I think I’ll take it easy.

No worries, photos are coming soon!

Let's talk about a serious subject. THE FOOD!

My bowl

I must say that to my great surprise the food is good. I am very satisfied. There are three meals a day and we eat together in the common room. Of course, the menu is not that varied, and above all I can forget certain dishes I was accustomed to enjoy in the Mediterranean, but I must also say that with all the exercise we do, if I ate like in Italy I'd already be dead ! The meals are light, mainly based on rice and soy. Very little meat and it’s always in a sort of soup and never served as a dish in itself. A couple of times we also had the spaghetti ... I almost felt at home. Each of us has his bowl and chopsticks and takes care of them. The portions are generous as you like, but I personally do not eat much compared to others ... I still have some weight to lose! Certainly in restaurants outside the dishes are more various. I still haven’t tried it, but when we went to the park some guys ordered fried scorpions... Expensive for the Chinese standard, and they were also shown alive before cooking. Who has tasted them says they were good ... tasted of deep fried food ... but you know, fried also shoes are good.

Fresh food 

The language
The Chinese language is at least interesting. I sincerely would like to know what was going through their head while they were developing it. The written language has all the complexity that catches your eye when you see it the first time ... To have a minimum base knowledge you need to be able to recognize at least 2000 different characters. To write well you have to know more than 4000. But this does not tell us anything about how those characters are pronounced. Then there is a version of the Chinese written with Latin characters (which the Chinese also study to learn how to pronounce those symbols!), whose pronunciation, however, differs from the typical Latin characters ... And finally we understand why it is so difficult for a Chinese pronounce English words correctly ... With their pronunciation those words would have a different sound. So, long story short, a monstrous orthographic complexity. And the grammar? The grammar DOES NOT EXIST! They developed a monstrous writing system and then they talk like illiterates. "I good, you good? Horse big".

It must be said that for now I've had only a few lessons, but also those who have attended more classes confirm that the grammar is extremely simple.
Since each of us comes at different times and remains for different periods, there are not real courses. We study mainly on our own book and then during the lessons they teach us pronunciation and we can ask direct questions to the teacher. Then, a couple of times a day, before we start training outdoors, in front of the entrance, we repeat aloud the sentence of the day. In short, I do not know what I'll learn, but I’m having fun.

wise Chinese words

...over a toilet branded  Faenza!

Next time I'm gonna tell you about the walk in the park, with a special selection of pictures from the 180 I've made in 2 days!

May the Force be with you.