AND WE RETURN - TO SHANGHAI AND BEIJING.. IN LATE SPRING (WHOOPIE)

....... and so we return to Shanghai and Beijing. It is unbelievably soon after our winter explorations (which were in Hong Kong and Beijing), still exciting to think that tomorrow (well actually Thursday-given the International Date Line) we will be in China again.) (It is also a little embarrassing that despite both of our sincere intentions to learn a least a few more words of Mandarin.. it hasn't happened.)  SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF THIS IS A NEW OR OLD BLOG ABOUT A NEW OR OLD TRIP... IT IS ALL OF THOSE THINGS- A NEW TRIP TO FAMILIAR LOCATIONS AND THE BLOG IS A CONTINUATION OF OTHER PAST TRIPS.. HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE....... and so we continue to begin:

Why return so soon? You might wonder. Well, I (Barbara) will be teaching again...some familiar classes in Shanghai: an Experiential Kinesiology course and also a Supervision course. I am particulary looking forward to the Supervision course, because I learn so much about how my students see the world, who they work with and also how Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) is being applied in China.

Then a few days later we zip to Beijing. (Zip is the most appropriate word.. I am assuming we will be taking the high speed train.. which takes only about 5 hours).  I will 1) be giving a talk at a teaching hospital, leading a group of folks diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and then answering questions from the staff, and 2) leading a personal growth workshop focusing on '"ouples, Relationships and Intimacy."  Both of these are quite new experiences for me and I hope to learn alot about how mental illness is addressed and what it looks like in Beijing, and also what intimacy means in China.  (It is a thousand year old Confucian, patriarchal, relational culture after all. I am curious what types of issues are important to the workshop participants and which ones are not relevant.  I am a bit nervous, since I am still learning about the ways my world view as a Southern Californian American is simiar and also different from the people I will be meeting.) Stay tuned for further developments and learnings. 

We also hope to continue exploring. Both of these cities are so huge that I suspect we could return many times before we felt that we HAD run out of areas and sites to explore. Plus, even returning to the same areas will most likely seem different, as my/our own experiences in China have deepened what we will see or are curious about.  Plus, there are also some amazing parks and museums where we would need to go over and over again before it becomes boring.  

Other differences: I am more and more confident with my 'word translation app', which I am looking forward to using.  In Beijing we hope to connect again with my friend Ming Ming, and I will also get to teach a class of her Music Therapy students. That will be fun I hope. 

Weather-wise, it's hard to imagine what we'll see. We still have some piles of snow here from the blizzard of the century. Spring yard work will have to wait until we return as well other normal spring tasks. The weather apps show that it will be in the 60's -80's in Shanghai and Beijing, and I can't quite imagine it yet. That makes it hard to pack! 

Speaking of which, I am going to sign off and get busy with final packing and cleaning details. We will be continuing to add to this blog... so hope you decide to check in and see what we are up to. 


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