“My first days in Hangzhou"

“My first days in Hangzhou“

by Francisco J. Lucero Bravo

Since I’ve arrived to Hanzhou my mind just can’t stop to process new information, wich is absolutely good for brains healthy. At the same time it is quiet imposible to avoid make some comparisons between the new information and the older one which it’s linked to my cultural background in Chili. First of all, here I feel I can “say hi” to everybody and receive an gentle -and sometimes shy- “ni hao” as response, which is sadly not usual in my place. Of course that being a foreign guy it helps, but I believe the kindness of chinese people is special. The people is the first and most important focus of my observations. They rides silents electric motocycles and bikes, they makes groups to play cards in publics places, they sell tasty food, they speak in a higher tone of voice, they looks relax and focused at the same time. The language barrier it’s quiet anoying in this sense cause I can’t exchange words with them but it’s still helpful to pay attention to all the details in my short period of stay in Hanzhou. Of course the chinese people I already met, who speaks english and I consider my friends, they show me the most authentic version of hospitability. They show real interest to make my stay pleasant. They guide me and give me some useful advices about how to live and enjoy Hanzhou. Their conception of life is something about to learn from the experience to live in community.

I already met a few amazing places as the Mountain near to the West Lake and I have the pleasure to hear the stories related to the place from an expert. Sincerely, this is one the most beautiful and magical places I’ve met in my entire life. Cause it combines in a perfect way the most important aspects that me and maybe all of the travelers admire in our trips, just like the people, the view, the history, the cultural aspects, the food, the art, the arquitecture and so on.

So, lets talk something about the food. One year ago I’ve start to be vegetarian and even in my staying in Germany it was quiet hard and expensive to live with this diet. Buy here I have the most closer expresion of my ideal cooking. I always can find some rice or noodles with the most wide variety of vegetables. And after a tasty lunch I can go for a “chá” (tea) and taste another broad variety of them.

Then, the view, it’s a balanced combination of modern buildings and urban landscapes with the traditional, green and natural view. You can take beautiful photos everywhere.

In my daily routine, I try to do many activities in order to balance my academic and cognitive development with some sport and healthy activities for my body and artistic and musical performances for my spirit. And I feel most of the chinese people do the same. When I visit the bars to do some calisthenics training I can see people arround making a pause in the theirs walks just to try with some muscular activations and then come back to their way. I know I’ll find a free piano very soon to play and share my music with the people arround and try to compose a song inspired on this revealing experience I’m living in China. I hope this composition and this written lines with the next one it comes it became into the legacy and gift I can give to this place in retribution of my greatful stay.

Now, just to finish this first part of my reflexivity process, please let me share with you some lines I’ve wrote the last days about a deep thought and conclusion I reached in this unique period of my life:

“Willness is there where freedom and destiny converge. Where the dilemmas and paradox between one and the other disappear. Cause if you classifiy things between them that are liberating and those that are clearly enslaving you’ll feel temptated to overestimate freedom over destiny. But if instead of that weigh between those strongly mobilizing and stable actions in contrast to what is the banal and sterile it is likely that this time you bow for destiny. And it’s not that the latter leads you down the path of stillness and lack of surprises since that is only viable if you were the only human being on the earth. To overcome such an act of egomania you must to accept the multiple variables and factors that affect your behavior and your enviroment and you can swim with tenacious and patient will in the turbulent waters of your liberating destiny”.