Tai Chi
Shanghai, China
Spring 1994
On my list of things to do in China was Tai Chi. Even though this is an activity that starts way too early for my liking, I got up at dawn and went out in to the chilly air to find people who would let me stand beside them and attempt to mimic their gracefulness. After stumbling through a crowd, looking for a small open space to claim, Sue and I found these two women. They were more than willing to show us a few moves which neither of us could execute. I don't know who was more surprised by our shameful lack of agility: us or them. Their movements flowed and our laughter interrupted the moment.
After several unproductive attempts to teach us the most basic movements, they surrendered and showed us the simplest exercise. They took off their eyeglasses and places their hands on their face and then rubbed and rubbed and rubbed so vigorously, I thought they were going to rub the skin right off their faces. They asked us to try. We did and my face hurt for the next hour.
We left them. I was back in bed by 7:30 AM for a morning nap but not before I crossed Tai Chi off my To Do list.
