The Greatest Shaolin Kung Fu school in the world. When we first decided to spend a month at this school were we convinced that that was plenty of time. I have laughed more, learnt more and made more friends during our stay here than I thought was possible when we were back in Norway. We came here with the attitude that we wanted to learn Kung Fu and get in a better shape. We had no idea that we were going to fall so much in love with this Martial Art. We didn't know anything about Kung Fu when we got here except the stuff we picked up after watching movies like Rush Hour and Fearless, but that have changed. We can know pick up a staff without getting any serious injuries, we can do the five fist form good enough that people actually understand what we are doing, and we can see the difference between a side kick and a front kick.

We have also discovered something called Bagua, a name I would probably mistaken for a pastry back home, but that turned out to be a martial art. Bagua has actually become one of our favorite classes (a big thanks to Pete for helping us), after the first week where we did a lot of walking in circles.

China isn't only different from our own country when it comes to geography, but also when it comes to traditions and culture, and that hasn't always been easy. We’re coming from a country where breakfast is a big thing. We have eaten bread every day for 20 years so the transition to a breakfast consisting of muffins and soya milk hasn't always been easy. Despite that, we would like to use this opportunity to praise the kitchen ladies. They do a great job feeding a group of hungry martial art students every day, and that isn't always a easy job. You do get a great appetite when you train six hours a day. We couldn't have done this without you.

When we first came to Qufu were we told that this city isn't exactly the heart of China. It might not be the biggest, most trendy or most exciting city in the world, but it has its charm. Qufu has a fantastic chicken burger shop, a milkshake place that makes the best snow froths I have ever tasted and a hostel that feels like a second home. Just a couple of minutes with taxi from the foodstreet is it a lot of nice parks, small streets and nice buildings. I never thought I was going to say this but I am seriously going to miss Qufu. There aren’t many cities I feel so much at home as here.

You can’t write about this school without mentioning our master, Zhang Shifu. If it is one person who should have the honor for our progress, he’s the man. You have to have a lot of patience for not getting angry when we, for the 10th time that class, asks him to show us a move again. He has been there as a solid rock when the training has been hard and you most of all just want to give up. He has also gotten us through two gradings which are quite impressing. He has his own way of spiring his students, and he is one of the reasons that we decided to stay here another month. So you are more than welcome to come and teach Kung fu in Norway Zhang Shifu

The first day we got here you said that we were a part of your Shaolin family.

You are living together as a big, fit, happy family over a longer period of time, so it will be strange not to have all the people around you anymore. It is going to be hard leaving the school, we are going to miss the students, the masters and the training. Last year I wouldn’t believe that we were going to spend two months at this school with so many different people from all over the world, but that’s one of the things that make this school so nice. What would class be like without Ricardo’s (Columbia), Andrea/snyltefrans (France)…just being Andrea…Pete’s (UK) sarcastic comments or Kenan’s (Scotland) jokes?