Chinese New Year 恭喜发财!

I know it's perhaps a little late, but, Kung Hei Fat Choy!!!!! :D 
Well, it was that time of year again that our club participates in the annual Chines New Year festivities here in our home town and also in London. Incase some of you are wondering, my town is twinned with Foshan and we have a large Chinese community here. 
First up was some Kung Fu demonstrations in the local shopping centre and high street. I have to say, I always kind of dread doing the demos in town; you never know who will be watching. The amount of students I bump into from the college where I work is unreal. Luckily for me, I seem to have gotten away with it this year and only saw one. *Phew* 

<- What amuses me most in this picture is the kid's faces laughing at what is potentially quite an unpleasant position for my friend to be in. Also highly amusing is the fact that whilst all this is going on, shoppers inside the store continue to go about their daily routine totally oblivious. I've come to realise just how many people take out their brain when shopping. 

*Animals of the Zodiac!*

The following day took us all the way to London for the parade and further demonstrations. We arrived nice and early in the freezing cold damp city and immediately took ourselves to Mc Donalds for both warmth and refreshment. Whilst there I got starred at by some weird drunken guy sat clutching a bottle of wine and licking his lips. *Eww* Eventually the staff asked him to leave, thankfully. Any longer and he may have been wearing that bottle. To cut a very long story short, we proceeded to the parade that started at Trafalgar Square and ended up somewhere else in London that I can't recall. I have to say, it's a really cool experience being part of the parade. You really get into the atmosphere and magic of Chinese New Year with all the dragons and drums etc.

<- As you can see, everyone was overly happy to be out in the freezing cold! ;) No really, we did have a good time and the kids did brilliantly considering it was soooo cold and wet. Despite wearing many many layers underneath our Kung Fu suits, water will seep and seep it did.

Ok, so one week later it was time for the Chatham parade and stage performance.  We arrived in good time and prepared ourselves for the Parade. This included finding where to stand in the line, standing there for ages, beating each other up with kung fu moves and taking pictures, lots of pictures. Most of them were actually of the Chinese ladies in front of us who seemed to want so many pictures of themselves. And then we were off! Along the high street, me trying to hide behind some of the taller members of our group least I be spotted by students and then stopping soooo many times whilst we performed some forms and moves to the crowd. 
The parade wound up at the end of the street where hundreds of people gathered to watch the lion dancers perform. I have to say, the local Chinese lion dancers are perhaps the best around (they have actually won many awards in China for their outstanding displays). They put on a brilliant show, climbing (in full costume) up a very high pole and dancing from the top. Amazing!
We then set about taking more pictures etc. with the mayors of the local towns and all that kind stuff. I think you can just about see my head in the following picture peeking out over the top.

After the parade was over, we grabbed some lunch and then made our way over to the local theatre to get ready for our performance. I've been on stage quite a few times in my life (I did ballet and dancing when I was a kid and was in a few shows for that) Plus this was my 4th year of participating in the festivities. No matter how many times I have been on that stage, it's still really nerve racking and gets you all worked up. We had to wait quite a long time in the dressing room which as you can imagine meant the kids (and some adults) were getting a bit restless. But then we were on. Again, the kids did brilliantly and we put on some good stuff too. All in all it was a pretty good day, but I am sooo very relieved that it is over. I don't know if I will be here for next year's one. If things go to plan then I could possibly be in Japan. I can only hope that there are plenty of parades and festivities in store for me there! :D Anyway, I hope this wasn't too long winded. 


Toodles!