International travel is an important part of my usual life.
My first international travel is to take part in the 31st Annual Conference of the World Association of Chinese Newspapers, as a delegate of Chinese Financial Newspapers in Malaysia in 1997. Since then, I have had 16 international travels, such as having a vacation in Europe in 2000, visited family in Australia 5 times, and came to the US 10 times for studying, art exhibitions and teachings 2008 to 2020.
If saying the travel in Europe in 2000 is the start point of my cross-cultural and comprehensive art dream seeking, then the travels in the US 2008 to 2020 is the process of my dream seeking with studying, exploration and theory thought...
The travel in Europe has not only given me a chance to touch some of the greatest arts and human civilizations, to touch Bible and Christianity, and laid a foundation for me to become a Christian in American 13 years, but also it has given me a courage to connect with a group of native-English-speaker graduates of Oregon State University from Paris, then in 2 years, we published a series of publications with 4 books and 4 CDs to talk American arts (mainly movie and music) for helping non-Chinese speakers to learn American language, which is the first experiment on my cross-cultural and comprehensive art dream seeking…
Then the travels in the US 2008 to 2020 have endowed me more opportunities and a wider room to work from an opposite angle, to engage in finding, exploring and creating something unique to help non-Chinese speakers to learn Chinese culture and language with a more natural, an artistic, easier style…
It is said “If you want to give someone a drop of water, you must have a bucket of water,” and I never thought an amateur can stand the duties over, therefore, I have studied in two art colleges in Beijing for 10 years, for the purpose to transfer myself from an amateur to be a professional artist, who has many aspects of self-cultivation…very often, I encourage myself very often, I am not the best now yet, but I will certainly be the best suitable one to stand the duty to create a Cross-cultural and Comprehensive Art.
With this idea, I have been keeping the trips between China and US, between Chinese art colleges and American full time schools and art organizations, and try to combine what I have learned in China and what I have seen, practice and felt in the US, write them into my books, practice them into my teaching and creating…
The biggest gains during those international travels, not only have I painted over 1100 paintings, had 6 art exhibitions, taught about 500 hours in 40 American schools and organizations for more than 6300 non-Chinese speakers, published a series of publications with 2 books, 2 DVDs and 2 closed web sites which only open to my readers, but also and more important is that I have found the connecting point between traditional Chinese painting and modern Chinese language, and the relationship of a variety arts on a Chinese painting itself… Base on it, I have created a method to combine them together with a cross-cultural and comprehensive art style.
Anyway, I know very clear that I have just created a simple model which is in its infancy phase now. If I want to improve it on its youth, and adults’ period, it’ll take a longer time and I myself must work harder in the upcoming another decades.
So, I am thinking, since I have majored in Chinese art in two Chinese colleges for 10 years, maybe it is the time to learn western art and cultures in the upcoming 10 years with more international travels?
Do you think so?
Do you enjoy international travels?
Sincerely
Shirley Yiping Zhang
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Starting a Touched Travel... -- Shirley's 148th Friendly Greeting From Hong Kong -- Fri, July 25th,2008 Hi,Dear Friends How are you? Is every thing ok with you? I do hope that you are well and will have an easy and relaxed weekend. Now, it is the night of August 25, 2008. I am writing in the Regal Airport Hotelin Hong Kong. I was lucky for I got my visa to see my son in Australia on 23rd, while I got my ticket to start my traveling August 25. Unfortunately, I was too busy to affirm my airplane before I left Shenzhen for Hong Kong, so that when I checked in, I just knew that my flight had been delayed on August 26. So, the Australia's Qantas Airways & Hong Kong International Airport have arranged for me and the other passengers to live here. I was offered a good room and offered the Internet connecting. Even though the traveling is not smoothly ...
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Hi,Dear Friends How are you? I do hope that every thing is well with you and have a good weekend. It is the 6th day of my traveling in Australia. Tonight, I just came back to Sydney from Canberra after a short travel for one day with my son. Most of time, I stay in Sydney. As a foreigner, my first impression of Sydney is the harmoniously of people, animals and great nature. No matter if you are eating near the sea, walking in a street, waiting for a taxi, a bus or a train, staying on a ferry or you are in a shop or a restaurant, there are often some birds walking close to your feet, sitting near your seats or flying over your heads. Even though you are taking a photo with a light for them, they are still swaggering there and make you want to smile. Many times, I ask myself, what should we inspire and ...
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Hi,Dear Friends How are you? Is every thing ok with you? Since I boarded the airplane on July 26 in Hong Kong until I landed in Australia on the 27th, I got a first impression about Australians: they were Easy, Relaxed, Open and Friendly... I was a little bit surprised when I entered in the airplane of the Australia's Qantas Airways for I found that the air hostesses were not the young girls, as we have been used to see on the Chinese airplanes, but some middle-aged women and men. They are also not in the uniforms as we see in China. But, soon, I was attracted by their bright smiles and high quality service and forget their age and clothes and I was impressed by something and someone. One of them was an air hostess with golden air. When I saw her first time, I thought that she should be over 50 years old, but, when I saw her ...
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A Mistake, A Good Event -- Shirley's 152nd Friendly Greeting From Sydney -- Monday, August 4, 2008 Hi,Dear Friends How are you? I do hope that every thing is well with you and have a good new day. After seeing my son; visiting art gallery, opera house, wild zoo, fish market, beach, harbors, universities, House of the Parliament and the War Memorial; tasting food, going shopping and buying books... I was planing to fly to Hong Kong with a happy heart on August 5. However, just in the morning August 4, a mistake was found and my son would have to learn another 3 new elective courses for 3 of he has passed lessons, Japanese, environment science and something else are not listed in the courses that he should choose from, so that the credits that he have gotten from these course can not be accounted into his total credits... When I heard this news, my first reflection was that ...
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One World, One Dream -- Shirley's 153rd Friendly Greeting -- Sun, August 10, 2008 Hi,Dear Friends How are you? I do hope that every thing is well with you and have had a good weekend. It is hard to describe this week of mine. In the short several days, I have dealt with a big mistake in my son's studying life abroad, had a long distance traveling from Australia to China, worked in the company, attended an English training, painted pictures, watched the Olympics Games, and during whole of the processes, I was sick with a fever, until I had to sleep down for 2 nights and 2 days. Finally, my fever went away and I re-started to work on my web site Sunday night. This week, the biggest thing in China is the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. As soon as I arrived at Hong Kong Airport, I felt strong Olympic atmosphere with much more strict security checking. Wednesday morning, when I ...
