Lisbeth Killer, female, 37, USA, 3 weeks tai chi&meditation. My first thought is that three weeks is no where near long enough! It was far too short of time for a stay. This is what I expected going into the program as I read the training plan online which clearly states it takes a minimum of 1 month to learn the first first form but it was still surprising to actually experience this time structure. I definitely wished I had more time. I enjoyed the classes where very small, but I believe this also had to do with the fact there were not many students enrolled at the time. It was nice to be part of a small group. It made it easy to get to know everyone. I was most concerned with the food actually. I am an incredibly picky eater. An extremely picky eater! However, I loved the food! At every meal there was at least one dish that I ate. This was a very very nice surprise for me. I was prepared to survive off of granola bars for the full three weeks and didn’t need to dig into my supply I brought with me. I can tell the training under normal circumstances would be very good. During one of my weeks the Master I was assigned to had to travel home for a wedding. I still trained everyday and reviewed what I had learned, however, the other Master did not teach us anything new as they seem to each have a little bit different style. This was 4 days of training that I felt quite stagnate. If I had been a longer term student I feel this would not have been a problem at all. But, since I was only there for three weeks I do feel it made an impact. I am hopeful that in the future I will be able to stay for a full 6 months so small disruptions in the daily training will not effect me. All the Masters were incredibly knowledgeable and supportive of my training. I came in as an absolute beginner and felt accepted by all the Masters and students alike. It was truly a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to be able to return.
