AVENUE May: East Meets West and Dryland

This issue will be one of my alltime favourites of AVENUE as the theme "East Meests West" is close to me. I study Ancient Chinese Metaphysics (BaZi, Feng Shui, Yi Jing, Miang Xiang, Xuan Kong and now also TCM) for many years now and was countless times in Asia. RL I look totally European and Second Life gave me the chance to see how it feels to look Asian. Now you know why I am Quan.

To my Western readers: Don't you think that all Asians look the same? But do you know that Asians think the same of us? I learnt from my Chinese friends that their focus  in seeing another person is different from ours, they look a lot to the expression of a face.

And what I learnt too is that both cultures have their good and their bad sides. That they grow together in a smaller world is a chance for both sides. In medicine it is ridiculus to cure a broken leg with Acupuncture and herbes and the Chinese give Western medicine the same importance as their Traditional, but for many chronic diseases only TCM has answers and cures. Young doctors in China study both. During my Feng Shui travels in China with my teacher I studied more than 1.000 years of Chinese architecture and art together with landscape. Always the same structures and motifs are the effects of a static society without progression. And despite the revolution there a still many behaviors, I think, which don't fit in a modern world like the overly obedience to superiors. The Western world shows that the other way allows much faster progress. In BaZi (Astrology) I learnt from my Indian and older Chinese friends, that a given marriage can be happy too, but not to be able to be divorced can be hell on earth. One day in a BaZi class our teacher asked us about our feeling how many marriages are unhappy. The Westerners believed 60% to 70%, the Asians said over 90%.

Currently the Asians learn faster I think while the Westerners stuck more in fears. But one thing can't grow together...my roundish Western shape never would look that beautiful in a Qipao like an Asian. And if you happen to travel in Asia, never go shopping clothes if you don't want to ruin your self confidence! It is really a shame to be urged in Asia to buy sizze xxl, if that even is large enough :( 

Therefore I am happy to have Quan!

But now to my article: Dryland is a real succes story in SL. It already had more than 50.000 visitors. Owner Anita Witt told me that she never dreamed of so much attention. Anita is photographer RL. I talked with her about photography in both worlds and how it influences her. Ziki Questi took great photos for the article.

Find the article on page 264:

Find here my post about the current exhibtion at Dryland: http://quanlavender.blogspot.de/2013/05/sneak-preview-water-and-dryland.html