​Christmas in 9 minutes, another lonely Christmas. But I don't feel bad in any way: I totally got used to it. When I was in Hong Kong, special days for me were my Birthday, Christmas, New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, and other Chinese festivals (Ching Ming, Chung Yeung.......) Since I came to France, these are no longer special days for me. The first few years felt weird: I always remember my first Mid-Autumn Festival in France, I was sitting in class at Ecole de Danse (Paris Opera School), and was having History lesson, while I receive different messages from Hong Kong about Mid-Autumn Festival, one of my favorite in the year. 

Now it is totally different, I accepted that fact that I came to France alone and will not celebrate all those festivals with my family. For instance, Christmas! For me it is just another day with performance at Bastille. 

And to be honest, having celebrated new year and Christmas once in France with some friends, I didn't quite enjoy it. I don't think I enjoy parties much. However, I just think of my family even more on these days. 

Even my business school is closed for holidays. I have much less homework to do since a week. I put back all my energy into ballet and start preparing for the Concours de Promotion. 

My private coach at the Opera once told me: "Remember that you sacrificed a lot for ballet. You came all over from Hong Kong for it, you left your family and your hometown for it, so now make it count! Show the world that you didn't sacrifice all these for nothing!" 

He is certainly right, this should become a motivation, my force. 

Nevertheless, Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy your family and beloved ones' company. 

With my best wishes,

Chun Wing~ 

This Thursday, I went to a very special event. For some reasons, it is not convenient for me to talk about it in public. However, I really want to write it down here, without entering into the details. 
This event was very unusual for me and for a dancer. I was also supposed to be nervous for it. And so was I, several hours before the event. 
When I woke up that morning, I looked through the windows and noticed how the colour of the sky is particular: a purplish pink, a little bit of gray and very luminous. This light reminds me of that of the time after my dance exam in Ecole de Danse. Then I wonder whether I intentionally look at the sky during these special moments, or by any chance the sky light is special only when I have special events. 
Anyway, I had no time to think about this further. I needed to prepare for the event. I had little time, and I couldn't be late! No question. So it was quite a rush in order to have everything well prepared under this purplish day light. 

And oh no, I was almost late, and it was raining.... While waiting, I started the self-hypnosis that I learnt at the mental preparation course in Opera, it went like this:
-"Chun Wing, you are well prepared, you've done all you could for this"
-"Chun Wing, you have no reason to be nervous, it's a wonderful experience! It's new and fresh!"
-"Chun Wing, it's going to be great and they will like you!"
-"You are confident, you know what you're doing, you are the best, you are so ready for this, you are so relaxed and happy, you feel great, they will feel great, it's going to be extraordinary....."

And it ended up this way! It went so well and the results were good. Well, the easiest part is done, now comes the more difficult part. What are you doing Chun Wing? Why are you doing this? Are you sure of this? I am definitely a bit crazy but I am so excited about it! 
I then went to my favorite Chinese restaurant in Paris for lunch. There I felt exhausted. It is exhausting being nervous isn't it? It was supposed to be a day off, I could have been on my bed until noon, or on my sofa in front of a movie, or savouring chocolates in the kitchen......
Now I know myself better, I need challenges and to be busy all the time!

This week, we moved to Bastille. After around a month of rehearsal in Palais Garnier (2 weeks only for me because I came back from an injury), we moved to Bastille for stage rehearsals. On the day where we did our first class in Bastille, it started snowing in Paris! We could appreciate a very nice view over the rooftops of Paris under gentle and slow snow. However, the studio was so cold! As you can imagine..... 

Paris Opera X Business course No. 2! This time in the canteen of Opera Bastille, after a half day of rehearsal. I stayed over for an English class over phone and some further studies while having dinner in the canteen. The course is going so well. I really feel so happy doing it. I also got used to the rhythm of studying and dancing at the same time. I have not felt so satisfied since a long time. I also think that it helped me to be more concentrated in ballet. I make decisions faster and I feel more confident in a general manner. 

Also, here comes my favorite moment in the preparation of a ballet: moving onto the stage. That's when we first discover the conditions in which we will perform, and the beautiful sets of the production! Being a Nuryev production, the sets are simply breathtaking! I really adore how they look real and are 3-dimentional. Out of this world. Even watching the stage run from the wings make me feel like in heaven. 
Apart from that, I am now fighting for a particular internship arrangement with big groups. I really hope that this will work out! It would be such a fruitful year to do an internship somewhere else on top of my dancing routine!