Swimming, Badminton, and others...

Hey Yall-

Before I dive into the different sports I enjoy playing in China..I wanted to let yall know that my meeting with my Oral English Council went well. They all showed up..I won't lie that I wasn't a little nervous about it just being me talking with myself about how to improve students' Oral English..but everyone came and so far so good..We've got English Corner set up for next Thursday..I am sure I will go into more detail about English Corner in a future blog, but I'll tell you now that it is an interesting experiece..All the volunteers have different opinions about it that run the gamut from "love it" to "worst thing ever." We also have a movie night in the works..the problem is getting a big enough room with the right equipment..it should work out..I tried to do a movie night last semester, but that only lasted until we moved to the new campus and then there was no room for the students to have it..so now we are just working on getting a room reserved..we will see..

Now to the main topic..These past almost 9 months in China, I have been keeping pretty healthy with a wide range of athletics..I have of course played basketball here..it is really popular here, especially with the younger generation, thanks to Yao and Yi..but it doesn't really keep me interested..there is also taking walks and running..Running is a little difficult because it usually involves dodging people on the street and even more stares from those who I am trying to avoid...Walks are always nice, especially after dinner..I haven't been able to enjoy walks lately because of the cold weather, but soon it should be nice enough to go out in the evening..but in the end..a walk is a walk..and I need more..so that brings us to my two favorite sports to play in China: Swimming and of course Badminton..

Swimming is an adventure in China to say the least..and my first experience was no different for everyone involved..I was invited by my Chinese teacher's boyfriend and we were joined by another volunteer here in Guiyang..When I was in high school, I never had to go through that "shower after gym class thing"..so changing in front of a large group of guys has always been pretty foreign for me..until now! After you've seen 100s of naked Chinese guys and been naked in front of them, it's just "whatever" now..

The good thing is that when you are naked in the locker room, this is the only time Chinese people don't (or at least pretend not to) notice you..Well back to my first experience..After me and the other volunteer changed (my first time-I survived) and went out to the pool, my fellow foreigner decided to do some stretches before swimming..and one of these stretches involved bending over and touching his toes..and during this stretch something interesting caught my eye..No I wasn't checking out my friend, but some old ladies behind him were and they were staring very strongly and smiling to each other and overall seeming to enjoy what they were looking at..so I decided to take a glance..and what did I see? My friend's bathing suit had a nice sized hold in a really revealing place on the backside of his bathing suit and those ladies were getting quite the show..Now at this point you need a little background in Chinese bathing suits..Imagine the kind that Olympic swimmers wear but instead a little shorter, and then you will know how much of a free show those ladies got..

Now I've taken a lot of heat from other volunteers and anyone who has heard this story for the action I took after noticing my friend's bathing suit malfunction..I decided, in what I thought was the best thing for my friend, to say nothing and tell him later..In my defense I thought he would feel embarrassesed and not feel comfortable swimming..and also..it was really funny too..My favorite part later during the swim was when he stopped me and said that he kept feeling water getting into his suit and not knowing why..it took a lot for me to keep back the smile..

After the swim, while we were all showering, our language teacher's boyfriend told him "Ni de you yong ku you wen ti." 你的游泳裤有问题。At that time his English was really poor, so he told him in Chinese..now he didn't hear him at first, but I did and couldn't help laughing..After saying it again, the other volunteer realized what was wrong..The translation is: "Your bathing suit has a problem"..And after this point I came clean and told him I knew..And since then I still get crap for not helping him out..but I still believe it was better not to tell him..You all can be the judges on that one..Either way it was still really funny..

Now stories like this don't happen often, but swimming in China is still always interesting and also more than just swimming..It should be called "Swimming and at the same time trying your best not to get hit, kicked, or drowned by everyone else around you." But I don't know how to translate this, so we just call is "You Yong." 游泳。The pool I go to is fairly small and is just a decent sized rectangle with no ropes, lanes, or any kind of markers..so anything goes really..people swimming in all different directions, at different speeds, and overally trying their best to swim into me..It is a good workout though..I go with two teachers at my school and usually swim for about and hour and then go to the steam room for about 10 minutes..definite Peace Corps experience huh? But this is my site and I like to do what Chinese people do..So I will keep going each Wednesday..keep getting stared at..and keeping dodging people..Oh and one more thing..I have not been brave enough to try the Chinese style bathing suit..I'm still using American style..which always gets funny questions from Chinese people..They think that I'm wearing shorts..not swim shorts..just regular outside shorts..I then tell them that it's an American style bathing suit..Don't think they'll ever be able to accept it.

And along with swimming, my other favorite thing to do is play badminton..one of the dominant sports here, along with ping pong of course..And if any of you saw badminton during the Olympics, you saw that China owns the sport..And do they ever..they are amazing..And anyone who hasn't played it before might think it's a fairly easy and laid back sport, but it is the complete opposite..it is a workout that kept me soar for a week after my first time playing competitvely..My favorite part is that it is so different from the sports I played in America and always keep challenging me..I try and play once a week, but this isn't always possible..So I play as often as possible..As soon as I finish this entry, I am off to a different college to play with a teacher..So let me finish up now so I can go and catch the bus..No really great stories about badminton..but people get really excited when they see me play and then get to play with me..It's been about 2 months since last time I played because of vacationing, so I am sure that I am going to be soar after tonight..

Alright..take care everyone..