Getting Physical

Students are incredibly active here and many exercise just about everyday. The most popular sports are basketball, football (soccer), badminton and ping-pong. All the boys LOVE the NBA and are huge Kobe fans and many are currently glued to the TV each night watching the World Cup. Girls tend to only play the latter two sports. However, I have two girlfriends who will play b-ball with me sometimes. Although most girls, I believe, find it too unfeminine. Because I'm female, most people are surprised to learn that I play basketball - with the boys! I decided I need to pick-up another one of the fav sports so every Friday I attend Tu's ping-pong class. I tease all the students by saying that I am practicing to compete in China's national ping-pong competition. They don't believe I am good enough.....yet.....

Tu & I

The basketball and badminton courts, the football field and the ping-pong tables are constantly crowded with people. The track (which is called the "playground") is overcrowded every evening from about 7-10 o'clock. Hundreds of students are running, walking or stretching. Several small groups of friends will just walk and talk. Just tonight I walked four times around the playground while chatting with my friend - better than talking over calorie-packed coffees or snacks I suppose. While American college students will go to the campus gym, it isn't considered a place to hang out and it isn't frequented by the majority of students. So, at first, it's surprising to see so many people running every night as their means of socializing. The playground is definitely a popular evening social event. As I have mentioned before, Chinese students don't party like American students do. So evidently when students don't drink beer, they exercise!