Some New Friends, and the Fat Man's Hell
Well I met some new friends yesterday. This nice Chinese Teacher who teaches written English, named Shang Xiang Guo(a.k.a Anderson), took me to play pool yesterday during my lunch-break. It was fun, and we joked around a lot. I think on Sunday I might go into the city so he can show me around, since he invited me. I might see some of the better sights with a native guide, and I'll definitely improve my Chinese. Of course I'm not very good at pool, so I lost, but such is life(and I find it easier to make friends when you can't upstage them at anything :P)
To the second part of my post. I have determined China is the Fat Man's Hell. China has a lot of Hells in it's mythology, but the country itself is built to destroy the will, spirit and body of anyone over 140 lb's. Item 1, Food; Food is everywhere, cheaper than sin, and these people eat! I've watched 90 lb girls pack away their own weight in hot-dogs and fried bean curd! You can feed 5 people for 50 yuan, which is about 7 dollars. And when I say feed, I mean full restaurant feed. If you are trying to stay on a diet the surplus of fried, deep-fried, and oil-cooked foods will drive you insane. I think I've consumed 8 times my own weight in oil while I've been here. Anywho
Item 2; Surrounded by Skinny people. Not to say there are no fat Chinese people, but the aforementioned girls who pack away tones of food never seem to gain any weight. Even the 'Fat' Guys are merely a little chubby. I've yet to see a single truly 'obese' person here.
Item 3; They will tell you that you are Fat. In china, unlike say the West, it is considered 'appropriate' to remark on other peoples appearance. 'My, you are certainly ugly' or 'Did you know you have a horribly disfiguring scar on your cheek that mars your face' seem to be perfectly acceptable. I've explained to my advanced students how these are deemed rude statements in the west, which they have sort of understood.
Item 4; This is the Biggie, no Elevators. That's right, anywhere you wanna go, you take the stairs. I have several classes on the 5th or 7th floor of a building, and you can get I'm climbing stairs. I'm breathing heavy by the time I hit number 6, and am sorely tempted to take a rest. If you want to loose weight, trust me, live in China, the exercise alone will bleed off the pounds. I live on the forth floor of the Foreign Teachers complex and have to walk up 4 flights of stairs every day. I can't imagine the poor guys who have to move furniture into or out of the residences(the student residences are up to 8 stories tall).
So yes, met a new friend, and am WAY tired of climbing stairs(what I would give for an escalator). But at least I'm loosing some weight and getting some more muscle. Now that I've found the Gymnasium(which I get a year membership to for basically 5 dollars) maybe I'll actually do some exercise once in a while(already started playing a bit of pick-up basketball). For now, I'll sign off, and see y'all later.
To the second part of my post. I have determined China is the Fat Man's Hell. China has a lot of Hells in it's mythology, but the country itself is built to destroy the will, spirit and body of anyone over 140 lb's. Item 1, Food; Food is everywhere, cheaper than sin, and these people eat! I've watched 90 lb girls pack away their own weight in hot-dogs and fried bean curd! You can feed 5 people for 50 yuan, which is about 7 dollars. And when I say feed, I mean full restaurant feed. If you are trying to stay on a diet the surplus of fried, deep-fried, and oil-cooked foods will drive you insane. I think I've consumed 8 times my own weight in oil while I've been here. Anywho
Item 2; Surrounded by Skinny people. Not to say there are no fat Chinese people, but the aforementioned girls who pack away tones of food never seem to gain any weight. Even the 'Fat' Guys are merely a little chubby. I've yet to see a single truly 'obese' person here.
Item 3; They will tell you that you are Fat. In china, unlike say the West, it is considered 'appropriate' to remark on other peoples appearance. 'My, you are certainly ugly' or 'Did you know you have a horribly disfiguring scar on your cheek that mars your face' seem to be perfectly acceptable. I've explained to my advanced students how these are deemed rude statements in the west, which they have sort of understood.
Item 4; This is the Biggie, no Elevators. That's right, anywhere you wanna go, you take the stairs. I have several classes on the 5th or 7th floor of a building, and you can get I'm climbing stairs. I'm breathing heavy by the time I hit number 6, and am sorely tempted to take a rest. If you want to loose weight, trust me, live in China, the exercise alone will bleed off the pounds. I live on the forth floor of the Foreign Teachers complex and have to walk up 4 flights of stairs every day. I can't imagine the poor guys who have to move furniture into or out of the residences(the student residences are up to 8 stories tall).
So yes, met a new friend, and am WAY tired of climbing stairs(what I would give for an escalator). But at least I'm loosing some weight and getting some more muscle. Now that I've found the Gymnasium(which I get a year membership to for basically 5 dollars) maybe I'll actually do some exercise once in a while(already started playing a bit of pick-up basketball). For now, I'll sign off, and see y'all later.
posted by Wise Owl | 5:07 AM
1 Comments:
I'm glad things are going well for you and that you're starting to meet people. I miss you!
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