Alyssa Parker

6/8/2011

Blog Post #7

        I have Wednesdays off of work, so I did some exploring around the area where our college is today. There is this massive network of upscale shops, restaurants, office buildings, supermarkets, cvs-type places and so on near where we live. I went over there and could not figure it out for the life of me because it is all mostly underground. I got lost about 10 times, and finally just picked up some food and went home.

        I also have been running almost every day (at least trying to) while I have been here. Today I found the track at the school where we live, and it is actually really nice. The grass in the middle of the track is really well kept and a lot of kids go to the tennis and basketball courts near there in the afternoons. There is also a really pretty lake on the campus, which is also nice to run around. The problem is that unless you run at about 6am, there are way too many people to run around campus or the lake. I find that the smog doesn’t really affect the running; maybe I am already used to it or something.

        On my way back from the track today I ran past one of the women’s dorms on campus. I was astounded at the conditions in which these ladies have to take a shower. They have to fill buckets with water and then use them to bathe themselves, all in a communal shower area. Ashley had mentioned this was the case previously, but I was like “no way.” Well, yes way. I mean, this is 2011 and they are living in the ‘Harvard of China’ and in the capital city no less. Seriously? Communal showers with no regular shower heads? Taking a shower is too darn inconvenient!