And They're Off...

Well, the holidays are over and it’s back to work again! Started teaching yesterday. I got a huge shock when I walked into the first class and there were around 50 students! Hmm, this seems to call for some revised tactics. There was a rumour that some of the oral English classes would be big, but I just thought it was idle student gossip. The school told me so last week! Well, we will see what happens!

There are 11 new teachers this semester. I have met some of them and they seem like nice people. Hopefully we will have a good bunch of foreign staff this semester.

I have started my fitness regime. Last year I did practically no exercise. I went to Latin dancing for a while and also took a few spins on the bike. I think I ate too much food and drank way too much Guinness while in Ireland, so I need to get fit again (well I haven’t been fit-ish since around 2004). So, I went to the swimming pool today. I bought the card which is valid for 20 visits. You save 20 kuai that way! The pool is fairly new and is Olympic size, which means that you gotta do 50 metre lengths!

Well, I think I need a lot of work. I am not a great swimmer. I know how to do the the back stroke and front crawl (known to most as freestyle, although during today’s swimming research, I found out that freestyle (in competition) is what it is – you are free to swim in whatever style you want. Most people choose the front crawl as it is the fastest way to swim on average). I am crap at breast stroke, which is the one most Chinese people learn. They say it conserves energy. I figured out my breathing problem when doing front crawl: I was not exhaling properly when swimming. Sounds obvious, but if you don’t get all the air out of your lungs, then you can’t fill them up again. And the air still in your lungs contains a higher percentage of CO₂, which makes it harder to breathe. Anyway, I did see some improvement, although my arms and legs now feel like jelly!

One thing that I found rather amusing, and sort of cute. Adult females wearing armbands (water wings) I have only ever seen young primary school kids wearing them, but today I saw female University students wearing them, as their boyfriends were teaching them to swim. Aaaaaahhh, how sweet!