Sports Meeting

On Thursday, classes at XISU were cancelled. My students kept telling me that the cancellation was due to a "sports meeting," and I wondered to myself, what kind of a meeting lasts all day and cancels classes? Well, my colleagues cleared that up for me. It was an annual, two-day long sports meet where students compete against each other in a variety of track and field events. Professors compete against professors, too! Happily, I was not asked to participate. I was invited to attend, though.

I missed the big opening ceremony, I'm sorry to say, but I made it for some of the student competition. I saw young men leaping over hurdles and young women racing, some barefoot. I was most intrigued by the stands. They were just full of colorful umbrellas, some the big patio variety, others the kind we carry on a rainy day. Here, you see young women carrying umbrellas on sunny days, and at the sports meet, it was definitely sunny. It was fun to watch the events, and even more fun to watch the crowd.

As I left, I passed a number of vendors who had set up booths to sell everything from cell phone plans to tee shirts to umbrellas. Lots of vendors were distributing brochures on one thing or another. A young woman approached me and handed me a piece of paper, all in Chinese. She spoke to me in English, though, explaining that she worked for a spa, and that if I went there, it was assured that I would become "more beautiful and more charming.". Alas, the address will remain forever hidden from me on that indecipherable piece of paper. Charm eludes me...again.

Here are some pictures from my day at the sports meet.












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