mornings

well, since i have mostly afternoon and evening classes, i could sleep in in the morning. for a while, i did.. but even that.. sleeping in meant sleeping in until 8am. i do watch movies at night, but sometimes i don't have the urge to. and when i get to bed at 10 or 11, i won't fall asleep until past midnight. it's kinda sad.. but yes.. my mornings..

when i first got here, i realized that it could be pretty noisy living in the school residences. there is a tape that plays at 8am every morning, people running up and down the stairs (staircase next to my room), and older folk doing tai chi in the main courtyard. one thing about china is everyone's understanding about how important exercise is for their body. in the mornings, in parks and other spaces, people do tai chi together. everywhere. in towns. cities. also, in the parks they set up these gym equipment that would remind the westerner of the jungle gyms in the west. or you can think of gym equipment made of metal, in the simplest form. people hop on and move their thing. the government really invests in stuff like this for the people, which is great i think. oh yes, i had been meaning to tape the older people doing taichi outside, but i have forgot so many times. then, a cold day in november, they stopped doing it. i lost my chance.

hmm.. at certain times of the day, there is a man going through the residence's garbage bins, looking for useful things for himself. in jincheng, in taiyuan.. very common in china, i think. also, there is a nice man that i recognize who uses this twiggish like broom to sweep the ground, also the grounds for the running track. the workers would take their broom and make a big sweep from one side to the other. then, another big sweep, on side to the other. one day, i was very insensitive and laughed (in my head) when leaves fell to the ground where he had swept.

those are some mornings of mine.