A Day in the Life

The campus is rather scenic. I have heard said many times that it is the most beautiful in all of China. Of course, each time it was a Wuhan University student or professor who said so. There are perfectly groomed hedgerows, great sweeping lawns, and a fury of activity all along around. Still, the walk from our hotel to the Internet bar is uphill both ways. (No really, it is.) And I have been lazy. It has been too many days since my last update. I’m sorry, friends.

On days when we have lectures, our routine is as follows:

7:45 — Breakfast in the dining hall. Chinese breakfast, of course, consisting largely of carb-heavy foods such as steamed buns, fried doughs, and fruit. Dr Atkins would not feel at home here.

9:00 - 11:30 — Morning lecture.

11:45 — Lunch. We escape 2.5 hours of sitting our carbed-up selves by sitting and eating more.

12:00 - 3:00 — Free time. Most of the young people take this opportunity to sleep in order to store their energy for night time. Others venture out into the city, some stay and read, as I often do.

3:00 - 5:30 — Afternoon lecture. More sitting. We are usually more awake for this lecture.

5:45 — Dinner. I feel, when it comes to the dining schedule, as though I’m on a cruise. Where’s the midnight buffet?

Evening — Have to go find that on your own night time diversions, as many of the students regularly do. I have gone into town on several occasions, but we often gather and watch DVDs. Have I mentioned that we get 50 channels of cable TV in our rooms, and not one of them in English? We get CCTV channels that I didn’t even know existed, but no CCTV9. (sigh)

Non-Lecture Days

On days when we do not have lectures, like today, we meet in the lobby at 8:15 and board buses that take us to a variety of places have cultural, economic, or histoic significance. We always return to the hotel for lunch, then re-board the buses for the afternoon.