The Blandfill Blog

Mid-July. I am halfway done with my college career. After reading through a few of my old Xanga posts, I’ve concluded that I might be more knowledgeable than I was in high school, but in the end, I’m still a kid.

Quick recap of what has happened in the past four months since I last posted:

1. End of school year/finals. Housing worked out well for us. We all have singles next year plus a common room. Finals could have been better.

2. Family vacation in Hawaii. We drove through Hilo, so Tom and I were in the same city for a brief moment.

3. Internship in Shanghai.

I’ve been in Shanghai since June 11th, and I’m staying until August 25th. This is the longest period of time that I’ve lived by myself, but I feel good. My schedule is fairly consistent (for better or worse): get up, go to work, lunch break, get off work, exercise or go out to eat with friends, go home and surf the internet. One aspect of Chinese culture that I wish the US would adopt is the extremely long lunch breaks; I have a 2 hour break everyday that I use to eat, facebook and nap.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve realized that I would go absolutely crazy if I had to work in an office cubicle for my entire life. Sitting in a chair, staring at a computer screen for 7 hours a day for 40 years is not ideal (I probably spend as much time in front of the computer for fun anyway but that’s different, right?).

I gained seven pounds second semester, so my goal for the summer is to work it off. Gyms are relatively rare in China, and they’re usually reserved for the wealthy. Monthly membership fees can easily run up to 2000+ yuan (more than $300), more than the average monthly urban income in Shanghai. Cheaper venues do exist, but they lack quality. For example, I currently have a membership to a hotel gym; the weights seem to have been bought used from an old American gym, but the pool is 20 meters long (a decent size here). I’ve never swam so much before in my life. My form is probably incorrect (I’ve just been brute-forcing the breaststroke), so I’m going to have a friend teach me proper technique once we’re back at school.

I was originally planning on adding several more paragraphs, but I’m tired and suffering from stomach cramps. I’m still trying to figure out what happened: was it the raw cucumbers in my noodles yesterday, the bun I got in a convenience store, a bad drink, or something else? In China, just assume that all food has the possibility of being contaminated.

Now that I’m back in the blogging mood, I’ll be posting much more often.