We were warned at one of the health sessions during our pre-service training that a major source of PCV injury is playing basketball in China. It's likely that basketball can be a dangerous sport in any country, but there is something about playing basketball in a country where the concept of the "personal bubble" is pure fantasy. Living in such a crowded place, you really can't help but touch people all the time: walking down the sidewalk, standing on the bus, standing in line at the grocery store, wandering through shops in tourist areas, etc. It gets to the point where you forget you even once had a bubble (like starting to forget you once had a car), except when the person in your bubble is holding a lit cigarette, has particularly bad body odor, or seems to be screaming into a cell phone. This inherent lack of a personal space concept leads to particularly rough and rowdy games of basketball.
Basketball seems to hold a certain allure in China. I have a few students who have given themselves English names of "Kobe" "Bryant" or just all out "Kobe Bryant." The letters N-B-A grace all kinds of clothing products (none of which I am sure are actually licensed to use the acronym). There is even a TV reality show dedicated to finding a new Chinese member for the Orlando Magic Dancers (the show is worth watching simply to see the size and muscle tone difference between the American and Chinese dancers - think GI Joe vs. Barbie). Basketball seems to be the ultimate American sport in the Chinese lens, and as such I am expected to be able to discuss details of it at length with some of my more outgoing male students. I usually get as far as saying that I have heard of Kobe Bryant (during his rape allegations scandal) and that my sister played basketball in high school before being met with downtrodden looks of disappointment. We have heard the basketball phenomenon explained in various ways by our Chinese colleagues and students: "China does not have enough water resources to maintain soccer fields so basketball is becoming more popular," "basketball courts require less space than soccer fields," and my favorite, "Asians like small balls, while Americans like big balls" (referring to the difference between ping pong and basketball, of course). But our experience of the Chinese basketball craze did not fully come into focus until we were asked to play for the Foreign Languages Department in the all-school department tournament a few weeks ago.
We are American. We are, on average, taller than most of the other players. Unfortunately these two simple facts do not make up for the speed, agility, aim and knowledge of game play required to actually win games. No matter. Apparently making it out of the court alive and without injury is enough of a victory in this tournament. My department's first game was against the stout and burly women of the mechanics department. I was one of the two star players of the five-woman team simply by virtue of footwear: the other three women on our team were wearing pumps. I tried to make myself look like I was playing basketball by running back and forth around the court and waving my arms wildly in front of anyone on the other team who had the ball. We lost 32-4.
Richy's first game was a little more competitive, but unfortunately I was not present to witness it. They lost by only one point, and apparently Richy was the only one on the team interested in playing defense. His second and final game (which I did witness) was against the security department, and in that case, they lost by a considerably larger margin. The men seemed in high spirits despite their losses - apparently last year there were head injuries and stitches, so a simple defeat by points is a kind of victory.
As for our second womens' game, we played the mathematics department. This time, one of my teammates got the idea of translating the game strategy for me. People showed up in athletic shoes. I was told we actually had a chance. We managed to knock the glasses off their star player several times, we played hard defense, and I made our team's solitary basket for a loss of 4-2. Unfortunately our loss was a loss in every sense, as our team captain ended up hobbling off the court with a groin sprain. We have our last game tomorrow afternoon - Foreign Language vs. Information Systems. I hope I can make it off the court alive... Hao Qiu!
~ Katie
We are American. We are, on average, taller than most of the other players. Unfortunately these two simple facts do not make up for the speed, agility, aim and knowledge of game play required to actually win games. No matter. Apparently making it out of the court alive and without injury is enough of a victory in this tournament. My department's first game was against the stout and burly women of the mechanics department. I was one of the two star players of the five-woman team simply by virtue of footwear: the other three women on our team were wearing pumps. I tried to make myself look like I was playing basketball by running back and forth around the court and waving my arms wildly in front of anyone on the other team who had the ball. We lost 32-4.
Richy's first game was a little more competitive, but unfortunately I was not present to witness it. They lost by only one point, and apparently Richy was the only one on the team interested in playing defense. His second and final game (which I did witness) was against the security department, and in that case, they lost by a considerably larger margin. The men seemed in high spirits despite their losses - apparently last year there were head injuries and stitches, so a simple defeat by points is a kind of victory.
As for our second womens' game, we played the mathematics department. This time, one of my teammates got the idea of translating the game strategy for me. People showed up in athletic shoes. I was told we actually had a chance. We managed to knock the glasses off their star player several times, we played hard defense, and I made our team's solitary basket for a loss of 4-2. Unfortunately our loss was a loss in every sense, as our team captain ended up hobbling off the court with a groin sprain. We have our last game tomorrow afternoon - Foreign Language vs. Information Systems. I hope I can make it off the court alive... Hao Qiu!
~ Katie
1 comment:
that's funny
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