I can Swim Now

Easy access to free (so called free) swimming pool is a big advantage to stay in a hotel. I have stayed in hotel for about one month. The biggest progress in the last month is that I can swim now.

I started to learn swim from Oct 26, 2002 (ops. That is almost two years ago). During the first year, I didn’t learn much and the swimming pool was almost a big bathtub for me. :-D The first breakthrough happened in Sanya. The nice sea water (with more salt and more floating power) helped me a lot. I started to be able to keep my head above the water. Wendy and I spent a lot o time in water during the three-day stay in the Holiday Inn. I’d like to show you the nice swimming pool there:

First used in this article: Sanya Travelogue – The Holiday Inn Resort

First used in this article: Sanya Travelogue – The Holiday Inn Resort

Why the nice swimming has to be built near the wonderful beach? I spent most of time in the sea and missed this nice swimming pool.

I can Swim Now

Today is another breakthrough. I found myself suddenly get used to the water and be able to swim along the longer edge of the swimming pool – about 25 meters back and forth. I guess I have continuously swam about 10 round, with is about 500 meters already. I couldn’t believe it because I can hardly complete the 25 meter track along the last time. It is called magic.

I love swim now and I can put swimming to my favorite sports list now. This is the keep takeaway I got in August 2004.

Interviewed by China Radio International

Just after I returned to hotel around 9:15 pm from the hospital of my college, the telephone in my room started to ring. I rushed to pick it up and it was Mr. Shen from China Radio International. We made appointment about the interview, on this blog. I guess the program will be online (should be on air) very soon. I’d like to thank him and Hailey, and Le who made it happen. I am very relaxed to talk with these nice people.

Hailey and Allen already put online a report at the headline of Real Estate Channel days before, titled Guanxi and Big Money Get the Homes in a Seller’s Market. It was about my story to buy a house in Shanghai, with my big silly picture there. I have to point out that the hot real estate market may have ended. The N-N-N policy (“No Price. No Reception. No Apartment”) was true in October 2003, but not now. Anyway, I’d like to thank them to make it online. It is said another article about my blog will go online (the web version) in another channel. I am not sure though.

P.S. China Radio International was founded in 1941. CRI broadcasts 290 hours everyday in 43 languages. It is the most powerful radio station for overseas audience in China.

Eric’s Birthday

Today is Eric‘s birthday. Happy Birthday to Eric

I seem Elegant?

Stephen commented:

One major deficiency is Mr. Wong so reluctant to reply to the enquiries you received some how made people think you are so elegant.

This reminded me that I didn’t reply comments as frequently as I did before. This is due to the pressure of my current project. I noticed I should try harder to keep participating in the wonderful discussion. Just let you know that I did read all comments but didn’t have time to reply – not because of elegant. :-D. Thanks Stephen for pointing it out.

16 thoughts on “I can Swim Now

  1. Swimming is a very special feeling. Great. Congratulations to the interview, sounds quite prestigious. Best wishes to you.

  2. Jens Leo Malmqvist, Thanks. You tought me the word “prestigious”. I looked it up in directory and found it means “respected”. :-D

    “Thanks.” – this is the western way to response.

    “No. You are joking again. I am far from prestigious. I am just a small potato.” – this is the Chinese way to response.

  3. You are doing very well. Best wishes from your sister in law in Canada.

    Your brother and I have been regular visitors to your site for a while.

    Is it any way I can contribute some news to you other than this comment block which seems only make sense for something related to the same topic.

    Here is news I think you might be interested in:

    E-mail menu to China Air

    A new e-menu meal ordering system has been introduced by China Airlines on almost all of its routes, including Vancouver. The e-manu service is avaliable to first and dynasty-class passengers, who can pre-order their main course for all their meals.

    From canada travel press

  4. Oh. The biggest news today is I finally get the first comment from my brother and sister in Law in Canada. :-D Welcome! Currently, it seems not easy to start a new thread here. You may try BBS at http://home.wangjianshuo.com/bbs , but I still didn’t make up mind to officially operate it or not since I may not have time to monitor and maintain it.

  5. Stephen commented:

    One major deficiency is Mr. Wong so reluctant to reply to the enquiries you received some how made people think you are so elegant.

    “elegant” or “Arrogant”…?

  6. horsoon

    It is not my intention to describe Mr. Wang as “arrogant”, so don’t put your word into my mouth.

    Stephen

  7. Oh. Stephen, thanks for correcting. I did thought you mean that. :-D Haha. But I am currently confused whether you encourage me to join discussion more often or discourage me to do so?

  8. Mr. Wang

    I am under the impression that the mission of your site is to show people outside of Shanghai perhaps outside of China the truth sight and sound of the city.

    I first encountered your website by seeking the Pudong Airport information and then I found more useful tourist information of the vicinity region of Shanghai.

    I admire your courage to display your office work and private life on the web, and through your web, people outside of China can have a glance of the daily life of an average citizen of Shanghai.

    I do encourage you to keep the good thing going, eventually you are building up an international network of friendship, but don’t forget to keep the dialogue going.

    Regard

    Stephen

  9. Stephen, it is not Jianshuo’s task to KEEP UP a dialogue, no single person can do that in a blog this big. Please consider.

  10. Carsten. Your tone looks like I am attending to deter the future of this site.

    I am not asking Mr. Wang to operate the site on the full-time bases nor to have an assistant to help him, after all, it is a goodwill gesture in which Mr. Wang established in the first place. I think the spirit should be extended at the will of Mr. Wang whatever he deem appropriate.

    Mr. Wang can choose to respond on comment at his own discretion, but as a regular reader of this site, I don’t wish to see it deteriorated.

    Enough have been said to suggest how Mr. Wang to operate the site, and I shall refrain myself from posting any comment in relation to this subject.

    Stephen

  11. Hello, Mr. Wang,

    Came across by accident while searching for some information about Shanghai. Goin there today for the first time!:)

    I read your article about swimming…gd…trully understand your feelings. The same happended to me yesterday! I started learning to swim a long time ago, but still couldn’t get rid of the fear for water…:( As I arrived to Shenzhen (2 weeks ago) I am always persuaded to come to the pool or seashore with family and friends. Interestingly enough I found out that it is just the experience that matters. As I have a swimming pool just on your doorsteps – it became so natural to like being the the water and swimming back and forward in the pool! It feels great, doesn’t?

    All the best,

    Lina

  12. Carsten and Stephen, thanks for your posts. You are all very active reader here and I like to read every piece of comments posted by each of you. I have accepted Stephen’s suggestion as I accepted others. I’d like to thank you to think about how to make it a better place. Thanks to Carsten’s consideration of my time and my other focuses. I was trying although I cannot be everything for everybody. :-D Both of you are telling the true side of the same thing – on one side, I should do as Stephen suggested, to keep up the dialogue, on the other hand, as Carsten suggested, I may not able to do it every time. Let me balance.

    To share with everyone, I am learning to balance. It is what I learnt after so many years exteremely hard working on my job. I have to allocate some time to spend on my family – I allocated the time from the time I used to work over time. I also allocated certain amount of time – about one hour everyday on this blog, as I promised. This has been very successful and I didn’t fail often in the past two years. I like the way I am allocating my time now.

  13. Hi Jian Shuo,

    Great website! I found your site while surfing the net for China-based blogs a few months ago. Ever since, I’ve enjoyed seeing China through your eyes.

    I left Shanghai when I was nine. Though I’ve adopted the US as my homeland in the decade and a half since then, Shanghai has always occupied a warm and familiar place in my heart. Reading websites like yours helps me keep tabs on the amazing transformation of Shanghai and the rest of China.

    I have especially enjoyed looking at your photo albums, but, can I make a suggestion? Your pictures would convey the awesome tranformation of modern China much better if you included more people in them. The last time I visited Shanghai (2002), I felt this incredible sense of life in the air, and it was due mainly to the bustle and energy of the people there.

    I don’t know how you could convey that in photographs and words, but, if you could capture just a little bit of that vibrance, and send it over the optical fiber connecting our two continents, it would help open the eyes of people who have never been to China.

    This year, despite all the problems we are having in the US, China has come to the forefront of the collective consciousness of Americans. Nearly every single respected news magazine here as devoted at least one issue to China. At lunches with my colleagues, a visiting physics professor from Argentina and several leading scientists have spent hours talking about China. Of course, one could spend hours talking about trade statistics, social problems, economic growth, et cetera, but until somebody has looked through the eyes of a young Chinese professional, or experienced placed like Nanjing Road and Xu Jia Hui for themselves, they just don’t understand the full scale of what is taking place in modern China. That’s why I think your website is great. There should be more like it.

    Anyways, I don’t mean to make it seem like you should be on a mission to educated us ignorant Americans. I like your website for what it is, a lighthearted diary of life in China.

    PS – tip about swimming. If you are planning to swim regularly, I recommend starting out your workouts slow easy and gradually work up your level of physical activity over the course of an hour. Leave your most strenous swimming to the end. This will protect your muscles from injury. Also, if you do it right, you’ll tend to feel more energetic near the END of your workout than at the beginning.

  14. Can you point me to some websites that teach swimming online (For Free, of course).

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