Who, Me?

It’s not difficult to see that my life in Beijing is far different than the life I was leading in New York. Being here, I’ve made a few minor life-revelations. The first is simply that being Malaysian is actually important to my cultural heritage. I guess it seems silly, but I think I need to be in China to figure that out.

The second revelation is that…I like doing things. In New York, my most..ok one of my only forms of recreation was going out on a Saturday night. (Ok ok, Tuesday or Wednesday, but it’s not my fault that’s when the girl parties are…) That is not to say that I’m not going out over here and that I don’t intend to keep that up. What I’ve also realized, though, is that I like doing other active things.

If you know me, you know that of all the things I’ve been classified as, “sporty” has never been one of them. I can’t play any organized sports, I don’t play frizbe at the park, and when Kel convinced me to try tossing a ball with her at the beach it was much closer to playing fetch than catch.

That being said, I’ve always thought of myself as fairly active. Back in the days of my youth, I was involved in all sorts of female-gendered, individual-best sports. So when I asked if I could join dragon boating and was told with no hint of sarcasm, “Well….it’s athletic”…I realized in the last 6 years, I had let myself go.

That may be what prompted the rocking climbing, but it’s definitely not what’s kept me going back every week. I love figuring out routes, and the game of which to hold. I like trying to balance and just falling on mats whenever I need to. It’s nice to feel like ballet wasn’t a waste of time that I’ve all but forgotten.

This spring I’ve been rock climbing every weekend, and during the week if I can swing it. I’m also swimming once a week and biking to and from school. It’s not much, but it’s a nice addition to dancing in the clubs!

Rock Climbing Note: I definitely like Bouldering better than the belay wall. I’ve never been afraid of heights before, but there’s something about hanging 40 feet in the air by your fingertips and tip toes that stirs up some sizeable fear.