Winter & "Punishment"?

Is this what comes to mind?

Waking up at 6am.

Walking barefoot in the snow until you can't feel your toes anymore.

Showering in ice cold water at midnight.

I'm going to write about something like that but not quite like it. I love winter because I can deck myself out in beanies, scarves and everything warm. But I have a love hate relationship with it for many reasons, one of it being our topic of the day: PHYSICAL EDUCATION aka 体育课. Coming from a sunny island meant that the first winter I truly lived through was in 2011 when I moved to Beijing for my undergrad studies. And one of the many things which stunned me was that the university had MANDATORY physical education classes. The story is that if I didn't complete 4 modules of PE classes, I can't graduate. End of story. Protest, complain, do what you want, but nothing will change this fact. 

Rules are as follows:

• One compulsory module (健美操 [aerobics] for girls, 太极拳 [taichi] for guys)
• Three other modules where you take what you like (the huge variety offered includes 羽毛球 badminton, 网球 tennis, 乒乓球 pingpong, 攀岩 rock climbing, 瑜伽 yoga, 健美 gymming, 地板球 floorball, 足球soccer etc )
• Compulsory fitness test (体质测试) for each semester of PE class (similar to NAPFA in Singapore schools) which you MUST PASS in order to pass PE
• Only ONE module of PE is allowed each semester
• Chinese students have to complete what is literally named extracurricular exercise (课外锻炼) in order to pass

So you be wondering what its like isn't it? Let me first unload the bad before I gush about the good:) PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST? I average a silver for my NAPFA, and I don't consider myself unfit. Yet what the test requires here is a little confounding. So you have the usual height and weight right, and what else? These are the top four which somewhat puzzles me.

#1: Lung capacity (肺活量)

What on earth...? So basically you go to that station, grab a funnel, attach it to a tube that resembles that of a mini vacuum cleaner's, inhale deeply and EXHALE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. The machine will reflect a number, usually ranging in the 1000s-3000s (idk what this is really:O all I know is that I have a larger "lung capacity" than my roommate since I have a bigger number hahaha). Blow three times, and they take the best result. 

What it shows, I don't know, but it makes me dizzy and somewhat weaker for the remaining tests. Aargh. The marks for this station is given after they peg it against your height and weight @.@

The passing criterion: 

NONE.

#2: Skipping (跳绳) - thankfully they removed this segment in the spring sem of year 2.

So a good student would, two weeks before the physical test, buy a skipping rope with a counter and practice. It looks like: 

I really see people meeting up to practice skipping together. Each time my heart goes into panic mode as I remember that I have yet to buy a skipping rope and that I REALLY SUCK AT SKIPPING. How is this a good measurement of physical fitness anyways? 

The passing criterion: 

Skip 100 times in a minute. To get a distinction? 160-180 depending on age and gender. 

Now go get a rope and try it for yourself. How long has it been since you skipped anyway (assuming you are not the health nut who skips to keep fit...)? Well for me, the answer prior to 2012 was, well a decade or so, maybe plus a few years. And they keep count by having you jump on top of a mat with a floor sensor of sort which will sense the number of times your feet leave and return to the mat surface. You can't even think of inflating your count by having a mutual agreement with the person who counts for you to bring you up to the passing grade (like for sit-ups hehehe).  

#3: 12 Minute Run (十二分钟跑)

What's so puzzling about the run? Nothing really, especially in sunny Singapore. In fact, when in school, the 2.4km run was the least of my worries, compared to things like say, standing broad jump. But when you factor in running in chilly October (10-16 degrees) AND the hazy air (PSI in the high 100s or low 200s), it knocks the wind out of you once you complete it. I think they know that, and that's why they test it on a day separate from the other components of the test.

My experience: running the first 400m with a thin down jacket on, feel warm, unzip the front for the next 400m, then zip it up when the cold air makes contact with perspiration, then deal with a runny nose for another 800m and a splitting headache inbetween the ears for the last 400m. All that plus a wave of nausea that lingers for half the day after the run. 

The passing criterion: 

1.7km(girls)/2km (guys) in 12 minutes. To get a distinction? 2.2km(girls)/2.6km (guys) in 12 minutes. 

#4: Sit and reach (坐立体前屈)

Again, nothing wrong with it. Except for the way they test you. If you touch your toes, that's ZERO CM. ie. DISASTER FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO HAVEN'T TOUCHED OUR TOES SINCE WE WERE FIVE WITHOUT BENDING OUR KNEES. All I can say is lucky we don't have to hold it there for 5 seconds like we had to in Singapore. It really was touch and go, so I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes closed and reached like there was no tomorrow. My result? 7.5 FREAKING CENTIMETERS (length of my middle finger- I went home after the test to measure it with a ruler). Seriously? And I swore I bent my knees a little unwillingly but no one spotted it cos I wore black tights and was sitting on a black mat.

If you are wondering, yes I know someone who got a negative score. Can you imagine the conversation at the dinner table? "I had a sit and reach test today and I reached negative 4cm." Laugh all you want and thank your lucky stars it isn't your story to tell.  

The passing criterion: 

A positive reading. 

Now that I have let off steam and share my worries about my impending physical test in October (I shall document it this time around:/), here are some pictures/stories of the good.

My first PE class was aerobics. Although I remain the girl who gets noticed because I always raised the same arm and leg, it was nevertheless a good experience overall. I had a very patient teacher (well worth the 91 points I spent bidding-it's a huge deal since we only get 99 points every semester) who always kept a straight face and an encouraging smile when I mess up. Brownie points for buying us mini Snickers too. 

My second class was FANTABULOUS except for the written exam at the end where one of the open ended question was to list the names of your teammates (in Chinese characters of course!) and I could only list three, with two being in pinyin. I'm just bad with names:O Name of the class? 拓展训练. Can't find an English equivalent term, but in simple words the activities we did every week resembled that of OBS. Three highlights:

天梯 (Heavenly Stairs): Climb to the fifth log with only the aid of your partner and nothing else. Requires immense trust, although I did earn some bruises on my arm from having to haul my partner up. To be fair, I stepped on his thigh and on his shoulders so I guess it was mutual bruising.

信任背摔 (Backfall- my translation does the Chinese name little justice really): Team forms a human net to catch the person up on that stand. Yellow cloth shown is used as a safety measure to prevent the falling person from panicking and then reaching out his arms to claw those who are catching him, and also for our TA to help control the direction of the fall.

10米高空跳 (10m leap): Pole I climbed was 10m high. Point was to leap to catch the handlebar. The part where I struggled the most was standing up because it requires a good sense of balance, which I have only a little of. The weather was not in my favor that day because there was wind, so i was just wobbling, both because I was scared and because of the wind, though I would like to think it was more of the latter. 

A photo with my teammates at the end of the semester. Our team name is shown on the flag: 笑傲. Our motto: 一统未名 (未名 being the name of our school's lake)

I guess the value in making PE classes mandatory is that it gives students an opportunity to meet students from other faculties, and it forces you to do some exercise each week instead of being a couch potato (roommate seconds this keke:)). The only parts I feel require improvement would be 1) the physical fitness test stations/criteria and 2) contingency plans for outdoor class in the event of smoggy weather which Beijing gets half the time. We can't all wear masks while having PE outside can we?   

My choice for PE this winter sem: SWIMMING (held indoors in heated pool wheeee.) No punishing myself by picking an outdoor class held in the brutal cold.