Yóuyông

Swimming is my 'back to the roots' sport. While I go to the gym these days, lift weights, kick box, and lately even got into a running routine, I still feel most "at home" when I dive into a pool. The smell of chlorine is so familiar. I love the cold water against my skin. The feeling of pulling through it with steady strokes, realizing that all surrounding sounds are muffled. Swimming relaxes my mind. In fact, it almost has a soothing effect on me, even though it's a workout.

Here in Beijing, I joined a gym with a nice 25m pool (see picture) two days after I arrived. It's across the street from my language school, so it's really convenient. I swim at least twice a week and also run on the treadmill and lift a couple of times a week. Before I leave, I really should take a Yoga, Pilates or Spinning class in Chinese, just for the experience, but there is only so much time in the day.

During yesterday's swim workout, I tried to think back to all pools in which I have swum through the years, well, decades now. It's impossible, of course, but it brought back a lot of good memories. It also made me think of many good friends and fellow Kachelzaehler from different times (Kachelzaehler is German for someone who counts tiles - most German pools are tiled). For many years, I never left home for a weekend trip or vacation without my swim suit, cap and goggles. You can always find a pool. Even if it's a rainy March in Mississippi and Gudrun, Edith and I are staying in this random motel in the middle of nowhere. Swim in the unheated outdoor pool in the rain at 7:30 in the morning and everybody knows who you are when you enter the breakfast room at 9.

Swimming is also really easy to explain in foreign languages. I remember wanting to swim in Florence, in Paris, somewhere in Greece, in Prague, and now here in Beijing. All it takes is to tell people the word for "swimming pool" and there are no more questions. If I ask for a gym, it gets complicated. Do I want to lift weights, play basketball, do an aerobics class, run on the indoor track? Okay, you probably have no idea why I am writing about this, but the bottom line is that swimming is great and simple and universal. And I love it. And this is my blog, so I can write whatever I want. Actually, I only meant to show you the below sign that is posted at my pool, but then I got a little off track. After all, traveling abroad is also about reflecting on one's own life, values and passions, right?


So, here it is for those of you who are concerned about my health. Rest assured! As you can see from this sign, my gym does not allow any patients with epidemic diseases to use the pool. Thus, I am safe. :-)