SMU Update 3/22/10

Today was back to classes for us and we had a full day. We had our first morning formation today. It was definitely quite different from our morning formation and we formed up together with the other international students. The Chinese flag was raised along with the anthem. We were told that one flag from each international country would be raised each week. Today was our flag and we saluted our colors with pride as the anthem was played. We now have some additional students studying with us from Africa. There are now students from America, Australia, Africa, Poland, the Netherlands, and South Korea that are part of this international maritime program. This is such a tremendous opportunity for everyone here and I'm sure that the other students feel the same.

After classes were done, many of us played soccer and spent time outside. It was a great day today with mild temperature. My former roommate Dan and also Renee came down to the campus. We went over to the Dishui lake and checked out the area. It was a nice day to be over there and I checked into the price for sailboat rentals for another day. We grabbed some dinner at a restaurant in the area and headed back to the campus. The Dishui lake is the center of a new city that is being built in this district. It is supposed to accommodate 800,000 residents when it is completed. There are so many buildings being constructed everywhere you look. There is also a lot of logistics companies relocating to that area. In another ten years, this will be a major maritime hub that will complement the deep water port not far away.

We all had to meet with the local police and go over some paperwork that was supposed to be completed within 24 hours of our arrival. This was just a formality and we completed the paperwork without any problems. Most of us went to the gym after classes and spent several hours working out. Dan and Vinnie went to play some basketball in the gym and after a while they were challenged to a 4 on 4 game with some Chinese gentleman that had been playing previously. The game was hilarious with MMA vs the Chinese men. After losing about 5 games, Dan revealed to the group of American students that the Chinese men were all basketball coaches. I only played for the first game which gave me the opportunity to watch some of these guys play ball. The coaches looked like professionals out there and our kids got shut out in several of the games. It is pretty interesting to be able to interact with people of a different culture and not be able to speak a universal language. There was minimal discussion during the game but it was evident that the Chinese men were having a great time playing with the Americans.