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Diet, Exercise and Body Image Issues Abroad—Part 3

Posted July 30, 2007 at 03:00 PM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: Her Fitness, Her Health, Body Image, Her Story, Special Features

The following article was submitted by A.J. Melnikas.  A.J. Melnikas currently works in clinical research.  In the past, she has worked with non-profit health organizations targeting women’s and adolescent health issues. She will begin MPH studies this fall. An avid runner and coach, A.J. has completed 4 marathons and is planning to run Boston next year. Her cultural adventures include studying in Spain, South Africa and Nepal; teaching English in China and traveling to France, Belize, Japan, Swaziland and the Dominican Republic. Click here to read Part 1 of this series; click here for Part 2.

Sometimes sticking out in a crowd can be a good thing. This is one of the many lessons I learned during my year abroad in China. I was intrigued by what I had heard from friends who had lived or studied there, so after graduating from college I embarked on a yearlong teaching stint in Hunan province. I didn’t speak Chinese and I hadn’t studied the region in college, but I did have a passion for travel and I was intensely curious about what adventures I might find across the world.

I was placed in a junior high/high school in Hunan province, in a city that was relatively small by Chinese standards, but still had anywhere from 4-8 million people, depending on the data source. Changsha is known for once being home to Chairman Mao, for its many adoption agencies, and for the many industrial plants located just outside the city limits.  It was here that I made my home as an 8th grade English teacher, responsible for the modest task of improving the communication skills of 1200 adolescents.

When I first arrived in Changsha it was August and 100 plus degrees.  After the initial jet lag and stress of adjusting to actually being on the other side of the world, I did what most other runners would do: I found a place to run and a running partner. Thankfully, both were relatively easy finds since my group included a few other runners, and we were temporarily stationed near a large park with paved walkways.  Each morning running in this park was an adventure. We observed groups doing Tai Chi, learning hip-hop or ballroom dancing, and running. The running groups were almost entirely made up of older men. I was subsequently placed in a school near this park and had the chance to run there frequently. In all of my time running there I saw many curious things, but only once or twice did I see another woman running.

I didn’t give much thought to the gender differences in exercise habits. I am used to people thinking that running is not a fun activity: “your sport is our sport’s punishment!” comes to mind.  It wasn’t that surprising to go for a run and not pass any other women doing the same. It wasn’t until I had an impromptu running partner that I realized that some of this discrepancy was due to cultural differences.

It was early spring, and the weather was just beginning to warm up. That Saturday morning I decided to go for a run in the park knowing full well that it could be a busy time of day and I might have to dodge the occasional stroller. This park was a haven in my city. Instead of running through car exhaust, serenaded by the music of car horns, persistent street vendors, and screeching tires, I could run around a beautiful lake with dragon boats and hear ballroom dancing music playing from a portable stereo. Best of all there were no cars to dodge. As usual, as I set off on a 4-mile run, I braced myself for the “hellos!” and the random English shouted by passers-by, the comments about me, and the laughter that inevitably seemed to follow anytime I exercised in public. I was just making my way through the park to the lake when a young man, about 14 or 15 starting running alongside me.

“Hello!” he said. “Can I practice my English with you?”
“I’m kind of busy right now.” I replied, making no effort to hide the disdain in my voice.
“I’ll just run with you if you don’t mind.”

I minded. Running was a time for me to de-stress, to think about and reflect on my life in China and anything bothering me. Although running often had elements of its own stress - with people calling out to me or commenting about my efforts - it was still something I valued as a stress-reliever and a time to just reflect on my experiences and day to day life. Just like it had been at home, it was an important part of feeling healthy and sane in my environment.

I tried to lose the young man, picking up my pace until I started breathing heavily. He barely flinched, and just kept bobbing along in his jeans and knock-off Keds.

After general introductions, including questions about what I was doing in China and what I thought of China as compared to the U.S., the questions shifted.

“Why do you run?” he asked. I have to admit, I was slightly taken aback.
“Because I want to be healthy and I love running.” I replied. 
“But women here don’t like to run. They think that it makes your legs big.”

This was not the first I had heard of the dreaded “big legs”. Many women I knew had told me about this, as if it were their duty to issue a warning.  They also told me riding a bicycle, walking, doing Tai Chi or dancing would all be better for me if I were trying to lose weight.

“I’m not worried about the big legs,” I told my unflappable, impromptu partner, “back home women still run. Also, the health benefits outweigh the risks. I’ll take my chances with someone thinking my legs are too big.”

We continued to talk about the health benefits of cardiovascular exercise. As the minutes passed I found myself letting down my guard a bit and opening up to this young man I had just met. It felt like I had been waiting my entire time in China for someone to ask me about running and the words came out effortlessly. Although it was difficult to hear that something I enjoyed so much was frowned upon, it was good to get an understanding of why people felt that way and also to have a chance to give my opinion.

This experience was one of many that shaped my time in China and taught me more about the people and culture than any book could have. Living in China as a foreigner was full of constant reminders that I didn’t fit in. Traveling to Beijing and Shanghai made me feel less conspicuous, but I never blended in or disappeared in a crowd the way I sometimes wanted to.  Eventually, I became used to sticking out and being a foreigner and it affected how I identified myself. 

Occasionally, people would point out other ways I stuck out: bigger than most Chinese women, freckles, red hair, feet too big to be able to buy shoes, running through a park instead of dancing…the list (unfortunately) goes on and on.  It was hard not to want to alter my behavior or change how I look to make things easier, but aside from dying my hair black and constantly wearing sunglasses nothing would have really worked.  But ultimately I realized that I didn’t need to fit in. Though there were certainly trying times, there were also conversations and situations that I experienced, like the episode in the park, because I looked different. Isn’t this why we go abroad in the first place, to experience all of the exhilaration, frustration and cross-cultural connections first hand? Although the adjustments to life in China could be overwhelming, including the pollution, population size, language barrier and cultural differences, overcoming these obstacles was without a doubt worth the time and effort.

Resources:
US Department of State: Background Profile China

Further Reading:
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler

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Tags: body image, changsha, china, diet, exercise, gender, gender and exercise, health, running, women

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