My Morning Run...

From the desk of Allie....

So I decided that some of my most memorable random discoveries have happened while I have been on a run.  So the 'My Morning Run' posting is going to be a recurring featurette here on the blog.  Hope you like it!

So the other morning on my run, I was headed on the normal route some of us had been running since we arrived but I decided to try something different.  One of the things I like most about running is saying hi to people as I pass them.  For two reasons, one, I am incredibly friendly, and two, I like to call attention to the fact that I am going faster than them :)  Just kidding, although now that I think about it I never say hi to people who are traveling faster than me.  Hmmm.  Back to the run.  So I decided to say 'Good morning' to as many people as possible in Chinese.  So off I go running along saying hello and good morning to everyone I passed.  Most people looked at me in confusion, some said something back to me, and a group of pre-teen girls laughed at me. All in all, a successful language learning class.  But that's not all...

I came to the park where we turn around and there were several older folks with their dogs gathered around. And then I saw a Finley.  A beautiful golden retriever bounded right up to me as I was stretching and I almost cried I was so happy to see a big dog.  This is what I have been seeing in the city:

 

  I tried to wave off his owner who was yelling at the dog and eventually got to pet him.  So I was saying hello to everyone in the park, and another group of older people playing this badmiton/hacky sack game motioned to me like they wanted me to join.  I said good morning (for practice) and yes! I would love to play a random game of hacky sack with seventy year olds.  What I found out from this was....I'm not that great at hacky sack and sometimes they make badmiton birdies with real pigeon feathers..which I touched.

Awesome.