Sunday, August 12, 2007

The Student Dormitories

The undergraduate dormitories are 5 story concrete monoliths with no redeeming architectural value. They are strictly utilitarian. There is an attendant at the door to keep members of the opposite gender out, the building is locked at 10:30 pm each night.

There is no elevator, the first room I visited was on the fifth floor. Down the long corridor of doors, each room has an electrical meter. Each room is given a certain amount of electricity per semester, overages must be paid for.

Students sleep 6 to a room, which is about 12 feet by 15, not including the bath. You enter the room, there are two sets of bunk beds on the left wall, six lockers and a set of bunk beds on the right. There are two desks running down the middle of the room. Quarters are tight, even slight Chinese girls have to push in the chairs and walk sideways to get to their beds.

The ceiling is high, so the beds are higher than in the west. You can sit up easily in your bunk bed. The mattress is the depth of an exercise mat, and sits rolled up at the end of the bed. The beds are covered with mosquito nets. There is no air conditioning.

It is still instantly recognizable as a girls' dormitory room. Doors have posters on them, there are stuffed animals on the beds, and the pillows have feminine pillow cases. There is the detritus of female life lying about, make-up, pink notebooks, purses.

The bathroom is just beyond the beds, running the width of the room. On the left is a large, sort of trough like sink, which permits hand laundry to be done in the room. On the right is a combination toilet/shower room with a door. The toilets here are squat toilets, the shower in the dormitories is just a shower head in the small room, the whole room gets wet.

Beyond the bathroom is the balcony, where laundry is hung out to dry. In some dormitories, there are no balconies, and students erect racks outside the windows. There it is best to be on the highest floor, so you don't have higher floor laundry dripping on top of yours. For a time during exams this spring, it rained so much for days that no one could dry their laundry and everyone was running out of clean underwear.

If you have ever lived shipboard as an enlisted person in the Navy, you will understand the closeness of the quarters here. There is a new dormitory building going up right now, one that will have air conditioning. The incoming freshmen in 2008 will be housed in it. We American teachers have a feeling that upperclassmen will not be very happy about that.

Summer temperatures in Nanjing are even hotter than Tallahassee, daytime highs are often in the high 90s or low 100s. The students bake in these little rooms, and spend as little time as possible in them. Those who can possibly leave school and spend the summer at home do so to avoid the heat. Of course, most of my students didn't have air conditioning at home, either, but at least at home they didn't have to share a room with 5 other people.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

megan f ox, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187756]megan fox height and weight[/url] megan fox dirty
kim kardashian and ray j official full video free, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187768]kim kardashian and ray j video porn[/url] kim kardashian orgasm
taylor lautner and taylor swift latest news, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187772]taylor swift .com[/url] taylor swift at the grammys
hannah montana cast list, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187786]hannah montana official store[/url] christmas hannah montana
all the harry potter movies, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187792]harry potter disney[/url] harry potter st john the divine
cruises to alaska, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187798]cruise to stockhom from usa[/url] airport transfer to cruise terminal orlando
how do you pronounce justin biebers name, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187812]did justin bieber take singing lessons[/url] how to look like justin beiber
britney spears performing, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/187814]free britney spears full sex tape[/url] how tall is britney spears
megan fox sex videos, [url=http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/175542]megan fox tounge[/url] megan fox and micheal bay

Anonymous said...

hey


just signed up and wanted to say hello while I read through the posts


hopefully this is just what im looking for looks like i have a lot to read.

Anonymous said...

if you guys exigency to take home [url=http://www.generic4you.com]viagra[/url] online you can do it at www.generic4you.com, the most trusted viagra pharmaceutics with a shrewdness generic drugs.
you can ascertain drugs like [url=http://www.generic4you.com/Sildenafil_Citrate_Viagra-p2.html]viagra[/url], [url=http://www.generic4you.com/Tadalafil-p1.html]cialis[/url], [url=http://www.generic4you.com/VardenafilLevitra-p3.html]levitra[/url] and more at www.rxpillsmd.net, the chief [url=http://www.rxpillsmd.net]viagra[/url] originator on the web. well another great [url=http://www.i-buy-viagra.com]viagra[/url] pharmacy you can find at www.i-buy-viagra.com

Anonymous said...

Frame the animal with two backs casinos? digging this new [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]online casino[/url] pilot and horseplay online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at www.realcazinoz.com .
you can also discontinuation our up to the minute [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] manage at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and overcome corporeal incredibly touched in the head !
another voguish [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] bracket is www.ttittancasino.com , in return german gamblers, rise during freed online casino bonus.

Anonymous said...

We prepare for all kinds of dear quality s that happen in a variety of styles,[url=http://www.safeandsoon.com/]cheap wedding dress[/url]
colors and sizes at wholesale price.All are cheap with up to date styles associating apparels including originator uniting adorn, beach wedding dresses, connubial gowns, bridesmaids dresses, prom outfits, bourgeon young lady dresses & nurse dresses.Even we can supply the services of on the loose weight customization and free extra size Purchase affordable stunning wedding dresses minute!satisfaction in horn-mad shopping, put on one's sunday best clothes marvellously destined for the whacking big juncture with the facilitate of G-marry bridal.


http://www.safeandsoon.com/

Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.frankgorejersey.net/]Frank Gore Jersey[/url]

1: Take an amount of time out for yourself everyday If you're bringing home an older dog, ideally, stick with the name it already owns It may sound comical, but this was my precious little girl, and it hurt me to see her suffering A student of NLP, ordained minister, New Age Light Worker and Teacher

[url=http://www.nikefalconsauthenticjerseys.com/]Falcons Julio Jones Jersey[/url]

Your enthusiasm will inspire others to move forward with actions that bring rewarding achievements Regular featuring of sex scandals by the Catholic clergy as headlines in the Dailies and Magazines render themselves as proofs For low cost advertising, contact organizations holding charity auctions or raffles

[url=http://www.texansfootballshop.com/]Nike Arian Foster Jersey[/url]

Anonymous said...

top [url=http://www.001casino.com/]free casino games[/url] brake the latest [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/]casinolasvegass.com[/url] free no set aside bonus at the leading [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]www.baywatchcasino.com
[/url].

Anonymous said...


[url=http://shenenmaoyiss.devhub.com/][b]sac longchamp[/b][/url]
[url=http://shenenmaoyie.iloveblog.com/][b]sac longchamp[/b][/url]
[url=http://shenenmaoyie.webnode.cn/][b]sac longchamp[/b][/url]
[url=http://shensacens.moonfruit.com/#/blog/4572065407][b]sac longchamp[/b][/url]
[url=http://shenenmao.insanejournal.com/][b]sac longchamp[/b][/url]