Personal Space

Nanjing is a city of about 6.4 million people, according to 2004 census estimates. I lived in Madrid 10 years ago and the population at that time was about 2.8. San Francisco has just under a million. I visited Mexico City, where the population is about 8 million, or 17 million if you count the greater Distrito Federal. Flying in to Mexico City is surreal, as it pretty much just goes on for an eternity. Judging from the picture I found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing), Nanjing doesn't seem too far off. I was told due to preparations for the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, efforts are being made to get people to queue in a more "respectable" manner. I am always reminded as to how orderly we can be as Americans. Personal space is such an issue and we become quite offended by people pushing their way to the front.

My most entertaining experience with this was skiing in Granada. A few friends and I made the excursion to Granada for an extended weekend. Somehow, we ended up deciding to ski. We woke up really early and boarded a bus with half a dozen other Americans and several dozen Europeans from varying countries. The bus serpentined up a barren, rocky mountain for miles. As we neared the top, we were reassured that there was actually snow to ski on. Mind you, I sort of grew up skiing the Sierras. There are lanes that switchback neatly and eventually plop you into several chutes that take turns boarding the lifts. In Spain (and probably other European countries) there are a couple of ropes on either side that form a sort of funnel. The wide mass of unstable bodies with pointed weapons strapped to each hand make their way into a smaller and smaller space, until they find themselves in nice, neat twos and then board the lift. It took some getting used to and was pure hilarity. You quickly learned that your ski pole was your most valuable weapon and it served you well to plant it without remorse in between the skis of the person next to you, so that they were unable to make a move to get ahead.

Somehow, I find it a little more enjoyable to have order, but that is only because I have been trained in that manner. Of course, as the saying goes, “when in Rome...”

I still feel I have a dozen and one things to complete and can hardly believe I leave in two weeks. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the gorgeous weather and spend plenty of time running and hiking. One of my favorite places to run is in the forest and I realized that I haven’t been out there in months. Summer is so great. It’s the reward that comes for enduring fog and rain and days when it gets dark at 4:30. We are so spoiled.