Running Is Good For You

Today I just got told by my cleaning lady.

Amy, our daily housekeeper (everyday except Sundays and public holidays as stipulated in our lease agreement), came in this morning in an especially chatty mood. She speaks Mandarin which is great for me to practice speaking putonghua.

I said brightly, "Ni hao, Amy!"

"Ni hao," she replied. "Good morning. Afternoon."

Then, out nowhere, she started talking about how everyday (I caught that part, mei tian), there were runners in that park (pointing out our bedroom window to the little track down the street from us) very early in the morning. I didn't catch the word for runners, so I said, "Mei tian zhe shi shenme?" (Everyday, there's what?) She said, runners, gesturing outside then making elaborate motions of running like a mime.

"Oh, runners," I said in English. Then she started speaking more agitatedly in putonghua. With some help from Stu, I gathered what she said which was something along the lines of, "There are runners in the park every day early in the morning. You two sit inside in front of your computers all day. The air in here is bad for you! You need to go outside and exercise, run!"

"But, Amy," I replied reasonably, "the air outside is very bad too, even worse! Besides, I do yoga everyday." It was more like me pointing outside and wildly gesticulating while saying, "bu hao, bu hao." (Not good, not good.) "Mei tian, women qu yu jia."

She laughed and shook her head. I'm going to the gym and a yoga class tomorrow. Amy has shamed me.