The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
11.12.2015 | Men's Basketball
Senior guard describes Wednesday's activities in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Diary entry for Wednesday, November 11
(Hangzhou and Shanghai)
Senior guard Javan Felix
"We woke up and had breakfast. Immediately after that, we had study hall for two hours. During that time, I worked on a paper that is focused on the corruption of sports agents for my 'Philosophy in Sports' class. I also wrote a movie review for a different class, 'Sociology in Sports.' I watched a movie called "Murderball," which is about the sport of wheelchair (quad) rugby.
It's tremendously important for us to stay on top of our class work, especially since we're just beginning the season. A lot of things are coming our way with travel and games, so it's very important to start off on the right track. But it didn't start here. We had to work ahead academically before leaving the country. We've had to pay close attention to the time difference to still get worked turned in on time. Our academic counselor Jordenne (Parker) is here with us and has done a great job. She makes sure we stay on top of our work. Every day when we come to study hall, we have a specific plan that we stick to in order for us to stay on top of our work.
After study hall, we went to practice over at the Olympic training facility (in Hangzhou). We got a chance to see those facilities, the Olympic campus and the big soccer stadium (Huanglong Stadium). That was a lot of fun.
We grabbed some food right by the stadium after practice, and that was different. We only had two options – Pizza Hut or McDonald's. Most of the group chose McDonald's due to time restraints. I've been out of the country before and seen McDonald's restaurants in other countries, but I was definitely surprised to see Pizza Hut. A couple doors down from the Pizza Hut was a very small Walmart. It was the size of a convenience store. That was an eye-opening experience.
We took a bus ride back to Shanghai and checked into the same hotel we stayed in when we landed on Sunday night. The thing that was most interesting to me was watching the bullet trains pass by outside our window (tracks were on the side of the highway). Another thing that has caught my attention is the way people drive here. It's been funny to watch those different situations that these drivers constantly put themselves in. I saw a motorcycle driving down the wrong side of the street, and they were doing this as if it were normal. The driver then made a turn across the entire flow of traffic, but nothing happened and it didn't cause any accident. It caused commotion, but there was no accident (laughter).
This experience has been unbelievable. It's been an eye-opener just to see the different culture. It is great to see another part of the world, and it's been fun.
