Public transportation in China is supposed to be smoke free, but you’d never know it from riding in a Zhengzhou taxi.
Taxi drivers here not only light up in their cabs, but they also offer their customers cigarettes.
It happened to me again Sunday, when I was taking a cab back to my apartment from a local mall. The driver chain-smoked four or five cigarettes during the ride, and every time he lit up he offered me one. Though I kept saying no, he kept on opening his cigarette pack and gesturing for me to take one.
Both my parents were three-pack-a-day smokers, and I grew up under a constant cloud of smoke. I hated the smell, so it’s one of the few bad habits I never picked up.
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Hot showers in their dorms, night lights in their rooms and more trees on the campus were among the suggestions my students made about how to improve life at Henan University of Technology.
They also asked for cheaper meals, faster Internet service and no weekend classes.
Only cold water is available in the dorms, so students seeking a hot shower must go to another building where private and communal bathing facilities are available.
The power is turned off in the boys’ dorms at 11 o’clock every night so they don’t stay up late playing computer games. The rule doesn’t apply to the girls because they are considered more responsible and less interested in wasting their time playing Grand Theft Auto.
Both sexes agreed that the concrete-laden campus could use some more greenery. As one student succinctly stated: “It is ugly and it should be beautiful.’’
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My Chinese students have a hard time mastering my first name. I’ve gotten messages addressed to Rike, Rake, Ruke and Rock. Maybe I should change it to something simple like Vontaze or Alterraun, the first names of the players who are leading the NFL in tackles and interceptions.
