I began my gym membership this past week. The place is fairly nice and well-lit, unlike most “jungle gyms” in China. A cultural incident that merely reinforces something I’ve experienced over the past five years is the “shamelessness” of women to see nude men. Now, at my gym, there is no door to one of the guys’ locker rooms – where my locker is located. It’s literally a room at the end of a long hall where anyone could walk into unknowingly – or knowingly for that matter!

I was in need of a change of locker, so I got #66 (on the top) rather than #87 (in the middle) because, according to Coach Zhou, the top lockers are nicer. Anywho, one of the old ladies who works at the gym – like with general cleaning, checking gym membership cards when people walk in, and overall simple “presence” at the gym counter – walked me back to the locker room to change lockers. She simply walked in, not checking to see if anyone was in their skivvies, and switched lockers for me. I think she’s got to be the owner’s mother or something for her to be able do this.

But this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered this phenomenon. When I am going to bathroom in a public restroom, it’s common for cleaning ladies to simply come in the bathroom and begin cleaning. It’s not a privacy issue (like in America) but a practical one: “I need to clean, so I’m coming in.” If people are pooping, they’re pooping. If people are changing, they’re changing. If people are naked, they’re naked. All you have to do is take an overnight train ride, and you’d COMPLETELY understand all this!