Ok, so I returned to the pool after a quick hiatus (i got sick, thought i had Bird Flu, thought I was going to die, made a will and told Sarah which ex boyfriends i wanted her to email and tell them i was dead and they shoudl feel really bad now. back to the pool and i found out that the locker room situation had changed. we now got a special key to the locker room. then i found out that these keys also made the showers work. you put it up electronically to the shower and out comes the water. this took me a while to figure out. the lady explained it all to me when she gaveme the key and i nodded and said, "ke yi ke yi" but i didn't know exaclty what she was saying. i thought she said soemthing about the water, etc... Typical pool lockerroom info--how difficult could it be? So I am in the shower takingmy little shower, i put shampoo in my hair, then conditioner, and i wait before washing the conditioner out and lather up with soap. oh, by the way, the water is freezing cold. it is not hot water, so i wait to wash the conditioner and soap off my body all in one sitting so i wont be terribly freezing the whole time, oh and also by the way, i got shampoo in my eyes so they were closed shut while i was doing all this. I was hoping the stinging would go away. Anyway, then the water stopped.i didn't know why. there i was, all soaped up and hair with conditioner, eyes squeezed shut, despeartely playing with the water thingy to make it start again. this is when the words of the lady started to kick in--what was she tellingme exactly? after a good 5 minutes, panic was setting inand all the sudden things started to click--lady explaing new key system, why were the showers not so packed as they usually were, i realized we were given a short amount of time to take a shower. i had used up my time, used up my water. freezing cold water, yes, but water nonethelss and i still had soap and conditioner all overme and oh yea--did i mention my eyes are squeezed shut? So I finally yelled out--in the only Chinese i could muster--"bangzhu wo! Bangzhu wo!" help me,help me. someone got in, someone gave me some of their precious water time, i was ok. EVERYONE was staring at the stupid foreigner. Did i survive? Yes. Am i slightly embarrased. Yes, very much so. But by writing this email i feel a littl ebetter and also, this is a reminder--be nice to foreigers ok? It can be hard for them sometimes.