Monday 23 September — Rest
I stay at the hotel, resting.
Reflections on French politics.
Trying to eat chicken heads at a barbecue.
Tuesday 24 September — An unimportant day
I mixed up my notes with yesterday's. I did nothing significant.
Wednesday 25 September — First day at the swimming club
I leave the hotel a little before noon to go swimming on the riverbanks. There are two "groups" of swimmers, two changing rooms. They are located under the main pedestrian path along the banks. They are a few hundred metres apart. They are recognisable because they have a metal pipe coming out of the front. That is the stove chimney.
I enter the changing room of the first group I met. They are retirees.
The man who welcomed me the first time does so again today, after coming out of a DIY tent that has enough space for two tables to play cards or chess.
The stove is new, he tells me. The room is about 70m². Many things are in it and are being fitted out to make the room liveable. There is a kitchen area, a changing area, tables and chairs. It looks like most of the objects were salvaged here and there where they were not being used.
We go out in swimwear and approach the water. There are about eight of us entering the water to swim upstream to a wall about 120 metres away. This wall blocks the incoming swim; the water is calm. I make a mark on the wall by touching it and go around it to catch the river current. Then we swim towards the middle of the river and move away from land by about thirty metres. We cover a very short distance compared to the three kilometres we swam the first time.
They play a game called Luzanqi. They have a specific way of playing it. They also play a card game similar to one I know but I can't identify which one.
On the WeChat channel, there are photos of the river early in the morning. I wonder what time they get up and go to bed.
Thursday 26 September — Discovering the game Luzanqi
I am informed by email of a meeting on the anthropology of sport. Interesting.
I return to the retired swimmers' club (let's call it that for now). I am invited to eat delicious dumplings prepared by the women of the club (perhaps also the men, but I didn't see).
We swim right after eating.
Afterwards, I change into normal clothes and stay near the river. I see the other team (the guy recognises me and says hello); they enter the water, but this time they go much further into the middle of the river for a longer swim. I can't even see where they end up, but probably 2 km downstream.
People wash their clothes or fish or wash their motorbikes with the river water.
Some members of the retirees' group are repairing the tent.
I play with an old skateboard and another inertia object. Photos are taken and shared on the WeChat group.
I will have to learn to play these chess and card games. The retired swimmers spend a lot of time playing. I only see men playing Luzanqi.
I am invited to dinner in the evening at the same place. There are about 12 of us.
At the end of the dinner, one of the men asks me what I think of the French president.
Friday 27 September — Immersion
I am back at the "swimming club". They will go to Blagoveshchensk in a few days.
We go swimming with about four people. We go a little further than last time, and we have to come back on foot without clothes. I can't control my shivering, and it hurts my neck. It returns to normal after five minutes near the stove.
I am starting to become familiar with the Luzanqi pieces. "The mystery is the pleasure and the intrigue of the game," says the site I use to learn.
This evening, I am invited to dinner with everyone. I don't talk much. Sometimes I turn on automatic translation on my app when someone starts a monologue just to catch a few words of what is being said.
Saturday 28 September — Scrolling day
Day of scrolling on WeChat/TikTok.
Sunday 29 September — Reflections and reading
Reading Malinowski's diary, for comparison.
I need to update my research topic and my plan. I need to get in touch with professors. I am too isolated and need scientific interactions.
