Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Turn and face the strange. 

I realised upon publishing my last post how much has changed since I last wrote on here. At the beginning of the lockdown I was making plans for all the things I could do with the extra time - no more commuting, fewer classes, no evening plans... but somehow several months disappeared into a thin air. 

A lot has changed since my last post. A whole 7 months passed.  I had a housemate move in (and out), found a hamster (then a home for said hamster), and switched from binge watching Friends to The Sopranos.  I taught online, then in person for a grand total of 7 days, then online again for 3.  

I have two less dogs (one with a happy ending, the other unfortunately not), got significantly larger, then a little slimmer (the quarantine 15 struggle is real), and actually managed to travel out of Beijing for a little over a week. 

Some things, however, didn’t change. I didn’t become a yoga goddess, learn to make vegan cheese, nor make any progress on my “to read/watch later” lists (if anything, the slow internet made me add more to them)!

In all honestly, online learning took a lot more out of me than I expected. 

So I may not have achieved everything I hoped to on my list, but that’s ok.  I survived.  I finished a book. I learnt how to use Zoom, Seesaw and a whole host of online learning platforms.  And the bathroom got re-grouted.  And that for me is enough.

As of November 3rd:
1,804 unwatched YouTube videos on my 'to watch later' playlist.
550 unread emails.
6 unread paper books (+ 1 kindle).
2 dogs.

153 episodes of Friends left to watch.

No more tins of beans.

New Month, New Post, Who dis?

I’ve written, and rewritten the beginning of this blog post several times over the past few months. Not wanting to wait until the new year to make a resolution, I’ve tried several times to make each new month a chance to get back on the blogging wagon. Online teaching made doing anything on my laptop after school almost impossible - after a day of staring at a screen for Zoom classes, emails and marking, I just wanted to lie down in a darkened room and heal my poor retinas.

This month feels different though. I’ve been following NaNaWriMo (National November Writing Month) for a while now, and whilst I’m not going to write out a full novel of my life, it’s been motivating to receive their emails, and a new job means I'm not quite as burnt out after school. (Shout out to Jess and Sarah for their encouragement too)!

It's unlikely that many people will read this, but I find journaling therapeutic, and I imagine it’ll be something interesting to look back on in a few years as often I can't even remember what I did yesterday (hello, 30). Plus, as a teacher I'm constantly reminding students of the importance of writing to become a better writer, so I guess it's time to start practicing what I teach. Maybe I'll start remembering to bring a pen to class meetings too, but I'm not promising anything (isn't that what Evernote was designed for anyway?).

It is, however, hard to write when you're in an exhausted food coma.

I mean, just look at this absolute monstrosity of a meal.

After Church today we went to a Japanese restaurant in Wudaokou for what my friend described as "the best katsu curry in Beijing." It did not disappoint, and the veggie option for once seemed to be the unhealthiest option on the menu. Big win. Deep fried mashed potato with yellow rice and delicious, thick curry, without a hint of anything green in sight. I'm not sure the picture does it justice in showing how big the fried potato balls actually were and the rice that went on for days.

And it was good.

So, so good.

And true, I didn't have to finish it, but we're also teaching students about food waste at the moment. Seems this modelling what I teach is going to have serious consequences for my waist. At least as a millennial I could have the stereotypical, mini avocado toast for dinner as there was certainly no room for anything else.

More carbs was just what I needed anyway.

Until next time,

EJ x