Monday, December 7, 2015
It began with school as usual. My kids this year simply rock. I have a renewed passion for teaching and I rarely get out of bed begrudgingly (and if I do, it is more due to insomnia than dread of my classroom). We have been reading Durrenmatt's The Visit, a satirical play criticizing greed and the corruption of justice. After school, I ran around Carolina with Alli and Charles. We're trying to make a routine of after school Monday runs. I'm loving the workout company and giving my yoga and TRX routine a change-up.
After our run, I came home and began preparing for my Spanish lesson with Mery, whom I had invited to dinner as I had made a minestrone soup on Sunday, which I believed to be all the more tasty in the presence of good company. I was putting the soup in a pot to heat up when Linds texted and told me that the whole family had been summoned to Edgewood, where Grandpa has been residing for over a year, as hospice had told them that he may be on his last hours. The news came as a surprise; Grandpa's mind has been gone for some months now, but his health has stayed in pretty sound condition. My thoughts immediately turned to Grandma when Mery was ringing my buzzer. She was a good soul to have here as the tears came upon her entrance. A big embrace and her words of kindness and comfort were so welcome.
She didn't stay long. After her departure, I began making calls to change my flight home for Friday. A nearly sleepless night followed.
 |
| One of my favorite photos of Grandpa. He and Gus were such buddies. |
 |
| Grad school graduation. I loved being sandwiched between these two. |
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Despite my foggy brain, the school day went rather well. Administration was understanding as I told them I would be missing seven days of school. I tried to begin my sub planning, but fighting fatigue took all of my energy.
Nicole and I try to keep to a walking routine on Tuesdays. Carolina again. The fresh(ish) air and company was good for the soul. And little Lolita, her pug, adds some humor to all of our jaunts. We conversed a good deal about where our futures would take us. There is currently a good deal of ambiguity for us both. Chile, Mexico...perhaps the Dominican Republic for me??
Michelle came over after dinner to drink wine and feign work. My world is full of good people. Always.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Worked towards preparing the kiddos for the essay exam on Friday. The best part of this school day was Alli's gingerbread loaf. That woman has a way with molasses.
Decided to go for a mani/pedi after school and then promptly walked to Megamaxi afterwards to stock up on chocolate to bring home. Note this: I did not break into any of it tonight. It is sitting on the counter untouched. There are still nearly three hours in this days, though.
Knocked out a good TRX session on the terrace. It was nice to do the workout in the dark tonight. The lights on the mountains and in the valley below were quite pretty.
I'm obsessed with pesto right now. And zucchini noodles.
Quick chats with Mom and Cass and Ana followed.
About to activate my Search Associates account and settle into bed with Americanah.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
I may have spent my preps today digging through Search Associates. I might have expanded my search to include Europe now, rather than just Latin America. I may also have fleetingly thought of the possibility of South Africa. I am now audibly groaning at my desk. Oh, ambiguity.
Celeste and I are working out together. We try to buddy up each Thursday, switching casas for a little sweat fest. Her place today. FitnessBlender and myyogaworks.com. Let's do it.
Then it will be on to packing for my take-off tomorrow night.
Friday, December 11, 2015
School as usual.
A good walk with Nicole and Lola afterwards. I came home to a message from Linds to call. I knew what this meant. Grandpa had passed. I sat down on my couch to let the news settle as the sun was setting behind the mountains. The fireworks this night were most certainly for Grandpa. We will celebrate the man he was and the good life he lived with two services, one in Blaine on Tuesday and the other in Superior on Thursday.
I went to the airport at 9:45 to head home. As I was about to grab an apple to snack on, I shook my head and picked up a Snickers bar. It's what Grandpa would have voted for.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
I landed in Atlanta at 5:45 am. The first thing I always pick up when arriving Stateside is a tea latte.
Linds picked me at MSP at 10 am and we were on our way back home. We stopped at Chad's to tell the Chica Littles about Grandpa. They were sweet and brave.
Mom and Gram and Dad were home when Linds and I pulled up to Mom and Dad's house. It's so good to be home.
The family and two of Dad's friends when to Ichiban's for dinner and Gram, Dad, Mom, Abby and I went on to a Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant Christmas concert at the Target Center.
I slept like a baby with a full belly.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Nothing fights insomnia like my bed at Mom and Dad's. I slept soundly until 9 am. Stretched and watched some Food Network and then went to Linds' place for a sweaty Insanity workout.
Dad made some breakfast Elk sausage for brunch.
Now I am at Gram's, typing to the smell of her homemade Swedish meatballs, about to begin composing Grandpa's biography.
This evening I'll now get to attend Alyssa and Joel's benefit at Brewhaus and hug a bunch of other friends.
And this night ended with a sleepover at Gram's. And cuddling up in her bed on Monday morning.
And a year later ...
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
I should have been asleep when the clock struck midnight, turning the 6th into the 7th, but, alas, I was not. I was, rather, dangling a little basket with food by a thin rope to the balcony one floor below me. Patacón took a big leap last night. I left the window open, just a crack, and before I knew it, gone like the wind. After a number of hours of playing MacGyver with the concierge man, Martin, one of my new besties, that curious cat actually got in the basket, and hunkered down in it while I pulled her up to the 17th floor. I doubted Martin's outrageous idea (and wondered where the hell the Chinese firefighters were hiding), but it worked. My cat has never been so quiet as she was when she was back in my arms. She slept soundly, while adrenaline was still coursing through my veins. At least it made for an entertaining story for 1st block today ...
 |
| This is Martin. This was his brilliant idea. That is indeed the basket that Patacón willingly climbed into, and rode like an escalator back to safety ... or back to heaven as she now realizes home is ... |
 |
| Despite her angelic look here, she's just plotting her next mischievous act. |
And the funny thing about my juniors? We just finished reading The Visit today. One year ago today, I was reading it with my Americano seniors ... totally ignorant to the trajectory of my future in China. Oh, Life. You and your plot twists.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Recapping Thursday while I sit in my classroom Friday morning ... and I can hardly conjure what I did yesterday. This phenomena I continue to call #ChinaBrainFreeze ... but nearly five months into my new life, I feel I am losing time to be able to claim my memory loss is due to the big shift.
Squinting into the past 24 hours ago, I can vaguely conjure the memory that I went to the gym. I don't have my Celeste and Alli (but I'll have those Densons back next year!!), and my TRX is getting dusty, but I've joined a gym with good classes and a working set of weights. A good hour of cardio used to by my norm, but yesterday's 45-minute elliptical/treadmill session was longer than I usually get in as of the past months.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Inspired by Alli and Charles, I have begun to arise around 5 am to do a morning workout several days a week. A myyogaworks session revved my appetite ... and a growing tradition in Shekou is to meet up with my friend Alexandra for breakfast at Emily's, a sweet little cafe close to school. I miss many of my traditions from Ecuador, but making new ones is quite fun.
Off to Hong Kong tonight to see Wicked. Having easy access to the arts and culture of our nearby island is a treat here.
...
Oh, that performance was something wicked. I loved being back at the theatre, and I was in good spirits as I walked to the van with my friends to head back to the mainland. And all was well ... until we were approaching the border, and I am filling out the form to cross back into China, it dawns on me ... that I have made a mistake. I have failed to bring with me the passport with my Chinese visa inside. When I also remember that I have a photo of the visa on my phone, I am momentarily hopeful ... but the reality is, I am no longer in Kansas, or Quito; sweet smiles or whiney words will not get me what I want here; without the proper papers, I will not be re-entering the mainland.
And so here is how it goes down:
It is just before midnight when I am escorted back across the Hong Kong border into a taxi. (I forgot to mention that the border closed behind us and the border was closing in front of us as we were trying to figure out my ordeal ... the whole van of us nearly got stuck in no-man's land for the night.) I am scrambling to try to figure out what to do as the taxi speeds back towards Hong Kong, the key to my Shenzhen apartment, where my old passport with my visa hides, now in the hand of my friend Clayton. In my phone, I also have the phone number and address for Charles' aunt Linda. She and I had dinner before I flew home this fall. I use the taxi driver's phone to call her ... twice. There is no answer ...
Saturday, December 10, 2016
As I cannot get a hold of Linda, I ask the driver to bring me to a hotel in Central. Just before 1 am, the taxi driver drops me off at what I believe is an hotel, and speeds off into the night. I walk up to the concierge, explain that I need a room for the night to which he responds, "Oh, we're not a hotel." Befuddled, I turn myself in a circle, trying to get my bearings and figure out where in the devil I am now. I ask the man the address of the building and figure out that the taxi driver has indeed driven me to Linda's place. When I give the kind man in the entrance my name and Linda's, he smiles and responds, "She's just walked in." Dang, I think, Aunt Linda's got more stamina than I do.
A confused Linda answers her phone as the doorman rings her; she welcomes me upstairs. When I step into her gorgeous 36th floor apartment, I have to chuckle as she tells me, "I've just taken off my shoes. I walked in my door 30 seconds ago from Singapore." #TimingIsEverything. We chat, and we laugh, and Linda offers me pajamas, a toothbrush and a comfy bed. For such a mishap, it's worked out pretty well now.
In the morning, the passport and clothes that Clayton has retrieved from my house and passed off to Yvette arrive. And the rest of the day went as Yvette and I had planned out earlier in the week.
We dive into a delightful brunch, and then we made our way over to the Jade Market, purchasing some pretty jewelry for ourselves and for gifts, and MTR on to the Wanchai area, finding more cute cafes where we sip hot chocolates, ending at Coffee Academics to meet up with Mervin, the attractive jack of all trades who lived in Minneapolis, worked with a couple of my college friends on some 48-hour film stuff, and now owns a farm in Cambodia. Wishing we had more time to chat, we sip drinks until the last minute, rush off in a taxi, and just make the last ferry back to the mainland, where I do make it across the border.
What a day.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
It was a build your own triathlon kind of day. A hike up the hundreds of stairs of Nanshan mountain to get a clear view of the ocean, some weight-lifting at the gym, and a stretchy yoga session was a much needed trifecta of activity to reset myself for the upcoming week of finals ... the final stretch before being home for Christmas.
I spent a lovely evening at Alexandra's planning more details of our trip to Korea for Chinese New Year, and watching Love Actually. There's no snow (it's still 77 degrees today), and few holiday decorations in the city, but now it's beginning to feel like Christmas.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Final exams began today. Later this week I am about to see a large stack of essays pile up on my desk, screaming for attention before I can board that plane for home.
I went for a pedicure after school, but returned to help moderate The Great Debate; the 8th grade students had to research both sides of artificial intelligence. I was in for a treat. Most students came dressed up, some popping their collars beneath their suit jackets (mmm, kind of adorable), and they were much more composed than I was at that age, using credible evidence to argue their cases. #sisrocks indeed. <3
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Those essays hadn't turned up on my desk just yet (all of my students take finals on Wednesday), so I made my way up to my friend Britt's classroom to work on an art project as part of a belated birthday gift. I am struggling to keep focused this week, but I got lost in the lines and the colors. It was like therapy.
Workouts continue with a group of my friends at school ... today we took it to the gym for a good weight workout. #sisSweats ... and next year Alli and Charles will be my fitness friends in the flesh again!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now Wednesday morning as I finish up reflecting on these two weeks. I walked into these weeks thinking they would be predictable and full of the status quo, but now that I am thinking about it, weeks in my world are rarely mundane or predictable. When you live abroad, teach, own a cat ... no, when you just live, life has an adventure in store around every corner, it seems.
Signing off with my new favorite quote this morning ...
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Recapping Thursday while I sit in my classroom Friday morning ... and I can hardly conjure what I did yesterday. This phenomena I continue to call #ChinaBrainFreeze ... but nearly five months into my new life, I feel I am losing time to be able to claim my memory loss is due to the big shift.
Squinting into the past 24 hours ago, I can vaguely conjure the memory that I went to the gym. I don't have my Celeste and Alli (but I'll have those Densons back next year!!), and my TRX is getting dusty, but I've joined a gym with good classes and a working set of weights. A good hour of cardio used to by my norm, but yesterday's 45-minute elliptical/treadmill session was longer than I usually get in as of the past months.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Inspired by Alli and Charles, I have begun to arise around 5 am to do a morning workout several days a week. A myyogaworks session revved my appetite ... and a growing tradition in Shekou is to meet up with my friend Alexandra for breakfast at Emily's, a sweet little cafe close to school. I miss many of my traditions from Ecuador, but making new ones is quite fun.
Off to Hong Kong tonight to see Wicked. Having easy access to the arts and culture of our nearby island is a treat here.
...
Oh, that performance was something wicked. I loved being back at the theatre, and I was in good spirits as I walked to the van with my friends to head back to the mainland. And all was well ... until we were approaching the border, and I am filling out the form to cross back into China, it dawns on me ... that I have made a mistake. I have failed to bring with me the passport with my Chinese visa inside. When I also remember that I have a photo of the visa on my phone, I am momentarily hopeful ... but the reality is, I am no longer in Kansas, or Quito; sweet smiles or whiney words will not get me what I want here; without the proper papers, I will not be re-entering the mainland.
And so here is how it goes down:
It is just before midnight when I am escorted back across the Hong Kong border into a taxi. (I forgot to mention that the border closed behind us and the border was closing in front of us as we were trying to figure out my ordeal ... the whole van of us nearly got stuck in no-man's land for the night.) I am scrambling to try to figure out what to do as the taxi speeds back towards Hong Kong, the key to my Shenzhen apartment, where my old passport with my visa hides, now in the hand of my friend Clayton. In my phone, I also have the phone number and address for Charles' aunt Linda. She and I had dinner before I flew home this fall. I use the taxi driver's phone to call her ... twice. There is no answer ...
Saturday, December 10, 2016
As I cannot get a hold of Linda, I ask the driver to bring me to a hotel in Central. Just before 1 am, the taxi driver drops me off at what I believe is an hotel, and speeds off into the night. I walk up to the concierge, explain that I need a room for the night to which he responds, "Oh, we're not a hotel." Befuddled, I turn myself in a circle, trying to get my bearings and figure out where in the devil I am now. I ask the man the address of the building and figure out that the taxi driver has indeed driven me to Linda's place. When I give the kind man in the entrance my name and Linda's, he smiles and responds, "She's just walked in." Dang, I think, Aunt Linda's got more stamina than I do.
A confused Linda answers her phone as the doorman rings her; she welcomes me upstairs. When I step into her gorgeous 36th floor apartment, I have to chuckle as she tells me, "I've just taken off my shoes. I walked in my door 30 seconds ago from Singapore." #TimingIsEverything. We chat, and we laugh, and Linda offers me pajamas, a toothbrush and a comfy bed. For such a mishap, it's worked out pretty well now.
In the morning, the passport and clothes that Clayton has retrieved from my house and passed off to Yvette arrive. And the rest of the day went as Yvette and I had planned out earlier in the week.
We dive into a delightful brunch, and then we made our way over to the Jade Market, purchasing some pretty jewelry for ourselves and for gifts, and MTR on to the Wanchai area, finding more cute cafes where we sip hot chocolates, ending at Coffee Academics to meet up with Mervin, the attractive jack of all trades who lived in Minneapolis, worked with a couple of my college friends on some 48-hour film stuff, and now owns a farm in Cambodia. Wishing we had more time to chat, we sip drinks until the last minute, rush off in a taxi, and just make the last ferry back to the mainland, where I do make it across the border.
What a day.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
It was a build your own triathlon kind of day. A hike up the hundreds of stairs of Nanshan mountain to get a clear view of the ocean, some weight-lifting at the gym, and a stretchy yoga session was a much needed trifecta of activity to reset myself for the upcoming week of finals ... the final stretch before being home for Christmas.
 |
| The pagoda at the top of Nanshan ... on a clear day like this, you get a lovely view of the ocean below. |
Monday, December 12, 2016
Final exams began today. Later this week I am about to see a large stack of essays pile up on my desk, screaming for attention before I can board that plane for home.
I went for a pedicure after school, but returned to help moderate The Great Debate; the 8th grade students had to research both sides of artificial intelligence. I was in for a treat. Most students came dressed up, some popping their collars beneath their suit jackets (mmm, kind of adorable), and they were much more composed than I was at that age, using credible evidence to argue their cases. #sisrocks indeed. <3
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Those essays hadn't turned up on my desk just yet (all of my students take finals on Wednesday), so I made my way up to my friend Britt's classroom to work on an art project as part of a belated birthday gift. I am struggling to keep focused this week, but I got lost in the lines and the colors. It was like therapy.
Workouts continue with a group of my friends at school ... today we took it to the gym for a good weight workout. #sisSweats ... and next year Alli and Charles will be my fitness friends in the flesh again!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now Wednesday morning as I finish up reflecting on these two weeks. I walked into these weeks thinking they would be predictable and full of the status quo, but now that I am thinking about it, weeks in my world are rarely mundane or predictable. When you live abroad, teach, own a cat ... no, when you just live, life has an adventure in store around every corner, it seems.
Signing off with my new favorite quote this morning ...
Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. All things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.
L.R. Knost
