Day 142 - Lucky Relaxation

Tuesday, June 28th, 2016

Smog Level

AQI: 150;  0/3 Mountains

I dread going to the gym, since today is the day I actually have to do cardio. I get it over with, and I’m on my way. 

The School's Zoo. Like many things in Beijing, the stalls change
unpredictably, and seemingly overnight.

After putting off and finally completing a cardio day, I saw an old woman walking her bike along the pathway in the community surrounding the gym. A bag falls off the back of the cycle and clearly spills it’s contents on the ground. It’s a sandbag, and the contents have largely escaped. I offer to help her scoop it back in, but since I don’t really know what she wants to do - and can’t ask her - I meekly give up. She thanks me, and says it’s not necessary. Oh well.

Relaxing Relaxation

Relax, do some editing and stop at the bank on my way to grab lunch at Chinese Canteen, and write at Maan Coffee. I thought I’d been slacking off, but I actually have less work this week than I did last week. Part of that might have to do with not allowing myself to make excuses when the internet wasn’t working. Instead of making excuses about how "oh, I can't edit posts because I can't get on the internet! oh well, time to play games," I then looked for things I could still do without connection - writing. Once you get in the mode of writing, it flows with ease, though it can ends up being all over the place.

While sitting in the cafe, it starts to rain. Sweet!

Chinese Tutor

Looking to continue this streak, I get Josh’s tutoring info and ask him if he’s willing to take on another student. He says he is, and that his rate is ¥70 (13.50 CAD) for an hour or ¥120 ($24 CAD) for two hours. So every 1 hour of tutoring in English will net me 3-4 hours of tutoring in  Chinese. Nice.

Dan and Joseph are forced to move, so today seems to be the day that I get to stop over at their place and pick up some new clothes from Joseph’s rejects. Win! He said he wore larges, but I forgot that large here means medium back home. Still, found some winter stuff that should do me well.

Words of the Day

English - Mandarin [pronunciation]

Easy

jiǎndān

(jee-ann dawn)

Difficult
nán

[nahn]

Editing Music
Golden Rays
Vinyl Pickups