It’s almost here and the city is emptying out as a result. With that comes some peace and quiet and fewer stores open. This is, of course, time for the Lunar New Year, what the Ukrainians call Malanka and the Chinese call Spring Festival. It marks the end of the really cold days of winter and usually precedes a change in the weather to the warmer side. This next year will be the Year of the Rat, or 老鼠 laoshu.
A few places have already started to close down and it is noticeably quieter around my neighbourhood. The kids aren’t in school and, if they’re in university, are probably travelling overseas somewhere. It is the time for half-days and preparing for a long train ride back to the hometown, wherever it may be.
I’m not too worried. Having been in Beijing for a few years already, I’ve noted the places that will be open during the holidays while also stocking up on some needed/wanted items that can keep me going until February 1st when most things will re-open.
I’ve got my plans made already: You’ll recall that I’ve started to work on Japanese, and I’ll continue to do so throughout the break for a few hours a day. I want to see if I can put a large dent in the DuoLingo APP I’ve been using before stepping up my studies in February prior to departure.
Then there’s Chinese, of course, for which I’ll also continue to work on. I recently bought yet another book that was recommended to me by a colleague. It doesn’t look too difficult though I know I’ll have to read it at least twice to actually get what’s going on. So I’ll start that in addition to reading my stock market magazine and history book. This, all the while I keep chipping away at the HSK 4 下 book in preparation for the test in a couple of months.
I’d like to get some more writing done over the next week, too, including a few more blog posts and some other things I’m working on that I may release later.
Videos and music are also on the docket, especially I’m now slowly expanding my tech set up. I’m adding a second monitor (if not two), and looking for speakers. More importantly, I’d like to find a standing desk so I can go from sitting to standing without much effort.
There are also a few other things I need to take care of to wrap up some loose ends in Canada. A second monitor would help in these matters since it’s a lot of copying and pasting and spreadsheet bla bla bla.
Why don’t I go back to Canada given the time off? Well, one look at the temperature and snowfall doesn’t make the trip very encouraging. Second, prices jumped quite a bit and don’t get cheaper for about another month. Third, it would be only for a week and would require getting over jet lag. So I decided to stay put instead. Oh, not to mention that travelling at this time would be insanely crazy in terms of busy-ness at the airports.
Oh, and I’m not sure if you’ve heard by now, but it seems that there is another virus hitting the mainland China, a variation of the coronavirus. It’s been traced back to a seafood market in Wuhan, which is in the middle of the mainland, but cases have started to pop up in others places other than WuHan. That means the authorities are on the lookout for people with flu-like or any illness-symptoms. We don’t normally travel down to WuHan but some of our colleagues do often go there so it is a company concern given the travel we often do.
So, it looks like another Spring Festival Staycation for me. I hope to venture out to one or two of the temple and park fairs around the city. It’ll be busy but I think I’m prepared for it.