Getting back on the pull-up bar is hard after two months inside.
The sun is out and our restrictions are loosened — a perfect time for exercising.
I had just gotten started on the Reddit r/bodyweightfitness Recommended routine this winter after my gym closed. And then … I had to take a two-month Covid-19 break. Getting back out there was hard, but I’m really glad to be using my muscles again. Indoor-yoga-sometimes doesn’t really cut it.
Hot off the virtual presses, we went grocery shopping.
I’ll say it, the news is annoying. Even at the best of times, and these are not the best of times. So here’s some news you can’t use. But you can dance to it.
In addition to watching Hello Uncle Foreigner, of course
Introversion jokes aside, sheltering in place can be a weird experience. But there’s always a plank competition to keep you occupied.
It seems like America’s finally buckling down and giving this social distancing thing the old college try. As people who’ve lived through it, we have some tips*-for-staying-inside with Chinese characteristics.
**Tips provided are in no way intended to be actual information.
Well, now we’re just sitting over here having feelings!
It’s been hard to sit back and watch — after successfully living through our own quarantine — the politicized mess that is the Covid response in the U.S. Viruses are real, old people are important, and … what are you doing with all that toilet paper! Well, we cover all this in the video. Anyway, it’s weird to be on the other side of “What the heck is going on over there?” for once.
The latest craze celebrating human cooperation against a virus
We want you to #danceforzero, too!
This week, Luzhou hit zero active cases of Covid-19, so we wrote a song to celebrate. But, we realized, as the virus is still making itself known around the world, #danceforzero can mean many different things. Yes, we’re at zero cases, but we’re also cheering for the rest of the world to hit zero.
To that end, we invite everyone to join the #danceforzero. You can download our Bowie-esque tune at Bandcamp (for free) and make your own dance, either celebrating with us, or willing the world strength to make it down to zero. Upload it to YouTube, and hashtag it “danceforzero.”
Peter does a great job keeping our YouTube channel trailer fresh and current. He just uploaded a new version, which now includes footage of us goofing off in face masks during the Covid-19 outbreak. It’s important to stay current.
It’s fun for me to see these different trailers, because it makes our life in China seem so impressive and exciting. I mean, life is exciting and wondrous all, but it doesn’t always feel that way while your living it. We should all be so lucky as to have someone cut together a personal highlight reel.
After more than a month away, we confirm that downtown Luzhou still exists.
As indoorsy of a person as I am, it was still pretty rough to not really leave the house for five weeks. So we we kind of giddy to get out and into Luzhou city center. Things are still much quieter than usual, and all the teahouses and KTVs along the Yangtze are closed. We’re on the way back to normal, but we’re not quite there yet.
Also, I wrote about my experience with the quarantine for the New York Post. During the editing process, they did keep pushing for more lurid details, like, “how many people died in your city” and “aren’t you scared to go to the hospital?” To which I answered, “no one” and “Please. I’ve been to the hospital.” It ran online only, and that may be why, but I’m pretty proud with how it came out.
Via text message from my phone company, we were informed yesterday that the government is telling people to go outside and go back to work. We’ve still got to wear masks and all, but things are getting back to normal-ish. School is still closed for now, and if cases start spiking, I fully expect to be pushed back inside. But, for now, things are looking good.
Oh, yeah. I’m still an English teacher for babies.
The lucky thing that makes all of this staying inside feasible is that while the kindergarten at which I work is closed, I’m still on the payroll. We’re teaching all of our lessons by video, via our class’ private chat group. It’s a new set of challenges — not the least of which is my propensity for making things far more complicated than they need to be. But, at the end of the day, I really like making movies, whether it’s for adults or babies.
Take a masked tour of our apartment complex grounds.
Sunny days are rare this time of year, virus or no virus, so when we had one yesterday, we had to go out. We may not really be allowed to wander the city, but our apartment complex has some nice places to walk within the gates. And, birds!
