Exploration #2: A Change of Pace

For six weeks my daily life went like this:

Part I: 5:30am wake up where getting out of bed would be such a mechanized and automatic process because one stray thought about going back to sleep would always result in me crawling back under the covers.

Part 2: Sunrise runs at Town Lake, the loveliest part of my day.

Part 3: Chinese class from 10:00-1:00

Part 4: Chinese homework, tears, frustration, stress rashes, Chinese homework, bagels, bowls of cereal, burritos, more tears, more frustration, the occasional violent outbursts from more frustration, endless amounts of Chinese characters to learn, tears, frustration, tears.

Part 5: Sleep

I don’t know what to gather from my experience of this time in my life. All I know is that it was ruled by discipline, routine, and ritual because that was the only way I could wrap my head around getting through it. It was the only way that things would get done.

Of course, never have I appreciated weekends so much. I didn’t just lounge around, either. Still early mornings, but productive days where I got my weekly fill of people time because the weekdays left me isolated and craving human connection. And while my class was tough and exhausting and the workload was definitely excessive, my overall impression is one of fondness. I loved my classmates and my professor and I sincerely wish that classes during the longer semester could achieve that level of intimacy. But, I would never never never take another summer language course just to relive it.

I’ve been home for a week now and my daily life has been like this:

Part 1: 5:30am wake up where getting out of bed would be such a mechanized and automatic process because one stray thought about going back to sleep would always result in me crawling back under the covers.

Part 2: Sunrise runs around my town, still lovely but not as lovely.

Part 3: Twiddle my thumbs

Part 4: Still twiddling my thumbs

Part 5: Sleep

Luckily, I’m about to have a change of pace. Tonight I’ll be on a 6:00 PM flight en route to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I have high expectations for this trip that includes things like lower temperatures, an equal balance of nature exploration and urban conquering, and, of course, a buttery, light, delicious croissant at breakfast each morning (and some nutella wouldn’t hurt).

I plan on doing updates as much as I can this next week when the excitement level of my life is at one of its peaks. But until then, I must go pack and pray that my hopes for this trip still fit in the same suitcase as all my clothes.