January 26th - Rainy Days

Rainy Days

My Thoughts 💭 我的想法

It has rained every single day since I've gotten into Shanghai; that, plus the fact that there is a sickness going on, has made going out and doing things difficult. Most of the time we just stay in this little community and order groceries or food online. At "home" it is time to watch movies, study and listen to music.

It has also been a time for me to confirm my travel plans with Maling Kung Fu School. They, hopefully, will have a taxi that comes to pick me up. Arriving at the school will be an interesting experience because, even though I have looked at pictures and videos of the place, its always different to see something up close.

One of the difficult things I forgot about in China was dealing with a VPN to access certain things like this blog, Google, Instagram, Youtube and more. Sure there are Chinese alternatives that I could use but I need access to certain websites to keep in contact with family, friends and to keep studying programming.

Exercise 💪 运动

Still not much as far as exercise goes, especially today. The way I look at it is, let's see if all the training I did leading up to today actually helped me or not. Right now is a rest period and a time for me to clear my mind. I know fighters in the UFC and similar fight leagues always train 1-2 days away from the fight but I'm not fighting and I'm getting other experiences that working out won't give me while I'm in Shanghai.

Study 🧠 学习

I'm on my second year of studying Chinese and what I've realized is that there are so many parts to understanding and studying a language. Some of them are listening, speaking, writing, using the language and immersion. People think that, just because you live in the country that the language is spoken in then you can easily learn the language while in reality, immersion is just one piece out of many needed to learn the language.

Immersion certainly does help as everyday I have so many words in my view but very few actually stay in my head.
黑胡椒 - Black Pepper
声调 - Tone
晒 - to leave in the sun
黄油 - Butter
奶酪 - Cheese
奶油 - Cream
下载 - Download
唱歌 - to Sing
歌  - Song (量词 - 首）

Daily Devotional 🙏 基督教

"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

-John 15:2 KJV

For me this is an extension of the previous post. We all have those various "things" inside that are pulling us towards different decisions. This post talks about how the Lord helps takes away those "branches" that don't drive us towards the path that we want in life. But exactly how do you do this?

For everyone it is different. Maybe it is through prayer or meditation that gives you the clarity needed to stay focused on your right path; Maybe its taking that 5 minute break from work and stress to just think or relax that gives you what you need to continue on. There are many ways to "taketh away" those bad branches in you; you just have to find out what works for you. 

Personally, I do many things. Pray, meditate and sometimes its just push through the mental strain and keep working as I've slowly began to understand my mind and body enough that I know when I'm just being lazy compared to actually needing a break. That is another thing that will help you figure out your "methods of focus", is taking the time to try and understand yourself. Not just your base personality but the actual interworkings of your mind.

It takes time but it is worth it in the end.

My time in Shanghai is almost over, what is almost over for you? What is your next step?

-Johnny "白武龙" 

Not many pics today since I stayed inside