January 8th - "Recieve Kindness and Pay it Back"

知恩报恩："Recognize/Receive kindness and pay it back/give it back"

My Thoughts 🤔 我的想法

11:00

These days in Minnesota are flashing by so quickly. It's already January 8th and I don't feel like I've done much so today I wanted to write a post talking about what I will do with my remaining time today. Making this post has made me realize how long it takes to write and prepare one of these too.

I'm thinking of making more things for my Instagram as well or to atleast post more often on it. Since my back is getting a little better I'm able to do more and more but (read below) my warm up is becoming more and more important since my back is injured.

I'm still dealing with Visa issues too, I sent all the files and my passport but I have to wait for them to send it back... hopefully with my visa.

I really don't have much to talk about today.

My dad did ask me a good question though, he asked: "What one of your websites is going to be used more?". He was referencing my blog and Instagram which made me think... which one will I use more in China? I think I'll use my blog more because it is way more personal and I like working on it. I like taking the time to form these posts, putting hidden links into it, having videos and pictures of my progress and more. To me, when I write these blog posts, I really try to convey what's going on in my head through the text, images and videos that I put into each post so that you, the reader, can understand me more and more.

And as I've said before, this blog really helps me clear my head when I'm feeling down, confused, stressed etc.

 

Thanks Sam for showing me this album

Study 🧠 学习

I'm still studying various parts of 谢天笑 album and these lines come from the song 与声音跳舞, a strange song that I am still trying to understand the meaning of.

“食物也血肉模糊”

"Food is also mutilated (blurry?)"

血肉模糊 xuè ròu mó hu to be mangled or mutilated (成语, Idiom)
模糊 mó hu to blur, obscure, confuse（动词, Verb)
血肉 xuè ròu flesh and blood (名词, Noun)

” 堆满了整个房屋“

"Whole houses are piled"
 

堆满 duī mǎn to pile up (动词, Verb)

整个 zhěng gè whole (形容词, Adjective)

房屋 fáng wū house/building (名词, Noun)

But, that is not the only thing I've been studying. I've also been studying new vocabulary while practicing my listening and tones.

综合格斗 zōng hé gé dòu MMA

嫌弃 xián qì to give cold shoulder

失礼貌 shī lǐ to be rude;

微笑 wēi xiào to smile

凉开水 liáng kāi shuǐ boiled water that has cooled

哼哼唧唧 hēnghēng-jījī to mutter, to rumble

模仿 mó fǎng to imitate

事务的词 🍜 Food Vocabulary：

I also have been talking to my girlfriend and she has been sending me the names of some of the food that she is eating so that I'd be able to know what some stuff is on the menus in China! Since they are names, I'm just studying the pronunciation and not what the characters mean.

冒菜

羊肉泡馍

搅团

面皮

油糕

豆花泡馍

Exercise 💪 运动/体育

Recently, I've gotten back into light workouts and light stretching. I think I somehow messed up my back from a combination of my previous job, improper exercises and improper stretching. Now that I'm taking things slower, I'm focusing more on technique than results.

The video above is someone I've been watching to improve my basics of Kung Fu and one of the biggest things I forget to do before a workout or stretching session is to really warm up. Usually for stretching I just dive head first into it or for working out I just begin my workout. Both bad ideas. I don't forget every time but many times (recently) I have, which lead to my "injury".

Now that it is getting better each day thanks to some Yoga and Kung Fu stretches (+ Tiger Balm and good rest) I can keep going towards a better me.

How have your first seven days of the New Year been?

-Johnny "白武龙"