I guess one could say that six weeks into anything you’re pretty well on your way to knowing what’s going on and some of your plans have been realized and others have been dismissed. I still find it hard to feel that this is home. There is still lots of city to discover obviously and routines to follow through on. We feel we have figured out the neighbourhood when it comes to shopping, eating out and where to walk and bike for exercise but other than this we feel still new to the area.
We went on our first fast train to Beijing on the October 30th weekend and visited some old haunts like John’s favorite restaurants mostly and managed to meet the new principal from John’s old school and he let us go into our old apartment and rummage through items that belonged to us. We had purchased a suitcase at the Pearl Market on Saturday which was part of our plan and managed to fill it with items that were not packed up previously. The main reason we went was to get my fold up bike so we did that and the trip was a success. For me, I was able to put some closure on Beijing. It is definitely faster paced than Tianjin and everyone did their own thing and we were just part of the running around. Beijing is known for its historic sites and we had taken in enough of them by this point that we were ready to put it to rest after this weekend. We will continue to explore Tianjin and area from now on. It felt good leaving Beijing behind knowing we had wrapped it up as best we could and move on from it. I know John had some tough times in Beijing on his first year and so seeing it from this perspective as just a weekend trip allowed him to move on from the school and the city as well.
Life during the week is starting to have a rhythm to it. John and I walk to his workplace in the morning and I usually come back and eat breakfast, watch some Netflix, work on my books, paint a bit and make a plan for an activity in the afternoon. Discovering a new park or a new way to the mall is sometimes all that is accomplished but that’s just what I expect from life right now. Today, for instance, I plan to take the subway on my own to IKEA. We have been there once by van when we first arrived but it is a short trip by subway and it just gets me comfortable travelling on my own again.
People have asked about COVID here and there was one reported case today in fact and John was sent a memo and asked to wear a mask upon entering the school. When we enter a mall or subway system we are asked to wear a mask and prove that we have had our COVID test. It seems to have gone smoothly here in Tianjin so far but in Beijing we were held up for a few minutes if we didn’t have the right app or the right info according to the person at the entry. Sometimes it is just a matter of writing your name and phone number down so they can contact you should something arise. Overall we found Beijing rather quiet compared to when we were there before. Probably COVID based.
This past weekend we joined a group Saturday morning for a bike ride to a location that the organizer suggested. After about an hour on our bikes we decided to head back on our own. A beautiful day and a good ride but it was getting too long for us to endure and get back home. We took our time on the way back, connected with the boys a little bit and enjoyed the morning.
Sunday was again another sunny clear day, but cooler. We headed to a park on our bikes then walked quite a bit then went to breakfast at a place we had discovered on a previous walk. Returned home and then headed out to the Aeon Mall which John had never been to and I had only been once. It is reasonably close but we took the scenic route through a wooded area and around another huge mall called the Teda Mall which looked deserted which was odd but we do find that we stumble on areas that just look like they’ve been let go for 10 years and they don’t know what to do with them.
At any rate, six weeks in and we feel we are content with the apartment, the area and John likes his workplace and staff. We are fortunate to be able to travel and live a day to day life that is not really restricted by COVID and we are thankful for this. I’m sure like everyone, we have learned to not take our freedom for granted but live each day to the fullest.
