Classic Natalie

**Just to clarify, I've been trying to keep this chronological, so when I look back in a few years it all makes sense. So although it is now July, these events are from a few months ago. At the end of each post I have added the time frame and location to further clarify 😀

So now where was I, ah yes the aftermath of the 100km race.  Kolja had finished in the early hours of the morning, and luckily we arrived back at the hotel just in time for me to get a few hours of sleep before I had a full day of zoom classes ahead of me.  

The alarm started blaring at 8:13 a.m. (I have a weird thing about not using round numbers for alarms... don't ask), and I was so exhausted.  After a night of restless sleep and panicking that I'd miss Kolja crossing the finish line, the last thing I wanted to do was teach.  So naturally I snoozed one too many times and ended up having to hastily pull myself together, jump out of bed, and appear like I was wide awake and ready for my class at 9:00 am.  Usually about 10 minutes before the class I send out the code and password for the zoom meeting to my students' parents and then start promptly at 9.  

On this instance I was running behind and rushing around, and of course in this frantic frenzy I pulled a "classic Natalie". Anyone who knows me, especially my dad, knows that electronics and I have a way of not sustaining long term relationships. By that I mean I somehow manage to lose, destroy, get pickpocketed, etc, etc, etc. anything electronic. So what happened next came to no surprise to anyone but happened amidst the rushing around. I KNOCKED MY ENTIRE WATER BOTTLE (that I had just filled completely) ALL OVER MY KEYBOARD.  I'd say it was about 1 liter and almost instantly my MacBook Air turned off. Then that feeling of doom, that I'm sure we all can relate to, kicked in on overdrive. 

                                                              

Poor Kolja was trying to get to sleep after being up all night, and there I was running around panicking because I had no idea how I would have my class without my laptop and all of the materials. Luckily, he's also used to these mishaps that surround my daily life and set up his computer quickly so I could use it.  I started the class late and it was a bit of a shitshow to say the least (because Kolja's computer camera wasn't working) and I didn't have all of the materials ready to go. But we made it work.

That class was over and I had a short break until I had to go back at it again.  At this point the adrenaline had calmed down a bit and as I laid down to take a nap, I looked over at Kolja's head and I saw something strange.  As I looked closer it appeared he had a tick in his head.  And once again panic mode sets in (for me only somehow).  Meanwhile, Kolja clearly had other priorities and was trying to watch some UFC fight and wasn't the least bit concerned.  He didn't think it was a tick, but I was convinced and sending pictures to every doctor and person I knew.  Everyone proceeded to give me their best tips and tricks on how to get it out, but Kolja refused to let me touch it.  Ultimately I ruined his viewing of his favorite show, and still after months later he wants me to make sure I note that **he did not want to go to the hospital and was really mad that I interrupted his UFC viewing session.  But in the end he took himself to the hospital alone, because I unfortunately still had to teach another class.  

                                                                         

Keep in mind though this was during the beginning of the pandemic fear in Malaysia, so the hospitals were discouraging people from going to the hospitals for safety reasons. So when Kolja showed up and had a stamp in his passport showing we had just come from China a few weeks ago, they were terrified.  Luckily he quickly cleared it up with them, explaining we had been in Malaysia for over a month, and he didn't have any COVID symptoms but actually was coming in to get his head checked.  The nurse promptly looked at it, dug around a little, and said "sir, you have a scab, go home and get some rest". HA HA HA, thinking about it now, I'm such a drama queen.  

To end the day from H E double toothpick, we pigged out on pizza and waffles, because when kolja runs 100 km my body thinks it did too.........

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Kuching March 4-13, 2020

Ultra Marathon Ultra Heat and Ultra Humidity

It's been a while friends, but I'm back. Times are exceptionally tough right now for everyone, everywhere, so here I am to offer a bit of temporary comedic relief and perspective as I power on with these blogs.  

Now, we will fast forward to our next destination... Kuching (I know by now these names mean nothing to anyone but me).  Here is where we were greeted with a drama- free check in at a hotel style suite, and where we were guilty of really REALLY enjoying the daily cleaning service.  So to get right down to it, we spent a few days relaxing by the pool, working, and preparing for Kolja's 100KM race that was to begin on Saturday.  

Being forced to run with Kolja.

If anyone is or has a close friend/family member that is a long distance runner, then you know the struggle of attempting to pack the right clothes, snacks, having the right supplements in your back pack, doing your best to avoid the inevitable chafing, and preparing the drop bag for half way through the race.  It's madness and not to mention this race was Kolja's first 100 KM strictly on the road and in high heat and humidity, so we really had no idea what to prepare for.  

He hadn't packed marathon attire, as we obviously had no idea what our future held when leaving Shanghai in January. Luckily, we found a store that sold quite a few of the essentials (you wouldn't believe the length of required race items) like night lights, heat blankets, flashlights, extra batteries, reusable bowls and utensils, water bottles, etc. By some miracle he had packed the running backpack I bought him for his birthday, and his stress was finally alleviated after he picked up his bib number and received the OK that his bags were properly prepared, the day before the race.

On race day we arrived early and were ready to rock and roll when the race began around 4 PM. Kolja started in the front of the pack which led to great pictures and videos, but later I heard was a big regret as he experienced major fatigue and exhaustion way too early on.  

 

Knowing full well he'd be running long into the night; I left as soon as all the runners cleared out and had myself a little evening strolling along the river that runs straight through the city center.  I walked well over 15,000 steps, mainly out of sheer guilt, because I knew Kolja was running in over 90 degree heat and high humidity until the sun went down.

My evening ended with ice cream in bed as I watched my bible "Eat, Pray, Love" and sporadically received messages from Kolja saying he was exhausted, dehydrated, he missed an aid station, had to retrace steps because he was lost, etc, etc, etc.  Eventually I fell asleep and thank god, I had set an alarm around 4 am to check in with him, because I woke up to him telling me he only had about 10 KM left. Now it's important to remember 10 KM can be done relatively quickly when you are a runner, but this was different. I knew 10 KM could be another 2 hours or so, considering he had already been running for more than 12 hours.

By sheer luck I woke up an hour later before my alarm, to messages that he was close to the finish line, and I bolted out of bed threw on my clothes and called a Grab to come pick me up. I was in proper panic mode, knowing he'd kill me if I didn't make it in time.  When I arrived it was such a relief to see he still wasn't there, but also it was a very different scene from the other 100 KM race I had been to. That was in Hong Kong and was a very big, sponsored event. I also was blessed to have Kolja's mother to share in the stress and anxiety. In Hong Kong we waited at the finish line and watched many people cross it with a proper cheering section rooting them on.  In Kuching, on the other hand, there were far less participants and I had been waiting for Kolja for 30 minutes already with not one person finishing in that time.  

Eventually I got a message saying he thought he was 1 KM away, and we saw his headlamp barreling down the road. It was funny because he was in such a daze that he almost continued running in a different direction away from the finish line until we screamed at him.  

I was so proud and I knew he was too, because this was the first race I had received voice messages that he was really struggling like never before.  We were so amazed to learn that he was actually the 5th male finisher and 6th overall. Such an accomplishment for this first road race and first time running in a tropical climate!

He received his medals and was invited to an award ceremony for being in the top 5 finishers. Then, we went home and passed out.  That next morning was filled with so much chaos, that it deserves a post of its own..... so stay tuned (I promise it won't take so long for the next one).

Kuching March 4- 13, 2020

Appreciation over Expectation

After spending about a week in Kota Kinabalu, we got into quite a good rhythm of work, exercise, eat, sleep, repeat.  I taught mornings, and Kolja would go for long runs outside (preparing for his 100km race that was quickly approaching) and I would go to the pool and relax in the afternoon when he would work.  Then, we’d finish our evenings more often than not at Nando’s or being adventurous and switching to the sushi place very close by, depending on our mood.

The days started to all blur together and we had forgotten that we were given this once in a lifetime opportunity to yes work nomadically, but also a chance to explore and experience a new place yet again. So, we concluded that there was no more time left to waste, it was our privilege and duty to explore some of what Kota Kinabalu had to offer.  This city is in the north on the island of Borneo and is known by the locals as Sabah (lots of names, I know, but all in Malaysia nonetheless). We had heard that most people came for the easy access to beautiful islands, so we wanted to see for ourselves.

We planned for our next free day to be spent at one of the many islands close by.  At first we were pretty unsure of which one to choose, but after some research we decided that Manukan Island was where we wanted to check out first.  So on a Tuesday morning, we set off early (okay maybe not that early, around 10 am) to the Jetty Port, which should’ve been only 5 minutes away from our apartment, but again the horrible city design led to having to go a mile in the wrong direction, in order to switch lanes, and then head back on the other side of the road.  However, after about 10 minutes, we arrived and were immediately greeted by a flock of tourist salespeople.  We had read ahead of time that we would be bombarded with choices but that ultimately they all were the same, so we quickly chose one without much thought and followed the tour guide into his shop. Inside, we explained where we intended to go and were told in order to do so we just had to simply purchase a boat ticket, entrance ticket, island ticket, tourist ticket (you get the point, there were tickets on tickets).  From there we waited for about 30 minutes for our boat to arrive (the waiting game in Malaysia goes without being said), and were told by some locals that we’d be blessed with a rather empty island, because normally the islands are chaotic and overly crowded with tourists (this emptiness due to the fact that COVID cases were ramping up worldwide and the number of tourists in Malaysia were decreasing rapidly). 

So off we headed toward the island of Manukan, dropping off other passengers to other islands along the way, and finally arriving at our little slice of heaven. Blessed is an understatement, we were absolutely stunned by the fact that there were hardly any people on the island, and at how beautiful the hues of blue looked from the dock. Upon entry we were again forced to buy some kind of island entry ticket (thought we already bought it, but didn’t feel like arguing), and went in search of our own little place to camp out for the day.  

Walking around the entire island took a whopping 10 minutes, and during this little adventure we learned very quickly that we were definitely not going to be alone. Instead, some very large prehistoric lizard/crocodiles were clearly going to be intruding, as they were often seen slowly crawling around in search of food and shade.  They clearly were used to tourists though, not being spooked at all by the old white couple who were having a blast taking photo shoots with them. We chose to keep our distance though, just in case!

           

           

The day was absolutely wonderful. We spent hours on the beach, taking dips in the water when we were hot, and even getting to enjoy our own little canopy set up, with some shade to lay under.  For lunch we ate at the only restaurant on the island and enjoyed massive coconuts to hydrate. Unfortunately, time flew and 3:30 pm came way too soon which was when we were told to be back at the jetty to meet our boat driver. So reluctantly we packed up and headed back to the dock to join other passengers journeying back to the city.

Pardon my French, but what a shitshow that was. Luckily for us, at that point in our trip we had been in Malaysia long enough to drop all expectations that anything would be happening on time.  Malaysia and everyone living here are on permanent island time, and it was absolutely hilarious for us to hear other foreigners openly and loudly complaining about the lack of organization and punctuality (as if complaining would help). It seemed they had expected their boat to arrive at 3:30 sharp to whisk them away safely back to their 5 star hotels, but the boat drivers simply had other plans for them. One British family in particular really gave Kolja and I quite a laugh.

             

With a little bit of drama but none to write home about, we made it back safe and sound. But for some reason, we decided we hadn’t had enough adventure for one day, and chose to walk home (3+ miles). Needless to say after spending over 6 hours outside in the sun, feeling sandy, crispy, and a bit overheated, we did not actually make it home.  We did however, stumble upon a massive fresh market where we FINALLY found a place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ll be the first to admit though that I wasn’t the cheerful, energetic human I usually am and after trudging behind Kolja as he made several purchases, and grunting a few times yes and no to an array of foods, we exited and immediately ordered a Grab taxi.  

By the time we got home we were completely exhausted, and after showering we debated just eating downstairs at a very small store that sold a few simple meals and local dishes. But HOW could we betray our beloved Nando’s?? So in the end yep, you guessed it, we had ourselves a delicious chicken dinner AND a large side of sweet potato fries.


Kota Kinabalu February 21- March 4, 2020

Winner Winner (many) Chicken Dinners

Kota Kinabalu.... where to begin with this little gem of an inconvenient place.  For starters, let me add, that we chose to stay here for a much longer time than any place previously. We made some false assumptions that this was a city with beaches close by, so therefore it would make an ideal place to work and enjoy both quality grocery stores and beach life relaxation.  However, our expectations were way, way off and 12 days deemed to be far too long.

Again, I feel it necessary to add that although it seems as though we were gallivanting around Malaysia and enjoying spending the days at the pools and beaches, this was only a small snippet of our day to day lives, especially here in KK.  A typical day started around 9 and finished around 3, and was spent either teaching, preparing for classes, or checking homework (not so luxurious, I know).  We just lucked out in the sense that every single place we stayed at had an amazing pool (this time on our same floor) and was almost always empty!!

This pic for my dad who doesn’t believe I work 😂

The apartment itself on the other hand, was very spacious, but we hadn’t anticipated the massive kitchen to be so ill equipped for cooking. They had provided us only one very small pan, a massive pot, one tiny electric stove top that had to be plugged in and heated up very slowly, and a microwave.  Now the first day we tried our best to be optimistic by ignoring the lack of utensils and equipment and went grocery shopping (I guess in hopes that the whole kitchen situation would magically sort itself out).  There we ran into problem numero dos.... lack of fresh ingredients. SO WEIRD.  Never in my life have I been to a place in which every single grocery store had such tiny fresh fruit sections and even less fresh meat. Again though, optimism got the best of us and we were able to purchase some frozen chicken and ingredients to make Thai chicken curry.

Needless to say the optimism didn’t get us very far and after almost catching the kitchen on fire (no I wasn’t the one cooking) we admitted defeat and decided cooking just wouldn’t be optimal in that apartment. So, we trashed the major dinner fail and quickly changed as we would be dining out that night (and every night that followed for that matter).

Now for the fun part.... we came across one of the many super inconvenient aspects of KK.... their city layout.  The urban design was done SO poorly and unfortunately due to the city’s lack of money they hadn’t really fixed it.  Our apartment was located directly across the street from a massive mall with tons of restaurants, but in order to get across we faced 2 large 3 lane highways.  It was 8 pm at this point and very dark outside, so we timidly stared at the never ending headlights coming at us.  I wish I would’ve taken a picture or video to capture the chaos, but it was always such a frantic dash to get across that I never managed to get one. At that point we were starving and after seeing a very brave Malaysian man walk across so effortlessly, we couldn’t handle waiting any longer.  So, we plunged across the road pretty recklessly and hoped for the best (as the nights continued on I’d say we reached expert levels for dodging cars).







 This first night took a surprising twist as I was introduced to our now go-to restaurant while in Malaysia, NANDO’S.  Apparently they have these all over the world, but I’d never been to one, and now I can’t imagine my life without it! They have so many varieties of chicken made on the grill to perfection and to top it off they have their own homemade “Perri Perri” sauces for even more flavor, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. And alas without any need for further explanation, you have just discovered how we spent 8 of our 11 evenings in KK.................






Kota Kinabalu February 21- March 4, 2020

Teaching, Tiger Moms, and Tatto*

*Want to begin this blog post by clarifying that no, dad I did not get another tattoo, take a deep breath, Tatto is a restaurant*

We arrived back at the KL International Airport yet again.  Now much more familiar with the layout and city, we opted to take a “Grab”(Malaysian version of Uber), so it was another one hour drive and finally we made it to our new Airbnb apartment at 1 in the morning.  Like zombies, we took to our now very familiar arrival routine.... showers, throwing clothing in the washing machine (excess amounts this time because of hotel living), and jumped into bed.

This next week was spent doing a lot of work indoors.  My schedule started to really fill up as Chinese parents started to lose their minds, trying to entertain their children for 16 hours a day. To their parents’ surprise, the students welcomed a sense of structure and really desired to learn and even do some homework.  It was now a month since they had a proper routine, going to school and doing homework, so they really struggled to focus in the beginning, and teaching mostly younger students (age 4, 5, 6) the whole use of computers and iPads for class was a bit of a challenge (even for me).  Thankfully, most parents were still not working, as many places were not yet reopened for business, and they were able to sit in the room and help with any internet issues or if students needed any in- person support.

Thank you moms for sitting in!!!

As a teacher, this whole online learning is a complete blessing, as it keeps the students from falling behind, and of course supports my cost of living while allowing me to continue doing what I love. However, having Chinese tiger moms sitting in on all of the classes led to a bit of tension and “class management” situations completely taken over by the moms (which I didn’t always agree with but had little say in).

Some particularly funny situations that occurred were during my group classes that I teach on Sundays.  In the morning I have 7 super young students (Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders), and my god, what a circus.  These students often forgot they were “in class” because their whole family was walking around in the background, so they’d insist on having full fledged conversations with parents, or screaming “MOM, I’M HUNGRY!” to which I had to constantly but gently remind them “Allen, everyone can hear you, please wait until break time to get a snack”. The all time funniest moment came when a student decided to take the iPad to the bathroom with him.... NO, Jerry you do not need to take us with you to use the toilet..... his response “Oh, I didn’t want to miss anything”.

Needless to say the entertainment was endless, and to this day, I continue loving the unexpected challenges and humorous experiences with my students.

To finish off this week, Kolja decided to surprise me not once but twice! The first surprise went a little like this “Hey, I just signed up for a 100 kilometer ultra marathon in 3 weeks in Kuching, so let’s make sure we can make our way down to the island of Borneo”. Now to some this might sound like a foreign language, or an early April Fool’s joke, but having been together for over 2 years I knew better and am somewhat accustomed to these types of conversations.  However, signing up for something so crazy in such short of notice was insane, even for him. Never having heard of “Kuching” and also wondering at this point if I should get his head checked, I didn’t necessarily agree that signing up for this marathon was a smart idea. However, upon doing some research and heavy persuasion, I gave up the idea of trying to change my stubbornly wonderful boyfriend’s mind and we booked tickets to our next destination, Kota Kinabalu, on the Malaysian island of Borneo.

The second surprise was a little more up my alley.  On Wednesday of that week Kolja told me that he had planned a surprise evening for us on Thursday (our last full day in Kuala Lumpur) and that I should be ready by 4 pm.  He’s not always the best secret keeper (and I’ll admit I always find a way to force surprises out of him), but he didn’t give me any hints about this one.  First, we took a Grab to the biggest mall in the city center, where we taste tested some yummy snacks and Malaysian desserts in the food court. Then, we proceeded to walk to a tall building close by (Kolja having no sense of direction may have made a few wrong turns leading to us both sweating profusely and becoming a bit irritable) but we made it and went up to the 38 floor.  Now we aren’t big drinkers or fancy people, so I was very surprised that he was bringing me to a rooftop bar, but it turned out to be a helipad!! We both had never been to one before and it was very cool to see how they turned it into a bar in the evenings.  The sunset views were stunning and we enjoyed a few cheeky cocktails on the roof.

Finally, after cooking our own meals all week, I was wined and dined at an AMAZING Italian restaurant called Tatto (see dad, told ya).  From red wine and a cheese platter, to pizza and dessert.  The night was just what we needed to remain positive, appreciate some quality time together, and forget about all the drama and chaos of our current situation.

Kuala Lumpur Round 2 February 15-21, 2020

Here Comes the Sun

Now if you’re thinking these blog posts are going to continue to be super stressful and anxiety ridden, you’re in for a sunny TREAT! Because for the next month we were absolutely blessed to be able to move around pretty easily in Malaysia, exploring the different areas and islands while still working and making a living.

After a week in Kuala Lumper, gathering our bearings and sorting out our short term plan, we decided to appreciate the situation rather than get worked up about things out of our control, and planned to explore all that Malaysia had to offer.

Our first stop was Langkawi, which is an absolute dream island with sunsets that are absolutely unreal.  Our friend who arrived in Malaysia a day before us, Sauda, is engaged to a man named Loay, who lives on the island and owns a restaurant with his brother (shout out Arang BBQ and Grill for the best food on the island), and invited us to come spend some time with them. Uncertainty was also creeping up into the lives of even those who lived in Malaysia, so we all felt a need for a distraction.  The virus at this time hadn’t really spread throughout Malaysia yet, however tourism is one of the biggest sources of income for the people in Langkawi. So although we were blessed with far less visitors on the island, we could sense the fear looming as hotels, restaurants and other businesses were already taking a giant hit because of the lack of Chinese tourists.























Airbnb’s were sparse and somewhat off the beaten track so we decided to stay in a hotel centrally located, so we could be close to our friends and the beach. This meant daily cleaning, which is always a plus especially when you’re tracking sand in the room everyday, but it also meant eating out for every meal. And although it was only one week, we decided hotel living could not be our long term plan because we spent way too much money and actually enjoy regularly cooking our own meals.  Our hotel was right on the beach though which was amazing to be able to walk right outside and have the ocean greet us. Kolja was able to run in the mornings as I taught my classes and overall we were really releasing the stress and anxiety that the last few weeks had brought into our lives. I think this week was probably the only week we actually felt like we were on a proper holiday, because our friends planned some touristy activities for us, they took us to all of the best places to eat and hangout, AND we were able to relax and really enjoy ourselves.

One evening that really stood out was my friend Sauda’s birthday celebration.  Her fiancé, Loay, had planned an epic surprise picnic on the beach.  It was so adorable and romantic.  The ironic hilarity happened about an hour in, we were chatting about how the island hadn’t had rain in months and that the waterfall they wanted to take us to was completely dried up. AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW, the weather gods decided that night was going to be the first night in months that the rain would pour down on us.  We laughed it off though, luckily having already finished most of the food, and were able to continue the celebration indoors at a delicious sushi restaurant.

I think this trip really helped us to embrace the present moment and lack of control, especially as we were able to temporarily get out of the stressful city life.  It couldn’t have come at a better time, and on our final day (just so happened to be Valentine’s Day), we spent an awesome afternoon by the pool sipping cocktails, watching the sunset and concluded the evening by polishing off a feast at the BEST restaurant on the island, ARANG BBQ and GRILL! I’m telling you if you ever have the chance to visit Langkawi you can’t miss it!!! From the insanely delicious flavour of the food straight from the grill, the passion that goes into each dish, AND the epic brownies and apple crumble desserts, you simply must try for yourself. I may be a little biased as the chefs are some of the most gracious and amazing friends we were grateful to have met, but regardless of that the food is outstanding.

 


As dinner came to an end on that last night and we were completely stuffed to the brim, Sauda offered to drive us to the airport.  The drive felt strange... we could feel the ending of the holiday and sense of stress free living come to an abrupt halt, as we were all discussing how uncertain things were in our home (Shanghai) and that we hadn’t before experienced this feeling of not knowing when it would be safe to return. The drive itself was short though and after bidding our farewells we were off into yet another airport (not to mention this time running super late and having to pay extra money because the gate had already close).  Masks on, covered head to toe in jeans and sweat shirts, and that trusty yellow suitcase in tow, we were whisked away on yet another flight back to Kuala Lumpur for another week (hoping all too optimistically that it would be our final week in Malaysia, before we could head home)....... oh Natalie, how wrong you were.


Langkawi February 7-14, 2020

Into the Unknown (where my Frozen 2 fans at??)

We arrived. We made it. We were finally mask free. AND we were starving.  We flew from frigid winter temperatures and landed in Malaysia where it’s always hot and humid (meaning the battle of Natalie vs. Mosquitoes began immediately).  Unfortunately once we were settled into our apartment, it was already midnight, so Kolja went out to find food while I showered and immediately sanitised our suitcases, threw our clothes in the washer and unpacked. **side note, don’t expect much when you send your boyfriend out for food at midnight in an unknown city when you haven’t eaten for hours on end, because welp..... see for yourself the pic of our lovely buffet Kolja brought home 😂**

This first week, I experienced a crazy roller coaster of emotions (and no it was not my time of the month). On one hand, I was extremely grateful to be out of the uncertain conditions in China, but on the other hand I felt unbelievably guilty.  It’s hard to explain it, especially to those at home in the US, because to most people they can’t fathom why I’d feel guilty to get the heck out of dodge when the virus was such a scary unknown.

I guess the only way to put it into perspective, is by trying to put yourself in my shoes.  I graduated university in May of 2015, and in August of that same year I had packed my life up into two 50 pound suitcases and hopped on a plane solo to China.  There were no friends, family, or even housing waiting for me on the other side, simply a long time dream waiting to be fulfilled. If you’d like some insight on my first few months, scroll through the old blog posts from 2015, you’ll get quite a few laughs reading how I attempted to navigate around this foreign place all on my own.

But with that being said, Shanghai is the place that made me.  It broke me down and built me back up a newer, stronger, more independent Natalie, that no longer had fear of asking strangers for help (my Dad will be the first to tell you, that as a kid I always forced my sister, 3 years younger than me, to ask waitresses, shop clerks, etc. for anything I needed, the social speaking anxiety was REAL). I had to rely only on myself (especially because calling my mom at 1 am when I couldn’t figure out how to use the washing machine, didn’t seem like a valid option ), and start fresh knowing absolutely no one and putting my full self out there to meet new people from all over the world.

Taking 4 years of high school Chinese language classes (a joke as many US high school language courses seem to be) didn’t even remotely prepare me for the ability to communicate properly. So taking on studying a new language was added to the list of necessities. And finally, discovering the hard way that my 4 years of studying education in university had not even closely prepared me for teaching in the Chinese education system.

I endured periods of loneliness, heartbreak, frustrations, triumphs, promotions, elation, and loss all while being on the other side of the world away from everything and everyone I grew up knowing. I made friends that are now family, traveled to some pretty amazing places, and fell heels over head for the love of my life, all because I took a chance in 2015 by hopping on that plane and not looking back.

So, in all honesty I felt like I had abandoned my home, many people I loved, and ultimately the life I had built. It hurt, a lot. I really, really struggled that first week. There was so much uncertainty.... we hadn’t been working for a few weeks at that point, and I started to stress about financially paying for our apartment in Shanghai on top of living in this new city for an unknown period of time.  We had to constantly remind ourselves that this was not a holiday, and we couldn’t treat it like one.  If we had we would’ve been broke and significantly heavier in no time.

As that week progressed, I was fortunate to be introduced to the app Zoom that seems to have taken over the world now.  I began teaching online classes to my students, and although I was very skeptical in the beginning, we made it work, because honestly there was no other choice.  With that income stability, having the opportunity to freely move around without masks, spending free time at the beautiful pool and gym at our airbnb, and having a kitchen for cooking our own meals, I slowly started to let go of the guilt and allow myself to ride this crazy wave that we all call COVID 19....

Little reminder from the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur January 31-February 6, 2020

Let the (masked) Journey Begin......

It seems as though no matter how many times you travel, the airport madness never ceases to amaze. There is always commotion, whether it be extremely stressed out moms (lugging 7 suitcases, 3 toddlers, and a husband), a businessman seemingly always in an impatient mood, those headed on vacation with beach hats and flip flops in the dead of winter, or the solo backpacker in their elephant pants and backpack 3 times the size of their own bodies (guilty as charged on many occasions). But nothing can quite prepare you for the madness of an airport filled with people desperately trying to escape a virus that is both highly contagious and extremely unpredictable.

Let me just make one quick *amendment* to my previous post though by saying that everyone in China during this time was actually in 1 of 2 places. 1) Home (as previously stated) where they were told to remain for an indefinite amount of time. Or 2) At the AIRPORT.  And yep you guessed it we were graced with the presence of about half of the city’s population in Pudong International Airport (not lying, check out the video below!)

                                                                           

 Luckily one of my closest and dearest friends traveled from Shanghai to Malaysia the day before us and was able to give us the 4-1-1 on what to expect.  Because if she hadn’t, I’m not sure we would have made it through. First of all, we were told to arrive 4 hours before our flight because there were insane lines not only for check-in, but also to get through customs, security, and to your gate.  We were told to expect serious delays and to be prepared with masks and loads of hand sanitizer.  Fortunately, we had ordered extra masks to Shanghai while we were in Taiwan, because the entire 7 days we were isolated in Shanghai, all masks everywhere were completely sold out.

After checking in and Kolja scoring us emergency exit seats (somehow when he does the talking, we get great seats, but never vice versa). We braced ourselves for a massive line leading to the customs area.  I must say for the virus being so new and no one really knowing how to prevent/detect it, the system for monitoring everyone’s temperatures was as organised as could be.  Our temperatures were checked at least 3 times, again by the lovely airport staff stuck working their long shifts in hazmat suits, and finally about 2.5 hours laters we were hopping on the shuttle to the new recently built terminal in Pudong Airport.

One thing to keep in mind, that now more and more people in the world are becoming aware, is that wearing a mask and trying your very best not to fidget or touch it is extremely difficult. Now, add on the fact that this virus was so new at the time we didn’t know how easy it was to contract, so we were PARANOID on top of it.  At that point we were on hour 4 of wearing them and hadn’t even boarded the plane yet, and might I add they’re not very comfortable if they’re proper N95 filtered masks.

Honestly the airport in Shanghai was scary but we knew what to expect, so in the end not all that bad. We took off on time and arrived in Kuala Lumpur about 6 hours later. Now on hour 11 of mask wearing, we were hangry (because we were too afraid to take off our masks and eat during the flight), dehydrated (because of the masks again), and tired!!

The absolute worst part of the whole trip though was arriving in KL.  We had just come from Shanghai where everyone was overly cautious, sanitary, and the workers were checking our temperatures left and right, and landed in an airport of chaos, with no one wearing a mask, excess people close to each other and maybe I was just hypersensitive and paranoid but there also seemed to be people coughing all over the place.  We couldn’t wait to get the heck out of the airport.


Finally, after swiftly yanking our one trusty yellow suitcase (that we packed about 5 outfits each in, thinking this wouldn’t be that long of a getaway) off the belt, we bulleted out of the airport and hopped into a taxi.  The second we hopped in we threw off our masks FREEDOM, the back of my ears were rejoicing from the constant yanking and chaffing. But wait for it.....

The cheery driver asks us where we’re going and we give him the address, to which he continues the typical getting to know you questions and tells us the drive will be about an hour.  Then, the daunting question we hadn’t prepared for, “so where are you guys coming from?”.  Kolja and I looked at each other and hesitated.  He gave the answer at last.... “umm Shanghai”.  Take one guess what the driver did..... he turned around confused, looking back and forth at both of us then immediately put a mask on, sanitised his hands, and gave a muffled “oh no” reply.  We felt very guilty after that and immediately put our masks back on for his sake *cue wincing and ear pain* and from there commenced the silent hour long taxi ride to our first Airbnb in Kuala Lumpur..................


This post represents the events of January 31, 2020.

QuaranTIME

I hope you’re all still buckled in tight, as I’m sure most people reading this don’t have anywhere to go during quarantine time, anyway! Continuing on with the last post, I just want to make one thing clear. The adventures to follow are all true and real accounts of what we experienced but shouldn’t be used as 100% factual or research based information....

With that being said, I’d like to continue with our time spent being isolated in our apartment in Shanghai.  To say that those 7 days were stressful is quite an understatement. We felt super safe because of measures being taken, but constantly berated with information from the media, the western news, the Chinese government, and then advice (not always desired but surely always given) by our friends and family on the other side of the world.   

It was the last week of January and entering the coldest time in Shanghai.  As most of you probably don’t know there is no central heating in most apartment buildings, and the high humidity makes it almost impossible to stay warm when you are stuck at home not moving very often.  We went outside once or twice a day for sanity and to warm up in the sun, but usually we were given dirty looks for doing so (even though we were covered head to toe with clothing, masks, eye glasses, hats, you name it we had it). In order to even enter the grocery store you were required to wear a mask, and on top of that most places checked your temperature.  All non- essential stores were closed and it felt like a ghost town.  

Keep in mind Shanghai is a city of more than 24 million (over 4 times bigger than NYC) and is continuously growing, so to see the streets barren was absolutely mind blowing. It also goes to show you how effective the government in China is at laying down the law and how obedient their citizens are. To say that was the safest place to be, scared my family and friends, but I honestly still believe it to be true as we made no contact with any other people day to day, most Chinese people who had plans to travel for the holidays cancelled them immediately, and everyone (I MEAN EVERYONE) obeyed the orders to stay home.

The stress of hearing that China’s border could soon be closed for an extended period of time finally freaked us out to the point of no return.  On day seven of the quarantine and driving ourselves crazy, debating multiple times a day what the best move was (go to Germany where Kolja’s family was, go to the US where mine is, or stick it out), we reached full panic mode when many airlines decided to cancel all flights to and from China.  And to top it all off my sister who was planning to visit in late March’s flight was officially cancelled.... womp, womp, womp. 

We talked to some friends and decided the best place to go was Malaysia because it has very good healthcare in the capital city, we had friends also there, and it was close to China so the flight wouldn’t be extremely long and hopefully safer.  After considering countless options we finally made a decision to fly out the next day to avoid any cancellations. 

The travel experience from Shanghai airport to Kuala Lumpur deserves a post of its own because the chaos of flying out of a country, that has a rising epidemic, along with people on the verge of hysteria, just makes for one thing.... a GREAT story.

Until the next post..... stay safe, wash your hands, stay home, and remain positive!!


Shanghai January 25- January 31, 2020

RATS BATS and CORONA, OH MY

I’M BAAAACK.

How fitting of a time for me to rejoin the blogging world, as during a global pandemic situation there is nothing but time time and more time! It has been quite a while since my last post, and although I’m not sure I can even begin to make up for all of the lost time, travels, and craziness of the past 5 years, I’m going to start fresh today with what’s been going on in this current year of the RAT.  As some people know, the Chinese New Year doesn’t start on January 1, because they follow the lunar calendar. So this new year actually began for the Chinese on January 25. And let me tell you, it has been complete and utter CHAOS.  No exaggeration whatsoever.  Let’s start with some happiness and positivity though.

During the Chinese New Year holiday celebration my boyfriend Kolja (new one since 2015 😂) and I were in Taiwan hiking in the beautiful Taroko National Park, and then celebrating the wedding of two of our Shanghai friends.  One of those friends being Taiwanese, gave us the awesome opportunity to really experience Taipei like a local, and we were lucky enough to be invited to their Chinese New Year dinner (similar to American Thanksgiving feasts). We had an absolutely epic time and ate far too much per usual!

Little did we know that the end of our trip would come far too quickly and bring with it a lot of difficult decisions and fear.  We were informed that many, many people were getting sick in China and that the Chinese New Year holiday was being extended.  People were told not to come back to Shanghai and rather stay put in their hometowns, because the government didn’t want the virus to spread..... little did we know this thing had already been spreading like crazy.  However, we decided to take our chances and head home. Luckily, we had scored the last pack of N95 masks in a pharmacy before heading to the Taipei airport where, as soon as you entered, a sea of people in masks (looking quite scared and staying far away from other people) were waiting. It was quite refreshing at first because, often times in Shanghai, it seems that people have no sense of personal space and are always right on top of you.  (We joke about feeling like sardines squished in a can anytime we ride the subway during rush hour) So rather than stress about this rare occurrence, we embraced having our own personal bubbles, kept our masks on, washed our hands at every restroom we saw, and avoided people.

Upon arrival to Shanghai though, things started to get real. We were immediately greeted by what looked like scientists heading into a toxic wasteland, fully geared up in hazmat suits from the toes clear up to the top of their heads.  It was our first indication that this thing was much more serious than we had thought, and we felt very uneasy from that point on.  Our temperatures were checked a few times from a distance and we slowly but surely made our way through customs and into a taxi heading home. As we arrived at our apartment, worry started to set in that maybe we had made the wrong decision to come back so soon.... many of our friends were extending their holidays abroad and there was an unsettling letter taped up in our building explaining that we should not leave our apartments. Shanghai, for the most part, would be remaining closed (as most things were already closed due to the holiday).

Now keep in mind this was back in January my friends......... so BUCKLE UP because this is just the beginning of our crazy journey........

**This post and all posts that follow are dedicated to my PAPU whose encouragement to continue writing might one day lead to an awesome documented story **

Taiwan January 17- 25, 2020