What does a normal weekend look like in Shijiazhuang? (When you've finished law school apps.)
Friday Fridays tend to be strange because I have one class at 10am and then no other classes until 4pm so I essentially am on break for 5 hours and then have one random class. (Class 14 and I are normaly both quite ready for the true weekend by the time class actually rolls around, so it can make for an interesting afternoon.)
Barring that one afternoon snag, I normally walk over to Wanda Plaza (30min) after my morning class. Stopping at Starbucks or Chagee Tea shop, I will read a book and relax or try and get some work in either with law school or with future travel plans or for next week with my students. Sometimes I catch up on my podcasts or go through my favorite book store/coffee shop on the second floor of the mall.
This week though, I had a mission. Fully influenced by my for you page, I had become obsessed with this Adidas jacket that's only sold in China, and having need of some warmer clothes, I went directly to the Adidas store and bought the jacket. (I am obsessed and it is as sick as it looks online.) Mission complete, I walk back to the school and prep for the weekly battle of wills between me and Class 14.
After class, with minimal interruptions and much game playing (because it's a Friday, let's have some fun) I head over to my apartment and chill until going out. Most weekends I am here in Shijiazhuang, I go out with my group of foreign friends one night and then do something chill with Victoria (Spanish teacher) or by myself the next. This past weekend, one of our friends was performing in a band on Friday, so a group of us were gonna go out to watch. On Fridays, the new Taylor Swift docuseries also comes out during my last class, so between my last class and going out, I relax and get ready while watching that.
The band thing was super fun, if not especially crowded, and out friend sings in English, French, and Chinese so her songs were the easiest to understand, but my favorite band was actually the one that went before her. One of my favorite things to do is try and catch Chinese while in public or listening to music, and luckily love songs use pretty simple language I almost always know. And this band was kind of rock influenced which meant their lyrics were relatively simple compared to the complexity of the actual music itself.
Saturday Saturday mornings tend to be very chill for me. If I don't sleep in, like I didn't this weekend, I'll pop in a podcast or go for a long run. Then, during the day on Friday I normally explore the city or engage in some fun cultural experiences. This weekend, my Chinese tutor and her family and friends were doing a dumpling making party for the Winter Solstice, and she invited me to that saying "her Chinese is good enough" (flex.) It was super fun and we made a bunch of different colored dumplings, both vegetarian and meat filled. As I rolled the dough, children beside me and their parents around the counter, it felt very much like the weekend before Christmas when everyone makes and decorates sugar cookies. My solid beliefs in birth order theory were absolutely confirmed by the pair of sisters, 8 and 7. 7 year old Nora wanted to speak to me constantly and was extremely extroverted while her 8 year old sister Dora had to be encouraged by Nora to answer my questions. Also, at times when the whole group was playing a game it would devolve into just the two of them competing with each other and eventually kind of wrestling on the floor. In all, I had a great time, and got to make and eat some awesome dumplings.
Saturday night, Victoria and I originally had plans, but she wasn't feeling well so I got around to actually doing my laundry and cleaning the apartment. Every weekend I love to spend time kind of deep cleaning and watching a movie or something.
Sunday Sundays are normally pretty chill, but also the day when I have to do my lesson planning. In the morning, I'll FaceTime someone back home and chat and then later in the morning I do the lesson planning for the week or edit the plans made by my co-teacher.
In the afternoon, I made my way to a different mall where there is a good American food restaurant and got my favorite meal of spicy chicken and jalapeño burger. Then, planning for a winter where I still don't have that many clothes and my trip to Japan I went shopping for a long wool coat, scarf, and gloves. This mall is also a 45min walk away, so I get to relax there and back but when it is super cold I might take a cab. This week, too busy listening to a podcast, I didn't go for my Saturday run, so when I get home Sunday evening, I go out for a little while and then pick up some good sushi for like $3 on the way home. Inevitably, at some point in the day I freak out about law schools and then decide to not think about them at all, then I go to bed and get ready for a week of classes.