A new year…

The past few weeks, I have been truly enjoying my life here. I love my commute (for the most part) in crowded metros to and from work. It gives me time to “read” or listen to podcasts. (Note: When listening to Trevor Noah and you start to giggle, more people will start to stare than usual… there is usually 1-2 people staring at the tall, foreigner.)

Monday (28/12), after our academic meeting, our local coworkers taught us how to make Tangyuan (汤圆）and we made some signs for good luck in the new year.

Tangyuan is a dumpling made from rice flour. It has a sweet filling of sesame seeds and sugar. They are boiled for a few minutes cooking the dough. It’s a pretty easy recipe. They are sweet and the cooked dough has the consistency of mocha, perhaps a bit sticker.

To start the new year, Katia and I went out for brunch. I had an Apple Pie Oatmeal bowl and Chai Tea. We met up with Shukri, which was its own separate adventures with phones not communicating with each other and lack of innate sense of directions… Katia and I had a good laugh… We did eventually make it up to HuaLu Shan (话路山). We did real hiking, staying off of the road when possible. When we got up to the top of the mountain, we ate some candied crab apples.

At work, I have been observing more demos and lessons. I have been doing my best to keep up with my resolutions. I have been doing some journaling everyday and working out. I finished my first book of the year. I’m trying to read books that has a setting in each state. My first book was To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I am sad that it has taken so long for me to read it. I have other books queued up. I am looking for suggestions for Washington and Washington D.C.