Semester 9 Chapter II: Ain’t Nobody Know Shit About Shit

That kinda sums it up. See, I’m no doctor, I’m no medical expert, I have no idea how exactly this covid shit works. I don’t know how fast it mutates, I don’t know what’s the magnitude of the actual threat, I don’t know what measures are necessary and what are redundant. There’s one thing I’m kinda wrapping my head around these days tho. This shit ain’t going nowhere. It’s gonna be around. Tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. So the question here is, what happens next. From where I’m standing it seems we are facing two options. Either keep following the trajectory we’re on currently, which is to keep everything semi-shut, keep all the travel restrictions in place and get ready for worse. Cause the thing is, shit is getting worse as we speak and there’s no signs of slowing down. Or, at some point in the future, we gonna decide to roll the dice and let everything go. Which is like an impossible decision to make. Nobody’s gonna take responsibility for that. So here we go. Nobody has answers, nobody can predict anything. Czech Republic is reporting numbers about four times higher compared to the peak season in the spring (which locked me in this country to begin with). Face masks indoors and on public transport are back on. Wizzair just sent me a link for a form I have to fill out before even attempting to board a plane next week. See, technically my Canary Islands adventure is still a go – I have even arranged a nice little accommodation last week – but that can change literally any hour. We are on red lists of like 7 EU countries already and with this ongoing trend, we’re gonna end up on way more. But fuck all that. I mean yeah, shit gets sad. I miss my people like crazy. Had a chance to talk to some of them last week and it’s just fucked up. We should be together listening to music, going out to parks, dancing, watching movies and be physically around each other. But you know what? Even with all that, we are still the more fortunate ones. I mean sure, I make less money than I did last year but I’m good. I’m more than good. The peace of my mind has not been too derailed, I got everything I need and even though it’s often from afar, I feel loved and blessed. But that’s not the fucking case for so many. I’ve been reading and hearing about people, communities and countries who just can’t take this for much longer. You got people from less fortunate surroundings, you got people with less opportunities, you got people with weaker social ties. And there’s so many of them. Which brings me back to where I started. What do we do with this situation? I don’t have the answer but we seriously need to move to next level of discussing this. And let me just throw this universal basic income concept out there once again. Won’t solve everything but has a potential to solve quite a lot. And let me send one more R.I.P. to David Graeber. Love!

 

Also, Travis Scott, if you don’t get your ass out of here... Like how the fuck is one of the best artists coming up from this generation spending time doing deals with McDonald’s in the midst of all of this. And I get it, I’m white, I’m privileged, I don’t know what it truly means to see a black man being this successful in corporate America. Aight, cool. But let me be fully ignorant here and say “fuck that too”. We got people like Killer Mike, we got people like Trae or even Lil Baby who do amazing shit musically or socially to address the madness we are dealing with. And then you got this motherfucker doing lucrative ass deals with a company (and let me just bluntly assume that people running McDonald’s are cynical middle aged white men, to whom you, Travis, give your stamp of approval and swag) which is directly responsible for giving both people and animals diseases, who is like a poster child of obesity and malnutrition, who is a major part of the totally irresponsible and unsustainable way we deal with diet, living beings and nature in general. And I’m not here for it. Travis Scott did not need to get richer, he isn’t solving anything with this and the example it gives is a horrible one. Hip-hop is the most influential music genre ever since music has been conceived and Travis is its royalty. And he should fucking think twice before doing some stupid shit like that. And let me just go on to say fuck Starbucks, fuck Burger King and fuck KFC (and the rest of y’all too, I’m totally running out of middle fingers here). And I don’t care how many cool rappers you get for endorsement deals, I don’t give a shit about your almond milk lattés and I also truly and most sincerely don’t give a flying fuck about your vegan burgers. You fucking dicks. Just fuck off and die.

Ufff, that felt good. Well, let’s get back to business. What have I been up to. So yeah, my dive school contacted me to make sure I wanna take advantage of accommodation they provide. Now, I’m a humble guy, I really don’t need much. When it comes to accommodation (especially if it’s short-term), all I need is a bed, an equipped kitchen and fast internet. I was quite surprised when they said there’s no internet at the property and there’s no way of arranging it. The idea of doing my online classes and other work I need internet for from cafés or directly from the dive center wasn’t making me happy but I agreed. The day after, they messaged me apologizing that there’s been misunderstanding and that they had accidentally booked their last room already. Fair enough. I did some more Googles, sent out some inquiries and in like 15 minutes, I had a Spanish guy named Manu calling my phone offering me a room in an apartment with kitchen and high-speed internet about 20 minutes’ walk from the center for about 100 EUR less. Based on a good word; to be paid on arrival. I mean, that did go well.

 

Over the week, I had a chance to go to my dad’s trivia night once more and to spend an evening at my sis’. Outside of that I worked like a motherfucker. I am still in demand in teaching and in some other gigs I do from home. I have been also working on scheduling my shit in a way that would be as compatible with being in Tenerife as humanly possible. Shit kinda falls into place but as there’s no telling if I’ll actually go on Thursday, I try not to lean all my happiness against it. Gonna let you know how everything in the next blog.

So yeah, I still work out, I still run, I cook like all the time, I talk to my loved ones, I do my best to get by. There’s some shit I gotta change about my life, there’s some shit I wanna go back to. There are people I can’t wait to hug and kiss. So again, no matter where you at and no matter how low your lows might seem, trust me you are not alone. So many people deal with different versions of this and we can all relate. This is no time for bad energy and negative shit (and McDonald’s deals, Mr. Astroworld). This is time for love and support. So once more, I’m sending some of that your way. One!

 

Highlights:

• P-Valley. Seems like a fucking awesome TV series.
• New Conway the Machine, new Youngboy. New T.I. & Thug and Fredo Bang & Kevin Gates. Some fire shit right there.
• Positive feedback from my students. I’ve been getting quite a lot of that lately. Kudos!

Semester 9 Chapter I: Plans & Changes

What’s gucci everybody, here we go again. This is the 9^th semester of me doing this motherfucker so let’s take a moment and toast to that. We are still on, we are still good and despite all the bullshit happening in the world, we are still positive over here. So where we at. Covid is still kicking hard. Czech Republic is reporting record numbers these days and we got different countries falling back in to the no-no category. I’m supposed to leave for Canary Islands next week and even though, as we speak, that should still be go, there’s no telling if that’s gonna be the case then. I just hope, it’s gonna happen. When it comes to my Shanghainese life, that’s still obviously on hold. Both my studies extension and my scholarship extension got approved, however, no one can say when the borders gonna reopen for students. So I hope that during this semester I’ll be back there at some point, but who the fuck knows. All and all, this whole year has been a fucking ride.

This past week was a pretty chilled one. I mean, I’ve been busy. It’s September, so I got quite a lot of work offers which is good. The other day, I got an e-mail from this girl I had been preparing for state exams. She failed couple months back, however, after some weeks with me, she passed and credited me heavy with it. And man, shit like that never gets old. I got a first class at AZ Tower – horribly looking tallest building in the Czech Republic. The class was good tho. On top of that, I got some new transcription gigs. Again, been quite busy but since I plan to put most of my work on hold shortly, it’s a good thing. 

Monday, I stopped by at my dad’s pub once again for some trivia shit. The regular. Friday, my sister stopped by to give me a haircut (she’s basically a pro at this point) and to share some drinks with me. Since she didn’t feel like driving her scooter after, I just walked her home and delivered that thing to her place next morning. Which marked my first scooter ride in Brno. It was fun, it was fast, I refilled the tank while at it. All good. Then I hopped on my bike and went to my friend’s new spot out of Brno. I love that route. We spent most of the weekend putting down tiles for his garden house. Fresh air, physical work, good food... You know the vibes. Sunday, I rode back, did some work at home, went to feed the girls’ cats (as they’re in Prague) and faded out.

I also had a chance to speak to some of people in Shanghai and Bali last week. I sound like a broken record but I can’t fucking wait to see all of them again. Oh, and my dive computer arrived. So universe, please don’t fuck this up for me. I need this trip. It’s Monday morning, I got new Jaden in my headphones and I’m about to go do some teaching shortly. Sending some positive energy to all of you! Oh yeah, and R.I.P. David Graeber - you were such an inspiration to me and so many others. I'll see you on the other side. One!

Highlights:

• New Big Sean. Some heavyweight shit.
• The scooter. Made me look forward to Canary Islands even more.
• Weekend. Loved it.

Semester 8 Chapter XXX: Reboots & Reruns

Okay, if everything went as planned, this might have been my very last blog. I started this motherfucker about 4 years ago when I moved to Shanghai and the idea was to spend 4 years over there, get my degree and then move on with everything (including this blog). It is kinda foolish to plan shit like that tho, and life has ways of surprising. So here I am, concluding my 8^th semester far away from Shanghai not planning to stop with this project anytime soon. My school has sent me an e-mail saying that they probably gonna extend my scholarship so I might be able to get back after all. It’s really hard to say tho as at this moment, student visa is still a no go (plus technically I don’t have any anymore). We’ll just wait and see.

Last week was super fun to me tho. First of all, I am in high demand. I’m getting to a point where I got more teaching job offers than I can accept. Who would’ve thought. Well, since I decided to take couple of days off, I kinda squashed 5 days’ worth of work in to like 3 and a half. Which was a ride. The fact I made it alive, well and not even too damaged only proves my hypothesis that teaching is actually one of the things to do for me. All is good. 

 

On Monday, I stopped by at my dad’s pub to support him and his buddy for a trivia night. Again, didn’t really help with anything but it was fun. After that, I hung out with my bro at our park on our sport. Now, when I say that I mean the park and the spot. Place we used to go ever since we were like 12. With my previous dog (R.I.P. little bro!), with our friends, with our girlfriends, with people who just came and went... Crazy how time flies, crazy how some type of shit feels. I’m sure we gonna be at that fucking bench drinking some fucking beer when we’re 60 too. And it gives me butterflies.

Tuesday after work, I went to this Pizza Punk spot (best pizza in town and it’s all vegan) to get 4 boxes of that magic and took them to the girls’ spot where we got joined by dad. Great ass evening, lotta talks, lotta fun with the nephew in the spotlight... You know how it goes. Wednesday night, I met up with my bro again, this time accompanied by his gf. Turned out to be another cool evening. Been a while since the three of us have seen each other and the first time with two of them actually being together while at it. I felt good about all of it.

 

Thursday I did some morning classes and after that I met up with a friend of my bro based in Prague, we got joined by another of his peers and off to Prague we drove. The bro had and exhibition of his painting at this open gallery space in one of the Prague’s metro stations. It was fun, I saw some people I hadn’t seen in a bit, I met some new ones... After that, we had some drinks, had some fun and eventually crashed at the guy’s gf apartment where we went on till like 6am. I crashed at that spot and got back to my senses like 4pm. Now, both my guy and his gf are vegan and let me tell you... Waking up at a vegan’s apartment after a party like that is beautiful. You get the right snacks, you get the right coffee, you get the right everything without the need of double-checking. It’s just there. We spent the rest of the day chilling by the river, having drinks, eating some more food, taking it super easy. I ended up staying at the same spot for the night as the two of them went to the guy’s place. Super convenient. All I had to do was walk her doggie who is super nice so no objections there.

 

Saturday morning, I hopped on a train and went to a city in Moravia, where my dad picked me up and was also nice enough to let me drive to his gf’s cottage. I mean, I’m really not much of a driver but apparently, I still haven’t forgotten how to do that shit. Over there we reunited with the girls, the nephew and the in-laws. My sis gf just got 30 so it was a bit of a celebration too. Awesome day, super clean air, perfect peace. Some vegan barbecue in the evening on top of all of that. I collapsed around midnight and did solid 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Fuck yes.

 

Sunday morning, we went for a walk in the woods nearby, did some lunch and went back to Brno. I drove again and yet again didn’t crash. I was so stuffed after eating all the food, cakes and shit, the first thing I did after my arrival was grabbing my resistance bands with the hope of transforming some of the fats and sugars into energy. Felt needed.

 

Anyways, here we go. My braces still on, got new Quando Rondo in the headphones, the summer’s almost over... I really liked this past week. Shout out to everybody who played part, lord knows I needed that. Next week, we are officially kicking off Semester 9. So until we do, be good, be great, don’t tolerate fuck shit and keep it 100. One! 

 

Highlights:

• Prague.
• Weekend.
• Work.

Semester 8 Chapter XXIX: Splash

Here we go again, people. Welcome back to your favorite blog. It’s kinda crazy realizing that the summer is coming to its end. This year has been a ride and god knows what’s coming next. But we’re still here, still dealing with all the shit the best way we know how... 

Last week was definitely one of the more eventful ones. First of all, one of my best friends came to Brno for couple of weeks so we spent quite a lot of time hanging out in the evenings. Long walks, beers, catching up... That weird feeling when you don’t see a person for ages but after you actually reunite, it feels you haven’t skipped a beat. I got this shit going on with multiple people. On Thursday, I cleared up my afternoon, we took our bikes and took it to this quarry like 30km from Brno. Again, one of the things we used to regularly while based over here years back. Since my tattoo guy canceled my session, I even had a chance to dip in which I rarely do being all covered with fresh ink. Overall, it just felt great having my buddy in town.

Another friend of mine came to town Monday so we grabbed some drinks downtown too. On top of that, for the first half of the week, I was responsible for my sis’ flat and cats. So I slept there and fed those little devils. Oh yeah, and on Saturday, I left for this village where another friend of mine is freshly based, to spend weekend over there. We had some awesome food with his wife, drank some Jack by this pond nearby, had some beers and smoke in the evening... I slept really well. We started Sunday with a 10km, some breakfast and coffee. Fucking retreat. After I made it home and finished my lunch, my sis called me. The arrived back home that morning after one week holiday in Croatia, so we spent the afternoon together catching up and watching the little one discovering the world.

I worked a lot too. Still putting on more and more classes, still having fun with it. My teeth and gums are still getting better; at this point, I don’t really mind the braces at all. And before I wrap this up, let me just shout out Belarus. You guys fucking rock. Keep going! Sending love to everybody reading, to all my people, you know the vibes. One!

Highlights:

• Running, cycling, working out. Just because how much I love it.
• Actual swimming.
• The weekend out of the city.

Semester 8 Chapter XXVIII: Plans & Stereotypes

Okay, last week I came to a conclusion I’m running out of juice. I was feeling it for a while but after one of the calls with my girls who are still stuck in Indonesia, I ended up facing the harsh reality - I am not going anywhere close to Asia anytime soon. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not want to sound dramatic, I was not depressed, generally I’m still on some super positive shit. The only problem is, whatever situation I have come up with over here is a beautiful temporary solution. All this self-employed business, all the driver’s licenses, braces… I’ve been keeping myself busy. On the other hand, I put my social life on a major hold. I don’t feel like settling in Brno, I don’t feel like going on Tinder dates, I don’t feel like going to bars and meet strangers. And the truth is, most of the people I consider the closest are in some galaxies far, far away. And again, nothing wrong with that if we’re talking some temporary shit; not so awesome when you actually have no idea if it’s gonna last for another year or what. Shortly after the call, I read an article about Thailand and how unlikely it is for tourists to be able to enter the country this year. So I was like fuck it and did my googles. And I found some diving centres that do dive master internships in Canary Islands. So I got in touch with one and arranged everything. It’s a one-month thing and if corona won’t prevent me from going, I’m leaving mid-September. It’s almost breath-taking how easy this shit is in Europe. Plane ticket from Vienna costs like 25 EUR, I don’t have to worry about visa or anything, the price is perfectly acceptable, the people seem nice. And I kinda take it as a chance to recharge my batteries. If it’s gonna work out, I might end up with yet another career option, if not, at least I tried. And I get to discover new places, new faces and all that fun stuff. I realized that I need this in my life. I need to throw myself in situations that are new, a bit scary and challenging. I guess it’s the urge to get your ass out the comfort zone. I kill shit in my comfort zone but I always find new inspiration and beauty outside of it. I am perfectly prepared for a scenario where this won’t happen cause shit is way too unpredictable. But I feel great about the idea, I ordered myself a diving computer, I paid the deposit… I’m excited again. And it won’t even mess with my teaching much. Some classes I’ll keep online, for some they gonna pause the classes till I get back. They like me. Which is good because this year is totally going down in history books as my most expensive one.

Okay, outside of that… Last Sunday, I was housesitting at my sis’. They were out of town so I basically made sure their cats are alive, gave them something to eat, cleaned their litters, spent the night and repeated all that in the morning. Since cats are alive to this day, I believe I did a tremendous job.

Monday, I stopped by at trivia night at my dad’s pub. Wasn’t much of an asset but the beer was good. And I don’t have a competitive bone in me anyway. Plus we won regardless… Just saying. Wednesday, we had a family dinner, my dad cooked, his gf prepared some amazing vegan ice cream (for real, talk about some progressive shit) and it turned out to be an awesome evening. Friday, we met up at our neighbours’ after couple of weeks. The guy was nice enough to actually run outside bringing some fresh draft beer from a pub down the street. We got a bit into philosophy, politics… All the good stuff.

And then it was Sunday. After I finished my routine workout, my sis called me and asked me to join her for a run. Now, with the braces and shit, I had put running on pause. My last attempt couple of days back resulted in bleeding so I left it on hold. But I was feeling myself so I went and man… This time it was all good. I am recovering! After that I hopped on my bike and rode around 20km to visit the friend who moved out of town about a month ago. They turned all the boxes we brought there into a beautiful home and the guy even made some vegan burgers (including fucking homemade patties, I mean god damn!). After the lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon by a pond nearby drinking Jack and catching up. Then it was some pedalling back so I could make it for a diner in this Vietnamese restaurant with the fam. The girls and the little one were leaving for Croatia – their first holiday abroad with the baby. Hope it’s gonna go amazing. All in all, a great day.

So yeah, outside of that, I worked a lot, worked out a lot and got pretty familiar with the braces. Now I can remove them without hurting myself, I’d say that the gums are almost recovered, I don’t mind talking again. Seems like I’m out of the fucking hellhole. Now I’m at the girls’ flat once again, listening to some old Wayne, taking care of the cats for the time they’re gone. I wanna shout out everybody dealing with the consequences of this covid bullshit (I am 100% sure that lots of you got it way way worse than me). Keep your head up, the shit’s gonna end someday. Don’t focus too much on the doors that got shut and try to spot those which might have opened. Trust me, there are some. One!

Highlights:

• Running again. Yay!
• The bike ride. I love this shit too much.
• Summer. Weather has been good to us.

Semester 8 Chapter XXVII: Braces Chronicles Part One

Okay, so the day has come. My mouth was not healing extraordinarily fast, it hurt, most of my workouts was on pause but my appointment came. Last Monday, I went to the clinic and they gave me first five pairs of braces that are to be changed about every two weeks. The pain before wasn’t the best, the pain after was even worse. Now, the good thing is, I get to get that shit out when eating, the downside of it was that for the first couple of days, removing that motherfucker felt like a fucking surgery. It’s getting better tho, I have resumed my resistance band workouts and I’m about to get back to running and planks any day now. I even got better with manipulating with that thing and as I wear rubber bands stretched between the upper and the lower piece, I figured how to handle that without fucking destroying everything in the process. So yeah, rocky start but I’m getting used to it. Even talking feels better now than it did (need I remind you that I make my living as a teacher, therefore being able to speak is kinda essential for me) and it generally feels I’m on a right track here. 

So yeah, the first couple of days I just did my best workwise. My students were understanding so it wasn’t a big issue. Outside of my classes, I just chilled, read books and tried to find a peaceful place in my head. I actually got a pretty cool story from Tuesday. When I finished my classes in this interior design company, I went out to unlock my bike but when I turned the key, I broke it leaving most of it stuck in. And that shit was still locked. So there I was, with a fragment of the key in my hand unable to move on. Initially, I went to the reception (as the entrance and the front walls are all glass, I was on full display) and told them that I’m leaving my bike and hopefully I’ll be back with some tools at some point to retrieve it. When I was leaving the building, I had this awesome idea so I got back and asked them If they had happened to have any tools themselves. They did some digging and got me these regular ass small pliers. I don’t think they really believed I’d be able to do anything with those and frankly, neither did I, but after 5 minutes of some serious thief moves, I got that shit done. So I got the bike, I provided bit of an entertainment for those people, and it also got me thinking whether I should invest in a better lock. 5 minutes with a barely usable tool is next to fucking nothing.

My teeth started feeling better by the end of the week so Friday evening, when I was wandering around the city with my sis and the nephew, I got myself the first beer since the teeth extraction. The cool thing about the braces is, they really make you disciplined when it comes to consumption of stuff. The whole routine of taking them off is not too pleasant, you have to brush your teeth and the braces every time you do that, you need to get a new pair of rubbers... It takes time and effort. On top of that, they don’t really recommend drinking anything but water on it. Coffee and tea makes those normally invisible braces dark and anything sugary just gets under it and can cause cavities. So no more snacking, no more ice creams. It’s 3 or 4 times a day, a meal and some coffee, in and out, no bullshit. Anyway, it was a cool evening as always. My nephew is like the best baby ever.

Saturday, I met up with the daughter of my dad’s gf and her friend and we drove to their cottage we sometimes go to meet up with the seniors who had been already there. I realized that due to this teeth shit, I’ve cancelled lots of that little social life and trips I had planned so it only made sense to get the fuck out of Brno for a night. And man, this countryside air, the peacefulness, the long talks... I needed that shit. Oh yeah, and I also got a chance to drive around a bit. The first day, I voluntarily took on the job of a designated driver and drove everybody to a pub couple of villages away for some beers, and on the second day, I drove my dad, his gf and the dog all the way back to Brno. Like 70 km, the engine did not die once, I feel I kinda killed it. Once I get my parking straight, it’s gonna be 100%.

And there you have it. On top of teaching my regular students, I got a new one (and I killed the class despite the pain and pronunciation challenges), I did some more testing and transcriptions. Trying to cover the ridiculous amount I spent to have my mouth all beautiful. Summer has kicked in for real and you know that I love that. Listening to new Brandy, about to have an online class, life is good. Sending love to all my people. One!

Highlights:

• Stealing my own bike.
• Driving. It’s kinda like a computer game.
• The countryside. It was so good.

Semester 8 Chapter XXVI: Double Pain

Okay, so this past week I opened couple pain levels I had never entered before. Let me tell you something. When your jaw recovers, you fucking notice it. I thought I was taking it quite easy the first couple of days but I was also popping painkillers so the real fun started once I got off them. And it’s not only that. It’s that you can’t really do much. That shit starts bleeding when you do pushups, you can’t really run. Shit, you can’t even spend too much time outside cause you don’t want to get your head too warm. All that shit increases your blood pressure which inevitably leads to one thing and one thing only – bleeding. I’m not much of a sleeper under normal conditions but these days it’s even worse. I mean, I’m happy about proceeding with the braces and shit but it definitely takes its toll. Oh, and I also went for a tattoo last week. We finished the one we started about a month ago and it’s fucking flames but guess what. About halfway in, my fucking mouth started bleeding. So for the past two days, I’ve been doing almost nothing. Couple of online classes, some transcription gigs but mostly reading, watching shit and wishing the pain away. Oh yeah, and I can’t do hot beverages (so I drink my coffee on ice), I still can’t really drink alcohol and I can’t eat hot meals. So I usually cook like 4 hours before I eat, let the food come to the room temperature and then go for it. Fucking yay! Well, tomorrow, they gonna put the braces in so at least we’re moving.

Outside of that my week has been quite cool. Besides the fact I lost my dad’s dog on one of our morning walks. That boy decided to go on a solo walk god knows where. It was like 6am and after about 30 minutes of running around the whole park whistling and screaming, I gave up, notified the family and by coordinated joint efforts, the dog was reclaimed in a shelter about two hours later. Apparently, some cops found him in another park. I went through couple of heart attacks and I’m pretty sure that the days of me letting that little bastard running around freely are over. At least for the time being. Doesn’t make me happy but shit... It was intense.

So yeah that’s that. Been busy but it really seem like a blur in a rearview. Can’t wait for the pain to go away and everything going back to normal. I’m a junkie when it comes to sports so this shit is killing me. I just saw my nephew tho and that always cheers me up. And overall I’m not doing bad at all still. Hope y’all safe! One!

Highlights:

• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Got back to that last week and that shit is so good.
• Reading. Haven’t done this much of that in ages.
• Joe Rogan’s Post Malone interview. What the actual fuck.