A hike on Nanshan, Tartan Wedding Hash 1997, Upcoming GDR, Return of Game Night, and Planning for Trip to HK and Macao

March 11, 2023

These flowers are in bloom all over the city right now.

I have not posted about my life in a couple of weeks so this post will cover events from February the 27th to the present.

The work week after my last post was routine. The only thing of note was that I seem to have faltered on my weight loss goals somehow and had regained a little of the weight. According to the scale I had regained 0.55kilos (1.21lbs). I was pretty pissed off. I had been sticking to my diet and had lots of exercise. I decided to start waking up early on Tuesdays and Thursdays for runs and increasing my cardio regimen each M, W, and F from 15min to 20-25 minutes. I am back down to 78.4kilos now and hope that I continue to make progress. I, and Faye, have noticed an increase in muscle tone. I am reducing my food intake a bit as well.

Faye came to visit on March 4th and we got our nails done. Then we went on a 10.5km hike on Nanshan on Sunday the 5th.

The work week that followed was pretty cool. I got students started on a cell signaling project. We did a taste lab with miracle berry extract pills which change the perception of sour taste to sweet. I was observed twice by some visiting teachers from Guangzhou and was filmed playing guitar while on my lobby door duty.

On Friday Alexander hosted game night. Soroush, Alexander, and I played sequence. Then Kevin arrived and Soroush left. When John arrived we played Catan. I drank more wine in one night than I had drank in two months. I hope I did not undo my diet. I ended up cycling home totally wasted at 2am.

Yesterday I woke up hungover and with sore cramped calves from leg day but still decided to hash. It was a wedding hash for a couple who go by Cold Pussy (Athena) and Shit Magnet (Neil). We were told to wear something tartan so I borrowed my friend's kilt. It was a good trail. I made a new polish friend named Anna who lives in the same neighborhood as I and we shared a taxi back from the hash because neither of us wanted the hash dinner. We had a pretty cool conversation about plants on the ride.

The Green Dress Run is next week. Shewee Herman (Anna), Just Faye, and I are haring. We are raising money for the Turkey earthquake relief. People will show up and run in green dresses. I will hide little liquor bottles and have a beer stop, gin and tonic stop, and various games planned.

Faye and I are planning to visit Hong Kong and Macao from April 1st-4th. I have booked our hotels and considered activities. I even considered getting a haircut there at a salon that can donate my hair to cancer patients.