The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Omicron Variant Sub BA.5.2.??.!! Shanghai shanghai'ed! Ten years from now, what will you have wished you did sooner? Are there still avenues left to explore here in China? Living in China or leaving? How do different places compare? Family considerations, both old and new, environment, what else needs to be considered? Ten places: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, France, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Seoul or Busan Sou...

Vaccine mandates... rescinded! Some places? BA.5 IS THE MOST CONTAGIOUS EVER! Than what was before? But at least there is still no mandate and it is optional. This whole thing it actually looks as if China is scared / worried / concerned that this virus will have a disproportionate affect on their own people, for whatever reason. Is that the reason for the constant vigilance? Test prep: working my...

Another ten percussion tracks, this time with Garageband! Have a listen at the end of this episode! Joe Rogan on Lex Friedman's podcast, good talk esp if you're into the performing arts or want to hear about how Joe Rogan handled the attempted cancellation. Reading through this HSK 5 test prep book, makes sense what they are saying and how they break down the questions. Didn't know there were 12 d...

Ten percussion ideas! VACCINE MANDATED... for some placee, but not all, and it's up to the BaoAn, those often grumpy guardsmen. BUT... since I don't really go anywhere, do I STILL need to get vaxxed? Need two shots, most Chinese people I know only got one... or none! Get vaxxed? Get in line, the waiting list is LOOONG! HSK 5 entrance ticket is now available! No mention of vaccination required, but...

Generator is off! Maybe it had something to do with he humidity over the last few days? Textbook tests are harder than practice tests! 45% for the workbook, 62% for the actual practice test! Did a lot better than I thought I would! Sub BA5 spotted in Shanghai, new lockdowns? Not even sure whatbit means any more! Beijing bars reopening. Two months to go! How will I trim the beard? Or just shave it...

Joke about guns, and another shooting in the States. This time in Chicago, but most people who are from the city wouldn't be surprised. Sad, tragic and disappointing. Biden to roll back tariffs and that causes markets to fall? Chinese markets are moving up, including tech. Crypt crushed, USD up! 10 ideas a day, can you do it? Idea comes from James Altechur, not sure if I've mentioned it before. Ca...

USAmerica Day! Independence, when the great experiment of 'we can do better than you!' created the US of A, or at least the beginnings, and would later set the borders of where Canada would be. Despite the seemingly chaotic political environment, ask just about anyone and they'll tell you they'd take the chance to move to the US. Most of my former students are there! Walk down memory lane with a t...

Happy Canada Day! Though I know it seems to be a bad thing to say these days. Accomplishments? Honestly? I don't know! Canadarm on the space station, James Naismith invented basketball, Chris Hadfield - an astronaut in space who played guitar and wrote a few books, Wayne Gretzky, Tim Hortons, the telephone was invented, Red Green, famous comedian, Coffee Crisp, Crispy Crunch, THE WONDERBRA, Java p...

The fkg generator is back on! 太麻烦了(o﹏o) HSK 5 prep continues with looking at some collocations. 搭配 dāpèi is the word I was looking for yesterday. They make a whole lot more sense now then they did before. Lots of folks I know who have hit HSK 5 level or thereabouts all seem to say the same thing, ' I wouldn't mind getting the 6'... yet none of them have... even though their Chinese is stell...

Thunderstorm awakening! Still got the workouts in! Wages for ESL teachers go up... but they have to be in-country. And those who aren't from the Sacred Seven 'native English spealing countries (and passports)', well, we'll just offer you less. So... a move away from Beijing? Geez, could I even? The asterisk is gone! What means? No more travel restrictions. Flights are still expensive $7000 CAD to...

Hydrate for the weather! Preparing for HSK and making language study part of the evening ritual. A trip down memory lane across Western China. Next VIRUS-like pandemic to be warded off by good health practices? Or are we just kidding ourselves? Show notes tracks n vidz up on stevensirski.com. Have a good one!

Sunburn! First of the year! Thunderstorms! Drink your water! Humidity will dehydrate you! And why do we feel so tired? Cicadas are out in full force now. Schools being let back in, in-house dining, too, but still no generator! Have decided to go ahead with the HSK5 test in July sooo... time to hardcore prep! Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com. Have a good one!

Friday, but who's counting? Work this weekend. Dual workouts done around work and NAT tests. When will this end? Working on pistol squats and one arm pushups Expat living, here or there, what matters? Taxes follow so how to accommodate? Show notes tracks n vids up on stevensirski.com. Have a great weekend!

Rain cooling things down, looks like next week will all be rain. Life must be getting back to normal as construction sounds abound, inside, outside, and all around. Keeping busy with the language channel if you haven't had a looksee just yet. Enjoying this Bill Bryson book The Body. It's my night time read. Should be taking notes! Tech layoffs continue! Surprising given the big push towards AI and...

Daily workouts, or new habits to take forward? No two a day today, humidity and mindset sapped my strength. Good workout this morn tho. Vids uploaded, MYMYM2022 - Sluggin it Real Time and another SLV in which I introduce different coffee making methods (second take). Oil plunges, as do markets. False flag? Watch daily charts as they are more detailed into how the markets move during these times. W...

Longest day of the year which means... the year is half over! Stephen King, writing and reading. Word count inspiration or warning? Cycling in Inner Mongolia (not Mongolia the country) Chinese blogs continue, have to redo the coffee vid. Website updated! Show notes tracks n vidz up on stevensirski.com. Have a good one!

Continues to be a good time for cold beer as the humidity has spiked... you basically sit and sweat all day. Programmed the fans to go on and off at night. Beer, smokes, exercise or what gets you through tech trouble shooting? 4K monitor not playing nicely with the other tech. Two a day workouts continue 618 'shopping festival' Reading some easy-ish Chinese books from a series calles The Long Inte...

太牛了！Very cow! Means awesome or sarcastically not awesome. Any connection with the word cowabunga? Reading in Chinese! A book about Wu Jun who came up with a coffee company here in China, though I'm not very familiar with the name. I want to like After Effects, it's just not very user friendly. Tried to rotoscope something and got everything except the content aware fill which did not do its jo...

Getting tired of training or just need to change things up? What else would I do with my time, right? More mandatory testing but travel restrictions are being eased. Still too expensive to go anywhere. Fengtai is released! But others are locked up. New vlog up: I read a beer can. Good practice but it did take some prep. The Stand: I can see why Stephen King is regarded as a very good writer! Descr...

Residence permit! That's why we go to the PSB! Not for the work visa! Very active day in that I did get my two workouts in + the bike journey to and from the PSB. Somewhere around 1500 calories burned, but then by night time I am hungry! More lockdowns, but this smells more of some sort of hit against the bar scene in Beijing than anything else. Or have things just been lost already? Prime Ministe...

Bianlifeng chicken! Don't get to have this very often any more! Michael Jackson's Thriller - full album, what do you think? It's almost 40 ywara old! 7 of the 9 tracks were singles with the famous Thriller track coming out last. Good album, solid pop songs. May You Make Your Movie updated, only a few remaining! Insta and YouTube updated. Website up to date, thinking I might get someone to code the...

Busy weekend getting vids up and finally finishing one that took a while. Hail stones and thunderstorms, first this year! Beijing does not grt hail very often. MORE testing, lockdowns, etc. SLV continues, neglected to post yesterday so posted this morning buuuut internet connection isnt so good for some reason. Need to focus on pronunciation while continuing with vocab Work permit renewed, next PS...

SLV language check in once again, I should have started this earlier! Michio Kaku on Joe Ro - Types of civilizations YouTube shorts, you ever watch those? Or is this just them trying to copy TikTok or Insta? Lockdowns again! After Effects still causing me issues! Show notes tracks n vidz up on stevensirski.com Have a good weekend!

HSK 5 test prep begins! July 16th is the test date! A liiiittttllee bit nervous! New challenge to myself: post a new video everyday until test day. Can it be done? How much of an improvement will I see? Will I be able to yak on like I do in English? Lockdowns again? Why? Someone got the bug in a club and now they're all closed. Gotta keep those NATs current if you want to enter stores! Booted from...

Another animation done! This time with coffee beans! Word has it that a neighbour is being ousted because... the landlord is selling! That, to me, is a sign of at least a change of direction. Stonk market is appreciating and investors' money is going up! Was out with some folks last night and of all things... met a lady who graduated from my university one year later than I did. Why was she there?...