Mandarin and Mukluks

I have made a very good start on my resolutions so far.  I have started running 2-3 times a week, currently doing 15 minutes of interval training where I walk for a minute then jog/run for a minute.  I have managed to keep it up with Tareka at work, although it is harder to focus when the girls are fighting and the baby has woken up and started shouting.

I am also the sort of person known in New Zealand as “rip, shit or bust”, in that I go all out to do something, then burn out and give up just as quickly.  I am fighting the urge to try and run hard out for the full 15 minutes, as I know I won’t manage it, and I will end up not running at all.  I am also impatient to see results in the waistband area, and I have to keep telling myself that the running is for my MENTAL health, any fitness gain or weight loss is secondary to keeping me sane.

I have also managed to keep up with the photo a day.  This has not been especially difficult so far, as I tend to take pictures every day anyway, the trick this time has been to choose a good one, or take pictures of things that might be interesting to other people.  I have also tried to be a bit more arty in the composition of some of the pictures, but they are showing a very good snapshot of a year in our life so far.  It will be interesting to see how I go once school starts back up and I have a regular routine going on, it will be good for making me notice the beauty in each day I think.

As for the resolution to learn a new language, I bought myself Rapid Chinese from Earworms and have been listening to it every night, and when I am running.  So far I can order a coffee, a tea or a beer; say thank you and you’re welcome; count to 10 and potentially to 99 as the numbering is very simple.  I am really enjoying trying to learn a tonal language too, as I have never attempted it before.  The words and sounds are so alien to me, but it’s almost like singing, and I find myself just enjoying muttering odd Mandarin phrases to myself when I am out and about.

I may end up like this bloke if I’m not careful….MUKLUKS!