Dec 22, 2019.

I feel like I've done the impossible at least a half dozen times before breakfast. The dominant Western holiday break is upon me, and that means it'll be a couple of days off and a few short weeks before I have my Spring Festival break in mid-January, an epic 40 day holiday from teaching high school, second only to the legendary summer vacation.

On my last vacation, I made the most out of the time, traveling to Europe for 40 days through France, Greece, and Italy with Xiaolin. We experienced rich fine dining in a very trendy, months overbooked Paris Michelin Star restaurant, where wine paring really clicked as I drank a desert chocolate red with a raspberry chocolate souffle. We ventured to the south of France to enjoy Marseilles, the beautiful endless lavender fields of Provence, and the comforts of the French Riviera. I got to see Athens' winding hills and thousands of years of culture, compared to Chongqing, and despite the great differences in Chongqing's rapid modernization, they could be sister cities for all they have in common. We bathed and sailed around epic postcard picturesque Santorini island and then spent weeks walking around Rome, shopping and sightseeing, traveling to Venice, Florence, Pisa, and beyond. It was the teacher's summer holiday of legend, and worth every Euro.

Our unforgettable trip and time in Santorini Greece, echoed in the decoration of my first little home in Chongqing.

That said, I feel guilty now, as Christmas approaches, that we missed an opportunity to spend with my family in Canada and hope we will get back next summer to see them again. Especially for my grandma, who is turning 91 in January, the time matters. As my smart friend and fellow world traveler Sebastian once taught me, everything is a trade-off. Knowing that helps me find the ever-important balance in my life.

Kai and Xiaolin in the endless lavender fields of Provence, France

I'm hoping for some big changes and that I can use this break to write more. I realized the Amos the Amazing story I wrote in summer 2018 was probably book two or three of his saga, so I've mapped out his origin story and will hopefully get the chance to write at least a draft of it and possibly edit another in-progress novel, undisturbed. I hope it feels like a long break, as the teacher burnout is real and high, and I've been getting visits from my manager Bruce about how bleak and discouraged he wants me to feel right before the holidays. After six years at the school, I'm used to his famously demotivational speeches that are intended to ground me or gaslight me into not looking for other opportunities before every winter and summer break, but that doesn't make them any less abusive. Luckily, born with self-respect and a sense of pride, I harnessed over two decades as an in-demand musical artist, I know it's his projection and doesn't let it get to me much, but it still sucks. Our main leader for the prestigious international program is leaving to become principal at a new UK-CQ foreign school opening up, and while I'm tempted to follow, I am grounded and enjoy my life here too much to give up so easily. I have become part of the fabric of Shiqiaopu, Jiulongpo, Chongqing, and like Sesame Street, I know all the other regulars as I walk up and down the street, it's stability I crave, and so I don't intend to leave without a fight. We have a brand new leader, Recco, and I made a horrible first impression already. He came by to observe as I was wrestling with a very unmotivated Senior 3 class of 5 remaining students bound for the UK, who all ignored my instruction to practice an essay in class, and so he observed the 6 of us all on electronic devices, me marking on a laptop, them playing with phones, because discipline is low, and motivation non-existent for the senior 3's.  Between that awkward moment and Bruce's general dislike of me, I feel the future fluid in front of me, nothing is certain anymore, and I decide to get to work on getting my reference letter from my old leader in case it is time to make a move. To be fair, a coworker, Kevin, once offered to connect me to Recco as someone that could help look after our plants while I was in Canada, and when I came back, they were all dead, so I recognize our relationship has a lot of .. room to grow. Fingers crossed.