How I Keep Myself Occupied; The Residential School Controversy

Currently, I am on vacation from my old school, after which I will be in the days between my old school (my old job) and my new school (my new job). That is, I am in the days between jobs.

I should be happy to have the six weeks off that this change in jobs has given me, but I feel chagrin at not knowing what to do with all this free time. The weather being so humid here, I can't go anywhere in the area. The world still being in a Covid panic, travel to a place far from Wuxi is out of the question. And my wife will always want me to do something so I can't relax. And my son, knowing what he wants to do, will earn me the ire of my wife who wants him to do something more productive.

So what am I to do? Keep myself busy best I can. So here is what I do these days: study Chinese on Duolingo, study French on Duolingo, study Spanish on Duolingo, study Latvian on an app, read Chinese, read French, read Spanish, read Latvian, do some push-ups, do some crunches, read Nicholas Gomez Davillia daily, read CS Lewis daily, read about the Tao daily, read Thomas Merton Daily, pray the rosary, read poetry on my phone, write something for a blog, do housework, read Evelyn Waugh in a real book, read poetry in a real book, send messages to my Mom, send messages to my brother, send messages to my nephew, send messages to my cousins, send messages to my friends in Canada, prepare for my new job, watch a movie (preferably old), read poetry on my iPad, read an ancient writer on my iPad, read Barbara Pym on my iPad, read The Imitation of Christ on my iPad, listen to podcasts about Canadian politics, listen to podcasts about history, listen to podcasts about Catholicism; listen to podcasts about Americandissident right politics, listen to podcasts that are skeptical about the authorities' reactions to Covid, listen to podcasts about British politics, go to the nearby shopping center to do some shopping, create a todo list, and check my todo list through the day. All the while, I think.

I forgot to mention that the students at my Speakers Corner told me they heard a new story about graves being found outside schools in Canada. I told them that it was much ado about nothing, but that the "ado" unfortunately was causing a lot of people to join mobs and take down statues.

Thinking about it more, I should have told them that the purpose of the residential schools was similar to the declared purposes of the education training centers they have set up in Xinjiang.