Each Sunday that I wake up in my bed at my parents house in the West Midlands, I think to myself how I'm still in England after being back for around six months? With the Chinese border reopening to foreigners workers, the call from my prospective company awaits when the time is right. During this post-lockdown life at home, how does an average Sunday look? Bilo, let's go!
My current bed feels a million miles away in a thousand ways from the one I had in my Beijing apartment. After trading my three hotels for a semi-permanent fixture at home I feel fortunate to have had this security. With each Sunday morning, the sunrise brings another week that is closer to being back in China, a country that feels less foreign than my birth nation. 2020 has been the way it was supposed to be for me, I do feel bitter in one sense but being back at my parents has given me the chance to weight up the pros and cons. Waking up after the birds, Sunday's tend to be lazy, the one just gone was very lazy indeed! I don't have work to attend to so its almost like everyday feels like a Sunday, just without the Sunday Roast Dinner the other six days of the week. Making my bed isn't something that I like to do, for once I did this Sunday just gone. Until I get the call and my visa in my passport, this room will be home for now.
Going from my own abode to one room that's sort of my own has been such a bitter pill to swallow, I moved out of my previous apartment at the end of January 2020 with a short stint in a nearby Beijing hotel. I have mentioned before that the initial hotel stay was doubled with two more reservations made as Beijing was put into lockdown by the local and central governments. Clapping back to the negativity this weekend, Sunday had me up and about when I was good and ready, taking the time to clean the space that I can close the door on my problems was the right thing to do! The Sunday service has changed a lot but its all about having those to be thankful, this Sunday might not have been so exciting but I can look forward to what future Sunday services will consist, or not! I'll get back to my life soon, for now I'll continue to make the best of what current Sunday's serve to me in England. Corona-she-better-don't! Come on, Sunday!
Bilston isn't stunning, she ain't got no class! I don't want to talk about this town that I find myself back in every few years, there's no need to make up! Not wanting to stay cooped up at home I have been walking around a preferred circuit. This Sunday I walked a little bit before my Sunday Roast Dinner. The folk of my hometown and within the surrounding area seem to largely be incapable to socially distance themselves from their fellow shopper in the town center and during market days. On occasions before this Sunday service I always swerve the town center because my pre-flight Corona test needs to be negative, I don't have time for small town mistakes because the world will welcome me back soon enough! Yes, I cross to the other side of the road when I see passersby because I don't need any COVID-19 delays! Not today or on any Sunday I won't feel bad keeping more than my two metres away from people.
My locality might well be out of lockdown but the category very much remains, we must social distance for our lives! During my walks in general I have noticed that people do not wear masks, I personally don't when I'm not in a space like a supermarket but I always keep my distance and if others can't they need to think twice! I'm definitely not a Karen or a Kevin, but come on Bilston we don't want the government to impose a local lockdown? Hell no, she better don't! My walk was short but sweet, clocking up just under five thousand steps I wanted to get my metabolism going before my Sunday Roast Dinner. A previous Sunday service in Beijing would see me either see me sorting bits and bobs out for the next working week or catching up on documentaries or my blogs, I crave normality but for the moment I'll try to make the best of this post-lockdown life. 100%, I'll keep my walking and I will continue to keep my distance!
There's some serious love to hate feelings going on with my weekly Sunday Roast Dinner, not because I don't enjoy the taste of it nor am I not grateful for my plate each week but for another reason. During previous Sunday services in China I didn't do Sunday Roast Dinners, I would eat local food and to that now I'm back in England, Chinese food isn't local and that isn't what my parents each mostly every Sunday. I love a good dinner, this weeks was especially nice because my sleep pattern meant I didn't have breakfast, meaning I was exceptionally hungry! My Chinese friends always think my dinner looks amazing, it's different to them and for the ones who enjoy European foods its a treat for them, or holiday food. In the spirit of being back home with my parents I enjoy my Sunday Roast Dinners but I'll rejoice when I don't have them once I return to China when the door reopens for me. Sunday's service at home needs a roast!
Did I envisage such styles of a Sunday service for 2020? In the back of my mind I didn't have anything in my head, the onset of lockdown had be crossing the borderline unexpectedly, to a Sunday that I had experienced in a long while. Without a commute or host of tourist sites, I have had to reimagine my Sunday services at home, the hymns have been reshuffled like a change of service at a church! 2020 has changed the game, these Sunday's have not consisted of noodles or rice as a regular meal, the Sunday Roast Dinner has been another weekly game changer. For future Sunday's I'll be thankful for the independence and the familiar Asian twist, the category so far this year has been very much 'British Sunday service' I don't need to get mad. For ever how long I have to swerve those Bilston town folk, I'll secretly miss having to navigate that socially distanced Bilston people traffic! The service was Sunday, it was nice!
Socially Distance That Walk!
Joseph Harrison