The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

The night before the flight(s)! I use the exclamation point only cause it’s written.

I’ve honestly forgotten how to travel. It took quite a while to get everything packed, still mangled to squeeze some work in there. And lots of the stuff I’m taking there won’t be coming back. Good!

End of an era, innit? Four years of no travel, I’ve really become a situated man.

Probably taking waaay too much stuff with me and now I’m thinking that if I’m going to keep recording, I’ll need to find some time in the day. Not sure how this is going to work!

Seoul to Vancouver to Edmonton, how do you deal with jet lag? Stay awake? Nooo that doesn’t sound like a good idea at all.

Three weeks is not long, but it’s the inability to quickly come back for something tangible if I need it, such as a document. It will go quickly, but that I’m finding just adds to the sadness of it’s temporary-ness. 

Will try to stay cool getting to the airport tomorrow!

Have a good one, we’ll see you on the flip side.

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Back still hurts but managed to not stress it during today’s workouts. Only 3.5 km at lunch, nothing else. Slow weights after work.

Yes, I worked.

And booked tickets. Friday we fly. Depart and arrive on the same day, which is a lot better. Flying a 737 MAX to Edmonton, not sure how I feel about that one.

Had the credit card get flagged.

Alipay and Wechat to allow foreign credit cards! I kinda like the cash economy.

Trying to switch off work, will be hard cause I know August will be busy and I may be moving apartments.

Ten tips for flying!

1 Get sleep beforehand. If you have trouble sleeping, think about what you would do if this was any other normal day. Take zinc supplements to help with sleep (check with your doctor if ok).

2 Search your destination and see which airlines fly into there, then search their website

3 Buy earlier than two months

4 Check discount sites and see which connections they recommend, then see if you can reconstruct at a lower cost

5 Go overland for part of the journey

6 Don’t forget to check if your ticket includes checked or carry on luggage and the weight restrictions

7 Start packing a week in advance, even if it’s just small bits and pieces you assemble or gather into one place

8 Go over your carry in and on board travel pack (what will you really need to use?)

9 Brush your teeth before you leave your apartment

10 Know your passwords!

11 Dummy check

Show notes n tracks up on my website stevensirski.com

Have a good one!

I really don’t want to talk about this trip as I’m honestly having doubts about it. It seems overly long to be going and very much easier to stay put. What’s the method for cancelling?

Almost packed, Lego for the kids

10 ideas to cut down packing

1 No electronics 

2 Only two shirts

3 One bag only 

4 No toiletries 

5 Carry on only - put cloth bag in backpack

6 One camera

7 Weekend only

8 Don’t go

9 No liquids - 

10 Good question - get wheels for your luggage 

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Have a good one!

Looks like Wednesday is departure day. A little bit anxious about this trip, not sure if I’m going long enough or too long?

Threw my back out this morning during a run so that’s not helping the situation. Was trying to jog and study flash cards at the same time.

White people food - salads and lunchables 

Gas cooking restaurants seem dangerous!

Workouts in but had to slowwww down

New track for you, all claps!

Ten ideas!

1 Fun facts

2 Trivia

3 Historical annecdote

4 Word of the day

5 Characters 

6 Verb declensions

7 Noun conjugations

8 How to write an introductory paragraph 

9 How to write a conclusion 

10 How to use ChatGPT to write your essay

10 ideas for topics

1 What is Business English?

2 Canadian Indigenous languages 

3 The history of French

4 How to learn a language - my experience

5 Best apps to use today for learning a language 

6 How to hone your skills 

7 Pen and paper or digital? BOTH!

8 Bro do you even know how to language?!

9 Communication and Language learning 

10 Should language classes discuss things not related to language?! Where is the line?

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Have a good start of week!

Friday already! Very quiet out there as Dragon Boat weekend has seen people leave the city, not least because of…

The weather!

+39C when I was out for a run at lunch. Rather warm!

5 Kms in 27m 27s, roughly 4.35 miles.

Then…

150 double unders

60 bench jumps

10 one arm push ups incline

10 assisted pistol squats

Then…

100 pull ups

200 push ups

300 squats

A bit of a workout!

Slow weights at 5.00 and a Blue Frog burger for dinner and some Chinese noodles.

Worked on Language blog posts, can’t help but think to keep working on this. Next language I would try? French.

DJI mic sounds alright

Ten ideas for language learning podcasts:

1 How to buy airplane, train, bus tickets

2 Typical sections in a supermarket

3 How to easily convert currencies in your mind

4 Best language learning-related books

5 Best YouTube channels to find legit TV shows in your target language

6 Best podcasts to listen to for intermediate language learners

7 How to hack your language (make people think you’re fluent)

8 Best and worst idioms

9 Can language and culture be kept separate

10 Best APPa and tools to learn a language- a simple approach to learning

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Have a good weekend!

SSAB - June 22, 2023

Ten ideas

The use of honey:

1 In milk

2 On rice crackers

3 With salad dressing (apple cider vinegar)

4 On its own

5 In coffee or tea

6 With cottage cheese and almonds

7 With sparkling water

8 As a dip

9 On meats

10 With peanut butter

How did yesterday sound? Not the best.

Ohhh… today is 端午节 Dragon Boat Festival. Oops. Right, I supposed to be in Europe by now. Oops.

How about those travel plans? 

New Chinese check up video posted on my language blog!

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Have a good one!

Solstice!

Days will get shorter!

How did yesterday sound? Today I’ll just record on my cell phone to see how that sounds.

Mid-year review and your work put

https://www.stevensirski.com/ssp-episode-2-developing-your-work-put/

https://www.stevensirski.com/ssp9-mid-year-review/

Show notes, tracks and links up on my website, stevensirski.com

Have a good one! 

That’s what having nothing to do feels like! It’s like the Coronavirus all over again!

Water, and lots of it. Gerolsteiner and other carbo beverages, gotta keep hydrated.

Run at lunch, indoors 

Setting up a new phone and all it’s lengthy password resetting!

Newsletter out, and tweaked some things on the website.

Thanks for listening! Show notes on stevensirski.com

Have a good one!

New phone? Not having any luck with the other. Cannot get Android Development Database to work.

First big rainfall, thankfully! Hot and humid all weekend.

That generator...

That soccer runner kid (turns out he is 18, not 15) is now being fined and banned from live matches for the next year.

Newsletter

Happy Father's Day!

Workouts in, rain during the day.

Next six months, how will it go?

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Have a good week!

Right! That soccer game! Messi and Argentina 2-0 win against Australia and a 15 yr old runs across the pitch! He was okay though cause they let him watch the rest of the game.

Episode 39 is up and out! Joel Passante joins me on this episode to talk about movies, gaming, Winnipeg and pro wrestling. Now a live streamer on Twitch, Joel spends his time playing with things retro. Under the handle Rats House of Retro. Episode available on Spotify, Apple, Google and my website! Stick around for a preview clip after today's show.

Days off begin, will take a few days and then decide where to go!

Have a good weekend!

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com