With schools closing with pretty much no notice and no assignments, Colin and I set up our own plan and committed to researching a different country every day: hear music, cook food, look at pictures, learn about what animals live there, etc.
Last week we covered Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, USA and Brazil.
Here's how this week went down:
Monday, March 23
Day 8, China 🇨🇳
Colin's teacher sent assignments for the week. There's some regular stuff like math and French, but also some really valuable activities (at least in my opinion):
Most aisles, except toilet paper, were reasonably stocked.
Here is a Chinese (South Eastern, let's be generous) non-food item I like:
Lucky bamboo is said to bring health, luck and love to its owner. It is also known to enhance the flow of positive energy and create a sense of balance and safety in your home or office.
For new year's 2019 I gave one to my parents, my Godfather and my coworker, so I hope it treats them well. If you have one yourself, here are some tips on where to place it:
Tuesday, March 24
Day 9, Belgium 🇧🇪
Busy day at the office. Most employees who work for our corporate clients, need to work from home now, so their main reason for calling us is "I need a new notebook, I need a large screen, I need a VPN tunnel to access our data, I need a printer, I need cartridges, I need..."
The good news is, it keeps us busy. The not so great news is our distributors' warehouses are literally wiped clean. Guess where all the IT equipment comes from? Right, China. They haven't been producing these past weeks.
While I am grateful to be able to work, I wish I could provide Colin with more of what brings him joy.
Vol-au-vents and chocolate 🍫 for dinner.
Here’s to hoping we get to visit Bruxelles in person one day!
Wednesday, March 25
Day 10, Germany 🇩🇪
Colin tackled some of the creative assignments on his weekly plan.
He built a paper bridge for toy cars 🚘 and a musical instrument 🎸 out of random material. Bavarian dinner: soft pretzels, Weisswurst and sweet mustard.
#germany #bavaria #munich#oktoberfest #brezn
Thursday, March 26
Day 11, Sweden 🇸🇪
So Sweden is our ice hockey 🏒 arch rival, and we will not get a chance to fight back this year, but there’s still a lot to love about our Scandinavian friends: ABBA 🎶, IKEA 🛏, köttbullar = meatballs, kanelbullar = cinnamon rolls...
How are you all holding up? Hang in there!
#stayhome #weareinthistogether#cinnamonrolls #kötbullar #kanelbullar#sweden #hejsan#icehockeyworldchampion #iihf #iihf2020
Friday, March 27
Day 12, Great Britain 🇬🇧
Of course it had to be some fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 - that's what they call French Fries.
Have you gotten used to your isolation situation?
#greatbritain #godsavethequeen #jamesbond #tgif #fishandchips #tube #london
Saturday, March 28
Day 13, South Africa 🇿🇦
Reminiscing about our safari in 2015. What a magical experience meeting these wonderful animals up close. We were exceptionally lucky to spot all big five within the first 24 hours.
Our trip included several days in and around Cape Town, probably one of the nicest places to be - ever. What other city offers surf and turf, and I'm not talking about food? I'm talking about the waterfront and the table mountain!
On second thought - let's talk about the food. We ate some amazing beef and drank fantastic wine. I tried to recreate it at home, but I didn't even get close.
Sunday, March 29
Day 14, Australia 🇦🇺
We spent our 5 weeks‘ honeymoon exploring this beautiful country and meeting the friendliest mates, humans and animals. Unforgettable times!
It was October / November - a time if spent in Europe can get foggy, cold and unpleasant. In Down Under, however, spring was just transforming into summer, and with the exception of Brisbane (newspaper headline called it record rain, thankyouverymuch) it was just gorgeous.
The animals, the guides, the tours, the food, the wine - wonderful times!
What delighted us the most, was the friendliness of the people. Everyone was cheerful, everyone was genuinely nice. Never had we experienced something like this. I know we're not spoiled in Europe where most folks are grumpy, or at the very least, reserved.
Coming home was a rude awakening :-(
#downunder #australia #sydney #opera #uluru #harbourbridge #greatbarrierreef #cairns #brisbane #redcenter #darwin #crocodile 🐊 #koala 🐨 #kangaroo 🦘
Monday, March 30
Day 15, Mexico 🇲🇽
Yes, I admit, it was mainly for the food! 🍷🌮🌶🥑🌽 I have enough leftovers for some more!
#mexico #texmex #cornbread #glassofred #chili #chiliconcarne #spicy
Tuesday, March 31
Day 16, Israel 🇮🇱
My Mom‘s first and my brother‘s second home. I worked hard to make these falafel 🧆 from scratch. Next time I‘ll just feed my family pita 🥙 with tomatoes 🍅 and cucumber 🥒, and they‘ll be happy.
Yeah, well. I remember spending Good Friday in Jerusalem a good 25 years ago. It was also Passover, and we observed a handful different religions on their way to just do their thing at their church ⛪️, synagogue 🕍 or mosque 🕌, and the atmosphere was so peaceful. Why can’t this be that way every day?
#israel #shalom #peace #love
Technically not part of the project, but we couldn't really go without Thai food now, could we? Perfect freezer / pantry dinner is served! Red Thai Shrimp Curry 🇹🇭🌶🍤🍚k
This concludes week 2.5 of our lockdown project. It's amazing how quickly you (have to) get used to ever changing circumstances.
Except a few rare frustrated moments, Colin is holding up well, too, and I guess it's the hardest for him. He gets a lot more screen time, lots of favorite foods, and we ordered books for him to kill time. He snapchats with his friends and his 15 yo female cousin (she's lovely, so glad they enjoy keeping in touch).
Next week, his official spring break starts. I try not to think of all the places we could go, now that we have all this quality time together.
On a positive note, I found myself a 24 pack of toilet paper rolls today. It's the little things!
How are you doing?
Let me know in the comments below.
Preview:
Tomorrow I'll post March's photo blog challenge, the theme being seven to commemorate the seventh anniversary of this monthly challenge.
Wednesday, April 1st, the A - Z blogging challenge starts, ready or not! I'll be talking about all things Swiss, son don't miss it!
Last week we covered Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, USA and Brazil.
Here's how this week went down:
Monday, March 23
Day 8, China 🇨🇳
Colin's teacher sent assignments for the week. There's some regular stuff like math and French, but also some really valuable activities (at least in my opinion):
- Make lunch
- Clean up your room
- Write a journal
Most aisles, except toilet paper, were reasonably stocked.
Here is a Chinese (South Eastern, let's be generous) non-food item I like:
Lucky bamboo is said to bring health, luck and love to its owner. It is also known to enhance the flow of positive energy and create a sense of balance and safety in your home or office.
 |
| Photo Credit: The Spruce |
For new year's 2019 I gave one to my parents, my Godfather and my coworker, so I hope it treats them well. If you have one yourself, here are some tips on where to place it:
 |
| Photo Credit: My Lucky Bambooplant |
Tuesday, March 24
Day 9, Belgium 🇧🇪
 |
| Photo credit: Valentin Lacoste on Unsplash |
Busy day at the office. Most employees who work for our corporate clients, need to work from home now, so their main reason for calling us is "I need a new notebook, I need a large screen, I need a VPN tunnel to access our data, I need a printer, I need cartridges, I need..."
The good news is, it keeps us busy. The not so great news is our distributors' warehouses are literally wiped clean. Guess where all the IT equipment comes from? Right, China. They haven't been producing these past weeks.
While I am grateful to be able to work, I wish I could provide Colin with more of what brings him joy.
Vol-au-vents and chocolate 🍫 for dinner.
Here’s to hoping we get to visit Bruxelles in person one day!
Wednesday, March 25
Day 10, Germany 🇩🇪
Colin tackled some of the creative assignments on his weekly plan.
He built a paper bridge for toy cars 🚘 and a musical instrument 🎸 out of random material. Bavarian dinner: soft pretzels, Weisswurst and sweet mustard.
#germany #bavaria #munich#oktoberfest #brezn
Thursday, March 26
Day 11, Sweden 🇸🇪
Day off, and we spent it at home entirely. Didn't even get out of our PJs even though we pledged to take a shower every day.
My excuse was I was busy cooking and baking. Look at what I made. Can you smell the cinnamon rolls? So, so yummy!
Handmade meatballs, too! Unfortunately no cranberry sauce. Usually I wouldn't mind running to he store for one forgotten item, but these days I try to limit my grocery trips.
So Sweden is our ice hockey 🏒 arch rival, and we will not get a chance to fight back this year, but there’s still a lot to love about our Scandinavian friends: ABBA 🎶, IKEA 🛏, köttbullar = meatballs, kanelbullar = cinnamon rolls...
How are you all holding up? Hang in there!
#stayhome #weareinthistogether#cinnamonrolls #kötbullar #kanelbullar#sweden #hejsan#icehockeyworldchampion #iihf #iihf2020
Friday, March 27
Day 12, Great Britain 🇬🇧
Of course it had to be some fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 - that's what they call French Fries.
Have you gotten used to your isolation situation?
#greatbritain #godsavethequeen #jamesbond #tgif #fishandchips #tube #london
Saturday, March 28
Day 13, South Africa 🇿🇦
Reminiscing about our safari in 2015. What a magical experience meeting these wonderful animals up close. We were exceptionally lucky to spot all big five within the first 24 hours.
Our trip included several days in and around Cape Town, probably one of the nicest places to be - ever. What other city offers surf and turf, and I'm not talking about food? I'm talking about the waterfront and the table mountain!
On second thought - let's talk about the food. We ate some amazing beef and drank fantastic wine. I tried to recreate it at home, but I didn't even get close.
Sunday, March 29
Day 14, Australia 🇦🇺
We spent our 5 weeks‘ honeymoon exploring this beautiful country and meeting the friendliest mates, humans and animals. Unforgettable times!
It was October / November - a time if spent in Europe can get foggy, cold and unpleasant. In Down Under, however, spring was just transforming into summer, and with the exception of Brisbane (newspaper headline called it record rain, thankyouverymuch) it was just gorgeous.
The animals, the guides, the tours, the food, the wine - wonderful times!
What delighted us the most, was the friendliness of the people. Everyone was cheerful, everyone was genuinely nice. Never had we experienced something like this. I know we're not spoiled in Europe where most folks are grumpy, or at the very least, reserved.
Coming home was a rude awakening :-(
#downunder #australia #sydney #opera #uluru #harbourbridge #greatbarrierreef #cairns #brisbane #redcenter #darwin #crocodile 🐊 #koala 🐨 #kangaroo 🦘
Monday, March 30
Day 15, Mexico 🇲🇽
Yes, I admit, it was mainly for the food! 🍷🌮🌶🥑🌽 I have enough leftovers for some more!
#mexico #texmex #cornbread #glassofred #chili #chiliconcarne #spicy
Tuesday, March 31
Day 16, Israel 🇮🇱
My Mom‘s first and my brother‘s second home. I worked hard to make these falafel 🧆 from scratch. Next time I‘ll just feed my family pita 🥙 with tomatoes 🍅 and cucumber 🥒, and they‘ll be happy.
Yeah, well. I remember spending Good Friday in Jerusalem a good 25 years ago. It was also Passover, and we observed a handful different religions on their way to just do their thing at their church ⛪️, synagogue 🕍 or mosque 🕌, and the atmosphere was so peaceful. Why can’t this be that way every day?
#israel #shalom #peace #love
Technically not part of the project, but we couldn't really go without Thai food now, could we? Perfect freezer / pantry dinner is served! Red Thai Shrimp Curry 🇹🇭🌶🍤🍚k
This concludes week 2.5 of our lockdown project. It's amazing how quickly you (have to) get used to ever changing circumstances.
Except a few rare frustrated moments, Colin is holding up well, too, and I guess it's the hardest for him. He gets a lot more screen time, lots of favorite foods, and we ordered books for him to kill time. He snapchats with his friends and his 15 yo female cousin (she's lovely, so glad they enjoy keeping in touch).
Next week, his official spring break starts. I try not to think of all the places we could go, now that we have all this quality time together.
On a positive note, I found myself a 24 pack of toilet paper rolls today. It's the little things!
How are you doing?
Let me know in the comments below.
Preview:
Tomorrow I'll post March's photo blog challenge, the theme being seven to commemorate the seventh anniversary of this monthly challenge.
Wednesday, April 1st, the A - Z blogging challenge starts, ready or not! I'll be talking about all things Swiss, son don't miss it!
What a fabulously creative way to explore in isolation. I love the food element of the exploration.
ReplyDeleteColin is adorable and it seems like you are doing a fabulous job. I clearly need a few bamboo plants in my house, sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, that food! Your blog makes me so hungry!
ReplyDeleteYour food look delish and it's so nice to think back on your wonderful travels too!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to do Oz I can email you some recipes or post you a little sachet of vegemite :) Email me your postal to anitajoy @ live dot com dot au for the sample. That will be an experience for him *grin*. I assume you gave it a try when you were Down Under?
ReplyDeleteCan I be in lockdown with you? Your son is going to remember this time with you forever. And, what you are teaching him is so beneficial.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun and educational plan you came up with! I enjoyed your photos from Australia and South Africa, especially; two places I would love to visit. See you tomorrow for the "Seven" photo challenge. ☺
ReplyDelete