We’ve asked some of our Asian Studies faculty, staff and students to share their experiences on working from home. Chinese language teaching assistant Cherry Tang has aimed to refine her music and language skills in addition to juggling her teaching commitments (helped by smoothies):
What are some problems you may have encountered during the transition to remote working?
- Besides the technical problems myself and many of my classmates experienced during our online lectures, studying and working at home resulted in somewhat of a decline in motivation. I feel that it is definitely harder to stay productive at home.
How did you cope with the problems to ease the transition?
- When studying and working at home, I think that it is important to stay organized and have a defined schedule to follow. Ideally, I would wake up (well, at least try to) around the same time as I would on any other regular day, and start to follow the schedule I set up for myself. I also feel that setting realistic goals before starting the day really helps with my overall productivity.
What were some things you needed to get used to when working at home?
- I had to get used to working/studying on my bed sometimes (lol).
Describe one new thing (skill, interest, pastime, etc) you may have learned during the quarantine time?
- I love singing and playing the piano, but something that I have always wanted to try was to sing and play the piano at the same time. It was definitely harder than I thought, but hopefully, I’ll get better and better with more practice! During my quarantine time, something else that I have been trying to do every day was learning Norwegian using the Duolingo app on my phone. The app also offers many other languages, including Chinese, French, Spanish, Korean, and many more. I think that the Duolingo app is a great way to learn a new language, or even prepare for an introductory foreign language course you are taking in the upcoming summer or winter terms!
Any medium (music, books, cooking recipe, etc.) you could recommend that you’ve found relaxing/entertaining recently?
- Usually, I would buy something to drink for breakfast, but now that I have more time due to the pandemic, I have been making a berry smoothie every morning. I don’t follow a specific recipe, because it is really not that complicated: add some frozen berries of your choice, a few scoops of yogurt, and some milk or water to a blender, and mix!
During this time, have you sought/found any words of wisdom or quotes from your language area/culture/background that you have found to be particularly comforting, and could share if so?
- “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside of you that is greater than any obstacle.” ~ Christian D. Larson
To read more Inspiration in Isolation stories, click here!
