Things I Would Do If The Pandemic Is Over

A big goal for this year was to make legitimately intensive efforts to expand my social life here in my adopted home of Kansas City. Only boring people are bored, and I need to show to myself and others that I can live a full life without relying on the strangeness of a place like China to stimulate me. The year 2020 has been a real pain though with this pandemic, so I figured I'd draft things I'd like to do if the lockdowns weren't a factor and see which ones I might be able to do regardless of the current situation.

Dance Classes

I really enjoyed taking hip-hop dancing classes in Shanghai, and I'd like to resume some form of dance again. The main thing I enjoyed, aside the extra confidence on the dance floor, was the fact that I interacted with people of an entirely different flavor than I tend to when left to my own devices.

The lockdown-friendliness of this is pretty iffy though: dance studios tend to be inside, and require holding/touching people.

Gym

I've been doing weekend runs and a weekly telecoached workout with Toby, but I could probably kick up my fitness game a bit more. In Shanghai I used to go every weekday to workout, although I ditched the gym membership and did a home workout routine when I moved to Wuding Lu. Perhaps a group-oriented gym (like a crossfit) might be a good addition, for similar reasons as to a dance class.

Gyms are starting to reopen, but I imagine they'll be a bit sparse for a while yet.

Jam Sessions

My bass playing has gotten to the point where I can probably scrape along during a jam with other amateur musicians. If I was participating in a couple garage bands or able to attend some kind of open jam, that might be a way to meet an artistic crowd that I'm lacking right now, and get some nightlife to engage in.

Venues are all basically closed forever, it seems, but doesn't seem impossible to jam out in the summer sun.

Dungeons & Dragons Games

I actually already run a bi-weekly campaign for my brother and his circle, and I am a player in a weekly game at the Pawn & Pint. I've always been able to maintain pretty committed groups of people in my games though, so I could run another campaign in a different context to meet some new people regularly. It'd be a bit of a commitment though.

I'd probably run it at Pawn & Pint on weekends between my current bi-weekly campaign, but it'd be a significant commitment of my time.

Classes

I could take an art class of some kind (painting, pottery, literature...) with other people through a local school or college. They're not very high commitment, and would certainly mix me up with people outside my normal domain at the moment.

A lot of classes are basically cancelled or remote at the moment though, so that complicates things.