A Day in Hotel Isolation

I've decided that instead of doing an overview of the past few days, I'm going to write about what a day looks like for me at the moment in hotel isolation. Whilst every day is a little bit different, this is typically what a weekday looks like for me:

6:30-7:00am: Wake-Up. I don't know why, but I've been waking up super early here, which is so strange given that Australia is two hours behind New Zealand and when I was at home I was sleeping in until about 8:30am everyday. Some days I'll go back to sleep for a bit, but other days I feel ready to get on with my day. I will say that it's kind of useful that I am waking up so early as I'm getting into a good routine for when I return to school next week, although the classes are starting later than they used to for a while so I guess I won't need to wake up before 7 anyway! Sometimes waking up early does catch up to me though and I have to take a nap in the afternoon, and why not - I have the time! After I get up, I normally get dressed and make myself look half presentable, and sometimes I might do some yoga.

8:30am: Breakfast normally gets delivered between 8:30-8:45, but if I am honest, I actually don't really eat much of the food they give me for breakfast most of the time. As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, I brought some oat sachets with me that I have had almost every morning. I cook them with boiling water from the kettle, and then pop the fruit they give us on the top. Sometimes I might have what they give me, but it does depend what it is. They always give us orange juice with our breakfast, and I have quite the collection of orange juice in my fridge as I am not a big juice drinker either! Normally I drink coffee with my breakfast, but I decided that I would use this time to have a bit of a coffee detox. I surprisingly don't feel much different, but I do miss the taste for sure. Instead I've been drinking either hot water or tea, I am definitely a big fan of a hot drink in the morning. After breakfast I'll either edit a blog post, do a quick HIIT workout, or just go on my phone - oops!

10am: Freedom! Well, only for 45 minutes to about an hour maximum, but it's amazing to get out in the fresh air and walk around for a bit. I am getting a bit sick of the park we walk in as you just end up doing loops throughout the park which gets a bit repetitive especially when you're doing it everyday, but I appreciate that we get to walk wherever we like in the park and that there's so much greenery to enjoy. It has rained a couple of times in the past few days, but luckily they give us umbrellas so we can still enjoy some exercise outside - the number of people in each walking group has definitely diminished as the weather has taken a turn.

11am-12:45pm: Now, it depends on what I have on in terms of zoom classes as to what I do from around 11-6, as I don't like to go full out with HIIT and strength workouts if I have live ballet class at 1pm. Generally I use this time to do a quick work out video, run downstairs around 12 to book my walk for the next day, and possibly call my family depending on whether it's my mum's day off or not. Sometimes my lunch comes at around 12:15-12:30 so I'll eat then, but if I have a zoom class at 1pm then I tend to wait as I can't stand dancing just after I've eaten. If I don't have a live ballet class on zoom that day, I'll do class as soon as I get back from my walk so that I am done before lunch arrives. I think my favourite lunch in my time here so far has been a salad with roast veggies, so good!

12:45pm-5pm: Dancing Time! Most days I'll have a zoom ballet class from 1-2:15 or maybe 1:30-2:45. We have to do our live classes later on in the day NZ time so we are able to cater to those who are currently in other countries and different time zones. These classes are challenging in more ways than one - not only are you trying to dance to the best of your abilities and apply corrections, you are also trying to dance on carpet (not ideal!) and hang onto a chair or the wall as your ballet barre. I'm trying to tell myself that it's going to make me stronger, but I guess we will see how I feel when we get back in the studio. In addition to ballet class, I may have contemporary (also a challenge - it's not nice rolling around on hotel carpet that's for sure), yoga, conditioning, assembly, and communications (a chance to chat with our teachers and ask them questions). We also get assigned work to do in our own time, like pointe exercises, a jump program to assist us in building back into jumping for when we return to school, or our gym program. There's a lot to keep us busy and moving, which I appreciate as it helps pass the time.

5pm-6:30pm: After I am finished my dancing, I like to relax for a bit. I've really been enjoying watching Olympic Gymnastics and Diving during my time here, I find it so interesting to see how these people have mastered their sport. I may also spend this time stretching and rolling out so that I'm not too tight. I'll pop on a Spotify playlist at this time as well, music definitely helps me get through.

6:30pm-7pm: Dinner normally gets dropped off around this time, which is a bit of a change as back home in Australia my family tend to eat dinner much later. Some of my favourite dinner options since I arrived here have been miso eggplant (so good!), tofu ramen and a thai chicken salad. I really appreciate all the veggies they give us as I have heard that some people in other hotels are not so lucky.

7pm-11pm: After dinner, I'll often work on a blog post - I normally have a couple going at once that I am working on so I can keep posting them every few days or so. Writing a blog post can take a few hours, but I enjoy it so much that it doesn't feel like I am spending too long writing. I enjoy hearing from people about what they thought of my blog or a specific post, as this is my way to get my voice heard and out there. Thank you to all who are reading! I also have a shower (sadly the water pressure in the shower here is awful, the one disappointing thing about my room, hahaha) and call my family. I love seeing our family's puppy Willow on these video calls, I miss her so much! I of course miss my family a lot too - somehow this time being away from them feels very different as I think it's bothering me that it won't be very easy to travel back to Australia at the moment if something were to happen. It's not worth worrying about though, as I know I will be able to deal with any challenges as they arise - if anything this time has taught me that. I try to go to bed around 11, but sometimes I do get a bit distracted on my phone or watching something on my laptop. My mum won't be happy reading that, as she is always telling me to turn off my electronics earlier! Sorry Mum ;-).

I fly back to Wellington at 7:30am on Sunday, so not too much longer to go really. The days do seem to blend into one, and I have certainly hit the point where it's not quite fun or exciting anymore and I am definitely more than ready to fly to Wellington. I've learnt a lot about myself in this time and getting to Wellington will be even sweeter after having endured this. I can't wait!

Not quite the same weather as when I arrived!