Hello out there, how are you? I hope I’ll find you in a good mood on this Easter Monday despite everything. But if life and this virus have given you, a lousy blow, know a candle is lit for you, and you are in my thoughts and prayers.

I have to admit I totally missed Easter. Suddenly the chocolate Easter egg adverts appeared on the telly, and I thought: “What its Easter already?” Apparently, it is, but we just skipped it. What about you? Are you in the mood for Easter?

Well, it’s come away with me Monday, and today we travel to China. “But Bee, the virus….” you might gasp. Yes, my dear readers China. A huge country and age-old culture. They healed prolifically while we still sat on trees, so lets let go of our prejudices and learn something about the country:

(the presenter eats a couple of things Westerners would never eat. Please do not watch this video if you feel strongly about eating dogs and innards)

I have to admit that I think a lot about the future of travel at the moment. Will we ever be able to travel as we used to? Will we ever be able to gather in bigger groups or will there always be one or the other illness, that will prevent that? A terrifying thought. As we can’t travel at the moment and many of us never have the chance to go to China anyway I’ll share another China video with you:

Ok, I have to admit I didn’t do my research particularly well when I chose today’s artist. Miriam Yeung is from Hong Kong and not from mainland China. So you could accuse me of cheating. I hope hough you forgive me because she trained as a nurse and sings both in Cantonese and Mandarin. These languages are pretty Chinese in my books.

From what I read, she is quite a superstar, and acts/writes too. Apple music writes about her:

About Miriam Yeung

Hong Kong-based singer and actress Miriam Yeung quickly became one of Cantopop’s biggest superstars after rising to fame on television. Born on February 3, 1974, she worked as a registered nurse at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong prior to finishing third at the 1995 New Talent Singing Awards. Her impressive performance in the television singing competition led to a recording contract. Yeung made her recording debut in 1996 and proceeded to release new music annually, scoring numerous hits over the years. Her success as a singer led to acting roles, particularly in comedies. ~ Jason Birchmeier

I had a look around but could not find out much more, so here is her song “Courage”. You find the translation of the lyrics after the video.

Courage

verse1

I’m not afraid of nothing.

I’m not afraid of death.

But before a romantic hot kiss,

no matter how dangerous and steep the cliff is,

I’ll take it as level ground because of you. 

It doesn’t take reasons to love you.

I only hope that I can catch you with my intuition and instinct.

Once I think of my darling you,

the strength that I have never had

is suddenly injected into my arms from which my power is straining. 

chorus

Others never approve of it,

nor the rules allow it,

but I still fall with all my love

and don’t even feel the pain

when I’m wounded.

If I chase after a dream forever,

even the most passionate ones

are not so courageou as I am for you.

However red the red lights are along the way,

I’ll allow no one to stand on my way because I’ll look like a rushing battalion.

I’m not a sweetheart,

and I only have this bit of courage. 

verse2

I hope to be cherished and loved too,

but I’m willing to protect you as if I were a hero.

Even if you don’t give me medals,

I’ll still stick to it and ward off attacks for you with a proud smile. 

chorus bridge

I’d fall but I’d be on my feet again

just like a roly-poly.

I have clearly missed the target,

but I’ll try my best to redeem it. 

Others never approve of it, nor the rules allow it,

but I still fall with all my love

and don’t even feel the pain

when I’m wounded.

If I chase after a dream forever,

even the most passionate ones

are not so courageous as I am for you.

However red the red lights are along the way,

I’ll allow no one to stand on my way because

I’ll look like a rushing battalion.

Even if I don’t have any backup,

I still have this bit of courage. 

Every person that wants

to be loved loves in a courageous way.

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/%E5%8B%87-courage.html

Come Away With Me 2020 Musical Challenge Country for Monday April 26th, 2020

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we are going to visit Japan. Find out about interesting musicians on the JapanZone page.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first week? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not always work so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2020 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2020 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2020MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2020 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

I am writing this post on Friday, so I can rest my arm for a couple of days. My plans are to read blog posts and books and watch as much tv as I can bear. Maybe I do a trial of that new Disney Channel. By now (Friday at 12.36 pm) I haven’t heard from the oncologist yet, so I don’t know if I have to go on Wednesday or if it will be a phone appointment. Cancer treatment is stressful at normal times, but in times of COVID-19, I find it rather terrifying. For now, I try not to think of it and deal with it when we come to it. But I assume it will be quite an adventure. I hoped I would get around chemo- and radiotherapy but am not given that relief. So I prepare myself for losing my hair which will be quite hard. I love my hair and I do not care for wigs. I’ve already decided I would work with scarves and hats. I love scarves and we have tons of them so I should be able to make myself look in a way that I can bear. I might start talking like a pirate 🙂

Keeping the blogging up will definitely help too and I hope the treatment doesn’t make feel too sick so I won’t be able to write. We’ll know more soon…

Why am I writing about my day and life?

Linda over at “Life in Progress” has started the “What day is it anyway” blog event. She invites us all to share a little of our new daily routines, struggles and successes. She writes: “

Why I’m writing this post:

Because if you’re like me and stuck at home already, or if you’re going to be like me soon, the days of the week are going to be hell to keep track of. We have a wonderful community here on WordPress and all over the Internet as well, and I’m sure many people are feeling nervous and/or isolated. I want to make sure every one of us has somewhere to congregate and someone to talk to.

I want everyone to know that you can start discussions with each other in the comments, and if you’d like to write your own “What Day is it Anyway?” post, you can link to this one. Hashtag #WDIIA.

Let’s keep in touch!

Thanks Linda, your rock!

I can only encourage you to take her up on the offer 🙂 . Here is her post from Thursday.

And for all those who still have to go to work…. 😉

And one last thing 🙂

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Charity Boudicca Appeal

I would also like to encourage you to support the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Charity’s Boudicca Appeal. They are fundraising 800 000£ to create a dedicated breast cancer unit. The hospital today sees almost double as many breast cancer patients than they did five years ago. That is an enormous rise and puts a lot of pressure on the current facilities and staff. 

For me, that meant so far five journeys to Norwich within a month. That is between 35 and 45 minutes travel each way and the worry, not knowing what comes. On Thursday the 5th of March, we went again. We found out that my cancer needs an operation and probably radiotherapy. But I won’t know for sure until two weeks after the operation. While I am holding up well, it still puts a lot of pressure on my family and me. 

They say on their page they want to build:” An enhanced environment. Purport-built, spacious waiting, diagnostic and treatment rooms. Counselling rooms for women with a breast cancer diagnosis.
Better experience for patients with fewer days of anxiety while patients wait for results.”

That would help a lot. According to the NHS, 1 in 8 women is diagnosed with breast cancer in their life time. So it is essential to create better facilities for breast cancer care. The staff I have met so far are doing an excellent job. They are so caring, being extremely effective and supportive. They do deserve a better work environment.

So please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Happy Monday to you all despite everything. May you stay safe and healthy!