As for my living, I stayed at a one bedroom Stanford West Residence practicing minimalist living surrounded by other scholars and faculty. So refreshing! One Korean floor bed, one floor chair, one floor table, one bowl, one pot, and I used one closet. The living room and den stayed empty enough for me to dance and work out in, if I wanted. I walked and ran everywhere (closest grocery was 1 km away), only having to use uber twice for groceries coming back home. I took the train to travel to the city (SFO) for events and seeing friends. It was liberating not having things, a car and furniture to clean/dust. I took advantage of Stanford programs such zumba classes (love it!), ballroom dance, healthy living, personal trainer for my half marathon training, and ran the San Francisco Half Marathon by the Pacific Ocean! The run was breathtaking and inspiring to run my personal best at 2:42! I maintained my piano by playing at some beautiful music rooms on campus.
West coast living is definitely different from east coast Boston because the weather is warm all the time, people are outside exercising more. It was common to see people show up to class in yoga wear because they had a fitness session in between. Loved it!
Big thank-you to my co-parent partner who made this possible as he hosted the kids for a bit over two months (I did visit once in the middle). Kids could have come with me, but then they would have been in three different schools in one year, so they stayed home in Toronto. Grateful and lucky for this opportunity!
Thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Stanford and bringing it all to my home U of Toronto!
