5/8/20 Kenton Zhang Period 8

Kenton Zhang

Period 8

May 8, 2020

Blogger #32

Modern Mythology 2020

Write about what you learned in your online English lessons.

The most recent English lesson I had was about the historical and cultural origins of zombies. I already knew about the idea of Haitian voodoo zombies and the practice, but I never put two and two together and realized that the practice and the modern interpretation were one and the same. We were shown an article about someone who had taken a picture of a woman who was supposedly buried in 1907 and was found alive as a zombie 29 years later, and I’m very interested in this story. I want to know how it was eventually resolved, if at all, and what really happened with this picture. Was it a fake picture, or just a different person, or something else? 

Beyond that, we also learned about the impact of Night of the Living Dead on the societal outlook on the zombie medium, which is a movie I’ve personally never seen but have heard of. It’s weird to me to think about how monsters like the vampire have been around for hundreds of years, while the contemporary idea of zombies is much more recent in comparison. I really did learn a lot about zombies that I never knew before.

What is it like working from home?

I honestly like this working from home feeling. I can do my work at my own pace instead of having to do it all in 45 minute increments, I can take breaks when necessary, and whenever I’m hungry or thirsty or need to use the bathroom I can just get up and go without having to ask anyone for anything or waiting until lunch. I have a somewhat regular schedule, so I’m able to get into a new rhythm and get accustomed to this new lifestyle. Maybe this working from home has also allowed me to procrastinate more and get distracted more easily, but that’s definitely something I can fix should it become a problem, and I can hyper-focus on things well if I have to. My biggest concern is what will happen should we start physically going to school again, because it would be a very sudden change in schedule, and I’d have to throw away everything I’ve gotten used to during this time. I’d be losing over two hours of sleep as well, and neither my body nor my brain would enjoy that at the beginning. At the same time, while I am fine with this work from home schedule, we probably will have to go back to school eventually, whether it be later this year or starting in September, so I’ll have to adjust anyway.

Your own personal feelings and thoughts about what is happening right now.

I think this is pretty scary. Now that America has hit over a million cases, which is leagues beyond any other country, I’m a little unsure on what’s going to happen. We’re going to need something huge in order for this to die down, and that’s not even including all of the other countries still being impacted. This year so far has been absolutely crazy, and not a very good sign of things to come. I’m grateful that me and my family are ok, but I’m extremely worried about my family who don’t live with me, especially my grandparents. I just hope that somehow everything will turn out ok in the end, but I just can’t be sure.