Conversation with Shenzhen, China Expat Yikita

In our first conversation with Yikita Padayee from South Africa, currently living in Shenzhen, China, she takes us through her journey from shaking the contentment ground to challenging herself to new adventures.   With her infectious laughter, Yikita walks us through her windy road to finding purpose, passion, and self-identity.

Yikita Padayee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yikita.padayachee
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Transcript

[00:01:59] Yikita: [00:01:59] Hello Miss Nyra . 

[00:02:04] Nyra: [00:02:04] Hi. you are looking so beautiful, 

[00:02:09] Yikita: [00:02:09] Thank you for the compliment,

[00:02:11] Nyra: [00:02:11] Love the hair. The Makeup you look stunning. 

[00:02:16] Yikita: [00:02:16] I put on a little, make up for you dear. Trust me. This is not a normal morning routine.

[00:02:29] (Sentence not clear) 

[00:02:29] They know where to go. 

[00:02:30] Nyra: [00:02:30] I was actually just about to get into the shower. I was literally like standing there naked with my towel and I looked at my phone. I'm like, Nyra three minutes, shit but like, I cannot fail on this woman. Again. We have been trying to have this conversation. You, know I was like, I'm getting on early because I am not going to (word not clear)

[00:02:58] so, how have you been?

[00:02:59] Yikita: [00:02:59] Lots going on, dude. A lot, a lot, a lot.

[00:03:05] Really my, my normal happy, bubbly self. I was so tired. I also started this fitness routine. So I'm trying to like gym four times a week and eat healthy. And so doing yoga every day, like there's just a lot happening. I really need like another catch-up session for this shit. You know what I mean?

[00:03:26] Well, how have you been?

[00:03:28] Nyra: [00:03:28] I've been good. I've been good. You know, there's some up and down days because of the pandemic, but overall staying on course and I have really been doing a lot for my, you know, for me and the business that I'm developing. So I decided to do like a visual podcast slash interviews. What I am calling for,

[00:03:53] Yikita: [00:03:53] I look like shit. 

[00:03:57] Nyra: [00:03:57] No You're fine. You're [00:04:00] gorgeous Yikita, you are gorgeous.

[00:04:01]Yikita: [00:04:01] I just had No idea today. It's the bad day. Oh my god! I see this recording room., Oh no,

[00:04:13] Nyra: [00:04:13] I can show up with, you know, I just like wash my face, brush  put a little eyeliner and lip gloss on.That's what I did for you. Most days, I just get up and wash my face and brush my teeth.

[00:04:32] I'm doing so I'm doing a series on starting in December called conversations within ex. So conversations with an ex ex meaning an ex-pat. So these are conversations with people who are ex-pats that live. Who I find interesting that have had some very interesting paths how they have used their ex patriotism, the travel , connections how they've connected with themselves through and through.

[00:05:05]And just developing themselves through the, process of being an ex-pat, you know what I'm saying? And so you've already, there's a lot for you and I want you to probably talk about it now, but I want to start with asking you the question, first of all, just talk about where you're from and However you want to 

[00:05:27] Yikita: [00:05:27] I'm so regretful. On Sunday, I actually looked so nice because I was out for the day. Damn It!

[00:05:33]Nyra: [00:05:33] Let it go., no, you look real, you look, you look fresh, like, you know, People need to meet you again, man. You look good with a nice, beautiful background. No, you're,  giving it right now. So, so yeah. So tell us,  who you are, where are you from? 

[00:05:57] Yikita: [00:05:57] Okay. So my name is Yikita [00:06:00] Padayee. I am 53 years old. I am South African born in Johannesburg, lived there for the better part of my life. Literally felt like I had loved, worked, studied partied, done it all in SA. And I got to the point where I just felt like my experience was saturated there, you know started kind of looking for something more, just knowing that there was something more out there that it was, it was there ready for me to just go and get it. The same breath, you know? Thinking about the unknown is always a scary kind of thing.

[00:06:34]You kind of put inside you stricken and whatnot, but for some reason that excited me that did not scare me. I was like, yup. Okay, I'm done here. I've done it all. I've seen it all. I've got my wonderful circle of friends have established myself in my career. I'm out, this is peace out SA. Its been real but I need to come and see.

[00:06:54] I need to find me, you know, so. off I went looking for an international job, actually, it was teaching English in Japan. So I joined the jet program and i went , actually. Sorry, before that, there was a bit of an instance. Okay. God, , I'm jumping. 

[00:07:12]Let me just, let me just finish my, background. I am in China, living in Schengen, working as a teacher and English teacher to grade 11 students. I'm living in Shenzhen. This is my second year here. My fourth year in China. I'm living with my boyfriend. He's amazing. His name's Matthew he's from Canada. We've actually just gotten a place together in the last couple of months. Life is good. I've pretty much be like I have a very balanced life in,  China now finally. Yeah, I, go home as often as I can, unfortunately, due to lock down. That is not even a possibility. No idea of when we might even go home, you know, just on, in the pipeline for us. So that's, that's a bit of a stress, but I am a very family orientated person, so this makes it very hard.

[00:07:58] For me to be away from home, [00:08:00] especially now with the not knowing when I won't see my family again. I miss them terribly. I speak to them all the time. It's probably the hardest part of being away from home is just that connection and the time difference doesn't make it any freaking easy 

[00:08:14] Nyra: [00:08:14] I know 

[00:08:15] Yikita: [00:08:15] In China, not being able to connect, through WhatsApp  it's simple things that make this, process really challenging, but yeah, basically that's, that's me in a nutshell, a teacher currently living in Shenzhen from SA. Yep. That's me. 

[00:08:32] Well, there is so much to that but basically in a nutshell 

[00:08:37] Nyra: [00:08:37] okay. Well, I wanted to rewind to, when you talked about, you were talking about Japan looked like it was like there was a little windy road before you ended up in, in China. 

[00:08:48] Yikita: [00:08:48] Yes. Yeah, definitely. There was. So when I was still a student there was this work study program. That you could go to the USA on a J one visa. So you had to be a full-time university student and my friends and I looked at this as the most incredible opportunity and be like, yeah, okay, we're doing this. None of us actually had money to book a ticket. No, we had no idea how the, what the whole process was. And there were like a bunch of agencies there to help you, but you just pay them like a frequent exorbitant fee.

[00:09:20] And we thought, yeah, this is ridiculous. We're going to do this on our own. Right. So we researched all the places from Colorado to LA to wherever we wanted to be at. And we just, we decided right. Orlando weights that [word not clear] we want to go to Disney or SeaWorld, or you know, one of those, like one of the parks and just be like a park operator.

[00:09:39] That was us. So we literally spent the whole year throwing events, tutoring doing whatever the hell, bartending, you name it, just doing whatever we could to make cash, to book that ticket to the state. Right. Right. So that was it. November came around. It was literally a case of like, [00:10:00] right. I need to start studying my ass off for my final exams.

[00:10:02] Because in SA our summer is December Jan. Right? So November is our final exams and then the new year starts in February. So. And final exams come around and we were like, right, we're not going to be here. If there's any rewrites or supplementary deferred exams, none of that shit. We need to work our asses off both in academics, as well as trying to get ourselves to the States. So we studied hard. Left before we even got our results. Got the ticket on that flight. I mean, there's a massive, long story and trail to how we actually got to that point. But nonetheless, we got on the flight off to the States. Turns out at the time that Obama was coming into inauguration. So what started off as a trip that was like $5 to the rent.

[00:10:52] Was literally double that by the time we arrived. So all of our savings was like, shit, it was, it was nothing, you know? And then we were like, illegal 

[00:11:04] Nyra: [00:11:04] black was hot. So they doubled it. 

[00:11:09] Yikita: [00:11:09] I'd been saving the whole year, but now I can’t even buy bananas. Like what is happening? Ridiculous. So we went to (word not heard) 

[00:11:21] Life was good, except that it took us a really long time to actually get onto the immigration system and get our social security numbers and all of that. So these, this, this the savings pocket was running very dry. So all the grand plans that I had to like study, or I'm sorry, work in the States and then save up some cash and do the whole Caribbean Island cruise thing head to Jamaica that was the goal at the time. None of that shit actually ended up, right. Like if we just, we ended up traveling quite a bit, like mainly in Florida, but. That was, that was where the travel bug really hit me. You know, it was my first solo trip with my girls , but basically an [00:12:00] independent trip, you know, where I had to save for it myself and I, I just planned everything from start to finish and coming back home.

[00:12:09] You know, I think it was my third year then. So that was my final year of my degree. That's all I kept thinking about like, where am I going to go? Who can afford them? We're going to do, I mean, I'm going to make some money to get audio again, you know? And then yeah, I started, I graduated, continued working in South Africa, actually had a bursary, so I was already employed at the company.

[00:12:29] So life was good. Year after that, like I literally finished a year there and I thought. Okay. Now we had to, literally, the world is my oyster. Like where can I go? Can I just like, you know, spin a globe, put my finger down somewhere and just jet off there? And how exactly Japan kind of fell in my lap. I feel like it did actually just fall in my lap, but somehow, I think it was one of my friends that introduced me to the jet program and she and I applied together.

[00:12:56]So this is about three, two three years after I graduated and stuff. Applied to the jet and I got accepted, It was quiet a rigorous process. It took months of actual, you know, back and forth. First interview, second interview, this documentation, these freaking really hectic medical examinations. And, you know, the draw like when coming to China, no different, right.

[00:13:20] Yeah, so it was that whole process and yeah, finally got to Japan was placed at an absolutely incredible school. I had two schools, my base school in Takasaki, which was like a hundred kms North of Tokyo. So on the main Island and I had I'm very academic prestigious high school that I was placed in and my students were incredible. They were so motivated. They all wanted to be like astronauts and work at NASA. And they were all super keen to come and study in the States. So for that reason, when I walked into the class, they were like, yay. And falling down. It just like so angry. But then my other school was like, what they call the visit [00:14:00] school.

[00:14:00] I went there like twice a week. And it was literally in the middle of nowhere, like proper boonies, like you are cycling through rice paddies to get to the school. I kid you not. And these kids are like, What the fuck are you doing here? Yeah, we never got to speak English. Why do I need to listen to you? So it was really hard, you know, motivate them, but nonetheless, I loved teaching. I loved the feeling. I loved the planning. I loved the working with my colleagues and just learning. It was my first proper taste of, teaching in a proper classroom. Prior to that, I'd done like a bunch of, you know, junior positions and stuff like that, but nothing had that hands on. And after a year, unfortunately, I couldn't continue my contracts.

[00:14:45] I went back home to SA continued in marketing and IT and digital marketing. And that whole space was also blowing up. So the whole social media marketing and advertising, and it was a perfect industry to get into, but there was something missing, you know, I just kept, I really was progressing my career very well. I had kind of gotten to a point where I felt like I'm one step below. Basically, running this company. It was a small company, but nonetheless, I had a lot of responsibility and leeway and it was awesome. I had passion for it, but there was still just something that didn't feel like I was fully fulfilled.

[00:15:23] I didn't wake up with that zest to jump out of bed every morning, you know? And it was weird. Like I remember talking to my friend. So now this is back in SA just before coming to China. Right? I, I remember it was, it was like April and I woke up my friend came over for breakfast and we decided to go out and get a cup of coffee. And on the way I told, you know what, I'm going to get back into teaching. Like, I don't know where, I don't know if I'm want to teach in SA. I don't even think that's a possibility with credentials and whatnot, but no, I would have to go back and study.

[00:16:00] [00:15:59] Nyra: [00:15:59] Is it different in SA?. 

[00:16:02] Yikita: [00:16:02] No well in that you need to be a certified teacher. You need a Bachelor of Education degree, which I didn't have. I have a Bachelor of Commerce. So in order for me to taught in some, I would have had to go back to university study, bachelor of education from scratch, become a certified teacher BGS. And that was proper full-time study for like a good four years. And I just didn't have that fun, time on my hands or any of that, you know? So, yeah. I literally had this, this chat with her over a coffee and I go home that afternoon and I look at my LinkedIn profile and there was a recruiter that was a head hunter  or I was head hunted, by this recruiter for China. And I looked at that and I thought, are you freaking kidding me?

[00:16:44] I literally woke up with this thought this morning, I spoke to one person about it this morning, and yes, this email, this person somehow figured out where my, who I am, what I'm about and is eager to contact me. And the ball just started rolling from there. You know, I got in touch with her and, and next minute I know like the tickets booked.

[00:17:08] Nyra: [00:17:08] Isn't it amazing when you did that with the right person? That it just goes real right?

[00:17:19] Yikita: [00:17:19] Right. It was too good to be true right? Was like, I doubted like nice, it's a scam. Am I going to be like trafficked? 

[00:17:26] Nyra: [00:17:26] I get that know because I had a fast turnaround too when I first got my first job. It's interesting. What you said about the, the speediness of getting this job. So you thinking all of these things, like, you know, what could I possibly be trafficked?

[00:17:46] Can I possibly what kind of situation am I going to be in? So what did you, did you do anything to kind of, you know, ease yourself to, how did you come to the decision to say yes? 

[00:18:01] [00:18:00] Yikita: [00:18:01] To be fair, knew that the decision was going to be yes. Before I was even approached. Right. Like I said, I had felt it within myself that I was ready for this role or this position for this move. So when it came my way, it felt like it was definitely real, but I have to question it nonetheless. And. The thing is I really just go by feeling, I trust my intuition and then you've got, you know, that, that actual feeling that's within you, that it overrides that jaw , clenching nervousness, if you have that or, you know, the anxiety and all of that. And. When I really sat with it. I mean, fortunately I didn't have 24 hours like you did. I actually had a couple of days to decide and, you know, between interviews with the, with the principal. And

[00:18:50] so in that time I didn't stop thinking about it. And every time I did, I got butterflies. As opposed to that, that feeling like. You know, like you're free-falling but you know not the good kind. Like something. Yeah. No, that's why I say I go by feeling and I feel like your body tells you a lot when you ask it. Or even if you just recognize, if you're just aware, you know, if you notice your jaw clenching, you realize, yeah, this is, this is probably not a good decision. Why are you tensing up for this? You know, though the cracking of the knuckles or something like that. And none of those things were happening to me. I was getting the butterflies. I was excited. I was. Researching more and more about it. And the more I researched, the more comfortable I felt as well.

[00:19:31] Because, I mean, at the end of the day, I'm going there completely alone. Totally independent. Totally. Yeah. Literally in the middle of nowhere with no one that I know, no safety net, no compensation, no nothing. So I need to make myself feel like I am ready for this. I need to prepare myself for this process. And. Literally everyone, my mom and family included, were all questioning. Like, what the hell are you doing now Yakita? You are always up to something, but [00:20:00] China really?

[00:20:04] You know, they're like China is not Japan. You know, it's a different experience. You went down a coordinated program. This is you all whimsy, just like whimsical, natured and shit. Off into the universe and you have no idea what these holes and I was like, I know isn't that a lovely, that's amazing. And they just didn't get it. But that, that's what drives me. That's that's as crazy as it sounds. That is what really excites me. Otherwise I get bored. So I have to do that. I have to chase that. 

[00:20:31] Nyra: [00:20:31] This was your family. That was like a question. So  tell me what has changed with your  what was your relationship? Prior to your move. And what's your relationship now with your family now that they've seen you, your journey a little bit living and working abroad. 

[00:20:53]Yikita: [00:20:53] I think that will always, especially my mom she's Oh, cause I'm the baby of the family. Right. So she knows that I'm very adventurous and I'm quite the go getter and she's always supportive. She's super supportive. She might not always be happy with my decisions. But she'll support it, nonetheless, because I think she believes that she has grown this woman up with all of the wonderful abilities and qualities to be able to take on whatever the hell she puts her mind to. And she's always given us that kind of confidence to say, you got this, you know, just whatever you want to do. I got your back, but you got this. And even though she would. Give me the, you know, exactly, you know, she's incredible. And, I am today because of her. She really is the most incredible woman. And we so yeah, she would always give me the voice of reason. And the other side of the, of the tale that I probably wasn't thinking about, or wasn't didn't want to confront, or didn't want to consider because, you know, I'm, I'm. Trying to keep it all happy and positive and not think about the negative. And she's like, look, it's not negativity. It's realistic. Like, just be real. Think about every single Avenue here before you make a solid decision. [00:22:00] So, yeah, she has always been supportive, and she always has also offered me the, the solid advice that I probably would not have thought of on my own.

[00:22:08] But prior to leaving South Africa, in fact, I've always been super close to my family. Like we are, we've been through a lot together. So when I say my family, I referred to my mom and my two sisters, my dad and my step-dad passed away within six months, apart from each other after each other. And that was 14 years ago, and that was a really, really, really challenging time for us. Like you, you just, you know, just, it was the first experience of grief and death and loss and. Six months later, it happened again. And it's like, you don't even understand what you're going through, you know, and we could have either pulled apart or pull together as a unit.

[00:22:48] And it definitely strengthened our relationship because now we just, it's all we had was each other, you know, and that made us even more supportive of each other. So yeah, when I speak about my family, I'm referring to them and we've always had a really solid bond. And that was existing even before I left South Africa. So when I left, it's literally them having a freaking party with me at the airport before I leave. And when I come back, it's like balloons and banners and welcoming me back. It's that type of family 

[00:23:21] Nyra: [00:23:21] What is my family doing? I need to get, like, why the hell I don't get banners and stuff like that. They just tell me how much

[00:23:28]Yikita: [00:23:28] it is. It's amazing.

[00:23:30] Nyra: [00:23:30] You need to stay still. You know, it's time for you to get still. Now, it's time for you to throw me a party. You know, I add value 

[00:23:40]Yikita: [00:23:40] Shit cut me some cake 

[00:23:42] Nyra: [00:23:42] there'll be, I need some cake, Give me some cake. You know, so yeah. So yeah, I mean, it's crazy. What now? The thing I wanted to talk to you about, because I know a little bit about you. You know, where I met you [00:24:00] and what has happened, some of the experiences you've had since knowing you. So when I first met you, like what you look like physically, it's like an Indian woman. Yeah. Nobody has said. Right? you would say I'd never been to India. My lineage is I'm South African. I've never been to India, which I thought was fascinating.

[00:24:25] And then, you went. To India. So we'll just get into that. Talk about what does that mean? What does that mean in South Africa? What does that mean? Your identity, your physical identity, your identity. Just talk about your identity in just in general. 

[00:24:45]Yikita: [00:24:45] Just a couple of things to it. I'd say firstly, South Africa is known as a rainbow nation, right? So there's quite an, I want to say equal mix of Indian, black, white colored. So color it being mixed race. But they actually race on their own. It's not like a black and a white had a baby and then they had a colored baby, like colored has now become an actual race in South Africa. You know, you still get mixed race. Like my sister, for example, has she's Indian and her boyfriend is colored and their baby's mixed race. So it's quite strange, but nonetheless, so majority of the country is obviously black. Indians are the minority about 2% of the nation, but they are freaking everywhere. Literally in Johannesburg. I never felt that kind of segregation because I grew up post about it.

[00:25:28] I was very blessed to have gone to a proper multi-racial school and all of that. So yeah, the ones, a lot of Indian students, but. But they were. Right?. And I never really looked at color. Like, Oh, she's my white friend or my black friend or my Indian friend or anything like that. It was just men. It's my homie, you know, but I think my upbringing was, was quite different.

[00:25:52] Like my family are all Indian. My mom and dad are both Indian, but I'm a fifth generation in South African Indian. Like I actually have [00:26:00] no trace of who is actually from India, who in my family was actually from India. And we have out in India. I know someone along the line was, but I actually have no trace of that. Right. I don't think anyone in my family that's alive today actually knows that So as far as we know, we  are south African and we just look Indian basically, but the culture is there and that's, that is what I really, really love about being South African in, in, in an Indian. Right. So I can relate to both cultures, the South African culture.

[00:26:30] That's my, that's my country. That's my nation. I'm super patriotic, but I'm also really proud to be to have some kind of ethnicity in terms of being Indian, you know, so I, I am Hindu. I believe I am religious, not to the extent where I'm super staunch [word not clear]  and that's what I was saying about my family. Like, they are all Indian and we all are Hindu, but they've never been ridiculously strict or , , you know, in terms of like, Eating beef, for example, or we're not vegetarian, you know, we do a couple of fast and we celebrate Diwali and we do the main ones as we feel is the important ones to us.

[00:27:05] You know, that's auspicious to us, but if I had to look at that in terms of maybe other families in South Africa, the Indian families. We would be frowned upon because our practice is too liberal and theirs is a lot more staunch. You know, you should be wearing a tikka and you should be wearing a sari and you should go, should do this and do that.

[00:27:23] And, and we, my, I was never brought up with that kind of you know, authoritative kind of figure in my life, telling us what to wear and where to go and what to do and how to behave. Right. My family was very much open-minded in that way, but now in terms of India, I think it's any Indian South African is kind of frowned upon in a way, not, not obviously a very massive generalization, but frowned upon in the way that we believe we Hindu.

[00:27:50] I'm proud of being an Indian, but to them, it's like they question like, aren't you like a very diluted Indian, like, do you actually know your culture? You know, can you even [00:28:00] speak in Indian language? Which I can't. So that determines how Indian I am to them. You know, like literally going to India was one of the most interesting experiences ever. I felt like a foreigner, but I visited, local people looking at me, like talking to me in the local dialogue, not even Hindi that I could have probably understood a little bit. If they had, they spoken very slowly, but they were talking to me like, I can't even pronounce the name of the language.

[00:28:30] Like Malayalam something like that in the South of India. Anyway, very, very difficult language to understand. And they looked at me and all excited and was just tararararara.

[00:28:41] Nyra: [00:28:41] Hi.

[00:28:48] Yikita: [00:28:48] And they were so disappointed. They're like, what kind of an Indian are you? You know? Like, are you, do you think you're going to come here and seek your spiritual truth or come back to your roots? And I'm like, man, I'm just in holiday. Oh shit. I don't know what I'm saying.

[00:29:09] Both Laughing continuously

[00:29:21] Nyra: [00:29:21] was any of, any of it familiar like from your upbringing? Cause I know what you said was which I thought was great. It's like, even though you can't trace back who in your family is from India, cause you just know that everybody's from South Africa, but you did get the culture. So there's somebody that just allowed that culture to, you know, and that's just the power of, you know, traditions and teaching traditions and teaching, you know, your children certain practices that fosters, you know community, family bonding and everything [00:30:00] else.

[00:30:00] So you got that. So what I wanted to know was. Like one of the things I pick up from Indians, like they're very close-knit family. They, and they move just like that. So if you get married, you are married, literally the entire family. Yeah, they don't mess around. Right. 

[00:30:20] Yikita: [00:30:20] And yeah, the whole family have tests to approve your partner, you know, give you the, the, you know, the go ahead.

[00:30:27] If they, they, they get, or this, the suitable fit. I'm, I'm grateful that my family are not like that. But I, I certainly know a lot of Indian families that are like that. They do dictate to their, to their parents, to their children. Sorry. No, you need to study this. You need to be an accountant. You need to marry a lawyer and you need to live in this household with me and 12 other relatives and cook dinner every day. And this is, this is the life and it's dictated to them and they don't question it because that's disrespectful and you just don't dare disrespect your elders, you know? Whereas in my family that has never been the case. And I I'm very grateful personally.

[00:31:03] I am. I, I don't wish it was any other way, but yeah, it's, it's definitely a unique situation, I would say. In terms of being, you know, the, the family upbringing in South Africa and as well as still being able to relate to certain cultures and customs and traditions that are Done in India, like, like you asked, did I relate to anything when I went there? Absolutely. I did. I knew the prayers that were done at the temples. I knew what the names of the you know; the spiritual gods and goddesses were. And I could explain, because I went with Matthew, my boyfriend who is white and Natasha who's colored, and neither of them knew much about the Indian culture. So I was like this mini tour guide for them, even though I was educating myself as I was going.

[00:31:49] But there was a lot of things that just came naturally to me, you know, the food on the menu. I knew absolutely all of the dishes. I knew how to eat with my hands. To them. It was like, oh my God, I do what. How do I do that? What, how did [00:32:00] you know, fit it into my mouth? And to me it's natural. It's normal. It's just what we do, you know? I grew up doing so it was interesting to actually see how much of Indian culture is installed in me. And it, for me, I never actually took the time, or I never needed to perhaps just realize that, man, I'm actually pretty authentically Indian. I said, yeah, sure. It's diluted and all of that. But, but in my heart, in my soul, in my being, I still I resonate with being Indian, you know? Right. 

[00:32:31] Nyra: [00:32:31] That's amazing. You realize it was already ingrained in you. You didn't have to live in a certain kind of retreat to obtain it. You know what I'm saying? And that, that culture is in the cellular level of everybody. So it doesn't matter where you are on the planet. It comes with you and it’s, and it has an effect on. People around you,

[00:32:57] Yikita: [00:32:57] but you know what that is so up in the air right now. Like I'm not sure if you know this, but if you leave China, you lose your job, you lose your visa, you gonna pay like through your ass to book a ticket to go anywhere. So I just, I feel like at this point I can't plan to things like that, which is why everything, like literally the course that I'm doing right. There was a resident program. In July, we were meant to go to Hong Kong for three days, really intense course, but we didn't obviously end up going and they did the whole thing online. So it was over zoom with like 30 participants and they. But you're up into breakup rooms and you do your presentations and whatever, but it, it was so intense Nyra to just sit in front of your computer, listen to lectures, notes, do the presentations like, you know, the, the human interaction would have been so much more, so much more ideal.

[00:33:45] Like I remember after the lunch break, we ended up coming back onto the screen. Like you got like an hour break to go to eat or whatever. And then you saw people coming back on slowly, slowly. Right. And then. At 2:00 PM, the lecture would start and [00:34:00] everyone's there, but everyone's microphone is muted. And I piped up to say, you know, this is really weird because if we were sitting in a classroom together, we wouldn't be sitting quietly, we'd all be engaging and talking and getting to know each other. And you would learn so much just from that little experience, those little breaks between the lectures. And that was that's. That's what it's about for me, that communication, that, that. You know, back and forth correspondence, that community, that you're building with these people that you're working with and you don't quite get that same experience online.

[00:34:32] It's intense and it's quick and it's convenient, but it, it does take away that human factor. And that's how you learn best, really. I think it is. And so I'm actually really proud of myself because I have never been a person to go to the gym. And like, I love my yoga practice. That is part of my day, every single day, without fail at least five to 10 minutes. If I have more time than obviously, I do a longer practice, but I've never been one to like, do the cardio and pump iron and freaking all that shit. Protein shakes and whatnot, but I'm challenging myself because I've never done it. So it’s going to hurt right. Also with lockdown, dude, I gained like five kilos and I was just very unhappy, 

[00:35:14] Nyra: [00:35:14] 12 pounds here darling, 12 pounds. And we're about to enter a second shut down. I am really concerned about my, ass, I can't, I can't gain another 12. Is that that's that cannot happen. 

[00:35:28] Yikita: [00:35:28] You know what i will do? I will send my coach's details to you. Get in touch with this woman. She has woman. I mean, she has clients literally all around the world and you get customized programs. You get meal plans; you get everything for like less than a cup of coffee a day. And it's just 70 days, which seems, sounds very long when I'm already on week six, I've got four more weeks to go and I've seen the difference. I can feel the difference. It's changed my life. I literally wake up jumping out of bed in the morning.

[00:36:00] [00:35:59] Nyra: [00:35:59] Let's talk a little bit about what have you discovered about yourself? What's new with the key to know that she has had, she's having this experience what's new internally for you? 

[00:36:19] Yikita: [00:36:19] Yikita is going through a transition at the moment. It's, it's quite profound. I don't even feel like I can very. I can actually articulate it very well at the moment because I'm still kind of processing it, you know, but I'm on this trip right now in my own head space and being where I feel like I I need to take care of me physically. I've been part of this mental journey for a long time in terms of seeking my spiritual truth and exercising my body in terms of yoga and flexibility. I had a bit of a Surgery that I went for four years ago and that's kind of dampened my, my movement for quite a long time. And I've had to go for physio and all of that.

[00:37:04] So yoga helped me get into that and with yoga, the spiritual practice and the breathing and the mindfulness and the meditation and trying to just figure out who you are and grow with in yourself. So good for you. Go get your work out on girl. It was so lovely Catching up with you. 

[00:37:22] Nyra: [00:37:22] So we have to do this again. 

[00:37:23] Yikita: [00:37:23] I'm glad we did.

[00:37:24] Nyra: [00:37:24] Thank you for the chat.

[00:37:33] Yikita: [00:37:33] I love being part of it. Thank you so much. 

[00:37:36] Nyra: [00:37:36] I'm glad

[00:37:36]Yikita: [00:37:36] I really do wish I had known (word not clear)

[00:37:41]Nyra: [00:37:41] You were fine. Stop that. So have a good night rest well, and we'll talk soon. We'll get in touch.

[00:37:53] Awesome. Well, yeah, we're going to brief her right now. All right, bye.