The excitement of the first lockdown is gone. 

As Japan and its citizens struggle to settle into the repetitive flow of our second lockdown, a perpetual state of boredom has encompassed the minds of hundreds of ASIJ students. So as the days of lockdown turn into weeks, many in our community may ask themselves, ‘What can I do with all my new free time?’

Following are some ideas to make your time at home as fun and memorable as possible.

Take virtual tours

Since last year, many colleges, zoos, art museums, and other tourist attractions have shifted their tours and attractions online. 

Though this could be seen before March of last year, the number of places and organizations offering virtual tours has greatly increased. 

This is amazing, especially if you are a sophomore or junior thinking about college. Many elite universities, both in the USA and abroad, offer high quality tours through programs such as YouVisit. These institutions include Princeton, Georgetown, Oxford, University of Edinburgh, and NYU Abu Dhabi. 

A variety of other institutions have moved to virtual tours as well. 

If you want something a bit more lighthearted, visit a zoo or aquarium from the comfort of your room. Some notable options include the Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Diego Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo, and the Atlanta Zoo, which keeps a “Panda Cam” live streamed on their website. 

Finally, many museums have moved their galleries online to reach a greater audience during the pandemic. 

The Louvre now offers free online tours of their three most popular exhibits. Other notable museums that offer programs like this include The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, the British Museum in London, and the Langley Research Center in Langley, Virginia. For those who may not know, the Langley Research Center offers visitors an inside look into the workings of NASA. 

Learn to cook

Though this idea may be basic, it can certainly be helpful in the future. As many ASIJ high school students enter college in a few years, the importance of cooking becomes more apparent. There are many different platforms offering cooking and baking classes online. 

Bread Ahead, a bakery in London, offers free baking tutorials on their Instagram page. These tutorials include recipes for doughnuts, bread, croissants, and cakes, and can be found on their instagram page @breadaheadbakery. 

The Institute of Culinary Education, in New York City, also offers a variety of free online cooking classes and recipes, though these are a bit fancier, and produced by professional chefs. These instructional videos can be found on their website, and include a variety of foods, ranging from salads to desserts. 

Through these online sources you and your family can perfect and expand your cooking skills. Great for spicing up life!

Find new movies

Most students at ASIJ have access to Netflix and Youtube, but there are many other websites that offer free movies that may not be available on Netflix. 

For students who have an American public library card, a website called Kanopy offers thousands of movie choices when you enter your card number and pin. However, your public library must have an account with them, which many major city libraries do. 

Another option for access to 1,150 free films is a website called Openculture. These include both classics and modern movies.

If you are more into documentaries, sites such as Documentary Tube, Top Documentary Films, and Documentary Heaven offer plenty of free documentary films, covering many topics. 

Through these suggestions, I hope your time in lockdown will be more enjoyable and memorable. Broadening life through these virtual events, classes, and websites will help not only with your boredom, but will also keep you learning during your time in lockdown. Have fun!