He made the ultimate sacrifice for Natural Philosophers. He married Cromwell's sister.
I wish you all a very good 2009, with much success and happiness.
My own plans for this evening consist of staying (warmly) indoors at the boyfriend's house, celebrating with his family and some of our friends, going easy on the sparkling wine and catching up on my Baroque Cycle reading.
2008 has been a most interesting for me (but then, aren't they all?). I turned 20, started law school, set foot in Europe for the very first time, gorged myself on art and baguettes in Paris, and kept my relationship going. All in all, many things to be thankful for, and many other things to reflect upon.
As for New Year resolutions, I don't really believe in those. That being said, there are a few goals that I'd like to set myself. If I've realized anything this year, it's that I have absolutely no frickin' idea of what I want to do with the rest of my life. Career and family-wise, I have no clue where I'll be five, ten years from now. Nevertheless, it is good to have some semblance of direction in life (or so they say), so here are some incredibly vague and fantastical things I'd like to get done by the time I hit...say, 29.
Be fluent in these languages:
1. ENGLISH (so far, so good)
2. FRENCH (also so far, so good)
3. CHINESE (my spoken is fine, but I would like to be able to read and write fluently in my mother-tongue)
4. SPANISH (solid foundations have been laid, now I must work on refining them and the "fluent" part)
5. GERMAN (so far, zilch; call me crazy, but I think that it's a super cute language...)
6. RUSSIAN (also a very pretty language! I know a few basic words now, and I shall only aim to be fluent, not well-versed in all the grammatical intricacies of this most complicated language)
To have visited the following places:
1. PORTOFINO, Italy
There is something about the mix of mountain and sea (two things I grew up without) that appeal to me. And add in the gorgeous weather, beautiful Italian surroundings and thriving tourism industry and you've got me hooked.
2. PETRA, Jordan
The Rose City carved into stone. Probably the only Ancient city that truly calls to me.
3. SCANDINAVIAN FJORDS
Ever since I read Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" and saw a picture of a fjord in my illustrated Larousse dictionary, I've wanted to go on a cruise to one. (And yes, I'm perfectly aware that we have numerous fjords in the province, but my heart...it is fickle. It only wants Scandinavia!)
4. INDIAN OCEAN (Mauritius would suffice very nicely, thank you very much)
Something from reading too much about Sinbad's adventures and the Dutch East Indies Company. My mind conjures up images of mangos, coconuts and incredible typhoons.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS to Milan, Barcelona, Strasbourg, Salzbourg, every French province bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and the entire countries of Germany and Austria. As much as I dearly want to visit these places (out of curiosity, history love, footie passion and plain aesthetic considerations), only the ones listed above I've been carrying around in my heart for a very long time. And in all honesty, the list above seems a lot more doable than every other European city there is.
What about you, f-listers? Any place your heart longs to set foot in, or life-goals that you've set yourself?