Meme time!
Partly out of tradition, and partly because I keep freezing up when trying to write my grad school essays, and I think it's partly because it's been so long since I've written much at all. So starting small and working up to it. :) (Also, unrelatedly, the LJ editor is completely different from the way it was the last time I posted anything. Weird.)
1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Graduated college. Went to the Dominican Republic. Made actual friends with people who don't speak English. ^_^
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new year's resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but the teacher I worked with in the DR, who is also the sister of one of the nuns, got pregnant.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
One of my students died. :(
5. What countries did you visit?
The Dominican Republic!
6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Admission to a grad school would be helpful. :P Also an actual different permanent address than my parents.
7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 20--graduation day. Also December 22--the day we left the DR, and November 6--the day we went to the beach for one of the nuns' birthdays, annnd the day Kiki's and my best Dominican friend graduated high school (except I don't actually remember what date that was ^_^;;).
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I taught some first graders who didn't even know their letters, and they were starting to *read* by the end of the semester.
9. What was your biggest failure?
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
THE GRIPE. I think that's about it though. (In Spanish class, I learned that "gripe" meant "flu", but I think in the Dominican Republic it is used to refer to a cold, or the flu, or pretty much anything else with vaguely related symptoms... :P)
11. What was the best thing you bought?
In the DR I found shoes of the EXACT TYPE I have always wanted more of but could never find! I WAS SO EXCITED. (also, for that matter, I finally realized that if you buy your shoes at Walmart, of *course* they're going to fall apart in a few months...so actually this year I've finally ponied up and got really *good* boots, sandals, and dress shoes, too ^_^)
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
14. Where did most of your money go?
...travel, I think. Plane tickets, gas money...don't think I took any trains, but I mean, $500 plane tickets.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
THE DR AND A LOT OF THINGS WITHIN IT. OH AND ALSO AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. SO FREAKIN' GOOD.
16. What song will always remind you of 2012?
Us, by Regina Spektor. Also pretty much everything we sang in the DR.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier!
b) thinner or fatter? About the same, probably?
c) richer or poorer? ...richer, despite not having had an income for four months. 'Cause I didn't really have any expenses those months either because the nuns paid for everything, and...I had three jobs in the spring, one job in the summer, and more graduation gifts from family members than I expected.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
...planning ahead. O_o Only by a little, though.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
...hide behind Kiki and let her be social for me. O_o
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I went straight to Carmen's house when I got back from the DR on December 22, and stayed and did Christmassy things with his family through Christmas morning. ^_^ Then Carmen and I drove all the way to my house, and had CHRISTMAS x 2 COMBO with my family + grandparents and then just my nuclear family. So in effect we got three Christmases in one day. Then we stayed at my house for a few days, after which we went to Carmen's grandparents' house and had Christmas/New Year's with *his* extended family, and then we went back to his apartment in Philadelphia and I stayed there for a week. ^_^ Best Christmas ever.
21. What was your favorite month of 2012?
November, I think. Right around when October turned into November, I started really becoming friends with a bunch of people in the DR, and Kiki and I had gotten the hang of our class, and we had started to see really exciting progress in our students, and I was just like really excited about everything.
22. Did you fall in love in 2012?
with the DR :P
23. How many one-night stands?
none
24. What was your favourite TV programme?
AVATAR
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't think so
26. What was the best book you read?
Hmmm...well, I reread Jurassic Park, and also I read A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and it was *amazing*.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I guess I'd say Regina Spektor and Muse. Also just the sheer fact that my sister has awesome taste in music, and she acquires new music waaaaaay more than I do, so she periodically just dumps big clumps of songs into my iTunes, and then good music that I've never heard before just appears when I listen to my iPod on shuffle. :P
28. What did you want and get?
29. What did you want and not get?
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
THE HOBBIT WAS AWESOME.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
...somehow I feel like I probably mostly worked. -_-;;; I don't really remember, though. Carmen definitely cooked me tasty pancakes like he's done the past two years, though. ^_^ I turned 22.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less drama? Drama is dumb.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Still skirts and leggings. I think I gravitated a bit more toward cute girl shirts and miniskirts, but I'm not positive. Summer: basically the same but with shorts, or non-mini skirts, and no leggings obviously. :P Dominican Republic: no leggings (because winter in the DR is still as warm as summer in PA :P), and no shorts; all mid-length to long skirts, because I was working with nuns. :P
34. What kept you sane?
Reading. :) Also Kiki.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
...nobody, really. Unless you count Prince Zuko? ^_^;;;;;
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The meta-issue of how freakin' disingenuous *so many people*/news outlets are when they talk about politics, supporting their arguments with mudslinging and straw men rather than calmly and logically explaining their perspective and giving an honest representation of the other side like an adult.
37. Who did you miss?
Just about everybody at some point this year? :P
38. Who was the best new person you met?
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Graduated college. Went to the Dominican Republic. Made actual friends with people who don't speak English. ^_^
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new year's resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but the teacher I worked with in the DR, who is also the sister of one of the nuns, got pregnant.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
One of my students died. :(
5. What countries did you visit?
The Dominican Republic!
6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Admission to a grad school would be helpful. :P Also an actual different permanent address than my parents.
7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 20--graduation day. Also December 22--the day we left the DR, and November 6--the day we went to the beach for one of the nuns' birthdays, annnd the day Kiki's and my best Dominican friend graduated high school (except I don't actually remember what date that was ^_^;;).
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I taught some first graders who didn't even know their letters, and they were starting to *read* by the end of the semester.
9. What was your biggest failure?
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
THE GRIPE. I think that's about it though. (In Spanish class, I learned that "gripe" meant "flu", but I think in the Dominican Republic it is used to refer to a cold, or the flu, or pretty much anything else with vaguely related symptoms... :P)
11. What was the best thing you bought?
In the DR I found shoes of the EXACT TYPE I have always wanted more of but could never find! I WAS SO EXCITED. (also, for that matter, I finally realized that if you buy your shoes at Walmart, of *course* they're going to fall apart in a few months...so actually this year I've finally ponied up and got really *good* boots, sandals, and dress shoes, too ^_^)
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
14. Where did most of your money go?
...travel, I think. Plane tickets, gas money...don't think I took any trains, but I mean, $500 plane tickets.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
THE DR AND A LOT OF THINGS WITHIN IT. OH AND ALSO AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. SO FREAKIN' GOOD.
16. What song will always remind you of 2012?
Us, by Regina Spektor. Also pretty much everything we sang in the DR.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier!
b) thinner or fatter? About the same, probably?
c) richer or poorer? ...richer, despite not having had an income for four months. 'Cause I didn't really have any expenses those months either because the nuns paid for everything, and...I had three jobs in the spring, one job in the summer, and more graduation gifts from family members than I expected.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
...planning ahead. O_o Only by a little, though.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
...hide behind Kiki and let her be social for me. O_o
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I went straight to Carmen's house when I got back from the DR on December 22, and stayed and did Christmassy things with his family through Christmas morning. ^_^ Then Carmen and I drove all the way to my house, and had CHRISTMAS x 2 COMBO with my family + grandparents and then just my nuclear family. So in effect we got three Christmases in one day. Then we stayed at my house for a few days, after which we went to Carmen's grandparents' house and had Christmas/New Year's with *his* extended family, and then we went back to his apartment in Philadelphia and I stayed there for a week. ^_^ Best Christmas ever.
21. What was your favorite month of 2012?
November, I think. Right around when October turned into November, I started really becoming friends with a bunch of people in the DR, and Kiki and I had gotten the hang of our class, and we had started to see really exciting progress in our students, and I was just like really excited about everything.
22. Did you fall in love in 2012?
with the DR :P
23. How many one-night stands?
none
24. What was your favourite TV programme?
AVATAR
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't think so
26. What was the best book you read?
Hmmm...well, I reread Jurassic Park, and also I read A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and it was *amazing*.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I guess I'd say Regina Spektor and Muse. Also just the sheer fact that my sister has awesome taste in music, and she acquires new music waaaaaay more than I do, so she periodically just dumps big clumps of songs into my iTunes, and then good music that I've never heard before just appears when I listen to my iPod on shuffle. :P
28. What did you want and get?
29. What did you want and not get?
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
THE HOBBIT WAS AWESOME.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
...somehow I feel like I probably mostly worked. -_-;;; I don't really remember, though. Carmen definitely cooked me tasty pancakes like he's done the past two years, though. ^_^ I turned 22.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less drama? Drama is dumb.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Still skirts and leggings. I think I gravitated a bit more toward cute girl shirts and miniskirts, but I'm not positive. Summer: basically the same but with shorts, or non-mini skirts, and no leggings obviously. :P Dominican Republic: no leggings (because winter in the DR is still as warm as summer in PA :P), and no shorts; all mid-length to long skirts, because I was working with nuns. :P
34. What kept you sane?
Reading. :) Also Kiki.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
...nobody, really. Unless you count Prince Zuko? ^_^;;;;;
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The meta-issue of how freakin' disingenuous *so many people*/news outlets are when they talk about politics, supporting their arguments with mudslinging and straw men rather than calmly and logically explaining their perspective and giving an honest representation of the other side like an adult.
37. Who did you miss?
Just about everybody at some point this year? :P
38. Who was the best new person you met?
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.