Week (+3) in review...
Well, here's a nice realization: I am actually making progress on my goals.
1) Become better at speaking, writing, and understanding German (ie, work on achieving fluency).
I've at least been doing things with my vocabulary, as in expanding it. For example, berufliche Werdegang fuer Offiziere means "Officer development," which is incidentally what I named one of my weird Mentee projects (no I won't bother explaining that right now, sorry). I've also been a tad better about correcting myself whenever I utter anything with bad grammar. I know the rules, I just don't apply them consistently.
2) Learn French (and possibly Italian too, if I can handle it).
I pre-emptively made progress on this one! I listened to a 50-minute French tutorial on the plane somewhere over the Atlantic. I've forgotten most of it but I think I could duplicate the pronounciations if properly goaded.
3) Show the people I care about that I really do care.
I've been doing a lot of telling, but not enough showing. I need to work on this one a lot more, and badly.
4) Make some extra money via investments.
I'm still at the "savings stage," not done anything competitive/dramatic/profitable yet...
5) Become a better, faster runner (and generally get in better overall physical shape).
To a certain degree, I have. I need to get back into the habit of timing myself so I can actually determine how much of this I have really accomplished.
6) Get my Waffenbesitzkarte and buy at least one gun here in Germany (which also means I probably need to be able to shoot trap at low-gun...a very real challenge).
I have to wait till mid-April for the hunting course that will get me qualified. In the meantime, I think I can successfully shoot trap at low-gun and hit the 5/15 required: I'll keep working at that this weekend regardless.
7) Volunteer for more things (in general).
I volunteered to put together a five-man team of shop chiefs for a dodgeball tournament on the 24th. That's a pretty good start.
8) Read and study the Bible more- and more regularly.
I am taking a new approach to reading the Bible this year: I picked up a copy of the One Year Bible and started it on 1 Jan, so far not missing a daily reading. I usually read it at night right before bed, though I've contemplated bringing it to work to cover idle moments. It's really neat and exciting, actually- the book AND the fact that I'm succeeding in this committment! I find it very refreshing to read over things that are new to me as well as passages that I am pretty familiar with, and the way the various books from the OT and NT are combined is a helpful bonus. I also think the New Living Translation is better than the NIV and perhaps even comparable to the KJV, save for its use of the older English. This topic may deserve a completely new post of itself.
9) Be more "in-touch" with people from work and/or elsewhere.
Not much to report just yet...I've been going to a few "right-after-work" gatherings with some ammo troops, but not seizing every opportunity. However, I will be jumping into the bowling scene with the guys, because the current league team will be losing a couple guys next month and if I can get my average back to 140+ I'd gladly join them.
10) Accomplish things earlier than expected of me (or of myself).
Questionable progress, at best. Work-wise, I came back from TDY/leave to discover that I am "overdue" for things that were assigned while I was away. Considering that I've caught-up with all of the ones I CAN catch up with just in a week though, I'd say that should count.
In other news, it is cold pretty consistently out here- though they say that this is a "warm winter"...I should tell them what an Arizona warm winter is like. It is overcast/dark/rainy in various degrees almost every day, and doing things outside at any time of day is not exactly fun. Maybe I just need more warm (or warmer) clothes.
Oh, and I'll be getting an entertainment center this weekend! This means I can buy a TV and even make plans to set up a sound system (though probably a modest one). Once this is done, I can finally arrange my living room furniture the way I want it and see how I might be able to use the rest of the space I have in other rooms. That is rather exciting, as I will feel satisfied at such an accomplishment and will probably even take pictures. =)
I have a four-day weekend starting tomorrow. I plan to do the above furniture stuff, more shopping, and most importantly, a lot of DVD-watching, bookreading, and relaxing. It's been a long ten days, though it's gone by so fast.
Overall Conclusion: I have really hit the ground running this year. So many good things are happening to, for, and around me...and many many many great things are on the road ahead, I'm sure of it.
That is all.
1) Become better at speaking, writing, and understanding German (ie, work on achieving fluency).
I've at least been doing things with my vocabulary, as in expanding it. For example, berufliche Werdegang fuer Offiziere means "Officer development," which is incidentally what I named one of my weird Mentee projects (no I won't bother explaining that right now, sorry). I've also been a tad better about correcting myself whenever I utter anything with bad grammar. I know the rules, I just don't apply them consistently.
2) Learn French (and possibly Italian too, if I can handle it).
I pre-emptively made progress on this one! I listened to a 50-minute French tutorial on the plane somewhere over the Atlantic. I've forgotten most of it but I think I could duplicate the pronounciations if properly goaded.
3) Show the people I care about that I really do care.
I've been doing a lot of telling, but not enough showing. I need to work on this one a lot more, and badly.
4) Make some extra money via investments.
I'm still at the "savings stage," not done anything competitive/dramatic/profitable yet...
5) Become a better, faster runner (and generally get in better overall physical shape).
To a certain degree, I have. I need to get back into the habit of timing myself so I can actually determine how much of this I have really accomplished.
6) Get my Waffenbesitzkarte and buy at least one gun here in Germany (which also means I probably need to be able to shoot trap at low-gun...a very real challenge).
I have to wait till mid-April for the hunting course that will get me qualified. In the meantime, I think I can successfully shoot trap at low-gun and hit the 5/15 required: I'll keep working at that this weekend regardless.
7) Volunteer for more things (in general).
I volunteered to put together a five-man team of shop chiefs for a dodgeball tournament on the 24th. That's a pretty good start.
8) Read and study the Bible more- and more regularly.
I am taking a new approach to reading the Bible this year: I picked up a copy of the One Year Bible and started it on 1 Jan, so far not missing a daily reading. I usually read it at night right before bed, though I've contemplated bringing it to work to cover idle moments. It's really neat and exciting, actually- the book AND the fact that I'm succeeding in this committment! I find it very refreshing to read over things that are new to me as well as passages that I am pretty familiar with, and the way the various books from the OT and NT are combined is a helpful bonus. I also think the New Living Translation is better than the NIV and perhaps even comparable to the KJV, save for its use of the older English. This topic may deserve a completely new post of itself.
9) Be more "in-touch" with people from work and/or elsewhere.
Not much to report just yet...I've been going to a few "right-after-work" gatherings with some ammo troops, but not seizing every opportunity. However, I will be jumping into the bowling scene with the guys, because the current league team will be losing a couple guys next month and if I can get my average back to 140+ I'd gladly join them.
10) Accomplish things earlier than expected of me (or of myself).
Questionable progress, at best. Work-wise, I came back from TDY/leave to discover that I am "overdue" for things that were assigned while I was away. Considering that I've caught-up with all of the ones I CAN catch up with just in a week though, I'd say that should count.
In other news, it is cold pretty consistently out here- though they say that this is a "warm winter"...I should tell them what an Arizona warm winter is like. It is overcast/dark/rainy in various degrees almost every day, and doing things outside at any time of day is not exactly fun. Maybe I just need more warm (or warmer) clothes.
Oh, and I'll be getting an entertainment center this weekend! This means I can buy a TV and even make plans to set up a sound system (though probably a modest one). Once this is done, I can finally arrange my living room furniture the way I want it and see how I might be able to use the rest of the space I have in other rooms. That is rather exciting, as I will feel satisfied at such an accomplishment and will probably even take pictures. =)
I have a four-day weekend starting tomorrow. I plan to do the above furniture stuff, more shopping, and most importantly, a lot of DVD-watching, bookreading, and relaxing. It's been a long ten days, though it's gone by so fast.
Overall Conclusion: I have really hit the ground running this year. So many good things are happening to, for, and around me...and many many many great things are on the road ahead, I'm sure of it.
That is all.