summation of two
grey tones, utrecht.
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1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
moved four times in a year, met t.'s parents, lived from my suitcase for three months (while travelling non-stop), swum in the sea, had someone on the back of my bike, hosted a christmas day dinner, went on a real vacation without my laptop, missed my return flight on purpose, ate horse meat, lived with somebody, curated and worked on projects in europe, had a lawyer and an accountant (i feel so adult)
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
no resolutions for me just small goals
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
yuk gave birth to ferdinand
4. Did anyone close to you die?
luckily no
5. What countries did you visit?
china, the netherlands, belgium, poland, slovenia, finland, germany, italy, hong kong, greece and turkey
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
more energy to develop outside projects, a longer visa, more productive reading, a more stable place to live, dutch language skills and better asian cooking skills
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
january 11 - the night where t. ended up in my house
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
finished a tough programme, worked on various projects on the side, started a relationship with t., found a job in an amazing institution in amsterdam
9. What was your biggest failure?
i think i had a lot of difficult patches along the year but was very thankful i got past them
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
i fell twice from my bike and my chronic backaches
11. What was the best thing you bought?
my coat from berlin
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
t., magda and my parents
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
sometimes ana
14. Where did most of your money go?
food, plane tickets and drinks
15. What did you get really, really really excited about?
going to poland, slovenia, getting a job, finishing the programme and going home back to hong kong
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
arthur russell
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier
ii. thinner or fatter? just about the same
iii. richer or poorer? poorer - europe is expensive
18. What do you wish you'd done more?
reading books, cleaning the apartment and making more friends
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
travelling and stressing out (and teethgrinding in my sleep)
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
hauled all the plates and pans from t.'s place to mine biking through the icy sleet, started cooking like a fiend for nine people. the menu of the night was fried shrimp wontons, onion soup, baked stuffed white sole on a bed of spinach, a roast tenderloin fillet with a red wine vinegar soy sauce and a magnificent cheese plate and then i passed out towards the end of the dinner in bed which was laughable.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
yes yes yes
22. How many one-night stands?
one that started everything
23. What was your favorite TV program?
i don't have a tv anymore, but i still watch mad men occasionally
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
not really
25. What was the best book you read?
platform (also one of the few books i remember reading)
26. What was your greatest musical (re-)discovery?
the books and lalipuna
27. What did you want and get?
a job, a temporary apartment, a wok (i love my mom), a ricecooker (i love t.)
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
before the devil knows you're dead
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
i woke up to make tonnes of onigiri, fried wontons, was late picking t. up at the airport, had a fight, made up and had a sweet garden birthday party with friends
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a little more stability with my housing and visa situation
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
grey, eggplant coloured ensembles and turquoise dresses
32. What kept you sane?
friends, t., whiskey, gossip blogs, flash games, cooking and sleeping
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
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34. What political issue stirred you the most?
the imprisonment of liu xiao bo and the non-debate of the building of the high speed railway in hong kong
35. Who did you miss?
hong kong (everyone who lives there), tobias and the de appel girls
36. Who was the best new person you met?
t., mu xue, fulya
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
things will fall into place as long as you try hard to make them right
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
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