(no subject)
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Doing a year-in-review post at 4am is maybe not the best of ideas but what the hell, I'm doing it.
2010 was...in a word, hectic. I lost my last surviving grandparent and one of my pets, moved twice, worked three different jobs, and traveled to New York twice, Minneapolis twice, Kansas City once and then Japan.
Despite all that, I think it was a good year for me. I think I've really gotten to know myself better and gotten better at just being more comfortable in my own skin and more confident in myself. I've met new friends, deepened relationships with old ones and this is all sounding very sappy now but it's true.
But of course, saying that I look forward to 2011 with a lot of trepidation. I have a love-hate relationship with my current job (which might even be changing come August) and the country it's in. I have no real clue where my career path is leading for the future. I'm going to be missing out on three cons and meet ups with my stateside friends this year. I'm going to miss out on seeing my oldest friend get married. This year will mark the longest span of time that I've spent living in a foreign country.
The fact that I'm writing this all up at 5am probably isn't helping a whole ton, but being back home for the holidays has just really reminded me how much I love my friends and how much I hate being so far away from them. And how hard it's going to be to spend another year away.
I'm not really the sort of person to make resolutions, but basically the majority of 2010 felt like a really amazing upswing for me that ended with a fairly steep plunge that just started to gradually work its way back up at the end. I suppose my goal for 2011 will be to try and regain that upswing and put a bit more energy into making my time in Japan feel like less of a waste of my time. People will be visiting, which should help immensely, and I do want to try and get around the country and the area a bit more to just see sights and experience more of what's out there.
Hopefully this time next year will find me having bested the JLPT and looking forward to the end of my contract. There's other things I could throw in there, but I'm just going to try to keep it simple for now.
Doing a year-in-review post at 4am is maybe not the best of ideas but what the hell, I'm doing it.
2010 was...in a word, hectic. I lost my last surviving grandparent and one of my pets, moved twice, worked three different jobs, and traveled to New York twice, Minneapolis twice, Kansas City once and then Japan.
Despite all that, I think it was a good year for me. I think I've really gotten to know myself better and gotten better at just being more comfortable in my own skin and more confident in myself. I've met new friends, deepened relationships with old ones and this is all sounding very sappy now but it's true.
But of course, saying that I look forward to 2011 with a lot of trepidation. I have a love-hate relationship with my current job (which might even be changing come August) and the country it's in. I have no real clue where my career path is leading for the future. I'm going to be missing out on three cons and meet ups with my stateside friends this year. I'm going to miss out on seeing my oldest friend get married. This year will mark the longest span of time that I've spent living in a foreign country.
The fact that I'm writing this all up at 5am probably isn't helping a whole ton, but being back home for the holidays has just really reminded me how much I love my friends and how much I hate being so far away from them. And how hard it's going to be to spend another year away.
I'm not really the sort of person to make resolutions, but basically the majority of 2010 felt like a really amazing upswing for me that ended with a fairly steep plunge that just started to gradually work its way back up at the end. I suppose my goal for 2011 will be to try and regain that upswing and put a bit more energy into making my time in Japan feel like less of a waste of my time. People will be visiting, which should help immensely, and I do want to try and get around the country and the area a bit more to just see sights and experience more of what's out there.
Hopefully this time next year will find me having bested the JLPT and looking forward to the end of my contract. There's other things I could throw in there, but I'm just going to try to keep it simple for now.