2006 : An Introspective

So it's Christmas Eve here in the land of Oz, and of course, being the year end, it's time for a reflection of the past 12 months and think about things that have happened, or not happened, or what have you, and look forward to a new and prosperous year.

2006, for me, started pretty tame, with me working and doing the same old same old. I don't even remember what January was like, to be honest. Was it cold? Did we have many chinooks? Who knows? The point is it was cold, and I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time.

Winter passed, and the snow thawed, revealing a fine Canadian springtime, the likes of which I've seen many times before. Turning 29, I think, was a pivotal point in my life. I think I understood that I was no longer just some guy going through life, but that I needed to forge my own identity, and my own "existence". Coming of age can be somewhat of a eye-opener, I suppose. I'm sure some of you can relate.

Summer came and I met a lot of great people, through work and various other resources. Some of you may be reading this now, while others have been lost through time and mismanaged correspondence. I look back on this time with a melancholy spirit, happy to have met everyone, and sad that I may not see or speak to those people again in my life. People come and go in every life, but the lasting friendships I have made over the past few years is something for which I'm eternally grateful. To those of you I may not have said aloud, truly, my relationship with you has made me the person I am today, and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.

With autumn, came the decision to do something about my pensive nature, and uproot and live in a different land far away, albeit one with a similar culture and, most importantly, language. I couldn't imagine attempting to live in a place such as Bangkok, or Tokyo (though I do plan on going there at some point, since I've heard nothing but good things). However, being away for as long as I have (a mere 3 months that has felt like an eternity), things change, and a person's outlook is altered, likely irrevocably. And I've been looking back on the person I was, and the person I have become. Of course, I think we all have things we wish to change about ourselves, but this journey has made it clear what needs to change and how.

Why the heavy topic today, you may ask? I'm not sure, perhaps I miss home simply because it's Christmas, perhaps it's a feeling of loneliness in a hostel full of people, or perhaps it's something more that I haven't figured out yet. Despite the downbeat tone of this post, I truly am enjoying myself here.

Anyhow, this post has become too morose even for me. But I would like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas, and a fantastic New Year,

Also, I would like to wish my friends Matt and Andrea some great 30th birthdays (I'm only 6 months behind you guys!) and I hope they have a great New Year. I'll talk to you guys soon!