It is utterly astounding that another year has come and gone, and thought it is now 2012 a part of me feels like events in my life from as far back as 2010 are still recent occurrences. This concept of time is a funny thing... 2011 held some wonderful times for me and some very hard and difficult times, but everything that happened in the past year brought me closer to this wonderful new life of mine, and for that I am profoundly thankful.
To say that my New Years was quite typical and utterly unoriginal would be an understatement. This specific day is hyped up to be this amazing, special event, but in actuality it was just another night at a club (that happened to cost more money). I won't say that I didn't enjoy New Years Eve, but a part of me (a very large part of me) does regret my decision to go where I did. I feel that my disappointment stems from my previous New Years Eve's where I was spoiled with the company of some of the best friends in the world. My tight knit group of friends from both home and Berkeley have been with me for the past 5 or 6 New Years Eve's, and not having the people I love the most around me was very sad and a bit lonely. Instead I got to be in a club with tons of drunken idiots, which, in essence, wouldn't have been bad if I were with a group of friends that were my own. But, on a positive note, 2012 can only go up from there :-). It really wasn't that bad but I feel had I made different choices about where I spent the holiday I would have had a very different experience, and it is a mistake I won't make again.
With that said, I have a great many hopes for 2012 and I can't wait to see what the year has in store for me. From gaining new citizenship, to uprooting my life and starting anew in a foreign country, to getting my masters, mastering (hopefully) 2 languages, and forming new, and hopefully life long, friendships and relationships, I am ready to start this year off running. I would go into my "resolutions" but we all know those last for about a minute before we are back to repeating all of the bad habits we hope to "resolve" come January 1st, so instead I will talk about what I hope to accomplish during this year.
For one, I'm hoping to devote a good portion of my time to my academics and learn as much as I possibly can. Though life tends to get in the way of school I am fortunate to be studying something that is of profound interest to me, and I plan on working very hard to be as successful as possible in my academic endeavors. However, school is not everything and there are many things I want to do in terms of everyday life.
Travel is a big thing for me since I have only ever been to Mexico (which doesn't even really count), Jordan, and Israel/Palestinian territories. My worldwide curiosity needs to be matched by some travel experience and, assuming funds are available, there are quite a few places I hope to reach within the year. Of course going all over the Middle East is essential, but I will not be fully satisfied until I reach India, Italy (and maybe a few other European countries), and Kenya as well.
And lastly, I hope that 2012 brings extremely meaningful relationships into my life on both a friend and romantic level. I have the problem, as my father will attest to, of falling into the trap of getting sucked in by the "glitter" (as he likes to call it), which leaves me stuck in relationships and friendships devoid of the kind of substance that I both crave and need. In a completely non disrespectful way I call this problem the "Jordan" syndrome. Since I'm almost 100% positive my ex doesn't read my blog I'm ok describing it as such. He was a wonderful boyfriend for the 3+ years that we dated but he absolutely exemplified this "glitter" that I am referring to, and the "glitter" that I constantly get sucked into. He was gorgeous, an athlete, loved to party and be social, but, at the end of the day, he didn't have that extra substance that I really need in any substantial relationship, be it romantic or friendship. I need people who are able to challenge me and I'm hoping that 2012 brings me the kinds of people that are going to push me to be the best person that I can be. This is my greatest hope for the new year, and luckily I am surrounded by amazing people that I am studying with so I am ver excited to get to know each and every one of them better!
Aside from the excitement of a new year beginning I have a birthday to look forward to in 4 days! I am so excited to ring in the 24th year of my life in the Middle East, and I can't wait to celebrate this special occasion. I really don't know what to expect since this will be my first birthday away from home and without my wonderful family and friends, but I have reason to think it will be a fantastic birthday nonetheless; at least that is the hope :-)
Tomorrow and Wednesday will be solely dedicated to work so that I can enjoy my party on Thursday without feeling too guilty for not doing so much school work! I figure a birthday is a pretty good excuse to procrastinate on the paper writing. I haven't written a political blog update in a while so tomorrow or Wednesday look out for a post on something to do with either Jordan or the Palestine/Israel conflict. Maybe even all three ;-)
Until we meet again! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Jordana Simone
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