Looking back at 2008~

Year ’08 was definitely the most interesting year in my life. Note the word ‘interesting;’ I didn’t use the word ‘fun’ to describe 2008 because I still think 2006 was the most fun year of all, as I spent the latter half of that year as an exchange student in Japan. Nevertheless, 2008 was the year where I saw the other side of the world, made the transition from student to worker and learned more things about myself and life in general… and that’s what made 2008 so interesting.
As with every other year, ’08 started in the Philippines after a whole week of feasting starting Christmas Eve. A few days later I went back to Australia, after a week in South Korea. That was so challenging because my Korean wasn’t so good. Then it was HK in April, Singapore and Europe in May, HK again in August before settling down in Japan. Actually, I’m here in the Philippines now for a two-week holiday where I once again welcomed the New Year. Going to so many countries has actually made me appreciate life in Australia more. I remember how much I complained about living in Australia and that I should be somewhere else in the world; but after seeing life overseas I guess life in Australia is pretty good. However I am young and I don’t want to settle down in Australia just yet…
So what did I learn last year? I guess the most important thing I learned is that I should never really rush into things. When I found out in April that I was selected as an alternative candidate for JET, I was in shock! I really wanted to get in the JET program and experience life as an ALT in Japan. So when I found out that there was little chance that I can get into JET, I applied to various companies that dispatch ALTs to different parts of Japan. I took an offer from one of those companies and here I am in Yamanashi. I guess my job is not bad as a first job, and I am quite used to living in a small laid-back city in the mountain. Long story short I sometimes think that maybe the decision to go take this job was not well thought out and maybe I could be in a better situation if I just took the time to think my decision through. Then again as I said earlier, my situation isn’t so bad and I’m mostly complaining about trivial things like not having a decent coffee shop close by or that the last bus service is at 4:40. Hmm… but after this, I don’t really want to do this venturing into the unknown again…haha… anyway hope 2009 will be a good year.