It’s funny, because when I have, in
discussions with fellow patrons, tried to share my slight fear of entering 3.0
and leaving behind 2.0, my worries have been compared to “silly ideas.” “The
thirties are the new twenties!” everyone keeps saying (no one who’s still in
their twenties though!). I’m actually not sure if I agree, or even wish to
agree.
I mean, do I want be 20 again, being so
full of what I know, yet know so little? Do I want re-do my university years,
spending hours in a dusty library, trying not to fall asleep at lectures,
writing essay, articles and assignments who never see daylight but that are marked
and put into a folder to collect dust? Do I want to go back to living on a
minimum budget and eating 3-minute noodle meals so that I can afford a glass of
wine at night? Do I want be a fresh graduate again, and have my positive energy
and excitement killed by companies and employers who don’t want give “people
with no real work experience” a chance? (God, getting that first job was a
nightmare!) Do I want be the girl in the office that everyone refers to as “so
young and inexperienced” and who takes on tonnes of unpaid overtime just to
show that she’s ambitious and hard-working? Do I want do about 7834862 odd jobs
so that I can finance going back to school in order to learn Mandarin, having
everyone around me questioning what I am going to do with this “third language”
and what my “future plan is” (hell, I had no plan!)?
Nah. I’m actually pretty OK with the
thirties being the thirties. I’m
done with the twenties. I feel satisfied, as I believe I really made the most
of it. So, come thirties. Bring it on. I’ll just go on like I’m used to, trying
to have an even better time than I’ve already had. I mean, at least I have
learned from all the mistakes I made in my twenties. And just being able to say
that is pretty cool.
So to start with some follow-up on my three
“to dos”:
1. Visit all four countries that I have referred to as home during the
last 10 years.
Check!
In January we went to Australia again (the
place that was my “home” for almost 3,5 years: 2002-2005). I just love
Australia. I love the country, the atmosphere, the people, the nature, ah…
everything (Australians, you are some lucky people!).
This time, we visited both Sydney and my
beloved Perth. We made the most of our time: went crabbing, sand boarding, had
picnics and dinners, caught up with all of my Aussie friends, and enjoyed wine
tasting and beach walks. It was two fantastic weeks and, as usual, I cried like
a baby when we eventually took the plane back to Shanghai.
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| The Pinnacles, Western Australia |
In May, I went to London (the place that was my “home” for around 6 months in 2001-2002. I had actually only just turned 19 when I went to live in London but for some reason I still look at this as something that happened during my 20-ies. I guess it was the move that started everything) to be part of my best friend Tess’ wedding.
Tess (who’s my oldest friend) has actually
been in London all these years. It was the two of us (+ 4 other friends) who
went there together on September 11, 2001 (yes, THAT 9/11) And, as for today,
she’s still there! On May 19 this year, she married her significant other,
Will, in a beautiful ceremony that took place in Oxford. She looked gorgeous in
her extravagant gown (made in China at the wedding market with me as her
personal adviser), and me and three other friends of her also looked pretty good
in our blue bride’s maid dresses (also made in China! I mean, how could I not
offer to help for her big day?!). It was a magnificent day, and I am so happy I
got a chance to be part of it!
As we came all the way from China for the
wedding we took some extra days off and spent them catching up with friends and
(in my case) visiting nostalgic London spots. I still have so many friends in
London, so in a way it felt like coming home.
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| Tess' and Will's wedding, Oxford, UK |
Then summer came, and I went for a long wknd in Tokyo, a city that has been on top of my “dream destinations” for I don’t know how long.
My Finnish friend Anna (who I met when I
was a student in Suzhou) just happened to be there on an exchange semester, so
the timing couldn’t have been better. I went to Tokyo, caught up with Anna, and
the two of us had the best time! I fell truly (madly, deeply) in love with
Tokyo and Japanese people, who were so polite and friendly. We went out every
single night, visiting the quirkiest little spots, taking “kawai” photos with
cute Japanese girls, and, obviously, enjoying some of the best food I have ever
eaten. I have always had a feeling that I was going to enjoy Japan, but I never
knew just how much. Tokyo is simply outstanding and I cannot wait to go back to
see more of Japan. I am even considering doing an evening course of beginner’s
Japanese next year (this fall is too busy).
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| Heavenly sushi in Tokyo |
In July we went for a summer holiday back “home.” We started off with a quick stop in Sweden (where I haven’t lived since 2001, but it’s still referred to as “home”), just for four days, to catch up with friends and family. I threw myself a garden party one month prior to my actual birthday, which was a great idea, as I managed to catch up with all of my old friends from back home. We were some 25 people: friends from all walks of life: childhood friends from my tiny little hometown, friends that I went to London with, friends that I lived and studied with back in Australia (one of my old housemates who celebrated my 20th birthday with me in Perth!), friends from Shanghai. And, of course, all of my siblings and their partners. It was a perfect day/night.
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| Bday celebrations in Sweden |
After Sweden we went to Finland (where I
lived 2005-2006) and spent the rest of our holiday over there. We stayed mostly
in Tampere, but also went to the summer cabin and had a long-wknd in Helsinki
to catch up with friends. I went running in the forest 5 days/week, swam in the
lakes, had sauna, cooked myself all that kind of food that I tend to crave in
China, caught up with friends, and made the most of the extra amounts of
daylight (the sun doesn’t set until maybe 10-11pm) by going for BBQ picnics and
evening walks.
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| In Helsinki |
We came back to Shanghai (where I have lived since 2006, so more than 6 years now) just in time for my real birthday (that was on August 15) and on August 18 I friend of mine threw me yet another birthday party, this time for all of my Shanghai friends. We had a great evening at a lounge bar in central Shanghai, and I was overwhelmed by the turn-up. Although the next day my boyfriend asked “so, are we done with the celebrations now?” and yes, I guess we are.
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| Bday celebrations in Shanghai |
Run a full marathon (and at least one more half)
Fail!
Yeah, this dream
of mine wasn’t even close to be fulfilled. When running in Finland last summer
(2011), I started feeling pain in my hip. Silly as I am, I ignored the pain and
kept running, which turned out to be a bad decision. That hip pain has stayed
with me since, and although it’s slightly better now, I can still feel it on
weeks when I do heavy exercise (I went to two different hospitals to have it
checked, but found nothing).
I guess this is
a wake up call saying “hey, you’re not invincible (anymore)!” By running a lot,
you obviously run the risk of getting injured, and this is just what happened.
So the last year has been quite boring, exercise wise. I’ve kept my fitness
level up by doing alternative training: spinning, yoga, and then around May I
started running again. But like I said, I can still feel discomfort in my hip,
and lately, my Achilles tendon started hurting, so I guess I need to slow down
a bit. I am not sure if I will be able to run a marathon this year, but I still
haven’t given up the thought of it. Not at the price of injuring myself badly
though.
It is a bit of a
downer, because I love running, and especially long-distance running.
Write a book.
Fail. But then
again. I did get something pretty cool published…
The book thing
is a sensitive matter. I’m an idiot for publicly announcing it on my blog
like I did last year, but I thought that by doing so, I would be under enough
pressure to get it done. One of the reasons why I stopped blogging, was because
I was going to spend that morning hour (that used to be devoted to this blog)
writing on my book.
It didn’t really
work out.
I did get
started. Several times. And in the beginning I went for weeks. Then, I don’t
know. Something happened. And I stopped.
I am pretty
lucky to have some amazing friends, however, who kept reminding me to stick to
my promise. So for my birthday, one of my friends gave me this book, and told
me that now the pressure is off. The first book is out, and I should start
focusing on a follow-up.
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| SHE in China -first edition! |
And as for blogging –I’ve actually really missed it! I’ve been thinking a lot about starting a new blog. I don’t think I want to have an anonymous comment function though, because seriously, people behave like jerks when they don’t have to reveal their real name, and I had some pretty wacky comments towards the end of this blog. I never published these comments, obviously, as it was some pretty foul language, but overall it wasn’t that nice to start your day by opening blogspot’s comment moderation page, and be greeted by 15 comments telling you to go to hell and get out of China. So yeah, I am a bit torn when it comes to all of that.
When you blog,
you obviously have to put yourself out there. No one wants to read a blog about
some anonymous person who doesn’t dare to share his/her experiences. But by
sharing you need to be able to take all those kind of weird comments. Am I
ready for that again? Not sure. But let me tell you this much: just writing
this blog post has been a treat!
