2013 in a *blink*

This year went by exceptionally fast for me for a number of reasons:

1) For the first 3 months of the year, I was not in the country. Yup…I took my first solo trip across the ocean, to another continent: EUROPE!!! To Berlin, Germany to be exact. For the first time in my life, I was in a foreign land all by myself. I had to be independent. I had to adapt. I had to survive. And I did!

2) After returning home from Berlin, a week later, I was off to Manila (also for the first time). I was only in Manila for a week, but it was enough to convince me that I wanted to go back. Definitely for more than a week the next time round. And for a holiday, not work!

3) Come April, plans and preparations for my organisation’s 3^rd Congress begun and lo and behold, I was put in charge. April to August were busy busy months of planning, planning, planning, preparing, preparing, preparing. Those months flew in a blink of an eye and soon, September approached (the month when the Congress happened) and that month flew too.

And now…as I sit at the computer writing my final entry for what has been an eventful year, I find myself trying hard to recollect what happened in the last 3 months. Nothing big, major or important happened; it was mostly catching up on emails and backlog but nevertheless, the months flew.

One day that I don’t think I will forget is my birthday coz it’s the day when I celebrated my last year of being in my 20s. As much as I am looking forward to welcoming a new number, a new decade of my life, I have my apprehensions. Am I missing out on the “normal” things? Hmmm…

Anyway…here’s to a better 2014!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Last Day

-Just found this in my drafts-

So today was my last day in Berlin. I had the morning off so after breakfast, I took a long walk - 1 hour to be precise, and non-stop. It was really cold today but the air was so crisp and fresh. I walked all the way to where I formerly lived earlier in the year. It was quite a walk but since it was the weekend, there were hardly any cars on the road and it was nice to be able to walk freely. 

It was nostalgic for me, walking down the same street I walked almost every day more than 7 months ago. I remember the bakery I went to every morning (I could not resist getting a hot chocolate), the second hand shop I bought a handbag from, and the cafe I frequented after work each day. I then decided to visit my former housemate since I was already in the neighbourhood. Although I had emailed her before I came to Berlin, and once again emailed her a few days ago, there was no reply from her. So I took a chance and went to her apartment. Unfortunately she was not in.

After that, I decided to go to the Turkish market but once again, it was unfortunate for me that it was not open yet. After all, it was only 10am, and if I'm not mistaken, the market opens at 11am.

After the disappointment of not getting to meet my former housemate and visiting the market, I took the long walk back to my hotel. By then, my hands were frozen and all I could think about was to get out of the cold. 

I met Qiao Qiao for lunch at around a quarter past noon, after which we proceeded to attend the workshop organised by several of the alumni members. That lasted until 6pm. We all then headed back to the office for the Annual Party.

I wore a Punjabi suit and got positive comments, I'm happy to say. Photo opportunities were rare but I did get to take a couple of pictures. There were in fact more men at the party than women but unfortunately, there were only two that were easy on the eyes. One was taken (a colleague's bf) and the other is an alumni. He was in my Working Group yesterday but despite) that, we did not get to talk much (he's the one behind me in the group picture). :-)

The lack of picture opportunities is not an excuse but most of the time, most of us got caught up in a conversation and before we knew it, we were off to another group or subject and the thought of taking photos just vanished.

Overall, I am really glad that I made this trip despite the long travel hours and short stay. I would not have liked missing this event. I'm not sure how many more years I'll be funded to attend thee kind of events, but you can be sure that I'll jump at the chance just to return to Berlin! I really enjoyed being bakck in Berlin and meeting the friends that I made while I was here. It also gave me the inspiration to do well in my work after seeing how passionate most of the people here are. Like I said in my previous entry, although at times I really felt that I lack the knowledge or experience to be able to mingle in such groups, I'm blessed to be accepted by them and I hope that I have in some way contributed to their knowledge and understanding of issues. 

The days are getting colder and I hope that the next Alumni meeting would be during a more favorable weather!