Reflections on 2007

Somewhere around the beginning of 2007 I started reading about how it was the year of the Boar in the Asian Zodiac. I was born in the year of the boar and was told that I'd have an abundance of good luck for the year. How exciting is that? I told my mom about this because nothing could happen to her in the year of the boar if I'm supposed to be so lucky. (I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel in terms of hope for the situation) She, of course, wasn't as believing and optimistic as me.

Despite the predictions of the year, 2007 ended up being the hardest year I've ever faced. A lot of awful things happened so close together bringing tons of disappointment, failed plans, and heartache. For a while everyday came with more bad news and it became a struggle for me to keep my head up. I'd never been knocked down that hard before.

However, regardless of all that has happened this year, and how crappy I felt for the last six months of it, I realized I am in fact very lucky. I have amazing friends who stood by me through everything. They were there when I needed them, most with open arms and words of wisdom. I have my family. I have a college education that may actually take me somewhere. I have the means to do something like up and move to Alaska and start over, along with motivation and an adventurous spirit. I have my health and I have options others may not have. I'm young and unattached to anything except my family who are understanding and supportive of my decisions, which gives me the freedom to follow my dreams. And most of all, I learned that I'm a lot stronger than I realized. My mom was everything in my world, she helped me in every situation big or small. I told her everything, she was my comfort in hard times, and she loved me unconditionally. There's a big hole in my life without her, but I need to use what I learned from her to get up and move on.

Hellen Keller once said "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

So I've decided to not look at 2007 as a lucky or unlucky year, but a year that tested my strength, character, and most of all patience. I may not see the ultimate results now, but I hope one day I will. 2007 was definitely more significant than any year of my life, there has to be a reason. People have been through worse and I'm not the only one who took a blow this year.

I don't know what 2008 holds, I'm just happy 2007 is over and I can embark on something new and exciting. I've had to start over a lot in my life, but not like this, and I'm excited because I know my future holds great things. The last two weeks have been amazing, partly because I know I'm leaving and partly because the holidays brought home friends from all over. At least it was a good end.

I know this is corny as hell but I'm giving special thank yous to some great people that helped me through this year. They never turned their back on me no matter how rough it got and I appreciate them for that:

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.
(Irish proverb)

-Ann Leahy for always being there even when you were busy, and for understanding me. I'll miss you the most. It'll be weird not having your around. We never got to cook up those broken glass muffins though. Shoes.
-Katie Jungkunz for being so damn awesome, you make me feel like I can do anything, and not matter how grumpy I am your laugh is too damn infectious to not laugh along. I love you more than words can say. Sorry about the feathers on your couch
-Jim and Marjane for lending an ear and offering advice on life and love. You guys are awesome mentors and like my second set of parents.
-Sara Feldkamp for making me laugh so much, you know a friendship is strong when you don’t see someone for four years and you can pick up like no time has passed. You get me. (and did you pick up on the "yous" in thank yous above? I thought of you when I typed it)
-Aunt Jodi and Uncle Pete for letting me stay with you at times and helping me make hard decisions. I hope you'll save money and drag the kids out to see me.
-Michelle Jelinski for being there during some choice bad moments and letting me vent. Your company when things were hard are more meaningful than you will know. You are so much fun to be around.
-Ben for being an awesome big brother and being there when things got rough.
-And especially Matt Kerr for pressing me to go to Alaska for four years, your persistence has finally paid off. Thanks for helping me with all the logistics behind the big move, your patience, advice, and just being there for me when things were particularly difficult. You are the most understanding male I've ever known. I owe you a mountain of gratitude.

I hope everyone else has a great New Year and I'll continue posting. Onwards to Alaska for a fresh start. Wish me luck.

The Revised Plan

It's that time of year again where everyone starts really getting into the holiday cheer. Christmas' for our family will never be the same and this year was especially a little harder. I didn't like it when strangers asked if I was excited for Christmas in their over enthusiastic ways. I felt awkward to be forced to lie in response with an equally yet sarcastically enthusiastic "yes" to avoid having to share personal information. My family did follow a few original traditions from previous Christmas': crab legs for dinner with butter and garlic sauce (delicious) and opening presents on Christmas Eve before going to the late service at church where we all would sing and play our instruments from the balcony. I always felt bad for mom in the past for having to sit down in the pews alone because my dad, brother and I were so busy being "musical" every year. She never complained though.

Korea was a big disappointment and I had my few days of sadness over it, but distracted myself with packing and going over to watch friends wrap presents and make goodies for their family events. I can't change how things panned out but I did learn a lot about teaching in Korea, China, and Japan in the process of getting ready for Korea. Remember I was going into the Peace Corps to teach ESL and I haven't lost that passion. You can make a lot of money in Korea teaching, most people I've talked to were taking some intense "vacations" that went everywhere in the world just from the money they saved working in Korea. It's definitely something I'll look into for the near future. I just will never work with those recruiters, or any recruiters again.

The day after I found out I wasn't doing things as planned I tried to make new ones immediately. I had no intentions of staying in Point a day longer than originally planned. However, with this new change I ran into various problems that require me to flexible to work around, as well as other people. I'm coming a month earlier than expected so some people in Alaska now have to be super accommodating for my change of plans. I won't be stuck on the streets so at least that's nice. Since I'm shipping my stuff I will only have whatever I can fit in a suitcase and a day pack for three weeks, and that includes interviewing clothes and that warmer stuff for the Alaskan winter... a lot thicker than what I would've taken to Korea so that's been hard to plan and pack.

The greatest thing of all that really makes moving to Alaska a great choice is I already have a small group of individuals willing to meet and show me around, go hiking, ice climbing, have coffee, the works. And they are all strangers. I met them from couchsurfing.com and some have been so nice to the extent of offering to pick me up from the airport. I also noticed a lot of people are traveling a lot right now in crazy destinations from Peru to Scotland. So I'm moving to a place where people are interested in seeing the rest of the world (like me) yet are passionate about the place they live in. It doesn't surprise me that the very person who coaxed me into moving there I met when I was traveling. Everyone's an outdoor enthusiast there. Matt of course will help me settle in but since his work takes him to Juneau I'll be on my own after the 6th of January until I can yank him on a coastal road trip throughout the west coast. It's nice to have crazy friends who suggest crazy ideas like that. But in the mean time I will have good company to explore the city and outskirts with. Ice climbing is the first big thing I'm going to tackle. There are frozen waterfalls just south of Anchorage that people go to climb. This picture will be me in possibly a month.

This one too.

So I will be heading to Chicago on Sunday the 30th and spending New Year's there with some of my most favorite people in the world before hopping a plane to Anchorage on New Year's day. How fitting for my new start in life to start on the first day of the new year? The other night I was watching the Simpsons' Movie with a friend and for some reason the Simpsons had to leave Springfield and whilst looking for their new destination Homer pulls from his pocket a big sign that said "Alaska A Fresh Start" with a mountainous scene in the background and a choir singing a heaven-like sound to add an miraculous feeling like this was a sign that Alaska will heal everything. It was a revelation for not only the Simpsons but for me as well. They did go to Alaska and Homer fell in love with it. If Homer will love it than I surely will. (And they received $1000 the moment they crossed the border) So let's clap for Alaska:

I will be spending my remainder days in Wisconsin hanging out with friends as most have flocked back home for the holidays, sledding in our freshly fallen 9 inches of snow, and savoring my last moments with the piano, car, and precious animals. There is a marathon of documentaries about Alaska on the travel channel all day today, most by my oh so favorite host Jeff Corwin: all signs point to Alaska. Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and Solstice celebrations.