Year 2011 has been — to say the least — the most horrible year of all the years in my memory. The best of the worst is, of course, having neglected my blog for almost 10 months, and not finding the time nor motivation to redesign it.
But since it’s already three days into a brand new year, let me not dwell on the past and instead write a summary of what has given me the greatest joy amongst the bad:
In January, I turned 21.
In June, I completed all my LLB exams, one semester ahead of expected completion date.
In July, I received confirmation that I satisfied all requirements for my BCom/LLB degrees.
In September, I officially graduated from the University of Auckland with conjoint BCom/LLB.
In October, I completed my Professional Legal Studies course, and the New Zealand All Blacks team won the Rugby World Cup 2011 yay!
In November, I got my first ever smart-phone — iPhone 4S, baby!
In December, I was admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister of the High Court of New Zealand, received my practising certificate, and received LLM offers from both universities I applied to.
I mean, how could that sound like a bad year, right? But at each and every step to attaining an achievement in 2011 I was met with a challenge, an obstacle, and (what seemed like at the time) the biggest headache of my life. Even when signing the contract for the new iPhone plan I became the victim of a muck-up that has less than a one-in-thousands chance of happening. The bigger the achievement, the bigger the headache. *facepalm*
But hey, the year is now behind me and I am ready to face what may be the last 12 months of the human history. Happy (belated) New Year!
No party, no booze, no Facebook contact list-wide event invitations, just a couple of small lunches with my favourite people at my favourite restaurants and a cake from my favourite cake shop. Read more…
Thanks to Emma and Snark, I just received my first ever gift from a Secret Santa organised online.
I felt so bad putting forward a massive “dislikes list”, but I often do receive a lot of Christmas gifts I have no idea what to do with…
I have my own cup at home, I do not need a bigazillion mugs and glasses.
I have an unromantic Asian family, we do not light candles, maybe wait until I’ve moved out.
I do not use a camera made in the 1990s, nor do I print photos, so I have not needed photo frames or albums since I was 11.
I already have a five years’ supply of body lotions from buying too much from girly stores.
Unless it’s a 4+ set of kitchenware, one-off cutlery pieces do not match the rest of what we have.
Impractical things.
Unfortunately I get a mountain load of them. (I know I’m such a whiner.)
I’m a very material person that do not appreciate what would usually be thought of as sweet things. I do not like handmade crafted gifts unless they were up to a professional standard, I do not like things I can’t use in everyday life. A gift voucher, though it looks flat and cheap, is sometimes the far better choice. A simple tip for getting gifts you’re not sure someone would definitely like: ask for an exchange card.
Fortunately, my amazing 2010 Snark Secret Santa Ashley got me the cutest, prettiest notebooks!
