My travels are officially over. My month of exploring China is up, which is as saddening as it sounds. However, I’ve still got about two weeks of vacation left before I head back to school. Two weeks to enjoy spending time with friends and family in Hong Kong and soaking up every bit of free time I get before going back to another semester of intensive Mandarin Chinese language study in Beijing!

At the end of every year, I have a habit of reflecting on the months passed and whether or not the year treated me well. This is the first night I’ve had some “breather” time in quite a while. As a result, I’ve been thinking about the last year a lot. So much has happened that I can’t believe it all was in the same year! Even though there were some not-so-great events, 2010 was definitely a huge improvement on 2009. In fact, it may have been one of my best years yet.

I fell in love with my communication studies and realized that it was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I got a scholarship to study abroad for a year in Beijing, China, which has definitely impacted on the decisions I make for my future. I had my first internship, and learned a lot about workplace dynamics as well as my field of study. I lived in an apartment on my own for the first time. I went to Europe over the summer and had the best host family experience I’ve ever had. I learned tons and tons of Mandarin and feel so much more confident about my language abilities. I had new experiences regarding personal relationship dynamics, both of the platonic and romantic variety. I gained a new best friend, and I don’t use that term lightly; I know that real best friends are rare and hard to find.

I’m a little upset at having to say goodbye to 2010 because it was such a fantastic year. I hope even better things will be in store for 2011!

Tags: holidays