2009 in review
December 27, 2009
This year has been a very exciting year for me for many reasons but my kung fu training has certainly been the biggest highlight of the year. This is only the second year of training under Sifu Steve McGowan but I’ve felt like I’ve accomplished a lot. I’ve noticed a lot of improvement in myself and I’ve also discovered new areas now that I need to improve on. I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in but there’s a long way to go. We’ve seen a lot of students come and go this year but kung fu is still the biggest constant in my life next to my wife.
Through Golden Harvest Wing Chun, I was able to travel to the Philippines this year and have a wonderful time meeting Sifu Bennie Casas’ family and training there. I returned to Vancouver for the first time in years and had a great time with my family. Lastly, I will be going to Hong Kong again tomorrow to visit family there. This makes three trips in 2009 with the HK trip being decided on at the last minute.
I’ve been teaching for two companies this year and both have been a great source of experience. My employment status will be changing in the next couple of months because I will be starting a full time position with one of these companies. This will definitely make 2010 much different than this year. This year I did not have a stable schedule and at times had no free time, or all the free time in the world. This let me do a lot of things at home including training kung fu a lot. I’ll have to be more disciplined with set training schedules next year when I start the job if I want to keep up my training level.
One thing I didn’t do this year was study Japanese very much. I feel bad about this because I had made so much progress last year with my studies. I hope to study more next year with a more set study pattern alongside my training. I’d like to learn a new skill as well but I haven’t given too much thought on what this is yet. I think time will be my greatest limitation next year. Still, it will be nice to have a full two-day weekend when the new job starts. I have been teaching on Sundays this year and even though it’s only one lesson, it really kills plans.
Just as I had expected, this year I did not meet many people outside of the usual circles in my life. I didn’t get to meet and hang out with as many people as I had wanted due to to time and scheduling. This too, I hope will improve next year. We need to have more gaming! I was fortunate to spend time with my family this year and everyone welcomed a new member to my wife’s side of the family. Little Ayane was born in April and has been a glowing jewel. She is adorable and it’s fascinating to see how quickly personality is developed. I can’t say for sure how far this “personality” is right now but I definitely see likes, dislikes, and simple communication.
I’m very thankful for this year and all the marvelous experiences. I think 2010 will be just as interesting and I will (nervously) look forward to starting a new decade as a (gulp) thirty year old. Is it ever too early to have a mid-life crisis? I wonder if a Porsche is completely out of my budgeting right now…
