New Years Eve ponderings

I've never been a big fan of New Years Eve. It's hard to say why exactly but I suspect that over the years I have set my expectations too high. It's the climax of the year and it should end well...it should end the way you want the next year to begin. At least that has always been my belief. This year we have no big plans, and that is intentional, after all the travelling we have done this year, not to mention over Christmas itself. I am quite content to be still for a while. To take some time to replenish my energy, because of that I am in need, despite the time spent relaxing on a beach last week. Physical relaxation is great of course, but if the mind does not want to relax then you don't stand a chance really.

So, recapping on 2009, it's been one very amazing and unique year and it naturally falls into 3 parts...three chapters almost.

Chapter 1 was spent as a part-time yoga teacher - very much immersing myself in learning, practicing and teaching. Building my confidence as a relatively new teacher. I didn't truly appreciate it at the time but the fact that I was in this phase proved oh-so valuable in coping with the undercurrents of what was to come finally to fruition later in the year.

Chapter 2 was very unsettled, wondering if and when we might be changing countries again. We also took a visit back to our homeland and spent some wonderful weeks with family and friends which allowed us some freedom and a brief escape from all the wondering, even if it was only temporary.

The 3rd and final chapter saw us moving to Hong Kong. Just for a year. Despite the short time frame and in the end the extremely short notice to Go...it involved a huge amount of paperwork and well, stress. And here we are, 3 months later, pretty much settled in our apartment, in the physical sense.

And yes, on the last day of the year, I am still wrestling with the new lifestyle I find myself in. Suddenly the year ahead is wide open. Full of opportunity. Full of choice. And no doubt reasonably full of travel. It's all positive. So why do I feel fear creeping in? I suspect it's once again to do with expectation. High expectations of myself. There are so many things I could do with my time and I feel I should be doing as many of them as possible. After all, this is the first time in my life that I have not had a job at all and for that to be OK. The times I've been jobless before have all been stressful times, when I needed to have a job to survive. It's also easy to use your job to define yourself, to give you an identity. "I am a secretary, I am a yoga teacher"... you automatically present an image of yourself for other people and yourself. I realise this is false and that we are not what we do, but it's hard to get away from.

So whilst I am not setting new years resolutions...I am setting intentions for the new year and lets just hope that I can get out of my own way and let that opportunity find me in 2010.

Escaping Christmas

Today is Monday, 21st December. On Saturday, Alan and I were planning to be here in our apartment on Christmas Day. I was planning to cook a traditional christmas dinner in our small and not-very-social kitchen. We went out and did a spot of christmas shopping...just a spot, after all it is just us this year. No family, no friends. Then on Sunday we were both feeling rather under the weather and spent a quiet day at home. And we got to thinking. Perhaps we didn't want to spend christmas here after all. I had not been motivated to christmas-up the apartment so it does not exactly look festive - we are honoured to have some lovely cards from family and friends and one small string of fairy lights that Alan found in a box and put up at the beginning of the month but that is it. And it's cold. OK, maybe that seems appropriate at christmas time, but it's the wrong sort of cold. It's not snowy or freezing outside with bright blue sky...in fact, outside it's about 12 degrees and very damp and overcast but inside the apartment it feels SO cold. You see, there is NO heating in the apartment. In Hong Kong they only install air conditioning. Not heating. I guess that tells you something about the weather here, but even so, for the 3 months or so that it is not ridiculously hot and humid, it is the sort of cold that chills your bones. I wish now that I'd brought my slippers with me from Canada. Funny thing is, I never wore them in Canada, the house was always warm and we had carpet throughout half of the house. I have not actually worn them since I was in the UK. Now I wish they were here. Slippers, I hear you cry! She is in Hong Kong, surely she does not need slippers...well, let me tell you, I do!

Anyway, I am getting way off the point. We took a moment to consider our options. We checked out our loyalty points, hotel and flight availability and before the evening was out, we'd booked ourselves into a hotel in Phuket for 5 nights and we leave tomorrow morning!

Those of you who know me, may be shocked by my impulsive behaviour... I know I am! We booked so late that we actually had to check in when we confirmed the flights!

So, no food shopping for me tomorrow...no menus to prepare...instead, an early flight to catch to an exotic location where I'm hoping they will cook christmas dinner for us! It may seem a rather extreme step to take to get out of cooking christmas dinner, but hey... we always said this year was All About Travel, and with trips taken in October and November so far, it seemed only natural to take a trip in December too! :-)

Merry Christmas to you All, I hope wherever you are and whatever you are doing, it is filled with love and good times.

December was a bit of a roller coaster

It's been a while since my last entry and I have plenty of good reasons for that. Well, reasons.

December has actually been a bit of a roller coaster month. Just a small roller coaster, nothing too dramatic but it has been enough to keep me from wanting to look some of my emotions in the face, by blogging. Instead, I've found other things to occupy my time, not all of them terribly useful as I have been finding it hard to get motivated. Not having a job or a regular routine has been a factor. Being in a new city and having to find a new life can bring forth all sorts of new and wonderful possibilities and opportunities but it can also bring forth overwhelming feelings and they can creep up on you and really take you by surprise.

One day, all is well, you feel good, feel like you are settled and "at one" with your new life and then the next day, you feel like you've been knocked over the head with a heavy object and you're reeling, not sure quite what to do about anything. At least that is how it's been for me. The good news is that those days I get whacked on the head do tend to propel me into action. It may take a day or two though to pick myself up and dust myself down. But that's OK. I am learning that timing in life cannot be controlled or scheduled and that is not easy for me to accept...but I am doing my best. I get frustrated that I have not made more progress, whatever that means. I think to me, it means that having always had a full time job up until a little over a year ago, I'm used to being busy, having my time filled but not necessarily with things I want it filled with. Now I have a chance to fill it with almost anything I want. Within reason. And what am I doing? Good question. I am still working that out but in the meantime I am being a tourist, I'm being a wife, a yoga student, a travel co-ordinator and last week, a host to our very first visitors - Yay! All those things are good and I am lucky to be in a place where I can simply be those things without a need or a demand to be anything else and yet....I think there is something else....maybe I'll find it in 2010.

Another Hike in Tai Tam Country Park

Today I went on my first AWA (American Womens Association) "easy hike". And it was, relatively speaking. Just a small group of 10 women who managed to get themselves to Tai Tam Country Park for 8.15am on a morning that seemed just ideal for a hike. There was a slight chill in the air as we set off (well, OK...not exactly a chill but it was cold enough to want to wear a fleece which I think is a pretty momentous occasion here) but as we began to lengthen our stride, the fleeces came off. The majority of this walk echo'd the one that Alan and I did a few weeks ago and it was quite nice to tread a familiar path. I know that I would have wanted to slow my pace and stop more to admire the view (and take photographs of course) if it had been my first time around but as it was, I was quite happy simply hiking. Once we reached the end of the trail and we said our goodbyes I managed to navigate my first HK bus and find my way back to Wanchai and home and I have to admit that it felt rather good walking back into the apartment at 11.15am with a 5 mile walk under my belt and the rest of the day ahead of me. I will do that again.