Goodbye 2009

So 2009 was quite the year. It seems to have been a really long year to me. It didn't flash by really but seemed to have last forever. Neither good nor bad, just is. But I do prefer it to the years that flash by without a thought and can't remember what you did.

Of course the major event was the wedding and all the events that surrounded it. I think I'm just now recovering from it. It was a very intense and overwhelming experience in many ways. It was harder than I expected due to so many unseen factors, but of course in the end all worth it.

It's so nice to have some friends and family know my corner of the world. They know a bit about the culture, the cities and the people. It helps from feeling so far away from everything I have known.

When you live in a new place, especially a new country, it is a long adjustment. Just when you think you're used to things, there are surprises. Things that were quaint become annoying. Things that were a mild annoyance become a great frustration and then coming to terms with all these things. It isn't easy to be away from everything and everyone familiar. In fact, much harder than I thought, but sometimes if one really things about the cost, we don't jump. So, I don't regret it, but it does represent challenges.

I worked part time during 2009 and that was a new reality to work through rather than traveling without a care in the world. Also of course being a wife and caring for a house all the mundane things of life. It's really given me pause to think about the life that I have had. All the things that I have done. The places I have gone and the people I have known. I am not the perfectionistic, workaholic, busybee that I once was. At times I miss that person. Old habits and customs are slow to die. Assimilation/Integration all these things take on a new meaning.

So, I guess nothing really concrete in this posting, just some random thoughts. I think it's good to do a year in review. To think of that which you have lost, gained, learned and celebrated. I think it helps commit it all to memory and become and intergrated part of yourself.

So thanks to everyone for being part of my 2009.