2006 - "The Year of the Reality Check"

It's coming up to 6:00pm here in Melbourne on December 31 and i can finally sit down and reflect on the year that has passed before me at light speed. All in all 2006 will go down in history for me as "the year of the reality check."

Coming out of 2005 i was flying. Work was great, i was feeling the healthiest in a long time, i was enjoying work and i still had Martine on my mind. 2006 was going to be a year where what momentum i had built up in my life since March 2004 was going to continue to build and take me to places i would never have thought possible. Throughout the start of the year my life had a rough idea but no plans. I liked that a lot.

Throughout the early months of the year i had a birthday that turned into a slurring karaoke party, my plans to visit Martine were scuttled and the prospect of teaching 30 Chinese kids the "Time Warp" started to make life a bit frustrating yet with my positivity (or what could be diagnosed as naiveity) i kept thinking that it will all steer back on course and things will work out fine. Well as the time to finish our contract came up on me like a freight train the urgency to tie up loose ends and make plans seemed to be the overwhelming objective. There were places to visit in Hong Kong and there were people to say goodbye to. The saga with Martine and the "will they/ wont they" storyline was confirmed as a "won't they" yet i don't hold any regrets about the events that took place. It took me a long time to realise that someone who i cared for and loved dearly would be going off on another adventure and that i wouldn't be there to share in it.

The final day of school looking back was the closing of one chapter of my life that was the highlight of my time on this planet thus far. The friends i had made and the adventures that i had will always be with me and i hope that one day i will able to see you all again and express how much your lives made an impact on me. The "Time Warp" was a major success and standing on that stage and seeing the parents just loving the fact that some teachers actually gave a shit about them and wanted to not only teach but entertain was something that will always stay with me. I know deep down that teaching is not my career of choice but i loved entertaining the kids and seeing them smile. I loved teaching, it was my best job ever.

2006 also saw me visit Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Burma. Each of these countries has its own unique charm and the adventures ranged from the silly (being hungover at sunrise at Angkor Wat) to the absolute diabolical (the disaster of Taiwan) yet through all of these was Sab and with her decision to go to the otherside of the country to start her longwaited teaching degree fills me with the double emotions of happiness in her finding her way and sadness of not having her to bitch and moan to. Her friendship is the strongest i have with anyone and that will continue no matter where the next stage of our lives will take us. The year also saw my lovely friend Mel come over and stay for a few days. It also took me to a Queen tribute concert, a potential drowning in Laos, a solemn experience in Cambodia and a massage course in Thailand. They were just some of the adventures of the year.

Back to Taiwan for a minute. To say that it was an unmitigated monumental disaster is the understatemnt of the year. The impact of the events there is only know to Sab and myself. It wasn't just a job offer that went awry but it seemed that the adventures we were building up to were in an instant imploding and sending our lives on a totally different journey. It severly shook our confidence in all things and the decision to come home was the right one considering our options. It has taken me from mid september to now to realise the impact the choice has made but i'm a job i know won't be a career because i don't want it to. I'm in a city that has only family and freinds here but it's not enough. I'm in a place right now where at the start of the year i thought i would never be. I'm back at home and back in Melbourne back in the environemt that caused me to leave in the first place.

Life now is all about going to work and sitting in front of a monitor for 8 hours. Life now is getting over the depression that has plauged not only my mind but body. Life now is living back at home but knowing deep down it's not where i want to be. I have the travel bug! With Sab going to Western Australia in two weeks, it closes a chapter in my life where we shared adventures, laughs and tears. I know its not the end of our special friendship but its just an evolution of it. The next time i leave home i'll be doing it on my own and that is an exciting and scary prospect in itself. I wouldn't have it any other way. I have goals in 2007 and rather than "talking the talk" its time to "walk the walk."

It's time to get serious. It's time to get real.

As i said this year was the "Year of the Reality Check"

I wouldn't have it any other way. How can I?

Love to All and Happy New Year :)