Y'all, this has proved to be so much harder than I thought it would be. It would've been easier to remember what happened throughout the year if I had been taking notes along the way. Maybe I'll do that next year? Anyway, for now, here's the rest of my list of happenings for 2013:
51) To my surprise, the good friends I've made since coming to college haven't gotten tired of me yet.
52) To my even greater surprise, I still managed to make new friends this year.
53) I received my first
Rubik's cube.
54) I got out of Korean dramas (out of habit) and got back into Japanese ones (out of necessity).
55) I started
cooking/baking for fun again!
58) I got a 3.5 in a class for the first time in my entire college career, and though I was disappointed and it lowered my GPA, it wasn't the end of the world.
59) I had a phone conversation with the professor who gave me said 3.5. She didn't change my grade (I hadn't tried to convince her to), but we had a really nice conversation about me being more vocal, about how much she respected me, and about how intelligent she thought I was.
60) I took a Korean history class through my school's rival. One of the most tedious yet interesting courses I've ever taken.
61) I FINALLY switched from iPhone to Android (Samsung > everybody else).
62) I read the book of Psalms. I read a number of other Old Testament books this year, but Psalms was my favorite.
63) I finally visited the Eli Broad Museum, aka the Spaceship.
64) Ma and I took pictures in a photo booth on my
birthday.
65) I got a first-hand look at the foster care system which increased my sympathy for foster kids and my respect for social workers. It also further convinced me that I'd never want to be a social worker.
66) I took a Zumba class for the first time.
67) I was introduced to the wonderful world of "performance studies" and "ethnomusicology".
68) I applied, interviewed, and got to the final round of considerations for a research assistantship translating French-language documents from post-WW2.
69) I tried out for an acapella group on campus.
70) Working at an animal shelter led me to discover that I'm probably allergic to cats.
71) I shopped (thrifted?) at Goodwill on a whim.
72) I accepted the fact that though its arrogant and pompous school will always suck for being arrogant and pompous, Ann Arbor is a far superior city to EL/the state capital.
73) Fruitvale Station,
The Butler,
12 Years a Slave. Each of these films left me emotional.
74) Ma set the table for Thanksgiving and put up a
wreath for Christmas, two things that haven't happened since I was a kid.
75) I got my grown-up driver's license and I liked the way I looked in the picture.
76) I saw Balé Folclórico da Bahia perform live (their 25th Anniversary Show "Bahia of All Colors").
77) Two different administrators at my school encouraged me to apply for
National/International Fellowships and Scholarships. Never followed up on it because I decided they weren't for me, but I appreciated the gesture.
78) I considered auditioning for 'The Voice'.
79) I decided that if I ever did audition for 'The Voice', I would sing
this song.
80) I got off one high horse and started drinking pop again, but only occasionally.
81) I stayed on another high horse and refused to drink alcohol, even though it's legal for me now.
82) Some selfish fool hit my car and ran, and I was really shocked and frustrated about it at first. But then I figured, You know what, this is what people do, they break things. And now I can look at my dented front bumper and laugh.
83) I used a planner for the first time since high school.
84) I read a children's book for the first time since... well, since I was a child myself.
85) My aunt let me have a family portrait of me and my parents from 1994 as an extra birthday/Christmas present. Sometimes snooping does pay off.
86) I worked an
art festival convincing strangers to let me take pictures of them in yoga poses.
87) A really nice
young stranger stopped to tell me his life story, and even though I kind of dropped the ball, that experience was a really great lesson in humanity.
88) Ma and I went to the
Detroit Jazz Festival for the first time!
89) I won the bidding for a picture of a Senegalese boy atop his camel at a student African photo exhibit.
90) I climbed
one mountain, and attempted to climb a
second one. Both of which were in Kyoto.
91) I met a very special person named
"L".
92) I became friends with another very special person named
"Ivy".
93) My dad sent me books for Christmas (I don't think he's ever done that before).
94) My dad sent me a hand-written letter (he's definitely never done that before).
95) I got my first physical copy of a Tokyo Jihen CD.
96) I shopped for myself at Macy's for the first time.
98) I biked 9 miles for the first time in over four years.
99) It might not seem wise, but my first time walking two dogs at once was with a pair of pit bulls this fall. Other than sore arms from being pulled through the woods, they didn't give me any trouble.
100) I spent a month trying to come up with a "100 Things" list, and it's helped me realize that even though I tend to think of my life as boring and static, I've actually had quite the colorful year.
Thanks for taking the time to read about my year. Best wishes to you all in 2014. Be Happy and God Bless!
