Actually, I was thinking the other day how as the years go on, they sound more and more like "the future". I don't mean that as a dig about me getting older, I mean the sound of the numbers when you pronounce them. 20-20 sounds kind of future-y, but the repetition loses something. I think good candidates to sound the most "future-y" are 2034 and 2078. So let's see if I'm still doing this blog 10 or 54 years from now.
But let's recap the year. It got off to an interesting start, with a trip to a water town and Hangzhou for Chinese New Year. Then we went back to see the in-laws, where it took a bit of a turn for the worse - mom got COVID a week or so before we arrived, and had a heck of a time recovering from it. It took her months to get back to normal, and we spent the holiday taking shifts at the hospital. When we got back, two of our best friends got married and had an amazing wedding.
But then things changed in a big way, with a massive trip around the world. Last year I said I hope we get to Japan and Europe, so, half check. We missed out on Japan, but we definitely got to Europe. It was one of the best trips of my life, so it was very welcome. Or maybe it felt better, after the miserable and stressful time to get Ella's visa. This trip was very important in another way, but, more on that later.
After Europe we visited the US, and unfortunately the trend of health issues cropping up on holidays continued. My grandmother and aunt died around that time, and dad got COVID. But while sad, it was slow-paced, and it was nice to catch up with everyone again, despite the circumstances. Back in China, we took a weekend trip to Nanjing, and Ella got to go to Thailand for 10 days. During that time, I got to be a bachelor for the first time in nearly a decade, which means Taco Bell's stock price rose 5%. But also, this year was one with a lot of reflection. I think I'm still a bit mentally damaged from the DELTA program, where any significant undertaking outside of work fills me with a large amount of anxiety. I guess acknowledging it is the first step, and maybe DELTA isn't actually the cause. But it's something that I need to get better with, because I know that life is going to continue to throw curveballs our way, and I'll have to handle them when they pop up. But at least the end of the year is filled with a lot of time off. Such as New Years Eve, which was pretty chill all things considered. Most of my friends were out traveling on their Christmas holiday, but we had one group that was still around. The 4 of us had a strangely international time, eating some Xinjiang Food, moving onto a Japanese bar, and then a western one. The midnight countdown isn't so much a thing here, but it was nice that the one table next to us was into it as well.
Anyway, let's be a bit more positive for next year. I mentioned earlier about the Europe trip having a big takeaway, and for us we decided to move to Portugal. In truth I wouldn't mind moving to anywhere we visited (especially Madrid!) but Portugal's visa policy makes it possible, in theory, for us to move there. We've started the process, but we're still a little too early to know all what we're in for. I mean, I know what to do, and it seems pretty easy (knock on wood). Actually, it seems even easier than the tourist visa for Ella - but that speaks less to how easy this is, and more to how complicated the tourist visa process was. But as we learned from that, each step can have plenty of "surprises" along the way, where obtaining one piece of paper can be a massive, several-month undertaking. So my hope is, one year from now, I will write about how we've settled in Portugal. That it's been a few months, we're learning Portuguese, and figuring out how to navigate our new home (and maybe finally getting a cat). If Portugal doesn't work out... then I don't know. To be honest, we're pretty over China by now. Though I'm comfortable enough here, I think Ella is itching to leave. We don't really have a Plan B, so let's try our best to make sure Plan A succeeds. But no matter what, I know that my career and our overall situation puts us in a very lucky position. In truth, we can move to nearly any country in the world - it's just a question of how much work we need to put in to make it happen. So, "the world is our oyster", and we just need to find a seafood restaurant we're interested in.
Anyway, let's look back on my favorite photos of 2023. A lot of great ones to pick from - especially Europe, but I tried my best to mix it up.
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