All Year New Year's Resolutions. Or Life as an RPG!

Holidays are finally over, it's a good time to confess... Christmas annoys me more than any football event celebrated by your stereotypical, obnoxious neighbours/housemates, that consecutively forget to invite you and celebrate everything solely on week nights.
It's the time of the year somehow manages to highlight all our shortcomings in areas of life we may simply have no control over at the time, like family, our geographical locations, and what's on the TV. Because no matter what channel you switch to you're being bombarded by ads of "What your loved ones really want this Christmas", and you have no choice but to question the value of the gifts you already bought, as if your relationships depend on them. Not even mentioning the religious part origins, yadda yadda.
New Years, however... Is different. For one, the celebration lasts for a year.
Not only can you treat it as your ultimate Monday of your flimsy "next week", but you get to evaluate what you've been concentrating on in the past and what you'd like to amend. You can even get a goddamn calendar this time around. Two years ago (it's recently been updated again) I read this fabulous article one Cracked.com the 6 Harsh Truths that Will Make You a Better Person, and that part about counting the hours a day that you spend doing things and straightening out your priorities, that's the saddest, simplest task you can do to give yourself a kick in the ass.

Seriously. Do it.

We have all tried sticking to resolutions and most of us failed to make it through January. I don't do NY Resolutions as these obsolete laws, so here are some of my are some tactics to avoid flopping through the year entirely.

1. Write it down, for crying out loud!

You came up with them while drunk, wrote them down ("if" even) and forgot them at the NY party. Come on, we've been there. Hell, some don't even write them down! Deciding to lose weight is all fine and dandy, but how do you plan on going about it? Have you set a goal weight? Have you picked out the gym/diet/program? What will you do when you reach your goal weight? When will that happen? Then what? Write it down and be specific, design a strategy and keep reminding yourself about why you initially decided to do this thing you decided to do. You can keep working on it after you hit the new calendar and all the way throughout the year. A friend of mine sets deadlines, with very specific times and dates and milestones. I keep score of small theme driven achievements (creativity, relationships, health, etc.), by the end of the year I count up the totals and either feel accomplished or realise my life has taken some strange turns.

2. Clarify the Big Picture.

So, what do you really want to achieve this year? A year is only 365 days, 24 hours each. It's the same for everybody in the world, yet somehow, some folks do more than others with this given time. Do that exercise mentioned in the article above,(if you were too lazy to read it: Take two pieces of paper and write down 5 most important things to you on the first one. Then fold it, set it aside and on the second one, write down, in detail, what you do on an average day. Do a few days. Compare your biggest time consuming activities with what you had on your first list. You can burn the first list. It's irrelevant.). Sort out where you are losing your time and if and how you would like to change this. If you know that your motivation levels tend to falter and spike, simply make those brave and stupid commitments a month ahead. Book classes and pay ahead so that skipping out on them is a threat to your stinginess! Make bets of arrangements with people you feel uncomfortable disappointing.

3. Funds. We all struggle with the monies.

Take a month or a week to monitor your budget and see where the pennies are running off to. I spend stupid amounts on expensive coffee, takeaway, junk food that isn't on the shopping list, and previously, smoking. These are things I can live without. Really, so now, whenever I stand in line to pay for my vices I ask myself, do I need this treat today?
No need to cut yourself off entirely, just be smarter about it. £30 saved on these things buy me a two day stay in a gorgeous bed and breakfast in Bologna, Italy.
Here's a popular one for money and priorities. Let's say you want to travel more; decide what country and apply for a visa (if you even needed one to begin with). That is the most painful process so get it out of the way, and takes a little bit of paperwork, which is the first step and scares the hell out of people for some reason. Once that's done, all you need to do is quit whining because most of the job is done. This day and age most flight tickets aren't incredibly expensive and booking.com is an easy way to get your accommodation sorted. Unless you have decided to go on a trek across the Sahara you can sort things out as you go along even if you didn't consider some things before your trip to European country, chances are you can sort them out on the spot. A very inspiring podcast on the topic is Budget Minded Traveller! In fact, most of the things mentioned in the podcast can apply to anything else you set out to do. So in most cases you will find, the money required to execute this objective is actually realistic if you compared it to your existing spending patterns.
If your objective is to make more money and you don't know what to do... You know your life better than I do. Maybe it's time to get another source of income?

4. Leeloo Mulitask

"So... much... to do... this year..."

Do multiple small objectives as opposed to one big scary one with no definition, I would even try to connect them. Be specific and realistic in timelines. The budget evaluation and "where to save, where to spend" approach I mentioned above is a good example of how you can cut down on eating crap, lose weight, save money for that, um, pottery class you wanted to try after work.
Mull your objectives over, and think of how to combine paths to them without causeing y
It's like Fallout or Skyrim, really. Do multiple side missions in one town.

5. Obsess.

Congratulate yourself at the smallest accomplishments. (I said congratulate yourself, don't spoil yourself .) Celebrate by catering further to your obsession. Example: -You got off your butt, signed up at the gym, went for a month and some, lost a bit of weight. Go buy yourself a new piece of awesome sportswear you wanted but weren't sure you needed. Be fancy like that. -You have decided to pursue your dream career.
Now, you're doing some crappy job/internship/course that you need to get through to get to the career you were really passionate about, but all work has it's difficulties! It's easy to get caught up and forget why you started this to begin with. No matter what, take a day to remind yourself the reason why you started this and what your reward will be!
See a topical movie, go to the museum, exhibition or an event in honour of that thing. Even if you can't be bothered, want to stay home and unwind, ask a friend or partner to drag you there, tell them why. ^this works well whether you're working in retail to pay for courses or support that dream, or if you're just uninspired in the job already.

6. This one is for the Gamers.

Do all these things with the dedication you would use while playing through your favourite RPG. Unless your game crashes, and you need to restart, you probably usually sit there and don't question much about your tasks, you sit there and do them for hours on end, because you have a single objective you're looking forward to. Skyrim brethren, have we not spent hours hunting down iron ores and fashioning endless, useless gauntlets just to max out our smithing to make Dragon Armour?
Mass Effect commanders, have we not mined planets endlessly to get shit done in the game?
Do you recall the dumb shit we all had to do in any GTA?
We did it and got through it and that was just for shits and giggles, we can do far more for our life. Games don't seem so bloody daunting as life, but to be honest, life gives more rewards.


 So, whether you haven't resolved to anything yet or have started abandoning your resolutions, it's not late yet. Most important thing you can do for yourself is change your perspective, the rest doesn't have to be set in stone.
Then again, if your prefer some ceremony, you still have the Chinese calender on the February 19.

Go. Sort your life out.

Helping Strangers

When getting off the train at Birmingham a very petite woman was standing in front of me. Actually, not just standing, she was struggling with her suitcases (which happened to be half her size), and while people seemed to be understanding of her struggle nobody helped her with them.

 

I’ve been in her situation many times before and helped her off the train and up the escalators, turned out she was from Mauritius, here for a Cake Makers Expo and had no idea how to get the the coach station. It was kinda my general direction so I offered to walk her out of the station and point the direction out… On the way she asked how far was it to walk to the coach station, because her card stopped working and she couldn’t pay for a cab. It wasn’t far at all. Suddenly, I remembered how my suitcase wheels failed in Italy. "Oh, I will walk you there!"

As we walked she was so amazed at how many people were drunk at 8PM in dark and dreary Birmingham, the once industrial centre of UK. We chatted about her life and kids, she couldn’t stop thanking me. When I got her to the coach station and gate, she dived into one of her gigantic suitcases and forced me to take a pack of Mauritius Vanilla Tea as a token of her gratitude.

As we hugged and wished each other safe travels, I felt like I just lived through some RPG side quest. XP points and Special Item Reward.
Helping strangers can be addictive.

Jobs, Sobs, and Keyfobs

Wow. I'm really terrible at this whole updating frequently thing!

Quick update:
I have completed the internship and returned to UK.
The end of the internship was a bit more emotional than I expected.
I pretty much almost cried when I received incredibly thoughtful gifts from people I didn't realise paid so much attention to my dorky interests and heard me talk to myself in the corner of the concept room. I also got a beautiful keyfob that I designed in my first month of the internship, as a sappy reminder that "Bitch, you can turn your dream into reality".

Not much different to sticking a horn on a pretty pony.

Summer in the City: Part 2: Concrete Beach

Let me begin by explaining this horrible two week delay, I am very sorry, but at first I considered this post inapplicable to the current Amsterdam since it started raining heavily a day after the heat. The following weekend I had health issues which got in the way.

So, with the weather having corrected itself once again and all, I will continue my tale of the Summer in Amsterdam.

Having agreed to go to the mysterious Roest, with my first day on a bicycle in the urban jungle, I had no idea of how far the place would be or what would await me there. When someone says “the beach” I assume the sea, so I was little surprised about it being only 20 minutes away by bike. We started cycling through the town across the Amstel. I was behind everyone, feeling quite jumpy at the sight of cars, but fortunately the traffic is gracious on weekends (and practically non-existent on Sundays). We travelled down the route of Tram 10, eventually passing the huge Windmill and the brewery next to it.

Speaking of which, the Brewery there is an absolute treat. I highly recommend it for any beer connoisseur, for prices and selection.

We turned left from the windmill and straight down the long picturesque road, until everybody started turning left again into an enormous, deserted parking lot, behind which you can see and old, rusted, loading dock. In the dusty heat, rust and cawing of a murder of crows I started to wonder on what exactly I was being dragged into.

We reached a crowded bicycle parking area where we all chained our bikes into pairs (safer that way!) and walked straight to the rusted loading dock. I noticed metal clumps on stands and tastelessly welded, illegible sign above a graffiti-masked shack, and two laid back surfer dudes chilling outside, smoking. As it turns out “Roest” literally means “Rust” in Dutch.

It was a Hipster Urban Beach Bar. I saw a girl walk by with a dance hoop, and later found out the place hosts music festivals and artisan events and sales. The old warehouse is also utilised. Together the bar is used as an exhibition space, theatre and a concert hall?! I'm 300% sure it hosts the occasional rave parties to top this off. We walked into the shack to get drinks. The establishment had wide collection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and a menu of mouth-watering lunch offers. On the other side of the shack was an exit to a man-made beach on the dock.

Young, beautiful people were strewn all over the white sand in their swimwear. There were also some children there. We rolled out our towels on the sand and started chatting.

The place isn't too noisy, making it a perfect conversation environment. Further from where we were seated there are hammocks and sunbeds available. Next to them you can find a tarzan swing into the water, there are also less active access points to the water, but the hysterical laughter and splashes seem like a better idea. There are also shower facilities and what I like to call “foot-desandifying places” at hand. I sat watching all these beautiful Dutch creatures in their natural habitat, thinking “My GOD, these people are gorgeous”!

All that being said, the place is clean and comfortable during the day.

If you are like me and don't enjoy urban swimming environments as much as their wilder counterparts, you can still find yourself wanting to join the splashy fun. If you are not convinced, you can still enjoy an ice cold beer in the super laid-back environment on those surprisingly hot days. Since it's pretty damn close to the city centre, it doesn't need feverish planning in order to commute there. I will definitely take all my international guests there to unwind after a series of museum visits.

Their website has an abundance of photos and news of events, so check it out.

 

And no, I don't get paid to promote anything, otherwise I'd post more often... HAH.

Summer in the City: Part 1: Cycling in Amsterdam

Finally! The summer returned to this rainy city, and it returned with a vengeance.
Yesterday morning I woke up in pool of sweat as the sun was precisely aiming to bounce off my windowsill and roast me at 6 in the morning. A nice change to last week, when everybody agreed that Holland migrated to hang out in the Southern hemisphere this year.

The Bicycle Adventure

In the kitchen, my housemate suddenly asked if I wanted to go to Vondelpark with her to laze in the sun with some friends. Vondelpark is an enormous park in the middle of Amsterdam where you can find most of the city on the rare warm weather days, on the rest of the days you will find runners and cyclists. It is definitely a place to visit in Amsterdam, it has a few cafes, bars and even a theatre within it, and is very popular for barbecues and group meetup events. I quickly agreed and then she asked if I'd like to use her second bike to get there.
Here's the deal, since a car accident at the end of last summer, I had already decided that traffic and I will just have to live separate lives. I have been walking and using trains/trams all year. There are plenty of bike/scooter bike/motorbike and bike/car accidents here, one very brutal one occurred outside our office last month, where a colleague had to drag a cyclist from under an unsuspecting truck. The details of that event freaked the remaining sanity out of me for a while. However, all of Amsterdam is still cycling.
Since we arrived, the said housemate learned how to ride a bike and without any hesitation joined the majority of the city's residents in pedalling to work, while I have been cycling since I was a 4 years old and felt like a darn coward. So I agreed. She told me it was a bike her sister was using when she visited, and since we are about the same height it should be perfect for me, but alas, same hight does not mean same leg length, her sister has model proportions.
Outside, the sun beat mercilessly, and we had donned our bikinis and summer dresses for the road. It took me 5 very graceless minutes to unlock two chains and get the bicycle out of the designated parking rack where some bikes stand for years, forgotten or damaged and abandoned, but catching on your brake cables every way they can.
It was after I accidentally flashed my bright blue bikini crotch while getting onto the obscenely tall bike, did a kind, Dutch gentleman point out that although the bike is a "men's" bike (straight, sporty frame as opposed to the "women's" curved frame bike) and slightly too big for me, but he can lower the seat further (news to me and my housemate who believed that the seat was at its complete lowest). He also pointed out the chain was loose and the brakes were too tight, so he quickly fixed it up, while I went back upstairs to put some shorts on to save my remaining dignity.
The reason the bike was in such terrible condition is because most bikes in Amsterdam are stolen and resold numerous times, so by the time my housemate's sister came to buy it for 20 euros it probably had a long list of abusive owners, including a few drug addicts (another reason why they are sold for 10 to 20 euros).
After the neighbour lowered the seat I was amazed by what a huge difference a couple of millimetres did for me! I could actually cycle now! With my housemate ahead of me, a hundred metres from our starting point, a taxi almost hit me (cyclists and taxis natural enemies in the city), but all was well, we peddled away. I stuck to the right side of the cycling path to let the small scooters and faster cyclists past. It was important to stay aware of them and the wandering tourists who do not differentiate cycling paths to pedestrian paths, which is why having a bell is vital. Cycling lanes also have designated traffic lights at crossings with very short time lapses. When turning at these crosses it is vital to cross tram tracks diagonally, as they are perfectly sized for getting your wheel stuck and possibly bending it (not even mentioning the danger of trams).
We successfully got to Vondelpark, where the cyclist traffic is much higher on a Saturday than it is on the streets, once again, the bell comes useful in the dreamy, serene environment where visitors get distracted by art installation and the birds of Amsterdam.
We locked our bikes on a single lock and sprawled out at the side of a pond to relax and enjoy the weather. After an hour of sunbathing, the girls suggested we go to the Roest. I had no clue what that was but agreed because I was excited to test my new found urban cycling ability.

Amsterdam Shabamsterdam. The Move.

As I mentioned previously, I have moved my butt to Holland/The Netherlands/Kingdom of Pancakes.

This move happened as suddenly and as thoughtlessly as all my previous relocations. Got an opportunity and grabbed it. I followed my disbelieving routine and until I saw the Bombardier Q400, that was to fly me to Schipol Airport, with its adorable propellers, I doubt that any of that information sunk in.
For the first two nights I stayed in the historical centre of Amsterdam, overlooking a canal. The weather was warm (it's actually psychotic) and the people were friendly. I find it important to state because, aside from the fact that the vast majority of Dutch residents of Amsterdam speak (perfect) English, there can be a cultural barrier. People come back with very mixed views from Amsterdam, claiming that people are either rude or the perfectly friendly hosts. It's sort of both. I find that when it comes to customer services, don't expect much ass-kissery as a foreigner. Amsterdam is a city with the highest nationality count residing here, and tourists are mainly here for the weed and the Red Light district. So the Amsterdam-Dutch are generally not bothered to deal with you and your demands as a customer with a forced smile and politeness. That being said, the other side of this coin is it is usually very easy to start talking to people and be upfront. I genuinely hate complaining or asking blunt questions in restaurants or shops because I like being polite and have a thing about fearing to hurt someone's feelings. Here there is no problem because folks are completely grounded and there is an air of realism to them. This is obviously nothing more than a personal observation.
Anyway.
The centre was a great place to stay at for the first few days. As usual, I had no problem transitioning to the new location. This is mainly because of the boats outside my window. I love anything and everything to do with boats and still write dreamy poetry when passing various canals on my way to work. Every single day. The following week I had moved (or rather, "have been relocated") into an area known as the Pijp (full of restaurants and small shops, across the street from the biggest market in the city). The scary part was moving in with the other female interns, then diving head first into a workload I only thought existed in movie montages, in films like The Devil Wears Prada. After I'd finish working on whatever jobs were assigned to me during the day, I'd stay late working on my degree project. I would come home from the office so late that my lovely housemates had a theory that I was actually out having affairs with older men.
No, I don't understand it either.
It was stressful and coming home to such elaborate gossip was just alienating. Fortunately, I ended up building a stronger bond with my work team and finished my degree far better than I had expected myself to! I believe that the geometrical facades of the buildings, the abundance of trees and the cinematic composition of the city and its people kept me far too inspired to give up on anything, even when they days were ridiculously taxing. Aside from bachelors and romantically adventurous couples, Amsterdam is the perfect city for European workaholics!

Until quite recently, I hadn't been able to walk about and get lost in the city, but I started jogging again and had guests over, and as we all know, guests and jogging are the best way to force yourself to explore the city you live in... Or at least come face to face with how little you know about the city you live in...


Stay tuned.

Did I mention Amsterdam?

Yeah, I moved again.