Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009, the last single digit year of the twenty-first century, is an eventful year for the world, and myself. In the year, America’s first black President swore into office; Dow came back to 10000 points; Michael Jackson died; and I was laid off.

Looking back, I feel fortunate that Mike and I escaped the deadliest metro accident, which took place on the line we commute to work every day and killed nine; I feel lucky that I survived the mass layoff and landed another job soon enough not to contribute to the 10% national unemployment rate; I feel grateful that Mike has been so supportive providing me with both physical and emotional security in this most insecure time.

One thing that completely changed my life is the layoff that happened exactly at the middle of the year, which split 2009 into a merry-go-around first half and a roller-coaster second half. I often remember our April trip to China as something that happened last year because it did seem like a really long time ago when we actually could have plans. Now my three-shift-rotating job not only makes an undisturbed eight hour sleep a dream too good to be true, but also makes a dinner or movie plan for next week almost impossible either because A) I don’t know which shift I will be working; or B) I don’t know which day I will be off; or C) I don’t know if I will have enough sleep on a particular day.

The person I thank most for helping me going through the rough transition is my dearest Mike, who tolerates my frequent (i.e. five days a week) explosion of crankiness from sleeping and eating disorder, who drives me to metro every night rain or snow, who wisely warned me of not have an expectation too high on any promising job openings, for making me still believe things will get better.

In 2009, Mike and I also celebrated our first anniversary, although it feels like we’ve been married for years, not only because now we can let out unpleasant gas in front of each other without feeling any shame, but also because we both consider each other as our best friend with whom we can share any thoughts without expecting the other would always agree with ourselves, but would always be the best listener.

Now, it’s time to look forward. Just the look of the number 2010 seems so futuristic and it sounds even more—Twenty-Ten, instead of two thousand and something. It actually IS futuristic in that the way we gather information, look at the world and communicate with people would be unimaginable 20 years ago. I used to write my New Year’s resolution on a piece of paper and stick it on the wall behind my desk. Now I’m writing it on my computer and post it on my blog and my friends living thousands of miles away can read it simultaneously.

In addition to convenience, technology also brings us laziness. Partly blaming my chaotic work schedule, I’ve lost contact with most friends. So my 2010 resolution: Party On! I’m going to have more B-B-Qs, hot pots, dinners, dumplings, card games, pool games, movie nights…Let's bring the fun back to life!