It’s my birthday. Another birthday that I get to spend in a foreign country away from family and friends. But sometimes you get to find happiness in the most mundane things. It just so happens that I found mine in buying a new camera.
Jokes aside, it’s weird that in grad school i’m one of the older students, but for my high school class, I’m probably one of the youngest ones. 30 years old. I’m really looking forward to what the 30s will offer me. Late teens to early twenties was a wild ride, 25-29 was a lot of learning about the real world (they say you learn about the real world after college, but I call B.S.). Learning about myself, what I am capable of and of the sheer amount of knowledge I can act like i’m learning. hahahaha
I am excited for my 30s, it will start in a foreign land, but I wonder will it end in one as well. Will I get married? (Spoilers: Most probably), will I graduate and get my PhD? (probably one of the most important questions right now). What will the future hold? Academe? Corporate? Will I learn Japanese? Will I get to publish a journal?
I’ve done many things I’m not really proud of just because of the fact that I didn’t think about them too much before pulling the trigger. ECE, PhD, Quitting my last job. Accepting a job that wasn’t paying too good. Even now I’m not too sure. But no matter what, I want to make my 30s a decade of well thought out decisions. A time where I put more thought in the future and maybe just a teeny bit less of the moment.
Friends, getting married, left and right, high paying jobs, rewarding vocations. And here I am, in my dorm room for the past 3 days researching, coding and writing a paper of which I’m only the second author. How much work is needed for my own paper?! But I couldn’t be… (I don’t think happier is the word), content maybe. I couldn’t be more content of where I am now. I learned a lot of things, not just for PhD, but how to buy groceries, how to cook, how to speak a bit of Japanese. I’ve met new people, people I never would’ve encountered if I stayed in my comfy work in the Philippines. Probably cliche answers but if it works it works.
And most importantly, I can play Pokemon Go or take pictures on the street without fear of thieves. hahaha.
Here’s to 30, to learning new things, learning that you really are not getting any younger, to making decisions and choices that matter, to having friends that you’ve grown this far with but still acting like stupid 18 year olds when you get together, to family, to parents you’re really scared are getting older, to my girl, whom I’ve known for more than a third life and spend more of with.
Last thing: What I want to say to 29 year old me. We have been through a lot this past year, we’ve made mistakes and learned lessons. お疲れ様でした. Let us move forward! 頑張った！
*I’ve missed writing, but I haven’t had a lot of practice. Conference paper writing aside. I don’t know if I even knew how to write from the start. I should learn or re-learn.
**The last months of my 29th year were filled with Kpop. Thanks Elaine. haha
***Oh yeah, I’ve bought a Fujifilm X-T20. Suggestion, you can watch a ton of youtube videos, but just go buy a camera. Just pick a budget, pick if you want a videos more than photos or the opposite. And buy.
JJPP: JP in JP 