Anna Overseas: Looking Forward

January 1st has traditionally been a day for looking back, at least amongst my circle of friends back in Edmonton, so I'll leave that till then. Today, I'll look forward to 2006 instead.

And I am looking forward to it. I have so many things planned for the new year, some of them mentioned on here, some of them not.

2006 will be the year I go to Australia (and I'm so excited about it!), the year my best friend gets married to a lovely woman, the year I start working towards my Masters Degree (the scenic route, you understand... always have to do things the hard way, I do).

2006 will be full of friends - I've got friends coming across to live here in March, my mom is coming to visit, my friends Mel and Cody are going to be coming to visit (hopefully!), I'll be doing a whirlwind tour of B.C. and Alberta in the summer, and I'm secretly hoping a sudden windfall will mean I can bring Tom and Carla for a few weeks. I'm hoping to hook up with Phil in Singapore during my trip to Austalia, and maybe a few other people I've met there through the magic of the internet.

2006 is the year I turn 30.

I'm a bit floored by that last bit... how did that happen? Aren't I 21 and still trying to figure out my life? Or 17 and terribly confused about what the next step is? It feels like I did this all backwards, this moving around, this seeing the world. But then I remember that I'm doing it on my own terms, and not doing it as a 'thing to do' instead of going to school. I'm doing this because now, at this stage, I can't imagine a life where I'm not.

I remember, back when I was 19, spending a summer working in Jasper, one of the cities in the Rocky Mountains. While there, I met this exciting and entrancing woman. Older (probably my age now, if I think about it), having spent most of her adult life traveling from country to country, picking up random degrees (she was working on her Masters) and working in hotels and the like as a cleaner in order to support herself while she did it. She spoke many languages, had an entrancing accent, and was generally so fascinating to me.

I think I know what I want to be when I grow up. Or don't grow up, as the case many be.

I think I'm supposed to be anxious about turning 30 and I'm not. (I have a friend who's the same age as I am, and informed me that she's going to start lying about her age from now on... I can't imagine doing that.) I'm more excited about it than anything else. I have big plans for my 30th Birthday Party that I haven't quite gotten into here because I need to sit down and plot that out a bit. (Note to friends and family: I want a 30th Birthday Party, or two, or maybe three... one for each decade? *laugh*)

I just keep thinking that this will be another year of adventure... and I can't wait.

Anna Overseas

Hey World, I'm pleased to meet you...

Looking Forward

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