Getting Old

Well today is my 32nd birthday. Not a big year, nor an old year really. In fact I had completely forgotten about it until Friday when I got an email from my Mom. My actual birthday is being spent skyping and having a large Filipino birthday feast cooked for me. Perfect.

So how is 32 shaping up? Well I think it will be a bit of a plateau actually. I am over a year away from finishing my MA and getting my CELTA, which in turn will have me moving on from Korea. It will be a year spent paying for school, paying off debt and saving. Not that those are bad things, but it is a little less exciting than, say, six months in Thailand.

But it is also shaping up to be a great year. I have found a career that I am passionate about and, with the correct training/degrees, will be a profitable and rewarding one as well. Not that my life now is just killing time til 2015. I have a great job now, Moonkkang is hardly a bad place to work and I do plan to work a third year there if they can/are willing to keep me on. In a great relationship (where do you think that feast is coming from), healthy, good friends. Really with a bit more in my savings account I'll be 100%.

However I don't see any big trips or holidays this year, simply because I can't afford school and travel. I was thinking about Vietnam/Cambodia in the fall, but only if the friends I have there are willing to put me up, otherwise it may be a quieter year.  I would also like to get home this year for a while, just a couple weeks to visit friends and family and get a good Pacific Northwest micro brew. We will see how it turns out.

I said to my Mom around Christmas that 2014 is sort of a preparation year for the massive changes in 2015, when I do plan to move on from Korea and graduate from Birmingham. I'll be 33 with an MA and a CELTA and looking for work at Uni's and with the British Council. 32 and 2014 are when I have to do the legwork for that. Still, I am 32 and the best, most adventurous and most rewarding years are still to come. I am actually very excited for the next five years of my life. How many people can say that?