another year's over...

Christmas is coming soon. Someone on facebook wrote in their status: "another year's over and what have you done".

That really really made me thoughtful, well actually quite sad. It's nearly the end of September, and if you live in North America or Europe, the Christmas music in the malls will start very, very soon.

This must be like the earliest annual review of all times, but I am really in a nostalgic mood right now. This has its reasons.

In much less than a month, my bf will leave Bangkok. I have now been with him here in BKK for nearly a year, and needless to say, it will be not the same without him.

He is going to visit his parents in Korea, flying to Macau, taking the boat to Hong Kong, the train to Shanghai and Qingdao and the ferry to Incheon/Seoul. It should be a nice trip for him...

About 3/4 weeks before leaving a place is always when you slowly start realising that you are soon going to part way with not just your city/home but also with your friends, your hangout places, the things you do every morning, in short: EVERYTHING.

I am not good at saying goodbye so it will be teary. Usually it has always been me going away, either to Europe or to New Zealand and the bf had to come home to the empty flat and the routines without me.

This time it will be me. When he leaves next month I will not want to go to his home area (Ratchada) anymore. It would be so empty... In his soi, he's made friends with a Chinese-Thai lady at the foodcourt.

When I was gone, she once said to him: "you are alone in the city so I take care of you". How sweet! Whenever the bf goes to eat there, she gives him free drinks and he usually brings some food for her too to share it.

I think she is either unable to have children and has now 'adopted' the boyfriend, or she is a lesbian. The bf said: "she is going to cry for sure..."

I wont leave BKK just yet, but soon. 11 December is my flight out of BKK and I really cant imagine not living here anymore. Already now I start looking at buildings and roads and wonder whether this is the last time I am seeing this, or that place...

In the meantime, I have a lot to do, so I wont have much time to visit places, meet up with friends and contemplate.

Until early November, my second thesis needs to be finished, so I can go to Korea to visit the bf. After that, I have a few days time to either relax in BKK, write more on my thesis, or go on a little trip.

In December, I will fly to New Zealand for my graduation, back to Switzerland for XMAS with the boyfriend (first time in Europe for him) and then off to Australia for a new life...(all via Bangkok).

"So this is Christmas;

and what have you done?"

Yes, I am asking myself that question too. The other day I looked through my iPhoto album to check what I have been up to in 2009 and it's really scary...

Whatever I think I have done in 2009 was actually 2008...I have been in Thailand for nearly TWO years, not one...

In 2009, I travelled like there's no tomorrow....Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Laos, China, New Zealand, Laos, and soon....Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland (and some more European countries).

I must be crazy....what useful things did I even do? Well.....I finished one degree, a thesis packed with 75'000 words/250 pages written in 4 months, and another one is one the way.

But is that something to boast about? No, I dont think degrees are any difficult. I have seen people getting the same degree as me who didnt know anything about the world, let alone our subjects...

I am proud of my theses though, they are good, valuable, useful, practical yet well grounded in theory. I have done real research, interviewed people, made graphs, tables and analysed like crazy...I havent just copied ideas, I had my own.

On Silom Farang's blog people are discussing how to invest their thousands of well-earned dollars/euros in condos (or not) or how much monthly wage/rent they should pay their boys and how many condos/cars they should buy them, I am on the other side of the working career.

For me, it is time to start real life. I am sick of getting money from my parents. Not that I dont want it, but I am started to feel ashamed that I cant support myself at 26. My parents have been so generous (they also have the opportunity to be, luckily), I want to pay them back - I want to show them that they were right to support me.

A degree however is hardly an achievement...so now I need to find a job...

What else have I done? Well, it has been practically a year since the boyfriend arrived here. That also means that exactly today a year ago is the last time I had sex with someone else than the boyfriend.

It is a known fact that when living with a boyfriend, other friendships will sometimes suffer. Most of my best friends live overseas though, mostly in Europe, so I get to spend very little time with them anyway.

For the ones here, especially Kawadjan, I am sorry if I was a bit less adventurous and fun this year...the bitchy Silom nights are definitely a thing of the past, but I think we can look back with a smile.

Otherwise, I have not made many new friends. I had hoped that I could make some new friends through this blog, especially fellow bloggers. They are however either too shy, or there are simply too few of them around...

With the Thais, it was the same as last year. Many acquaintances, countless wonderful people, magic moments, some flirts, and to be honest, if I wouldnt have a boyfriend already, a few candidates, all better than anyone I dated while I was still single...

I never took anyone seriously though, because what's the point if you are already happy?

For the bf and me, this has been a very important year. I think we have both grown enormously in personality. We went through difficult times, especially when I was away, or when I told him about the blog. We have also both realised how we get on each other's nerves - and we both try to do this a bit less...

So, maybe this is the most important achievement of the year then. Why does it always have to be career or money? Consolidating a relationship should be a good achievement, no?

Now we are looking to a common future in Australia in 2010. Wish us luck!