2017: The Ride

The year of 2017 was so far the most unpredictable I had so far. It was as if I was riding a roller coaster with many humps,  sharp turns and swings. I would want it to be more predictable such that changes happened at a reasonable pace. I can not complain though that much because the year was good for me in terms of my career, but okay it was far from perfect. Why? This is the focus of this blogpost.

Relationships

The year seemingly started very well. I celebrated it with two of the most important persons in my life. What can I ask for during the time I welcomed the year 2017. It was unique celebrating with two of the most cherished individuals in my life. Days after that, my sister (one of the two) opted to transfer up north. It was heartbreaking and mentally-draining. But we do not have choice. That event shattered the way I coped. I made mistakes due to my incapacity to cope well. Unfortunately, those mistakes resulted me to lose the second of the two just several months after. Yes, now I am alone in Oslo. Okay, that itself is either both good and bad.

Travels

It was busy and exciting for travel. I visited 10 countries in 16 cities throughout the year. These countries include United Kingdom (London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, York, Manchester), Finland (Helsinki), Estonia (Tallinn), Singapore (Singapore), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Spain (Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona), France (Paris, Versailles), Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Vilnius).

Moreover, due to my sister's transfer. I was able to visit new places in Norway that made me appreciate my new home country (Trondheim, Bodø, Træna). I had also the opportunity to travel to Philippine cities during my annual vacation (Cebu, Butuan, Laoag, Vigan, Manila). This year I visited Copenhagen, Denmark for the second time after two years.

With all these travels, so far I visited 25 countries and 45 cities, excluding those in my home countries Philippines and Norway.

Achievements

I obtained major achievements this year. I had improved significantly in my Norwegian language skills. (Though I am still waiting for the results of the last exam). Regardless, I made big leap in work. I got my Norwegian nursing license. I started working at night. This is something suits me well. I had a sort of promotion, and had opportunity to work on another nursing home. These had made me so busy that in the last few weeks I almost had no free days. To top it all, I got my permanent residence permit - a major hurdle I passed through this year.

Personal Challenges

There are ofcourse things I can not write here about some challenges in my life. However, this year came also the two of the most devastating surprises in my life, aside from relationship problems. Those two are something that almost made me think to somehow bring the curtain down for me. Good I was able to get some help from strangers who I am thankful for forever. All these life changes are very stressful that affected me and my family. Well, I see a better 2018. Some individual can try to bring me down but wait remember life is so unpredictable. You might have the steering wheel at this moment. However, think about when I could take it from you. 😉

New Beginnings

Because of some changes, many things have also begun in my life. I started taking my health seriously. I play squash and make sure I get enough fresh air from time to time. I do not just sleep all day like what I do. I go out with my dear friends to eat out, watch film in the cinema or go to the theater. These are things I would not imagine doing before. More importantly, I spend more time now communicating with my family back in the Philippines. The challenges I personally faced this year had become an adhesive that bounded us more together. I even visited my aunt in United Kingdom, who I was not able to see in person for over a decade!

Hey, not to mention I moved to a new apartment. The transfer was very challenging, not to mention finding one that suits my needs and budget. This has led me to become more independent, pay my bills and do chores systematically without compromising the things I like. This year, morever, is when I took learning other languages seriously. So aside from Norwegian, I am making progress in Spanish, French, German and Swedish. I started writing poems and engaging more to arts. I wish to draw more. The downside is that I was not able to write as often as I can here in my blog. Lastly, I developed a system on how I engage in social media. I opened a new Instagram, The Filipino Seeker (@thefilipinoseeker) as a daily throwback platform for all my past travels. Wait, I forgot to mention I turned 30 years old this year! WHEW!

Just like after riding a roller coaster, one still feels the anxiety or rush after the ride. There are still unanswered questions for me and seemingly more difficult challenges in the horizon. Actually, I see a major challenge in the near future that will test everything in me, but I will make a good fight. I promise to remain standing on my feet after that. I know what I did, am doing and will do. I am becoming less afraid day-after-day, but I will use all the resources I could utilize to survive the next chapters. What happens after surviving is something those who attempt to test me will see and learn. I assure you. I will be stronger more than anyone has expected.

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