Year End Self-Analysis 2010 – (Post)^3 Modernism

In the spirit of former endeavors, I think it’s a good idea to take another look at myself.

Accomplishments

Completed a year in Beijing, China
Successfully kept a relationship up with Kelsey while across the world for thirteen months
Learned a functional basic amount of Mandarin
Helped organize the Beijing Debating Society
Began couchsurfing, hosting one person in Beijing and staying with one person in Hong Kong (which was AWESOME)
Filled my passport shortly before achieving the age of 24, forcing the emergency addition of pages to my passport in Laos
Traveled over 10,000 miles to the far west of China and back within the span of a month
Hiked the Great Wall with Jeff and capped off the day with TEDxGreatWall
Developed hopefully sustainable trainee engagement and quality improvement in AIESEC in Beijing through the Beijing Trainee Committee, and organizing things like the 50-person Peking Duck Dinner
Saw the most amazing star-scape I will likely ever see on this planet at Nam Tso in Tibet
Learned a lot about my genealogy, especially on the Rhea side
Improved and focused on my photography (thanks Peter and Lukas!)
Landed an AMAZING internship at the Open Technology Initiative
Wrote two articles before completing one month at said internship
Traveled in general, highlighted by my month-long trip in China, trip to Tibet, and two weeks in Southeast Asia with Kelsey
Started involvement in Bloomingdale Broadband Bridge

Did not start learning Chinese as early as I had planned
Did not land a paying job in DC by the end of the year
Didn’t get to cooking enough on my return to the US
Gained back some of the weight I lost in China
Didn’t get a solid workout schedule going yet in DC
Did not couchsurf as much as I would have liked
Fell off the BrainCanvas wagon for a while
Did not move forward with Entropy after receiving scathing reviews from the business plan analysts
Have not picked music back up yet
Did not stay out longer to contemplate the Universe at Nam Tso
Didn’t take enough risks

Making Waves in Washington, DC: I am in DC and I have an excellent internship. I’ve only just started getting involved in the community though and I don’t yet have a permanent position. At least I’m here; not sure that I’m making too many waves.
Working Out my Mind, Body and Soul: My mind is getting a serious workout at the Open Technology Initiative. I have failed to keep my body in shape recently, something I will correct imminently. And in the rush of getting settled in a new place, I have neglected specific soul-nurturing. However, being in the same place as Kelsey has improved my general mood and optimism tenfold.
Learned Conversational Chinese: Done. However, it’s slowly rotting away sans practice.
My Writing is Referenced in Influential Publications: I was hoping this would happen for BrainCanvas, but I did write two pieces for OTI which have been retweeted nearly a hundred times by some focus-specific thought leaders.
Making Music Regularly: Total failure. Disappointed in myself.