New Year, New Me

NEW YEAR, NEW ME

That's how the saying goes, right?
It is so easy to get caught up in the daily routine - the commute to work, lesson planning, teaching English, running to private classes after school.

Sometimes, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that we are in SPAIN. So, maybe it's a new year, but this new me isn't really new. It is rather an extension of myself, a hidden me that has been waiting to emerge. A European, more understanding and aware version of myself.

My new years resolutions are a mixed bag of tricks. While I still have the usual goals to drink more water, exercise, eat healthy, I want to push myself more out of my comfort zone. After reflecting on the last 4 months, and realizing I still have 6 to go, I have taken the time to think about what will really scares me. I still fear speaking Spanish in public, so I have made it my goal to go to more intercambios, to speak to the teachers at my school in Spanish, increase and review my knowlege of the subjunctive and preterite. Maybe I can start learning one new word a day. Maybe I can eventually increase that to three a day. But overall, at the end of this year, I want to be fluent and speak Spanish effortlessly.

Eat healthier? More like enjoy more pinchos and tapas. Save money? Spend it all on travel and seeing the world. 

I watched Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts the other day, and I couldn't help but relate to her journey through Italy, India and Bali. Maybe our time abroad in Spain is just about growth and learning to enjoy ourselves guilt free. So maybe I can take the time to enjoy the little things, without feeling like I don't deserve it. We have this moment in our lives, so why not SEIZE it. The time we have here is already almost halfway over, and this day is fleeting. We have no choice but to embrace and live it. 

The growth I can see in myself is surprising. On the surface, my English is flatter, less accented, with fewer unnecessary vocal fluctuations and usages of the word "like". I have chopped off my hair. I have worn out my shoes from the amount of miles I have trekked across Madrid. My Spanish is better. But there are deeper parts within me that are different, changes that I cannot yet identify and are still emerging. But my love for Europe has increased exponentially. 

I am excited to continue forward and making 2018 the best and most memorable year of my life. Because what fun is it to remain static, stuck in time when we could be pushing ourselves forward and watch huge changes take place in such a short period of time?

New year, new country, new me .