2022 Year in Review

I used to make “Happy New Year” posts but for whatever reason stopped. After web-surfing into Jeff’s 2021 year-in-review post, I was reminded why I started this blog almost two decades ago. I agree with him, it is nice to have a concise record of the things that were important to me for each year (even if nobody other than me reads it). So lets me dust off the cobwebs and do a recap of my own life in this 2022 Year in Review.

Highlights

• Going home for the first time in over 3 years
• Spending time with my cat
• Improved mental and physical health
• Cleared student loans and now debt free
• Falling back in love with coding
• Travelling safely again
• Cycling, Volleyball and Running

Lowlights

• Mental Health struggles
• All my house plants died

Most Valuable Lessons

• Friendships and intimate relationships are healthy only when the parties involved actively do what is needed to maintain them. Stop overextending yourself in one-sided connections.
• Forgive yourself, let go, learn this time and stop the re-occurring cycle.
• Stop trying to feed the multitudes with your five loaves and two fishes then go hungry.
• Speak up and use your words, Kirk.

Hobbies – Gaming, Travel, Figures

I really enjoyed playing Elden Ring. I was late to the Broken Lines and Wasteland 3 party. Arceus was different enough to get me back into Pokemon for a little while. Monster Hunter Sunbreak might be my most-played game this year but I am also gotten hooked on Apex Legends again. Streaming on Twitch is something I want to do more in 2023, I have plans to stream gaming, studying Japanese and coding.

Travelling in 2022 felt a lot less stressful and anxiety-inducing. Other than making it all the way home to Jamaica I managed to spend time in New York and travel around Japan a bit to Fukuoka, Imabari, Tokyo and more.

Building figures for me feels like therapy and my builds in 2022 include The Mandalorian: Razor Crest and a gold 7-Eleven-themed RX-78-2 Gundam. I also totally didn’t try to steal the Black Panther costume at the Avengers Station in Tokyo.

Japanese

My Japanese continues to improve as I challenge myself to speak more. Passing the JLPT N4 didn’t happen in the summer – I failed by one point. I stopped studying Japanese and started to study for the JLPT (lol) then retook it in December 2022. Let’s see if that strategy works when the results arrive in February. I will be hoping to pass the JLPT N3 in the summer of 2023 regardless of my N4 results.

Work

I was ready to move on from my time on the JET Programme this year but the universe had other plans. I am grateful but ready for a new challenge. I can do my job and teach my classes without much effort. In a strange plot twist, this year saw my workload slashed in half with the arrival of a co-JET. I spent a lot of that extra time doing extra-curricular activities with my students, studying Japanese and programming courses. I am definitely at the end of this work chapter and I am looking forward to what’s next – after resting.

Health and Wellness

I started 2022 really chunky. Nothing is wrong with putting on some weight, especially with how the pandemic forced so many of us to be less active. Though I never got “sick”, I felt so lethargic and unlike myself in early 2022. In April I decided to change this and after dozens of volleyball matches, bicycle rides, and 2 to 5km runs, I am back to my pre-pandemic weight and feeling like myself again I also started to prioritise proper rest, drinking more water and intermittent fasting. As for my mental health, it’s been a daily routine of prioritizing myself, reducing negative influences and being intentional about doing things I enjoy. It’s been a lot of work and many of my friends don’t understand but I appreciate the ones that do.

Coding

I have mentioned all the coding I have been learning and re-learning this past year. With that knowledge I have dabbled with building so many projects – I really need to create a portfolio in 2023. Some of my fav projects I have been poking around with are a Life Logging program and a Japanese Kanji learning project I hope to build out into a launchable free service.

2022 Year in Review – Let’s do our best in 2023

There ends my 2022 Year in Review. In 2023 I want to continue to prioritise myself and cultivate healthy connections. This will be a year in which I transition into many new things and I am really motivated to be the best I can be in the new year.