Travel Goals/Fears/Dreams

Seeing as this year is predominately about full-ermersion in other language in order to reach near-native fluency and secondly a personal adventure, it's been imperative that I document it well. I have a journal, a blog and vocabulary book: so far so good. I have thought a lot about my fears and my dreams for this season of my life and right at the forefront is this crazy borrower sized version of myself screaming 'I DON'T WANT TO WASTE THIS OPPORTUNITY!' In order to combat this fear, I had to dig a little deeper and think about how you can measure waste. I decided to write down everything that I wanted to achieve this year and then prioritise the things that I can ONLY do in Germany. For example, getting better at playing the piano went off the list, because as much as I want to play it well, I have the rest of my life to practice. However, reading German newspapers regularly and going to German plays are things that can only be done properly in Deutschland. I am finding this prioritisation incredibly useful. My life tends to be a bit full, which leaves me feeling frustrated because I never get to spend enough time on things. So, by stripping my life down to the bare essentials I am able to take a heap load of pressure off myself and hopefully be successful. YAY. So without further-a-do. 

Goals:

1. Improve my German.

2. Make life-long friends.

3. Know myself better.

4. Travel.

Fears:

1. Not making a significant improvement in German.

2. Loneliness.

3. Hating my job.

4. Having no money.

Action Plan:

1. Read one German novel a month. (I think this is a 

very achievable task. It's long enough to finish but short enough that

I can finish a few during my time here)

2. Buy a newspaper every other day.

(great for language and general culture)

3. Learn 15 new words a day (AT LEAST!)

4. Wake up to German radio.

5. Be a bold socialiser. (this sounds ridiculous,

but what I mean is if a conversation is possible, then I need to

do whatever it takes to make it happen!)

One another thing I have learnt since being in Germany, is that I need to take this year one day at a time. If I think about the long-term I freak out and get hit with a shovel of doubt. Yet if I look at the day and assess what can be achieved, what words can be learnt, which people can be spoken to, then everything begins to feel a lot more manageable and I live more in the moment, which is another thing I am aspiring to do. Once again, I intend for this blog to keep me accountable so be prepared for weekly video updates on my favourite German words of the week...I'm not even kidding.