~Two Surveys From Persian Lands Afar
2005-12-30 - 6:16 p.m.

I found these two end-of-year surveys to be reasonably interesting and I tried to be somewhat thoughtful about my answers.

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Went on a Whale Watching cruise.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't remember making any resolutions at the start of this year. I don't really go in for resolutions, but I do think I want to set some goals for next year to do with self-discipline, health, and making the most out of things. With resolutions you either keep them or you don't. With goals, you strive for them and can congratulate yourself if you came closer to achieving them than in the path. Besides, studies have shown that we are at our happiest not when we have no challenges, nor when we've achieved something, but when we're striving to achieve challenging but attainable goals.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My friend Jillian and two cousins.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My dad's cousin.

5. What countries did you visit?
Only my own, this year...but next year...!

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
More energy and much, much more self-belief/confidence.

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nothing in particular. Possibly the Queensland trip, possibly Christmas, is it was when Dianne & Tim got engaged.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Just surviving it? Getting a car (although now I'm poor for next year after my holiday). No, really, it was a year of forced growth and survival. I can't say there's been anything in particular I've been especially proud of. I've had more challenges at work and managed to rise to them, but some not as well as I would have liked and the ones that I achieved with what I'd probably call success usually meant something else suffered or it was just a bit stressful. Perhaps I feel I've made more good friends this year.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I like what the person I stole this from said ("I do not think of myself as failing. I think of myself as working on stuff."), but, unfortunately, I probably feel that my year in general has been a little disappointing career-wise. I know that I've improved and grown and worked hard but I don't really look back and feel proud of the year. I have to make myself pick out successes to feel positive about it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Goodness. Well, there were my regular once-or-twice-a-term colds, a bad, bad bout of tummy bug with vomiting and constipated stomach cramps, and my chronic back problems which well and truly settled in the shoulder/neck area and caused me all sorts of pain.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Car.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Nobody's in particular. Pretty much everyone was fairly nifty.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My students'.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Groceries, clothes, DVDs.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My Queensland trip and then the prospect of my Overseas trip.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
Hm. I'm not sure about that until 2005 fades a way and one song stays linked to its memory. Possibly one of my choir songs (either one I loved, such as Dies Irae, or one I hated, such as Who Killed Cock Robin).

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
- happier or sadder? That's tricky. I think I'm less even, more fragile. I have more regrets than last year and a less certain future to look forward to (I did a possible income thingy for next year and its pretty woeful compared to what I've been earning), including the disheartening prospect of more time in close quarters with the father, but I also have my overseas trip and a less stressful year to look forward to, so a part of me feels more positive about the future because it's more open.
- richer or poorer? POORER.
- thinner or fatter? I think I'm a bit fatter but I feel a bit better about my weight than this time last year.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise, saving money, school preparation at school.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wasting time at physio/osteo/remedial massage. Being sick.

20. How did you spend the holidays?
Which ones? Most of them were spent moseying around. The best holidays were the Queensland ones in September.

21. Did you fall in love in 2005?
No.

22. How many one-night stands?
How many did YOU have??

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Oooh um oooh. I can't remember back to the season of Good Television Programming! I loved ER this year, and Spicks and Specks, and House, and Supernanny.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.

25. What was the best book you read?
Come on. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. No other book absorbed me as much, nore got me as excited.

26. What was your favorite film of this year?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, hands-down.

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
"These shoes fit my orthotics! Score! They don't match any of my clothes? They must be worn with daggy socks to be comfortable? Who said clothes had to match..."
Hehe, actually, it was probably basically simple with occasional flashes of "this layery, lacey, jewelleryey look is what I'd wear all the time if I had the figure/job/shoes for it!"

28 Whom did you miss?
Leonie, because I hardly saw her, and my overseas friends. It's funny how I miss not seeing them when I've never seen them. I probably particularly missed Kristie because I didn't even see her online often.

29. Who was the best new person you met?
Hm. I like both Lia and Samantha (not sure if I gave them work psuedonyms) from work a LOT. I think my favourite people were Judith & Bronwyn though. It's not so much that they were new, but I'd never really been proper friends with them before this year and now I love them.

30. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
For me, I think it's that I've just got to get over things and make things happen. When I do that, my health gets better, I achieve things and I feel more positive, confident and energetic.

----

1) Was 2005 a good year for you?
Hm. That's an interesting question. It wasn't a bad year. It was very mixed, but that was probably good for me in many ways - I had to grow and learn and fail and succeed a bit. There were definite improvements in my ability and outlook on life, but also some eating away at existing self-doubts and -criticisms. Not a bad year, but not one I especially want to go through again.

2) What was your favorite moment of the year?
Oooh. I loved the Queensland trip, so probably that, overall. Going home on the plane, after feeling uncomfortable on the way up and on the boat, was a little bit of a confidence moment for me, coping well on my own. I had great fun and came back very refreshed. I also loved Carols by Candlelight this year, especially after some hard-slog nights. My choir's Nine Lesson Carol Service was also pretty special, because I'd expected it to be so bad. I didn't enjoy it as much as Queensland or CBC, but I was probably proudest of it.

3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
Mostly illness: The vomiting + stomach pains; the neck & head pains; feeling awful on the boat; feeling tired, sick and bus sick on the bus home from camp. Also the times when I felt I just didn't want to deal with the work and responsibilities I had for school and when I discovered I didn't do well enough to get offered more than another 1-year position.

4) Where were you when 2005 began?
Dianne & Tim's house singing John Farnham.

5) Who were you with?
Dianne, Tim & their friends.

6) Where will you be when 2005 ends?
Don't know. Maybe at Di & Tim's friends' house, maybe with Sally & Emma, maybe just relaxing away at home.

7) Who will you be with when 2005 ends?
Hopefully nobody too uncomfortable to be around.

8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2005?
I don't think I made one. If I did, I think it was maybe to do with more of a balance between work, health and fun and more self-discipline with work and particularly health. I think I've improved at all of that this year, but circumstances still steamrolled me a LOT.

9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2006?
As I said in the previous survey, I'm more in for goals, and they'd pretty much be to improve my health, improve my discipline in general (so with exercising, eating well, getting chores done) and build my confidence by enjoying myself and achieving things.

10) Did you breakup with anyone in 2005?
I'd have to be with someone to break up with them.

11) Did you make any new friends in 2005?
Yep, a few from work and some new/improved friendships from choir. Yay.

12) Who are your favorite new friends?
See previous survey.

18) What was your favorite month of 2005?
September...well, most of September was horrific with too much work and neck/head pain, but that one week in Queensland was the highlight of my year.

19) Did you travel outside of the USA in 2005?
Haha, certainly, I travelled to Queensland! After all, I do live outside of the USA...travelling to work would be an adequate answer to this question!

20) How many different states did you travel to in 2005?
One: Queensland (apart from my home state of Victoria, of course).

21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2005?
See previous survey.

22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
See previous survey.

23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2005?
See previous survey.

24) What was your favorite song from 2005?
I don't think I can choose just one.

25) What was your favorite record from 2005?
I loved my Evanescence Ultra Rare Trax Vol 1 CD best.

26) How many concerts did you see in 2005?
No music concerts, but I did go to see Swan Lake by the Russian Ballet, My Fair Lady (with my cousin & her partner in it) and Trial By Jury/HMS Pinafore by Opera Australia.

27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2005?
Oh, the Gilbert & Sullivan double header by Opera Australia was fantastic.

28) Did you drink a lot of alchohol in 2005?
I don't...think...I drank any. I may have had some cocktail concotion on NYE (so it could've been before or after midnight), but I think that's all.

29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2005?
Just my usual forty snorts a day.

30) How many people did you kiss in 2005?
In the snogging sense, none.

31) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
I don't...think...I did anything particularly shameful. I'm just a bit unhappy with how I went at work on a few things.

33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2005?
Not sure, don't think I really told any big lies.

34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2005? Let's not dwell on that...

35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2005?
Not significantly. I think I definitely could have been treated better by some people at work, but I wasn't treated badly.

36) How much money did you spend in 2005?
Too much. Car alone: $20,000.

37) What was your proudest moment of 2005?
There were a few. Usually I think the proudest moments involved my students altering their behaviour in minor ways, achieving minor things, supporting each other. The Nine Lesson Carol Service was a proud moment.

38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2005?
Graduates getting offered longer term positions than I was? Most of my excruciatingly embarassing moments just involve me saying something and someone else replying to make it sound stupid and me cringing over it for the next three weeks.

39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2005 and change it what would it be?
I'm not sure. My car's been great, even though now I wish I had more money and it's the major cause. A part of me could wish I'd gone back and tried harder at my job application and interview, but then I'm not sure that I really want to be working full-time next year. A part of me wishes I'd checked with the union first because I may have been eligible for an automatic ongoing position...but, again, I don't think I really regret not working full-time next year.

40) What are your plans for 2006?
Travel overseas! Grow as a person! Grow less around the waistline! Grow in confidence! Find a less stressful, more highly-paid career and secure a life-long position in said career!