*New Year*

"Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, 

across the sea of years with no provision but an open face, 

along the straits of fear..."

- Kashmir, Led Zeppelin.

The calendar tells me it's 2013 but my brain has not caught up with that fact just yet. I keep referring to 2013 as being "next year". As Kenan Thompson would sing on SNL in his Deandre Cole skits:

"Ooooh Weee.....Waddup with that?"

2012 was an unusually unusual and interesting year in many respects.

I was back at my old alma mater as an undergrad (again) learning both French and German simultaneously, being taught instead of being the teacher, handing in assignments and writing exams.
 
Travelling to Iceland/Paris/Belgium/Netherlands.

Adopting two fantastic dogs from shelters and training/rehabilitating them.

Discovering delightful Haenertsburg in Limpopo.

Shopping for universities for my post-graduate studies in linguistics.

Applying for jobs, going for interviews and accepting a teaching post.

Discovering more food intolerances to add to my list of allergies.

And the like.

Both interesting and unusual indeed.

2013 has all the signs of being an equally interesting and unusual year.

A shiny new job.

A shiny new university.

A shiny new post-grad course load.

Ooooh Weee!

Things I am particularly looking forward to this year are:

• getting back into teaching English, especially now that I have a deeper grasp of more complex grammatical concepts;
• understanding the dynamics of second language acquisition (and having classrooms full of research subjects);
• playing the piano as part of my day job (although I can't say I am looking forward to having to practise scales again);
• travelling with my bu; 
• having a car with tinted windows and air con (!); and
• exploring new places.

 Things that freak the heck out of me this year are:

• getting back into teaching (noise, marking, germs, politics, early mornings, etc.);
• actually doing post-grad research;
• playing the piano as part of my day job (two words: stage fright!); and
• exploring new places that are in, like, weird places.

Funny thing that. The duality of things. 

Of course, at the beginning of any fresh new year, one always has wishes for the year. So I would like to throw mine out there into the universe...from my lips to God's ears, so to speak. 

Apart from the unspoken prayers that are always there (health, safety, prosperity), this year I wish for the continuance of 3 L's....

Love. Laughter. Ladybugs*.

* Seen the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun"? Ladybugs are a metaphor for good things :)

Happy 2013!