The holiday season + New Year's Eve felt very different this year. It was my first time spending it away from my family and friends back home. I didn't think I'd miss everyone this much. :( (Yes, Christine, you were right. XD) I can't wait to go back in May and give everyone lots of hugs. :)

I am definitely glad that I have my mom's friends' over here though. They take very good care of me...and feed me a lot. haha :P And I'm glad that Tiffany (my mom's friend's daughter) invites me out for dinners with her friends. It's been fun meeting new people...especially art/fashion/photography people. Everything they talk about still goes over my head, but it's still cool listening them talk about it. :P Hanging out with them makes me miss hanging out with my friends back home, but at the same time, I'm happy that they're around to hang out with. Thank you everyone! :D

As for New Year's Eve, I actually went out this year for the first time! I went out with my housemate, except it was a disappointment because I didn't see the fireworks. :( The good thing was that it wasn't that cold out. So I'll just treat it as a nice walk around the park with my housemate after our yummy dinner. :P

Anyway...Ann's and Jessica's posts captures my thoughts on the New Year, so I'll let their posts do the talking. :P

You shouldn't need an external factor (like the New Year) to motivate you to change and become a better person.

You shouldn't need an excuse to force you to start living your life the way you want to.

That should come within.

-Ann

There is no such thing as time. It’s merely a concept man thought up of to make life a little easier to understand and less disorganized.

That’s how we work; to humans, there is a beginning and an end to everything. That’s how we function, relying on numbers to understand. But that’s what gives us a chance to reflect upon what happened yesterday, to embrace positive change for next year, to have the chance to take a deep breath and start new tomorrow. We all need to have something to wake us up so we can grow up, something to remind us that there’s only so many next years to look forward to.

Here’s to time. To marked-up calendars, student planners, iPod stopwatches, snooze buttons on alarm clocks, missed deadlines, bus schedules, new year countdowns, and to 2012. 

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so ready to start again.

-Jessica