Goal or Style?

New-year days mean 3 things to me... The first has grown of importance, I suspect, during my teen age: the New Year Eve celebration. The second is a new resolution: to keep track of my year's resolutions! The third is as old as me and its importance may decrease with the years passing by: my Birthday.

.Why shouldn't I start with telling you that the first of January 2006 was such an hot day in Sydney that deserved the title of hottest since 1939?!?!
Wow... what news... I bet you are all excited! Oh right... but ehy, that's my first New Year down under: let me enjoy the difference! By the way: it was 44 degrees: these Australian should come to Sicily more often during August!
But before this hot day quietly spent between movie and pub, it's the New Year Eve to deserve some more lines.

It took us around a couple of hours to cross the city and then the park to eventually end up in Cremorne point, a park on the edge of the water and an excellent point to watch the famous Sydney firework... without any countdown, I believe I have been into 2006 for around 10 seconds without even knowing that... eventually the firework started their show: it was the news I was into a new year, and the coloured lights paid back the long walk: they went on for around 10 mins, shot from 4 different points and all synchronized... wonderful show with the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the midst of the scene!

After chatting and congratulating with everyone around (and after welcoming, this time with proper countdown, the New Year in Brisbane, which is one hour behind) we eventually moved to Alan's place where a party was supposed to be, and to my knowledge it may have happened... but it took us another two hours to reach the place walking through Sydney and trying to get into some crowed bus!
After spending some time there, the enlarge Bondi gang (including our German and French guests) moved back home and then to the beach: neither the swimming with the sunrise or the new year wait till early morning were new to me, but the combination of the two gave a wonderful conclusion to my New Year night!

.And here you go... New Year, new resolution... no that I had ever had one, but it's a good moment to start!
I believe this blog can help me to keep track of them: writing in here (and therefore potentially sharing them with the whole world) is already a commitment and a good push to fulfil them. I doubt in 2007 someone will come to me and ask "So how about your previous year resolutions?!" but what if it then happens?

1. Stay more in contact with my friends and family (those back to Sicily and those spread all over the world). How: make more use of the really cheap phone card to call from Australia to Europe; track down friends met in Switz, Estonia, India and others by asking other people and create a small database;
2. Take a decision for my career... what comes after GE? Will it still be Finance?
3. Do some volunteer work, something that could, even in small doses have a positive impact of less lucky people!
4. Keep doing sports as in the end of 2005! Rule: don't use the travelling/moving as an excuse for stopping!
5. Out of the box activities, at least 2 of them (Creative writing course and Salsa lessons)
6. Reading at least 12 books. Rules: think twice before choosing a book over a social event of any kind, (chose the book of life... bla, bla...)

That's should be all... for the moment at least... finding the true love and getting rich can't really get into the list... or can they?!

In Italy we say: those who will live, we'll see!..

.Birthdays are personal new years! You have your own number, which many have had before or will have soon or later... and even now there are plenty of people carrying that same number with them... but yours is yours: it's your age and it carries all you have been before and the whole made you that particular person with first, sadly short, 1 digit, much later aiming to 3 but in between 2 digits attached... mine are 2 and 7, in a row and in that order: I just turned 27 years old!

How old are you?.. 27.. This answer is on the past tense!!! Why? Why do we answer that question mentioning the years we have been completed? I'm 27: I have lived for 27 years, I have experienced 27 years of life... yeap, maybe experience is the key word... but how about, in my case for example, 28?! I just entered the 28th year of my life... How does that sound? Older? More mature? I'm about to discover what I'm going to learn in the 28th year of my life... does it sounds better? Hmm... too long answer, isn't: "Oh, and are you planning to stay drunk all year long?" is the question we could get back...

Oh right oh right... I have 27 years of experience, and I'm about to enjoy my 28th year of life!

And to start with that, for my birthday on Jan 2nd , I invited some people over... Ruth, my dear Australian mate I had met in India, came to Sydney for NY celebration and stayed at my place on the 1st Jan's night: she was the first to congratulate with me at midnight :) Thank you Ruth.
Then since she was leaving on the 2nd itself she invited some friends over as well... due to her departure schedule, her friends were at my place earlier in the afternoon, after my morning had spent between supermarket and preparing some appetizers...

I like meeting new people and I would consider myself no a shy person in most of the situations... but this time I had a bit of weird feeling: my birthday has always meant being surrounded by people I know fairly well if not too well: family and friends of my life in Sicily... I got a bit depress... but then more people started to come and by the time we moved to the beach, set up the net and started playing beach volley, my good mood was back and I really enjoyed such a different birthday with, more or less, new people in my life!.. Shouting, counting the points, trying to cheat and mainly having a lot of fun, we even managed to win the volley challenge that was, of course, turned (by the Losers!!) into a birthday present!

Among the people there, there were Ilker (referee), Geida, Alenka and Thomas (all in my team together with a Dutch guy!)... Kamila, Kasia, Sergey, Emy and one more Dutch guy on the other side of the net... Sid and Kunal enjoying the relaxing effect of laying on the sand and Jerry and his French guest Sophy playing rackets! Some people from AIESEC Sydney also showed up... Lucy brought me some cake on the beach... lovely!

Many left after the game, but ten of us eventually ended up in a really good Thai restaurant where also Rajat and Emma joined and I finally I got, after a speech delivered to the whole small restaurant and its guests, birthday candles... but without cake... earlier in the afternoon the cake Ruth had prepared for me was accompanied by a lighter to blow on... well, one thing at the time!

And here you go: new year, new age, new resolutions... coming to my mind is a quote I once read and then modified in perfect AIESEC branding style: Is happiness your life goal or your life style?