JUN >> JUL
Monthly reflection and outlook.
June was fun (and hot).
I kicked off June in vacation mode: planning, prepping, and eventually traveling. Let's reflect.
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- Going to the Netherlands. I visited Den Haag and Delft, two cities I hadn't been to. It was also nice revisiting the cities I have been to with Daniel. We have friends there now, so we will definitely be returning. I'm still blogging about my trip, which you can read about here.
- Hanging out with my cousin again after 7(?) years. It was great to catch up and learn more about each other. I hope R gets to stay in the Netherlands because he really seems to thrive there. It was also lovely to meet his girlfriend. She's so sweet.
- Meeting Han! I told Han this after we met in person, that I purposely searched for a Mandarin tutor in Europe, hoping to make a friend. She was surprised that I never worked with another Preply tutor. I liked her vibes a lot and her way of thinking. I hope she (and her sister) can visit us in Switzerland someday!
- Meeting Mozzarella. Daniel and M had been gaming together for nearly 3 years. I was always passively observing their interactions. Daniel was of course more shy and private, whereas M was very open and even told Daniel that he considered him a friend, even though they'd never met. I pushed Daniel to reach out to him that we were visiting NL and M hosted us so warmly. Daniel has difficulty making friends, so it was very nice to see them play games together in real life. :)
- Meeting peoples' pets. S said that Luca clearly remembered me (not sure about that, as he's pretty needy lol), but I missed that little guy and I was glad to see him again. We also met Mozzarella's cat, Emilio, who we heard so much about! He was such a sweet, big boy and reminded me of Spyder a bit.
- Visiting museums. I'm usually a one museum per trip kind of person, but since the Netherlands has so many museums, we fit in three. And I was inspired by all of them! Last weekend, I bought paint markers and a sketchbook to practice writing graffiti. I love how the Dutch clearly prioritize art, as seen in the open air museum in Den Haag.
- Good finds. In addition to the obvious shopping spree in the Netherlands, I had an incredible vintage haul last weekend! I bought a View-Master with at least 50 slides and two oval portraits. I actually got the second frame for free because I told the seller, "I'm sad I have to separate the couple," so he said that I didn't have to. "Until death do them part," we laughed. I've already ousted the couple and put in my portrait, now waiting on Daniel's.
- I had a job interview! It was the preliminary one and I thought it went well. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
- Being referred by an old colleague. On that note, the interviewer mentioned that an old colleague of mine had said nice things about me. I hadn't talked to her in awhile, so I immediately wrote her to thank her. You never know who's in your corner!
- Monday cleaning continues. I was a tad worried that I would let the ball drop on this one when I returned from my trip, but nope! In fact, Mondays are my favorite days now, because they are the most productive and routine. Now, I'm trying to find that energy for the rest of the week. Baby steps!
- Continuing to beautify the apartment. I've been living here for 6 years. There's always room for improvement and I'm usually pretty slow to making these changes, so using the momentum from Monday cleaning has really helped me make sweeping progress on projects that have been dormant for years. I love that I can find new ways to enjoy our space.
- Prioritizing my health. Ngl, I felt a bit of FOMO seeing all the updates in my choir group chat. However, knowing that Basel hit a heat record of 38.8°C on the day queer choir schweiz performed melted that feeling away. I would have been so uncomfortable. Also, I wouldn't have scored all that vintage loot, lol.
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- Feeling like my German skills are declining. The most German practice I've been doing are on Duolingo, which is now 5 minutes every three days (because I'm also learning other languages). I've also been defaulting to English whenever I can, because I fear that I'll make things more confusing and complicated when I speak in German.
- Not applying to many jobs in June. I'm exempt from RAV now and was on vacation, so I allowed myself a little break. However, when I tried looking this past week, it was fucking depressing. My usual searches barely yielded any results. I'm assuming/hoping it's because people are on summer holidays. It's tough out there.
- THE HEAT. It's currently storming right now and temperatures have cooled down significantly, which is why I kind of forgot about it (even though I have my mini fan blasting in my face). But the past weeks have been unbearable. We're definitely buying an a/c unit for next year. We avoid going outside unless we absolutely must because I can't stand it! And I have to take lie down breaks in between every task.
- Pausing FOTM cookies. Ok, it's not negative, more like neutral. I'm only slightly bummed about it, mostly because I'm worried that when I stop something I might not pick it up again. But I'm training my brain now to make the connection that I can do it. Case in point: Monday cleaning!
June wasn't so bad if one of the negatives was not baking cookies this month. I would say the worse two are the heat and the job market.
Looking forward to...
- Art jam night! It's tonight! I asked V and N if we could do an arts/crafts/music jam night at their place (they have better ventilation). We're going to order pizza and I'm bringing my Microkorg, along with a neat book I bought at Print Room. N also visited Print Room last week (he happened to be in Rotterdam so I sent him a bunch of recs), and bought a zine there. So grateful to have creative friends near me again!
- D&D night. We didn't meet in June so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again and progressing with the campaign.
- Call with Joh. I'm having a catchup call with my childhood bestie on Friday. We catch up once a quarter, and I always look forward to our calls. I miss her a lot.
Goals
- Continuing my Taiwan project. My sister said she's preparing to mail me the photo album, so I hope I'll get it this month. Otherwise, I can still tinker with the website and watch more documentaries.
- Get a job. Yeah, that would be GREAT.
- Apply to more jobs. To make the above happen.
- Apply to be a catsitter. I started the application yesterday on Cat in a Flat but I couldn't save my progress because I needed to upload a photo. I wanted a cute picture of me and Boba but realized I have none, as all the photos of us together are when I wake up in the morning looking like shit. We tried to take some yesterday but I didn't like how my hair looked.
- Manage my finances better. Carrying this over from last month. We've been having more planned meals so I think we're saving, but I haven't done the calculations to confirm. So I need to get on that.
- Hang out with my German class group. They wrote something in the group chat (in German, ofc) while I was on vacay so I didn't read it.
- Draw more. So aside from making nice mattes for my picture frames, the watercolor set isn't doing it for me right now, so I'm moving onto graffiti writing. I used to be super into lettering as a kid, and I want to bring that back.
Conclusion
June was a blast. I had so much fun. But now it's time to face reality again. Onwards and upwards!
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