About this new year

This morning I woke up with the sun shining in my apartment!!!

⚘.𖡼.𖥧.𖤣‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. 𖤣.𖥧.𖡼.⚘

With the second month of this new year already having started, I’m slowly starting to think about what I actually want from this year and what I want to have accomplished by the end of it. 

Last year was pretty packed with travel, uni and work - it was almost a little too much which is why I kept so much open and unplanned for this year. But I want small goals that help me stay consistent with my hobbies and activities that make me feel good, no matter how busy life gets!

────────୨ৎ────────

So I present to you my lists of goals for 2025 and what I’ve accomplished so far:

1. Find a new job that works better with the way I live.

In my current job I have amazing coworkers and I’m finally starting to feel like I’m settling in, but it’s always a hustle organizing shifts and balancing the rest of my life with the events since they’re often later at night and I prefer the life of an early bird.

2. Figure out what field in my studies interest me most so I can start planning/thinking about my bachelors thesis 

Sociolinguistics have a big offer for interesting topics and fields, but actually finding one that aligns with my interests and that I have the resources for research for turned out to be a little tricky at times. 

I’d love to look into multilingualism, though!

3. Visiting my family frequently and reaching out to them regularly when I can’t be with them in person! 

4. Finish ten books (that aren’t part of any classes)

   
   

So far I have finished:

• Felix Salten: Bambi
• Han Kang: Greek Lessons
• Arnaud Alméras: Damals im Sommer
• Erich Kästner: Das fliegende Klassenzimmer
• Michael Ende: Momo

                        And next on my list is:

• Murakami: Kafka on the Shore

I actually should change this goal to having read all the books on my shelf, since with my boyfriend’s move there’s a couple more I haven’t read yet!

5. Start and finish ten crochet/knitting projects for myself as much as friends&family

• Red knitted scarf 
• Blue striped crochet beanie for my boyfriend
• Long skinny scarf with weird material that makes it look like a snake’s skin?
• Brown Sophie scarf for myself
• Blue Sophie scarf for my fiancé!
• Crochet Bunny + Jacket for my Cousin's newborn
• Green pair of knitted tabi slippers
• Crochet Camera Case for my sister
• red knitted boatneck sweater
• blue knitted devon top
• ribbed knitted beanie for my dad
• Yellow Sophie scarf for my future MIL
• Turquoise knitted beanie for my fiancé
• Turquoise knitted tabi slippers for my friend

-> I already have the wool for two sweaters so I want to start those next!

6. Reinforcing my life here in Berlin by nourishing my friendships and making this city feel more like home!

7. Show my partner places in Europe that mean a lot to me and explore new places together with him. Since I grew up in southern Germany, my family and I often traveled to Italy, Croatia and other parts around the mediterranean sea and I haven’t found a place that feels quite like it. I want him to experience it, too!

8. Picking up the guitar again and learning new songs. It’s been too long!

9. Trying at least five foods I’ve never eaten before! (excited for this one hehehe)

• Moussaka (traditionally made by my half greek friend's father for her wedding!)
• Koupepia (see Moussaka)
• Brigadeiros (Brazilian choc pralines made by my fiancé's student friend)
• Musabbaha
• Arayes
• 화채 (Hwachae made with friends!)
• Manti
• … (there was so much I forgot to note it down!)

10. Trying at least five activities I’ve never done before! 

• Making dumplings myself!
• Binding and making a book/journal from scratch
• Joining a ceramics workshop and create something!
• Learning how to sew on buttons!
• Carving Stamps out of erasers
• Sewing a collage as the cover art for my fiancé's new single
• analog filming??
• spinning wool!

────────୨ৎ────────

I’m quite surprised by how easy it was to write a list of ten things I want to do this year! The main goal is always to be looking back on this year in the future and thinking “What a great year it’s been!” and all the things listed above are things that make me feel happy and appreciative. Strengthening my skills and bonds with people I already have around me, but also finding new ways to elevate my life and better the parts of it that could need some change! 

I’m on a good path in my life right now and I’m trying to stay on it, too!✮⋆˙

I’m very appreciative of the wonderful people I have around me that push me to be better in many ways. Most of my great memories here in Berlin are connected to friends, and even this year I already got to collect some more!

One activity that I really enjoyed was making dumplings ourselves with my friends for Lunar new year! We were all in my friends’ kitchen, cutting greens and veggies, making fillings together and having a little competition about who’s able to make the most creative dumpling! (Most of us forgot about the competition and ended up eating the dumplings before - but that was just as fun!) I noticed (even though I started off strong with one good looking dumpling) how much skill you need to actually make all of them look good, but luckily the looks didn’t change anything about the taste which was amazing! A friend made 떡국 (korean rice cake soup) and it was a feast! After eating all day, the night ended with some board games and when my boyfriend and I returned back home we just kept talking about what a great time we had! ⋆˚࿔

────────୨ৎ────────

Life is treating me well and I appreciate it a lot. I'm hoping for many more moments like this one and you can be sure I’ll update this list every now and then when I can add some parts- so I’m excited to see how long it will take me~~

Until then.. bis bald!! 𓇢𓆸

༝༚༝༚, Kat