Well, January 2023...
I keep telling myself to stop procrastinating, but... here I am, writing and posting this on the 4th day of 2023!
Anyway, my 2022 has been amazing! When it's already 4th of January, I thought it was too late to talk about 2022, but my 2022 was worth talking (writing) about.
Last year was a very special year for me. I had 3 main goals:
1. do at least 1 thing for the first time every month,
2. do stand-up comedy,
3. move to Bali,
and I did it! I achieved all of my goals! I know, they were simple goals, but it's still so satisfying to achieve them.
So, I've been doing a new thing or two, or three, every month.
In January, for the first time, I made mask lanyards from rubber bands, and I sold some of them. I also made and sold some bracelets.
In February, I got Covid for the first time! Yeay! It was great, because I was isolated in a room and had plenty of me-time. That was when I did stand-up comedy for the first time. I did it on Instagram live.
In March, I made my first digital comic that I posted on my art page on Instagram, @alavishpirate
In the same month though, Mom got a stroke! She recovered very quickly and very well though.
I was supposed to move to Bali in March. I already booked a Yoga Teacher Training Program in March, but my boss wouldn't let me go until the end of June. Thank God! I can't imagine being in Bali, having my YTT, and Mom got stroke when I was in Bali, and I wouldn't be able to do anything.
In April, I... finally... watched Korean dramas! For the very first time, I watched a Korean drama. It was 'Reply 1988', and it was really good! I fell in love with the series, so when I finished the series, I wanted to watch another Korean drama. So, in May, I watched '2521', and it was also really good! Since the first 2 dramas I watched were really good, I kept trying to watch other Korean dramas, but none of them was good enough.
In May, I did 2 things for the first time. I posted my first stand-up comedy video, and that video was selected, so I also performed on stage for the first time.
In June, I went trekking for the first time. I'm not really sure if it was really the first time though. At the end of the month, I finally moved to Bali!
In July... oh, July was really special. I attended my first Yoga Teacher Training. I met the most amazing, loving, kind human beings there! I had the best experience in my life! I did a headstand for the first time, taught my first yoga class, and did my standup comedy in English for the first time during my practicum. I also went to the Aquatonic Thalasso Spa for the first time with my fellow yogis! It was amazing!
It was a very special experience for me, because I used to hate yoga before. I thought it wasn't fun, it was boring and I never had the patience. My experience in the Yoga Teacher Training at Loka Yoga changed everything. I really enjoyed every moment, I fell in love with yoga, I've been doing yoga regularly ever since, and yoga had helped me going through some really bad days that otherwise would drive me crazy. I'm so grateful for my Yoga Teacher Training experience. I've been writing about it and posted the first part in the previous post. Hopefully I will be able to post the rest of the story very soon.
In August, I went to Bali Comedy Club, another beautiful, positive community where people support and learn from each other. I performed on Bali stage for the first time. Also in August, my family came to visit me in Bali! What an amazing month!
In September, I reconnected with a very important person in my life, and I'm glad I did, for so many reasons.
In October, I went to a Halloween party at a night club... believe it or not, for the first time! I never liked parties and night clubs. They're boring. But the Halloween party I had was pretty enjoyable.
In November, for the first time I went canoeing, performed stand-up comedy for 30 minutes, got paid for doing stand-up, and took a sign language class! Four things happened for the first time! What an amazing month!
In December, I taught my first yoga class in Italian! I didn't know I could do that! I thought my Italian wouldn't be good enough, but it was enough for teaching yoga!
And for the first time, I got to watch Brazil play in the World Cup with some Brazilians! It was one of my dreams!
And... Argentina won the World Cup! It has nothing to do with me, but after 2 decades, finally, another South American country won the World Cup!
I've been having a wonderful year, but there are some other things too happening in Indonesia and all around the world.
From January to March, we had earthquakes every single month, mostly in Banten. We had many earthquakes. I also felt one in Bali in August, when my family was visiting. The worst was the one in Cianjur on the day the World Cup started.
Russia started a war against Ukraine at the end of February. Mahsa Amini, a girl in Iran got killed by the police for not wearing hijab properly. It started a huge, long-lasting riot and protest in Iran and some other parts of the world.
October was horrible! It was such a tragic month. It started with the Kanjuruhan tragedy in Malang on the very first day, and it ended with the Halloween tragedy in South Korea on the last day. Both tragedies killed about 125 people each. What a creepy month!
Then, there was the World Cup. It was the first World Cup that was played at the end of the year instead of the middle. Usually, World Cup started around my birthday, but this year, it started on November 21 (or 20 in Qatar). It was also the very first time a middle eastern country became a host, and it brought so many stories and controversies.
The day the World Cup started though, a lot of tragic things happened. Jason David Frank comitted suicide, there was a mass shooting in a gay bar in the US, and the Cianjur earthquake happened, as I mentioned earlier. And when the World Cup was about to end, Sinisa Mihajlovic died of Leukimia. He was one of the greatest players.
On the 29th of December, the most famous football legends, the only player who won 3 World Cups, Pele, passed away.
Public figures died in 2022:
