(try!)To-do List 2016 :)

Happy New Year! E ku Odun Tuntun! Bonne Anneé! Frohes Neues jahr! Buon Anno! 

May your 2016 be full of only good things.

So, blogging kind of fizzled out for me towards the end of last year, as I became busier and busier with work and life in general. I currently have two part-time jobs, and at the time of signing the contracts, thought only about the positives, i.e. the chance to explore two very different work environments. Since then, I have had to re-think my decision as I gradually began to realise that two part-time positions doth not one full-time job make! Instead, I feel like I have at least 1.5jobs, and I'm struggling with keeping up with both places, as well as doing my usual gallivanting around Europe. In the light of this, I've been thinking about making 2016 the year of lying low in Brussels and picking up other more...non-nomadic habits. Still for some reason, I'm super excited about this year!

Anyway, as is traditionally the case every year, I have thought about and decided on this year's (much shorter) new year's resolutions. I know many people make fun of these, but I find them very helpful because as a bona fide list-checker, I am motivated by the pleasure I get whenever I can cross something off my list. Looking at last year's list, the major seemingly impossible goal was learning German and reaching a certain level before the end of the year. I somehow managed to do it, and it has both given me the skills I need, as well as inspired me to pick up Italian again. So, without further ado, I present my 2016 new year's resolutions. 

1. Learn Italian, get the CELI4 certificate by November
2. Improve German
3. Read 24books this year in Italian and German
4. Make more of an effort with my appearance
5. Take care of health: exercise, healthy diet, drink 2L water daily, good sleep routine 7-8hrs daily
6. Give up fizzy drinks except for the rare beer
7. Clear face
8. Finish paying student loans
9. Start MPH
10. Put up 52 blogposts 

Will I attain every goal on the list? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, putting them up on the blog makes me feel more accountable, and I'm also hoping I'll get the same amount of support and encouragement as I did last year. So are you a resolution maker? What are your plans for this year? Please share!

Clara's Travel Tales: The Christmas Edition and Conclusive Post

Hello everyone, happy December. Can you believe it's now only just over two weeks until Christmas?!?! As for me, I'm enjoying the chocolatey countdown this year with my first ever advent calendar from the mother-in-law. Advent isn't a big deal in Nigeria or England, but it is HUGE in Germany, and I get to celebrate it like the Germans now, thanks to the boy's family. This for me, is one of the best things about having a multicultural lifestyle. Honestly, living as an expat, being from two countries and dating a guy from yet another country/culture has greatly enriched my life. Anyway all that sugar has inspired me to write a short post about three of the important Christmasy feast days celebrated in Europe, which are not really big in either of my two home countries.

First there's Saint Nicholas which is celebrated in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and a few other  countries. According to Wikipedia, 

"Saint Nicholas' Day, observed on December 6 (in Western Christian countries) and 19 December (in Eastern Christian countries), is the feast day of Saint Nicholas. It is celebrated as a Christian festival with particular regard to his reputation as a bringer of gifts. In Germany and Poland, boys would dress as bishops begging alms for the poor, while in Ukraine, children wait for St. Nicholas to come and to put a present under their pillows provided that the children were good during the year. Children who behaved badly may expect to find a twig or a piece of coal under their pillows. 

The American Santa Claus, as well as the British Father Christmas, derive from Saint Nicholas. "Santa Claus" is itself derived in part from the Dutch Sinterklaas, the saint's name in that language. However the gift giving associated with these descendant figures is associated with Christmas Day rather than Saint Nicholas Day itself."

Then there's advent which as the name implies, celebrates the advent and anticipation of Jesus' birth. A sort of countdown to Christmas, it begins on the 4th Sunday before, and continues all the way to the 24th of December. It is usually celebrated with the lighting of advent Candles each Sunday, as well as a special Calendar with windows, which are opened each day and which contain little presents or sweets.

My first ever advent calendar!

And finally, Epiphany feted on the 6th of January, which marks the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus. Again Wiki to the rescue for a more detailed explanation. 

"In the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and neighbouring Germany, children in groups of three (symbolising the three kings) proceed in costume from house to house while singing songs typical for the occasion, and receiving a coin or some sweets at each door. 

In Belgium people eat the galette des Rois, a round, flat, and golden cake made with flake pastry and often filled with frangipane, fruit, or chocolate. The cake usually containing a charm (a porcelain or plastic figurine, called a fève (bean in French)) is cut by the youngest (and therefore most innocent) person at the table to assure that the recipient of the bean is random. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes "king" or "queen" and wears a paper crown provided with the cake. This person has a choice between offering a beverage to everyone around the table (usually a sparkling wine or champagne), or volunteering to host the next king cake at their home. This can extend the festivities through all of January!"

Last year's Galette des Rois at work

As you can see the children in these countries have it made, they can rake in the goodies from all these fetes, as well as from good old Santa Claus. The parents on the other hand, not so much! Now imagine being a half British-Nigerian, half German child growing up in Belgium with long-distance but involved and loving grandparents, with all those feast days. That particular child has hit the presents-jackpot niyen! 

This post brings me to the end of the 15-for-15 Challenge and thankfully it's a far cheerier one than my last update. It's also a fitting topic with which to close the year. I am so happy I decided to participate in the process, because it kept me blogging and kept my blog alive.  I am also proud of myself for making it all the way to the end, especially because I had periods where I was particularly stressed in my normal life and struggled to keep up. So I'd like to thank Janyl for the idea, Duru, Oyinda and all my other readers who encouraged and cajoled me to keep going, and everyone who supported by reading and/or leaving comments. Sometimes I was too busy/stressed to respond, but I loved having that interaction with my readers. 

There will likely be at least one more post before the end of the year, but just in case life happens and I don't get round to posting again, I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. Have a merry Christmas, and a happy new year. May all your wishes come true in 2016! 

(try!)To-do List 2015/Review of 2013 Resolutions

Increase Exercise

• Take train to work, and walk (4 x 15 minutes) each day. 

(Failed on this one. My new goal is to walk  2x15mins a day. I started when I moved to Brussels and so far, so good)

• Abandon metro; always cycle within Paris. (Failed, and no longer valid)

.

Health and Diet

• Complete ban on caffeine and fizzy drinks. Minimise junk food consumption.
  
• Increase intake of water, fruit and vegetables. Practise quasi-vegetarianism  
• Increase fitness, heart-rate and muscle tone 
• Get rid of acne

(Failed on all counts, renewed for 2015. Will start this when I get back home to Brussels after I have had the chance to fully enjoy my dear mama's cooking #longerthroattinz ;) )

.

Relationships

• Stay in touch; contact at least 4 friends abroad, each week
• Spend more time making and developing Parisian Brussels friendships

(Achieved, more or less. Renewed for 2015) 

.

"Self Improvement"

• Start Spanish classes
• Take a least one course in a subject that interests me; law, philosophy, Yoruba literature, history...
• Restart violin lessons

(Failed on all counts, goals not renewed for 2015) 

• Gain ability to converse in Italian  

(Done! New goal is to learn German, I hope to have achieved a level C1 at least by December 2015)

.

Miscellaneous

• Use time wisely and improve punctuality
• Read more books by Nigerian/African authors
• Go dancing, to the opera/cinema, sightseeing etc. Be cheesy, have fun! 

(Done, done, done! Continue with these)

• Manage money well, save 2000€  

(Achieved thankfully, as I later needed this for big expenses such as my flat's deposit in Brussels. Slight change this year, the goal is to deal with my student loans. I hope to pay back at least 6000€)

• Blog at least 52 times
• Sing with the choir this summer
• Start process of getting driving license

(Failed on all counts, goals not renewed for 2015)  

.

I didn't make any resolutions in 2014, as I wanted to focus on achieving 2013's goals. I'm hoping to do an evaluation of how many of these I manage to achieve by the end of the year. I'm really optimistic at the moment, but come December we'll see how well I've done... ;)

Happy New Year!

Eku Odun Tuntun...

Bonne Année...

Buon Anno...

Frohes Neues Jahr!!!!!

Last Post for 2014....A Mish-Mash!

 Source

End of the Year

December was a very busy time for me, as I travelled a bit and then worked/hosted some guests over the Christmas period. I went to Vienna as usual in the first weekend, then Germany in the third weekend (met Jen from Ibibiogirl and visited T's family). Vicky, my Argentinian friend, arrived on Christmas eve and stayed until the 27th when Mr T got here. I was so tired from working full-time  and all the fun I had with Vicky waka dugbe-ing around Brussels, doing longer throat and eating all manner of mede-mede. Anyway by the time T got here, the temperature had really dropped and it even snowed sef, so we just stayed home and I slept a lot. He left yesterday, and I'm back to work today and tomorrow before packing my bags again and heading off, this time to mama Charlie's country (England for my non-naija readers).

My 2014 in Books

I started the year with Adichie's Americanah and it was definitely worth the hype for me. The issues that come with moving to a new country and finding yourself a "minority,"  the fight to affirm or (re)create your identity, doing the adjusting/adapting required, and merging your new culture with your home culture...these are all things that meant I recognised myself very strongly in Ifemelu and the other immigrants. On the other hand, I really didn't enjoy Taiye Selasi's Ghana Must Go. I had seen an interview of the author on RAI1, an Italian TV station, and was really impressed so I actually spent some of my Amazon vouchers on the book. Unfortunately, I was bitterly disappointed. I did not like her writing style one teensy bit.

I however liked Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowlands, Khaled Hosseini's And The Mountains Echoed, Swallow by Sefi Atta, A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif Unaccustomed Earth again by Jhumpa Lahiri, and Adaobi Nwaubani's I Do Not Come To You By Chance. Special mention goes to Brady Udall's The Lonely Polygamist, Rajaa Alsanea's Girls of Riyadh and Lola Shoneyin's The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives which I particularly loved. These books made me laugh out loud, literally  and I really enjoyed reading them. They were (in the words of T about me), "kleine aber feine!"  I also loved Christie Watson's Tiny Sunbirds, Faraway. She wrote about Nigeria in a way that was very realistic. Even though the story was sometimes sad, I felt a kind of connection with the Nigeria she described, it felt neither over- nor underdone... 

Of the 75 books I read this year, only about 12 were written by "white, mainstream" authors, and even then 11 of them talked about "others." "Atypical" situations, places and people, for example transracial adoption, immigrants and immigration, being an expatriate, being Amish, polygamy, Jewishness and the second world war etc. I am apparently attracted to and fascinated by difference and otherness...

Highlights and Lowlights

• Travelling! I visited 6 countries and 10 cities/town. 
• Moving houses 5 times between July and November. It was hectic, phew!
• Putting up only15 blog posts (pitiful)
• Improving my Italian, then abandoning it for German
• Going to the seaside once this summer with T
• Going to a European zoo for the first time (the other time was in India), and visiting the circus, also for the first time, thanks to the generosity of a dear friend
• Turning 30. I had 3 birthday parties and got many wonderful presents. I especially love my churidar, my alabaster necklace and my Aya de Yopougon comic book.
• Discovering a good naija restaurant in Paris, then moving. Now I have to find a new one here in Brussels :(
• Drinking a million aperitivos whilst on holiday in Italy
• Seeing my friend K after 8years
• Having an amazing summer with my sisters and friend, while living in another friend's beautiful Parisian flat. I so want something similar when I grow up!
• Getting my turn at the annual mummy-and-me-only holiday
• Getting my current job

I am grateful for

1. Life and health. I turned 30 this year and became a bona fide adult ;) And everyone in my entourage (family and friends) is alive and well.
2. A wonderful summer. I had the best summer of my life this year with my sisters, a wonderful sister-friend and T.
3. Christmas with Vicky, which meant I wasn't alone in a new city during the festivities.
4. The online community of which I'm part. I feel like I have made so many new friends this year! I'm thankful that I discovered the blogs that made my 2014 interesting - Duru, GNG, Ibibiogirl,  Nigerian Scorpio, Berry and Pynk amongst many others.
5. Journey mercies. Not one train/plane/road accident or incident in spite of the many many miles that I covered this year. Truly a miracle, if you think about it.
6. The most uncomplicated cross-country move ever. My move to Brussels has been ridiculously coordinated and everything has fallen into place so easily...making friends, work, finding a flat and church, getting along with colleagues and even my day to day life!
7. My job. I love it so so much! I enjoy the work because it's very different from everything I've known up until now. It is really challenging me as a nurse
8. Progress with my finances. Thanks to nagging from T and him constantly telling me off for accruing unnecessary interest, I've increased my student loan repayments substantially and have started making serious inroads into paying back my debts, slowly but surely.
9. My parents. They are finally starting to enjoy middle age, this season of their lives where all the children are more or less independent and there are no grand-kids yet. They're taking up travelling again and making plans to really enjoy each other.
10. My family-in-law. I met them this year and it seems they love me as much as I love them. I even went there alone for a weekend and things went better than the first time when T was with me. I particularly love his mum because we're very similar (it's so uncanny!) and it feels like she's a friend. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am.
11. My siblings. One sister finished her masters last October and did fantastically well; she got 18.99/20 and was valedictorian. She then basically gave her French university the middle finger salute by giving her speech in English. Yep, my sister is gangster like that ;) She now has a place at university for next September to do her PhD in law. My brother is doing amazing things and is going places with his new startup and little company. I feel like this year was a very important one for him in terms of making progress and knowing what direction to take the business. The baby sister loves her course this time round and has really settled into university. I'm thankful that she decided (and my parents insisted) early on that she "drop out" of  last year's hated course,  and take a gap year. She really grew up in the 9months she spent in Paris. As for her twin brother, he is also doing great at uni, working/playing hard and getting fantastic grades. My siblings are such superstars and for that I am grateful
12. Mr T. This year has been difficult, with him moving to Brussels and then Vienna, but I think our relationship has become much stronger as a result of it. We've both had to make a lot of sacrifices this year in terms of time and money so we could see each other, and it really makes you ask yourself if you truly want to be with the other person.  I know now,  for sure that I love him and would go to the ends of the world to be with him. It's been 2years of ups and downs, but our relationship (and both of us!) has matured a lot. Like good wine, it just keeps getting better.
13.  Favour wherever I go. People have always described me as someone who makes friends easily, but this is the first year I've actually noticed that it is true....for some unknown reason, people are drawn to me and want to be friends. I spent a lot of time thinking this year about why this is so, as well as trying to figure out what it is about me that attracts others. I'm certainly not the most intelligent/beautiful/cool/fashionable/whatever-attribute-you-like person in the world! In the end I figured it must be God's grace, some special dispensation, a particular blessing in my life, because I know for sure that I haven't done anything to deserve the undeserved and unreserved love that often comes my way.  I am just immensely grateful!

Resolutions 2013 or Annual (try!)To-do List

Increase Exercise

• Take train to work, and walk (4 x 15 minutes) each day
• Abandon metro; always cycle within Paris

.

Change Diet

• Complete ban on caffeine and fizzy drinks. Minimise junk food consumption
• Increase intake of water, fruit and vegetables. Practise quasi-vegetarianism

.

Improve Health

• Get rid of acne
• Increase fitness, heart-rate and muscle tone

.

Relationships

• Stay in touch; contact at least 4 friends abroad, each week
• Spend more time making and developing Parisian friendships 

.

"Self Improvement"

• Gain ability to converse in Italian
• Start Spanish classes
• Take a least one course in a subject that interests me; law, philosophy, Yoruba literature, history...
• Restart violin lessons

.

Miscellaneous

• Manage money well, save 2000€
• Use time wisely
• Blog at least 52 times 
• Sing with the choir this summer
• Start process of getting driving license
• Improve punctuality
• Read more books by Nigerian/African authors
• Go dancing, to the opera/cinema, sightseeing etc. Be cheesy, have fun! 

.

I'm not sure, but this is maybe my first proper new year's resolution, and it's 17 days late already... Still, better late than never I say! I'm hoping to do an evaluation of how many of these goals I manage to achieve. I'm really optimistic at the moment, but come December we'll see how well I've done... ;)

New Year's Eve/Le Réveillon

My sister left for England a few days ago, leaving me home alone. Since I knew I'd be working early on new year's, I'd originally planned to dine solo and then go to bed. However, I ended up spending time virtually with Hussein (my favourite Kenyan!), and it was fun to welcome in the year twice. I may live in Paris, but I'm British and for me the year doesn't begin until the BBC has broadcast shots of Big Ben striking midnight! As usual, having my trusty camera phone to hand, I decided to  record everything for posterity's sake ;)

Ma sœur est partie en Angleterre il y a quelques jours, me laissant seule à la maison. Comme je savais que j'allais travailler tôt le jour de l'an, j'ai prévu de dîner en solo, puis de me coucher. Mais au lieu de ça, j'ai pu passer du temps en ligne avec Hussein (mon Kényan  préféré!), et c'était bien amusant de fêter le nouvel an à deux reprises. Même si j'habite à Paris, je suis anglaise et pour moi l'année ne commence pas jusqu'à ce que la BBC a diffusé les images de Big Ben sonne minuit! Comme d'habitude, ayant mon téléphone, mon fidèle compagnon à la main, j'ai décidé de toute enregistrer pour la postérité ;)

Champagne in freezer = Disaster!

Champagne au congélateur, quel désastre!

Dressed to kill... :)

Habillé sur mon trente-et-un... :)

Candle, lit...

Bougie, allumée...

Frozen Yule Log with Berries

Bûche Glacée avec des Fruits Rouges

Garlic Snails. Yum!

Escargots à l'Ail. Miam!

Dinner is served!

Le dîner est servi :)

E Ku Odun Tuntun, Bonne Année, Felice Anno Nuovo