I thought the pandemic ended last year, but it wasn’t. This year has been a roller coaster ride for sure and I don’t really know to express my 2022, but I am thankful for the memories it gave me.
Guess the conclusion that I have for this year by reading all the passages down below. This is not an English pop-up quiz, so if you are wrong, it's okay. HAHA. Good luck and enjoy the story of my 2022.
Young, wild and free would probably be the life I’ve been dreaming of. 2022 didn’t start that exciting for me. Even though the few days before January, I just witnessed my favorite boys and girls appreciate their achievements (read: watching year-end awards), I don’t feel empowered and instead, I feel down. I started to compare myself to them. When they are my age now, they already know what they want and are good at. While I’m not. This is probably what people say as a quarter-life crisis. I felt really lost in January. Even so, I had a few celebrations this month. I got to meet my BEM family and celebrate my dad's birthday. Also, I got huge orders for the cold mochi that my mom used to sell. What I mean by huge is the mochi should be delivered to Samarinda, which is outside of Jakarta. It was a breakthrough achievement so far for our small business.
Obviously, I thought this year is going to be better than the past 2 years. Well, I know it is quite early to judge since it’s only one month passed. On the last week of January, my best friend faced severe heartbreak (nope, not because she broke up with her boyfriend). We decided to “run”, searching for some “healing” to Bali in February. It’s been 6 months since the last time I went to Bali, but Bali never fails me. It was still a good time to visit Bali because that time Bali is not as crowded as nowadays but it was more active and livelier than the previous year. I stayed for almost 14 days and couldn’t be happier and more ready to conquer this 2022.
Unlike any other month, March is very special to me. I have favorite months like August and December, but March is particularly special. 3 years ago, I just got back from Korea for good. The next day, my mom was rushed to the hospital and for the first week I’m back in Indonesia, I had to spend my time in the hospital and then I lost my mom. Since then, March is never been the same again. It became the most emotional month, and it was the turning point of my life. Enough with the mellow, this year I got to celebrate my friend’s birthday by having a staycation at the Kempinski Hotel in Jakarta. Our wish was to stay at the Apurva (Kempinski) Bali (but I believe we will someday!) though. We had a deep talk, took some crazy videos, and sing-along to Hospital Playlist OST and it was a fun day. March was closed with a challenging interview for the GKS Scholarship.
April’s highlight is no longer April mop anymore to me. Well, I never fancy it since I was a kid anyways. This year April was slightly different than the previous year. I had a few interviews this month, and though none of them came back with good news, I am actually very grateful for the chance. I started to use makeups that I haven’t touched for so long and got the thrill of answering questions. And not to forget to mention my favorite drama of the year, Twenty Five, Twenty One colored my April beautifully. Last, but not least, my best friend finally had a baby after 2 years of marriage! I’m so happy for her! I can’t wait to see the baby (up till now I haven’t seen the baby girl yet). Finally, I went to the church for the Passover for the first time during the pandemic. Definitely, going to an offline church is way much better than the online church. I'm such an old school, I know.
The Return of my boy, Park Bogum. He finally finished his military duties and was back as the MC for Baeksang Awards. I was very extremely happy to see him back on screen. And by the way this year Baeksang Awards was so emotional, and I really love every bit of it. My favorite part is when the cast of “Hot/Passionate Singers” finally performed on stage their rendition of “This is Me” from the movie, “The Greatest Showman”. Congratulations to my Na Hee Do, Kim Taeri, and Crown Prince, Lee Junho, you both really deserved the awards. Well, May was a busy month for me because my housekeeper went back to her hometown to celebrate Eid Mubarak. I did the laundry, cleaned the house, and clean up the refrigerator by making use of the remaining ingredients. I made a Rose Tteokbokki! Even my chef brother comments it was not bad. He was surprised. HAHA. I’m so proud of myself. Since it was a big holiday, I got the chance to meet up with my very busy friends. We went to “explore” Jakarta. We went to have lunch in South Jakarta, then we went to the newly renovated Sarinah, one of the iconic social & entertainment places in Jakarta. But, oh my gosh, it was so crowded, and it was like there are no coronavirus at all. We only took a photo then we had our dinner and then we went back home. We went out for a full day, but it felt so short!
June was full of Excitement. I finally got to go back to Korea. After two years of envying my dad and just watching it from the sofa coach, finally I got to breathe the Seoul air. Though I came at the most dreadful season, I am just so glad to be back there. Since I’m going to get my TOPIK test in July, I started to reach out to my Korean exam books and study again. One thing for sure is I really have an interest in language, so even though I had to study and prepare for exams, I feel energized and joyful throughout the process. Oh, one more thing, I got accepted for a new job. I wasn’t really excited about this and was confused about how to react to this.
Hi, Seoul, I’m back! Finally, I got to meet my family in Korea after 3 years. Why it feels like it was 5 years ago? Well, I had a blast summer in Seoul, even though my peaceful vacation was disturbed by the test and suddenly got called to work at the Korea office. After my almost 3 weeks stay in Seoul, I went back to Jakarta for two days, and then I flew to Singapore to surprise my friend for her bachelorette trip. Due to last minute decision, I couldn’t get the most affordable flight tickets, so I took a plane to Batam from Jakarta and then took the ferry to Singapore. It was a very adventurous trip, but I loved it. It was one of the most memorable months in 2022.
I Turned 27 this year and I have a bittersweet feeling about it. First of all, I didn’t like the fact that I am more close to my 30s instead of my 20s. But, on the other side, I am grateful to celebrate one year older. This year, I don’t have any wish list for my birthday present. But there is one thing that I wanted for so long which is a pair of Gentle Monster sunglasses. I asked my dad and brother for that and my Dad bought it two weeks in advance. Have some small celebrations with my friends since my birthday this year falls on weekdays, and it was hard to arrange the meeting. On the weekend, my brother cooked me a mushroom steak because I love meat so much. But, I was under the weather that day and I can’t even taste a bite of it. I felt sorry for my brother, but it was unavoidable. It was a roller-coaster month, but I am grateful for every tiny detail of it.
A Red carpet rolled out in September because ‘Young Actors Retreat’ was finally aired! Woottt! I can see my two favorite Parks, Park Seojun and Park Bogum on the same screen. The variety show was very entertaining and I just love every second of it. Hwang Inyeop has a very attractive charm and I am very surprised to know that he is older than Park Bogum! In September, I went to see Super Junior’s concert in Jakarta! This was my second time going and watching Super Show 9. All of the set-list is are pretty much the same, but the sound system in Jakarta was very much disappointing. But at least I get to see my boys closer than the one in Korea.
I spent the whole of October in Korea. Yes, I went to Korea again! This time I went on a “business trip”. It was my first and last business trip with this company. I had a blast one even though the ending was ugly. I only need 30 mins from my aunt’s house door to my office door in Korea. While in Jakarta, I had to spend 2 hours from my house door to my seat in the office. I just hate Jakarta’s traffic and insufficient public transportation. On this trip, I got to go to Busan on the week of the BTS Concert in Busan. I will make a separate post for all of my trips in 2022. Also, I finally did camping in Korea after watching many camping-themed variety shows. It was so fun even though it wasn’t as easy as it’s look on screen. Last but not the least, I got to see Nam Joohyuk for the last time before he enlisted! Another encounter that I am grateful for in October is I got to see my aunt that has been living in the USA after 10 years? I guess? It's been a long time. She is a very loving and caring aunt and she is especially very close with my mom. It was so nice to finally see her. Next time, I will definitely go to visit her in the USA. AMEN! October has been awesome.
Finally, I am able to sing, “Good tidings to you wherever you are”. The Christmas season finally arrives. I made mini vlogmas on my Instagram, but compared to the previous year, this year I didn’t have the Christmas spirit or truly joyful feelings. After 5 months of spending my time and energy working at this company, I decided to resign. I was tremendously uncomfortable and I didn’t sense any kind of achievement or new things. Since I only have 2 years left in my 20s, I decided not to spend my time on the things that didn’t spark joy. Especially, I finally can escape the Jakarta's traffic!! YEAY!! So, just before Christmas, I was able to find a little peace in my heart and spent Christmas joyfully. This year Christmas wasn’t as warm as the previous years. Even so, I am still very grateful that I got to close 2022 without regrets, and am ready for 2023. I had an impromptu trip with my university friends to Sentul. I DROVE THE CAR BACK AND FORTH TO THERE! It was such an achievement for me. HAHA.
Dear 2022, thank you. You’ve been nice and rough at some times, but I just want to say thank you for the memories. I think I grew in various ways. And I want to say a good job to myself to go through all of the days in 2022 well. I started to praise myself at the end of the day, not because I am proud of what I’ve done, but to give myself more love this year. We often forgot to praise ourselves even though we’ve been through a lot. So, if you read this now, go praise yourself, “I have done well”!
So, have you found out what is my message to you?
Hint: it has 12 alphabets.
According to the Chinese calendar, 2022 is the Year of Tiger. A tiger has a charismatic side and is one of the strongest carnivores in the jungle. I just want to say that you are strong enough to pass through all those hardships and be able to step into 2023 in a few days.
I wish you a Happy New Year! May your 2023 be filled with joy, peace, and hope.
Let’s work hard and play hard this year. Good luck!
God bless you all.
