Turning 30

You can act any age you want


Birthday breakfast from Erin <3>

'Twilight' themed birthday, complete with book, DVD and of course BOP teen magazine with fold-out picture of Edward.

Turning 30 this past August was pretty anti-climatic. It didn't have the depressing undertones of staying home and wallowing in the self pity of getting older, nor was it a massive, all out blitz fest. It was me and a few of my closest girlfriends, celebrating in style, drinking wine, all agreeing how refreshing it felt to be putting our twenties behind us. Not that my twenties were bad, not at all. But there is something to be said for just not caring about all those stupid little things that seemed so major just 5 years ago. I remember vividly freaking out when I was 25 about the fact that I hadn't achieved all the things I envisioned for myself when I was 18. HA~! Now I'm 30, and still haven't achieved most of them, A) because my path has changed so much since then and B) I just don't care. I'll get there when I'm ready.

My Ladies and I @ W8

So I came up with a list (I love lists) of all the great things about turning 30. Feel free to add any that you think of.

1.Confidence- I've never felt as good about being me nor as confidnet in who I am as I do now.

2. Respect. I always remember thinking that my older girlfriends who were in their 30's just seemed to have it together. and even though I'm not even close to having it togther, I sure can act like I do.

3. Experience. been there, done that, got the tshirt.

4. The ability to not care.

5. Taste- you know what you like, and are willing to spend a little extra time, effort or money to get it.

6. Not feeling like you are "30" . I'm not old. I dont feel old. I feel 24.

7.Being 30 is not evil. its cool. or "30 is the new 20"

8. Wrinkles and grays add character

9. Maturity, HA.

10. Not feeling like you have to have an excuse for not going out every weekend.

11. Cougarism. younger guys dig older babes.

12. The ego boosting feeling that comes with turning down said 'younger guys' because you know better

13. Owning things that you bought for yourself and that weren't given to you as hand-me-downs.

14. Knowing your limits and boundaries.

15. Being able to forgive yourself.

16. Simplifying. I've thrown out so much crap this past year, that I had been clinging to for ages. it just wasnt important to me anymore, and I was able to let it go.

17. Being able to give up in the middle of a list without any good reason.

...(maybe I'll think of some more things later, I have some more stuff to throw away)

Canada so far...

So, I've been back in Canada for about a month and half now. It wasn't as sad as I thought it would be, leaving Jeju. I thought I would have that "bittersweet goodbye" type feeling, but it was mostly just anticipation to get home and start a new chapter of my life.
It's been a while since I was able to throw together and cohesive thoughts. I spent alot of time thinking about things I would write about once I got home, but I could never seem to find what it was that I wanted say.
Every time I come home, I expect it to be just that: home. But of course, I always go through some kind of reverse culture shock that seems to catch me off guard, and gets worst every time. It's an odd feeling to feel like a newcomer in your own country. To feel like you are absolutely supposed to know what you are doing all the time because you are Canadian, but then never really knowing if what you are doing is "right".
I thought that being able to write something about coming home would come naturally for me, but my brain wouldn't come up anything. But, after some conversations with friends about newcomers coming to Canada, something finally clicked: I am a newcomer (in a sense) and writing about going to a new country has never put me off. My brain seemed to be OK with accepting that I was a visitor learning all the lingo and quirks of a new place for some reason, so I'm just going with it. I'm newly landed resident of Canada, for the second time.
A "born-again Canadian" if you will.
Now... if I could just bowing to everyone I encounter....