In the last while, I've received a few comments about my blog that have made me happy to be alive. Some have noted how much I've "grown" over the past year. Just to play the devil's advocate, I disagree. First, I think I've finally entered my immature teenage years, which I never really had as a teenager. I'm more selfish, more spontaneous, more disorganized, and lazier than I've ever been. So just be glad that I'm getting it out of my system all the way out here. Second, I've always thought this way. I mean, what I write in my blogs comes directly out of my head, and my head hasn't changed so much over the years. Maybe I've just become more open. Regardless, everything that is good in me comes from someone else. You're really special to me. If you're reading this blog, and I know you, you are more important than maybe you realize. So I just want to start this entry with a big, cheesy old thank you to the people who have been there for me and have inspired me. I'm yours, and while I'm not so good at knowing how to help people, I will do whatever you ask for if it will make you happier to be alive. (And if for some of you it's for me to come home – I'm working on it.)
Most of you know this, but I'm planning on starting a master's degree in translation in North America beginning September 2011. It amuses me how some of you are doubting my intentions with this program. I think some of you honestly cannot imagine how anyone could be interested in translation. I'm not just doing this to have something to do, it's not just for the lifestyle, it's not just to be able to say I've done a master's. But I won't pretend to have noble intentions either – those are indeed amongst the reasons why I'm applying.
The problem is that I'm still not convinced that the future is so important. Maybe this attitude comes from the Balkans, where the future truly is irrelevant to some people. It boils down to this: what is more important, the future or happiness? If a person is happy even if there's not much in store for him, then what's the problem? Should we condemn him for being happy? Or should we condemn the man who forgoes daily pleasures because he's too busy planning a perfect future?
I was pretty happy living spur-of-the-moment during my travels. Now that I have "plans" for the future… it's not that I'm unhappy. But now, there's a reason to be indifferent to the present. All the good stuff is in the future, so why bother with today? Why travel, when traveling isn't the point anymore? The point lies somewhere ahead, and anything you do now is fleeting.
Maybe it's only a problem for impatient people like myself. If there's a plan, then let's do it and get on to the next thing. I find it hard to focus on other things when I know there's a plan that needs fulfilling.
I would now like to draw your attention to Georgia. I met a Serbian girl who was obsessed with it. It's a very old country, and the language is perfectly insane. It has a pretty alphabet, too. Georgia borders the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the North, Turkey to the south, and Armenia and Azerbaijan to the east. There is a nice movie called "Mimina" about a Georgian man during Soviet times. There was a war between Russia and Georgia right up until 2008. There are two regions in Georgia which Russia recognizes as independent countries: South Ossetia and something else whose name looks like "Akhdhavilli" or something. Joseph Stalin was ethnically Georgian. Georgia is mountainous, the highest peak being over 5000 meters. Anyone want to come to Russia and Georgia with me next summer?
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