2015 IN REVIEW

What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?

Celebrated 32nd birthday :-)

Wrote to a Czech actor and received not only the autograph I requested, but also a signed photo as a bonus. This was huge for me because it was Stanislav Fišer, the dubbing voice of my favourite film character, Vinnetou, who was an example of a brave, virtuous person to me. The book and film character of my childhood. Stanislav Fišer is 84 and has lost his voice due to cancer, and I knew I had to write him and let him know what his work meant to me. And I managed! Hurray!

Heard an Algonquin language spoken. (These are languages of East Canadian First Nations.)

Was asked out by 3 guys in one month. One started to hate me after a terrible misunderstanding, one I had a great chat with and we became even better friends, and one learned to behave like a gentleman in the café and is starting to look like a serious candidate for an important man in my life.

Applied for a job with a Jewish community. Got the job, but declined the offer.

Met two people suffering from Narcissist Personality Disorder. Very unpleasant experience.


http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/traits.html

Dated and broke up.

Bowled in a bowling alley. I had actually done that 20 years ago in England, but that was so long ago that this seemed like the first time to me.

Started working full time in an office. (Before that, I always either didn’t work full time or the job wasn’t in an office.)

Saw a play in Czech in Mahen Theatre, Brno.

Saw a great spotted woodpecker. It´s much bigger than you´d expect, it´s like seeing a black-and-white hen flying in the trees. (Picture not by me, but from Wikipedia by Sławomir Staszczuk :-) )

Heard a Japanese person sing in Old Church Slavonic.

Wrote a long e-mail to my high school literature and history teacher, which wasn’t a good idea.

Discovered and fell in love with national dances of Mongolia.

Met my father’s girlfriend.

Served as a guide for a Latvian folk dance group in Prague.

Took part in a parade in the historical centre of Prague, and saw men painted as statues bow to us :-)

Observed a partial solar eclipse.

Consulted a Christian psychologist.

Finally managed to forgive the criminal who assaulted me on a street in 2010.

Gathered the courage to tell about this horrible experience to a man.

Visited an exhibition of contemporary Russian paintings.

Visited a hockey match.

Translated an article from a 1934 Latvian newspaper. It was written in the Gothic script.

Translated a 40-page official document of Latvian Railways. It took 4 days and one sleepless night.

Visited a lecture about the Ukrainian front near Donbas by a person who’s been there.

Learned that a friend whom I’ve known and liked for quite some time is gay.

Heard the sentence „I’m translating this TV show and have to finish it before 11 p.m. because it’s running on Estonian TV at midnight.“

Took part in Secret Santa, a teambuilding activity and a gingerbread cookie baking party.

Ordered pizza from home. Well, my friend´s place, anyway.

Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make one this year?

No, because I always forget them :-)

Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

Did anyone close to you die?

No.

What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?

To be honest, a boyfriend that loves me. And I would like to keep my friends and family, if you don’t mind :-)

What countries/states did you visit?

Stayed within the good old Czech Republic :-)

What date from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory?

October 26^th – the day I started working full time.

Did you move anywhere?

Oh yes. Twice. First, to my father´s house for a couple of months, and then, to the place of my dreams – Brno-Jundrov, between a river and a forest.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting accepted for a job in a bank. I didn’t go through any job interview marathon – I got accepted after the first 2 job interviews. (I declined the first job offer.) Again!
I wish I knew what a job interview marathon feels like!

Or better... I wouldn´t. As my sister Hana says: be careful what you wish for.

What was your biggest failure?

The two times I got too emotional at work, to great distress of all the people present. Hoping this was the last time.

Deciding I don´t want to work at university. But this wasn´t really a failure. It cost an assistant professor some time and coffee, and it was a disappointment for him. But I´ve come to the conclusion that I´m not a scholar. And it´s a huge relief.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Thanks be to God, no. I was almost completely healthy for 8 months, which is a huge achievement for me, too!

What was the best thing you bought?

A sweater that actually suits me :-)

Whose behaviour merited celebration?

My sister Hana’s for all sorts of things – for example, being such a great help when we had to move fast from one house to another without any car. And for starting to discover herself.

My uncle Honza´s and cousin Šimon´s, who offered to help me move some of my furniture.

My parents’ – my father’s because he’s become an unbelievable person – a nice and steadfast gentleman who walks some 40 km every month and sleeps in a tent occasionally. And my mother’s because she’s become the best version of herself and we finally resolved our issues from 20 years ago.

And my grandma’s – her husband is 90 and not easy to take care of. He’s all yellow and apparently suffering from a liver disease, but refuses to visit a doctor.

And many friends – Elína, Radim, Beth, Gloria, Šárka, Eliška, Bára, Ashley, Petra – who supported me when I was moving to Brno, and also in my hard times.

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Some teenagers’ who laughed at me embroidering. What the hell is wrong with embroidering?

An Indian guys’ who I had a misunderstanding with over e-mails, and he has pretended I don’t exist ever since.

And a friend´s – not really her behaviour, but her wedding ceremony at the town hall. I´d only visited Protestant church weddings that were very festive, guest-friendly and very much about the couple. They choose the pastor themselves, he has been preparing them for marriage for several months so he knows them really well, and they choose not only the music, but also songs for everyone to sing. The wedding ceremony lasts about 70 minutes.

The town hall wedding only lasted 15 minutes and was so impersonal that I was almost shocked.

Where did most of your money go?

Into keeping myself alive – as usual :-)

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Following Murdoch Mysteries on Facebook and behaving like a crazy fan. It´s a good thing the show is Canadian, so I can´t pester the scriptwriters and actors :-)

Latvian figure skater Deniss Vasiljevs. I think he´s very promising.

Visiting Czech castles and chateaus with my Latvian friend.

And the possibility that she could live in Brno and work in the same department as me. It took a lot of effort and time and she was accepted! But then she got a scholarship so she declined the job offer.

What was the best concert you’ve been to this year?

Aglona Church Choir from Latvia, in March. They sang in such beautiful, pure voices that I almost thought it´s angels singing, not people.

What song/album will always remind you of 2015?

Ram Jam: Black Betty. That was the song with which Javier Fernandez won the World Figure Skating Championship in Beijing.

Solla than Ninaikiren. I don´t know why, but I listened to it a lot. It´s a perfect example of a nice South Indian music video.

Evanescence: Wake Me Up Inside. Not the official music video - this version, sung by a Czech singer, and together with the dance.

Jan Jirásek: „Marika“ from the film Bolero. It was very symbolic for me this year, for many private reasons.

Compared to this time last year, are you:

1.      happier or sadder? Insanely happy.

2.     thinner or fatter? Lost 2 kg.

3. richer or poorer? Richer, a bit.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Dancing, singing, reading and praying.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Complaining.... Other than that, I can’t think of anything. This year was very well used!

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Israeli singer Ofra Haza

How did you spend Christmas?

December 24^th – working, with colleagues playing Christmas songs on their computer.

December 25^th – church in Brno-Židenice, disappointed because the pastor sounded like a strict teacher, and not at all happy that it´s Christmas.
Travelling by train to Český Brod and then a great Christmas Eve with my father and sister, which I didn´t participate actively in because I was exhausted.

December 26^th – travelling to Prague, great time with my family and Latvian friend at my grandma´s place. Then, got lost when travelling to a different part of Prague to visit my mom and her boyfriend.

December 27^th – ironing clothes and travelling back to Brno.

December 28^th – at work again, and a beautiful concert in a church. Christmas Oratory by J. S. Bach.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

As always - my mom and my grandma :-)

What was the best book you read?

Zdeněk Galuška: Slovácko sa nesúdí. Written in a dialect and very entertaining.

Did you fall in love in 2015?

Actually, no, although I dated. It was all his initiative and I just went along with it, which isn’t my style.

But I suspect I am gradually falling in love and don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. Pretty scared, but not so much as last year.

What was your favourite TV show?

Murdoch Mysteries, again :-)

Canadian drama about a Toronto detective at the turn of the 20th century. It’s my favourite TV series of them all.

Comeback – Czech sitcom that has some great, funny moments and a lot of weird ones. But I was fascinated by it, in a way.

Ztracená brána (Lost gate) and Labyrint – new, brilliant Czech mystery shows

Also, I discovered some Czechoslovak murder mysteries from the 1980’s. Some of them good, some of them bad, but always reminding me of my childhood.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Some Russian politicians, same as last year. But I don’t hate them as people, more as the threats their politics pose to me.

And I´m starting to hate people who deliberately provide less than truthful information. It´s difficult not to get lost in all the information you get.

What did you want and get?

A corset that my sister Hana sewed to fit me perfectly.

What did you want and not get?

A calendar with Czech castles and chateaus, but I can buy it myself :-)

What didn’t you want and get?

A book on Czech regional meals. A traditional Latvian bracelet. And lots of useful and useless stuff from my ex-boyfriend.

What were your favourite films of this year?

Příklady táhnou (Examples pull, 1939) – about a strict, conservative lady who grows fond of camping. Such a nice and innocent film.

The Proposal (2009) – with Sitka, Alaska. Oh, what a beautiful place!

Cheeni Kum (Less Sugar, 2007) – a deliberately non-romantic Indian film about a love between a 64-year-old restaurant owner and a 34-year-old Indian girl.

Santiniho jazyk (Santini´s tongue/language, 2011) – a symbolistic Czech film, with the message „Sometimes you can prove your love by keeping quiet.“

What kept you sane?

C.S.Lewis´ book “The Screwtape Letters” (translated to Czech as Rady zkušeného ďábla). At one point in September, this book saved my life.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Definitely Jānis Krastiņš. He´s an organic chemist whose hobby for the past 50 years has been translating Czech literature to Latvian. He got the Czech President´s award this year. I met him and he´s unbelievably modest, intelligent and kind. A true gentleman. And his translations are good!

Also, John Oliver, a British news reporter / comedian living in the U.S. I started watching his news on YouTube and it helps me not to get lost in all the crazy things happening in the world.

And I was intrigued by Edward Snowden, a young IT guy who stole confidential data from NSA to make a point about the fine line between security and citizens' privacy violation.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Nothing :-) This year was so packed with experiences and experience!

What political issue stirred you the most?

The refugee issue, probably like most Europeans. I honestly don´t know what to think about it. And am afraid that because of that, people will forget how important it is to send aid to civilians in Ukraine.

Who did you miss?

My Latvian friend who had to return to Latvia – just like last year. She was there until June. Fortunately, she came back :-)

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015.

1. When someone hurts you even just a little bit, it usually becomes like a piece of mold in a fridge. When you don´t clean it, it starts growing and spoils all the food. And it influences your way of thinking, your behaviour, much more than you realize. If you think someone´s hurt you, tell them immediately! And if you can´t, imagine you´re punching them in the nose, filling their mouth with chilli peppers, drowning them in a river... It sounds terrible, but it really helps. Only then you can truly forgive and forget.
2. If you even suspect that you have the feeling

„I always get overlooked“, „God doesn´t love me“, „I have a disadvantage compared to other people“, „If only I hadn´t this and this disadvantage...“, „It didn´t work out the last 50 times, so why should it now?“

deal with it! Fight it, struggle as you can, laugh at yourself, try to forget it! It´s very dangerous. You have a lot to give and you can always be much, much happier!

1. And if you realize that since you met someone, you have stopped singing, painting, walking, dancing, creating a webpage... whatever it is you do, cut them off. There is probably something wrong with that person. There are very few things worth giving up your identity for.
2. Many people think Christianity is about creating a feeling of guilt. Well, guilt really is one of its many topics – but I realized this year how important it is to be taught what to feel guilty for. Because it also tells you what NOT to feel guilty for. Which, in long term, provides huge freedom. And it protects you from people who try to set their own rules of guilt.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

There is no lyric that could describe it.

For me, the year 2015 was GLORIOUS. It was very hard but fruitful, it was a year of great changes, of truly living, of healing, of becoming a whole person.