Alright guys, here it is. My big statement of purpose for 2009. I came up with this fairly recently, actually, but once I started thinking about it, it all fell into place. There's been a lot leading up to this point, a lot of thinking and contemplation and so on, which is all terribly long and I won't elaborate it here. But now I have a purpose and motivation and all that, so you and your puny words will not stop me.

I have two goals for this year. Well, several secondary goals, but at the core there are two main ones.

1. To be in Tokyo, living in my own apartment with a living wage and to be able to afford a wedding present for my cousin when she gets married in September (yes, another one).
2. To be able to afford the Michelin Tokyo Restaurant guide for 2010, and to be able to use it properly by then.

There are a few smaller ones too - having a reading standard up to high school graduate level in Japanese by mid-year, to be standing in the same place at the stroke of midnight Dec 31st 2009 as I was standing Dec 31st 2008 (highly negotiable), to read Murakami Haruki's work untranslated, to finish all of the manga I have lying around at home, to do a proper internship, to stop wasting energy on men (yeah alright this one might not be going too well so far), to lose 5-10kg by the time I leave for Japan mostly via taking up jogging again (this one was a last minute addition... a damn painful addition, might I add).

What am I going to do? I'm going to start a career as an interpreter and move to Japan to do so. For now, the Plan says I'll stay over there indefinitely. It's something I've considered on and off throughout the years, and I've realised that I'd be damn good at it (not to mention it pays rather well), so I'm going to put the work in this year to achieve this.

So I'm doing things with myself this year. Big things. It feels good to finally have a direction.

Edit: Oh yeah, so if anyone wants somewhere to stay in Tokyo in the future, they're welcome to visit. Unless I get a shoebox apartment (possible).