Woke up today and found this at my door.. about 10 cm of fresh lovely fluffy snow!!!
In day like this I like Stavanger and I feel extra lonely, because i would have spent the Sunday just walking around town in the fresh snow, together with my girlfriend.. the best way to spend a nice snowy Sunday..
But I got no girlfriend, so then I went to work.. to pack up some hours for when I’ll need them for the preparation of the VISA to China..
..and for not thinking too much!
…and prediction/resolutions posting and post-dating..
I have had troubles closing the year 2009 in the “proper” way, because of the break up at the end of 2008 with my ex.. so that every time I tried to write the annual wrap up I felt sad, angry, silly, missing someone, in need of a break..
Now, I guess, the time has been enough, at least for writing something about 2009 and taking some resolutions about 2010!
So, have a laugh at my [pathetic] wrap-ups:
..and since it is the end of January, it is good to write about the fresh ended 2009 and the expectations for this new and challenging 2010, because I can definitively say that this year will offer me a very new life and new possibilities!
Still missing a couple of post about year wrap-ups: Aikido seminars (2008 & 2009), books (2008 & 2009) and.. 2009 mingling 
And if you wonder in which kind of spirit I have started AD 2010, here two videos about how I feel about love, feelings and life…… 
…once again this song [love] is about nothing…
What a year.. I mean, a special year with respect to a few things in my life.. Starting from the end of 2009, I resigned from the job here in Stavanger, Norway and I accepted a completely new job in Hefei, China.. A 2 years contract in a Chinese company (I’ll be the only foreigner) with a Chinese salary in a very Chinese town, not a Beijing or a Shanghai, just to understand each other! I guess I did figure out something more about what I want to do in this life..
So let’s see what else I promised to accomplish:
Oh, I did get my nidan in Aikido!!! And it was a damn good graduation! No complaints! I also practiced during 2009 more than ever probably..
The weight is still a challenge.. the end of the year brought some good celebrations, with friends and family, in Italy and Norway.. and I am still struggling to go back!!! 
About my nemesis-”past love”, no I did not forget her completely, but on the other hand, moving to China, I am going to put quite a bit of distance between us.. and the time has helped!! Few more baby steps and the goal will be reached!
..and what did I predicted?
Most of the predicted stuff.. the new ones at least, has been achieved..
Also about love and new broken hearts.. or better, no one got her (his? ) heart broken because of me but in my 2009 mingling (yes, I’ll post about it soon) I did manage to get a couple more scratches on my heart!!! I admit, I’m not good for “one night stands” or “one week stands”.. I always get too much into it.. As I admitted before, in some ways I did love all the girls I had something with.. spanning from few hours to few months.. but my heart is getting better in recovering time.. not harder, no.. just recovering faster! 
Funny combination of mental states, funny they can actually co-exist, but this is actually how I feel I am right now! I am thinking constantly about the next 2 months: I have to empty my place here in Stavanger and balance between throwing away stuff, giving away, send/bring up to Trondheim and take with me to China.. Knowing that for the last part, I will have 30kg luggage plus some extra kilos I can pay for and hand luggage. But even knowing that two months can pass quite fast, I am still postponing, doing very very little every evening. Always too tired after Aikido practice. And I let myself thinking that there is time.
So my mind oscillates between stress and relaxation, but I admit, not in a peaceful way: it’s more a stressed lazy person, than a stressed relaxed person.
This coming weekend I’ll stay in Stavanger. but not because I started loving this place! My feeling for the town has not changed, not even now I know I will kiss it bye bye soon. I have though to pack up some missing hours at work, tons of reports to prepare for passing over my tasks to my colleagues and I can spend some time on my home-tasks above mentioned! Since I almost never go out here, I will use most of the time for home-related stuff!!
Among the few things I hope to manage to do, there is some update of old and past posts for this blog, stuff even from last end of the year that I always wanted to review and post.. and now I can do without feeling sad.. And some flickr pictures updates as well..
Very nice long weekend in Italy for Christmas holidays meeting old friends, family and a long time (3 years) Taiwanese pen friend that just moved to Italy for (at least) one year studying at the Domus Academy in Milan: Claire, a lovely new/old friend!
I had a chance to show Claire around in Biella, and we both share a great interest in photography, even if my focus and her focus were on slightly different subjects! 
It’s true I have already taken many pictures of Biella, and I did also took some this time, especially for my new HDR attempts!
On the other hand, I had a chance to visit again after ages the Ricetto di Candelo, a middle age fortified structure that is still preserved in a very good condition! And the pictures, even close to the evening, were quite satisfying!
It was great to see so much snow in Italy as well.. and I was extremely lucky with the choice of traveling days, landing barely one day after a 3 days of pure nightmare for airports, roads and trains because of ice and snow in Italy as in the rest of Europe.
So a trip started nicely and ended nicely.. Very good time at home, with tons of good food and drinks.. Too much?
And the good time continues in Norway, when Claire came up here for the first time and I had a chance to show her Stavanger, Trondheim, Røros and Oslo, with a great new year eve party in a cabin up in the mountains close to Meråker, together with many close friends!
Starting as the last few years, random order (bold for new 2008 predictions):
Yeah.. let’s see which kind of promises I can make and break:
