A Week of 10s Day 7: Life Aspirations

Better late than never. I knew this post would probably take a while and originally I thought it wouldn't even be done today, since I had been working on a paper, going to the gym, and some friends wanted to go out tonight. Given that however, the usually oh so perfect Danish rail system had an off day as some tracks, mainly my friends' tracks, weren't running. So now, dinner is done, I'm taking a break, and hey, let's finish this Week of 10s thing up. So here, awesome readers, are my 10 life aspirations and dreams.

1. A Solid Job: One thing I definitely want/need in my life is to have a stable, well paying job which can afford me to live comfortably and also give me time to vacation, have fun, and time with family (which I will discuss later). I don't know where I want to go in my life really, it feels like I'm walking through dense fog, trying and hoping I eventually run into something great, but I have some ideas. I would love to have a job working with Europe-East Asia relations when it comes to business/consulting/marketing. Given I am Asian and can speak English, French, and hopefully by the end of senior year, German fluently, this could be a good niche to carve out for myself. But for now, this is just a dream.

2. A Home: My mom achieved her American dream when she bought her/our house. She made good money, lives a comfortable life, and moved way up from when she first arrived on these shores. For me, I also want to achieve my American dream, and one of those things, is a nice home. I don't want anything huge, yeah I want probably around 4 bedrooms and a 3 car garage, but not one of those massive monstrosities you see in the suburbs near where I live - ones with massive porticoes and empty rooms for the hell of it. I would rather have a house that has everything I need, but have those things be nice. I'm a bit of a sucker for classic interiors - so even if the world has moved on from granite, warm woods, and stuff like that, I will probably include those in my house. Top of the line? Hopefully. And a decent sized yard? - yeah.

3. A Husband/Family: Have I been in a relationship yet? nope. Have I had guys chase after me? Yes, but they were not for the reasons I wanted (at least for the long term). Will I hopefully be in one before I graduate? I sure as hell hope so. By the time I'm 30-35, I want to be settling down with someone I can love and appreciate. Someone fun, romantic, good looking, and family oriented would be ideal. I do want a family, and as of now, I would prefer to have the child be one of our own rather than adopted. I know adoption is the good thing to do, but if I'm raising someone, I would want them to have some of me as part of who they are, as awkwardly worded as that sounds. Two kids I think is my ideal number. An Older brother for sure, not picky about the younger, but I think a daughter would be nice to balance things out.

4. To provide my mom a nice retirement: When I was little, I promised my mom two things - The Empire State Building (which for the longest time called the Eiffel Tower. fail), and a Mercedes. Now the former will probably never happen, but the second, among other things, could and hopefully will be. My mom is in her late 50s now and will be retiring in the next few years. By the time I graduate I hope to have a job, and a few years after that be making enough money for myself and also for a nice gift. I think my mom wants to sell the house and move to a nice condo nearby after I move out and find my own place, so housing is fine, but for her 65th birthday, I think an E-class might be in order.

5. Travel: I've been lucky in that I have seen much of the world, but if I can, I would love to be able to spend plenty of time traveling, whether it be for work or for vacation. Australia and New Zealand are at the top of my list right now.

6. Own my own restaurant: I love to cook, and if I make enough money, I would love to open my own restaurant one day. It would be a pet project type thing, one where I could work at and be a part of when I retire or if my work allows for it. It would probably have a rotating menu, by reservation only type thing. I love experimenting and I could never stick with only one type of cuisine which is part of the reason why for the concept.

7. Philanthropy: If everything does go absolutely swimmingly and I have enough disposable income that I am willing to part with, I have a few things I would definitely give back to. Most things would be related to something important in my life, and specifically, my childhood. Libraries would definitely get some, as would probably my old HS crew team that you guys are probably tired of me reminiscing about. Animal shelters would also be something I would definitely give back to. Max, my now 11 year old Jack Russell that I adopted 8 years ago is doing well. Still a lazy bum and sweet when he wants to be, there is nothing in the world I would trade him for.

8. Go into outer space: Very likely, given commercial space flights have already sorta begun. I don't want to just go to the edge of the atmosphere though, I want to be in true, free float, International Space Station type space.

9. To still be a kid on the inside: I don't understand why people want to grow up so much. Sure you can earn money, but adulthood is stressful, your metabolism slows, you only get shorter, and the simple thing in life don't get you as easily excited as they used to. Heck, if I could stay a kid forever I totally would. That said, my inner 5 year old is going to stay alive and well when I grow up. I'm still going to go on swings, binge on ice cream, play with clay, and maybe even break a few useless old things just for the heck of it (because making things go boom makes me all giggly on the inside). Indulge that little kid inside you, he or she is still there, trust me. Go swing on some swings, eat too many Twinkies, or just do something stupid and silly; as Amy Poehler said, "No one looks stupid when they're having fun."

10. To stay close with my friends: You know the whole "friends for life" promises you made in school? How many of those still exist? I have at least a solid dozen people who basically shaped me into who I am today. These people grew up with me; we laughed together, cried together, shared secrets, and did stupid things together, and that I think deserves more than "falling out of contact". I will put in the effort to stay close with them, no matter if we are across the country from each other or even next door neighbors. I love them more than they could probably ever know.

Alright folks, that concludes this More-than-a-week of Tens! I hope you enjoyed the ride. If you do decide there is something you would like for me talk about, you know how to get in contact. I have a few things I want to talk about in my mind so back to regular programing soon.

All the best,

JP

Also - I'm going home in 5 days. Whaaaaaaaaa!?