New Year´s Eve

NYE sucks.
Just like every year I dont really wanna celebrate the NYE. It all seems awfully artificial. We decide that this one day is the end of the year and that we need to party. Everyone is expected to go out and have fun. Feels forced.
However I am aware of the fact that by 7pm tomorrow I would have started feeling like a total loser, had I decided to stay in for the evening. So I need to make a decision - which of the parties (that i dont particularly like) to attend. NYE is gonna be so much fun!

Feeling Christmassy Yet?

Since I was working till the 23rd, I barely had time to buy gifts, let alone get into the right mood. Christmas have always been about family for me and so this year I was expecting it to be hard to accept that there are only 4 chairs occupied, where there should have been 5 of us enjoying the Christmas dinner. Maybe that was the reason I was avoiding the Christmas season in the first place.
My grandma´s absence was certainly felt and we all missed her, but it turned out to be fine family festivities. However it did not feel like Christmas. I am still waiting for the right mood to kick in. Maybe my mind has decided to skip Christmas altogether while my body kept going through the motions.
But the eleven-hours-of-sleep-per-night average of the past 6 days is not so bad afterall.

Be careful what you (secretly) wish for?

The hopes and dreams that we have for ourselves are not the trickiest ones. The trickiest ones are those that we have for other people. We expect them to become who we would like them to become, do things we expect them to do, grow in the way we wish for.
The hopes that we have for someone, with someone, become a part of our love and affection for that person. We don´t admire and respect just the person standing in front of us, but also who that person can be.
If for some reason the people around us cannot (or just won´t) fulfill the dreams that we have for them, we feel cheated. And we have two or three options. Accept who they have become and love them for it, which, sadly, does not happen all that often. Or we wait around and continue hoping that the anticipated turn of events is still possible.
Or, and this is the last and very common option, we start resenting the objects of our affection. We see fault in the mere fact that they are not, who we thought they could be. We feel that we cannot really blame them, especially since it might not even be their choice (or lack of it) that prevented the development. In some cases it could have been a disability or lack of talent or death or in other cases it could have been a love or infatuation that faded. Yet the bitterness stays with us and influences our actions and we might not even be aware of its effects..

Discovering New Flavours

Over the past two months or so, I have tried a lot of new food (partially thanks to my employer). It started with sushi, but it definitely did not stop there. General observation is that if you have a good cook, almost anything can be delicious!
I found that beef tongue is actually nice and tasty, but that the structure, namely the appearance of taste buds is pretty revolting.
Les escargots or in English - snails are tasty but also kinda chewy. If you eat more than just a few, they become somewhat disgusting and vomit-inducing, even though they tasted great at the beginning. Recommend them as an entree but definitely not as a main course.
Crème brûlée is good but tastes a lot like the Czech pudding that you make from milk and the powder that comes in 8Kc-a-piece packet. Yes, there is the caramel crust on the top, that is an added value but overall crème brûlée is not that impressive.
To be continued.

Online Tests

You can use internet to test almost anything. From creating a medical diagnosis based on your symptoms (you fill them in the test and wait for the word "cancer" to appear on your screen) to counting your sobriety based on last night´s consumption to finding out what your perfect male companion looks like. Sometimes you use the tests to amuse yourself, sometimes you are really interested in what the result is going to be. I have had two encounters with tests of different sorts in the past week or so.
First time I wanted to find out how much of a smartass I am. Since my roommate is constantly teasing me about being from "Asian village" (meaning I am from Olomouc and not Prague) the goal of taking the test was to prove that I have detailed knowledge of one of the things typical for Prague - the subway/metro/underground, whichever is the right term. I took time picking the answers, but when I pressed the button to get my result, I was asked to give the website the access to my FB profile, which I refused. After repeating the action for a few times, I finally acknowledged the sad reality - unless I give them my personal information, I will never find out, if I was right or wrong. Pissed me off. Especially since they could have warned me before I spent my time on the test..
Second time was a few minutes ago, when one of my friends on FB posted a test that helps you determine your biological age. I tried to be as critical of my lifestyle as possible, so that I would get a realistic answer. Even though the results were satisfying (apparently my body is cca 5 years younger than the number of candles on my birthday cake would suggest), I got angry a little when I saw some of the options that got the highest number of points = those that were supposed to be the right ones. Since eating only low-fat dairy products is not healthy just like using animal fats is not wrong, I am not sure that whoever wrote the test can be trusted. I know, I know, the test was never to be trusted in the first place, but girl can´t help herself from time to time.. Does this mean that my "find your perfect guy" test result is not to be trusted as well?

Working in the Office

Though it seems like the easiest job there is, working at reception is nowhere near undemanding. I used to think that all receptionists care about is looking pretty, which includes, but is not limited to, doing their nails while on the job. As it turns out, I could not have been further from the truth (at least when it comes to my employer).
After a while of working for the company, it sometimes becomes difficult to keep it together. Especially when one is extensively criticised for every tiny mistake or even the impression of a mistake or even when one just does the job right but doesn´t use the right words, when talking about it, which might possibly lead someone to the conclusion that one did not do it 100% right. I used to think that I was constantly overthinking everything, now it seems I am not thinking enough.
On the bright side - the pressure that forces everyone at work to deal with the problems instead of avoiding them, teaches me how to do the same. Maybe sometime in the near future, I will know how to work at a relationship (of any kind), so that I don´t end up pretending that other ppl´s flaws imperfections don´t exist/I don´t mind them even when I do.