moving right along...

I've taken to speaking, thinking, acting and feeling a lot more positively about situations lately. It's possible that this new position is facilitated by my being somewhat blasé about certain things, or more likely it is that I was simply not as chilled out in general beforehand. At other times, when a positive spin is difficult to find, a more realistic and truthful approach seems to work out just as well. All very cryptic I know, but this isn't really the place for specifics. Let's just say that I think I'm starting to work out what's important to me and because of this things seem to be starting to fall into place.
My main problem now is a lack of motivation, or urgency I should say, in working towards my goals. For instance, I have always been one for environmental protection - well, for a long time anyway: I'm sure that when I was 10, I would have been particularly unfazed by the obsene number of cars clogging up our city streets despite the whole range of alternative transport options such as trains, buses, bikes, etc., except maybe for the fact that it would take so long to get anywhere - but have not, as of yet, done anything to affiliate myself with any conservation group or been involved in any projects of the like. A big part of this is not knowing where to start. I do, however, do my bit by riding my bike to work instead of driving, keeping electricity usage to a minimum, and so on (I am a self-confessed sucker for longish showers though.. *tisk tisk*). Bit of a hippy really, but someone's gotta do it...
Something else very important to me, very close to my heart, is music. I love singing, I love playing music, I love writing music. I want to play acoustically - the catch is, I don't actually know how to play an instrument (a tiny bit of piano being the exception), and so I must rely on others to write the music before I can write my lyrics and melodies. It works out pretty well while you're in a band, but so far I have been pretty slack in the "trying to get a band together" department - and even more so in the "learning an instrument myself" department. Up until now. I start guitar lessons as of next week, which I'm looking forward to. I've also had an offer to start a band with some guys from another band I tried out for last year, but somehow I think that when they figure out I'll be leaving in under 6 months they won't be so keen anymore...
Speaking of which, Lee and I will be going in tomorrow afternoon to see our travel agent, the lovely Sabrina, to pay off the remainder of our flights for next year's expedition! Early March, we fly to Singapore for a few days, then onto Vietnam for just over 2 weeks, during which time we will be travelling North by train from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. Following this, Japan is the next destination for the Cherry Blossom festival. After about a month spent in Japan, seeing the sights in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, etc., I'll finally be able to fulfil my oft-voiced childhood dream of going to China! We head to China for about 2 weeks, catching the train from Shanghai, thru Xi'an and onto Beijing where we will be able to check out the Teracotta Warriors, and even have a squiz at the progress of the stadiums for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Mid-May we fly into old London-town where our itinerary ends and my plans become a little fuzzy. My ma is going to organise a trip to Spain for shortly after we get to Europa so that'll probably be happening.
As many of you probably know, I have been saying I will be moving to France to learn their beautiful language for quite some time. It is only recently that I have realised how difficult that is looking to be without EU citizenship. I am in the process of organising, for myself and my sister, Greek passports through my dad's lineage. I didn't realise how friggin' difficult this would be either, but it's coming along slowly - very slowly.... if all goes to plan, we should have our passports come 2009! At the moment, I'm seriously considering settling for a UK working visa to tide me over until the Greek passport comes through, so I can then go to France indefinitely without the difficulty of obtaining a visa. Early days yet, but I know it'll come up FAST!
On the French topic still, my françias learning has slowed a little but not come to a halt completely, and when I get my textbook back next week it should be up and running again at full speed. But for now, je parle seulement un petit peu de françias.
Other than all of that, I've been enjoying this extremely dry and not-too-cold winter here in sunny Adelaide. Even rode down to the beach the other weekend, that was great. At about 4am after a big Saturday night out, some guys threatened to knife me for my phone (which, by the way is about 5 years old and about to fall apart - oh how disappointed they would have been). Chel and Leesh, who I was out with that night, said they've never seen someone run so fast. Haha. Last Saturday night, it was time for a long-awaited cowboy and indian-themed party - Mary-Sue was my name for the night, a cowboy's daughter. I always love a good excuse to dress up in tight-fitting and fairly revealing women's clothing - and apparently the girls loved it too.. Hmmm, maybe I'll have to wear women's clothing more often?! The entire next day was spent lounging around at Micah's (absolutely trashed) house, munging down a huge fry-up about 1pm and laying, strangely energised, in the sun with Megs until it disappeared around 6pm. Then it was back to work on Monday - fun, fun, fun..
So that's about it, if I've forgotten anything - Heaven forbid - I'll put it in my next post whenever I get around to it (see again, it's that damn lack of urgency). I'll try and get some photos up here soon, once I get my camera back from my mate - I'm hanging out to see the rest of those photos, Carradean!

Keep the comments, emails, calls, and whatever else coming. It's great hearing from everyone! Also if you've ever wanted to join me on Facebook but couldn't find me, it might be something to do with the fact that my display name is Frankie En Hiver. Don't worry, I ask myself "Why?" sometimes aswell. Check it out...

Oh, if any of you guys are planning on being in the same place at the same time as me in Asia anytime next year, drop me a line and we should definitely organise to meet up!

Kia Ora!