Moving to Wordpress

Hi everyone,

This blog is barely a month old but I've decided to move it to Wordpress for various reasons.

If you would like to continue reading about my progress on the 101 Project, you can find me over at The Diary of an Eternal Student. Please remember to update the links in your blogrolls as I might delete this blog after the holiday season.

Best wishes,

Kelly M.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..

Well, folks, it's almost that time of year again. I'm not really sure where 2010 went but it seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. Let's see what 2011 brings us.

I'll be flying home for the holidays next Thursday and have a million and one things to do before then so it's very likely that this will be the last blog entry for 2010. It's only been three weeks since I started this blog so it feels a little odd to be taking a break from blogging already, but I promise I'll be back soon enough. I only get the chance to go home once or twice a year (if that) so I hope you'll understand it when I say I'd like to spend that time doing something other than updating a blog or posting "tweets" on Twitter.

But before I sign off, I thought I'd give you a short report of my progress thus far:

8. Work towards another degree/certificate/diploma - I'm currently researching a number of undergraduate certificates and diplomas to see which one fits my needs and interests. I completed an undergraduate certificate in archaeology a few months ago but I've been bitten by the study bug once again. My mother wasn't joking when she nicknamed me "The Eternal Student".

14. Learn basic Turkish/15.  Learn basic Romanian/16. Learn basic Persian - I haven't quite decided which language to start off with but I'm leaning towards Turkish. Romanian would probably be the most logical choice given my background in Spanish and French but Turkish would be much more challenging and there are plenty of opportunities to practice speaking it here in the Netherlands. I'll make my final decision after the Christmas holidays.

22. Attend at least 10 pop or rock concerts - I have tickets to see Maroon 5 and Kylie Minogue in concert next year so I shouldn't have too much trouble completing this task before the 1,001 days are up.

23. Dress up as a celebrity for a fancy dress party - A friend of mine is hosting his annual New Year's fancy dress party on the 30th so this is one task that I will definitely be done with before the clocks strike twelve on New Year's Eve. I'm keeping the details of my costume a secret for now...just in case he's reading this.

60. Have at least 500 people following me on Twitter - I still have a long way to go to reach this target. I have 10 followers to date (not counting myself) so this is something I'll need to work on over the next year or so. If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can find me under the username @kellys101list.

Remember, the full list of the 101 tasks I set myself can be found here. Be sure to check back here on a regular basis to see how I progress through that daunting list. 2011 promises to be an exciting year.

Have a very merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year! See you all again in three weeks' time. :)

Collecting Recipes for Task #48

I'm currently collecting recipes from 26 different countries and regions for task #48. That's one country or region for each letter of the alphabet. I tend to cook mostly European and Asian dishes at home so it'll be fun to try out some African and Pacific Island dishes for a change.

I've yet to decide which countries to choose for this A to Z list. The only one I've decided on thus far is Xinjiang for the letter "x". For those of you who may not be familiar with Xinjiang (新疆), it's an autonomous region in northwest China and is home to some incredibly tasty dishes, including dàpánjī (大盘鸡), which can be literally translated as "big plate chicken". I ate this dish several times during my time in China and I cannot recommend it enough. I will try my hand at cooking this dish as part of task #48 so I will post the recipe on this blog in the not-too-distant future.

If you have any suggestions for the other 25 dishes, you're welcome to leave a comment with your recommendation(s).

The 101 Tasks by Category

It's been six days since I started working on this project. While I haven't made much progress as far as those tasks are concerned, I thought it would be handy to compile a categorised list of the 101 tasks I hope to complete within the next 996 days.

Here is that list :

Travel & Sightseeing :

• Visit Japan
• Visit at least one other country in Asia
• Go on a road trip around Europe
• Visit Ireland  
• See the Northern Lights
• Go up the Tokyo Tower
• Visit at least 5 different museums
• Travel to another country by train
• Go on the London Eye
• Visit Maastricht
• Visit the Atomium in Brussels
• Visit Scotland
• Visit the Keukenhof gardens
• Visit the windmills at Kinderdjik
• Visit a waterfall

Food & Drink :

• Learn to make sushi at home
• Bake a cake or pie
• Grow 3 different types of vegetables in my garden or home
• Make my own pasta and/or noodles
• Cook a roast dinner
• Make pad thai at home
• Make a dish from 26 different countries or regions (A to Z) 
• Make 5 classic Dutch dishes and/or snacks
• Take family/friends out for a "rijsttafel" meal in Amsterdam
• Make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday
• Enrol in a cooking class/workshop
• Make a meal using only home-grown or homemade ingredients
• Eat out at a Korean restaurant in the Netherlands
• Collect recipes and create my own cookbook
  
  

Books :

• Read Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace"
• Read at least 3 books by Charles Dickens
• Re-read Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"
• Read Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"
• Read at least 5 books in Chinese 
• Read 5 books in Dutch
• Ask 10 friends to recommend a book and read each one
• Visit the Selexyz Dominicanen bookshop in Maastricht
• Read some Tang and Song poetry (English and/or Classical Chinese)

Films & TV :

• Watch at least one foreign film a month for 12 consecutive months 
• Watch series 1 of Downton Abbey
• Watch 5 films by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa
• Watch 5 films by Chinese director Zhang Yimou

Hobbies & Interests :

• Learn to play the taiko drums
• Learn to identify 20 constellations
• Finish Tomb Raider Underworld on the Xbox
• Buy a telescope
• Watch a meteor shower

Arts & Crafts :

• Take up Chinese calligraphy
• Learn to knit a scarf
• Teach myself origami
• Learn to take better photos with my digital camera
• Make cross-stitch cards for 3 different people
• Make a scrapbook (digital or traditional) of my visit to China in September 2010
• Complete a colouring book
• Take a nice photo of my cats and have it printed out on canvas
• Try my hand at decorating Easter eggs
• Make a necklace for a friend
  
  

Home Improvements :

• Make 5 decorative items for the house
• Declutter my bookshelves
• Finish decorating the back garden
• Renovate the bathroom

Sports & Outdoor Activities :

• Go sailing 
• Take up a new sport 
• Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day 
• Take a long walk through the Hoge Veluwe 
• Go kayaking  

Education & Training :

• Work towards another degree/certificate/diploma
• Learn basic Turkish
• Learn basic Romanian
• Learn basic Persian (Farsi)
• Listen to 5 podcast courses from UC Berkeley
• Work through the coursebook "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs" by Mark Collier and Bill Manley
• Learn about 3 different library classification systems
• Take part in an archaeological dig

Career :

• Find a more satisfying job or position
• Update my CV
• Become a freelance translator (part-time or full-time)

Personal Development :

• Get my driving licence
• Keep a diary for a year
• Learn to meditate

Fun Stuff :

• Take part in a falconry workshop 
• Watch a live sumo wrestling match 
• Attend at least 10 pop or rock concerts
• Dress up as a celebrity for a fancy dress party 
• Attend a sci-fi convention 
• Find a pen pal 
• Find myself a nice little black dress for special occasions 
• Write an article for an expat magazine or website
• Swim with dolphins
• Learn how to fly a kite
• Visit the butterfly house at Emmen Zoo
• Go fruit picking
• Host a theme party

Good Causes :

• Adopt an animal via WWF
• Do some fundraising for a good cause
• Go vegetarian for a week

Other :

• Convince a friend to create his/her own list on this site
• No internet for a week
• Have at least 500 people following me on Twitter
• Post regular updates of my progress on this blog and Twitter
• Create another list before the 1,001 days are over  

As you can see, there is still much to accomplish before those days are up. I'm not sure how I will find the time (and money) to travel to all those places or hone my artistic skills but I will certainly try my best to complete as many tasks as possible before the deadline (29th August 2013). To be perfectly honest, I'd be pleased if I could complete just half of the tasks on this list.

But enough of my procrastinating. Writing about my challenge is all well and good but it's time that I start taking some action. The clock is ticking and time, as we know, waits for no man...or woman.

Tally ho!

 

  

On Your Marks, Get Set...

Just one more day until I begin working my way through the list. December 1st is the official start date and the challenge will run until August 29th, 2013, so let's see how many of those tasks I can complete before then.

I will try to post updates on a regular basis so please feel free to check back to see how I'm doing. 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog : 101 Lessons in Life.

A few days ago, I signed up for a Day Zero account and created a list of 101 tasks which I aim to complete within the next 1,001 days. The tasks range from the mundane goals of reading a certain number of books each month to the more ambitious goals of visiting faraway lands and mastering the basics of three foreign languages. This blog will be a diary of sorts, a way for me to keep track of my progress and reflect on the challenges that lie ahead.

If you're involved in a Day Zero project of your own, feel free to let me know. I'd be more than happy to exchange links with you and share my thoughts on my progress thus far. Readers are more than welcome to leave their comments on this blog and/or follow me on Twitter (@kellys101list).

Wish me luck!

Kelly.