My 2023 in Retrospect

I know myself too well(an ISFP-A with extreme procrastination) and I know I will not be able to finish my annual review by the end of this year which is 2023, so I decided to start writing now, even though just a few words per day.

One year ago I moved to Wrocław, Poland to start my new studies, I didn’t expect that this year would be the most stimulating year I’ve ever had. When I roll my photo album on my phone, the 2023 section occupies the most of space, and so many memories are overwhelming coming out of my mind.

At the beginning of this year, I was still dating L but we parted ways lately. We travelled a lot and explored so many places in the first half, and we did a lot of funny stupid things together, I had such a great time with her. In February, thanks to her invitation to France, I had the opportunity to stay with a traditional French family and experience what a typical French day looks like. There, I had my first Valentine’s Day date, where I tried a formal French meal in a romantic local restaurant. Starting with an aperitif and ending with a dessert, the total of five courses made me fall in love with French cuisine(baguette is my soulmate). Walking through a tiny French town makes me feel so peaceful, visiting Saint-Martin priory church made me feel awe and a colourful altarpiece impressed me, and randomly meeting with cats is one of my favourite parts.

We then visited one of the oldest cities in France, Clermont-Ferrand, a city surrounded by volcanic mountains. I was amazed by the view of the city, whether climbing the Puy de Dôme for a panoramic view or wandering through the charming streets steeped in history. In the second week in France, we spent a lot of time exploring the town near Roanne. Interestingly, I found that French culture has a lot in common with mine, even though they are nearly 10,000 km apart.The same old way of doing laundry by a river, the same machine used to sift rice grains, antique furniture have the same pattern, and we both eat grenouille for a thousand years. However I really enjoyed this trip and I will highly recommend people go to visit those smalls town in France, Paris is not everthing.

With my France trip ending, I spent two days in Venice, the city of canals. I’ve seen Venice so many times in movies or documentaries, but I was still shocked when I saw a Bolt delivery man carrying a huge green bag on his back and boating straight to his customer, or an ambulance boat passing in front of me at breakneck speed with a whistle. The city wasn’t busy at the end of February, so I didn’t face the agony of queuing. Instead, I enjoyed wandering through the narrow alleys and crossing those elegant bridges.

Italy is an amazing country full of art, just two weeks later I went back in Italy. This time I visited Bologna, Modena, Florence and Pisa, it’s was kind of sad for me during this trip, I was ghostd by some old sad memories, never mind it is another story.

To be continued…