Don’t worry, I’ve not gone all “new year, new me” on you here. I’ve spent far too long getting wound up by those sorts of Facebook posts over the past few days to adopt that mentality myself.

Last year however, I set myself a few goals for the year when it came to travelling, and living life in general. I’d like to say that having clear, set goals really helped me be more productive and focused this year.

I’d like to.

The reality is that until today, the last time I looked at my ‘resolutions’ from 2015 was around this time last year. The thought was there…honestly.

That said, I’m going to do the same again for 2016 but before setting my goals for this year, I’m going to quickly see how I did with my New Year’s resolutions from 2015.

Get CELTA certified – Achieved!

Ticked off in May, the four week intensive CELTA course was one of the more stressful things I did in 2015. Coming down with an illness halfway through, in addition to writing four essays and detailed lesson plans for eight observed lessons – not to mention actually teaching said lessons! – meant a very moody Jack for these four weeks. Ultimately though, it was obviously worth it as it helped me get my current job, which leads me nicely on to my next point…

After a gruelling four weeks, I finally completed my CELTA course.

Commit to a teaching position of at least a year – Achieved!

I landed in Tokyo in July to start a 12 month position at an English school, thus completing this particular goal for the year. I’m almost halfway through my contract and all I can say is: so far, so good! Tokyo is an amazing city to live in, and there’s so much more to see in Japan that I’ve not even touched upon yet. In the coming months I’ll have to make another decision on my future; I think my mind may already be made up.

Learn another language – Hmm…

A particularly vague goal, hence my reluctance to say whether I achieved or failed this one. Since deciding to come to Japan, I have been trying numerous different ways to learn Japanese with slow, but fairly steady progress. I’m starting to get more confident with practical questions and language, although I’m nowhere near having a full conversation. That said, I can do a little more than order a beer, which is an improvement on where I was a few months ago!

Vlog more – Failed!

After the excitement of our Vietnam road trip, and having watched the videos back numerous times, I was determined to film absolutely everything and document it on here. In reality though, aside from some diving videos in the Philippines and a few from Mongolia, my Go Pro has spent the year mostly gathering dust.

2016

See five places outside of Tokyo in Japan

Japan is a beautiful country…or so I’ve been told. The fact I’ve been here almost six months and haven’t left Tokyo yet is kind of grating on me now. We get fairly decent holidays throughout the year, so I’m aiming to put them to better use. As a matter of fact, I fly to Okinawa tomorrow for the last few days of the Christmas/New Year holidays. One down, four to go…

Tokyo – complete with Godzilla – is great. However, there’s so much more to see.

Be able to hold a basic conversation in Japanese

A bit more specific than last year’s ‘learn a new language’ resolution. By 2017, I want to be able to hold a conversation with a native speaker without having to use English and Google Translate. Living in a house full of Japanese people is probably a good start. It may be a little optimistic, but you have to aim high, right?

Take up a sport

Over the years I’ve played a few sports. I’ve always been football crazy, I’ve flirted with squash, and I’m an avid gym-goer. Since getting plantar fasciitis about three years ago though, I’ve avoided playing sports for fear of it returning. This year though, I’m determined to take up a sport again and play at least semi-regularly. It may be football, it may be squash, or it could be something completely new. Suggestions in the comments section please!

What’s the old saying? Three’s a crowd? Best not do any more then; that’ll do me for this year!