A Year of Firsts: Swimming, German, and Driving in My Thirties

At the risk of sounding like a massive self-congratulatory circle jerk, I want to look back into 2024 and express my gratitude for the gifts bestowed upon me.

• I learnt swimming for the first time in my life, and I can actually do breaststroke, according to my swimming teacher, very passably. There is a long, long road ahead till I can probably get my technique to anything a good swimming teacher considers as “good”, but considering that a LOT of my peers don’t know how to swim, I feel like I am blessed to be able to go into pools without any fear now.

• I also finally managed to pass my B1 German exam with a score of 288.5/300. This was on the back burner for a long time, and a lot of my German mates told me that my German level is somewhere around B2 at least. Turns out they were right, but I have to remark that this did need some writing practice.

• Lastly, I also want to admit that at a tender age of 32, I can finally drive. I am yet to prove my “gear competency” in Germany, but I have passed the main hurdle of passing the practical exam in Germany, which is one of the hardest in the world. This was perhaps the most challenging moment of my life so far :)

I would like to take this moment to acknowledge that none of this would have been possible without the near-unending support of my partner, Vivi. You are amazing, and without you, none of this would have been possible <3

Learning and doing things after a certain age is a challenge, and I guess the threshold is very dependent on each individual. I tend to be on the slower side when it comes to learning mechanical things, and it was very humbling going through all of that this year. Looking forward to the upcoming adventures!