Overall 2007 was a pretty good year. I finished my MA and found out I'd got the scholarship for my PhD the day after I graduated. I presented a research paper at a conference, taught an undergrad course, read my brother's first book, worked with students with disabilities, saw the Cure live, dyed a quarter of my hair purple, did some translation work, wrote a fair amount, blogged reasonably often, managed to swim a bit, moved house, and bought a bike that I'm (re)learning to ride. I also met some wonderful people who, along with the people I met last year, have all made Melbourne feel like home.
It wasn't all good though - most notably, the political situation back home went from bad to worse, with Bhutto's assassination capping it all. I'm still not sure why 'protests' are so self-destructive, at least in South Asia, but the apparent sway emotion seems to have over reason is a bit frightening.
Politically, 2008 doesn't seem like it'll be any less scary, at least for the first few months. It is unlikely that there will be a move towards issue-based politics in Pakistan - personalities and dynasties are where it's at and, to be fair, where it's always been.
Personally, I'll be starting my PhD (have I mentioned that enough yet?), probably learning a new language as well as improving my reading speed in a couple I already know, learning to ride that damn bike, writing more and developing the ideas I've been kicking around lately, and maybe seeing the family at the end of year.
Ameel and I (well mostly Ameel) will be updating our Things We've Done section in the next few days, chronicling our activities of the past year. We also realized while at a friend's new year's eve party last night that it had been exactly six years since we'd first met, which was quite a nice note to end the year on.
It wasn't all good though - most notably, the political situation back home went from bad to worse, with Bhutto's assassination capping it all. I'm still not sure why 'protests' are so self-destructive, at least in South Asia, but the apparent sway emotion seems to have over reason is a bit frightening.
Politically, 2008 doesn't seem like it'll be any less scary, at least for the first few months. It is unlikely that there will be a move towards issue-based politics in Pakistan - personalities and dynasties are where it's at and, to be fair, where it's always been.
Personally, I'll be starting my PhD (have I mentioned that enough yet?), probably learning a new language as well as improving my reading speed in a couple I already know, learning to ride that damn bike, writing more and developing the ideas I've been kicking around lately, and maybe seeing the family at the end of year.
Ameel and I (well mostly Ameel) will be updating our Things We've Done section in the next few days, chronicling our activities of the past year. We also realized while at a friend's new year's eve party last night that it had been exactly six years since we'd first met, which was quite a nice note to end the year on.