2025-12-31

2025 Recap.

I used to dislike recaps, thinking that I won't have anything to write about (the same justification I had for not starting a blog, actually). But now that I think about it, its a good way to see how far you've come. So 2025 recap it is.

Milestones

I became eligible for the death penalty.

18th birthday was quite a disaster. I remember crying on the ride home. Later, though, my parents did apologize for making my birthday about bugging my brother, and offered to make-up by doing something, which I assume they did but I forgot what it was. Bad memories do tend to stick better than nice ones.

I would've been old enough to drink, too; if only I hadn't almost immediately went to the US where I'm not. Not that I want to drink, but still.

I went to college.

This is the big one! I went to live on the opposite side of the globe and survived. I finished the first semester of college pretty okay, I guess? It worried me that my least 2 favorite classes were both classes that relate directly to the content of my major. But well.

I also made a nonzero number of friends in college, something I never thought I'd actually manage to do! It's entirely because a friendly girl pulled a bunch of people together who would otherwise never talk to each other. I also celebrated Christmas with said girl's family and they were a lovely bunch.

3 websites reached 1 year old.

TIR, this blog, and OC Webring.

I added a lot of stuff to all three. The house of cards grew taller. Although, I did feel like I wasn't actually improving my webdev skills much.

• TIR: Many things!
• OC-Webring: This one hasn't received care in a long while, but on 2025-12-26 I maniacally added pagination and tag browsing, as well as switched from Liquid to Vento.
• Blog: I added tags to it. That's basically it.
• Chinese site: I started a Notion site at first, got tired of it, and made another using Obsidian + Quartz instead.

Stuff I did

• Went to Xinjiang!
• Ditched my 2-year Duolingo French streak for agonizingly self-studying Uyghurche (ياخشىمۇسىز مېنىڭ دوستۇم!).
• Finished The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy, and The Progress of Things — at least, as far as TPoT's been completed.
• Second year of Artfight. Got a little burnt-out near the end, but overall had a great time. Can't wait for next year's!
• Made my first PMV!
• Opened a bank account and credit card, with much ordeal.

Stuff I want to do

• Get a driver's license. It's going to be a tad convoluted. I'd have to open a proof of SSN ineligibility, and then go get a learner's permit, and only afterwards can I try the actual driver's test. It would only be doable next summer, I'm afraid. But I'm going to change dorm rooms next summer (though it's still in the same building; plus the dorms are closed anyways), and I don't really know how to deal with the address stuff either. But we'll see when we get there!
  • Probably not even next summer LOL but we'll get there
• Keep up with schoolwork!
• Continue paracosming!
• Plan out Family of Secrets better!
• Finish the art assets for Blackjack with Sky!
• Definitely not a 2026 goal, but finish John le Carré's books and write a guide to them!
• Be happy!

Is Tofu v.2025 different from Tofu v.2024?

I can't say. I still feel the same, really. I'd even go as far as to say I'm more confused by uncertainties and less firm in my beliefs. But that's a good sign, isn't it? It's a sign that I'm growing.

Last year, I celebrated New Year sleeping on the couch in the commie-block. This year, I'm 13 hours behind but would probably do so in a similar fashion, just in an actual bed instead.

Conclusion

This is vastly based off memory, so I may have missed a lot of stuff. But that's a start! Maybe in the future, I can even discipline myself into making monthly recaps. Here's to many more years to come!