2015 – The Year of Challenges and Opportunities

At the start of the year I set some goals which I subsequently completely forgot about, but looking back now I achieved four out of five of them. They were:

  • Continue learning German
    • This goal ebbed and flowed, but in the later part of the year I completed around 90 days of continuous practice on Duolingo.com
  • Learn python
    • I completed multiple Coursera courses on python and had to crash course myself through it to work on a Baxter robot in the middle of the year.
  • Go to Europe
    • I went in February on a whim after finding myself out of work.
  • Read 20 books
    • I read 33!


Each month of the year also had a number of highlights:

January – I went to the Asian Cup and saw North Korea play Uzbekistan. I had fun at both Symphony and Opera in the Domain, and discovered the music of Thelma Plum during her performance at The Rocks on a very wet Australia Day.

2015 Asian Cup
2015 Asian Cup

February – I rocked out at Needtobreathe’s Sydney show and took a holiday to Germany.

needtobreathe Sydney 2015
needtobreathe Sydney 2015

April – I spent a day in Melbourne, three days in Singapore and attended the ANZAC Day dawn service marking 100 years since the Gallipoi Landings.

Sydney ANZAC Day Dawn Service 2015
Sydney ANZAC Day Dawn Service 2015

May – I wore a blue wig to the State of Origin and checked out Vivid Sydney.

Attending State of Origin
Attending State of Origin

July – I went on a road trip to the Central Coast

August – I attended the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the V8 Supercars.

September – I had a water fight with friends in the Blue Mountains.

October – I went on an adventure to the South Coast

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November – I went to Sculpture by the Sea, was best man at a friend’s wedding in Bali and had an early Christmas in NZ.

December – I attended the final round of the V8 Supercars and had a hotlap in one of the Mercedes Benz, watched the Sydney leg of the Extreme Sailing Competition, went to the Big Bash Cricket and walked around Henry Head and Cape Banks.