New Year's Eve: Castle Visit

For New Years Eve, R and his family took me to go see Kenilworth Castle. This castle is supposedly the site where Queen Elizabeth I's boyfriend/lover/admirer/stalker Robert Dudley built to impress her in 1575. He would also make various adjustments and renovations to the castle over time to no avail, because Queen Elizabeth I obviously stuck to singledom.

It might be offensive to many that I am quick to assume she only remained single for personal reasons, because sources from the exhibition at Kenilworth have proved me otherwise.
Queen Elizabeth I was known to only decline his proposal for marriage due to royal duties and obligations, and consequently after poor Dudley's death was too heartbroken ever to remarry.
It's quite tragic really- but the castle was, and truly remains beautiful.

The ruins of the castle do not directly give you an idea of how the castle may have looked like back then, but pictures such as the one above helped provide a general idea.
Also, having R's mum take me on a personal guided tour helped me understand why this 500 year old castle is significant in English History.

the tower

R took amazing photos of the castle (as always), and though I took almost 200 photos of the site in total, I've managed to practice self restraint (yet again), and upload only 60 photos to facebook. We left for the castle around noon time and it took around an hour to get there if I remember correctly. It was a beautiful day and the weather lasted a good three hours before the sun started to set around 4pm as per norm due to the winter season.

Initially we had planned to go hiking but I think it was pretty obvious I'm not exactly the fittest of the fit. We opted for Kenilworth Castle instead and though the ground was quite wet and muddy, my legs did not experience any fatigue whatsoever. We were also supposed to go a party as well but then decided it was A) too far, B) felt sick/tired.

So we ended up having dinner at home, and then playing finance related games (not gambling, just Stocks and Shares/Monopoly) until it was fifteen minutes till the witching hour.
I spent my New Year's Eve in Japan in a similar fashion last year. It was quite laidback but I enjoyed it far more than going out and drinking myself silly, then spending the whole of New Years Day feeling awful.
I've had a very productive New Years Day today.
I've written three blog entries, and completed around 600 Japanese cards...

...okay, I'm only just about to finish. I don't plan to sleep unless I'm done though :P
So it will definitely be a very productive New Years Day.

As far as New Years resolutions go, I have mainly academic related goals set for the following 12 months ahead. I plan to integrate my Japanese study much more than I did over the course of last year. This decision has been heavily influenced by R since he has managed to not only maintain his proficiency but improve on his Japanese despite not being in the country. I've had a bit too much confidence in the proficiency I gained whilst in Japan, and thought it would not slip at any rate.
Unfortunately, coming here to the UK and opening my Anki deck, reading articles online and so forth, have also served me up with a nice warm slice of humble pie.
So that's a big New Year's resolution on my part.

Another would have to be associated with my degree at university. Given that I've been granted acceptance into hoity-toity University of Auckland law school, I'm quite nervous that I can't cope with the workload. So time management is another big thing that I have to work on.

The remaining resolutions that I have in mind are always and have always been constant since young; keep relationships I have in my life strong, be selfless, and treasure each day as it goes by.
I should put "go to the gym" in my New Year's resolution, but I think I've had enough disappointment with that for a few years now. It's time to let it go. =p

I hope you all had a lovely New Years Eve, and all the best for 2012.
So far, it's been going great. It's only been a day though, so I'm not entirely sure how well I can judge the remaining 364 days that are left to go.

All my love always,

April