Happy New Year, everyone! Another year has passed by so quickly; it’s time to say goodbye to 2010, and hello to 2011! With a new year, comes new opportunities. I look forward to it!
How were the holidays for you guys? I had a family dinner where my chef friend cooked for us, and then I had a dinner with some friends where he cooked for us, again! He was working really hard in the past few days, and the Christmas dinner was very enjoyable with a stuffed turkey, foie gras, cranberry sauce, gravy, and dessert. It took him much of the day to prepare the meal, but it was well worth it.
We also had a “secret Santa” in order to avoid spending too much money on presents. We had a theme (the color green) and bought one gift for someone else at random. The way we played it was at random since there were no assigned giftees: we drew names from a hat, and the person drawn could either grab a wrapped present, or steal the present that somebody else had already picked before! Since that person no longer has a gift, they can then steal from someone else in turn. The rules were you couldn’t steal from the person who stole from you, and any particular gift could not be stolen more than three times. In a game like that, it’s more advantageous to go near the end, rather than near the beginning, since you can see what everyone has!
We also said goodbye to our friend, as he left on the 26th very early in the morning. There wasn’t too much time to say goodbye at the airport since the parking patrol was close by, but in reality, the past few days have been our goodbyes. He returned back to his home country, South Korea, and reunited with his family after two years. His dream is to become a chef, but it’s not easy for his parents to see how good he is, because it’s not visible in the way that a degree is visible.
He plans to eventually go on to France to continue his education in the kitchens of good restaurants and experienced chefs. He plans to do this without completing a bachelor’s degree. I’m not sure I agree with that, since he only has one semester to go and he would finish with honours, but his goal is to show his society that it’s possible to be successful without a degree, and the lack of a degree does not make you a loser. I agree with that sentiment, and I wish him the best of luck on his journey. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the near future.
Top referrers and commentators
I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me and participated on the site:
Top 10 Referrers
- The Daily Crux
- The Globe and Mail
- Early Retirement Extreme
- Andrew Hallam
- Canadian Capitalist
- The Passive Income Earner
- Beating The Index
- Dividend Monk
- Financial Samurai
- Yakezie
Top 10 Commentators
- Forest
- Everyday Tips
- Roshawn @ Watson Inc
- Andrew Hallam
- The Biz of Life
- Financial Cents
- Mike
- Mich
- Financial Samurai
- DIY Investor
Not only for those on the lists here, but for all of you, thanks for the support and for being part of the community, guys, and a very special thanks to those who have featured me on their sites! I know I can’t say this enough times, but I appreciate it very much, and hope that we will continue to maximize our life EV in the new year together.
Weekend Reading
Here are some interesting articles I read over the week:
Portfolio Update: 2010 Results (Beating The Index)
10 Lessons Learned in 2010 (Everyday Tips and Thoughts)
15 Ways to Fight Stress (Mark’s Daily Apple)
2011 Action Plan (Retire by 40)
7 investing experiences (Larry MacDonald)
Auction Strategies (101 Centavos)
Comparing the Tax Cuts and Stimulus Packages (Sweating the Big Stuff)
Do Not Buy Gold! (The College Investor)
Don’t You Want to Retire ASAP? (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)
December 2010 Blog Stats and Supporters (KNS Financial)
December 2010 Net Worth Update (The Passive Income Earner)
Financial Samurai Goals And Resolutions for 2011 (Financial Samurai)
Knowledge is Power (Mises Economics Blog)
Passive Income with Dividends (Life and My Finances)
People Who Helped Make My 2010 Memorable (Wandering Earl)
Resolutions 2011 (Buck Inspire)
Retirement Planning – Where Do You Start? (Do Not Wait)
Should I Start Another Blog (or More)? (The Amateur Financier)
Sweat Equity (MomVesting)
The Night Before Christmas (Hope to Prosper)
Travel Medical Insurance (Carrie’s Caprice)
What is your New Year’s Resolution? (Krantcents)
Zen, Investing, and the Maintenance Guy (DIY Investor)
Video of the week
This has been my favorite song of the holidays:
Happy New Year, everyone!
The end of 2010 was quite a busy time for you I am sure, I am glad you had such a nice visit with your chef pal. Maybe you need to head to France to visit him soon? It is interesting that he is willing to sacrifice his education to make a point back home. Hopefully he will be able to still get that degree when the time is right for him.
Thank you for the link. It has been great reading your blog in 2010, and I look forward to so many more great posts in 2011!
I’ve also enjoyed reading your blog; thank you for being one of my biggest supporters! I’m glad we found each other early on (I think when I was helping you out with the original Yakezie badge ;))
My chef friend is pretty adamant about his position right now, but he could always change his mind later. His parents were glad to see him and initially supportive of him going to France to continue, but now they don’t know. France apparently only allows a lifetime limit of 1 year for a working visa for what he wants to do, since they are biased against immigrants (well, most countries are these days).
I would definitely like to meet up with him there someday. His three choices are France, the UK, or the USA. He might go to the USA or the UK to continue learning, and then head off to France later to work with the top chefs, as he needs to make the most of his year.
Happy New Year to you as well! I can’t wait for the great things 2011 has to bring.
Thanks! A year is a long time, though by the end it seems to have passed so quickly. Looking forward to all that we can do in 2011!
Happy New Year to you as well.
You’re off to a great start, so I’m looking forward to seeing your blog get established and more well-known in 2011!
Hi Kevin, thanks for including my post on auctions in the round up. A round of meals prepared by a budding chef sounds like a great way to close out 2010! Best wishes for the New Year.
It was definitely a very interesting way to close out the year! I feel bad for him since he was very exhausted at the end of the year, as well as depressed at having to go home. I think if it’s really for him though, he’ll find his way.
Sounds like you had a fun, but bittersweet holiday. I’m sure your paths will cross again. Good luck and kudos to your chef friend for pursuing his dream. Off the record, does he have what it takes? Should he have a backup plan or throw caution to the wind and go all in? It seems making it as a chef is very competitive. But I guess the same can be said about a lot of things. Anyway, thanks for the link and have a happy 2011! 🙂
Thanks, you too! About my chef friend… since he only has 4 months left of school to get a bachelor’s with honours, I think he should at least finish his degree and have that as a backup plan. However, it’s part of his plan to intentionally NOT finish his degree…
He’s been working up to 12 hour days, and all of it “off the record” as well as he ceased being in the country legally many months ago, and he never had a working visa. This is something we scolded him about, so he promises us he won’t do something like that again, since he almost got in a lot of trouble the last time he crossed over to the U.S. to try and renew his visa.
I think he does have what it takes, because not many people have that kind of dedication and persistence, especially for something as tough and competitive as cooking professionally. His chefs love him and he loves what he does. Will he ultimately be successful down the road? I don’t know if he will be on the level of a Gordon Ramsey or Jamie Oliver and known to that extent, but he doesn’t need to be. He simply wants to be the best in Korea, not necessarily the most well-known. I think it’s very possible for him to at least reach the top echelon if he continues to put in the same level of dedication over the next years.
This time of year is filled with family and friends. It sounds as though you enjoyed the holidays too. Your friend is following his passion which is admirable. I think everyone should. Happy New Year.
Thanks, you too! He is indeed following his passions and his dreams… it’s wonderful that he has found them.
Happy New Year Kevin. It sucks to say goodbye but he sounds like his head is on (maybe not screwed very tight but who of us have?) and his journey will be an interesting one. Also he will be back, everyone comes back to visit Canada eventually!
I’m glad I made the top commenters, didn’t realise I would be up there :).
Here is to an awesome 2011.
Yep you’re actually my #1 commentator! Thanks for all of the support, Forest, and I hope he does come back to Canada eventually or that we get to see him wherever he goes next.
It sounds like you guys had a wonderful time!
Happy New Year to you, Kevin…and thanks for including my article!
Thanks, and np!
Thanks for including my blog. Oh wow, your chef friend is awesome! 🙂
He definitely has some courage to push toward his dreams to the extent that he has!
Thanks very much for including my musings on starting another blog in your Weekend Reading. A great round up, with plenty of good blog posts. Happy New Year to you, as well!
Thanks and good luck on continuing that great blogging progress!
this is a great roundup post, thanks for sharing. Seems I have some reading to do.
Happy new year to you too!
You just started out recently eh? Looking forward to seeing more from you! 🙂
Wow! I wish your friend the best of luck on his dreams, but also hope that once he is successful, he will go and finish his degree. It sounds like you had wonderful holidays, but I suppose as long as we are surrounded by friends and family, it is always wonderful!
He might change his mind a few years down the road… ! Hope that your holidays were wonderful as well. 🙂
Happy New Year Kevin. I wish you all the best in 2011!
You too! Get on wordpress sooner rather than later! 🙂
Happy New Year’s to you too! Hope 2011 is even better then 2010!
Let’s hope so! It’s another year, so a lot of opportunities to do more and be more.
Happy New Year Kevin!
Your friend seems like a hard worker, as such making the dream come true is within reach.
Here’s to a healthy and profitable 2011!
You too, BTI!
That sounds like an awesome way to spend Christmas and new years (have a chef friend cook for you!). Secret Santa is a great idea too, to cut down on costs. We tried to do it at work this year, but there wasn’t enough interest.
The last time we did something like that at work was years ago. There’s never interest these days :S
Hey thank’s for the mention! And Happy New Year!
Thanks, you too!
Thanks for the nice story, Kevin. My dream didn’t seem possible, so my emotion was up and down everyday since I came back here. But I won’t disappoint you whatever I do in my future.
Happy new year, and hope to see nice writings on your blog.
Good to hear from you, Taesan. Progress isn’t always in a straight line up, so keep the dream alive!