Year in Review ~ 2022
Hey Edo,
As usual, i’m writing a letter for you, my future self. This is a review of the year 2022. I experienced a lot of stuff this year that might shape your future experience.
What went well this year?
I got promoted at Google. Just 8 months in. I am still amazed that I manage to pull it off. This all happens thanks to all my senior colleagues who pushed to me to go for promotion. The senior PM & eng managers ping-ed me, and all three asked me “Are you going for promo?”. I said “No, why?”. They said “Go for it.”. Then, gathered the courage to ask my manager about it, he said “Yeah, why not, let’s do it!” I replied “Huh? Are you serious?”. Long story short, I got the promo! My manager even told me my promo case was a breeze, not a single objection to my case. I am speechless.
This year seems to be like a year of travelling. I travelled to a lot of cities & countries.
I get to travel to Stockholm to meet my colleague & manager. Stockholm was pretty, but it was cold and full of wet snow, but I had a good time.
I travelled with Qin and Sabrina to Innsbruck, we hiked to the top of Innsbruck, the view there was amazing. We got sunburn. It’s my first time experience sunburn. Sunburn because of hiking with tank-tops!
I went to Zurich to meet colleagues there from other teams. Happy that I was invited. I get to meet the team behind Google Calendar. We went to play mini golf, and we had traditional Swiss dinner. Oh, and i had fondue!
During summer, I went to Barcelona with Qin. I got to swim in Barcelona beach twice. We went on a museum-binge with the BCN card we got. We had a lot of seafood and tapas.
In October, I got to finally go to NYC. My first time going to USA. I get to visit the crazy huge block Google office called the NY 9th. The view is breathtaking from the 14th floor. I also get to try all the cafés in NYC office.
After that, I got to fly to Copenhagen for Design Matters ‘22 conference. I got to meet a lot of Googlers from all over the world. Google Copenhagen office is very cute & small but lovely food.
I also got my Niederlassungserlaubnis (permanent residence). Ha, you can’t kick me out anymore Germany! I'm staying for good! I also got my German Driving License! Time for European road trip!
I also started a podcast with Sam (Ahliang). It is called friday. afternoon. A very very challenging experience. I learned that I tend to say “like” too much. Hopefully you will continue working on season 2 next year.
Health-wise, it has been a great year. The office gym is now back open, so I start to pick up back my old habit of going to the gym in the morning. I got to bench 80kg! You should try to reach 100kg by end of next year?
What didn’t go so well this year?
Qin and I got Covid. After almost 2 years being Covid-virgin, we finally got it. It was bad. We both got very bad fever & cough. We both got vaccinated 3 times and yet still experience bad symptoms, I can’t imagine how bad will it be if I don’t get any vaccines.
Even though I got my driving license. It was after a huge hurdle of german nightmarish bureaucracy. I need to move my application documents from Heidelberg to Munich. My previous theory exam is expired so I need to do it again! Did a couple of driving classes around the town. Felt super confident, my teacher told me I can already drive so I shouldn’t be worried. I was doing so good but on a random junction I almost got hit by a car coming from the left. Failed the exam immediately. Boom! €400 gone just like that. Did another driving exam with the same examiner. Almost didn’t make it, but I passed with 2 minor warnings. Felt happier than any test I ever passed. If I can go through this, nothing can stop me.
Midway through the year I stopped meditation habit, not sure why. I think it’s because I stopped my Headspace yearly subs. I had of lot of days with cluttered mind. A lot of days with feeling overwhelmed. Try to pick up the habit back again in the end of the year. Got free Headspace subs from company, so that’s good.
I have a below average VO2 Max score. It has been consistently below 40. Ugh, this is not good for someone my age. Tried to start doing cardio exercise, but I hate running. I really hate running. But I need to do it.
What did I learn this year?
Dare to do stuff.
The proverb says fortune favours the bold. I need to dare to ask for projects that I want to do, dare to propose new ideas, dare to challenge the status quo. You are now working at Google, you have the smartest people in the world as your coworkers, make use of that.
Thrive in ambiguity.
I feel this is an over-used phrase, especially in Google. But I feel I need to be open to changes, it will be uncomfortable, it will definitely be challenging. One year in Google, and I’ve been working so many different projects & multiple different teams from all over the world. Is it exhausting? Yes. But did I learn a lot? Yeah, and now I’m way more comfortable and ready when the next storm comes.
So I guess this is the recap of this year. 2023 is going to be a very exciting year for you. You will be 30. It’s a new decade. A new chapter of your life. I hope this letter from your last year of twenties can guide your next steps and remind you of your previous ones. You will do great. Ad infinitum et ultra.
Cheers,
Edo from 2022