2025 was a big year for me, personally and professionally. A big international move—the second in my life—a new job and career, and some important life milestones. There’s been a lot of “adulting” that I’ve had to relearn, too, like learning how to cook and making big purchases. Along the way, I’ve had many good friends around to help me.

My life has changed quite a lot in a year, and I was incredibly productive. In this article, I’ve outlined some of the things I’ve learned and done this year. The article is split into two sections, one for personal life and one about work. I’ve got more to write about than I could possibly fit into one article, so I’ve indicated topics I plan to write about in more detail later.

Personal life

First off, it’s difficult to sum up everything I did in an entire year. I’m probably forgetting something important, but here are the main things that come to mind.

I moved back to the US

Let’s start with the biggest thing that happened in my life this year. I had several reasons for the move. I was planning to move back within a few years, anyway, but my plans got moved early because of a need to support my family. I feel bad about the suddenness of the decision since it came as a big surprise to my friends and colleagues. It was necessary, even though it was a little terrifying, too.

Moving back was much harder than moving away. When I moved to Beijing in 2017, I already had a job in place, and all I had to do was get to work. My company at the time was very helpful in getting me situated, so it wasn’t too stressful. Moving back, on the other hand, was a sudden decision. I had no job lined up, and I wasn’t even technically qualified to continue doing what I had done for so many years in China as a teacher.

I desperately needed a job. I wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of continuing as a teacher, but I couldn’t discount the fact that it was probably my best bet. I spent a large sum of money on a certification to teach in middle school or high school. Unfortunately, by the time I actually moved back to the US, hiring season for public school teachers was past. Even with my certification, I likely wouldn’t find a position until the next school year.

So, temporarily useless certification in hand, I applied to all sorts of positions all over the country, from Seattle to Chicago and even Pennsylvania. I hoped to use my programming and technical skills to transition away from education, but it was a tough sell, and the vast majority of my applications were rejected. I even applied for a position as an assistant manager at Panda Express, hoping that maybe my Chinese language skills might get me somewhere. It didn’t pan out.

I count myself incredibly lucky that I eventually landed my current role as a data analyst. I look forward to work every day. It’s a tough, challenging job, but it fits my personality and interests.

Importantly, this field is rich with opportunities for career advancement, something I can’t say about teaching. That’s not to say teaching is a bad profession—it comes with its own perks. Paid summer and winter breaks, a retirement age of 55 for public school teachers, and one of the best public pensions in the country are hard to turn down, but I think I’ve made the right decision.

I bought my first car

I managed to buy this on the last day of the year. I spent weeks researching car brands and models to find something with a good balance of price and reliability. In the end, I spent more than I planned, but I had to revise my original budget to find something I’d be satisfied with.

I used the notes app called Obsidian to track candidates. It was rather nerdy and probably would have been easier with a spreadsheet, but the portability of the information was useful during the shopping process. I’m currently working on an article about my car-buying experience, so stay tuned for some nerdy productivity porn.

My wife gave me two criteria: first, the car must not be white or red. Second, it must be from a reliable, well-known brand like Toyota or Honda. I did well on both fronts.

It’s not white. It’s pearl. And technically, it is a reliable Japanese vehicle, even though my wife has never heard of Subaru. But on both counts, I’ve earned my spot on the couch. It was worth it, though. I’m incredibly happy with my purchase. It drives well and it’s comfortable. Not to mention that as a compact SUV, it’s got just enough space to haul things around.

I’ll still need to purchase a second car so my wife can drive when she needs to, but the next purchase will be easier after what I learned from this one. It helps to settle on the total cost before you discuss anything else with the dealer.

My son’s first birthday

This summer, my son had his first birthday in Beijing. He ate his first birthday cake. To him, this day was just another typical day filled with wonder and exploration. He gleefully climbed over and under the furniture, looking out our first-floor living room window at our neighbors going in and out of our danyuan. It was early summer; the sun shone and the air was clean and clear. I took a lot of pictures. I really enjoy his goofy smile.

By one year old, he hadn’t yet started walking, and he didn’t start until after I’d already left for America. I really miss him. It’s hard to be away for so long. It seems like every time I see him, he’s grown a little taller and learned to do something new. The time goes by fast.

Today, he’s even starting to use simple Chinese words for household objects, for example zhěnzhen (枕枕), the childish diminutive for pillow. And he’s got an incredibly cute way of referring to the TV. He calls it VV, which sounds more like weiwei when he says it, because the English V sound isn’t a phoneme in Chinese. I suspect he’s applying the Chinese grammar pattern of reduplication to the word. Whatever the reason, it sure is cute. As someone with a background in linguistics, I’m really excited to watch him learn his first language.

I got in shape

As I’m getting older, I realize how important it is to stay in good shape so I can live a longer and healthier life. It’s all the more important considering the health issues in my family history.

I’ve never been really out of shape, but this year I started to take exercise more seriously. I have to thank my P.E. teacher friend for his help and support. I’m also incredibly lucky to have a place with plenty of equipment to do my workouts.

Every now and then, there’s a moment during the pain of a difficult exercise that I wonder: if I moved past the discomfort, how far might I be able to go? What’s to stop me from breaking that limit? Once you recognize the discomfort and examine it closely and carefully, it almost dissolves away. It’s almost like a door opening in my mind. It’s a strange feeling.

As with my car shopping, I’m using Obsidian to track my workouts. I have templates for each day of the workout, and they all link together into a convenient overview page. I’ll share my templates in another article.

My goal is to be lean and strong, but the biggest obstacle to that is diet. It’s hard to eat enough protein when you have to cook it yourself every day. It’s easier when you’re able to cook something that actually tastes good! But to do that, practice makes perfect, so…

I started cooking more

One thing about living in China is that on a foreigner’s salary, you can easily afford to eat out every single day if you wanted to. In my first year in China, that’s pretty much what I did. Two meals every work day would almost never exceed ¥50 (about $7), or about $140 per month. I know some people who spend that much money just on Starbucks every month.

My last employer graciously provided three meals a day in the school cafeteria, so my food costs have been almost zero for the last four years. But I don’t have those perks anymore, so to save some cash, I started cooking more often.

Considering my family’s history of heart problems, I’m focusing mostly on chicken and other lean sources of protein. One interesting kind is called “textured vegetable protein,” or TVP, which is a soy-based protein that has the texture of ground pork.

I’ve learned a bit about common Italian seasonings, something I’ve missed over the years in China. My father, a former chef, has been helpful in showing me the ropes.

By now, I’m pretty good at making Chinese stir-fry. This is my go-to for a quick, healthy meal. To make a good stir-fry, it’s important to make sure your pantry is stocked with good soy sauce. Kikkoman’s soy sauce is much too harsh and salty; Lee Kum Kee is a better, widely available alternative.

I’ve discovered some interesting spices and seasonings since coming back. Aside from your standard basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme, I’ve been experimenting with tarragon and Dijon mustard. Poulet à l’estragon, or chicken tarragon, is a classic French dish featuring these ingredients. It’s great, even without the butter (I leave it out for heart health). In fact, I made it for dinner this evening.

Another not-healthy-but-delicious dish I’ve learned to make is Beef Stroganoff. It’s hard to get the sauce down right, but I’ve had decent results with it so far.

Other interesting ingredients I’ve experimented with include curry powder, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt. In fact, all three of those can be combined to make a spicy tofu curry.

I learned how to make espresso

A meal isn’t complete without a drink. For breakfast and lunch, my beverage of choice is coffee.

I actually didn’t start drinking coffee in any form until a year or two ago, but when I discovered the skill and attention to detail required to make espresso, I was enthralled. With my manual espresso machine, I’m learning how to steam milk and make latte art. After dozens of cups, I still haven’t made anything worth taking a picture of, but I’m making progress. Even if they don’t look great, they sure taste good.

Even though I’ve been experimenting with milk-based coffee drinks, my favorite is still espresso plus hot water. Making that cup of coffee is something I look forward to every morning!

I started playing guitar more regularly

I still don’t have much time to play guitar, but I’ve played more regularly this year than in previous years. It didn’t take long for my calluses to come back. After nearly a decade, my amplifiers were in need of repair, so I’ve taken them into the shop. When I get them back, I may experiment with recording some music. This was actually a big hobby of mine when I was a teenager, though I never managed to complete many projects.

One song I’ve been working on is Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs of Dover.” I actually first learned it when I was about fifteen, but after listening and playing a few times, I’ve dusted off most of the notes from my memory and can play through most of the song again. However, I still can’t play it more than about 80% of the recorded speed. Long-term, I want to be able to play it as cleanly and as fast as Eric Johnson does, but I’m a long way off from that.

Coming back to it after so long, I find that I can play it cleaner than I used to. I think the secret is phrasing: deciding which notes go together, and where the borders between them are.

I wrote a lot

I played more guitar, but I did a lot more writing this year. 2025 was my first full year of blog writing since I started it up again in Fall 2024. I wrote 36 articles and about 50,000 words, with the median word count at 1,222 words per article and an average of three articles per month. This year, I’m aiming for a little more consistency at four articles per month. (I’m off to a bad start).

To reach that, I’m trying to lower the bar for publishing drafts. I’ve always had perfectionist tendencies, but I know that even if I spend eight hours editing an article, I’m still limited by my skill level. I want to remind myself that I’m writing for my own benefit, and that benefit will be greater if I do it more.

It’s going to be a challenge to keep up that pace. Several of my more productive writing months were between jobs, but now that I’m employed, I simply don’t have the time to devote to writing like I did in those months.

I took a bunch of pictures

I took quite a few pictures this year, but I haven’t had time to process and develop most of them.

I learned a lot about the raw image development software Darktable, and have written several tutorials to document my learning process. It’s an extremely powerful program, but it demands a lot from its users before they can get proficient and efficient at using it. I must admit I’m still a long way off from being able to reliably get satisfying results from my efforts. Boris Hajdukovic’s YouTube channel has been very helpful in explaining what the modules do with clear and useful examples.

Since I put so much time into cooking, I figured I’d try food photography. It’s challenging! The Food Portfolio food photography blog had some interesting behind-the-scenes tips and tricks for photographing steam from food. It’s still hit-and-miss, though.

I also learned a little about some of the science behind photography. I learned about depth of field in photography and created a calculator that can tell you the near and far bounds of it for a particular configuration.

Many of 2025’s pictures were taken while we were on vacation. This year, I met my parents in Japan for a trip. I got a chance to use my rusty Japanese to tget around and order food (and a whole lot of coffee). At one point I had to negotiate with an old taxi driver on how to take my wife and mother back to the hotel for an afternoon rest. Here are some of my favorite pictures from this year. (I have many more, but they’re on my laptop in China, still.)

I’ve also taken quite a few pictures around home.

For many years, my camera setup was a Canon Digital Rebel XTi with Canon’s 24mm pancake lens. My dad bought it in the mid-2000s when I was in middle school, and when he upgraded, he gave me that one. I must have used that camera for close to fifteen years. I’m using a Sony Alpha 7 III mirrorless camera now. I must admit it does have a lot more features, like video shooting and Wi-Fi, but sometimes I still miss my Canon with its simple menus and affordable pancake lens.

One thing I’d like to do more of in the next year is to post more of my own photography on Instagram. As far as social media goes, Instagram is the one I use the most because of all the great photography that people share on it. I’d like to be part of that, as far as my modest skills will let me.

Work life

Like I mentioned, I made a huge career change in 2025. I taught my first and last high school graduating class, a group of students now scattered across three continents in their first-year undergraduate studies. I wrote a reflection about the experience, which is one of the longest articles on this site at over two thousand words. Thinking about their international move has prompted me to reflect on my own experience as an expatriate, something which I plan to write more about this year.

Working as a data analyst

When I made my unplanned move back to the US, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for work, so I got certified as an English language arts teacher to improve my chances of getting work in a local high school. As a teacher, though, I was burned out, so I was hoping for alternatives. After several months of searching, I landed a job as a data analyst, a position that I’m enjoying greatly and feel extremely fortunate to have gotten.

Some people have asked me what a data analyst is. One simple answer is that I help business people answer questions by summarizing data and presenting it visually with charts and tables. In other words, I crunch numbers and make pretty charts for people who make business decisions. In one recent example, someone asked me to crunch some numbers for a potential store acquisition. I pulled some data from our database, did some math, and made a pretty spreadsheet. My analysis helped show that the acquisition would likely be profitable.

This new job was a huge change in direction for me, but so far, I’m absolutely loving it. I do miss the casual, friendly atmosphere of the international department at my school, but long-term, this is a better career for me. There’s more room for career advancement, and it plays better into my skills and interests.

Learning about machine learning and statistics

I’ve never been an exceptional math student, and I’m the worst at mental math, but my foray into machine learning this last year reminded me of its beauty. I’ve still got a ton to learn about how machine learning works, and part of that is going back to basics to learn more about algebra, calculus, and statistics. This year, I gained a basic understanding of regression and cost functions as a tool for finding the line of best fit. Machine learning has provided a solid context that explains why the math is the way it is. I know from my background in language acquisition that context is everything. If I were a math teacher, I think my students could learn a lot from a machine learning project.

In general, I’m also just learning to understand the language of math. For example, there’s a fancy way to write the mean of a group of numbers. You could write it the “dumb” way, where $k$ is the number of things you’re adding up:

But this looks more beautiful:

It really isn’t anything more than basic algebra, but it’s little things like this that make me smile. Perhaps I’m easily amused.

Conclusion

What an eventful year. My life is incredibly different from last year. Not everything that happened was positive, but I’ve got many things to be thankful for. It’s good to be home among the mountains again. My drive to and from work every day is dominated by their imposing beauty. Come springtime, I look forward to taking the mountain bike out and taking in that fresh air.

I need to put as much time as I can into my career now so I can get ahead of the curve. I’ll continue studying machine learning. It’s fun to study, and it’s challenging to get it right in the real world, so I hope to put it to use at work. Long-term, I might like to move into data science, but I’m satisfied with where I’m at for the time being. There’s just so much to learn.

2025 was both exciting and terrifying for me. While it’s good to be home, there are many challenges that await me in 2026. My son will be reaching his “terrible twos” this year, and I’m excited to guide him through his journey. Fingers crossed for another eventful and meaningful year!