Cross it off the list! (Part 1)

Last summer, I wrote a bucket list. A few of my friends from work mentioned bucket lists and asked whether I've ever tried to think of 100 things I really wanted to do before I die. "It's a lot harder than you think...just start a list and see how many things you can think of before you're just clueless," one of them said. I'll admit, I got to the upper 20s and drew a blank. Then I just put the list away and started brainstorming traveling ideas, goals, lifestyle choices, etc. that would make me feel like I've actually done something useful in my life! So, thanks to Tyler, Chris, and Bryce-a-Roni for their motivational ideas, I eventually came up with 100+ items on my list.

Fortunately, being in Europe has made it super easy to complete some of the goals on my list. So, here you have it, the list of what I've crossed off of my list in the last six months:

• See a live performance of a Tchaikovsky Ballet [Sleeping Beauty in Copenhagen - 4 December 2010]
• Go to Salamanca, Spain [30 October 2010]
• Go to Sweden [Stockholm - 6-9 January 2011]
• Go to Copenhagen, Denmark [3-8 December 2010]
• Go to Greece [Athens - 27-31 December 2010]
• Go to Florence, Italy [11-13 February 2011]
• See an opera in La Scala in Milan, Italy [Puccini's Tosca on 4 March 2011]
• Go to Portugal [Lisbon - 28-30 January 2011]
• Giants vs. Dodgers game [14 September 2010]

And this is what is in progress:

• Live/work in a foreign country for more than 6 months [I'll hit the 6-month mark in about 10 days...]
• Write a blog for an extended period of time
• Be able to teach tags to barbershoppers
• Teach someone English (well...I'm trying, at least.)
• Learn Swedish
• Read all of Steinbeck's novels [I just re-read Cannery Row...I know that's not too productive, but still... It was a lot different from when I read it in 9th grade!]

And the honorable mentions that haven't been started yet:

• Become a Queen of Harmony
• Compete in a chorus at International
• See a Vocal Majority Christmas Show
• Learn guitar (specifically, learn American folk songs and campfire songs on the guitar)
• Go to the Basque Country
• Hike the Camino de Santiago
• See Scotland
• Go to St. Petersburg
• Visit all 50 States (20 down...)
• The Music Man pilgrimage to Mason City, Iowa
• Go to Machu Picchu
• Take a cross-country road trip on I-80 or Route 66
• Go to the World Series (Yeah, don't remind me that I missed my chance this year!)
• Earn my Masters degree (and Ph. D?)
• Read El Quijote ... en español, claro.
• Hike the Tahoe Rim Trail 
• And a few really corny "World Peace" sort of things that I'll just keep on the list for now...
  

Being at the halfway mark of my time in Spain, I'm sure I'll complete a few more things on my list.  Look out for Part 2 of this post once I'm back in the homeland... 113 days from now!