In this cold winter (this winter is really cold), opening this editing page again brings back many feelings. It has been five months since I last wrote and published a blog, and it's time for the annual review. There is so much I want to say, but I don't know where to start. Looking back at the whole of 2023, I can say it has been a year of many changes for me. This time, I plan to review the events of the entire year in the form of photos, which can be considered another form of a diary. Below is a warning for many pictures ⚠️!
Illness#
High fever
Nucleic acid test after home isolation
Since the announcement of the reopening at the end of 2022, I have experienced the most severe fever since adulthood. At the beginning of January, I endured a high fever of 39 ℃. Looking back now, it’s frightening; I felt cold all over, with muscle aches. I thought I would be fine after the fever, but what followed was a cough that lasted for nearly a month. This was my first special "plague" experience. Opportunities to experience large-scale viral infections in one's lifetime are rare, but the probability of such occurrences has been increasing recently. All I can do is try to endure each episode and do my best to prolong my life.
First Encounter with AI#
First avatar generated by Midjourney
Applied for Bing Chat
During the New Year period, the topic of AI was discussed fervently, especially ChatGPT and Midjourney. By reading various blog tutorials, I generated a unique AI avatar for myself using Midjourney. The avatar above is the one I have been using; not only here, but I also changed the avatars of all my social accounts to this one because I feel it fits my image quite well. Looking back over the year, the development of AI has been explosive, and various forms of AI applications are indeed impacting some people's lives.
For example, in areas I don't understand, I first let ChatGPT explain the background and introductory knowledge, then ask it to recommend learning materials for deeper study. During my daily coding, I often ask it to optimize my written code. It's not that AI is better than what I write, but it always provides me with unexpected optimization methods. Compared to searching for similar coding examples on Google, chatting with ChatGPT allows it to understand my thoughts better. It feels more like an entry to another treasure trove of knowledge; the previous such entry was the search engine. Some people think such applications will eventually replace programmers, but I don't believe that will happen. Just like the advent of cars, the ones who lose their jobs are often those who do not actively embrace cars, while those who embrace new things become more of the Didi drivers. 😜
Small Vehicle#
The small electric scooter I bought
One major purchase this year was a small electric scooter. The reason for buying this is that the distance from my home to the company is a bit far, about 3 kilometers. Riding the scooter to work is more convenient, and my partner takes the subway, which is a 10-minute walk from our current place to the nearest station. So, I decided to buy one as a means of transportation.
But you know, ever since we bought this little vehicle, our activity radius has increased significantly. Previously, we would walk everywhere on weekends, wasting time on the road. Now we can go out more leisurely, and we don't have to rush out to catch a movie. We also discovered many places we didn't know before, becoming more familiar with the areas within our living radius. However, this thing does have its downsides; it needs charging, and finding charging stations can be difficult, plus it's colder riding in winter. Despite this, our sense of happiness in life has greatly improved, making it one of the best purchases of 2023!
Concerts#
Zhang Jie concert in Wuhan
Listening to Jay Chou's concert in the rain
My first concert in Shenzhen
The first concert of the year was held in Wuhan. A major reason for wanting to go was that Zhang Jie was holding a concert in Wuhan during the May Day holiday. It had been a long time since I last attended a concert, which was back in my undergraduate days. After nearly two years of working, I hadn't been to a single concert, and neither of us had been to Wuhan before, so we decided to spend this May Day holiday in this central city. I won't go into detail about the travel experiences, but to summarize, the Zhang Jie concert was definitely worth seeing. The sound quality was top-notch, and Zhang Jie's singing skills are truly impressive, like a walking CD (compared to the lip-syncing controversy that arose later with Mayday). However, during the major holiday when everyone is off work, it's better not to go out (after three years of pandemic, everyone was cooped up, and there were just too many people, making the travel experience very poor).
After the May Day holiday, Jay Chou held seven concerts in Hong Kong. I took the opportunity to listen outside the venue for the last show (I couldn't get a ticket, and scalpers were too expensive). I must say, Jay Chou still has many loyal fans. On a rainy day, a bunch of fans stood outside with umbrellas, singing along together, creating a fantastic atmosphere. Next time he performs in Guangdong, I must get a ticket!
The last concert I attended this year was Mayday's concert. The reason for choosing Mayday is that my partner and I had our first close encounter at a Mayday concert, and it was also the first concert I ever attended. So this concert was quite meaningful, echoing different stages of life. However, in terms of concert quality, it was far from the Zhang Jie concert; the sound was muffled, and considering the recent lip-syncing controversy with Mayday, the relationship between the two is self-evident. But the essence of a concert is the celebration of a crowd, and in that regard, it did deliver.
Travel#
First time eating Wuhan hot dry noodles
Immediately went to buy tea in Wuhan
Street view of Hong Kong
Victoria Harbour on a rainy day
Hong Kong night view on a rainy day
Macau casino
Street view of Macau
Dianchi Lake in Kunming
First time eating fried grasshoppers
First time seeing such a blue sky in Dali
Cycling along Erhai, the weather is really nice
Sunset at Erhai
The demand for travel has been suppressed for three years. After the reopening this year, I went to Wuhan during the May Day holiday and to Yunnan during the National Day holiday. I also renewed my travel permit for Hong Kong and Macau, taking advantage of the holidays and weekends to visit Hong Kong and Macau several times this year. Traveling always provides an opportunity to rest, meet different people, experience different things, and create different memories. Overall, my travels this year were quite good. My plan for next year is to take it a step further—travel abroad (after all, I just got my passport). I visited Wuhan and Yunnan during major holidays, while Hong Kong and Macau were weekend trips. These two types of travel times reflect a difference; major holidays are crowded with people and long queues, but the longer holiday allows for more playtime. In contrast, weekend trips are more leisurely with fewer people, but the time available to play is less. It's hard to find a balance; the helplessness of a working person.
Accidents#
Hand injury
First time in a police car
Because I bought the small scooter around March, I rode it to work every day. However, one morning in May, right at the company entrance, I collided with a small car. I lost control, causing both me and my colleague to fall. We both sustained varying degrees of injuries; my colleague couldn't stand up at the time. After I got up, I staggered to move the scooter to the roadside to avoid blocking the road. The driver of the small car was a pregnant woman. Yes, a pregnant woman. After she got out, she asked if we were okay and if we needed to go to the hospital. The funniest part was that my first response was to ask her to help us clock in first; she was also a colleague of ours (the instinctive reaction of a working person), haha. After clocking in, we went to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor disinfected our wounds, and we were given one day of sick leave. Crying! Later, when the traffic police arrived, I even got into the police car to go to the accident scene for responsibility determination. In the end, it was determined that the small car was at fault for not yielding while turning. The owner of the small car then claimed insurance, and I was compensated for one day's salary and the damage to the scooter. My colleague, who was injured more seriously, couldn't work for three days. 🤣 Later, due to inflammation of the wound, my leg swelled up like a pig's trotter, and I limped for a month. In short, this minor car accident left a deep impression.
Resignation#
Submitted resignation on June 15
Processed resignation
At the beginning of this year, I mentioned the basic situation in a few monthly reviews. After the New Year, there was a major restructuring in the team, with many people leaving and others being transferred in from different groups. This led to significant changes in my work content and nature, shifting from development to team affairs management. I was responsible for tracking and handling team issues, which meant I hadn't been involved in coding for over half a year. During this time, I communicated with the team leader about this issue, but to no avail, and the thought of resigning began to take root. That saying is true: once you think about resigning, you think about it until the day before you leave.
Although the pandemic has been lifted this year, the level of recovery has not met everyone's expectations, and life feels even tougher than in previous years. So, in mid-May, I tried to update my resume and opened Boss Zhipin. Without even submitting applications, I had already scheduled several interviews. I took leave during workdays to attend a few interviews and found that I couldn't even remember the standard answers; I wasn't prepared for the questions, and I hadn't organized the project information. This showed that my resume was still acceptable in the job market, but I wasn't prepared. However, I didn't have time to interview and prepare standard answers. So, in early June, I told my team leader that I wanted to resign.
When I expressed my intention to resign, my team leader was surprised and said, "You post-95s resign so suddenly and rashly." He told me that I wasn't the only one leaving; three people were resigning this month, including my mentor who had brought me into the company. Later, when I asked my mentor about his reason for leaving, he said that the current project the team was working on had no value, and he needed to leave quickly to transition to to-C backend development.
In the last month of my time there, I had no significant tasks, mainly just handing over responsibilities, and it was incredibly easy. Thus, my first job came to an end at the end of June.
Career Gap & Job Hunting#
Healthy meals I made at home after resigning
Hiking when I had nothing to do
The road I must take to pay respects to my grandfather back home
Coming out of an interview, the sun was already setting
Experiencing my first resignation, the oppressive feeling that had weighed on my heart dissipated as I walked out of the company. No one was @ing me anymore, and it felt nice not to think about demand progress every day. However, what followed was a sense of loneliness and confusion about the next steps—what to do, whether to look for a job, what kind of job to look for, and when to start looking for a job. I fell into a fear of not being able to find a job. Sigh, when working, I think about resigning and not working, but when I can truly not work, I think about going to work.
During my time at home after resigning, I gradually ran errands to handle various tasks, such as transferring my personnel files, changing my household registration, and applying for a passport. Taking advantage of not having to work, I completed all the tasks that usually required taking leave to handle. Then I started exercising daily and cooking for myself. The first month went by quickly; I lost nearly 10 pounds. One day, when I met up with former colleagues for a meal, they all said I had lost weight (hee hee).
Days passed like this, and before I knew it, it was October. During this time, aside from exercising and cooking, I also took the time to return home to pay respects to my grandfather. Due to my low daily step count, my mom guessed that I had resigned (finally understanding why so many people still go out to cafes to study after resigning). During this trip home, I also experienced many things, including treating my dad to beef hot pot for the first time since I started earning money (this was also my dad's first time eating hot pot outside). The rest of my time at home was spent starting from scratch, learning computer-related courses, truly beginning from the basics, covering topics like logic circuits, assembly, and compiler principles (I recommend a great self-study website: https://csdiy.wiki/). I can't say that what I learned had any immediate effect, but it made me feel like I was beginning to touch the edges of the computer science field.
However, time passed too quickly. Three months have passed since my resignation, and fearing that I wouldn't find a job, I began to panic. I thought to myself, although life has been quite good and money isn't tight, I just can't get over this mental hurdle. So, I started cramming for standard answers, organizing my past projects, and began practicing on LeetCode.
I revised my resume countless times, flipped through standard answers in Obsidian, and even subscribed to Boss Zhipin to increase my exposure. Finally, companies began to invite me for interviews, both online and offline. Over the past month, I traveled to various districts in Shenzhen, attending up to four interviews in one day. Each interview felt like being interrogated by the police; I felt guilty, and it was an unpleasant experience. After several interviews, I finally received an offer from one company. I even thought about accepting it immediately without further interviews. However, I felt that the job content and work environment of this offer were not ideal, so after much consideration, I rejected my first offer.
In the following time, I spent my days in constant interviews and reviews. After applying to 47 companies and interviewing with 15, I finally received three offers. Now, I have been working for a month, and I am quite satisfied with the company's environment, team atmosphere, and job content. I am mainly responsible for search-related work, and I won't be changing jobs in the short term. My current focus is on getting confirmed as a permanent employee and deeply cultivating this field.
Through this job search, I discovered that at the end of the year, companies looking for social recruitment want candidates with relevant experience. I interviewed with many companies, and after finishing HR interviews, I often didn't hear back, indicating that there were better candidates or that companies suddenly reduced hiring. It can be said that experiencing the economic downturn while job hunting has led to a mindset more inclined towards stability.
To summarize, there are no jobs that cannot be found; job hunting is a process of continuously adjusting and matching one's expectations with those of the company.
Conclusion#
This year, the country is at a turning point, and I am no exception. Not only is the real estate industry sluggish, but all industries and individuals are also not doing well, especially as the year comes to a close, with many companies announcing layoff plans, creating a sense of unease throughout society.
This year felt like time passed quickly, whether working or staying home after resigning. Some say that time flies once you start working. The savings goal I set at the beginning of the year was not achieved due to my resignation.
The new year of 2024 will arrive on time, whether you are ready or not. Looking back at this entire year, I believe the most important thing is still physical and mental health!
Here, I set my new year's goals:
- Successfully transition to a permanent employee
- Develop a habit of reading
- Achieve my small savings goal
- Learn Japanese and travel abroad once
- Lose weight
- Successfully pass certification exams
I hope that when I look back at the year-end summary next year, all these goals will be achieved! Well, I hope so! 😝