2009.12.31 - The year 2009

2009 was a year in which I saw several key changes in my life. First, I acquired a new, English-speaking guitar student and this meant that the better half of my income now came from lessons in which I spoke English.

If I were a corporation, this is like a change of ownership. I began to feel more responsible about being able to speak the language decently. I reorganized the contents of this website so the majority of the text information is in English.

The second major change was that I started investing in the U.S. stock market. Prior to the Lehman shock, I had no substantial interest in finance. But as the world started to be fussing and worrying more and more about its economic climate, I began to wonder what it was that was influencing our lives so much. And I began to want to understand it. Then I thought the best way for me to do so is to participate in one of the financial activities they were talking about - stock trading.

I had about $10,000 that I didn't need to use in the immediate future. And I could stomach it if I lost all of it by some unlucky fate. So I started buying some stocks of the companies I liked or I thought had a bright future.

Sometimes, especially when the market is moving actively, I buy and sell stocks on the daily basis to pursue profits. But I also have a stock of a company I have a long-term interest in. This company is Inovio Biomedical, a medical firm based in San Diego focusing on developing DNA vaccines. Their vaccines are geared to prevent and treat cancers and infectious disease such as influenza, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.

I have yet to understand what DNA vaccines really are, but, from what I've read so far, they're a new generation of vaccines which could be safer, more cost effective and working against wider range of diseases than conventional vaccines.

For example, we have a new type influenza threatening us every year. And thus, currently, we have to come up with a new vaccine every year. But if the "universal flu vaccine" which Inovio is developing becomes ready, we will probably have to get the vaccine much less frequently, like once in a decade or so.

The third change of 2009 for me was starting to practice piano regularly. I began to teach vocal lessons to someone and began to feel the need to acquire better piano skills, as that's the instrument best suited for the purpose.

I wrote fewer tunes in 2009 than the previous year, but I gained more of musical diversity and more interest in the world we live in. I believe these elements will result in a very productive year of 2010.

Happy New Year.

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2009.12.31 - The year 2009

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