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Good-bye, 2020. Welcome, 2021!

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Happy New Year, my dear readers!

If I say that 2020 was a rollercoaster, it won't be a surprise. But there were quite a few good things that I am grateful for. 
1. In February, my daughter went on a school trip to Germany. The journey went very well, the kids saw Berlin and Dresden and visited a national park near Dresden. They loved it. 
2. We started renovating our apartment — that's a big job that will continue in 2021. So far everything is going well. 
3. I had enough translation and editing work all throughout the year. There was a little break in March and April, but things went back to normal pretty fast. 
4. In May 2020, the LinguaContact translation school had its second conference. We had to move it online and make some alterations in the program, but everything went very well. Our third conference is going to be online as well. It is scheduled for 21-22 May. It is aimed primarily at Russian speaking translators and interpreters, just like the previous two conferences. We have started working on the program. Since it's our third year, we already have some excellent speakers who can't wait to share their experience. But there are going to be quite a few new people. Never a dull moment and I love it. :-)
5. In the fall, we had our first international translation course in a language pair that didn't involve Russian. And 6 brave students from USA, Spain and a couple other countries who believed in a Russian translation school they hadn't previously heard of. Thank you guys! It was a blast! We are going to prepare more great courses for international audience, just follow me on Facebook to know all the details. April is going to be a very special month for translators who don't speak Russian. ;-)
6. In the middle of October my mother got sick with Covid and developed pneumonia. Thank God, she recovered. It took a lot of effort and even more prayers, but she is doing well now. Then in December I got sick, too. I am recovering now and I am really thankful that everybody else in my family is healthy and doing well.

What are my wishes, hopes and dreams for 2021? 
I just want my family and myself, my dear friends and colleagues all over the world to be healthy and safe. I hope and pray the pandemic is stopped in 2021. And I am thankful for the reminder that life is not just about work. It's about family, about community, about love and care.

Happy 2021! I wish you love, joy and blessings in abundance.
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